For those of you who attended a show in '77...

[tom kid]

On friday night I saw a couple of local bands down at the pub, one of the guitarists was using weird effects on his guitar, some of which sounded like Jimmy's effects solo from '77. It was actually pretty cool to see, but no doubt the beers and the weed helped this haha.

Anyway, it got me thinking. What did you think of the solo? Enjoy it? Or couldn't wait for it to be over?

My personal opinion is that it would have been cool if Jimmy had just played the bow solo which he then could have merged into In The Light.

[Chicago]

Hi Tom. I was actually at all 4 Chicago shows in 1977. My initial reaction to Page's sonic adventure was one of disappointment. I was expecting an ass-kicking version of Dazed and Confused and instead we got Page's sound manipulations. Not quite the same.

On the Firm and Outrider tours Jimmy retained the same format for his solo piece and it fit much better and segued very successfully into the jam part of Dazed and Confused. The crowd loved it!

[jabe]

Page added a few bars of "Dixie" shortly into his solo in Birmingham which drove the crowd nuts. Also, if memory serves, Page was enveloped in a spiraling laser pyramid at some point. Jimmy extracted some really interesting sounds during the '77 solo I witnessed. I enjoyed the totality, but I can also see why some might find it lacking or a bit boring. A perfect transition into ALS in my opinion. It goes from the mysterious vibe right to full blown kick ass power mode. Page was "on" the night I saw Led Zeppelin. Subjective opinion of course.

Tom, look forward to you getting your hands on the May 18, 1977 show.

[Nutrocker]

Page added a few bars of "Dixie" shortly into his solo in Birmingham which drove the crowd nuts. Also, if memory serves, Page was enveloped in a spiraling laser pyramid at some point. Jimmy extracted some really interesting sounds during the '77 solo I witnessed. I enjoyed the totality, but I can also see why some might find it lacking or a bit boring. A perfect transition into ALS in my opinion. It goes from the mysterious vibe right to full blown kick ass power mode. Page was "on" the night I saw Led Zeppelin. Subjective opinion of course.

Tom, look forward to you getting your hands on the May 18, 1977 show.

Yes! An essential show for any '77 fan! Yer gonna love it, Tom.

As for effects, I believe in '77 Page used an MXR Phaser and delay pedals, which on occasion Robert Plant had to switch on for him! . Wah, of course. And -correct me if I'm wrong- the trippy effects used in the "noise solo" was an Eventide Harmonizer (same as what was used for Plant's vocals, IIRC.)

I'd reckon the noise/bow solo was the definite "Had to be there" moment of the show, what with the lasers and Jimmy's 'sorcerer' moves. I was only nine at the time, so of course I wasn't there. But I've got all available tapes for the tour (not quite the same thing, I know.) The noise solos don't really translate to tape that well...some shows the impatience of the audience is palpable ("Enough with the guitar lesson!" as the dude put it on June 21) whereas other nights you can tell the crowd was enchanted. When Jimmy kept it brief (i.e. under ten minutes) it probably worked a lot better.

Page busted out "Dixie" on a few occasions- mainly in the South, of course. I know he plays it in Atlanta as well, and the audience goes bonkers. I thought his "Star Spangled Banner" was a bit ill-advised, though, as though he was trying to outdo the classic Hendrix interpretation and didn't really carry it off. Of course, by the last night in LA, the damned noise solo is 26 minutes long and he throws all sorts of musical quotes in there. But, generally, I tend to skip the noise solos...I listen to 'em once and that's about it. I always did like the theramin bits though.

They do make a nice intro to "Achilles Last Stand", however...

[tom kid]

Here's some pretty cool videos that demonstrate the 'had to be there' factor of the solo:

[kirchzep27]

i think the -star spangled banner section was all about it being the american bicentenial in 76, its just the intro ofcourse and its amongst all the strange effects. sometimes it sounds celebratory to me, sometimes it sounds like it breaks up and he falls back into the darker sounds.

the first part of the solo section sounds like its meant to be strange, and as said, it must have been cooler in person. it almost sounds like an anti-guitar solo at times. but in a way its like pages part in zeppelin, moving larger sounds with riffs and not about soloing. it does sound like a good intro for -achilles last stand to me, cause the song comes out of that solo section sounding really clear and gets your attention. as for the solo sections, drums etc, thats what they were known for and maybe they kept it going too long,but it was the 70s. listening to a recording of a show, it can either get boring, or one can imagine the sonic break of live show, a trip, a journey. with pages playing in that section though, you can hear the roller coaster ride of drugs and touring. were -bonham, jones and page expressing their love of music and their intstruments at that point, or was that what they were known for with the live shows and what people expected. who knows. i remember being a kid and hearing kids talk about their older siblings going to zeppelin, pink floyd, or who shows...and with led zeppelin, thats what kids talked about, the violin bow, or john bonham playing a great drum solo. all that word of mouth stuff is what made their ticket sales go in the 70s, it seems. going off topic here.

[dazedjeffy]

And -correct me if I'm wrong- the trippy effects used in the "noise solo" was an Eventide Harmonizer (same as what was used for Plant's vocals, IIRC.)

You are partially correct.

JP used the Eventide H910 Harmonizer

RP had the Eventide H949 Harmonizer added to his vocals at various times on the 1977 US Tour

[tom kid]

You are partially correct.

RP had the Eventide H949 Harmonizer added to his vocals at various times on the 1977 US Tour

Cheers jeffy, any idea as to the particular songs that RP used this on? Obviously Ten Years Gone and The Battle of Evermore. Maybe No Quarter?

[tom kid]

Now THAT would have been an epic sight to witness!

[Led Zep Girl]

I wasn't even thought of in 1977. How sad is that!! I wish I was. I would have been going to some Zeppelin concerts!

[tom kid]

I wasn't even thought of in 1977. How sad is that!! I wish I was. I would have been going to some Zeppelin concerts!

Haha, same here. I'm only 19. '77 is by far the most intriguing and favourite tour of mine.

[beetleron]

listening to a recording of a show, it can either get boring, or one can imagine the sonic break of live show, a trip, a journey. with pages playing in that section though, you can hear the roller coaster ride of drugs and touring. were -bonham, jones and page expressing their love of music and their intstruments at that point, or was that what they were known for with the live shows and what people expected. who knows. i remember being a kid and hearing kids talk about their older siblings going to zeppelin, pink floyd, or who shows...and with led zeppelin, thats what kids talked about, the violin bow, or john bonham playing a great drum solo. all that word of mouth stuff is what made their ticket sales go in the 70s, it seems.

i'd add simply that in 77........lets face it..........they were as big as it gets for the 70s

so.........if during achilles............or moby dick...........or no quarter............several band members had the chance to go backstage for 20 minutes or so for the occasional bone............or line of coke..............or "snow job"........

during a concert that would last 3 and a half hours..............well

c'est la vie

[tom kid]

i'd add simply that in 77........lets face it..........they were as big as it gets for the 70s

so.........if during achilles............or moby dick...........or no quarter............several band members had the chance to go backstage for 20 minutes or so for the occasional bone............or line of coke..............or "snow job"........

during a concert that would last 3 and a half hours..............well

c'est la vie

I read that Bonzo had a bag of coke in between his legs during shows and he would simply throw it in the air and inhale it with his nose, don't know if this is true. One of the Roadies I think wrote it, said that he and the rest of them used to scrape it all of his kit when they were dismantling it and then snort it afterwards!

[johnlennon696]

I was thinking of this myself the other day, after listening to a 1977 bootleg, i was thinking i bet this was pretty good to watch, certanly translated better watching it than just listening to it, mind you i have only watched the Seattle 77 (don't remember too many lasrers there though)and Knebworth 04/08/79 versions, i actually liked the Knebworth version, Page looked great caked in lasrers and the bow looked like a lightsaber..

[tom kid]

I am now attempting to listen to the whole 24:52 of the 27/6/77 show. Wish me luck!

[johnlennon696]

lol Good luck mate, i havn't listened to a full 77 solo, apart from Seattle, and that was visual, gonna have to myself one day!!

[dazedjeffy]

Cheers jeffy, any idea as to the particular songs that RP used this on? Obviously Ten Years Gone and The Battle of Evermore. Maybe No Quarter?

End of Rock And Roll

Lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely

Lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely

Lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely

tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime

[tom kid]

lol Good luck mate, i havn't listened to a full 77 solo, apart from Seattle, and that was visual, gonna have to myself one day!!

They aren't us unbearable as the used to be for me, but I still certainly wouldn't listen to it on its own really E.g "What song should I listen to? Oh I think I'll listen to a '77 solo." I can certainly appreciate it, and Page did get get some pretty interesting sounds out of his guitar, especially for the period of time he was doing it in. But on the whole it comes up short.

The 27-6-77 one is pretty cool, he quotes Whole Lotta Love and Heartbreaker. The Theremin section is also the best I've heard. But come on Jimmy, sober up a little bit. 26 mins?!?

I bet Robert, Bonzo and Jonesy wouldn't have minded that it was that long though! Ha!

[dazedjeffy]

End of Rock And Roll

Lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely

Lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely

Lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely

tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime

Also, the chorus in "Ten Years Gone" after the guitar solo and certain verses in "The Battle of Evermore".

[Wolfman]

Is that Harmonizer the black box used during WLL in TSRTS?

[dazedjeffy]

Is that Harmonizer the black box used during WLL in TSRTS?

No, that's the Sonicwave Theremin.

[badgeholder]

The thing Jimmy made a point of showing, and what I still haven't figured out, is as he raised the guitar neck, the pitch went up - as he lowered the guitar, the pitch went down.

Trippy. I did witness this spectacle in '77, and the main thing was the visual aspect. We'd seen the laser pyramid in '75, but now it was SPINNING! The crowd ate it up.

[Wolfman]

No, that's the Sonicwave Theremin.

No, not the theremin. The box he goes over to in WLL where Robert's vocals start ricocheting all over the place. Check at this video starting at 4:30. Jimmy waves his right hand around the theremin but he's turning knobs on a black box with his left. What is that confounded black box?

[Achilles Last Stand]

MXR Phase 90

Echoplex Tape Echo

MXR Blue Box

Eventide Harmonizer

[dazedjeffy]

No, not the theremin. The box he goes over to in WLL where Robert's vocals start ricocheting all over the place. Check at this video starting at 4:30. Jimmy waves his right hand around the theremin but he's turning knobs on a black box with his left. What is that confounded black box?

Sorry, that's the Maestro Echoplex EP-3.