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Everything posted by Otto Masson
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Jimmy Page did not learn the song from the album, that's correct. He was familiar with the song since some time back, as he has said that he first heard it as performed by Anne Briggs in a folk club, and probably he later heard Jansch perform his own accompaniment to the song, before meeting Al Stewart who had actually worked out the riff, but using DADGAD tuning, which he taught to Jimmy. So Jimmy had been playing around with a short instrumental version of that before Jack Orion was released, and he certainly used that tuning a few months later for White Summer, which was included on the Yardbirds' Little Games, released early in the year 1967. Anne Briggs does not claim she learned the song from Mary Doran. She got it from Bert Lloyd, who, as she says, pieced it together from traditional sources. This was right at the start of Anne's career, in 1962, and she used to perform the song a capella at first. Later her friend Johnny Moynihan wrote an accompaniment on guitar, before Bert Jansch then came up with his own. I haven't heard Isla Cameron doing that song. Now, Bert Lloyd wrote the sleeve notes for Cameron's first record in 1958, so they knew each other obviously, and if she played that song in 1962 I would assume she got it from him, like Anne Briggs.
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David Coverdale used to have an approach of his own as a singer back in the 1970's and early 1980's, but contrary to what you would have expected, he didn't mature - by the time he worked with Jimmy he seemed to have lost his style entirely. Really awful, and the lyrics are horrible. The reason why I still occasionally listen to the album is that Jimmy's work on it was excellent, and there are good songs on there. Shake My Tree and Easy Does It are actually great, but you can really hear that Jimmy was not working with people of the same calibre as the rest of Led Zeppelin.
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Clapton is God: The Eric Clapton Thread
Otto Masson replied to SteveAJones's topic in Other Bands / Music
Yeah, Ally - I'm also under the impression that Clapton has become a lot more patient and understanding over the years. And he is someone who used to have very little time for most people back in the day. His matured self even jokes now that he used to think "Clapton is God" was a pretty accurate statement. Yeah it's really good, as are so many other performances from the 2007 Crossroads festival (Jeff Beck with Tal Wilkenfield on bass, for one - and Derek Trucks is amazing). Clapton is playing wonderfully still, and there's a great deal of continuity in his approach, despite everything. Really those licks and runs he's playing there, if you imagine them played on a Les Paul, they're pretty much how he played in the era of the Bluesbreakers and of Cream. That's not a criticism, because it's fantastic. I saw him a couple of years ago and it was a huge disappointment, not because Clapton wasn't terrific (he was great) but because the venue was simply awful, and it really affected one's enjoyment of the show. But it was great to see him. -
The Prince of Peace and the Nazi?
Otto Masson replied to The Priestess TCNA's topic in Led Zeppelin Newbies
I agree with you Priestess that it wasn't clever. There was a discussion about the so-called "stormtrooper" outfit some time ago, where different viewpoints on it were expressed. Click THIS LINK to see it and judge for yourself. I posted there as well, but perhaps used a better turn of phrase elsewhere to describe my own view. I'm taking the quote out of context, but it's in reference to Led Zeppelin's tour of America in 1977 and how Jimmy looked then. -
Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones
Otto Masson replied to SteveAJones's topic in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
Ronnie Jones left Korner to form his own band, which was the Nightimers. You can find references to this in the literature on the British blues scene. -
Off-topic - Welcome back, Henrik!
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Well, thanks y'all, I guess... She actually did post here once. It's probably all right if I post this one. I have to brag.
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The most beautiful woman in the world since the beginning of time happens to be my girlfriend. It's clear to me that she used to pose as a model for Botticelli and Titian, but don't ask me how that's possible, because I've no idea, and I'm not the magician she is. I only know that I love her.
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Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones
Otto Masson replied to SteveAJones's topic in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
I still think he enrolled in autumn 1962 and quit at the end of 1963 (or close). I think we need to dedicate a thread to this question, so that we can weigh all the different arguments. I'll make one soon and try to argue my case. -
Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones
Otto Masson replied to SteveAJones's topic in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
I don't know for certain about these photos Steve, and have wondered about them a bit myself. I have huge copies of them both. I am absolutely sure they're both taken in April or May 1969. My guess is that the photographer is Charles Bonnay - and that they were taken in the windy city. If you look closely at an uncropped version it says Prudential Plaza above the House of Lewis sign. Another possibility is that Chuck Boyd took them in NYC. -
Yep, you have a point there. And perhaps it was as late as the 24th, as Steve is pointing out.
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You mean they got the gold discs on July 21? In that case the press reports are curiously late, aren't they?
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They were headliners on August 1, and must have played late in the evening. Ample time to fly out to California earlier that day. There was also the mixing - done in NYC - in this case of Bring it on Home.
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Well Steve, there's the rub, I guess. I relied on The Concert File for this - usually correct. It did seem like a somewhat strange location, but then again, even more strange if they made a mistake about it, right? Anyway, I went and checked The Press Reports, but these aren't really conclusive either. Probably the date is correct - e.g. July 31 - but there was indeed a report in NME on August 2 that it happened in New York. I don't know what Lewis and Pallett were relying on. In the other press announcements there is no info about where it took place, or indeed when. Here's a couple of photos from the occasion. If this took place in NYC, then it will have been around the same time as when Jimmy flew in from Salt Lake City according to Ritchie Yorke, who is unlikely to remember that wrongly, seeing as he was writing liner notes in NYC, and got to listen to four songs in the studio and was given an acetate copy of them!
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They were in Eugene, Oregon on July 31, receiving gold discs.
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Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones
Otto Masson replied to SteveAJones's topic in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
Just joking, Steve. The post you replied to there mentioned the Starship specifically, that's all. I know you know - hell, everybody knows you know! -
Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones
Otto Masson replied to SteveAJones's topic in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
That's not the Starship, Steve. -
Between us we will soon have described the bloody photo adequately! And count me in as a fan of black and white photography too.
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Well, yeah, but that's reverting to the clichéd descriptions we've all been using forever, isn't it? And the photo isn't clichéd - it really conveys power and mystery, certainly, but I think that is made possible because it isn't clichéd itself. Partly I think because there's also a kind of solitude there - something of a self-enclosed world, due to Jimmy's posture, the "magic" of the light, etc. - we can see the enigma, yet he's also shutting us out in a way, turning his back to us, leaning over the guitar and concentrating on the bowing. And this effect is even stronger because of what is NOT in the photo. One of my favorite photos of Jimi Hendrix is a photo of him that isn't a photo of him - just his shadow silhouetted against his battered Marshall stacks. You can't see him, but it's him all right. That's how iconic his look had become (photo by Joe Sia). To go back to the photo of Jimmy Page, the fact that you can't see his face, usually a weakness in a photo of this type, is transformed here into a strength. The iconic look he had is emphasized, and what I am calling solitude or self-enclosedness is also made more striking.
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I'm still thinking about what it is that's captured in that photo, Aqua. Yeah, great lights, taken from an interesting perspective, good work in general - but there is something more to it. That aura, I guess.
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You did? Damn, I want that one - it seems just really exquisite.
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It's from one of the Earl's Court shows in May 1975, and, like the other two, was taken by Barry Plummer, who took many great photos of the band - as did Carl Dunn and many others.
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Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones
Otto Masson replied to SteveAJones's topic in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
Hey, thanks for posting that link, interesting to read, even if there's basically nothing new there. We were actually discussing this very recently in THIS THREAD -
Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones
Otto Masson replied to SteveAJones's topic in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
OK, thanks. -
Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones
Otto Masson replied to SteveAJones's topic in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
I see, I must admit I still haven't read that one. Does he give any indication on what he is basing the claim?