Peter Grant book

[dpat]

From Nick Kent's interview of Jimmy Page (Feb. 2003) in Q Magazine's special edition on Led Zeppelin:

Q: What do you recall of that last American show?

Page: It was particularly ugly. All I could see were people getting pulled over the barriers and beaten up, and it was a horrible to play in front of that. There was a very nasty, heavy energy about the whole day. I don't know what arguments had gone on between Peter and Bill Graham but I know it was getting very ugly behind the stage. Our people beat up one of Graham's security guards. It was a scandal, just abhorrent. But it was going on out front all the time so it was "like attracting like" in a sense.

Q: Peter Grant had started to fall apart by then, it seems.

Page: He was very, very affected by his divorce.

Q: What on earth inspired him (Grant) to employ John Bindon to look after the band?

Page: Now he was a very scary person to be around. I don't know how John Bindon came on the scene but I do know it was a recipe for disaster. There was someone he beat up at a party one time. He could do this because he was a gueset of Peter Grant. I don't know why Peter felt he needed John Bindon there. He already had the reputation of being a killer.

[Custom Hearse]

I think you meant to say TSRTS, released in 1976, was filmed in 1973 and 1974.

Well.... DUH!!!! I gotta remember to put my brain in gear....

[whitedog]

From Nick Kent's interview of Jimmy Page (Feb. 2003) in Q Magazine's special edition on Led Zeppelin:

Q: What do you recall of that last American show?

Page: It was particularly ugly. All I could see were people getting pulled over the barriers and beaten up, and it was a horrible to play in front of that. There was a very nasty, heavy energy about the whole day. I don't know what arguments had gone on between Peter and Bill Graham but I know it was getting very ugly behind the stage. Our people beat up one of Graham's security guards. It was a scandal, just abhorrent. But it was going on out front all the time so it was "like attracting like" in a sense.

Q: Peter Grant had started to fall apart by then, it seems.

Page: He was very, very affected by his divorce.

Q: What on earth inspired him (Grant) to employ John Bindon to look after the band?

Page: Now he was a very scary person to be around. I don't know how John Bindon came on the scene but I do know it was a recipe for disaster. There was someone he beat up at a party one time. He could do this because he was a gueset of Peter Grant. I don't know why Peter felt he needed John Bindon there. He already had the reputation of being a killer.

THANK YOU 'dpat' for this fascinating article I couldn'nt have said it better,I started this thread and was practically publicly lynched,Zeppelin by this time had become a the antithesis of 'peace & love' it started as.The power,money and drugs was overwhelming, they could sell out Madison Square Gardens 7 nights in a row!!! thats how massive the legend had grown.No wonder after 77 Plant wanted nothing to do with singing Stairway to Heaven,a song of hope.Lets all hope again the new millenium brings back Zep in all it's glory...Cheers everyone

[Medhb]

All differences aside....pertaining to the original post....the book is a 'must read' for any Zep fan. Perhaps the situation was summed up in rather crass terms but really, by all accounts things had really gotten quite bad for the group by then...put it into any words you like but...it wasn't 'good'.

[SteveAJones]

THANK YOU 'dpat' for this fascinating article I couldn'nt have said it better,I started this thread and was practically publicly lynched,Zeppelin by this time had become a the antithesis of 'peace & love' it started as.The power,money and drugs was overwhelming, they could sell out Madison Square Gardens 7 nights in a row!!! thats how massive the legend had grown.No wonder after 77 Plant wanted nothing to do with singing Stairway to Heaven,a song of hope.Lets all hope again the new millenium brings back Zep in all it's glory...Cheers everyone

Sorry, IMHO Jimmy's vision for Led Zeppelin was not rooted in "peace and love" music.

Suffice to say they ultimately navigated thru an era of collective self-indulgence.

I just want to mention there has been a John Bindon biography published and it contains a few anecdotes pertaining to his association with Peter Grant. The book is rather slim

(he drank...he brawled...he died) but it does present his tale nonetheless.

[led_head]

Sorry guys to ruin your rock & roll fantasy but sadly life is real,I'm a Zep fan from the early 70's.Zeppelin did'nt disintergrate for nothing, life on the Zeppelin was rapidly turning from a magical foursome who created some of the best music of the 70's into a nightmare, it all went to there heads,why do you think Robert Plant wants nothing to do with 70's cock rock extravagance AND has said watching 'Song Reamains The Same' is embarrising.Page WAS a heroin addict whose playing was wasting not to mention his health ,Bonham WAS a violent alcholic due to homesickness ,Jones DID escape with his wife after that fiassco, Grant WAS a severe coke head ,who admitted to hiding in his mansion after Bonhams death suffering from the classic symtoms of cocaine ,paranoia and anti social behaviour,not to mention that fighter Grant hired to protect the band,a man with a criminal record.Graham himself called them thugs looking for any reason to show ther power at the drop of a hat...why is everyone having such a hard time accepting life as we know it... divorce,alcholism,drug abuse,death,denial,acceptance,rebirth

rock n roll at it's finest

[z1inspector]

im hopeing theres ALOT more interesting info in the book other than THAT incident

[z1inspector]

BUT HOW was the rest of the book? any good insight on grants view of the band , or songs ? or any fun stories?

his perspective must of been one of amazement & a  hellofa ride too! 

[rockthing]

Though written rather simplistically, I thought the book was really interesting.

I'd recommend it to anyone who's read Hammer of the Gods multiple times and is looking for another perspective.

 

... The Man Who Led Zeppelin... cheeky sub title to boot.

[NealR2000]

As Zep books go, I quite liked it.  It was published at a time where there was very little out there in the form of accounts that covered the era following Bonham's death and the band's breakup.  It gives a fairly good account of Grant's mental and physical decline, holed up in his house.  Not only was he falling apart, but so was his personal and professional life.  I liked the last part, which covered his recovery and his final years enjoying himself.

[SteveAJones]

^^^

This.

[Mithril46]

Well, I like the book, but you have to be a real Zep fan to fully engage in it, as these postings make it appear as if the book

is at least 75% about Zep. Not really. And about Grant's overall conduct as manager of Zep, If I remember correctly in

the book Celebration ll by Dave Lewis, there's a lengthy interview with Grant, and he's many years sober, and he is 

actually horrified and extremely remorseful about his violent excesses. In fact he mentioned that he actually cried

about this stuff. I must have about 40 Zep books, so If I'm mentioning the wrong book, then correct me. A great

interview besides.

[z1inspector]

1 hour ago, Mithril46 said:

 I must have about 40 Zep books, so If I'm mentioning the wrong book, then correct me. A great

interview besides.

hey thanks mith & everyone else ! im going to order it asap then!

so what other books do u recommend ?40? woe!

[IpMan]

On May 22, 2008 at 7:30 PM, Evster2012 said:

 

 

 

Oh and as for Bonham being a "full blown drunk", let me tell you a bit about alcoholism. Mr Bonham aspirated vomit into his lungs. That would be because his body rejected the alcohol. True alcoholics don't do that. It's what their body craves and their body becomes settled when they drink. The alcoholic body doesn't reject alcohol. So yes, maybe Bonzo drank too much, but by my definition, a full blown drunk is an alcoholic, and were Mr Bonham an alcoholic, he'd have died of organ failure, not the way he did. So maybe he was a social drinker who enjoyed a few pints and on this day had too much. Just a little perspective.

Hi there Ev...let me correct you on a misconception within your post. Regardless of how used to massive quantities of alcohol a body can acclimate to, there is still a point, usually between .35 & .42 blood alcohol level where the body will reject the booze, this is called accute ethanol toxicity, better known as alcohol poisoning. When this occurs the body will begin to purge the stomach of all contents and pulmonary activity will slow. If someone is placed on their side when this happens they will not aspirate on the vomit, however, if no one notices this activity the body's pulmonary function may cease and the person die pf pulmonary failure caused by ethanol toxicity. So, if Bonham was on his side, there is a 50 / 50 chance he would have still died since he was unattended.

Sure, Bonham can drink but 40 oz of vodka over a 12 hour period is too much for any human body to process.

Such a shame because I believe everyone in the band at that time were all in their own little bubble and could not see the forrest for the trees. Jimmy coming to practice looking like he was just liberated from the camps and no one gives a shit? Bonham telling the band, and Plant in particular, repeatedly, that he did not want to tour, did not want to leave his family, that he was afraid due to the Oakland incident, yet no one thought, "hmmm, Jimmy's on H, Bonzo is drinking more than usual and scared...naaaa, all good here, lets practice!" I really, for the life of me cannot understand why Robert at least did not simply say, fuck this, no tour, band needs an indefinite hiatus until we can all work out that which needs working out.

[Mithril46]

Tried to recommend some books, but was deleted---maybe a bit off topic, whatever.

[SteveAJones]

7 hours ago, IpMan said:

I really, for the life of me cannot understand why Robert at least did not simply say, fuck this, no tour, band needs an indefinite hiatus until we can all work out that which needs working out.

You may recall it was Bonham who encouraged, cajoled, pushed, implored Robert to return to the fold so that they could continue. The Over Europe '80 tour was more or less a success, so Robert's compromise was he'd tour the states but for no more than a month. 

[NealR2000]

By that stage, the whole massive juggernaut that was Led Zeppelin was moving forward.  A whole lot of contractural commitments had been signed.  Hundreds of people's livelihoods were dependent on all this.  For any one of the major players to see the light and call it off would have been unthinkable.  Add to that things like ego, fan pressure, and a feeling of invincibility, and you can see why the train just had to keep a rolling.  In many ways, it was this massive traveling circus that Plant later in life came to detest and vow to never return to.

[Mithril46]

Correct me if I'm wrong, or cancel if I'm wrong, but wasn't there still some possibility that Bonzo, Grant,etc., might still

face civil liabilities for the Oakland incident if they came to the states ?? Could have sworn that I read Bonzo was quite

nervous about this , this accelerated his drinking. I know there was some kind of deal between Graham and Zep eventually( I think), but not covering a civil suit, unless what I read was incorrect. Whatever, Bonzo was actually nervous about that---- perhaps a retribution from Graham's crew ??

[The Old Hermit]

15 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

You may recall it was Bonham who encouraged, cajoled, pushed, implored Robert to return to the fold so that they could continue. The Over Europe '80 tour was more or less a success, so Robert's compromise was he'd tour the states but for no more than a month. 

And that encouragement toward Plant to get back in the fray ultimately cost Bonzo his life... what a sad and tragic irony.

[IpMan]

16 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

You may recall it was Bonham who encouraged, cajoled, pushed, implored Robert to return to the fold so that they could continue. The Over Europe '80 tour was more or less a success, so Robert's compromise was he'd tour the states but for no more than a month. 

Yes, you are correct but does anyone know the terms? Maybe Bonham wanted to stay together as a recording band and play only a few gigs once in a while. It just does not make sense to me that Bonham would convince Robert to stay in the band on the one hand, then become nervous and scared at the thought of touring America again, even for such a short tour, to the point of engaging in extremely destructive behavior. It was my understanding that after the death of Robert's son Bonham actually quit heroin and became quite healthy until the 80' European tour. Then, the last picture (I believe) of Bonham taken days before his death shows him about 50lbs lighter than he was for the Knebworth gigs, I mean he actually looks thin, not Jimmy thin but thinner than he had ever been before. The man was obviously in trouble in some respect, plus, he was suffering from severe dysentery and cramps during the European tour if memory serves me.

[in_the_evening]

As for Page being a full blown junkie at this point, wasn't it 77 and Page either came off stage or was due to go on shortly, and one of the promoters saw him and said to Grant "is that guy gonna live"?  I remember seeing that someplace and I believe it was 77. 

[babysquid]

On 5 March 2016 at 0:32 AM, IpMan said:

Then, the last picture (I believe) of Bonham taken days before his death shows him about 50lbs lighter than he was for the Knebworth gigs, I mean he actually looks thin, not Jimmy thin but thinner than he had ever been before. 

No I' no doctor but I lost a lot of weight and suddenly I couldn't drink anyway near as much as I used to and I used to drink a lot. If what you say is true could this possibly be a factor that led to his death?

[rm2551]

On 3/5/2016 at 10:32 AM, IpMan said:

It just does not make sense to me that Bonham would convince Robert to stay in the band on the one hand, then become nervous and scared at the thought of touring America again, even for such a short tour, to the point of engaging in extremely destructive behavior.

It may be that was not the cause and effect. Might be more the partying and rock-God lifestyle was too much of a temptation. Once the partying started up again he wwent from good or at least manageable place (mindset) to PAAAARTTYYYYYYY. The touring was the devil's own temptation.

[kingzoso]

On ‎3‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 7:38 PM, in_the_evening said:

As for Page being a full blown junkie at this point, wasn't it 77 and Page either came off stage or was due to go on shortly, and one of the promoters saw him and said to Grant "is that guy gonna live"?  I remember seeing that someplace and I believe it was 77. 

It was Jerry Weintraub, who promoted Elvis Presley and Led Zeppelin, that he apparently saw Jimmy Page in a bad state and said what you quoted and yes it was in 1977. 

What I find very ironic (and unfortunate) is that Jerry Weintraub died about a year or two ago and Jimmy Page is still alive.   I don't think that Jerry did as much drugs as Jimmy did, but, nonetheless, they were in the same entertainment business that Cocaine was just a motivating factor as were American dollars and American fame. 

[Mithril46]

Does anyone have that picture of Bonzo when he supposedly lost 50 lbs ??  I've never seen this or read about it.

Sometimes very bad alcoholics get malabsorption syndrome, where you can lose a lot of weight because your'e

not able to absorb calories or nutrients properly. But that is obviously pure speculation. And the thing with Page

and drugs is more murky than some think. At first, from Hammer of the Gods apparently Page was an addict

for 6-7 yrs straight. Then , much much later, it turns out there were quite a few pauses in use or attempts to quit.

Most forget that for a long time, Jimmy was observed as a pretty disciplined person. That comment about Page,

though a valid observation, makes me think that Page was only able to get thru 77'-80' live(not always well)

through sheer will. The drugs had won, but Jimmy was still able to play a show however haphazardly.