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.
Just listen to the harmonies.
Those were indeed beautiful harmonies and many groups of that time, including the folk groups were centered around vocal harmonies. I don't know why this has become a lost art in today's music. It was music in its purest form.
My original take on Zep is that their music is really folk music. In that it's under produced, under instrumented, minimalist compared to the pop garbage today. Remember that Zep was pop in it's day.
I agree. Zep was a revolutionary band and constant experimentation was the foundation of everything they (especially Page) did. They brought in all kinds of influences ranging from folk, blues, heavy metal, good ol' rock and roll, Irish ballads even eastern music into the mix. And yes, instead of the constant flat blare of sound that defines much of the music today Zep like the Doors and others had airy depth about their music (even when Page and Bonham were raging) with frequent turns in their songs or changing rhythms. You can't achieve that degree of depth when you have a constant rumbling bass, keyboards, 2 guitars, an over busy drummer and screaming vocals all playing at the same time. Zep always kept it interesting--to say the least.
That is what I used to think until I actually sat down and listened to his drumming. His work on the latest QOTSA album is incredible. I was honestly blown away.
Bonham was dead at 32. Grohl is 33 or 34 right now and has been playing drums most of his life. Why couldn't he be excellent?
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no. Far from it. Livgren was the lead guitarist, second keyboardist, and primary songwriter from the beginning of the band. He left in '84 to pursue a career as a Christian recording artist. Williams didn't even join the band until the late '90's.
No, you are mistaken. Williams is an original member and has always been in the band (in the 1970's he wore a tux to all the gigs). Go check some of your old Kansas albums - he has always been in the band and was the primary lead guitarist. I don’t think he was part of the late 1980’s early 1990’s version with Steve Morris – but he is an original member and it was he that played many of the Kansas signature rifs
Check out this interview with Rich Williams of Kansas
You might want to do a wee bit of research before you claim somebody is wrong - particularlly when you try to make a big deal out of it like saying “Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no. Far from it.” Why would you make such a bold statement when you clearly don’t know much about Kansas
Bob Dylan has been touring pretty much non-stop for over 40 years, and the Stones are pretty close.
but all this must pass (RIP-George Harrison).
RIP indeed. ...And a bump to Harrison's 1970 classic All Things Must Pass, one of the best albums in the history of the genre.
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