Meeting of the mind (and body and soul) : Robert Plant and Jessica Simpson October 30th, 2007 by Eric Greenwood · This photograph just absolutely blows my mind. The lead singer of one of the of all time conversing with with ears. I cannot fathom what these two would have to chat about, and Plant's expression is astounding. He looks as though he's fully aware how irretrievably stupid this girl is and the fact that she's actually trying to form complete sentences amuses him to no end. Several have tried the game. The winner goes to a (who I am forced to paraphrase because I can't find the original thread), but it went something like this: JS: "But I wax my hedgerow, so how could there be a bustle in it?" Gold! 4 responses so far ↓ Keith // Dec 18, 2007 at 7:08 pm Um, not that I generally defend any bubble-gum pop star but her tits are real. That I can defend without any guilt…they're nice. I love Zep. I think Rober Plant is imagining bending her over an amp and giving her the real rock star treatment. // Dec 19, 2007 at 10:32 am this response is useless without proof. Diana // Feb 3, 2008 at 6:38 pm That was cruel to say about Jessica. When you say hurtful things.. there are people out there with feelings. Think before you swing axes. Robert Plant is most likely a very wonderful and kind person. He's probably looking at her and thinking how beautiful she is. Atleast that's what I'd like to think. Be kind. Life is short. velvett // May 16, 2008 at 9:03 pm I tend to agree with Keith. This is Robert Plant after all.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Plant describes to Jessica Simpson the exact technique he uses to achieve that consistently curled coif backstage during the taping for CMT's Crossroads with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss in Lebanon, Tennesse, on October 18, 2007.

Whole Lotta Love from Katie Melua My light Spanish picking is far from Jimmy Page's epic guitar solos, but that doesn't mean late at night I don't pretend to be able to play them. I can do the dreaded intro for "Stairway to Heaven"; it's a rite of passage for any guitarist. Occasionally, the eight year-old Katie comes out and I have to jump up and down on the bed playing air guitar to "Black Dog" or "Immigrant Song". It's lucky I have good noise insulation at my West London flat because you have to play them really, really loud. All my guitar friends, mostly blokes, are fans. We share the passion for Led Zeppelin, but it's not the type of thing I generally share with my girlfriends, although if they bought the Led Zeppelin albums Physical Graffiti and Led Zeppelin IV they would be astounded at how many of the songs they recognise. Teenagers always hear a Led Zeppelin song and say "Who's that? I love that song!" I wasn't around in their heyday, I'm only 23, but I grew up in Georgia with my uncles who listened to Led Zeppelin, Queen, Metallica and Black Sabbath. It was Led Zeppelin that stood out. As a very young child, I'd sneak into my uncle's room which was covered with Led Zeppelin posters. I'd head bang and play air guitar and jump on the bed to the songs on my favourite album, Led Zeppelin IV. Musically, they are complicated, with seven to eight-minute songs, huge extended intros, with odd time signatures. At a young age the hooks and riffs went straight into my psyche and the songs are bound to capture anyone of any age. It's rare to hear a hardcore metal band and still have the song going round in your head because it is so catchy. I rediscovered Led Zeppelin when I was 15 years old and I'd moved to England. Songs such as "Kashmir" from Physical Graffiti, and "Whole Lotta Love" from the album Led Zeppelin II, blew me away. Also I started to appreciate the folkier, more experimental songs such "When The Levee Breaks". The guitar riffs of Page were the lifeblood of the songs but Robert Plant's vocals sounded as if he was playing an instrument. Listening to Led Zeppelin, it almost felt as if there was a competitiveness between them that raised the stakes and made the music even better. Obviously, Led Zeppelin hasn't influenced my music on the surface, as it doesn't sound anything like Led Zeppelin. I think the band has influenced my live work more than my music because I try to rock out on stage, improvise and be energetic. I've seen footage of them performing, but I've never seen them play live. I suppose a lot of people my age wouldn't be in to Led Zeppelin but most musicians like them. There is nothing dated about their music. There is still that innovative spirit to it. They are not the kind of band you listen to in a romantic situation. Mainly I listen to Led Zeppelin when I want to fall in love with music. Again. The Independent I think I'd put her in the "Beautiful Women" thread.

"[After that, Pink Floyd started to go professional, and] We would run into Cream on the road. They affected so many people. Jimmy Page must have looked at Cream and thought, 'Fuck me, I think I'll do that,' and then put together Led Zeppelin". -Roger Waters

Zeppelin was called "a parody of the blues" by John Mayall

WOW! One hell of a thread!!! Here's a few from me: "A song is a way to transmit energy. Whether it's something ethereal or heavy, a song is just a way to put that energy across. A great Live band should be able to play a song you've never heard before and get you off. Led Zeppelin were a great example of that. People who saw them before their first album even came out were blown away by what this incredibly dynamic band could do onstage." - Joe Perry of Aerosmith "One of the things we picked up from Zep in the 70's is they would play the same notes on guitar and bass and follow it, they play all these lines together like leads together, which made for heavy." - Steven Tyler of Aerosmith “Although Zep had inspired many Metal bands, Zeppelin certainly was NOT one. Hagar says, 'the most wonderful thing about Zeppelin was that 80% of their songs were acoustic!!" I'm not sure I agree with that (I'd say 40-50%)”. – Sammy Hagar of Van Halen “I still think about that first time I saw Led Zeppelin at the Fillmore from time to time. God, I wish somebody had a video camera back then; it was incredible”. – Ace Frehley of Kiss "While Zeppelin was onstage, before we were to go on, we knew it was over..." - Danny Weis of Iron Butterfly “Led Zeppelin, you can't find a better band to pay homage to.” – Ann Wilson of Heart

Steven Tyler said Led Zeppelin was already the best “The kid in me was dying. I got to sing every song from ‘Black Dog’ up and down and I’ll never forget it as long as I live. I don’t think a band like theirs needs a singer like me. They already had the best; they were the best.”

Amen to that!

According to guitarist Joe Perry, Tyler was called in for the aborted Led Zep reunion attempted by Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham in 2008. Though Robert Plant refused to be involved, the remaining band-members spent several months under the illusion that they could replace him. Their talks with singer Myles Kennedy are well documented, but Perry claims Tyler also staggered into the Zeppelin practice room. "It's something I've never talked about before," Perry told The Pulse of Radio. "It's a kind of window into how hard it's been to keep the [Aerosmith] partnership together." "Steven disappeared and I called around. Somebody said he was in London trying out for Led Zeppelin." The rehearsals, Perry said, were "shambolic" – and Tyler didn't even seem familiar with the Led Zeppelin catalogue. The ill-fated New Led Zep decided to pass. "Page felt really awkward about the audition, but ultimately it was a group decision." With Tyler in rehab for an addiction to painkillers, Aerosmith may also pass on their long-time singer. Tyler has threatened to sue, but Perry maintains that Aersomith are considering replacements. "You've gotta think outside the box," he said. The band's new singer could even be a woman. "[There were female singers in] a lot of the bands I was in before [Aerosmith] ... It was really good – a lot of great songs. So that's definitely a possibility." Perhaps Perry could put in a call to Mary J Blige. The R&B icon has recorded a new version of Stairway to Heaven with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, guitarist Steve Vai, American Idol judge Randy Jackson and former Michael Jackson side-woman Orianthi. "I've been a rock'n'roll fan for years," Blige told the LA Times. "Once you get lost in the rock'n'roll moment of [singing], all you can do is scream to the top of your lungs or go as low as you need to go. It's not a head thing – it's a spirit thing." MORE FROM GUARDIAN

Helter Skelter- The original by the Beatles

Pete Best-The "Handsomest" Beatle who made bandmates jealous Paul, John, Pete Best and George: The Beatles WhenPete Best was ousted as the Beatles drummer by Ringo, he attemptedsuicide - before finding happiness as a pin-striped civil servant. Nowhe's back with his own band, his own fans ... and finally getting hishands on some of the Fab Four's cash... For morethan 40 years, the name Pete Best has been synonymous with the notionof the man who so nearly had it all. One day he was the drummer withThe Beatles; the next he wasn't. On the very brink of fame, the otherthree band members ditched him. And he never saw it coming. And yet there is not a trace of bitterness. RadioMerseyside presenter, Spencer Leigh, wrote a book chronicling Best'sfiring, suggesting that the other members, McCartney in particular,were jealous. During the Teenagers' Turn showcase in Manchester,Lennon, McCartney and Harrison walked on stage to applause, but whenBest walked on, the girls screamed. Best was surrounded at the stagedoor afterwards by attentive females while the other members wereignored after signing a few autographs. McCartney's father, JimMcCartney, was present at the time and admonished Best by saying: "Whydid you have to attract all the attention? Why didn't you call theother lads back? I think that was very selfish of you". McCartney'sfather later encountered the dismissed Best in The Cavern Club when aBeatles' gig was being recorded for the ITV series Know the North, andsaid: "Great, isn't it? They're on TV!" Observers reported that Bestsaid nothing, and quietly left. Martin was shocked that Epstein hadsacked Best: "He seemed to be the most salable commodity as far aslooks went. It was a surprise when I learned that they had droppedPete. The drums were important to me for a record, but they didn'tmatter much otherwise. Fans don't pay particular attention to thequality of the drumming". 'What'sthe point in saying, "I should have been this", or "I could have beenthat?" ' he says simply. 'That's yesterday. Forty years ago. What'simportant is what's happening today and tomorrow. When you realizethat, you get on with it.' All of which, of course, is true.Understandably, however, it took him a little time to realize it and'get on with it'. The moment Best's life changed was when, coming offstage at Liverpool's Cavern Club on the night of August 15, 1962,Beatles' manager Brian Epstein asked him to pop into his office thenext morning. The drummer naturally assumed the meeting would beto talk about some business matter. After all, the group was on thecusp of stardom, a fame which was already starting to sweep acrossMerseyside. But when he arrived for the meeting with Epstein, Bestquickly saw that the manager was nervous. Finally Epstein came to thepoint. The other Beatles had decided they no longer wanted him in theirband. He was being sacked. Ringo Starr was to replace him. In a moment,all Best's dreams disappeared. He was cast out. In shock, he went homeand cried. From that day, not one of the other Beatles ever contactedhim again. Nor has he tried to contact them. "We were cowards," Lennon would say many years later. "We got Epstein to do the dirty work for us." 1961: Cavern club with Pete on drums 1960-62: Publicity Photos, The Beatles Duringthe early years, Stuart Sutcliffe was the Beatles bassist and Pete Bestwas their drummer. Sutcliffe left the band in 1961 to pursue an artcareer but died the next year from a brain hemorrhage. Best continuedwith the band until August of 1962. To be pushed out of any job ispainful. But this wasn't any job. Best then had to watch as The Beatlesbecame the biggest show business attraction the world has ever known,while his career with his own new little group went in ever-decreasingcircles. By the mid-Sixties he was so low he tried to commit suicideby gassing himself, only to be saved by his mother and brother, Rory.'They gave me the most sensible talking-to I've ever had in my life,'he remembers. 'They asked me what the hell I thought I was doing,saying that committing suicide was what people would expect me to dobecause of what had happened. But I had a beautiful wife and daughter to consider. Was I going to leave my daughter without a father? 'WhenI came to my senses, I wasn't ashamed of what I'd done, but realizedonly then what it would have done to my family. I vowed I'd never doanything like that again.' Already the seeds of his life without TheBeatles had been sown, not least by his wife, Kathy, whom he'd met atan early Beatles gig in Aintree. From behind his drums he'dwatched her dancing and admired her from afar. They got together at thefirst Beatles fan club party at the Cavern in 1962. That was, he says,the best day of his life. 'If she hadn't been the type of person Ithought she was, she could have walked away from me when I wasn't aBeatle anymore,' he says. 'But she just said: "Pete, it's you I want. Not a Beatle." Hisbiggest surprise, though, must have been the release of The BeatlesAnthology in 1995, when early demo recordings made by the group withBest on drums went on sale for the first time. Suddenly, three decadeson, he was eligible for royalties. Exactly how much he received hewon't say. When asked if he's rich, he agrees. 'In many ways, but I hada comfortable life before that happened. I always provided and Ibrought up my family safe and secure.' Today, the 67-year-old Best is a happy man - with good reason. Today,of the three Beatles who sacked him, only Paul is still alive. Does heregret the decades of silence between them? "We're not getting anyyounger," he says. '"We know what we've done and we're not going tothink any worse of each other if we had a chat now. God bless us, itwas all 40 odd years ago.' Reported by RAY CONNOLLY, London Evening MailPete Best Official Website: http://www.petebest.com/ Theymarried the following summer when She Loves You was topping the charts,and are still happily together nearly 44 years on with fivegrandchildren from their two daughters. Shortly after hissuicide attempt, Best decided to give up on his stumbling career inmusic. But although he'd got good O-levels, and had once consideredbecoming a teacher, he now found he couldn't get a job. 'Employersalways thought that, once bitten by show business, I'd be off againwhen some manager with a big cigar and check book turned up. Theywouldn't give me a chance.' So, in 1968 (the year when TheBeatles were dallying in the Himalayas with meditation and theMaharishi at the very peak of their fame), their former friend anddrummer found himself doing shift work in a bread factory, filling vanswith sliced bread. 'It didn't worry me in the least,' he chuckles. 'Iwasn't at all ashamed. It was good, wholesome, manual work. I wasproviding for my family and their security. That was all that mattered.' Ayear later, fancying a change, he went to the employment exchange andended up being given a job in the employment exchange! 'When I gothome, I told Kathy I was going to become a civil servant.' 'You'd better buy a suit then, hadn't you?' was her response. Hestayed a civil servant for 20 years, rising steadily through thesystem, doing a steady nine-to-five job. 'I was very proud of myself. Iachieved success in a different way, helping people get jobs and thenbeing in charge of retraining programs.' All the time he stayed away from his drums. One day, his daughters said: 'Dad, there's a girl at school who says you used to be a Beatle. Is that true?' Intent on living his new life, he'd never told his two daughters. ORIGINAL SOURCE: http://www.claycoles...m/PeteBest.html

Under Pressure- such an awesome bass riff ...

First of all, hates off to Steve for starting and exerting such effort on this thread! I steer clear from all those satanism and backmasking crap but here's my question: What's connection between those words and Urdu: In 1982, a California State Assembly consumer-protection-committee hearing featured testimony from "experts" who claimed that "Stairway," when played backward, contained the words: "I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off -- there's no escaping it. Here's to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan." Using a reel-to-reel tape machine, *we* played the song backward. The greatest shock was that the words sounded just like "Stairway to Heaven," only in Urdu. In the verse that begins "If there's a bustle in your hedgerow," there is indeed something uttered that sounds like "sayntin." From: http://www.superseventies.com/stairway.html

Black Magic Woman- Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green)

Led Zepplin frontman Robert Plant totally looks like King Theoden from the Lord of the Rings How about this one?

Who robbed $180,000 off Led Zeppelin receipts?