New Stephen Davis Book Re the '75 Tour

[chrisMainz]

PS  If you want to read a blatantly fabricated account of Led Zeppelin on tour, check out Straight Whisky:  A Living History of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll on the Sunset Strip</i>.  That one describes Plant's inner thoughts as he chooses between two groupies sitting on his hands in a booth at the Rainbow.  Next to that, Stephen Davis's accounts sound pretty plausible.

Yeah, who'd ever believe that? It was 4. They forgot to mention the other two groupies sitting on his feet!!

[MadScreamingGallery]

Oh whatevvvver.

I'm still going to BUY and read it. Unless someone wants to send me their copy if it's such trash.

I understand MSG, your feelings for Bonzo. However, it doesn't make me think ANY less of him, and since I don't have a copy yet..... I really can't judge the book. Surely it's not dedicated to trashing Bonzo. At least I hope. I've known people like Bonzo and they have been dear friends, maybe they get intoxicated and act silly, or kick someone's ass. So what? My own son will kick ass if he see's a woman being abused. And I DEARLY love him in spite of his temper for things like that.

And ALL writers are in it for the $.

I know you understand Hotplant - you always do. And yes, I know exactly what you mean about knowing people like Bonzo - we've all had them in our lives. So true about the $$, I have a friend who is writing an "Eat, Pray, Love" sort of book about the 1970s music scene and when she was grappling about how much to say and about who the publisher she met with told her to leave the bits about LZ in as that would attract a bigger audience and more $$ for her book (and the publishers).

[The Rover]

I got my copy of the book in the mail today.

I'm somewhat under-impressed.

Stephen goes into great detail to mention the names of FBI agents moonlighting to assist the Zeppelin entourage, but, fails a lot when mentioning where Zep stayed (in Dallas), just saying, "the hotel", for example.

He reviews the Ft. Worth & Dallas shows, but was he even there ? ? ? Or did he just listen to the soundboard/bootleg tapes of the concerts, and write it up from second hand comments.... On Page 102 in the book, Stephen states:

The following week, while Led Zeppelin played their Texas shows, I hung around the Swan Song office in New York.

So, he wasn't even present for the shows, but critiqued them anyway ? ? ?

I don't agree with his critique of the Dallas show on March 4th. The audience was really into it. I'd say the audience was stunned by the brilliance of the show that night. After all, I was actually at the show, and, Stephen was not... I remember the audience jumping wildly during the second encore, as Page led into "Heartbreaker".

BTY, all of the B&W photographs in the book, some seen before, and some not seen before, are credited to Peter Simon, Carly Simon's brother.

[grasphinx]

So, he wasn't even present for the shows, but critiqued them anyway ? ? ?

He may have meant that he hung around the office during the off hours and not specifically while they were actually playing. Does what he wrote directly before or after indicate if he meant during the actual playing of the shows?

[Aquamarine]

How could he have hung around the New York office during the off-hours and then popped out to hear them when they went on-stage in Dallas?

[grasphinx]

How could he have hung around the New York office during the off-hours and then popped out to hear them when they went on-stage in Dallas?

Oh, sorry. I guess I didn't read that carefully enough. I thought it was referring to the same city. Well, I guess nobody will be buying his third book eh?

[The Rover]

Oh, sorry. I guess I didn't read that carefully enough. I thought it was referring to the same city. Well, I guess nobody will be buying his third book eh?

I read Stephen's book realizing that he is incorporating his own personal experiences, with other's rememberances of what happened, second and third had information.

Probably, in his notes, he recorded that someone told him about the Austin, Texas show... but that doesn't mean that that information that was relayed to him, wasn't bull.

Where Stephen's first hand knowledge leaves off, and other's "knowledge" begins, is not always clear in his writings.

I don't take everything that Stephen says as "gospel"... it's just an account, that may have, and probably does have inaccuracies. But, it's still a window into the Zeppelin world, however fogged or clouded that window may be . . .

[leddy]

Is it worth buying then, have so many of the books from over the years that it just gets boring reading just a rehashed version etc or do we get some new information that we have never known before ??

Hammer of The Gods isn't one of my fave books and if this was in a certain part of the world a fatwa would have been given.

[jsj]

Is it worth buying then, have so many of the books from over the years that it just gets boring reading just a rehashed version etc or do we get some new information that we have never known before ??

Hammer of The Gods isn't one of my fave books and if this was in a certain part of the world a fatwa would have been given.

i've just finished it. it's ok, not fantastic but not disposable either.

there's a lot less salacious stuff ala hammer of the gods, but does include some interesting reading about what life on the tour was like. if you only want essential reading you can give it a miss, but if you own most the other books out there its worth having to add to the collection.

[leddy]

i've just finished it. it's ok, not fantastic but not disposable either.

there's a lot less salacious stuff ala hammer of the gods, but does include some interesting reading about what life on the tour was like. if you only want essential reading you can give it a miss, but if you own most the other books out there its worth having to add to the collection.

Thanks for the info

[catherine96]

Just bought it, better than I expected but really short.

[Strider]

I finally bought this book...Borders is closing down most of their stores out here in California, so I got it cheap, like 70% off the cover price.

Anyway, read it over the last couple of days...what a disappointment.

Like others here, I too, was expecting a show-by-show account of the 1975 tour in all its glory. Turns out he only saw a small percentage of the tour.

Some of the stuff is rehashed from the Hammer of the Gods...and other stuff, like Plant supposedly having an affair with Maureen's sister and that being the point of the songs "What Is and Should Never Be" and "Black Country Woman", is both dubious(Davis doesn't provide any proof, just rumour and innuendo) and something of which I have no interest; I really don't care to snoop around in Plant's(or any of the band member's) personal life.

Then, there's the usual Jones bashing...once again, he describes No Quarter, which any impartial fan could tell you was one of the highlights of the 75 tour, as Jones performing a 20-minute cocktail lounge piano solo.

First of all, the most Jones' piano solo lasted by my count was 5 minutes...and it was decidedly NOT the stuff a cocktail lounge pianist would play. Cocktail lounge pianists usually play florid love songs and Chopin and Tin Pan Alley faves.

What Jones played during No Quarter was more rhythmic and funky...almost but not quite jazz, but still more ballsy than what you would hear at a cocktail lounge.

I'm really getting sick and tired of reading slurs against No Quarter in books. From the very beginning when it first appeared in sets on the 1973 US tour, to its end in 1979, No Quarter was probably one of the most consistent songs in the Led Zeppelin live canon at providing high quality musical drama. And most especially in 1975, No Quarter reached a peak of doom and gloomy excellence.

But the part of Stephen Davis' book that made me hurl it against the wall and curse his name was when he talks about how he bumps into some roadies and they agree to let him ask any 3 questions he wants and they will answer them.

So what is the first question on Stephen Davis' mind? He asks about whether the band signed a pact with the devil!?!?

Let me repeat that: He asked about a pact with the devil!?!

Again, just in case it is not clear...Stephen Davis could have asked anything he wanted; he had roadies that were willing to answer any question; he was on assignment for a reputable magazine; he was granted a level of access to the band that I, and quite a few other Zeppelin fans of that time, would have KILLED for; he supposedly was an educated, rational human being...and yet, the FIRST thing he could think to ask was a dopey question about whether Led Zeppelin sold their souls to the devil?

At that point, I was like, GET ME OUTTA HERE!

As far as I am concerned, if it wasn't already in question, Stephen Davis' credibility is now null and void!

Save your money; don't buy the book...it's not worth it, not even at 70% off. Wait for my take on the 1975 tour instead...yeah, as if

[Levee]

Thank you for the review Strider, now I won't have to bother.

[SteveAJones]

I finally bought this book...Borders is closing down most of their stores out here in California, so I got it cheap, like 70% off the cover price.

I bought my copy at Border's in Seattle a few weeks ago at full price. I just wanted to have something to read on my flight to Tokyo. Besides I'm a completist when it comes to the written word on Led Zeppelin. Anyway, I would only recommend this book to anoraks like, erm, myself actually who will pour over the smallest details in an effort to glean additional insight into anything pertaining to the tour. I will say the author's assertion the band played Austin, TX on March 9, 1975 is reprehensible given the long-standing debate concerning if they did or not. I have never seen anything whatsoever to substantiate they did perform in Austin in 1975 and life-long fans in the Austin area to this day are swearing it simply never happened. I think it must have been difficult for Davis to chronicle a tour he was often not present for.