Over time I have become increasingly convinced that Kashmir is one of the great masterworks of Western Civilization. Yes I am a proud Zeppelin fanboy given to flights of hyperbole. Getting to know this great song is like peeling back the layers of an onion. One consistent thread for me with this song is the deft, subtle nature of the arrangement for strings and horns. The more I listen to it, the more maddening it is to precisely separate which instruments are weaving in and around the drums, bass, and guitar. Being a big Beatles fan, I had an epiphany a few years ago when I realized that one of the crucial aspects of their creative hot streak between June 1967 and November 1968 was the marrying of rock music and instruments (oboe, clarinet, etc.) most commonly associated with orchestras. The epiphany came when I realized that someone (George Martin?) had to physically hand-write the scores that would then be played by other musicians. A bold blend of rock and classical instrumentation. But someone had to write the scores. If this individual was Martin (as I doubt any Beatle had the ability to write musical notation at that time, though I could be wrong), then his stature grows even larger to me as a presence with this band. Which leads me to Kashmir. Searching the archives here for an answer to who wrote the sheet music to Kashmir, I came across this entry a few years back: “12.) Regarding Kashmir and the ghost track of the orchestra parts. Has there been any information regarding the names of the session players for the left over ghost track that remains? Is the handwritten sheet music put together by JPJ that was dated November 10, 1976 been located since it’s sale? Any idea who Chris was who drew up that sheet music?” I was unable to find an answer to this individual’s question. So, I wonder: 1) what is this “ghost track,” exactly? 2) was the sheet music actually written by Jones? 3) who sold the sheet music, and to whom? 4) who is Chris? Hey Steve A. Jones, can you help a brother out? Anyway, a great use of strings. Bonham and Plant always blow me away. While on the topic of the instruments involved in the recording of this track, I wanted to pose a second question. Is it a mellotron that is heard in the left channel between 3:25 and 4:21? And also in the right channel from 6:43 to the end? To me, Jones’ parts here are crucial to the middle-eastern feel of the song. While on the topic of the mellotron, I found this recently. It contains photos of Jones’ mellotrons: http://www.reocities.../mellotron.html I searched the archives and found that this page has not yet been posted or referred to. Third and final question. Is the distortion on Bonham’s single-stroke snare roll at 8:07 the same synth that was used on his timpani/kettle drums on the 1977 tour? If no one can help with the orchestral instrumentation, I might send Kashmir on disc to my uncle, who was Costa Rica’s symphony conductor in the seventies. I am sure he can sniff out what is buried in there. Thanks for the help. I love Kashmir. One of my favorite songs by any band. In The Light since 1972. Trampled Under Foot. My life with Led Zeppelin. http://petedelorean.tumblr.com/

*****NOTE: I am new to this forum; I am NOT new to anything Led Zeppelin. Please, I ask you to ignore the first part of that sentence, and consider the second. Appreciated. ****** ***The Song Remains the Same Complete Re-EDIT On Way! *** [Note]: Individual evaluation only, not a means of piracy; this will NOT be distributed in any such way; again, my individual evaluations I've always preferred original TSRTS footage, be it a bootleg or 8mm. However, the actual viewing experience is rather limited by the subpar quality even terrible for 1970's cinematics. Honestly, the "film" portions of the film (I know, that sounds redundant, whatever) are pretty ugly. When one compares the close-up concert sequences re-filmed, the viewing experience becomes exhilarating. Add original panoramas of the actual crowd; the experience is timeless. And, of course, 1920 X 1080 resolution is absolutely stunning. The producers made their best intentions to create the best viewing experience possible during the time. The only reason I bring this thought up is because of a project I am working on to re-edit TSRTS (film) as close to original setlist as possible, while still retaining an apex entertainment factor. The fan-edition looks great, but I wish to make it even better. The plans are as follows: 1. Rip 2007 Blu-Ray release as a main video reference for best consumer-attainable quality as of 2013 2. Integrate my FLAC vinyl rips as much as possible to cover the abridged / shortened scene performances and restore original song length. 3. Somehow attain the best quality original footage / bootlegs. This includes the abandoned gaps in Black Dog, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, etc. 4. The whole point of #3 is to eliminate psychedelic/fantasy sequences limiting attention on the band itself. The problem really arises from point no. 3; attaining footage to fill the gaps. I have some, but not enough. If anyone knows where to access the originals in best quality, that would be a great help! Plans for release are late December/early January 2013/2014, though this is extremely tentative and subject to change. ***This is for experimentation purposes only and NOT for personal gain, resale, or profit or mass-release and or reproduction; only individual evaluation.*** If any of you are of interest, please don't hesitate to inform me as soon as possible! Thank you for your support. -A/S

Why John Paul Jones Won't Do Any More Solo Albums MARTIN KIELTY l September 6, 2019 John Paul Jones was in a positive state of mind when he announced his debut album, Zooma. Released in 1999, the former Led Zeppelin member hoped his instrumental LP would lead to a return to major-league touring and also to further studio projects. And while it did, it wasn't a direct route, and he never got over the disappointment he encountered on the road. "No, no, no, I can't be arsed," he said in 2018 after being asked about further solo projects. "We toured the world, sold out shows, then promoters started insisting I get a bloody singer. It was instrumental music, but I'm not Jeff Beck. I remember a promoter saying, 'We can't grow it."Oh, well, fuck you all." Until the drag effect began to show, Jones was enjoying life on the road with bassist Nick Beggs and drummer Terl Bryant. "It's nice for me," he'd told Expose. "With different tours in the past, you're not in control as to who is on the road with you to make it as pleasant as possible. It's a nice team now, and we're all pulling together." He was even prepared for the inevitable focus of the press. "I do radio interviews, and Zeppelin gets a lot of radio airplay, which is still amazing to this day," he said. "After the interview is over, I do ask them to see if they would play a track from my album. You have to be realistic: Give them a few Zeppelin things and maybe they'll play a few Zooma things." Still, he added, "having decided to do this, I wanted to avoid dong any coat-tailing." The momentum of that album (Zooma) led to 2001's follow-up The Thunderthief - complete with Jones on lead vocals. "What happened was, halfway through what was basically going to be an instrumental album, but was also a continuation from Zooma, I decided it'd be really nice to have voices," he told Ink19 in 2002. "I didn't want to get a guest vocalist in, for a couple of reasons actually. One is that I know that I'd forget what I was doing and work on producing them, whoever the vocalist was. I would immediately turn into a producer and it would go somewhere else." Not for the first time, he lamented the fact that his work wasn't getting him onto the size of stages he wanted. "I'd like to headline again, because then I can do my long show with the keyboards and things," Jones explained. "But I may have to open for somebody else, again, because we really need to play to more people. It's just maddening. I mean, we call sell out Irving Plaza [In New York City], but there comes a point where that's the biggest one we can sell out, because nobody knows us. _ We really just need to play to more people." After The Thunderthief, though, Jones stopped pursuing solo work and went back to collaborations. It wasn't as if this was new for him - he started out as a session musician, sometimes recording several different styles of music in a single day. His post-Zeppelin catalog as arranger, composer and sometimes performer included credits with Brian Eno, the Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., Heart and many others (Allmusic lists a total of 907 credits throughout his career.) Notably, in 2005 Jones appeared on Foo Fighters' album In Your Honor, playing mandolin on the song "Miracle," leading frontman Dave Grohl to admit, "I know I sound ridiculous, but some bands are like a religion to me. Led Zeppelin are just ... I ran around the room screaming. 'Guess who I just fucking got a call from?' If I say it's the greatest thing that happened to me in my life, my wife will get mad, so it's the second greatest." A few years later - and after an attempt to continue working with Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham after Led Zeppelin's one-off reunion show proved to be just that - Jones co-founded Them Crooked Vultures with Grohl and Josh Homme. That interaction put him on the kind of stages he was missing from his Zeppelin days. Speaking just after the release of their self-titled album, Jones discussed another factor in the process of deciding how to continue his career. "I couldn't get arrested in the '80s at all," he told the Telegraph. "After the Beatles broke up, would you have asked Paul McCartney if he'd be in your band? Nobody thought I would do anything, and I didn't really want to join another band after Zeppelin, because I knew nothing would ever be as good as that. "I rehearsed with Jimmy and Jason quite a lot of last year. We'd put so much into [the reunion show] together, we thought, "Let's just start another band.' We wrote new material, but we couldn't really agree on singers, and it didn't work out. But after that, I was in that mindset where I'd probably do some touring. My parents were in variety, so I've always felt at home onstage. When Dave came along and said, 'Do you fancy trying out with Josh?' I jumped at it." The supergroup toured through 2010 to positive reviews, and even though Them Crooked Vultures have done nothing since then, all three have expressed the desire to reactivate the band when their schedules are lighter. "It was one of the highlights of my life when John Paul Jones said, 'Now I've been in two great bands," Grohl recalled in 2012. "That was a huge deal for me!" In 2011, Jones returned to the blues, starting a collaboration with British artist Seasick Steve that spawned two albums and more live shows. Since then, Jones has been involved in a number of other projects, including live appearances with improvisational band Supersilent, projects with former members of R.E.M. and others and work on an opera. This year has included a performance with an experimental trio featuring Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and the formation of a duo called Sons of Chipotle with Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen. But it seems Jones' favorite collaboration remains the ones he undertakes with concert crowds. "The audience is the main difference, the feedback," he said in 2003. "In the studio you can, to a certain extent, get feedback from other musicians, perhaps. - In the studio, you shouldn't be like that, but you're trying to get things right more often, because you know it's going to go down on tape. If you make a mistake and it's a really good take, they have to do the whole thing again, so you try not to make a mistake. Onstage, you don't care. You can take chances because you know once it's gone, unless it comes back on a DVD _ it's gone. Onstage you can go further _ plus the feedback from the audience, that can result in a really good concert.' https://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-paul-jones-solo-albums/

Hi, I have used this time while in lockdown to feed my love of everything Led Zeppelin. Thought some of you may enjoy some of these collaborations I have completed while in lockdown with fellow musicians from around the world. We also have more to come so if you would like to subscribe to my channel please do. kind regards