Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

[SteveAJones]

Hi Steve,

I think (I may be wrong, though):

The interview appeared in the June '75 issue of Crawdaddy (after the group's '75 U.S. tour). fwiw, I was at the last LZ concerts on their U.S. tour that year and those were the LA Forum concerts at the end of March '75. I always thought that Crawdaddy was a U.S. publication.

You are correct on both points, it's the June 1975 issue and a USA publication. The article is titled "Rock Magic". It is possible their interview was conducted in New York

in Feb 1975 and I was thinking of the Crawdaddy concert venue, which is in London.

I've been away from the site this week so I'm shaking the rust off my memory at the

moment!

[Otto Masson]

You are correct on both points, it's the June 1975 issue and a USA publication. The article is titled "Rock Magic". It is possible their interview was conducted in New York

in Feb 1975 and I was thinking of the Crawdaddy concert venue, which is in London.

I've been away from the site this week so I'm shaking the rust off my memory at the

moment!

Hi there Steve!

I've actually just posted the whole thing right here in the Master Forum.

[MadScreamingGallery]

You are correct on both points, it's the June 1975 issue and a USA publication. The article is titled "Rock Magic". It is possible their interview was conducted in New York

in Feb 1975 and I was thinking of the Crawdaddy concert venue, which is in London.

I've been away from the site this week so I'm shaking the rust off my memory at the

moment!

Thank you. I know very well about rust on the memory; I suffer from it myself at times. However, as long ago as it was and as addled as my brain is, I will never forgot those last three nights in the Forum in late March '75 - the last time I saw Zep perform live.

Hi there Steve!

I've actually just posted the whole thing right here in the Master Forum.

Thanks again for sharing the entire article. I put a link to your post here:

A question related to my post here: http://forums.ledzeppelin.com//index.php?showtopic=3699

When William S. Burroughs was alive, did he and Jimmy Page ever meet one another again after the '75 concert and interview? I often wondered about this because it seems, from what I read in Burroughs' Crawdaddy piece, that the two had some common interests.

[SteveAJones]

Thank you. I know very well about rust on the memory; I suffer from it myself at times. However, as long ago as it was and as addled as my brain is, I will never forgot those last three nights in the Forum in late March '75 - the last time I saw Zep perform live.

I just realized Jimmy and William S. Burroughs did in fact meet in February '75!

WSB attented Led Zeppelin's after show reception hosted by Atlantic Records at Madison Square Garden - Penn Plaza Club at 2 Penn Plaza in NYC on Feb 3rd 1975.

It's quite possible this meeting led to their interview published in Crawdaddy.

Andy Warhol, Keith Moon, and Amanda Lear also attended.

[MadScreamingGallery]

I just realized Jimmy and William S. Burroughs did in fact meet in February '75!

WSB attented Led Zeppelin's after show reception hosted by Atlantic Records at Madison Square Garden - Penn Plaza Club at 2 Penn Plaza in NYC on Feb 3rd 1975.

It's quite possible this meeting led to their interview published in Crawdaddy.

Andy Warhol, Keith Moon, and Amanda Lear also attended.

That's a very nice piece of information, Steve! I am sure that there were some very interesting conversations in the Club that night.

I know Penn Plaza very well. Yes, right next to MSG and Penn Station with the LIRR (which transported hordes of fans to the Zep concerts) right below.

[SteveAJones]

That's a very nice piece of information, Steve! I am sure that there were some very interesting conversations in the Club that night.

I know Penn Plaza very well. Yes, right next to MSG and Penn Station with the LIRR (which transported hordes of fans to the Zep concerts) right below.

Would you say the Penn Plaza Club is within the confines (or directly affiliated in any

way with) Madison Square Garden or is it an entirely separate venue?

[MadScreamingGallery]

Would you say the Penn Plaza Club is within the confines (or directly affiliated in any

way with) Madison Square Garden or is it an entirely separate venue?

It's all part of the same complex. I am not sure if they were/are affiliated as far as management. The Penn Plazas (1 and 2) are above Penn Station. They're all connected so you can go from one to the other without having to travel outside the complex. I can't picture them walking it so I imagine that the Zep guys' limos left the underground area of the Garden and then went into the underground area of Penn Plaza where they would have taken an elevator up to the club.

Edited to add: Steve here is a photo of 1 Penn Plaza with MSG in the front. http://wirednewyork.com/images/penn.jpg

Edited February 11, 2008 by MadScreamingGallery

[MadScreamingGallery]

I gave you a pic w/ One Penn Plaza. To show you how close they are, here is a view of MSG looking down from Two Penn Plaza.

[SteveAJones]

I gave you a pic w/ One Penn Plaza. To show you how close they are, here is a view of MSG looking down from Two Penn Plaza.

These links really bring the event alive. Sprinkle in a little snow (er. from the sky) and voila we are right there in between Andy Warhol Jimmy Page and W.S. Burroughs.

[MadScreamingGallery]

These links really bring the event alive. Sprinkle in a little snow (er. from the sky) and voila we are right there in between Andy Warhol Jimmy Page and W.S. Burroughs.

Here's a little more information that may bring it a bit more alive: I don't remember that there was any snow on the ground or from the sky that night (I don't ever remember seeing a Zep concert in the snow). I cannot say whether there was snow elsewhere, though. At night, the city would have been lit up. Fans, who had just left the Garden, would still be in the streets below (perhaps visible in the lights). Warhol, Page, and Burroughs. Legends.

[Evster2012]

Steve- Help me out;indulge me.

Once again, thousand pardons if this has been covered[probably]before.

The studio versions of The Song Remains The Same and The Rain Song are played in different keys on Houses Of The Holy.

The movie version,Song Remains The Same segued into Rain Song in the same key.

Did Page transpose Rain Song up two frets from the studio version?

Or...

Since he was playing the doubleneck-did he tune one guitar in a different key and play the same chords as on the studio issue?

However this was achieved,it show the mental edge expertise of one Jimmy Page.

It's the only way the two songs could work in this sequence.

Yet another typical newbie question.

Thanks.

If I may step in..

Live, Jimmy played the entirety of TSRTS on the 12-string, including the solos. The 6-string neck was tuned to EADADE for the Rain Song. On the HOTH version, it was tuned down a whole step. The logic is that live, for the guitar tech it was much simpler to use the A tuning instead of the G tuning as it only required re-tuning two string instead of the whole six. It also may have had to do with the tuning of the Mellotron, which they couldn't possibly adjust in a live environment.

[Achillesfirststand]

If I may step in..

Live, Jimmy played the entirety of TSRTS on the 12-string, including the solos. The 6-string neck was tuned to EADADE for the Rain Song. On the HOTH version, it was tuned down a whole step. The logic is that live, for the guitar tech it was much simpler to use the A tuning instead of the G tuning as it only required re-tuning two string instead of the whole six. It also may have had to do with the tuning of the Mellotron, which they couldn't possibly adjust in a live environment.

Not that this needs my endorsement, but what the Evester has said is 100% balls on accurate. Just be careful tuning that b string up to d, it sometimes will pop on you. Sounds killer though, more bright than the album. just my opinion, tho....

[SteveAJones]

Many thanks to Ev and Achilles for their very insightful posts here as generally speaking I simply don't respond to guitar tuning inquiries.

Edited February 11, 2008 by SteveAJones

[SteveAJones]

Here's a little more information that may bring it a bit more alive: I don't remember that there was any snow on the ground or from the sky that night (I don't ever remember seeing a Zep concert in the snow). I cannot say whether there was snow elsewhere, though.

I've got to go strictly from memory at the moment and paraphrase something Robert Plant said from the stage at Madison Square Garden that same month (but not the same night...probably on Feb 12th):

"People were coming up to me before the show asking is it gonna be on? Is it gonna be on? For a moment I wondered about my anatomy and then I realized there was some

discrepancy about the weather. Isn't good though that it snows? Doesn't it change the vibe of the city? This next song is dedicated to the Keeper of the Seasons -- whomever

and wherever he is. Over the Hills And Far Away".

Edited February 11, 2008 by SteveAJones

[jabe]

Not that this needs my endorsement, but what the Evester has said is 100% balls on accurate. Just be careful tuning that b string up to d, it sometimes will pop on you. Sounds killer though, more bright than the album. just my opinion, tho....

Much obliged pop,Evster and Achilles for your insight regarding my query via Steve A. Jones.Another[for me] mystery solved.Thanks.

[SteveAJones]

Earlier in this thread (as well as the Jimmy Page Guest Appearances thread) I posted Jimmy had joined his longtime friend Long John Baldry for a jam in Vancouver, British Columbia on December 7th 1993 but I had never seen any confirmation of the venue.

Baldry's guitarist at the time has confirmed via private email the venue was 86 St. Music Hall, located on the former grounds of Expo '86. He recalls Jimmy had been hanging out

with Baldry and certainly remembers the jam that night. He said Jimmy was very approachable and spoke with him for about 15 minutes concerning guitarist topics.

Jimmy was staying in Vancouver at that time working on the Coverdale/Page album at Little Mountain Studios. A little more concerning Long John Baldry's connections to Canada from Wikipedia:

In 1963, Baldry joined the Cyril Davies R&B All Stars with Jimmy Page on guitar and Nicky Hopkins playing piano.

Baldry chose to settle permanently in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he became a Canadian citizen. He regularly toured the Canadian west coast, as well as the U.S. Northwest.

Long John Baldry died on July 21, 2005, in a Vancouver hospital of a severe chest infection.

[deluxe]

This may have been asked and answered elsewhere but am not sure.

I recall reading an interview with Page and he said something to the effect that Plant was being considered to be replaced by another singer well after the first record and subsequent tours had happened, but kept his job by writing 'Thank You.' Can that be confirmed?

[deluxe]

Thanks, Chrestus. I'll have to listen to "Rip It Up"- I think there is a story about "Rock and Roll" being based on an improv that started with Bonzo fooling around with the drum intro of a Little Richard song. Can't remember which one, though.

That would be 'Good Golly Miss Molly'

[SteveAJones]

This may have been asked and answered elsewhere but am not sure.

I recall reading an interview with Page and he said something to the effect that Plant was being considered to be replaced by another singer well after the first record and subsequent tours had happened, but kept his job by writing 'Thank You.' Can that be confirmed?

I believe you may have misread something. 'Thank You' was Robert's first attempt as a

lyricist for Led Zeppelin. If anything, his star only continued to rise from 1968 (when he

and Bonzo were on salary!) until they disbanded in 1980.

[deluxe]

I believe you may have misread something. 'Thank You' was Robert's first attempt as a

lyricist for Led Zeppelin. If anything, his star only continued to rise from 1968 (when he

and Bonzo were on salary!) until they disbanded in 1980.

It's possible. I will go back and see if I can find the source. Thanks for all your insight in this this thread and elsewhere

[swandown]

I believe you may have misread something.

I recall two quotes in a similar vein, although they had different contexts:

1. there was some initial uncertainty about Plant, but the fears were eased by the time the first album was recorded.

2. there was some concern that Plant wouldn't be able to handle being the primary lyricist, but those concerns were eliminated when Plant wrote "Thank You"

[MS1]

I believe you may have misread something. 'Thank You' was Robert's first attempt as a

lyricist for Led Zeppelin. If anything, his star only continued to rise from 1968 (when he

and Bonzo were on salary!) until they disbanded in 1980.

Plant received no songwriting credits on Led Zeppelin I because of contractual obligations to CBS, but to claim that he had no involvement in the lyrics prior to 'Thank You' is highly dubious at best.

[Bong-Man]

Plant received no songwriting credits on Led Zeppelin I because of contractual obligations to CBS, but to claim that he had no involvement in the lyrics prior to 'Thank You' is highly dubious at best.

I disagree. If you look at the tracks from the first album....

1. Good Times Bad Times

2. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

3. You Shook Me

4. Dazed And Confused

5. Your Time Is Gonna Come

6. Black Mountain Side

7. Communication Breakdown

8. I Can't Quit You Baby

9. How Many More Times

2, 3, 4, 8, and 9 are covers. 6 has no lyrics. That only leaves 3 songs he could have possibly contributed to. None of those three seem to be in Plant's lyrical style. He also had very limited writing credits for anything before Zep.

No biggie....I just think the claim of "Thank-You" being his first major contribution is accurate.

[SteveAJones]

I just think the claim of "Thank-You" being his first major contribution is accurate.

Yes, exactly. Note also Magic Sam has already said he'd rather burn this forum down than afford me any courtesy or respect, so his introduction of "dubious" and rolling of eyes in this discussion is unneccesary, pointless distraction.

[Bong-Man]

so his introduction of "dubious" and rolling of eyes in this discussion is unneccesary, pointless distraction.

No disrespect Sir, but I disagree with that statement also.