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.
Fascinating tagline and it begs an explanation and or are you referring to your younger, Don Imus-like days. Some us on FR definitely defy a liberal stereotype of being uptight, no fun guys. Recall Neil Young of Mirrorball and the song "Hippie Dreams". Well we have survived and without buying the hippie dream.
Just thought I would ad Warren Zevon to the concert list and to close out by asking you all what if any really off the wall/ esoteric music you have run across. I used to read the best music reviewer (male, not Les Bangs) who wrote for Stereo Review and he in turn led me to the Outrageous: Tonio K.:
http://home.earthlink.net/~mrmando/tonio_k/
3. Life in the Foodchain, 1978. U.S. black vinyl LP: Full Moon/Epic JE 35545 U.S. green vinyl promo LP: Full Moon/Epic PE 35545 Canadian gold vinyl LP: Full Moon/Epic AL 35545 Japanese LP: Sony 25-3P-135 CD reissue (1995): Gadfly 208
Songs:
Life in the Foodchain
The Funky Western Civilization
Willie and the Pigman
The Ballad of the Night the Clocks All Quit
(and the Government Failed)
American Love Affair
How Come I Can't See You in My Mirror
Better Late Than Never
A Lover's Plea
H-A-T-R-E-D
LIFE IN THE FOODCHAIN (Tonio K.)
well your mother was there to protect you
your papa was there to provide
so how in the world did the excellent baby
wind up in this hotel so broken inside
you lie on your bed in the midnight darkly
listening to every sound
watching the shadows for anything moving
and hoping they don't come around
'cause it's dog eat dog
and it's cat and mouse
it's watch your step and cross yourself
and get back in the house
and it's do or die
it's push and shove
because everybody's hungry
and there isn't quite enough
that's right, we're talkin' about the good life
in the foodchain
love among the ruins
i guess that you've finally got to accept
that there's nothing you can do about it
it's kind of like carving the turkey
it's kind of like mowing the lawn:
everything gets to this certain dimension
winds up on a customer's plate and then gone
©1978 Intersong-U.S.A., Inc. and Worthless Music
Porcupine Tree—album : In absentia Sounds like Genesis meets Crosby Stills and Nash, meetsLed Zepplin.. Very melodic.. At times heavy, at times very beautiful. My current favorite. Try a google search.
October Project— now disfunct.. had 3 CD’s in the 90s on Columbia.
Dirty Vegas—disco beats but very cool melodies. One song was on the MAZDA car commericial , with The girl dancing in the front seat.
Spocks Beard
As for the real old stuff, I’m still very partial to Pink Floyd, Beatles, Genesis, Yes, Return to Forever,Weather Report, Gong, CSN&Y, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, Who, Led Zepplin, Steely Dan, and on and on….
I am just old enough to remember when whites were making the sourest, nastiest pop music while blacks were making the sweetest and truest. White kids listened to hideous screaming while funk and soul were black America's soundtrack. As a kid in the 1970s I was conscious of that contrast and proud of it. The civil-rights protesters a decade before, who made the lives of "the hip-hop generation" possible, would have been appalled to hear the likes of Jay-Z, and we would be hard-pressed to claim that they would have been somehow missing something in that judgment. They accomplished a lot more, too, than any rapper's sideline donations to community efforts ever will.
Not just one of the Foo Fighters, but Dave Grohl, who actually drummed on some the tracks (first time he played drums since Nirvana).
Thanks for the background there on Dave Grohl.
Porcupine Tree—album : In absentia Sounds like Genesis meets Crosby Stills and Nash, meetsLed Zepplin.. Very melodic.. At times heavy, at times very beautiful. My current favorite. Try a google search.
October Project— now disfunct.. had 3 CD’s in the 90s on Columbia.
Dirty Vegas—disco beats but very cool melodies. One song was on the MAZDA car commericial , with The girl dancing in the front seat.
Spocks Beard
Your description of those bands is very interesting. I remember something about an "In absentia" album but the band Porcupine Tree barely registers with me. I am again reminded of how little I know about the more currents bands in the last 8 years or so.
My list of "To Buy" albums continues to grow.
This material is all good Prog rock.
Thank god for the internet Coz the RIAA and record industry dont give a rats ass if we hear Good music or not they just pump out the same crap and hype what THEY THINK WILL SELL!! There is plenty of good music in the world it just seems nowadays you really have to search it out....the days of underground FM are gone. The underground is now on the internet, and the RIAA is trying to kill that!! If any of you like Pink Floyd you may wanna check out Camel at http://www.camelproductions.com/ These guys are Indies now thanks to the net.
That's right! I remember now...
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