I just finished reading Hammer Of The Gods...

[ThreeSticks]

That's one that I have yet to read and look forward to doing so. Some of the violence that went down is awful to read about these days, but I guess one has to put oneself back in those times when artists were getting ripped off constantly. Some questionable practices needed to be enacted in order to break up the gold old boy's network of robbing artist's blind. But LZ had the distinct advantage of possessing a self-financed, classic debut album that was crafted by a respected musician, session player and producer. From the very get go, they were able to set their own rules because the album was already complete. If you were a record company that wanted the album, it was on LZ's terms. Most artists back then (and even today) get signed and from the very get go owe money to the label.

[Mercurious]

15 hours ago, Xolo1974 said:

Yeah he showed up. It's all in 'The Man who Led Zeppelin'. 

That's one I haven't read yet. Must find. 

[Bozoso73]

Just wondering does anyone know what Cole got for "Stairway To Heaven"? Since he only got $1250 for HOTG. . .

[IpMan]

9 hours ago, Bozoso73 said:

Just wondering does anyone know what Cole got for "Stairway To Heaven"? Since he only got $1250 for HOTG. . .

Jesus Christ, he sold his soul for only $1,250??? Damn, all he needs is a bag of hamburgers and a hook-up named O-Dog.

[The Old Hermit]

Okayyyy... having just finished HotG recently - read it years ago and literally didn't remember a thing about it, so recently gave it a re-read - I have to say it was rather more tame than it's reputation and infamy suggests; yeah, it's loaded with salacious tales of sex, drugs, and violence, but the book itself didn't seem, to me at least, to be solely focused on that aspect of the band's tenure - certainly both Mick Wall's and Barney Hoskyns' respective Zep bios don't skimp on the mayhem either - it's mostly an historical account of the Zeppelin saga and does sometimes go out of its way to give context and another side to a particular story...  I enjoyed it even whilst easily spotting numerous inaccuracies.  As to it's supposed 'loose' historical veracity, I would say much of what is written probably did happen but maybe Davis' accounts are a little wonky in timelines and actual specific details of how it all played out at the time... human memory is the least trustworthy of all, more so when booze, birds, and blow enter the equation.

If I have an overriding complaint about the book, it does indeed sound like Davis had an agenda against John Paul Jones, who is continually portrayed throughout as difficult, taciturn, and aloof when the actuality of it was he just an all-round professional and a pretty easy-going guy who wasn't phased by all the madness going on around him and who kept his dignity and wits throughout whilst others were losing theirs in a blizzard of increasing and escalating insanity.

Would I recommend the book to anyone?  Yeah I would, it's a fun read and a good introduction for any Zep newbie (just read it with a pinch of salt at the ready)... but at the same time, I would strongly recommend both Mick Wall's When Giants Walked The Earth and (especially) Barney Hoskyns' Trampled Under Foot... between those three books, you get a pretty complete panoramic picture of what went down (in all senses) for those twelve incredible years.

[BledZabbath]

I read it years ago myself, and enjoyed it.

[White Phone]

On 11/22/2018 at 8:38 AM, The Old Hermit said:

Okayyyy... having just finished HotG recently - read it years ago and literally didn't remember a thing about it, so recently gave it a re-read - I have to say it was rather more tame than it's reputation and infamy suggests; yeah, it's loaded with salacious tales of sex, drugs, and violence, but the book itself didn't seem, to me at least, to be solely focused on that aspect of the band's tenure - certainly both Mick Wall's and Barney Hoskyns' respective Zep bios don't skimp on the mayhem either - it's mostly an historical account of the Zeppelin saga and does sometimes go out of its way to give context and another side to a particular story...  I enjoyed it even whilst easily spotting numerous inaccuracies.  As to it's supposed 'loose' historical veracity, I would say much of what is written probably did happen but maybe Davis' accounts are a little wonky in timelines and actual specific details of how it all played out at the time... human memory is the least trustworthy of all, more so when booze, birds, and blow enter the equation.

If I have an overriding complaint about the book, it does indeed sound like Davis had an agenda against John Paul Jones, who is continually portrayed throughout as difficult, taciturn, and aloof when the actuality of it was he just an all-round professional and a pretty easy-going guy who wasn't phased by all the madness going on around him and who kept his dignity and wits throughout whilst others were losing theirs in a blizzard of increasing and escalating insanity.

Would I recommend the book to anyone?  Yeah I would, it's a fun read and a good introduction for any Zep newbie (just read it with a pinch of salt at the ready)... but at the same time, I would strongly recommend both Mick Wall's When Giants Walked The Earth and (especially) Barney Hoskyns' Trampled Under Foot... between those three books, you get a pretty complete panoramic picture of what went down (in all senses) for those twelve incredible years.

Couldn't agree more, and each book has its own place and is vital in its own way.  The Davis book broke the ice and pulled back the veil.  It was derided as BS by many corners upon its release but imo, all these years later, most of it seems to be plausible at worst.  The only thing keeping Wall's book from being a big time home run are his contrived "fantasy sequences" (Wall apparently learning nothing from TSRTS film!).  But again, nothing seems too egregious in terms of inaccuracies, again imo.  The Hoskyns book may be definitive in that it seems to have the most on the record sources from folks who were actually there.

[Mithril46]

Not mentioned much is how , before HOTG, so many secrets or half-true secrets about Jimmy were somehow not suspected or

hidden, or what. Even when the ARMS shows were taking place in the US and covered by Rolling Stone, tiny hints were given at

some "possible" addiction Page might have, but this is 1983 and Page was at least a "75%" addict since 77', does RS have something to be afraid of ?? So to me an enormous problem with a lot of the books is Jimmy was a legendary recluse at times,

causing endless speculation on his activities, and it also seemed like up to HOTG , someone( Grant, Cole, Bindon ?) may have been in charge of threatening anyone revealing damaging info about Jimmy. I was and am a huge Zep fan since I was a kid in 77', and of course everybody thought the band partied, got girls every night, but HOTG was an unexpected tidal wave, the gangsterism and Jimmy's Heroin addiction huge disappointments. But also left out of almost all books is that Jimmy was a lot

more athletic and concerned with such matters than many think. He actually told one of his neighbors in 80' or 81' to keep quiet about him running laps around his property, it would "ruin his image".