Led Zeppelin: Sound And Fury By Neal Preston

[FireOpal]

Awesome.... Get an iPad, if you don't have one already.

Can you make phone calls on it? I know fuck-all about technology, I admit it freely.

Here's a brief interview/article-type thingie with Mr. Preston which I found interesting: http://news.yahoo.com/led-zeppelin-digital-book-author-neal-preston-vein-052408900.html

What an enviable life he's led, hangin' with Jimmy Page and Stevie Nicks (not simultaneously). Sigh.

[ttaiyo]

Just finished reading (and viewing and listening, as there are plenty of video/audio interviews).

I'm not a seasoned Led Zeppelin fan so the majority of the photos and stories were new to me.

Lots and lots of great behind the scene shots of the members and co.

It was pointed out many times throughout the book, but it was very obvious everybody was comfortable having Neal Preston around them.

The candid shots aboard the Starship, some backstage moments, some on the road, and most importantly the magnificent shots during their shows were a treat for the eyes.

I understand the complaints about this being iPad only, but just out of curiosity are there similar apps on other platforms that allow embedded video/audio clips, slideshow widgets of this quality and experience?

$9.99 for over 300 pages of Led Zeppelin heaven is simply amazing.

[Feline Overlord]

I've only just started reading this and so far it's an excellent experience. Many of the photos have audio comments that talk about how and when the photo was taken and any related stories. Everything looks terrific and the experience would be severely compromised if it were shrunken down to fit on a phone. Some of the navigation can be a bit wonky, but for the most part it is intuitive and easy to use.

[Chad LaBorde]

Can it be used in iTunes?

[Cookie0024]

Can it be used in iTunes?

Nope, only viewable on an iPad running iOS 5 and iBooks 2.0 or later.

[For My Life]

Bought this yesterday - phenomenal! For those of you saying this should for some reason be printed on paper, i think you are missing the point. The interactivity takes this to the next level (the audio interviews, videos, ticket stubs, press releases etc). And it's cheap because it doesn't require the chopping down of trees, physical transportation or traditional retail promotion. This is a glimpse into the future of what all great ebooks will look like. My minor gripes are that the book isn't sequenced chronologically for some reason, and it's hard to pinch and zoom on some of the strips of film that are included, but overall this is essential reading for any Zeppelin fan. If you're considering getting an iPad, here's your reason to. Plus you can handily transfer all of your Zeppelin concert films to your device when you get it. What's not to like?

[kipper]

i have to have this one

[kenog]

TORONTO STAR 19/04/2013

Alex Ballingall

Led Zeppelin’s official photographer talks about his new e-book, his love of rock and what it was like touring with "the biggest band in the world"

Neal Preston kept clicking through his best photographs, each sharp, perfectly exposed image swooshing across the hotel room wall, one after another.

Directing the projector show was Jimmy Page — already a legend by the early 1970s as Led Zeppelin’s shredding lead guitarist — who lounged nonchalantly as Preston showed him the highest quality shots from his second gig as Zeppelin’s official photographer.

Eventually, as Preston recalls it, a blurry, poorly framed photo flipped into view and Page loved it. Confused, but deeply interested in maintaining his place amongst the Zeppelin entourage, Preston asked what Page wanted from him.

“Word for word, he said: ‘I’m looking for power, mystery, romance and the hammer of the gods,’” chuckled Preston, recounting the story during an interview behind a Queen St. W. photo studio this week.

Evidently, Preston delivered.

Now 61 and renowned in his own right as a rock ’n’ roll photographer, Preston was in Toronto to publicize his new e-book, Led Zeppelin: Sound and Fury, which chronicles his time touring with the trail-blazing rock foursome as photographer-in-residence. The digital book includes a lyrical prologue by Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, one of Preston’s fans, and is peppered with audio and video interviews, intriguing behind-the-curtain details from the band’s heyday, and more than 100 never-before-seen photos of Page and his band mates, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham.

“Working for Led Zeppelin was a very big turning point for me,” said Preston. “It’s a certain kind of crossroads that, in my career, turned out to be very important.”

Born in New York City in 1952, Preston got into rock ’n’ roll because of The Beatles. “The nuclear bomb that went off in my life was The Beatles being on Ed Sullivan,” he said. “From that point on, it was all about rock ’n’ roll music.”

After high school, he dedicated himself to photography, a hobby of his as a teen. He started snapping photos at local gigs and eventually earned a reputation good enough to get paid to shoot at higher profile concerts.

Preston is quick to heap praise on Peter Grant, Zeppelin’s burly manager, who gave him his chance to work for the band, starting in the early ’70s. As Preston puts it, “he had the keys to the kingdom,” controlling who got in with the band and who was out. “Had I not passed his litmus test, I wouldn’t have been there,” said Preston. “He took a liking to me and trusted me.”

But it wasn’t all amiability. “You have to come back with the goods,” he said, referring to quality photos. On top of that, the band would never allow someone who “couldn’t keep their mouth shut or walked around like they were a fifth member of the band,” said Preston.

He ended up touring with Zeppelin across North America until the band split up in 1980, attending rowdy events with tens of thousands of boisterous people singing raucously as Preston flitted around the stage, dodging pyrotechnics and objects hurled from the crowd.

Of course, the fun didn’t end there. His stints with Zeppelin were a litany of sleepless nights, flights on private jets and the consumption of all manner of unmentionables, which Preston refers to as “extracurricular activity.”

“You bet I participated fully in all levels of extracurricular-ness,” he said with a laugh. Still, he added, there were times when it all became a little heavy. In the book, Preston describes one night when, as he tried to catch some much-needed shut eye, Robert Plant kicked down his hotel room door and demanded that they smoke a joint. Another time, John Bonham was surly after Preston was put in a spacious room, so he smashed it up and Preston ended up sleeping on the couch.

But the highs outreached the lows when working for Led Zeppelin, Preston said.

When asked whether he feels a debt of gratitude to the band, manager Peter Grant came up again. He was the one responsible for his big break, said Preston.

“I used to have dreams about Peter all the time. I didn’t know why at the time,” he said of Grant, who died in 1995. “I owe Peter and he was an important guy.”

[And You Know How It Is?]

Overall pretty good, although I can't believe he calls the Physical Graffitti song "Ten Years On", when describing the 3rd Chicago night cut short in '77 due to Jimmy's "stomach problems" (although the rest of the story about seeing Jimmy that night, and Richard Cole glaring at him about not taking any pictures backstage afterwards and Peter Grant later that night asking him to destroy that night's roll of film pretty chilling).

I get the sense though, and nobody has confirmed, that he was only invited along on the first leg of the '77 tour. I don't see any pictures in this book after Pontiac on April 30, 1977.

Was also wondering if the band invited him to shoot the US 1980 Tour as well, no commentary on that.

[estofest]

Minor slip up of the 'Ten Years Gone' mistake. I am reading it now and love this.

[Silverseas]

Awesome.... Get an iPad, if you don't have one already.

I second that statement. Just got the e-book a few days ago and it's awesome! Grest device to release it on too, the retina display is fantastic.

[Feline Overlord]

I wish Apple'd release a desktop iBooks app so you wouldn't have to have an iPad to read this, but it's pretty cool. Many of the photos are familiar to me, but I never knew who took them or the story behind them.

[clw]

I have a ipad,now I don't know anything about ibooks and you have to download to that,is ibooks a app for free?

[Cookie0024]

I have a ipad,now I don't know anything about ibooks and you have to download to that,is ibooks a app for free?

If you go to the AppStore and search for 'iBooks' you'll find it there. It's a free app from Apple. Once you've installed iBooks, open up the store in that app and search for the book. You can download a preview, or the entire book from there.

[clw]

If you go to the AppStore and search for 'iBooks' you'll find it there. It's a free app from Apple. Once you've installed iBooks, open up the store in that app and search for the book. You can download a preview, or the entire book from there.

I have too many devices and to much to learn

[clw]

ok,I downloaded the sample but I get no sound??? Plus are there actual videos??

[clw]

ok ,got sound

[Sagittarius Rising]

I love this interactive book and what it represents vs. a traditional photography book. These are amazing pictures married with text and audio stories and interactive little bonus features, so much is here and on display. If this is the future, I for one love it.

[Percys_Plant]

Interview with Neal Preston by Write On Music:

http://www.writeonmusic.com/2013/05/photographer-neal-preston-led-zeppelin.html

Neal Preston was in enough garage bands as a teenager to know he was never going to make it in rock ‘n’ roll as a musician, but as a photographer he recognized his ability to capture its magic without ever having to play a note.

“You get a call to work for Led Zeppelin, yeah, it’s a big deal,” Preston tells Write on Music. “This is the biggest band in the world. Sorry, Mick Jagger, but let’s be honest here.”

[Cookie0024]

I was lucky enough to be given the book by the people behind it, and I'm really impressed with it. The only downside is you can't zoom easily at all. There are some great cover sheets of photos, including never-before-seen images and outtakes of some of the most iconic stills, but you have to twist and contort your fingers in order to see them. Then when you release them, it zooms back out.

Anyone else annoyed by this?