Randy Rhoads is the king of the Gibson Flying V
But Blackmore is truly the King of the Stratocaster.
Blackmore rocks, but I think SRV is the king of the stratocaster..upside down and all.
Posted on 05/28/2003 1:00:57 PM PDT by Drew68
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In the words of one of their songs, Dancing Days are here again for fans of Led Zeppelin.
Defunct for almost 23 years, the pioneering English band behind such hard rock classics as "Stairway to Heaven" and "Kashmir (news - web sites)" has cleaned out its vaults to issue eight hours of previously unreleased live material on DVD and CD.
The "Led Zeppelin DVD" contains footage from four tours spanning 1970 to 1979; the CD "How The West Was Won" combines two Los Angeles shows from 1972 to replicate a single concert.
Remarkably, the band's leader and guitarist, Jimmy Page (news), who compiled the releases, says he remembers all the concerts as if they were yesterday.
"To actually go through it bit by bit and hear sections of it, you go, 'Yeah, yeah, that's really good' or 'I played really well there' or 'My God, that's embarrassing, that bit I played then,"' Page, 58, said in an interview.
Both the DVD and CD were released this week with Page, singer Robert Plant (news), 53, and keyboardist/bassist John Paul Jones (news), 56, embarking on a publicity blitz. Ironically, Led Zeppelin shunned such chores during its 12-year reign, preferring to let the music speak for itself.
But rumors that the trio would play together came to naught. The band has reunited only twice since breaking up after the 1980 alcohol-related death of drummer John Bonham (news). Page and Plant toured and recorded together in the 1990s, to Jones' initial chagrin. These days, the threesome's relationship is more business than social, Page says.
"MAGICAL ELEMENT"
"There were four very different personalities anyway in Led Zeppelin, very different personalities," Page said. "But when they bonded musically, the four elements joined together, took on a fifth element -- a thing which is totally intangible and it can't be charted, which was that magical element."
Led Zeppelin's members fused folk and blues influences to create a genre known as heavy metal. The group's catalog, highlighted by their untitled 1971 album and 1975's "Physical Graffiti" has sold about 200 million copies worldwide.
But their strength was arguably live performances. They toured incessantly, setting new standards for ticket sales. Songs from the albums were radically reworked on stage.
The new CD boasts a 25-minute version of "Dazed and Confused," while Bonham drums relentlessly during the 19-minute "Moby Dick." Spontaneity was the key, which is why the band decided to call it a day rather than try to feign improvisation with a new drummer.
"You had to be totally, totally involved. It's like a sacrifice you were there for," Page said.
The DVD features songs from London's Royal Albert Hall (1970) and Earl's Court (1975), New York's Madison Square Garden (1973) and England's Knebworth Festival (1979). And that's it as far as live footage is concerned, Page says.
"We didn't have a documentary crew going round with us all the time. What would we do it for? We weren't a television band," Page said.
"A BIT OF A LAUGH"
Similarly, the only other audio footage in the vaults was from a university gig, which was done "for a bit of a laugh." Page vows it will never see the light of day because the band made so many mistakes. (Page did use some computer tricks to fix a few wrong chords on the newly released material.)
These days, Page divides his time between a historic London townhouse and a mansion in nearby Windsor. His post-Zeppelin career has been patchy, with highlights including a tour with the Black Crowes and recording a rap version of "Kashmir" with rapper Sean Combs. He says he's working on something "quite surprising" but declined to go into detail.
Richie Blackmore of Deep Purple? Well, music is art and is thus open to interpretation and personal tastes but Blackmore would probably admit that players like Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix were the best of their time. He was a fan of both. IMO, the greatest rock guitarist is Beck. He can do things with a strat (or any other guitar for that matter) that no other guitarist can do. Especially with tone and harmonics. Watching Jeff Beck play is like watching a master magician take notes to places never before seen. It's a trip.
If not for LZ there would have been no Black Sabbath. And LZ itself was inspired by Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Yardbirds (w/Jeff Beck) and many other bands that were working in a similar "free form" Rock direction. Black Sabbath has the distinction of being one of the first to go total metal at ungodly amounts of mega watts in a pretty cool way.
I really dug that album. It was one of the best live recordings of any band of that era. The only one that comes close is The Who "Live at Leeds". And yes, Hendrix was absolutely incredible on "Machine Gun". Sadly, he passed away not long after that album was released.
Yep, nine and a half months later. The Isle of Wight was his last concert, and I've been wanting to get the DVD of his whole set (or sets) from that that festival ....but keep forgetting. Great stuff, especially the version of "Red House."
Jimi was broadening his style right before he died, breaking new ground (as usual). He and Miles Davis supposedly recorded a bunch of stuff together, and if true, hopefully one day (soon) the Davis estate will release it.
Jimmy Page's genius was more in the recording room. Though an excellent guitarist Page usually had a hard time reproducing the magic on stage...for whatever reason. I saw LZ three times in concert and each time came away somewhat disappointed. Bonham and Plant seemed to carry the show.
Beck hardly ever makes a public appearance, but I was lucky enough to see him play a set at the Ronnie Lane benefit for multiple sclerosis - the ARMS concert - at the L.A. Forum in '83. He was with Jan Hammer, and the musicians from his album There and Back. Anyway, he completely blew me away. Played a great "Lead Boots" and "Blue Wind" ...among others. Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton also played their own sets, so the evening was about as good as it gets. .....especially when all three giants played "Layla" together for the encore, trading off wicked leads.
To whomever commented early about missing guitar solos in today's music, I wholeheartedly agree. A lost art for sure, at least in the mainstream "music" industry. Unlike the fresh and new musical days of Zep, Pink Floyd, Queen (Bohemian Rhapsody - now THAT was different!), today's music execs don't tolerate innovation anymore. If you don't fit the image of a street savvy singing/rapping/gyrating pimp or ho, you need not apply. Music is totally secondary to image.
I bought the Song Remains the Same VHS tape many years back. A year or two ago I thought to research whether a DVD version had ever been released. I discovered that it had, but the reviews were less that stellar. Supposedly no remix of sound for Dolby Digital or even Dolby Surround, no video cleanup or re-edit, little to no additional material. Just a straight dump of the original tape version to DVD.
I was less than impressed with the reviews for the DVD version of Song Remains the Same, and didn't even bother to buy the DVD version. Hopefully they'll do a better job with this new product.
Well, SRV and Robin Trower have done pretty good imitations too. Though it's kinda tough imitating Hendrix's fluid and spontaneous style. He'd play a riff, twist it, turn it inside out then go in an unexpected direction. Beck does the same thing. And went it comes to raw power solos Clapton was truly one of the best. I agree with Clapton, there is a lot of great talent in the country that unfortunately never gets the opportunity to get recorded. I know quite a few talented musicians that gave up on the field and went into different professions.
True Page was a Yardbird but he only stayed with the band for about a year at the most after Beck left. Jeff Beck was the driving force that made the Yardbirds a cutting edge band. Something Clapton could not do...or Page for that matter. But I suspect in Page's case he was busy working on putting his own band together and marked time with the Yardbirds.
I don't mean to quibble but for hard-ish rock...I give the biggest early nods to the Yardbirds then Cream...and maybe a couple of early Kinks songs ...yes I'm serious....and Moby Grape and Blue Cheer.
You won't get an argument from me there. Oh and Blue Cheer made up in Volume what they lacked in talent. A true mark of an pioneering heavy metal band.
Yeah, I'm convinced that Hendrix was well on his way towards Rock/Jazz fusion back then. He was a musician well ahead of his time.
I heard that was a helluva show. BTW, Beck in the last few years has got somewhat active again. I guess he has a new album in the hopper which will be released soon (June I think) and there will be a tour. Right now he is doing a limited tour with BB King.
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