The cancelled World Tour August 1975

[joeboy]

On August 4, 1975, Robert Plant rode in the passenger seat with his wife Maureen at the wheel when the car veered off the road and slammed into a tree. Plant shattered his right leg in addition to breaking his right elbow and ankle, while everyone else also suffered serious injuries. Doctors told him he’d have six months before he could walk without aid, according to LZ-’75: The Lost Chronicles of Led Zeppelin’s 1975 North American Tour.

Jimmy Pagesaid in an interview with the U.K. music magazine Sounds: “There’s a lot of urgency about it…There’s a lot of attack to the music.”

Plant told Rolling Stone in 1976 he continued to work through his injury because he didn’t have much of a choice:

“My only alternative was to turn around and stand against the storm with my teeth gritted and fists clenches and make an album. All the energy that had been smoldering inside us getting ready for a lot of gigs came out in the writing and later in the studio. What we have is an album that is so Zeppelin. It sounds like the hammer of the gods.”

[SteveAJones]

Robert said he celebrated New Year's Day in Paris by taking his first step since the auto accident in August 1975.

[kingzoso]

10 hours ago, joeboy said:

Plant told Rolling Stone in 1976 he continued to work through his injury because he didn’t have much of a choice:

“My only alternative was to turn around and stand against the storm with my teeth gritted and fists clenches and make an album. All the energy that had been smoldering inside us getting ready for a lot of gigs came out in the writing and later in the studio. What we have is an album that is so Zeppelin. It sounds like the hammer of the gods.”

I may or may not be correct in this statement, but I believe this was said with an interview with Lisa Robinson.  I know she wrote for Creem magazine (and also Hit Parader).  I don't know if she ever wrote pieces for "Rolling Stone" magazine. 

After Robert's "injury", the whole band convened in Los Angeles to begin writing new songs for the next album.  When that did not seem to work out to well (every member out doing their "own" thing), the band re-convened in Malibu, Califorinia.  From Malibu, Led Zeppelin flew to Munich, Germany to record what would become Presence, in the basement of the Arabella Hotel. 

"Achilles Last Stand" was first rehearsed in Malibu with Robert Plant still in a wheelchair and Benji pushing Robert from here to there. 

[sam_webmaster]

Official press release... I should dig up a scan of it:

-------------------------------------------------

Plant Car Accident, Tour Postponed (Press Release)

Swan Song Inc. Official Press Release: AUGUST 8, 1975

LED ZEPPELIN AUGUST-SEPTEMBER TOUR POSTPONED FOLLOWING AUTO ACCIDENT OF LEAD SINGER ROBERT PLANT AND HIS FAMILY ON GREEK ISLAND.

The August-September tour of English supergroup, Led Zeppelin, has been postponed following an auto accident on the small Greek island of Rhodos in which Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant and members of his family were injured.

The accident took place on Monday afternoon, August 4th. Due to the nature and extent of the injuries sustained by Plant and his family, and the inadequate medical facilities in Rhodos, a member of the London staff of Swan Song, Led Zeppelin's record company, flew to Rhodos in a chartered jet equipped with stretchers, blood plasma, and two doctors from Harley St., England's finest medical center.

Plant and his family are currently under intensive care in a London hospital. Earlier today, physicians there diagnosed his injuries as multiple fractures of ankle, bones supporting the foot, and elbow. Following this diagnosis, it was announced by Led Zeppelin manager, Peter Grant, and Zeppelin attorney, Steve Weiss, that the August-September American tour was postponed, as was the October tour that had been scheduled for the Far East. Additionally, there is the possibility that the scheduled November tour of Europe and December tour of Japan may also have to be postponed.

Within the next couple of weeks, doctors expect to have a better idea of when Plant will be recovered and able to perform again.

Plant's wife, Maureen, also in the car, suffered a lengthy period of concussions, and has broken her leg in several places. She has four fractures of the pelvis and facial lacerations. Plant's son, Karac, 4, suffered a fractured leg and multiple cuts and bruises. His daughter, Carmen 7, has a broken wrist, cuts and bruises.

The band was due to begin rehearsals for their forthcoming U.S. tour, in Paris on August 14. 110,000 tickets to two shows at the Oakland Stadium were completely sold out at $10 apiece. Among the other concerts which were postponed were those in Los Angeles at the Rose Bowl, Kansas City, Louisville, New Orleans, Tempe, Arizona, Denver, and Atlanta. 

Danny Goldberg, Vice-President of Swan Song in the U.S.A., said that any fans or well wishers who wish to write to Plant or his family can write care of Swan Song, 484 Kings Road, London S.W.10 OLF, England.

Led Zeppelin has been called the biggest group in rock and roll. They hold the record for the largest attendance ever drawn by a single act: 56,800 who paid to see them at Tampa Stadium in Florida on May 5, 1973, toppling a seven year old Beatles record. Their six albums have sold in excess of 15 million copies world-wide, and their most recent tour of America last winter broke records all over the country. Besides Plant, the group consists of Jimmy Page, Lead guitar, John Paul Jones, bass and keyboards, and John Bonham, drummer. Their manager is Peter Grant who is also president of Swan Song.

--

http://www.ledzeppelin.com/event/august-8-1975

[badgeholder]

I had a ticket to the Rose Bowl show and was very much looking forward to it

[joeboy]

Here's my take.......

Jimmy was rehearsing new versions of the old songs and was finally going to show the world the peak of his creativity starting August 23rd 1975.    He practiced all summer after Earl's Court like a man possessed pushing himself beyond normal human limits.  When word came about Robert's accident it was like a rug was pulled out from under him.  He couldn't understand how at the pinnacle of success life could deliver a death blow.  It was a downward spiral from then on and only his work on Presence and the Song Remains the Same kept him from totally losing it. 

[SteveAJones]

On 10/17/2016 at 3:06 PM, kingzoso said:

I may or may not be correct in this statement, but I believe this was said with an interview with Lisa Robinson.  I know she wrote for Creem magazine (and also Hit Parader).  I don't know if she ever wrote pieces for "Rolling Stone" magazine. 

After Robert's "injury", the whole band convened in Los Angeles to begin writing new songs for the next album.  When that did not seem to work out to well (every member out doing their "own" thing), the band re-convened in Malibu, Califorinia.  From Malibu, Led Zeppelin flew to Munich, Germany to record what would become Presence, in the basement of the Arabella Hotel. 

"Achilles Last Stand" was first rehearsed in Malibu with Robert Plant still in a wheelchair and Benji pushing Robert from here to there. 

Jimmy & Robert got to Malibu first (in August) and rented homes in Malibu Colony. They were joined in September by Bonham and Jones for three weeks of on and off rehearsal sessions for the new album at Studio Instrument Rental (SIR) in Hollywood. I believe I have heard that Robert found the commute from Malibu to be taking too long so he started staying at a hotel on the Sunset Strip. 

[SteveAJones]

8 hours ago, joeboy said:

Here's my take.......

Jimmy was rehearsing new versions of the old songs and was finally going to show the world the peak of his creativity starting August 23rd 1975.    He practiced all summer after Earl's Court like a man possessed pushing himself beyond normal human limits.  When word came about Robert's accident it was like a rug was pulled out from under him.  He couldn't understand how at the pinnacle of success life could deliver a death blow.  It was a downward spiral from then on and only his work on Presence and the Song Remains the Same kept him from totally losing it. 

The reality is he and Robert traveled thru Morocco in June before joining the others in tax exile at Claude Nobs' home in Montreux. The day before the accident Jimmy had flown to Sicily to view a farmhouse once owned by Aleister Crowley. It is for this reason that Scarlet was with the Plant's the day of the accident.

[SteveAJones]

On 10/17/2016 at 7:06 PM, sam_webmaster said:

Following this diagnosis, it was announced by Led Zeppelin manager, Peter Grant, and Zeppelin attorney, Steve Weiss, that the August-September American tour was postponed, as was the October tour that had been scheduled for the Far East. Additionally, there is the possibility that the scheduled November tour of Europe and December tour of Japan may also have to be postponed.

Far East tour in October...Japanese tour in December...I show nothing on this, perhaps it was tentative at the time.

European tour in November...the only confirmed date I'm aware of is Helsinki on 11/5.

[paplbojo]

Reading shit like this makes me so sad

[Strider]

36 minutes ago, paplbojo said:

Reading shit like this makes me so sad

Look on the bright side...at least nobody was killed in the accident.

[paplbojo]

14 hours ago, Strider said:

Look on the bright side...at least nobody was killed in the accident.

Great point

[The Rover]

I think Satan was the source of the trouble.

He was jealous of something ... But no sympathy for him.

Recording and filming may have been planned for the end of Summer dates.

Some one did not want the absolute greatness of Led Zeppelin in 1975 to be documented for the world to see and have that standard of excellence to live under...

 

 

 

 

[chef free]

I had my tickets to the Oakland show! 

[sam_webmaster]

Ads/press for some of these cancelled 1975 shows:

 

[SteveAJones]

^^^

Those Atlanta ads are very cool.

[Strider]

Not sure if you can find it, Sam, but there was a further postponement announcement in the L.A. Times for the Rose Bowl show, when the rescheduled January 24, 1976 date was rescheduled yet again. Maybe around March or so. Can't recall the exact date, but they definitely teased us one more time before definitively cancelling the tour.

[sam_webmaster]

10 hours ago, Strider said:

Not sure if you can find it, Sam, but there was a further postponement announcement in the L.A. Times for the Rose Bowl show, when the rescheduled January 24, 1976 date was rescheduled yet again. Maybe around March or so. Can't recall the exact date, but they definitely teased us one more time before definitively cancelling the tour.

Yes, moved again to March 13.

 

Here's an interview with RP from late January '76 (published in Feb.), just before heading back home (Feb. 4):

[William Austin]

This cancelled tour has been a subject of my interest lately. I have fully realized just how different the band’s history would have been if the car accident had never happened.

Just last night I was reading about the era between the 1975 and 1977 tours in When Giants Walked The Earth. It really is a wonder the band didn’t break up in 1976. 

I guess all of the planned tour dates have never been confirmed. I haven’t been able to find a full list yet. And it appears not many tickets had been sold yet by the time the tour was cancelled. 

But based on the dates that are known, I think the tour would have looked something like this:

August 23/24 - Oakland

August 27 - Tempe

August 29 - Kansas City

August 31 - Atlanta

September 1 - Tampa

September 2 - Louisville 

September 4 - New Orleans

September 6 - Pasadena

September 8 - Denver

September 9 - Oklahoma City

 

Has anything actually been written about what Jimmy was planning with the set? Since there were no rehearsal, I’d guess that most of it is speculation. 

I think it would have been similar to the EC shows with a few switches. Some additional PG songs like Ten Years Gone, Night Flight or Wanton Song. 

Since I’ve Been Loving You probably would have been added back and Dazed discarded. The EC performances of the song were average. It seems every member of the band not named Jimmy were pretty tired of it. The 1975 renditions of HMMT were really good and could have gotten better over time if kept around. This would have been a fresh and welcome addition to the set. 

I think this could have been a great tour if only. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by William Austin

[SteveAJones]

On 11/14/2019 at 9:05 AM, William Austin said:

But based on the dates that are known, I think the tour would have looked something like this:

August 23/24 - Oakland 

August 27 - Tempe

August 29 - Kansas City

August 31 - Atlanta

September 1 - Tampa

September 2 - Louisville 

September 4 - New Orleans

September 6 - Pasadena

September 8 - Denver

September 9 - Oklahoma City

A total of 33 dates were cancelled but many remain unconfirmed. Everything above has already been confirmed with additions/corrections below.

August 10-20  Roughly ten days of tour rehearsals planned to be held in France on August 10th onwards were cancelled.

September 9 was Norman, Oklahoma

Pittsburgh (date unconfirmed)

 

Edited November 15, 2019 by SteveAJones

[joeboy]

This accident was a real death blow:

1.  Robert done for 1 1/2 years.

2.  Jimmy plans gone up in smoke.

3.  World tour cancelled.  

4. In 1975 the band was at the top of the world.  By 1977 KISS had overtaken the band in popularity.  The shine had worn off.

5.  Sinking into drug and alcohol spiral by some members.

[PeaceFrogYum]

19 minutes ago, joeboy said:

This accident was a real death blow:

 

4. In 1975 the band was at the top of the world.  By 1977 KISS had overtaken the band in popularity.  The shine had worn off.

 

I don't think so. I was around back then and remember quite well. Yes, Kiss had become very popular, but if anyone was challenging LZ it was The Who as every poll I remember from that time had the Who & Zep neck & neck with The Who usually on top. Stones were still going strong but they were lagging by this point however would reclaim the top spot in 81' with Tattoo You and the massive stadium tour which followed.

Plus, by this time KISS live was a real hit or miss with much more miss than hit due to Peter Chris's antics (stopping in the middle of songs, not starting songs, not ending songs, etc.) all because he was pissed off at Gene & Paul. I understand being upset with those two jerk-off's but to take it out on the audience??? I saw them in 79' (KISS) in Chicago and they sucked. Man did they suck. Everyone in the place was less than thrilled. One guy next to me said he would have rather gone to the Village People show!

[June72]

1 hour ago, joeboy said:

This accident was a real death blow:

1.  Robert done for 1 1/2 years.

2.  Jimmy plans gone up in smoke.

3.  World tour cancelled.  

4. In 1975 the band was at the top of the world.  By 1977 KISS had overtaken the band in popularity.  The shine had worn off.

5.  Sinking into drug and alcohol spiral by some members.

Lots of good points here, but you always need to consider that the '77 tour might not have been nearly as good as it was without that year and a half break. Robert's voice came back much more powerful, I can't imagine the increased damage it would've sustained in late '75. 

[LedZep123]

On 11/14/2019 at 1:05 PM, William Austin said:

This cancelled tour has been a subject of my interest lately. I have fully realized just how different the band’s history would have been if the car accident had never happened.

Just last night I was reading about the era between the 1975 and 1977 tours in When Giants Walked The Earth. It really is a wonder the band didn’t break up in 1976. 

I guess all of the planned tour dates have never been confirmed. I haven’t been able to find a full list yet. And it appears not many tickets had been sold yet by the time the tour was cancelled. 

But based on the dates that are known, I think the tour would have looked something like this:

August 23/24 - Oakland

August 27 - Tempe

August 29 - Kansas City

August 31 - Atlanta

September 1 - Tampa

September 2 - Louisville 

September 4 - New Orleans

September 6 - Pasadena

September 8 - Denver

September 9 - Oklahoma City

 

Has anything actually been written about what Jimmy was planning with the set? Since there were no rehearsal, I’d guess that most of it is speculation. 

I think it would have been similar to the EC shows with a few switches. Some additional PG songs like Ten Years Gone, Night Flight or Wanton Song. 

Since I’ve Been Loving You probably would have been added back and Dazed discarded. The EC performances of the song were average. It seems every member of the band not named Jimmy were pretty tired of it. The 1975 renditions of HMMT were really good and could have gotten better over time if kept around. This would have been a fresh and welcome addition to the set. 

I think this could have been a great tour if only. 

I think the setlist might've been something like this

1. Rock And Roll

2. Sick Again

3. Over The Hills And Far Away

4. In My Time Of Dying

5. Since I've Been Loving You

6. The Song Remains The Same

7. The Rain Song

8. The Wanton Song

9. Kashmir

10. No Quarter

11. Ten Years Gone

12. Trampled Under Foot

13. Moby Dick

14. Dazed And Confused (w/ Woodstock/San Francisco)

15. Stairway To Heaven

ENCORE

16. Whole Lotta Love

17. Black Dog

Going To California maybe could've been added for the Oakland/Pasadena shows. Then they would've probably performed Heartbreaker or Communication Breakdown on certain ocassions. Also, it's said that there were supposed to be 33 dates for the intenairy. I think they'd put in some dates for Toronto/Detroit area, maybe some more in the Ohio area, the South maybe. It would've been a really succesful tour in terms of financial gross and attendance.

For the Far East Tour, they inteniary would've been similar to the 1972 Australian shows.... Deep Purple had announced shows in Jakarta for December 1975, so LZ may have opted for shows in Singapore/Indonesia area. 

European Winter Tour - A date in Helsinki probably means dates in Scandinavia and probably Germany. They'd already performed in the Netherlands and Belgium as warm-up gigs for the tour, so they'd probably leave those cities til' last.

Japanese Tour - Probably just big cities like Tokyo and Osaka. 

I've heard that they were also planning on doing a British tour in 1976, along with shows in South America. The British Tour probably would've been in around January, and it wouldn't have been too big. Probably just concert halls in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff... maybe some other big cities. But I mean, they'd just played Earls Court so....

For South American shows though, not very many bands had come to the region. The Rolling Stones were supposed to perform in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela, but those were cancelled. If this did go as planned, there would've been many riots. So probably not the safest decision to perform in the region.

After they'd complete the tour, they would've worked on Presence and The Song Remains The Same. Screw that tree. 

 

[LedZep123]

On 11/15/2019 at 1:46 PM, SteveAJones said:

A total of 33 dates were cancelled but many remain unconfirmed. Everything above has already been confirmed with additions/corrections below.

August 10-20  Roughly ten days of tour rehearsals planned to be held in France on August 10th onwards were cancelled.

September 9 was Norman, Oklahoma

Pittsburgh (date unconfirmed)

 

Not so sure about Pittsburgh.... They'd already performed 2 nights there at the Civic Arena.