Love the Blues Brothers reference eternal light! Okay, yes "It Might Get Loud" is definitely being released in LA and New York August 14. My head was still swimming from being in the same room as Jimmy Page and watching the movie that you'll forgive me if I couldn't remember dates and stuff afterwards...in my fog I just knew it was either Aug. 14 or 19. So mark your calendar for August 14...well, those of you who live, or can get to L.A. and/or New York City. Yes, there will be bonus songs performances added for the dvd, but you will still want to see this in a theatre on a big screen. Imagine Jimmy 50 feet tall! Oh, that is Jimmy playing the guitar over the opening credit sequence. Oh, and I know someone who works at Amoeba and she texted me when Jimmy showed up. He often shops there when he's in town...Bodhi Tree is another haunt of his...and I was able to get there before he had left and discreetly shadowed him at a respectable distance. Anyway, the two main things I took away from the whole experience is 1) The movie kicks major butt! 2) Jimmy is looking GREAT these days...very healthy and love the natural hair colour; silver fox, indeed! Unlike Mick Jagger and Ron Wood, who have resorted to using hair pieces.

Hey everybody, it's been months since I last posted but just wanted to share a little Jimmy sighting with you. No, I did not see him at the Dead Weather show at the Roxy last Thursday night...but I was one of the LA Zeppelin board members who made it into the LA Film Festival screening of "It Might Get Loud" last Friday night. Can't really add much to others posts about the event...you've seen the youtube clips. I didn't speak to him or anything like that...just sat a few rows behind and to the left of him. Had no idea that the director of the documentary, Davis Guggenheim was married to Elizabeth Shue! Enjoyed the heck out of the film...I know some people have been criticizing the Edge's and/or Jack White's participation but I have no problem with either of them being in the film along with Jimmy. As for a general theatre release date I think I heard August 14 or 19 as the date it is coming out. The part where Jack White builds a guitar out of a piece of scrap wood reminds me of a quote from Jimmy in an old Creem interview where he said a guitar is just a piece of wood with strings. Jimmy looked pretty dapper, he's holding up pretty good for a man in his 60's and considering the amount of alcohol and drugs he's ingested over the years. Good to hear that he's off the booze and drugs...he's lost a lot of that bloat he had; even his fingers look thinner. And I think the natural silver grey hair look suits him fine. Dvd release will of course have bonus songs added...but I still advise you to see it in its theatre release, just for the expereince of hearing it in a loud theatre sound system. But that's not all...Jimmy was also at Amoeba records while in town...he was buying 45's for his jukebox but the best part is that some goofball Amoeba employee asked Jimmy "so like, when are you gonna get the band back together?" Needless to say his Amoeba bosses were not pleased; apparently Amoeba would prefer it if their employees did not bother celebrity shoppers with impertinant questions and this guy is now in deep shit. Okay, so I see from Ross' diary and other posts that Jimmy is back in London, which is too bad because tomorrow...Saturday June 27...there is quite a potential for a Jimmy appearance. You see, at the Hollywood Bowl Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood are playing...meanwhile in some sort of cosmic hoax, across town at the Wiltern is this triple bill of the Yardbirds, Spencer Davis Group and the Zombies. Of course, I have no idea how many, if any, original Yardbirds(and Zombies for that matter) are in this lineup...but what are the odds that two of the bands that Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood got their start in are playing the same night in the same town? Weird.

Too funny, I just picked up a vinyl edition of this album a few months ago at Rockaway Records in Silver Lake...it was among the many items they put out for sale that they bought from that world's largest Led Zeppelin collection. Atlantic SD 8219...Led Zep I was 8216. Paid $10 for the album. I was wondering if there was ever a cd release of this album, and now today, my first time checking in with the Zeppelin board in months, I saw this post and couldn't believe my luck. So now I'll be looking for the cd at Amoeba's next time I visit. Any chance of a Cartoone reunion tour?

So I'm walking up Vine St. this morning and I notice a crowd gathering around the entrance to the Capitol Records building along with the tell-tale sign of a guarded and boarded-up patch of sidewalk...somebody is obviously getting a Star today on the Walk-of-Fame. I ask and find out it is no less than George Harrison! Hey, and he's getting one before Paul McCartney...who'd a thunk it? For some strange reason, the star isn't being placed next to John Lennon's; George's is near the Capitol entrance, while John's is up Vine St. near the intersection with Yucca St. I have no idea who will show up in person for the ceremony, set to begin at 11:30am PST. His wife and son obviously...rumours are spreading that Martin Scorsese will attend as he's doing a film on George.

By the time Hendrix played(Monday morning) there were only about 30,000 people left from the half-million on Sat-Sun. If it wasn't for the movie that came out, most people wouldn't have known about Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" performance.

The audio is from Mike Millard's tape of the June 21, 1977 LA Forum concert. The video is part 1977 Birmingham, Alabama and part 1977 Madison Square Garden, NY footage.

All the "Time" albums are good...there is a box set that collects all 5 of the Columbia "Time" albums in one handy set...it's called "Dave Brubeck: For All Time". It contains remastered editions of "Time Out"; "Time Further Out"; "Countdown: Time in Outer Space"; "Time Changes"; and "Time In". Track listings are as follows: Disc 1: Time Out Blue Rondo A La Turk Strange Meadowlark Take Five Three To Get Ready Kathy's Waltz Everybody's Jumpin' Pick Up Sticks Disc 2: Time Further Out It's A Raggy Waltz Bluette Charles Mathew Halleujah Far More Blue Far More Drums Maori Blues Unsquare Dance Bru's Boogie Woogie Blue Shadows In The Street Slow And Easy It's A Raggy Waltz (Live At Carnegie Hall) Disc 3: Countdown:Time In Outer Space Countdown Eleven Four Why Phillis Waltz Someday My Prince Will Come Castilian Blues Castilian Drums Fast Life Waltz Limp Three's A Crowd Dance Duet Back To Earth Fatha Disc 4: Time Changes Iberia Unisphere Shim Wha World's Fair Cable Car Theme From Elementals Elementals Disc 5: Time In Lost Waltz Softly, William, Softley Time In Forty Days Travellin' Blues He Done Her Wrong Lonesome Cassandra Rude Old Man Who Said That? Watusi Drums I am also partial to Brubeck's "Jazz Goes to College"; "Jazz at Oberlin"; "Jazz: Red, Hot and Cool"; "Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall"; and "Bravo! Brubeck" which features one of the sweetest Paul Desmond sax solos you will ever hear on the song "La Paloma Azul"(The Blue Dove).

Natch! Yes...and the Telephone, too!

I ran away from home so I could go to all three Forum shows. Very heavy shows...much heavier and mysterious vibe than 1973 shows. I recall famous LA radio dj JJ Jackson and Linda Lovelace introducing the band at the last show...I think JJ Jackson introduced them at first gig too, but can't remember the third person who intro'd the band. Things that stuck out from these shows: As usual with a Zeppelin show they were LOUD AS HELL! Bonzo's drums and Jonesy's bass punched a wall in my chest and made a cozy little home for themselves inside me gut while Jimmy's guitar strafed my brain. Physical Graffiti songs sounded GREAT and I wished they had played more from the album. Jimmy's bow section from D & C was getting more and more choreographed with the smoke and lights...compared to the 1972 shows it is light years beyond. Jimmy looked more like a rock star at the 1975 LA Forum shows than he did at the Forum in 1973. He wore the black dragon suit; white pants with a flowery shirt/blouse with a tassle or scarf tied around his waist; and the "TSRTS" outfit (at the 1973 Forum shows he apparently hadn't had that outfit yet as he didn't wear it at all). Not sure which night he wore what, but I am pretty certain the black dragon outfit was worn at the last Forum show. I thought Jones looked cool as fuck with his "card shark/croupier" outift of black vest over black shirt and black pants. And his hair looked stylish short like that. I loved that they did "Woodstock" during D & C, as I thought this suited the dark mood of the song better than "San Francisco". These would be the last D & C's ever performed in America, too. No Quarter was great as usual, one of Zep's perennial great concert songs. I loved how funky the band got during Trampled and mixing in almost complete versions of The Crunge into Whole Lotta Love, along with all sorts of James Brown grooves. The Song Remains the Same/Rain Song...just as in 1973 an awesome 1-2 combo. For me these songs should always be played together in concert. Another highlight...snogging with my girl during the show, hehe. I also went to the second Long Beach Arena show on the 1975 tour, on March 12. In my mind that show was a winner, too...maybe even better than the Forum shows as far as performance goes. As for atmosphere, that's another matter as Long Beach Arena just couldn't compete with the aura of the Forum. Sadly, I still don't have anything from the LA Forum shows...I've got the "Taking No Prisoners Tonight" from the 3.12.75 Long Beach show but that's it. Getting the 75 Forum shows is next on my "to do" list.

Not surprised by this at all...if you've spent any time in the political threads at the Ramble On section you'll see that there are plenty of conservative/ Republican fans of Led Zeppelin. As Michael Jordan once said, "Republicans buy shoes too."

Just one of many mistakes in this book...get it for the pictures if you must(but even some of them are mis-dated) and the Burroughs-Page article...but as an authoritative source, you'll have to look elsewhere. Thanks SteveAJones for the e-mail from the reporter...it does give one pause and suggests this gig MIGHT well have happened. I mean, could so many people mis-remember a show like that?

I was being sarcastic.

The best Dark Star I saw the Grateful Dead do was my first one, Sept. 10, 1972 at the Hollywood Palladium...30 to 40 minutes of bliss.

Oh yeah, now I remember, haha. Wasn't it one of his house-sitters at the time that stole all those soundboards and tapes from Jimmy in the early 80's?

They weren't at Bath the weekend of Woodstock; Bath was in June. Here is where they played the weekend of Woodstock August 15-17, 1969: 8.15.69 San Antonio, Texas 8.16.69 Asbury Park, New Jersey 8.17.69 Wallingford, Connecticut As for Woodstock, I think in the long run it helped that they didn't play Woodstock. Think about it; just about every act that supposedly got a "boost" from appearing at Woodstock and in the film, either was dead shortly after, or "Woodstock" remained their peak and they never stayed popular or relevant. It was like the acts that appeared in the movie were frozen in amber, forever destined to be remain tied to that whole "hippie thing" and stuck in the 60's. Jimi Hendrix, dead. Janis, dead. Canned Heat? Never amounted to anything after Woodstock...same goes for Ten Years After, John Sebastian, Country Joe McDonald, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker. None of these bands went on to do much in the 70's and I think part of the reason is that people looked at them as "Woodstock" bands, bands of the past, not the future(the decade of the 70's). So, in a way, it was a blessing that Zeppelin was playing elsewhere that weekend. Because of that, I think it helped them be perceived by the kids as something fresh, new and exciting...not your father's or older brother's hippie music. This reminds me of one of the inane things written by Jon Bream in that new book, "Whole Lotta Led", which if you want to look at pictures is okay, but it is filled with factual errors and bullshit opinions by Mr. Bream. In fact, the only redeeming factor is that it reprints in its entirety the famous William Burroughs-Jimmy Page interview from the 1975 Crawdaddy magazine(a copy of which I have buried in my archives), conducted while the band was playing their New York shows that February. Anyway, back to Bream...in the book he states that Zeppelin didn't want to play Woodstock because they feared not being able to stand out from the crowd. PLEASE...what utter bullshit. First of all, they played other festivals that year, often with many of the same bands that played Woodstock. And seriously, do you really think Led Zeppelin thought they couldn't distinguish themselves from the likes of Sha Na Na and John Sebastian and Jefferson Airplane? Give me a break. The Who and Grateful Dead were pretty much the only ones to survive Woodstock and go on through the 70's with their integrity and popularity intact.

Did I miss something? Who is Mr. Langley and what does Jimmy have to do with his case?

Bob Dylan is in my All-time Top 10. Can't wait for the new album...and will probably get two versions(see below) 1. Limited Edition CD/DVD $17.99 10 new songs including "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" Bonus CD of Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour," ("Friends & Neighbors" episode) DVD of "Roy Silver - The Lost Interview" Together Through Life collectible poster & sticker 2. Vinyl $23.99 10 new songs including "Beyond Here Lies Nothing," "Life Is Hard" & "It's All Good" Pressed on 180 gram vinyl Also contains the entire album on CD

Don't know which version you have, but on mine it starts a little muddy but becomes clearer after a couple songs...but yeah, you can tell the taper was either in the upper deck or way back as there is lots of echo and the sound is boomy in the bottom end. Only an average sounding audience tape...but you can, or at least I can, still detect how well the band is playing and how the crowd is reacting. My favourite Plantation from this show is when Plant says(I think it's after Dazed) "I don't know the name of the local football team but they've been playing down in front for an hour and a half." Hahaha classic Plant!

Listening to Boston Cream Pie again(July 20, 1973 @ Boston Garden) and I am again struck at how you can feel the excitement and sheer pandemonium the band is stirring up come through the tape...the audience is going bonkers! This is how I remember the 1973 tour, when the band became HUGE SUPERSTARS and the crowds were filled with lots of first-time fans, thanks to the extra publicity of being the band that broke the Beatles record for attendance for a single act. Also, Led Zeppelin IV had now been out for over a year and by now radio had ingrained just about every track on the album into every teenagers head, with Stairway to Heaven, of course, becoming THE anthem of the 70's. If you reflect back, the 1971 US tour actually occurred before the ZOSO album was released and the 1972 tour was rather short and overshadowed by the media because of the Stones tour the same summer. So, as popular as Led Zeppelin IV was, that album never got a proper major tour in support of it. So by 1973, fans had plenty of time to get to know Zeppelin IV and there was a lot of pent-up demand from fans that didn't get a chance to see them in 1972; there was a buzz building before that tour that just wasn't there in 1972. The fact that "Houses of the Holy", which featured no less than 5 soon-to-be concert classics on that 1973 tour, was just released was just icing on the cake. So, when you listen to the Boston 73 show and you hear the ecstatic reaction of the crowd, the agony of the show is that THIS concert would prove to be the last one the band played in Boston. Which, when you consider how Boston was one of the first cities to embrace Zeppelin via the legendary Boston Tea Party shows and the Boston Garden shows, makes it all the more sad Led Zeppelin never got to play there again after 1973. In 1975, fans tore apart the Garden while waiting for tickets to go on sale for the 75 tour, and Boston city officials, never the most understanding of the rock culture in the best of times, banned the group from playing Boston. Hence, the lack of a Boston stop on the 1977 tour. Such a shame, as like LA, they seemed to play some of their best gigs in Boston.

Dude, you gotta get Humble Pie's "Rockin' the Fillmore"! It is MANDATORY...it should be in every rock fan's collection! Any Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead shows will feature lots of jamming; but try to stick to 60's-early 70's stuff. After Duane Allman and Pigpen died, it wasn't the same for either band. "Reba" by Phish is one of my favourite jams by them, often going into unexpected waters and leading into other songs. One of my personal favourite "Reba" is from the October 29, 1998 show at the Greek Theatre in L.A. Try to find it at your usual trading sites. "You Enjoy Myself", "David Bowie", "Moma Dance" are other cool jams by Phish. I would also suggest you check out the Soft Machine, particularly the first four albums: 1. The Soft Machine 1968 2. Volume Two 1969 3. Third 1970 4. Fourth 1971 More in the psychedelic-prog-jazz vein(think Miles Davis Bitches Brew-era) than your usual rock band, the Robert Wyatt(drums, vocals) years are the best; after he left in 1971 things weren't the same. There have been some cool reissues of 1970-71 period live shows recently...check 'em out.

Brett WHO?

Thanks...it's weird, I don't remember seeing that bass on the 75 tour...but then, I was probably half-baked. Funny, on that Achilles site you linked, they left out some gear of Jonesy; namely the stand-up bass he used for Bron-Y-Aur Stomp in concert and his infamous triple-necked acoustic guitar(six- and twelve-string and mandolin).

October 7, 1988 LA Forum. After the disaster of the Atlantic Records reunion, I was nervous as to how Jimmy would play, as I was bringing someone who had never seen Jimmy play before. Much to my relief and joy, Jimmy played great(there's something about LA that seems to bring out the best in him)...and you could just FEEL the love for the man in that room! The good vibes were palpable...everybody was happy to see Jimmy back on stage, back at the Forum where so many of us have such wonderful memories of Zeppelin shows past, and we all wanted to see him do well and waves of love were being sent his way by each and every one of us in the crowd. It was fascinating hearing the Death Wish II material and the Outrider songs hold up better than some people might realize. Of course, the Zep stuff was the big draw; In My Time of Dying was incredible, Over the Hills, the bow segment leading into Dazed and Confused, Train Kept a Rollin'...topped by the Stairway instrumental with all of us flicking our bics! What a sight! Best thing about the show was that, after the Atlantic reunion, this tour somewhat rescusitated his rep and showed he could still blaze on guitar when he wanted to. Now Jimmy, how about a second solo record and tour, eh?

Well, since talking about Jonesy's kick ass bass runs on Celebration Day, that got me to wondering about the bass he used around 1970-71, the one that looks like it is unfinished wood, very plain looking. Do any of you gearheads know the make and model of this bass and why Jones stopped using it? Was he using this bass on songs like Celebration Day and Heartbreaker on those early tours? If he was, it's a shame he stopped, as the bass on those songs during the 71 tour sounds sweet. I also think the whole understated wood look is very cool.

You're welcome...and thank you for the compliment, Knebby. Coming from you, that's an honour.