Huh???

Whole heartedly agree!!! Alchemy was gone when Bonzo died. Absolutely the right decision.

Mission accomplished, as far as I'm concerned. These are the most vivid, moving, enthralling detailed accounts of being at a Zep concert that I've ever read. Magnificent reading. Oh to ride the wind...You certainly did!

I second that. Trite twat.

Awesome, thanks for the links! I totally concur with you, Strider's memoirs are really enjoyable reading.

Poplar consensus is MORE PLEASE!! Actually , I would love to hear what your memories as a 10-11 year old were of the 72 HTWWW shows and Bonzo's BDay and Kezar!! I'd be very curious to hear how it felt to be so young there. Actually 6/3/63 is one of my all time fav '73 boots.

Ok, I thought I read it was a space above the club that was rented out for rehearsals. I remember seeing a copy of an ad for it in the paper. I didn't realize it had moved to Frith St so long ago. I've played there several times. Really great jazz club, though it's changed a lot since being renovated in 2006.

There was a thread on this here a while ago. Aug 12 1968 is the alleged date of the first jam which took place in a rehearsal room above the old Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club at 39 Gerrard St. The building is still there. Hallowed ground for us Zep fans.

These are so great to see. Thanks for sharing them. This may sound silly but, first thing that came to mind since the pics of Bonzo are first is , how much older he looks to me than a man of 26.

Agreed. Multi-track recordings would be another story! It's incredible to think there was no multi-track recording of any 77 shows , given the mammoth scale of that tour production.

Unreal, so that was LA or Long Beach? Amazed you were there for HTWWW at 9 years old!! Did you also attend Bonzos Bday or 6/3/73?

This is a golden memory post you've shared. Awesome! So, one thing I'm puzzled by is...if this show was after your freshman year of high school and you first saw Zep in '72, you must've been like 9 years old for that first concert?!

These are all great choices , especially Darlene. That is a showcase for some signature Bonham drumming. Unique groove/beat pattern, huge sound, swinging drum breaks. Great tune but, Plant annoys me with all his constipated caterwauling. ? Yes, so true about all those isolated drum tracks. ITTOD may not be my fav Zep album but, those drum tracks are awe inspiring. That section you just described sounds like Godzilla's samba ! Monstrous.

Ouch. Also a bootleg label.

Damn, so many to choose from. The above are musts. I would add... Achilles Last Stand, in My Time Of Dying, Wanton Song

The new Sgt Peppers 50th anniversary release is very nice. There's no compelling reason why Zep couldn't do a through the years live compilation of stuff never before released. Multi tracks from RAH, Long Beach and LA 72, Southampton and MSG 73, Earl's Court, maybe Knebworth. Maybe there are other multi tracks that can be revisited and polished up. JP should get cracking, since he doesn't play, record or tour. Zep fans are starved for previously unheard live or studio material . When I first heard St Tristan's Sword I thought, fuck ...this is what we want more of!!! That would be an optimal way to commemorate their 50th anniversary IMO.

I seem to recall reading that Bonzo saw a mini drum kit while on the road, in a store front ...maybe Toronto? He bought it for Jason. Though judging from the laundry hanging up, who knows where the hell that pic was taken!

?

Absolutely agree. Virtuoso is one of those terms like "artist" or "genius" that seems to be open to very wide parameters of interpretation. I mean, is James Brown a virtuoso of soul?? I would say yes. To me, a virtuoso is a musician who has the utmost degree of technical skill on their instrument. Whether or not that means they communicate feeling is another matter , although the greatest virtuosos are able to render the highest degree of human feeling and relate emotions along with technical mastery. Page certainly didn't possess the level of virtuosic ability technically as classical guitar masters, great Flamenco guitarists or jazz musicians like Coltrane or Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Charlie Parker , Art Tatum...the list goes on and on. But IMO, he communicates feeling just as much as any other great musical artist. Same with Jones , and to a greater extent Bonham, who IMO was a very highly skilled drummer technically, and was pretty much a virtuoso in terms of sound and groove /feel. IMO , Bonzo was the most virtuosic player in Zep , in his prime, before the drugs and alcohol started to slow him down at way too early an age. Page is kind of a virtuoso in terms of sound crafting, production etc but I can't call him a virtuoso guitarist. He was a bad motherfucker though! The fact is, many musicians who possess virtuosic skill may have a dearth of emotion in their playing. Technical mastery is impressive but often is boring without soul/feeling whatever you wanna call it. To me Zep was a perfect chemical reaction, an alchemy of three great musicians (and one annoying but necessary singer) who were masters of their genre and they changed music in the respect they influenced a huge number of musicians after their arrival on the scene. Page's sloppy, but raw emotion filled solos made thousands of people want to play like him. Bonham's sound and feel made thousands ( millions?) want some of his magic dust. Jones I think is less of an over all influence on musicians but he also possessed not just great technical skill on bass and keys, he had soul ! I would never characterize Jones as vanilla!! ? His bass playing is as close as any rock player got to the sound and feel of Jamerson, always bluesy and soulful, funky, melodic. ( i.e. The Lemon Song) Not vanilla at all. He's no piano virtuoso though IMO...he is a solid, well skilled organist and pianist. But he's no Jimmy Smith or Herbie Hancock. Let's not get carried away. Of course they changed music... starting with track one of the debut album. It was all there, the skill, the sound, the feel , the soul that would change the sound of rock forever. Bonzo's triplets on the bass drum that no one ever heard played that way before. The raw attitude of Communication Breakdown, the dark brooding vibe on Dazed and Confused...all influenced countless musicians. There are many other posts here that cite their contributions that changed music much more articulately than me. But thats my 1,000 lire.

I agree. Page's execution and feeling, Plants voice, Jones delivery of so much feeling with the B3. There are a couple minor gaffs on this version though , but all in all a really great one. The 77 tour versions are no match for this IMO.

Yes, the thread got derailed...but there is an undercurrent of derisiveness to use gay as an identifier in this case. Why do we need to know his sexual orientation? Its not necessary info. If black were used... or short, or lesbian, or Jew , or white, or fat in place of gay in this case, it would still sound pejorative. It's irrelevant to the discussion.

I would think he would have just attended the gig. Over all these years there would have been some mention of him recording for that show. It does seem odd that there are so few photographic documents. I mean it's not every day you play Carnegie Hall.

I read Chris Welch's account in Keith Shadwick's book 1968-80 The Story Of A Band And Their Music

Really tremendous, thanks for sharing these. This trip was likely the inspiration for the title....The Song Remains The Same.