When Giants Walked the Earth

[70sPercy'sPet]

Yeah, that's pretty much what Allison said above. Except for the bit about being spanked . . .

On another board I am a member of, when someone says something before you do, it is considered a spanking.

[Aquamarine]

On another board I am a member of, when someone says something before you do, it is considered a spanking.

That sounds an interesting board!

[The Rover]

NY Times Book Review of When Giants Walked the Earth

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/books/review/Moody-t.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3

By RICK MOODY, NY Times

December 24, 2009

Led Zeppelin, Gods of Rock on the Celestial Staircase

Young rock enthusiasts of the 21st century, those of you who listen to your music on a little shiny thing with earphones and who read only on an LCD screen, come near and we your grandparents shall tell you of a long-ago time when men with Gibsons were the knights errant of the land, striding across stages shrouded in mist, soloing at great length! What’s that? You don’t really know what Led Zeppelin is or was? And you’ve never read that salacious earlier biography, Stephen Davis’s “Hammer of the Gods”? Well, do I have a story for you. Or at least this Mick Wall does, this fellow from England who has also written or co-written definitive biographies of Ozzy, Bono and Iron Maiden. The back story is like this: A hot session guitarist named Jimmy Page kills some time in a band called the Yardbirds (“Shapes of Things,” etc.) until he decides he can do better by assembling the New Yardbirds — except that he is unable to lure away the Who’s rhythm section, which he devoutly wishes to steal, or Steve Marriott of Small Faces, a singer of note. He settles instead for a couple of country yokels, Robert Plant and John Bonham, vocals and drums respectively, and another somewhat frustrated session dude, John Paul Jones, who plays the bass. Of these, Page is most happy about Bonham, who hits the drums as if he is trying to affect seismic activity in the British Isles. About the singer, who is very good looking, he’s not sure. Page doesn’t pay much attention to the bass player at all.

The band performs its first gig within weeks of its initial rehearsal and books time in the studio not long after. Mostly they borrow their material, in Wall’s account, which means they take other people’s songs and change them very little. If this were literature, young rock enthusiasts, these songs would amount to instances of plagiarism, but since this narrative takes place not long after the folk revival and some of these Zeppelin songs were trad, adopted from earlier folk and blues pieces, the band somehow, at least initially, escapes with changing a couple of lines and giving the song a new title — “Black Mountain Side” instead of “Black Water Side,” and so forth. Turns out that a lot of Led Zeppelin stuff was “borrowed” to one degree or another, including “Dazed and Confused,” “Whole Lotta Love,” “When the Levee Breaks” and even (yikes!) their biggest, most gargantuan hit, a track called “Stairway to Heaven” that most of us have now heard so many times we would rather die than hear it again. Some people, according to Mick Wall, believe the opening guitar lines of “Stairway” were filched from the band Spirit.

Notwithstanding their compositional deficits, Zeppelin has that elusive band chemistry, and so they make some more albums, which sell really shocking numbers of copies, tens of millions, and between albums they tour the United States a lot, and do really horrible, morally offensive things to young women who offer themselves up for delectation. We used to think, young rock enthusiasts, that this behavior was somehow marginally explicable, and that is the big difference between this book about Led Zeppelin and earlier books. For example: included herein is the famous story of the groupie and the shark, which has been dealt with elsewhere at some length. This bit of lore is now so upsetting and so repellent that it makes you never want to listen to the band again. Nor do the band’s demurrals on the groupie issue convince you otherwise. (Robert Plant: “The thing people forget when they tut-tut about this stuff is what a laugh we were having. People have a tendency to look back on the band as this dark force spreading its wings when we were just young guys, having a good time. The main thing I remember most about those days now is the laughter.”)

And then there is the Aleister Crowley part of the story. Back then, you see, people had their alternative spiritual systems. This inspired them to create, I suppose, and so this guy Page, he went in search and came up with a very recondite philosophical backwater. He got into this necromancer, Crowley. How did the Crowley program work exactly? Wall, in perhaps the very best and most cogently argued section of his account (which often manages elsewhere to feel both rushed and repetitious), does include a great deal on exactly what Crowley’s Ordo Templi Orientis stood for, among which was, “heterosexual magickal acts (adoration of the phallus as the microcosmic counterpart to the sun)” and “masturbatory and autosexual techniques (referred to as the Lesser Work of Sol).”

The weird symbols with which the band adorned its fourth album? Those were Crowley-influenced pictograms, including that sort-of word “ZoSo,” which, in the bedrooms of high school students, we believed was some kind of obscure album title. In fact, it appears to be a reference to Crowley’s 666, or that’s what Wall thinks, and it is Page’s very own icon. Even “Stairway to Heaven,” the aforementioned monster hit, the one that Dolly Parton later covered, was not free of its Crowley-esque imagery (ascending into light being a Luciferian conceit), though Robert Plant, the singer, wrote the lyrics, not Page.

Of course, there were intoxicants in profusion! Perhaps as a result of these, the effective period of Led Zeppelin was brief. In Wall’s view, it lasted only from 1968 until 1975. By then, the neglected bass player had already tried to resign once, and the drummer, who used to get so violently homesick on tour that he had to throw things out the window and pull guns on people, began compensating for his pain by drinking truly voluminous amounts. After 1975, the curse of Led Zeppelin (meted out specifically by Kenneth Anger, another Crowley disciple, after he was ejected from the Page residence) took effect, and Plant was in a horrible car accident, and then his son died, and then Page dwindled into a prolonged period of heroin addiction. Finally, John Bonham managed to abbreviate his unhappiness once and for all by consuming the equivalent of 40 shots of alcohol in one day, of which Page says: “The thing is, it wasn’t new to us to see Bonzo drink and pass out. I knew a lot of people who used to do that. Maybe in this day and age it might ring alarm bells. But in those days it was the norm within the sort of people that you knew.” After Bonham’s death, the remaining members disbanded.

Young rock enthusiasts! The thing that this sensational material neglects is the music. In Wall’s biography you will learn that Page has voted Tory repeatedly, and you will learn that Peter Grant, the Zeppelin manager, also snorted mountains of cocaine and was very large, and you will also get very many italicized second-­person portions of the text — the deep history — passages that are more showoffy than necessary but easily skimmed. What you may not get enough of is the astonishment of the music. Because, no matter how horrible they were as people — and, frankly, they do seem as if they were rather unlikable people who wasted immense talent in a spendthrift fashion — the music is still remarkable, even when borrowed. What enabled that spooky end section of “When the Levee Breaks,” which used to give me the chills when I first heard it in the eighth grade? What about Robert Plant’s amazing harmonica solo on “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” on the considerably underrated “Presence”? And what about the Indian strings on “Kashmir”? Whose arrangement? And beyond saying that Page and Bonham banged out most of “Kashmir” by themselves, what accounts for this mesmerizing and timeless composition? And is it really possible that John Paul Jones has nothing to say, though many of the really interesting frills and ornaments are his? The tamboura on “In the Light,” or the electric piano on “No Quarter” or the lovely faux-Cuban piano riff on “Fool in the Rain.” Should we not, young rock enthusiasts, use language, use paragraphs, to account for these splendid moments?

Maybe this is arcana. And maybe the time for arcana is past, the time for the picayune details of dinosaur rock — such that it’s the dirt, not the song, that remains the same. Maybe some publisher was looking over Mick Wall’s shoulder saying, “Put more about the shark incident in there!” Or maybe the members of Led Zeppelin are themselves somewhat to blame, as Robert Plant muses aloud at one point, despairing of the true story ever getting out: “We thought it was time that people heard something about us other than that we were eating women and throwing the bones out the window.” Indeed! Wall is conflicted enough about the facts that he allows this mythologizing title to be appended to his work: “When Giants Walked the Earth.” But these were no giants, these were just young people, like you, who for a time happened to have more power and influence than was good for them. In the midst of it all, they made extraordinary music.

----------------------------

WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH

A Biography of Led Zeppelin

Mick Wall

St. Martin's Press, November 2009

ISBN: 978-0-312-59000-0, ISBN10: 0-312-59000-8,

6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 512 pages, Plus three 8-page color photo inserts. $27.99

Edited December 28, 2009 by The Rover

[StringBender]

I'm nearly through it and it is....interesting.

More so than HOTG although that book will always be credited with being the first as far as dishing out the dirt, so I don't think Wall's book is going to become "the" definitive book on Zep, as if there is such a thing.

Nothing is earth-shattering since most of it has been beat to death already however he does go into much greater detail with Pagey's interest in the occult than HOTG, whether accurate or not. Page definitely doesn't come across in a positive light as a result so I wouldn't be suprised if it did end their friendship as Mick claims. And as far as that goes, Bonzo doesn't come out as a great guy either, outside of the repeated bits and pieces we've heard all before (packing dolls for Zoe, missing his family on the road, etc.) so I wouldn't be shocked if the Bonham family didn't have much to do with Mick in the future either.

And if the book is accurate as Mick would want us to believe (or at least I would assume he would want us to) then I'm not really shocked that Robert has no desire to tour the world as "Led Zeppelin" ever again......

[The Rover]

I'm nearly through it and it is....interesting.

More so than HOTG although that book will always be credited with being the first as far as dishing out the dirt, so I don't think Wall's book is going to become "the" definitive book on Zep, as if there is such a thing.

Nothing is earth-shattering since most of it has been beat to death already however he does go into much greater detail with Pagey's interest in the occult than HOTG, whether accurate or not. Page definitely doesn't come across in a positive light as a result so I wouldn't be suprised if it did end their friendship as Mick claims. And as far as that goes, Bonzo doesn't come out as a great guy either, outside of the repeated bits and pieces we've heard all before (packing dolls for Zoe, missing his family on the road, etc.) so I wouldn't be shocked if the Bonham family didn't have much to do with Mick in the future either.

And if the book is accurate as Mick would want us to believe (or at least I would assume he would want us to) then I'm not really shocked that Robert has no desire to tour the world as "Led Zeppelin" ever again......

I haven't read a word of the book.... seems to cover the same old ground, more or less, just like the other books.

What takes away from the credibility in Mick's case, is that....

Mick never saw Led Zeppelin in the 70's. So he can only know a part of what he's writing about, with NO firsthand knowledge... Or, did Mick see Zeppelin in the 70's?

That's where most books about Zeppelin fall short.... they simply do not convey what it was like to experience the band in person one of their many great nights.

Instead it is ALL behind the scenes stuff... That's okay... but without the story about Zep's live concert performances on the great nights (not... the sick nights or rained out nights or otherwise...) then all their research is not completely helpful.

A book for the "masses" to feed upon....

Edited December 29, 2009 by The Rover

[Bong-Man]

Young rock enthusiasts! The thing that this sensational material neglects is the music.

Heh Heh....That sounds just like something a fan boy/girl here would say. Frankly, I'm kind of tired of hearing about it. Does this guy really think that someone is going to read a 500 page book about Led Zeppelin without having heard the music ? Do you really think anyone can convey the emotion of the music on paper to someone else ?

I think the main problem is that because of the lack of accurate information available to long-time fans over the years, many of us have formed our own opinions of who these people really were or are. When someone tells us or proves those misconceptions to be different, some people have a difficult time dealing with it.

I saw the band, and I thank the rock gods that Bonzo never pissed on my head !

[LarryD]

I would greatly prefer something along the lines of the Beatles Anthology.

Mainly, made up of quotes and interviews and rare pictures and such. Not just another story-telling style bio...

you would be interested in Keith Shadwick's book then. great book and great read with great photos. one of the best, if not the best Zeppelin books without all the garbage!

I always read Jimmy has said he would never write an autobiography, basically saying (I'm paraphrasing here) he'd take many secrets with him to his grave.

But now I see this supposed quote by him after he was honored with a British Walk of Fame (in August 2004):

Page also said he was planning an autobiography chronicling Led Zeppelin’s years of rock’n’roll excess. "There are a lot of stories to be told about what went on and insights to give into things that people don’t really know about. So there’s a good book to be written and I’m thinking about writing it."

I wonder if those who diss "tell all's" by others than the musicians themselves, are so attached that they don't want to believe the debauchery and excess of them on the road etc. So when time comes where Jimmy or Robert for instance tell some of the stories that just might corroborate some of the "tell all's" what will those fangirls/boys do then? Fawn and droll over the revelations as worded by the horses mouth ?

In the Beatles Anthology, which were direct quotes from the horses mouth's, they revealed much dirt about themselves so apparently that's OK. Shame on anyone else who may have shed some of this sour light.

[StringBender]

I think the main problem is that because of the lack of accurate information available to long-time fans over the years, many of us have formed our own opinions of who these people really were or are. When someone tells us or proves those misconceptions to be different, some people have a difficult time dealing with it.

I saw the band, and I thank the rock gods that Bonzo never pissed on my head !

I wonder if those who diss "tell all's" by others than the musicians themselves, are so attached that they don't want to believe the debauchery and excess of them on the road etc. So when time comes where Jimmy or Robert for instance tell some of the stories that just might corroborate some of the "tell all's" what will those fangirls/boys do then? Fawn and droll over the revelations as worded by the horses mouth ?

In the Beatles Anthology, which were direct quotes from the horses mouth's, they revealed much dirt about themselves so apparently that's OK. Shame on anyone else who may have shed some of this sour light.

Good points here by both of you and this is quite frankly something I've 'struggled' with over the years, well not actually struggled, but for lack of a better term, and that is separating my love of the music from the preoccupation with the individuals that so often comes along with really digging a band like <fill in the blank>.

Since Robert, Jimmy or Jonesy have yet to write their own account (and may never do so) all that we read is second hand - and you know how accurate repeated information can be. Read it with a grain of salt I say.

To be honest, some of the stories we read about Bonzo, Grant, etc. paint them to be downright thugs or individuals that quite frankly I wouldn't want to spend one minute around and if most of us here are honest, we wouldn't either. As pointed out in the posts above we fans overlook the downright brutality of Grant beating one of Graham's associates half to death. That if it's true, he and everyone involved should've been in jail. If that were your brother who was beat senseless how would you feel about Grant? Even as the years went on. Would you have any nice thoughts later?

Granted all of the alleged stories could be attributed to the various substances involved, and we probably all know people who become different individuals when drinking or whatever, but we never read of an apology issued by anyone during their heyday for their actions IF the accounts that we have read about ad nauseam are true, do we. Peter Grant supposedly 'turned things around' and became a different individual later in life by all accounts and that is wonderful - and if the stories about Bonzo were true, then one would hope that as years went on he would've done the same for his actions that may have very well been fueled by a drunken rage.

But stop and ask yourself for a moment, if someone grabbed your sister as if to rape her (as the alleged story goes that Grant had to stop Bonzo from doing to a stewardess) how forgiving would you be? As great of a family man that individual may have been when sober, would you have looked at them at that moment with that in mind, or would you have wanted to tear them apart? Would you ever looked at them the same again? Ever? Allegedly punching a female journalist for just looking at him?

And I for one, am not the tiniest bit thrilled to think of one of my favorite quitarists in a dingy old house calling up demons. That may add to the mystique that some hold to but if I personally knew someone who was into that sort of thing I wouldn't want to spend one tiny second in their presence.

If true.

If.

All that being said, they were the most incredible rock band ever in my book and there will never, ever be another but if all the offstage stories are true it would make them individuals that I wouldn't walk across the street to see.

If.

[The Rover]

Does this guy really think that someone is going to read a 500 page book about Led Zeppelin without having heard the music ? Do you really think anyone can convey the emotion of the music on paper to someone else ?

I saw the band, and I thank the rock gods that Bonzo never pissed on my head !

Well, that would take some real journalistic skill to convey and describe the concert experience, wouldn't it.... The kind of writing skill that is beyond someone that is simply "compiling" stories and facts of one kind or another....

In retrospect, I would have been honored to have John Bonham, the greatest Rock 'n' Roll Drummer in the World piss on my head. The warmth of that Golden Shower would be well remembered !

Edited December 29, 2009 by The Rover

[StringBender]

Well, that would take some real journalistic skill to convey and describe the concert experience, wouldn't it.... The kind of writing skill that is beyond someone that is simply "compiling" stories and facts of one kind or another....

I did finish the book last night and the last couple chapters Mick could've left out. OR actually tried to compile the facts as you put it, without coming across as if he just had an ex to grind which he really, really sounded like.

I have yet to hear anyone else claim that the O2 was boring have you?

[Bong-Man]

And I for one, am not the tiniest bit thrilled to think of one of my favorite quitarists in a dingy old house calling up demons. That may add to the mystique that some hold to but if I personally knew someone who was into that sort of thing I wouldn't want to spend one tiny second in their presence.

I enjoyed how Mick Wall presented the information related to Crowley, Zep IV, and the occult in general. He presented the available facts, yet really drew no conclusions as other books have attempted to. One thing is for sure....that's not some make-believe rock comic book personna we're speculating about. I always said, just because you don't believe, doesn't have a thing to do with what Jimmy believes.

Wall's style of speculating in the 3rd person is a little annoying, but he made it perfectly clear from the 'foreward' that speculation is all it was. The italics were a god-send in that regard.

Good read though. I'm going to enjoy taking some quotes for discussion here.

In retrospect, I would have been honored to have John Bonham, the greatest Rock 'n' Roll Drummer in the World piss on my head. The warmth of that Golden Shower would be well remembered !

May I suggest some counseling ?

[Wolfman]

How many freaking Zeppelin books do we need? It's the same story over and over. Until one of the band members writes one, I could care less.

[Bong-Man]

How many freaking Zeppelin books do we need? It's the same story over and over. Until one of the band members writes one, I could care less.

Please be patient Wolfie. The definitive 'cut n paste' history of Led Zeppelin will soon be available at a bookstore near you.

[Hotplant]

I love the salacious stories.

What I want to hear IS from the horses mouth. I want to know their experiences... through them.

I would never think poorly of any of them or the things they did because I did some pretty wild and crazy stuff in those good old days too.

And yeah, many bands, artists, have been brutally honest in their autobiographies.

That's what makes their stories all the more endearing.

C'mon JIMMY! Give it to use. We all ...at least us chicks have every pic known. We don't need a picture book. Words. Words is what I want. Selfish? Maybe. Curious...defintely.

[Wolfman]

bump

Edited December 29, 2009 by Wolfman

[ally]

Good points here by both of you and this is quite frankly something I've 'struggled' with over the years, well not actually struggled, but for lack of a better term, and that is separating my love of the music from the preoccupation with the individuals that so often comes along with really digging a band like <fill in the blank>.

Since Robert, Jimmy or Jonesy have yet to write their own account (and may never do so) all that we read is second hand - and you know how accurate repeated information can be. Read it with a grain of salt I say.

To be honest, some of the stories we read about Bonzo, Grant, etc. paint them to be downright thugs or individuals that quite frankly I wouldn't want to spend one minute around and if most of us here are honest, we wouldn't either. As pointed out in the posts above we fans overlook the downright brutality of Grant beating one of Graham's associates half to death. That if it's true, he and everyone involved should've been in jail. If that were your brother who was beat senseless how would you feel about Grant? Even as the years went on. Would you have any nice thoughts later?

Granted all of the alleged stories could be attributed to the various substances involved, and we probably all know people who become different individuals when drinking or whatever, but we never read of an apology issued by anyone during their heyday for their actions IF the accounts that we have read about ad nauseam are true, do we. Peter Grant supposedly 'turned things around' and became a different individual later in life by all accounts and that is wonderful - and if the stories about Bonzo were true, then one would hope that as years went on he would've done the same for his actions that may have very well been fueled by a drunken rage.

But stop and ask yourself for a moment, if someone grabbed your sister as if to rape her (as the alleged story goes that Grant had to stop Bonzo from doing to a stewardess) how forgiving would you be? As great of a family man that individual may have been when sober, would you have looked at them at that moment with that in mind, or would you have wanted to tear them apart? Would you ever looked at them the same again? Ever? Allegedly punching a female journalist for just looking at him?

And I for one, am not the tiniest bit thrilled to think of one of my favorite quitarists in a dingy old house calling up demons. That may add to the mystique that some hold to but if I personally knew someone who was into that sort of thing I wouldn't want to spend one tiny second in their presence.

If true.

If.

All that being said, they were the most incredible rock band ever in my book and there will never, ever be another but if all the offstage stories are true it would make them individuals that I wouldn't walk across the street to see.

If.

Good post Stringbender and totally agree about the "IF" factor. . I shall be receiving my copy of the book shortly and as alway's, will not be taking every word of it as the gospel. Undoubtedly though, it will give me much food for thought.

[kaiser]

I was really looking forward to the book as I always liked his Zep related articles in Mojo. I was taken aback when I actually read the book a month ago. There is almost a mean spirited approach that Wall takes as the book goes on, as if it's almost of a personal nature. One thing towards the end, even though it's small, he says that JPJ kids himself on thinking that ITTOD is a musical breakthrough. I have never heard or read anywhere that JPJ has ever expressed anything remotely like that. Wall is nothing but flattering of Plant but with Page he's almost venomous. I was really shocked. I'm not saying what he actually had written isn't rooted in fact, it's just takes on such a negative spin rather than letting the facts speak for themself. It really does come across that he has an axe to grind with Page & that Wall is a fan that feels let down that the "myth" of Zeppelin isn't/wasn't a reality, that these guys were shockingly just human beings. But there is good info in the book as well. I do like it better than Davis's & Cole's books, where HOTG's reads like a cheesy spanish novella & STH is the Zep story through beer goggles. WGWTE is interesting & worth picking up but it is a strange read.

[ally]

I was really looking forward to the book as I always liked his Zep related articles in Mojo. I was taken aback when I actually read the book a month ago. There is almost a mean spirited approach that Wall takes as the book goes on, as if it's almost of a personal nature. One thing towards the end, even though it's small, he says that JPJ kids himself on thinking that ITTOD is a musical breakthrough. I have never heard or read anywhere that JPJ has ever expressed anything remotely like that. Wall is nothing but flattering of Plant but with Page he's almost venomous. I was really shocked. I'm not saying what he actually had written isn't rooted in fact, it's just takes on such a negative spin rather than letting the facts speak for themself. It really does come across that he has an axe to grind with Page & that Wall is a fan that feels let down that the "myth" of Zeppelin isn't/wasn't a reality, that these guys were shockingly just human beings. But there is good info in the book as well. I do like it better than Davis's & Cole's books, where HOTG's reads like a cheesy spanish novella & STH is the Zep story through beer goggles. WGWTE is interesting & worth picking up but it is a strange read.

Thanks for the heads up. If indeed Wall does write the book from the perspective you've described then it shouldn't be too hard for me to read between the lines. I was alway's just a fan of the band and never really thought of them as anything but human. Tales of the occult and lust were never really my thing of interest with them anyway's. Should make for a very interesting read though

[kaiser]

Thanks for the heads up. If indeed Wall does write the book from the perspective you've described then it shouldn't be too hard for me to read between the lines. I was alway's just a fan of the band and never really thought of them as anything but human. Tales of the occult and lust were never really my thing of interest with them anyway's. Should make for a very interesting read though

No problem. As a Zeppelin fan I think the book should be read but recognize that Wall certainly let's his opinions & feelings dominate in certain areas of the book, especially as it goes on. He's not sensationalist like Davis who tried to turn Zeppelin into a metaphor of the 60's dream gone wrong & for all the excesses of the 70's while throwing in his own creative writing embellishments that might only impress a high school literature teacher. Wall's not like Cole who after reading his "writings" I felt like I was just getting drunk because, I've said it before elsewhere on the board, it's like talking to some old drunk in the bar or a guy in at an AA meeting who is talking about HIS glory days & where it all went wrong while exaggerating & apologizing like a battling 12 stepper would. Wall actually did have some sort of relationship with the surviving band members throughout the years but it is he, not the surviving members, that actually comes across as bitter through his own words while particularly getting on Page mostly followed by Zeppelin as a "thing". Read it though, there's some interesting bits of info to be found.

[glicine]

I disagree that Wall is "nothing but flattering of Plant". Flattering of his solo career and success, yes, but as the singer of Led Zeppelin, Plant is potrayed as always insecure, nervous and much less talented.

I agree with the Wall being bitter part. Robert Plant has once said in an interview that most books about them lack "the lightness and joy and humor that were always present", which fit Mick Wall's book quite well, too.

Edited December 29, 2009 by glicine

[kaiser]

I disagree that Wall is "nothing but flattering of Plant". Flattering of his solo career and success, yes, but as the singer of Led Zeppelin, Plant is potrayed as always insecure, nervous and much less talented.

I was referring to later in the book where he is flattering, almost overly so to diminsh Page in particular, the "adversaries" angle that keep stories an interesting read. He does portray Plant as insecure & nervous in the early parts of the book, thus developing Wall's "arc" on the Plant character who emerges victorious at the end while the once invincible Page is shown as man of only past glories holed up watching soccer & brooding.

[zdr]

Hm..

http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2009/12/28/worlds-collide

"I didn't even get a quarter of the way into Mick Wall's new Led Zeppelin biography, When Giants Walked the Earth, before I got tired of dude's hyperbole addiction and worshipful attitude toward the band (...)"

[Led Zep Gurl]

I bought the book in Dec. 2008 and read it. I didn't realize it was just now released in the States. It took a while to get my copy when I ordered (nearly 2 months I think!) and that must be why, it was shipped from the UK. I am in the process of re-reading it right now. The part that drives me nuts about Wall's book is when he goes into his quotations parts of talking in the book. I could do without that part.

[The Rover]

I love the salacious stories.

What I want to hear IS from the horses mouth. I want to know their experiences... through them.

I would never think poorly of any of them or the things they did because I did some pretty wild and crazy stuff in those good old days too.

And yeah, many bands, artists, have been brutally honest in their autobiographies.

That's what makes their stories all the more endearing.

C'mon JIMMY! Give it to use. We all ...at least us chicks have every pic known. We don't need a picture book. Words. Words is what I want. Selfish? Maybe. Curious...defintely.

I'd like for another "insider" besides Richard Cole to write about the band.

Or some groupies to dish out a "tell all" that I'd like to examine.

Perhaps they don't release such a book, because they fear something ? I don't know ?