A Few Updates...

Sorry about the lack of info but it's kind of hard to bring non-existent news. A couple of small items in Zeppelin occurred this past month.

The biggest story this week came from the Plant camp. He hasn't performed in a while (he said he would take two years off after the Raising Sand tour when he denied all Led Zeppelin reunion rumors) but he will join Alison Krauss at least one more time at the Grammys February 8th. They're up for a bunch again even though Raising Sand has been out a year and a half.

Other Plant news includes some royal connections. Queen Elizabeth II over in jolly old England named Robert a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Knowing Robert's affinity for ancient history he's quite pleased. The Queen bestowed the honor to Robert for his work in the arts (i.e. his awesome music).

The show will return in two weeks. No time or date yet but I will have one by Monday.

Album of the Month for January: Led Zeppelin I

On January 12th, 1969 an album was released that changed the face of rock and roll. The blues inspired British musicians throughout the 1960s, a list that includes the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck. America knew the blues for a long time, but never like this. The album introduced a new band that took the blues and completely transformed the style into a unique sound of jarring guitar riffs and light ballads. Led Zeppelin was the hot new band coming out of England and their self-titled album turned out to be one of the most important revelations in music and led to a new sound for the 70s.

Release Date: January 12, 1969
Highest Billboard Chart Position: 10
Sales Status: 10x Platinum (66th all-time)

Track Listing:
1. Good Times, Bad Times
With the beating of Bonham's drums, Led Zeppelin took off with a sonic boom. This has all the elements that would end up defining the band for a decade: powerful drums, face melting guitar, and Robert blaring out the words. This is also one of the bands most covered songs (including a new one from Ben Harper).

2. Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You
If you don't know this is a Joan Baez cover. Yes, it's a Joan Baez cover. It in no way sounds like one but it is. Robert has his first chance to duet with Jimmy's guitar and try out some different vocal effect. It's also one of his first ungodly screams. It also is the band's first foray into folk music, Robert and Jimmy both being big American Folk fanatics. TANGENT: Give a listen to "25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago and tell me that isn't the same guitar riff. Just Saying

3. You Shook Me
Here's the first example of the band's reworking of the blues and more specifically the Chess Records blues. In this case it's Muddy Water's "You Shook Me". Robert takes the vocals and gives them an emotion never heard before while the band gives it the Zeppelin "blues treatment". Jimmy's guitar is thick with effects and Bonham's drums drive the point home throughout the whole song.

4. Dazed and Confused
This was the show stopper. It was the song Zeppelin had to play. One of the few songs where Jones' bassline is clearly defined, he creates one of the more unique soundscapes in rock and roll history. Jimmy has his psychedic guitar blaring and Robert gives the vocals so much character. During live sets the song could last as long as a half an hour and Jimmy played with the violin bow (stolen from another British act Jake Holmes when Jimmy was with the Yardbirds) to get the unique blips and other random sounds out of his guitar. If there is a song that must be included in a Zeppelin greatest hits album every time this is one of them.

5. Your Time is Gonna Come
One of the lesser known tracks on the album, "Your Time is Gonna Come" was only played once live. There's not too much to it and acted more as a lead up to the next track of the album. A similar organ would later be used for "Thank You" in Led Zeppelin II.

6. Black Mountain Side
Originating from a tradition British folk tune, Jimmy took this song and put it together with his favorite guitar the Gibson Black Beauty. He took this from his Yardbirds days as well except the name was "White Summer". This is also a track where Jimmy can showcase his folk guitar playing skills which came in handy during later Zeppelin albums.

7. Communication Breakdown
This song originated from the old blues standard (later to be made a hit song for Aerosmith) "Train Kept a Rollin'". Robert's voacls come out strongest on this track and he dominates the song. Jimmy has the fuzzbox on the guitar and does a great job with the overdubs. It is also one of the few songs where Robert required backup vocals (something he still rarely allows today).

8. I Can't Quit You Babe
Here's another blues song, this time from Otis Rush. Bonzo's drums are important yet again and Robert gives the vocals a lot of justice. The band gives it a slight psychedelic twist but for the most part stays true to the blues style with their sound stamped on it.

9. How Many More Times
Zeppelin just couldn't quit the blues songs. This came from Howlin' Wolf's "How Many More Years" and combined "You Shook Me" with "Dazed and Confused". More uptempo than the other true blues tracks on the albums, Jimmy infuses a fair amount of his psychedic style and adds the forgotten violin bow part (everyone forgets he used the same technique on this track). It starts out blues song, turns psychidelic and by the end they sound more like a jam band with the time stamp (8:28) to go with it.

Random Fact
The Led Zeppelin idea came from a conversation Jimmy had with John Enwhistle, Keith Moon, and Richard Cole. Enwhistle and Moon wanted out of the Who and Jimmy wanted something better than the Yardbirds. So they came up with an idea to combine forces along with a bluey singer like Joe Cocker or a lighter singer like Steve Winwood to form a band that created heavy but light music. Someone then blurted out, "oh yeah, that'd go over like a lead Zeppelin" followed by a good laugh and the idea was forgotten for the moment. The name also symbolized the band, combining the heavy blues played by Jimmy and the drums from Bonham with Robert's lighter vocals and Jones' all around musical ability. The cover for the album came from that same idea. The reason why "lead" was changed to "led" was so that Americans didn't mispronounce the name.

The Jimmy Page Post Zeppelin Album Guide

My friends, it's time to look at where Jimmy Page has been the past 28 years. Robert was first, now it's time to look back at Mr. Page's successes, failures, and possible promising future.

Death Wish II, 1982
This album is one of the stranger parts of my collection, mainly because the version I received was vinyl. The CD is so rare, the only copies cost hundreds of dollars. So I just bought the vinyl to record onto a CD later for $15 (thank you eBay). Anyway, the album shows Jimmy's new direction with his music. He liked to be on top of the latest technology, so of course he wanted to use the synthesizer as much as possible. The only singing tracks includes a singer Jimmy would use in the future named Chris Farlowe, who doesn't measure up to the kind of singer Robert Plant is. As a whole, the soundtrack is interesting but nothing spectacular. The good points include "City Sirens", "The Release", and "Big Band, Sax, and Violence".

What Ever Happened to Jugula?, 1985 (w/ Roy Harper)
Led Zeppelin had an interesting love affair with Roy Harper and should always be connected to him. Jimmy in particular liked to work with Harper and had occasionally shown up on some Roy Harper albums while he was with Zeppelin. In the early 80's, Jimmy decided to record a whole album with Harper. Considering the song Zeppelin dedicated to Harper on Led Zeppelin III ("Hats Off to (Roy) Harper"), it's easy to determine this was going to be a strange album. Although it has it's quirks, it has some bright moments like "Ninety Forty-Eightish" and "Advertisement (Another Intentional Irrelevant Suicide)".

The Firm 1985
In the early 80's, Jimmy Page participated in a charity tour with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Jeff Beck, and other great English artists. One of the artists he toured with was a close friend from his Zeppelin days Paul Rodgers, the former lead singer of Bad Company. They started working on a song together that Jimmy brought from the Physical Graffiti sessions called "Midnight Moonlight". It was a hit live, so they decided to record other songs together with a new band called the Firm. Unfortunately, the sound was very odd and Jimmy's guitar work just didn't come through like it did with Zeppelin. Rodgers abilities were limited and the lyrics lacked any bite. "Midnight Moonlight" seemed rambling and boring. The only highlights worth mentioning are the opening track "Closer" and "Satisfaction Guarenteed".

Mean Business 1986 (w/ The Firm)
The band relesed it's second album and it did just as bad as the first. Personally the second albumk from the Firm has more personality from all the members and is much more listenable. The first track "Fortune Hunter" is a little disorganized but has great potential, possibly from it's roots back when Jimmy worked with members of Yes. "Dreaming" is another highlight along with the closing track (and probably the best the band ever recorded) "Spirit of Love"

Outrider 1988
Like so many other great artists in great bands in the past, Jimmy decided a solo album was a good idea. Boy was he wrong. His third straight dissapointment, he fell into the 80's trap so many other great have done. He tried to mix in a little of the hair metal style. It wasn't much of an influence in the album but it's enough to make a difference. The highlights include the instrumental tracks "Liquid Mercury" and "Writes of Winter" along with the track he recorded with Robert Plant (what a shocker) "The Only One".

Coverdale/Page 1993 (w/ David Coverdale)
This seems like a strange combination. Coverdale is the vain of Robert Plant's existence and has been made fun of many times by Mr. Plant. The album actually sounds pretty good although a little more on the 80's rock side than most Jimmy Page albums. It's a good one to rock out with and Jimmy's guitar goes surprisingly well with Coverdale's voice. Even with the success of the album their relationship idin't last, however, as they decided to quit their first show in Japan. Highlights are "Pride and Joy", "Take me for a Little While", and "Absolution Blues".

1994-1998 - See Robert Plant Solo Album Guide

Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes Live at the Greek 2000
This was the last album that Jimmy released where he was on every track. The music is solid since the Black Crowes are a good band and it's mostly covers of old Zeppelin songs.



As promised, Jimmy's list is much shorter than Robert's. Not only did Jimmy have to deal with drug problems in the early 80's his first attempts at a Post-Zeppelin life crashed and burned. At least Robert had a few good selling albums early on. Although he hasn't released any studio albums since 1998, he has been working on some new material. For the past few years he's promised a new album but the latest attempt to reform Led Zeppelin probably got him off track. He'll get a band together eventually before it's too late and get something in the can.

Two down, one more to go. Shouldn't be hard since Jones only has four post-Zeppelin albums he's recorded. I just got "Scream for Help" on vinyl (thank you again eBay) and I need to transfer that into digital so I can take it with me and give it a good listen. Once that happens, you will know of the work of John Paul Jones.

The Rumors Were True...It's Just That Robert Plant Is Irreplaceable

Well, the news was true about Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham. They were trying to get a new band together. Guess what. They didn't find a singer they liked. What a shocker. Their manager came out saying they couldn't find a singer that fits with the band.

When this whole ordeal started out, there was always that question of who could take over for Robert. My guess was that they could try a different style. It turned out that they couldn't think of anybody. They tried but it was not to be. Be happy Zeppelin fans: a Robert-less Led Zeppelin will not exist.

Sadly, this is most likely it for Led Zeppelin. I've said it once and I'll say it again: Robert Plant does not want to be part of Led Zeppelin. He has a successful solo career and the freedom to do whatever he wants. Another issue will be time. They are now all in their 60s. Eventually they will not be able to tour anymore physically. On the bright side, they will not be the Rolling Stones, The Who, or Queen. The only memories of Zeppelin are their albums and touring during their height. They will never be a has-been band. One can still hope for a reunion but until then we have to go back to the albums and performances of the past for our Led Zeppelin fix.

Zeppelin Reunites...Well Kind Of...Not Really (I Told You So)

Well hello Zepheads. Long time no speak. I've thoroughly enjoyed the holidays and all my time off but it's time to talk Zeppelin again.

First of all, not much has happened on any news front. Robert got nominated for some more Grammys. Jimmy and Jonesy are still planning to put together a band, which leads me to my next point:

THE "ZEPPELIN" REUNION (that really isn't) IS NOT NEWS!!! They have been talking about this since October. There's film of John Paul Jones saying the exact same thing their manager said (see "THE RUMORS ARE TRUE " post with the video from about 3-4 months back). Apparently the manager is a more reliable source. All of my friends have been sending me links and asking me about it now that it's "official". Then again, I am a little bit of a freak and will keep up to date on my Zeppelin news. Oh well. I'm sure I'll get plenty more Facebook wall links and texts and such.

Anyway, I'm still interested to see how this semi-reunion will work. Will it be like Robert and Jimmy in 1998 and not quite sound right? Or will it be like Crosby, Stills, and Nash who can continue to have success without Neil Young. Fortunately they both have the itch to write (Jimmy wanted a new album out two years ago and John Paul Jones has been working on new material for ages) and will be joined by a very experienced drummer who has some well known genes. Jones was always a grounding force in the band so he may be the most important member to their sound and the difference between sounding like the greatest band ever and just a very good.

In the end this project should be a positive. Jimmy has been in seclusion from the music world for far too long and Jonesy finally has a chance to show his abilities now that he won't just be shoved off in the corner. It would be nice to see Robert back but I think the reunion train has left the station. He's on his own and very happy to follow his own vision and inspiration. Let's enjoy one last look at what could have been continued:

The show should be back within the next month so keep our eyes open for a new time. I hope to get the same slot but only time will tell. Talk to you later.