[Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones]

An extract of Led Zeppelin's April 27th 1969 Fillmore West is available from them here:

http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/dt/led-...t/764-4017.html

Hopefully, additional material will be licensed.

I wish I could share the entire show here. Both sets are just scorching.

Early Zeppelin is just so raw... so much more bluesy and downright Earth shattering. Damn I love those early shows!

22 minute HMMT anybody?

[Pat Bonham and family]

I can't say as his ashes were spread there. But like Mr. Jones has commented the ashes were interred there. Interment usually means burial.

I found an interesting read on this. How accurate it is I cannot say but an interesting read nonetheless. Written before the O2 Arena gig.

Rock genius Bonzo is never forgotten

A tiny churchyard in a quiet Worcestershire hamlet has become a place of pilgrimage for thousands of fans of one of the world's best known rock bands.

Almost every day fans of Led Zeppelin make the peaceful journey to the pristeen parish churchyard at Rushock where drummer John Bonham's ashes are scattered.

In the midst of all the graves Bonham's cannot be missed. There are drum sticks galore, a couple of small bottles of vodka, a tumbler, of what may have been whisky at one time, key rings, cigarette lighters, coins, CD cases and even dice. All significant symbols of Bonham's eventful life.

Today even more devotees of Bonham, regarded by many music aficionados as the greatest drummer of all time, will pay their respects on the 27th anniversary of his death.

John Bonham, known as Bonzo to friends and his millions of fans, was the archetypal rock genius. He pushed the art of drumming to new boundaries but he had a self-destruct button.

The years of rock and roll excess caught up with him on September 25 1980. He was found dead at the home of the band's guitarist Jimmy Page having choked on his vomit after a drinking binge - he was just 32.

Led Zeppelin had disbanded before the end of the year.

But now interest in the band has reached fever pitch with the announcement earlier this month that the three remaining members, plus Bonham's son Jason taking his father's place on drums, are to play a one-off tribute concert at the O2 Millennium Dome as a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, who signed them to Atlantic Records.

The website for November's show has been inundated with fans desperate to see their heroes with millions hoping to be successful in the ballot for the 18,000 places in an unprecented clamour for tickets At Rushock's delightful 17th parish church, church warden Vicky Jennings says there has been a steady stream of visitors to the grave from all over the world as the years have gone by.

"America, Canada, all over Europe. They have come from everywhere to see the grave," she says. "It is no trouble to us. They are always respectful.

We see cars pull up all the time. I remember once we even had some Japanese who had come up from London in a taxi."

The visitor book in the church pays testimony to this. It has entrants from all over America, Canada, Japan, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Denmark, Australia to name but a few.

Most poignantly there are also entrants from his family including widow Pat.

On the 25th anniversary of his death she wrote: I miss you more each day my love will never die. Your loving wife Pat."

Mrs Bonham still lives in the house in nearby Cutnall Green, where the Bonhams made their home in the 1970s, and occasionally can be seen paying quiet homage at her late husband's shrine.

"She is a lovely woman," says Mrs Jennings, "Very private and a good neighbour."

Mrs Jennings also has a high regard for Jason Bonham.

"He was at this house many times when he was very young. He is about the same age as my daughter Polly and used to come in for a cup of tea. A nice boy, but we haven't seen him for many years now."

And as for the man himself, although it is 27 years, Mrs Jennings remembers him well.

"He used to drink in the Chequers in Cutnall Green and my husband saw him many times in there. He would talk to the locals and was popular. It is a great pity he died so young."

[Pat Bonham and family]

The headstone is a memorial. John wasn't laid to rest there.

Quite right.

As it were, Bonzo was cremated. The headstone is a place for folks to go and pay their respects.

Ahhh, thanks Dragon! Yup, that's the one! Kinda cool huh?

Yeah. I like that photo. Very cool.

[Pat Bonham and family]

Ahhh, thanks Dragon! I've seen several different pics of that stone before and always assumed it was his real grave. My fave is one with a big black dog walking by....

I can help you with that one...

[Pat Bonham and family]

And of course John's grave's location isn't public, as it should not be. Can you imagine it turned into the kinda place where Jim Morrison is buried? Though, it's too bad there isn't some type of memorial to him where fans could leave flowers, prayers, just sit and and let their thoughts be with him.

There is. But unless you're near the Rushock Parish Church, Worcestershire you won't find it.

[What Zeppelin Memorabilia do you Collect?]

yeah, I understand you: this is why there are soooo many colored vinyls in these days.

There's a market for them and it seems that it doesn't matter if they are original or counterfeit. The really disappointing point is that the correct selling price is 10Euro (that's what I paid during a record fair, past year) but some people is ready to pay more and more and more ...

I remember I didn't buy the triple colored vinyl of the O2 gig for 70Euro because I know someone else was selling it for 50 Euro: now on ebay is offered for 150 Euro or Pounds and that's a totally waste of money.

Anyway, I put a new section on my discographies with a long list of counterfeit items: as usual, I didn't expect sooo many and ... more to come, for sure.

I'm pretty sure I forgot a couple of faken single sleeves but I don't know where I saved the images ...

Thanks for the heads up Luke. Fwiw, I only paid $10 for that Israeli copy of III. I limit my budget for collecting things like that. It's more or less a novelty item... a conversation piece, if you will.

[Plantations]

^^^That's quite possibly the best one ever.

[What Zeppelin Memorabilia do you Collect?]

Got my Israeli copy of Led Zeppelin III on green vinyl just a little while ago. Very interesting this one. It's Martian green and when you hold it up to the light it has these crazy psychedelic swirls in it. The album and the sleeve are both mint. No spinning wheel or gatefold. Each side is mislabeled as you'll see in the following pictures....

it's a counterfeit item (all the recent colored vinyls are so)

the only original is the purple / pink IV from UK

Counterfeit? This album looks old. If they did a counterfeit it's a damn good one.

Regardless, I love collecting stuff like this. Another oddity for the growing collection.

[How big were/are Led Zeppelin?]

lol @ diana ross being above led zeppelin... i never checked, but this just cant be the case in the U.S.

that is blasphemous

Yeah it is. I simply can't believe that Zep sold so few albums in their own country. Baffling.

Zeppelin's total record sales in America = 98.5 million

I realize the U.S. is much bigger than the U.K. though, so I'm not surprised by this number.

[How big were/are Led Zeppelin?]

I once heard somewhere that Zeppelin never released a radio single in the U.K. I've never seen that validated but it may be the reason they weren't as popular there as opposed to here in the U.S. And like Styrbjorn said there were many other popular bands to choose from.

What I can validate is the absolute insanity and rabid passion for Zep here in the United States. Back when they started we didn't have a whole lot of hard rock bands around. Led Zeppelin came at a time when psychedelic hippie shit was on it's way out and people were looking for something new. In essence, Zep filled a huge hole and were well received as a breath of fresh air. Plus they toured here relentlessly and built a very loyal fanbase. Any band that does that is bound to draw a lot of attention.

Personally I have been listening to them for over 27 years now. I feel in love with them at a very early and impressionable age. I know there are fans on this board that have been listening to them much longer than I have. Of all the bands that I enjoy Led Zeppelin is still on top of the chart.

[What Zeppelin Memorabilia do you Collect?]

I've seen pink Zep vinyl, but never green. That is a really cool find.

Yeah I thought so too.

I just picked it up on eBay a couple of days ago. The album was printed in Isreal... or at least that's where it came from. I should have it next week sometime and I'll post pics of it.

Doubt I'll give it a spin because I have the recent release of III on 200gram vinyl. THAT sounds incredible.

[What Zeppelin Memorabilia do you Collect?]

I have a simple collection. Still have all the vinyl discs plus one vinyl bootleg. I'm real big on Zeppelin shirts although many have fallen by the wayside as I am proud to announce to the world that I am a Zeppelin fanatic. Still have a few posters. I'm slowly starting to build more items via eBay. Should have a copy of III pressed on green vinyl within the week. More to come...

[Plantations]

1971-09-29

Osaka, Japan

Many Plantations during this gig. Particularly when Bonzo goes missing during the acoustic set.

After GTC:

"Where's Bonzo? Bonzo! Mr Bonham."

"Come on... a round of applause where'd he go?"

*mumbling*

"Mr Bonham!!!!"

"Listen. After three everybody say Mister Bonham." Jimmy laughs.

"1,2,3... MISTER BONHAM!!!!" "For fuck's sake!"

"Mr. Bonham, uhhhhh, what can you say, Mr. Bonham go for bath with, with a Geisha."

"Haha... right on."

"I'm afraid Mister... (where is he?) Where's Bonham?"

Someone else... "He's gone. He just took off."

"Fuck you mate! Where'd he go?"

"Alright then no Mr. Bonham. Mr. Bonham gone...."

*crowd begins clapping* "I know what you mean! So shhh."

Jimmy launches into Tangerine. After the song it's back to finding Bonzo who eventually comes out from wherever he was. I still wonder what he was doing.