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Mithril46

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Everything posted by Mithril46

  1. Well I think the touring, back then it wasn't so easy to find good vegetarian food except in the largest cities, and not sure Jimmy would ante up all the delivery costs and hassles involved. I do remember reading that Jimmy was stuck many times with room service, and usually that was hamburgers and fries. Jimmy was vain, but I can't really see him watching his weight, unless you mean avoiding underweight, which of course would affect his playing. Even the Heroin, don't know if the weight loss was 100% drug related. Perhaps a stupid explanation, but when Zep started in with all the accidents and "bad luck", there are a few mentions that Jimmy was pretty unnerved and psychologically affected pretty negatively by all the bad events and vibes surr ounding the band starting somewhere about 75'. .???
  2. Well Steve A. would know best but Jimmy was shipped off to a "health farm" once or twice in the mid to late seventies with some member of management( I think Phil Carson). However it was to fatten Jimmy up, some fans still don't know that Jimmy had a very sensitive stomach even before Zep. Overall heavy touring seemed to really aggravate his stomach trouble. Also there is speculation that Jimmy totally changed his blood before going to play in the U.S. ARMS shows, not sure if his previous U.K drug convictions mandated this. Or if that made withdrawal symptoms easier from heroin. Formal rehab, don't think so.
  3. What about Jimmy apparently getting totally pissed off because some of the Shepperton shots showed he had gotten a little potbelly ? Or is this a cooked up scenario, although Richard Cole ( to believe or not to believe!?!??) had often said Page was quite vain.
  4. Well to me Bonzo was still capable of greatness in 77', overall played well at Knebworth, but a good portion of the 80' tour Bonzo just was not himself. IMO, he had an almost steeper decline than Jimmy. I have all the 80' shows and a good portion of the time Bonham is just keeping time, all of the skill set Bonzo usually had wasn't on display much. Obviously alcohol and being quite overweight hurt his stamina, apparently.
  5. Not to generalize, but Brits seem to be "allowed" to make certain comments or jokes about someone else that would look rude or hammer blunt to us here in the states. I've watched some pretty funny Brit series or soap operas, and right alongside the formal manners are rather naked and very pointed barbs which are not taken in great offense. I think it's "Taking the Piss Out of Someone", a English quirk for sure. Don't know what to make of Plant and Jones, somewhat convoluted.
  6. What Steve said is quite true. Also, I think Jimmy wants every release to be a grand event, not a low key steady trickle like other groups. And by now even the general public may have heard portions of good quality boots that are 5 times as amazing as most of TSRTS, etc., so if Jimmy decided to set up a Stones or King Crimson easy access (whatever)sbd or boot enterprise, the weak , poor quality, or mediocre performances would hardly make a dent in Zep's musical significance. You don't need Aleister Crowley or a deck of tarot cards to experience magic. A legendary Zep show is real magic. In fact I make it a point to only listen to Zep live at least 3 hrs before bed, they are a perpetual energy machine
  7. Well I'm the first responder, ha, ha. Reason # 1 Jimmy Page. It's very clear from the serious whitewashing of TSRTS and HTWWW that Jimmy can't accept letting his mistakes rest, he has to put his sticky fingers in, although the latest BBC stuff was so well played that serious corrections weren't necessary and the stuff was pro recorded anyway. But I find Jimmy's attitude silly, as even if one solo live didn't quite work, often the next song would have an excellent solo. Now there is some possible gray area with Zep playing covers live and some copyright issues. One of the best examples is the WLL oldies medley, but I have no idea if there was trouble with that on TSRTS. Reason# 2 The remaining Zep's, I've never heard any enthusiasm EVER for cleaning up boots or having large numbers of live stuff put out. Jimmy as I understand it can basically call the shots himself, but again Robert and John Paul simply don't care. A possible third reason is that it's not entirely clear that this gambit would make much money, although obviously it would be great for huge Zep fans.
  8. Too bad that the fabiously quirky British humour is actually ultimately more interesting than this anniversary hoo-haw. Unless your'e from the Isles themselves, that British sense of humour remains an internal inside joke forevermore.
  9. Ha Ha. Exactly. Robert wouldn't mind a quip or two about his old band, but the quips would likely be "closed" remarks without open discussion. And JPJ is by being quite adventurous in his solo career, really upheld the "ever forward" Zep stance. He need'n't say anything. Page is all alone............
  10. How odd that only Jimmy is quasi-celebrrating the 50th Zep anniversary.. I myself find it strange to even call this "anniversary" anything at all, as Jimmy, Robert and John Paul are practically living in different universes now, and for a long time now. Also mondo bizarro IMHO is that how much more enjoyment are you going to get from gigs/ boots from this endless technological crunching ?? I mean I guess even the Bath Show could be salvaged by second to second scrubbing away and then triple re-eq'ing, whatever that means.
  11. Damn. In NYC, I remember about 2-3 years ago some theater had a midnight showing. I don't speak for anyone else, but on the large screen, believe me , there are details and aspects of the movie you can't see even on a 60" home tv. In various spots Jimmy is playing so fast his hands are actually a blur. Long live Midnight Movies !! Viewers cheering as the symbols appear with each member's name. Those were the days!!.
  12. Also wasn't the movie meant to be played in theaters with quadraphonic sound, which was only in place in a few big city theaters ? Also I thought(read) that the movie didn't stay around for long, and the soundtrack was their lowest selling album up to that point ? I am puzzled about the film/soundtrack being so profitable, perhaps some of my Zep books are in error. Explanation ?
  13. Part of the problem with Grant and even Jimmy may have been that they could have wanted too much control over the filming even though that is not their skill. Most really good directors/film makers may have their own ideas or suggestions. Not sure Grant or Jimmy would go for that.
  14. Well, no matter how slipshod the movie is at times, it still touches on the wonder and power of Zep at points. And in the 70's, unless you were there, Rock'n'Roll was almost a religion. Sometime in the mid-to late 80's the whole idea of concert films interspersed with whatever else coming out in regular theaters just died. By 1990, even the midnight movie phenomena had pretty much disappeared. TSRTS loses much on the small screen, although the band fantasies aren't really made better by the big screen. I also wonder how much drugs may have deluded the band into a state of invincibility, as Page and Grant had started upon the opium highway somewhere around 75'.
  15. Jones did have some hair and wardrobe issues, but I myself watching a fully filmed Zep show, If the music was top notch, I think this would fade fast. Remember how in 70' RAH Zep was really ho-hum about the dress aspect, but the performance blew away any care about fashion. It is indeed a minor tragedy that more Zep wasn't filmed and especially full length shows in 35mm. However, there is something not mentioned....Even at their best, most great shows, there were always some dead spots or uninspired passages. Especially from 75' on. The real nonstop onslaughts for me would be like Dallas 69', Fillmore West 4/27, etc. But then some would argue as amazing as those shows were, especially filmed, Zep was still developing as a band, subtlety would take some time. Now Seattle 77' is not the best example as Jimmy is sick, and at best the show is just a bit above average for 77'. Even so, there are noticeable dips but also some spikes, even within the same song. This would happen, although to a lesser extent, even in the better/excellent shows. Actually the EC shows are a great example, the isustained roar of the past is slowly breaking up. Just saying that of course 3 73' Garden shows would probably work great, but again Zep never really stayed at the same energy or intensity.
  16. Only distinction is all three collaborating, but that in itself is good. On all the remastered re masters, companions, etc., I would not be surprised if Robert and JPJ gave Jimmy full authority on content without actually physically speaking to him. That sounds extreme, but I'd bet that's how it went. And this time Jimmy will outdo himself and charge $100 for a lottery to win a signed(actually stamped) book of 666 copies, with no winners obviously duped.
  17. It's very interesting that a mention was made about Presence's great anxiety. The whole group became tax exiles, and Robert and Jimmy have both mentioned that the situation the band was in felt unhinged and rootless. Jimmy being likely the most nervous of the group, much of the music is frenetic, tense and pounding. Many of the tracks just couldn't be done live, Jimmy was throwing in all sorts of tags and counterpoint in the studio arrangements.
  18. What's interesting about Presence is at least where I live, It was the first Zep album to be discounted. Of course Coda quickly was discounted as well. I think that live because Zep only played Achilles and NFBM, that may have limited it's exposure.
  19. Yeah, that opening riff is something in itself. I think the band could have come back to it, or play a variation of it later in the song.. Maybe some don't like TFO because it is mainly a brooding song. SIBLY is slow blues too but there is much more emotional variation in it or moods. TFO is basically I'm stuck here in this situation, I just have to deal with it, nowhere to run or hide.. But that is my view on the music and lyrics, others opinions may differ. Overall great album, at the time Jimmy really was gold standard as far as imaginative guitar wizards go.
  20. Yeah, and much of what was commented showed how Jimmy was being expressionalistic and artichectural often in the same song. Jimmy is a sound sculptor, not just a riff machine. There are Zep songs which are almost mathematical in their structure, and songs which have a sort of amoeba like element. Like Achillies is pretty mathematical in its precision, yet there are quite a few parts that have a fluid and bleeding quality as well. So many rock guitarists never get even close to what Page was doing in the 70's and Presence. Jimmy was trying IMHO to evoke music which had such strong moods or layers of symetries which went way beyond just riffs.
  21. Well I think Jimmy was doing some unusual EQ settings on parts and whole songs. HOFN has so many overdubs and sudden EQ spikes, even today I have not really heard almost any guitarist do that live., to suddenly ramp up the midrange,dip the bass, and at the same time have high notes suddenly go from muted to shrill, and back. There is no pedal for this. NFBM has none of this, or very little, so there isn't much challenge to do the song live. RO certainly could be done, but even this song has sudden EQ shifts so some of the song would have to be adapted for live. Actually, Dancing Days is probably a clearer example of what I mean to say; live certain parts were just not easily replicated, probably why the song was only done in 72'-73'. For Your Love was cool at 07', but even this song Jimmy couldn't mix all the guitars together. Presence is high up there for me as well, at that time no one was doing the guitar orchestra's like Jimmy.
  22. I kind of like HTWWW a bit, but prefer the boots. Page actually overdubbed/ redid parts of solos, and even added a second guitar to sections of The Ocean. I was teaching guitar when the release came out, and a student was puzzled about how to play a certain part of the Ocean. Well, Jimmy had added a second guitar......TSRTS has it's trickery as well, but Zep is not the Eagles or Fleetwould Mac, the band is meant to be live without a net. That's also why I'm not too confident about future live official releases.
  23. Ha Ha. Actually when I was 20,21 I was good, but not good enough (guitar) to nail competently a whole Zep show. So me and some friends saw some Zep tributes, none amazing but better than we could play, so It was not bad. I agree for a substantial amount of Zep fans, the tribute thing is dead in the water. However and including Jimmy Sakurai, there are many Zep tributes around which don't focus so much on the visual aspects of the band(well, Sakurai), but try to recreate a particular album with maybe 5,6 musicians, or a particular live show.with just the 4. This stuff doesn't interest me now, as I have moved onto other musical goals, but of stuff I have heard on the Tube, there are some really damn good recreations touring around now. I think this stuff is easier to digest when you're much younger, I could see how it could look silly if you're over 40 or something. Ah, who knows.
  24. Actually I was on the verge twice of either auditioning for a Zep tribute, or being almost automatically accepted by photos, video, and playing( this being 95' to 97', cassette !!!). Anyway one opportunity came from a friend who tried out, sort of got the job, but then passed. Back then I was 5'11, 140 pds with somewhat wavy dirty blonde hair. Strike 1, which was one of my friend's gripes, a van....people who are light sleepers, disaster. It doesn't matter if you have the $$$ to sleep at a nice hotel, some days you'd be traveling 400,500 miles. Strike 2, being trapped in Page's physical and musical mannerisms, for a whole show. Cool for a few songs, not 2-3 hrs. Strike 3 is unusual, but used to happen to me when I was auditioning or forming my own band, I sounded too much like Page according to many. So being in a tribute band would not at all necessarily open other doors. I have seen some very good Zep tributes, but as some mentioned it would be far more interesting if the band added their interesting ideas to Zep songs. I don't look down on the tributes, but to do that for a long time, regardless of success, I couldn't do it.
  25. I'm surprised no one mentioned Offenbach 73', a stop on the early Euro/German 73' trek. Maybe it's not considered much because the first boots of that show ran too fast, although consistently fast and with kind of a metallic tinge to the sound. It is plenty clear though, Plant is pretty intense and Jimmy and Bonzo seem to be engaged in the solo in some kind of cosmic drama, playing as if they are fighting to the death to save some eternal cosmic principle. Of course there are many others, but this one is technically dazzling AND Jimmy plays few wasted notes.
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