Newcomer to the forums. A few questions

[Maydog]

Im a complete newcomer to the forums but ive been listening to zep for about 6 years now. Its only recently, during the tedium of revision, that ive started to properly get into them, bootlegs etc. There are just a few questions that ive always had about zep that have bugged me for years. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and i apologize in advance if they are 'obvious' questions or been asked a zillion times before, or if they are inappropriate.

When they played live and jpj is playing the organ, keyboard, mellotron etc who is playing the bass?

When did page's heroin problems start and when did they really take a hold of him? Ive heard a lot about this, but the only time ive seen him and its really obvious is in the knebworth shows. Im curious to know if he was completely addicted in the shows that are on the zep dvd 75, 73, 70, certainly doesnt seem too overt.

And could someone give me an overview of the live evolution of since ive been lovin you? Like how the song changed from tour to tour. And any other relevant information about it. Very vague i know, but it is one of my favourite songs of all time.

And how did page get that wall of guitar sound on the live versions of achilles? Chorus?

Thanks

[eternal light]

Page has acknowledged heavy drug use throughout the 1970s. In an interview with Guitar World magazine in 2003, he stated:

"I can't speak for the [other members of the band], but for me drugs were an integral part of the whole thing, right from the beginning, right to the end."

After the band's concert tour of the United States in that year, Page told Nick Kent:

"Oh, everyone went over the top a few times. I know I did and, to be honest with you, I don't really remember much of what happened."

In 1976, Page began to use heroin, a fact attributed to Richard Cole, who stated that Page (in addition to himself) was taking the drug during the recording sessions of the album Presence in that year, and that Page admitted to him shortly afterwards that he was addicted to the drug.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Page

[Electrophile]

When they played live and jpj is playing the organ, keyboard, mellotron etc who is playing the bass?

He's using bass pedals, I believe. I know that in the LZ DVD, when they were doing the acoustic set at Earls Court and he was on the mandolin, you could see them laid out in front of him. I would imagine that when he was on the other instruments, the same applied.

[BonzoLikeDrumer]

Jones used whats called (at that time) Taurus Pedals, made by Moog. They sit flat on the floor and are played with one's feet, like the bass pedals on a large church origin. Now a day's (since the 1980's) it's done with MIDI Step's and KORG pedal's, it's the same thing but accomplished digitally with external sound units.

As for Page and the drug thing's ...Wow, I wouldn't be surprised if anyone (or at least many) was not doing some kind of drug in the day! I don't know Jimmy personally but I saw a noticeable change in his appearance in the 1980's, weight gain, I've heard that when some one come's off heavy drugs they may have a tendency to gain weight at first.

Don't know what you mean about the advancement of Since I've been Loving You, I'm to young to have seen them live as I was only about 13 or 14 when there last tour came thru the states.

[Bill]

If you want visual evidence of Page's physical decline due to the heroin just look at 1977 tour pics. There are some pictures of him shirtless on Caesar's Chariot that remind me of concentration or POW camp survivors. The difference from 1975 is startling. Some boots of the '77 tour will also show the decline in his playing although not all shows from that tour were bad.