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.
With so many great albums recorded over the decades it's kinda tough to distill it down to 10 albums, so I didn't, but Below are some of my favorite albums.
The Doors--Doors 1
The Yardbirds--Over Under Sides Down
Jimi Hendrix Experience--Electric Ladyland
Led Zepplin--IV
Creedence Clearwater Revival--Cosmo's Factory
Jeff Beck--Blow by Blow
Van Morrision--His Band and the Street Choir
The Who--Live at Leeds
The Beatles--Abbey Road
Eric Clapton--Eric Clapton (1970)
Yes--Fragile
Paul McCartney--Ram
Moody Blues--Days of Future Passed
Talking Heads--Stop Making Sense
Steely Dan--Can’t Buy a Cheap Thrill (Jeff "Skunk" Baxter puts SD over the top)
Excellent albums on your list there. McCartney's Ram is a lesser-known favorite of mine as well, as is Van's Street Choir. Distilling my favorite studio releases down to a dozen would a tough task. Listing only live albums (as I did earlier) is a lot easier. ....I'll give it some thought.
Janis Joplin
Joni Mitchell
Linda Ronstadt
Natalie Merchant
And what about Blind Faith and Cream's Disreali Gears?
Also left out ole Joe Cocker w/ his first album as well as Traffic w/ Winwood, Capaldi and Mason
In retrospect there was so from about 67-72/73 its hard to single out. What about and being quite serious: Jefferson Airplane w/ Crown of Creation (and overlooking Gracie who by now is probably a great grandmother) and feel free to laugh.
And Achille's is friggin AWESOME...what a display.
I thought about those 2 albums in compiling my list but had to cut somewhere. Stevie Winwood sure got around in those days as did Clapton. Also glad you mentioned those great ladies of rock and Jefferson Airplane w/Glacie Slick. I appreciate the work JA did in the early days of Rock but I was never all that much of a fan.
Yeah, I'm still gonna buy the DVD.: )
The Band (The Brown Album) - The Band
Highway 61 Revisited
Beggars Banquet - Rolling Stones
Abbey Road - Beatles
Tonight's the Night - Neil Young
Second Helping - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Idlewild South - Allman Brothers
Led Zeppelin 4
Station to Station - David Bowie
Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix
Layla - Derek and the Dominos
The Doors - The Doors
We're Only in it for the Money - Frank Zappa
The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
There's a Riot Going on - Sly & the Family Stone
Moby Grape - Moby Grape
Yardbirds - Over Under Sides Down
Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart
Get Your Wings - Aerosmith
Innervisions - Stevie Wonder
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
Quadrophenia - The Who
Relayer - Yes
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Bayou Country - Creedence Clearwater Revival
...No doubt I forgot a few.
I can see your thinking here. It's difficult to make judgements on the best of album(s) of a artist/band when many of their best stuff is spread out over numerous albums.
Who Do You Love? Bo Diddley, Fabulous Thunderbirds
I walked 47 miles of barbed wire,
Used a cobra snake for a neck tie.
Got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made out of rattlesnake hide.
I got a brand new chimney made on top,
Made out of human skulls.
Now come on darling let's take a little walk, tell me,
Who do you love,
Who do you love, Who do you love, Who do you love.
Arlene took me by the hand,
And said oooh eeeh daddy I understand.
Who do you love,
Who do you love, Who do you love, Who do you love.
The night was black and the night was blue,
And around the corner an ice wagon flew.
A bump was a hittin' lord and somebody screemed,
You should have heard just what I seen.
Who do you love, Who do you love, Who do you love, Who do you love.
Arleen took me by my hand, she said Ooo-ee Bo you know I understand
I got a tombstone hand and a graveyard mind,
I lived long enough and I ain't scared of dying.
Who do you love (4x's)
by Bo Diddley
Some friends of mine were into that band. Their "take another hit of fresh air" (something like that) was a good song. Saw em' in 1972 and was not particularly impressed. Solid but not great.
Bo Diddley's "Who do you Love" and "I'm a Man" were two of the most covered rock songs in history. The Yardbirds had interesting takes on both--along with many others. Bo Diddley was unquestionably one of the great pioneers of Rock n' Roll.
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