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Crimson Avenger

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Everything posted by Crimson Avenger

  1. HI, I'd love the link for this one too please!
  2. He paused everything a couple of years ago for personal reasons... I know because I was due to write something for the next issue! As zep head says, all the details are on his blog and facebook, so I won't repeat them here. I assume he'll start up again at some point, but I don't know when. He is doing a revised edition of the Evenings With book, which is probably very time consuming.
  3. It's a question of how far you can go, isn't it. I'm fine with Stairway, and think the Taurus suit is nonsense. But then Jimmy didn't write the Stairway riff either, and nor did this guy!
  4. 3.19 is probably my favourite 1975 show. 3.20 is generally excellent as well, though I shudder to think what you are going to make of Heartbreaker there!
  5. No, but I think you started out trying to prove how awful Page was in 1975, and I think by the end you will prove the opposite! With respect, that's the bit that misses the point a bit when discussing Page IMO. Technical perfection isn't really his bag. Non-guitar buffs might find all this tiring, fair enough. But don't stop, nobody has to read anything here if they don't want to. It would be awful if all we did was swap pictures of Robert's hair. You clearly know a lot about playing, and I hope that by the end you'll revise your opinion of 1975. You already have a bit, haven't you?!
  6. I dunno. Fair play to the effort from Gibsonfan, there is a place for this kind of thing, even if I do disagree with almost everything he writes! It's interesting but a bit niche. Might sit better in Musicians Corner maybe.
  7. Just so I understand your argument, Black Mountain Side on LZ1 is worthless, because Bert Jansch had already done it, yeah? If you aren't saying that, what's the difference? I never said they were the future of rock. I'm not sure there is such a thing. I just said they were a good band and can play, having seen them live. I suspect this may get to the nub of the criticism!
  8. He misses his cue in at the end, but for me, that sums up why I love Page and Zep generally in 75. They catch it perfectly and turn it into something else. Nothing embarrassing about that at all.
  9. Having watched that, I'd say they either really really know their stuff, or they are the most brazen con act in rock since The Darkness or maybe even the Sex Pistols. (the former obviously, for the avoidance of doubt!)
  10. I've thought a bit about this, and my best response to all these criticisms is that I simply don't care about them. All bands and musicians have always copied from each other and swap musical styles. Sure Jake throws in a lot of Page references, but they are never the obvious ones. I'm not sure I wholly hear the STH reference given above, but either way, as SuperDave says, Kingdom Come this is not. He's done his guitar homework, and I can't bring myself to see that as a musical crime. It makes me smile when I spot a Zep reference; it means he's a fan too. As a band they have an understanding of the dynamics and interplay that makes a good live act. I'd rather concentrate on that their belt buckles or funny faces. Is it artistically invalid for one musician to reference another in their work? Surely not. When we hear Jimmy play a great version of White Summer/BMS, do we admire his superb playing skills, or do we frown and point out that he lifted more or less the entire thing off Bert Jansch? Do we love the brilliant acoustic/electric interplay of the guitars on BIGLY, or do we sourly point out that the chord sequence is much the same as George Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps? I'm in the former camp re Jimmy, and feel the same way with GVF. Disagree by all means, but I think you are missing out.
  11. Which is what all the critics were saying in 1968/69 of course. They look funny, the singer is weird, they are ripping off other people's music, not paying their dues etc etc. There was truth in all that, but what saved Zep was their sheer ability. It's early days, but GVF can play. Sure, there's some iffy older stuff on youtube from when they were kids, but they've come a long way in the past year. Just check the jam in the second half of Leaver/Lover from Coachella posted above. I'd defy anyone to say that has no musical worth. Sure, they reference Zep a lot, but for a young talented rock band, is that really such a bad thing? Though I laughed when saw your Rover post. I'd spotted that similarity too. Deliberate? dunno, does it matter? no, it's a great song, most of which, while definitely 70s in vibe, isn't particularly Zeppish.
  12. 2.16 is a very good show too, after maybe a sluggish start. It often seems to get overlooked for some reason.
  13. Thanks for posting those vids, Pagemeister and Superdave. Nice to see some good pro shot stuff, and the playing/singing is great.
  14. Cheers! I guess you are right there. There were a couple they could have done, like Rolling In the Deep, the Adele cover. There were two or three they haven't recorded yet, like Mountain of the Sun or Liver Lover Taker Believer. There was an acoutic thing in there too, which I don't think I'd heard before. He did fine. All the high notes were there, with sustain, and often held longer than on the record. He has his own voice, and it will develop if he looks after it. Check this out, it's from the gig I saw in Manchester. The vocal is a bit low in the mix, but you can hear him well enough. Check out 3.50 or so onwards. I didn't record that btw, thanks to whoever did, I was standing about 10 feet to the right! ( He should probably lose the pyjama stage outfits though) I like lots of words!
  15. Ok, I got to see them live last week. Small venue in Manchester, no bigger than a village hall, maybe 300 people in the audience. As for the music, the short answer is, yes they really can play. The set was shortish, hour and a half. They started off a little restrained maybe, but at some point the drummer really woke up. There was a short punchy version of Evil, then a jam at the end of Liver/Lover, which was stupefyingly good, including bits of Rolling & Tumbling. I'd been worried they might have a weak rhythm section live, but no such thing. And Jake the guitarist was excellent; I love the way he plays and the way he sounds. Finally there's Josh , who gave us all his vocal power; I didn't hear anything off tune on the night, right from the opening Highway Tune. The show finished with a couple of high energy versions of Safari Song and Black Smoke Rising, probably their best two songs. I really liked Edge of Darkness too, which was played early on in the set. I think they've come along quite a lot as a band in the past year or so, so if you checked out some of their live stuff a way back, I'd recommend trying them again with something a bit more recent. As to the Zep clone argument, I'd say this is largely misplaced. This isn't just a bunch of kids aping their record collection; they can play, and play well together, and their songs are their own. Sure, there's a lot of zep-related things going on here, but they are generally quite subtle. There's no Zep in the set, for example, although there are a few musical references here and there; the solo in Edge of Darkness references Celebration Day a little, and Safari Song has some Black Dog-like licks. Some of the visuals were funny for a Zep fan; from the bass player taking his seat behind the keyboard for one song, to the guitarist and singer joining together at the mic for the encore vocals. Sure, they know their Zep. But their overall live sound seems to me to reference a range of early 70s US bands. I was (maybe oddly) reminded of the James Gang at points, and their cover of Evil (the only cover they did, I think) looks to the funky Cactus version rather than those by Howling Wolf or Eric Clapton. Criticisms? the guitarist maybe overplayed a bit, and, while his SG sounded great, he could do with a little more tonal variation between songs. If I'm really nitpicking I'd say he hasn't quite got the hang of bent vibrato yet. But he's a talent for sure, for me up there with Jake Bugg (just realised that's two Jakes, hmmm, that's odd) in showing people all over again what can be done with a guitar. Josh maybe needs to work on his stage presence. Quite often when not singing he stands there looking pleased with himself, as well he might I suppose. I'd like to hear they try their hand at some more bluesy material, I think they would do it well. I think Robert Plant got it right the other day when he said they were Led Zeppelin I. They are starting out, learning and exploring what they can do, and who knows where they will go. Many of the criticisms too are similar to those directed agaisnt Zep in the early days. Maybe they've peaked and will go no further, but on the evidence of the other night I'd say they have a good chance of being around for a long while yet. Quick shout for the support act in Manchester the other night, the Second Sons. Now, they really were a clone act of the Stones circa 1972, but they pulled it off very well. I'm not normally a fan of anything Stones-ish, but I enjoyed their set a lot. Maybe there's hope for rock music. There was another heartening moment the other evening. On the way to the venue, we passed a packed music bar, blaring out late 70s Clapton far louder than they should have been. I had a broad grin on my face
  16. In short, I wouldn't trust anything in that book which can't be independently verified. We already covered Austin, to which he devotes nearly a whole page. There's no evidence that show ever happened. He even says Simon Kirke of Bad Company joined for the encore, which at best would appear to be confusing things with Munich 1980. My other favourite example is the book's description of Fort Worth on 3rd March. We get told that Jimmy extends Whole Lotta Love out to 35 minutes in a magical improvisation. Wow. Rather conveniently, there was no boot of that show when Davis was writing. We've had a SBD since which proves Jimmy did no such thing; he played WLL same as he did every other night. From memory of reading the book, I think his press accreditation ended before the West Coast shows, but he managed to use an old pass to get into one of them. He then bought a ticket for at least one other show. But a large number of shows on that tour, he simply wasn't at. You have to read the book quite closely to spot that. It's true he somehow got to interview Robert. My guess is they were curious to know who he was. Note that his press pass got cancelled soon after! That list seems to come from the Concert File, which is a bit old now, and based on who knows what. Best is to use the official timeline on here, that always seems to be accurate. I could see unknown shows turning up from 68/69, but not 75.
  17. Yes, he evolved as a player. Live, but also the same in the studio; he's not the same studio player in 75 as he is in 69. That's what makes him, and Zep generally so interesting. He hits a brick wall after 75, when he can longer tour, and his songwriting partnership with Plant dries up. I'm no expert on the 80s, and what I've heard I generally dislike. But I'd agree he gets a strong second wind in 98 (even 95 too. Although he's a bit more uneven there, I love his Glastonbury 95 performance). Plant seems to be the magic ingredient.
  18. There's the problem, I don't think he does struggle in terms of technique. Black Dog is an encore in 75, and, fair point, it is true to say that those encores aren't always played with 100% concentration. There are a few out of tune ones, but most are fine. Other older ones in 75 such as Communication Breakdown or Heartbreaker (3.20 notwithstanding) are invariably very good. I don't think drugs are a significant issue in 75 (any more than any previous year). It's just not fair to lump 75 in with 77, by which point he has begun to lose his grip somewhat. Despite Steven Davis' best insinuations, there's no evidence whatever that he had a heroin issue in 75, and I'd say that's borne out by the video footage as much as the audio. He's very much in charge of things at Earls Court for example. By 77 I think JPJ is more in charge. You make an interesting point about the start of the 75 US tour. He's clearly reining himself time-wise in in January, due to the finger. From what we can hear I think the results are very good indeed. It's fair to assume that as the weeks went on he pushed his finger further, and had mixed results on occasion when things got painful. But I can't agree that he then tails off. By the latter part of February he's playing with a lot more confidence, and the solos start to get longer. That's not necessarily a good thing! That said, I think he generally plays much better in March 75 than at EC in May. We're always going to differ on this, but that's cool. I love 75 OTHAFA, I suspect for exactly the same reasons as you dislike it!
  19. Let's leave aside for one moment whether there's a loss of fluidity in 75. I think there are two things going on here: Because of his injury he's made some changes here and there, and maybe he liked some of them. You are seeing a bit of that in the Black Dog clip from Earls Court. I do think though that the whole 'three finger technique' comment shold be taken with a pinch of salt. Sure, there may have been certain chords and phrases he approached differently, but I'd agree with you that to redefine his whole playing style in a matter of days is not credible. I'm not 100% sure either that we are seeing more little finger action in 75 than before; his lead style has never really made much use of it, but I think you will find pre 75 examples of him doing it occasionally. Second, I'd still argue (as I did at length somewhere on here, so won't repeat it) that his whole style of playing has changed a bit; there's far less of the fun but reasonably straightforward blues/rock and roll stuff, and much more jazzy/thoughtful stuff. I think that contributes most of the difference in what we hear in 75. Here's a related question. Can you determine any significant decline in his playing between Brussels and Chicago 75? I couldn't.
  20. Hello! My favourite subject! I'm pretty sure now that he must have injured it post-Brussels, ie mid January 75. Any earlier, and they would have had opportunity to reschedule those early dates. You are quite right, Plant mentions the finger issue at almost every gig in the first part of 75. As far as I know, we don't know when those 75 rehearsals were. The conundrum though is this; if Dazed was dropped in early 75 because of Jimmy's finger (the conventional story), then why wasn't it played in Brussels, when he hadn't injured it. See my long ramblings above.
  21. I'd strongly second all that. I'd go further and argue that 1975 is actually the peak of Jimmy as a guitarist, both in terms of his playing technique as an individual and in terms of how he fitted in with Jones and Bonham. I've said it before; his playing might not be quite as much fun in 75 as before it - pretty much all the blues and old style rock and roll is cut. I'd agree that's a shame; I'd have loved to hear Let That Boy Boogie in 75. But he didn't cut all that stuff because he was too strung out or damaged to play it. He cut it because he wanted to move on. On topic, his 1975 OTHAFA solos are invariably great, it's hard to pick any single one. The handful from 77 too. It's one he obviously enjoyed doing, right from when it was the Immigant Song solo in 70-72. 1979 is good too, even 08.11, until it gets ruined by a broken string.
  22. They just put out a cover of Adele's Rolling In The Deep. It's rather good. I can't think of many male singers who would attempt that, let alone bring it off. There's a nice guitar solo on there too.
  23. This would be mine too. 3.27.75 is the one where Jimmy misses his cue to come back in to the riff section at the end, but makes a feature of it, like he meant it all along. Magic! I don't think he really played a bad version in 1975-77 though. The OTHAFA solo is largely a revival of what he was doing pre 73 with Immigrant Song, so it was clearly something that suited him very well.
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