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Jimmy Page in Beijing


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i too am puzzled by the organisers' choice of jimmy playing, pairing up with leona, and of the section overall, but i can see why he accepted, it is after all quite an honour to be asked to represent your own country in front of the world's audience. it's not like selling your soul to tv adverts, playing at the superbowl final or woodstock 23 etc, it's a higher level of invitation

It seems to have started with permission to use the song and grew from there - kind of like when Puff daddy wanted to use Kashmir for the Godzilla film. He called Jimmy and asked to use a bit more than the standard measures allowed (or whatever the hip hop rules are) and what he got within a few days was a collaboration, a full orchestra, a new bridge for the song and something that turned out quite brilliant. I remember the interviews from the time, and how surprised Page was at how fast an orchestra came together once word went 'round that Jimmy Page was recording a new version of kashmir and needed an orchestra. The orchestra players of New York ran to that project.

With the Olympics, first the song, then he agrees to rewrite it and with an intro and then a singer is needed, etc. etc. and suddenly he's taken over the production and he's in the thing -- and everyone's just too excited that he's involved to stop the momentum, and they pulled it off wonderfully. I think it was cool as hell that the British were able to Zeppelin-ize their Olympics, which are such a huge undertaking that Zeppelin suffices better than just about anything else. I suppose the Stones doing Start Me Up would've done the job but Microsoft used that ages ago for Windows and why call Mick Jagger when Jimmy Page is available?

I'm glad too that most Zep fans have gotten over the initial "Oh no" r.e. Leona and just enjoyed her - she really was good!

ps.

r.e. the definition of corporate: This was taxpayer financed Zep, no? The very opposite of corporate. [insert ugly American hurricane emotican here].

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Actually I agree with just about everything you've written... I ain't buying any Leona Lewis albums any time soon either... unless she's working with Jimmy, of course. :)

It's just, she surprised me with her talent both as a singer and a performer. Her voice is lovely, and I don't believe there are too many young female singers who could belt out (much less mime belting out) WWL to none other than Jimmy Fucking Page - looking beautiful, but still 41 years her senior - AND make it count, without either of them looking silly.

I'm still grinning about the whole thing. :D

YEAH! She was captivating, ominous, and powerful. A wonderful voice. I can respect the voice.

And yes, I too would buy anything containing a Jimmy Page musical collaboration, even if Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page played the "Hokey Pokey".

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As for Plant doing albums of covers, I can't tell if you're talking about his solo career or time with Led Zeppelin.

:D

(Careful, now...)

Yeah I probably should have ended that quote with a ";)"

It's a topic for another thread and the many copycat threads that follow it.

I honestly am not familiar with Plant's solo career so that was the origin of my comment. I couldn't tell if the person was bashing Robert Plant or Led Zeppelin albums (or both!?). I am very familiar with the arguments about the Led Zeppelin albums (*sigh*) so it through me for a loop.

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About Jimmy's hair? I think it's the greatest. He's old, his hair has been "Grey" since before "Pysical Graffiti" It's nice to see him "get over it" and be comfortable with who he is.

His performance at the olympics? I have never heard of that woman before, but great voice. Jimmy was obviously "Pre-Recorded" I would have to listen again to hear if it was actually him recording it. It was just great to see him. And it had to be a great honor. "Believe me" If they wanted to, they could have had Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Aerosmith, Kiss, Paul MCcartney, Rod Stewart, Tom Petty, Michael Jackson, Janet jackson, Madonna, etc. "Do I need to go on?" Oh, maybe Bret Michaels.

THE POINT IS, IS IT WAS JIMMY PAGE!!!!!!!!!!

JIMMY IS GOD!!!!!!!

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He was interviewed by detectives, issued with a caution, and placed on the Sex Offenders' Register in 2003.

"I'm a huge fan of Led Zeppelin BUT ..." Has this become the critics standard calling card? :rolleyes:

Meg

That was "Pete Townsend" Sweet heart! Jimmy Page could sexually offend anyone and it would be considered a "Revelation".

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wasn't raising sand a whole album of cover tunes?

And the Honey drippers-all covers I think.

I don't know i'm not a post zep Robert expert, but thats whole albums of covers.

He also covered other peoples songs while in Zep.

My point was very simple, that one not need to write a song to be able to perform it well, so there is no reason why this LL chick can't sing a Zeppelin tune. The problem with the new crop of POP singers is not the writing, its more the over use of computers to produce the tracks that suck the life blood out of the performamces. A mechanical vibe machine can't match up to the real deal, believe me I'v tried.

The other problem with Newthe "new pop" is the motivation behind the work. It is not art any more, it is just about the proven "pop" formulae.

The reason I like Led Zeppelin is that they broke the "pop" mold and took chances.

I don't know if the new version of wll was a big risk taking enterprise but I think the cause was a good one and the moment was about England being a little "risky" by using a ruanchy sex track to represent them to the world and Jimmy offered himself up as a symbol of English cool for which he has every right to do because he is cool.

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ok its not a NEW problem but at least they had to hire artists to play them in the old days, now they don't so it makes using a formula even worse.

I mean I'm the kind of guy who likes those long experimental jams the dead used to do, or the impromptu live breakdowns in Zeppelin Jams, or Jimi Hendrix bending the rules by playing with his teeth.

as far as pop goes I like Christina A because she cand bend notes with an experimental flare with confidence.

as apposed to a pre determined way of doing things. The predeterminations have a way of removing the vibe or sole or emotion or whatever you want to call it.

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"Knebby" if you thought there were no corporate vibes at them games then obviously you were unaware that peoples house's were knocked down for the stadium to be built, and if they protested they were thrown in jail. Corporate? I think so.

Didn't anyone ever teach you what 'communism' is? It's the polar opposite of "Corporate".

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YEAH! She was captivating, ominous, and powerful. A wonderful voice. I can respect the voice.

And yes, I too would buy anything containing a Jimmy Page musical collaboration, even if Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page played the "Hokey Pokey".

:D "Shake it all about!"

The equivalent of watching Johnny Depp read the phone book - which I would also do.

B)

That was "Pete Townsend" Sweet heart! Jimmy Page could sexually offend anyone and it would be considered a "Revelation".

:)

Is it even possible for Jimmy Page to sexually offend? Don't think so.

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Didn't anyone ever teach you what 'communism' is? It's the polar opposite of "Corporate".

Without minimising what people lost for the Beijing Olympics, there's not much difference any more. Pretty much the same thing (minus jail time, but including loss of property and money) happened when George Bush and his pals needed land around the Texas Rangers' stadium in Arlington, Texas - a stadium that had already been paid for by the local taxpayers, with all profits going to the wealthy team owners.

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as apposed to a pre determined way of doing things. The predeterminations have a way of removing the vibe or sole or emotion or whatever you want to call it.

Why do you think Jimmy Page quit sessions in the mid-60s? Muzak. It's not a new problem, and you should take care not to be too nostalgic and assume music was fantastic then, and crap now. There was a lot of crap back then too, you just don't hear it any more.

Being original is very difficult - it's unrealistic to expect every act to be original. Appreciate those who break the mold, rather than running down those who don't, and you will get a lot more enjoyment out of music and life.....

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Being original is very difficult - it's unrealistic to expect every act to be original. Appreciate those who break the mold, rather than running down those who don't, and you will get a lot more enjoyment out of music and life.....

In general, it's not unrealistic to expect them to be mostly original. I think the current size of the record industry is unrealistic and contains too much filler. I think it's unrealistic for the filler to be original.

It's easy to forget how much Led Zeppelin broke the mold. They had complete control over their music destiny, which is something that didn't happen much before them and doesn't happen much now after them.

Maybe I'm holding the rest of the world to their standards and I shouldn't expect greatness from other acts. But the again, just maybe someone can do it again.

Is Led Zeppelin the special case or the ideal case?

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His performance at the olympics? I have never heard of that woman before, but great voice. Jimmy was obviously "Pre-Recorded" I would have to listen again to hear if it was actually him recording it. It was just great to see him. And it had to be a great honor. "Believe me" If they wanted to, they could have had Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Aerosmith, Kiss, Paul MCcartney, Rod Stewart, Tom Petty, Michael Jackson, Janet jackson, Madonna, etc. "Do I need to go on?" Oh, maybe Bret Michaels.

Of course it was Jimmy playing.

And while it was indeed an honor, the alternatives for the handover to the London Olympics wouldn't have been Americans like Aerosmith, Petty, etc.

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About Jimmy's hair? I think it's the greatest. He's old, his hair has been "Grey" since before "Pysical Graffiti" It's nice to see him "get over it" and be comfortable with who he is.

His performance at the olympics? I have never heard of that woman before, but great voice. Jimmy was obviously "Pre-Recorded" I would have to listen again to hear if it was actually him recording it. It was just great to see him. And it had to be a great honor.

Are you nuts? :huh:

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Why do you think Jimmy Page quit sessions in the mid-60s? Muzak. It's not a new problem, and you should take care not to be too nostalgic and assume music was fantastic then, and crap now. There was a lot of crap back then too, you just don't hear it any more.

Being original is very difficult - it's unrealistic to expect every act to be original. Appreciate those who break the mold, rather than running down those who don't, and you will get a lot more enjoyment out of music and life.....

And didn't Jimmy write songs with Jackie DeShannon (his girlfriend 1964-65), one of which was used by Marianne Faithful? They had hits. What about MoTown? What about Muscle Shoals? What about ELVIS? Hell, his security guard, Red, wrote more songs than the King did. (It's true - Red had a song on every album).

I can't believe folks are expecting a young singer to somehow live up to original songwriting standards that Aretha Franklin never bothered to observe ... madness. Apply the Zeppelin standard to the music biz and not much of it is left standing anyway, so I don't see the sense in picking at Leona Lewis.

We're not Jazz snobs yet are we?

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I don't think its about being original, I think its about not being afraid to be yourself. Zeppelin were just rehashing old blues tunes but they did them in their own way.

I don't think I will be much happier by accepting "POP" music for what it is today. And it has nothing to do with nostalgia, it has to do with self expression. Self expression is timeless. IMNSHOP

I wasn't trying to knock down "new POP" either, I was making a point about technology and music, a topic of which I am very familiar. i produced POP records for ten years, but I was always trying to make the computer to kind of "jam out"

Now I'm back to my roots, I';m tired of trying to make the computer sound like its kind of jamming, I want to get back to actually jamming. Thats what pulled me into the music in the first place, it wasn't a catchy little number, or a great hook, that the industry forced down my throat, it was acid rock improv.

Thats just me, other people like different things.

It is true that a formula is important to most good music and Zeppelin had their formulae.

mAYBE "POP" ISN'T ART but the kind of music that I like definatly is.

There is a lot of computer that is good too, NIN is cool, Cypress Hill is cool but those guys used the computers to express themselvs better and broke molds. For me its about breaking the mold, but I have friends who listen to house disco all day and they get into that, I might say "don't you think the kick on the one and three for an hour gets a little boring?" and they say "but dosen't it make you want to dance", I say "no" so everybody gets into what it is that they like for different reasons.

I am a music snob, but only because I'v been playing for more than 30 years. I certainly am not a great musicolgist or even that great a musician but i am a good engineer, for whatever its worth.

peace B)

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When you talk about 'computer music' what exactly are you referring to? I mean, sure the sound of a digital recording is different to an analogue tape, but that's really only a minor issue.

Are you talking about different production methods brought about by the use of digital technology - pitch correction, compression and all the other effects which can be used to make an average singer sound good?

Or are you talking about the use of sythesisers, loops etc? Or something else entirely?

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Of course it was Jimmy playing.

And while it was indeed an honor, the alternatives for the handover to the London Olympics wouldn't have been Americans like Aerosmith, Petty, etc.

You're right about Petty, and Aerosmith. I wasn't thinking of them having to be British. But I just watched that clip again, and I can't see that he was doing anything but "Air Guitar". He actually quits strumming at one point and messes around w/his shirt, and the sound doesn't change at all. But, other than that, yes I'm sure it was Jimmy who pre-recorded it in the studio.

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You're right about Petty, and Aerosmith. I wasn't thinking of them having to be British. But I just watched that clip again, and I can't see that he was doing anything but "Air Guitar". He actually quits strumming at one point and messes around w/his shirt, and the sound doesn't change at all. But, other than that, yes I'm sure it was Jimmy who pre-recorded it in the studio.

Why would it be anyone BUT Jimmy? It's not like he can't play it!

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Why would it be anyone BUT Jimmy? It's not like he can't play it!

I just couldn't tell from my 1st listen how many guitar parts were involved. theres also that backwards echo slide. could be sampled? or computer generated? But, yes it really sounded like Jimmy playing the main song and solo. Speaking of Jimmy playing, I thought he was great at the o2 show. And Robert's voice was great! Everyone was good. It must have sounded amazing to be there.

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You're right about Petty, and Aerosmith. I wasn't thinking of them having to be British. But I just watched that clip again, and I can't see that he was doing anything but "Air Guitar". He actually quits strumming at one point and messes around w/his shirt, and the sound doesn't change at all. But, other than that, yes I'm sure it was Jimmy who pre-recorded it in the studio.

You're sure he played it in the studio? Were you there? You're "proven" that he air guitared it ... I'm sure you can prove that he played it in the studio so that it didn't need to be played live.

Hmm. The vocals were live. Why wouldn't the guitar be live as well? The slide parts were almost entirely, if not entirely covered by the string instruments, so why would he have to do anything but run his hands up the neck to simulate it?

He wrote the musical landscape for the singer, not to show whether or not he could play a song that he's played a thousand times before. I hope you guys are joking and this "did he play it or not" issue isn't something you really care about.

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You're sure he played it in the studio? Were you there? You're "proven" that he air guitared it ... I'm sure you can prove that he played it in the studio so that it didn't need to be played live.

Hmm. The vocals were live. Why wouldn't the guitar be live as well? The slide parts were almost entirely, if not entirely covered by the string instruments, so why would he have to do anything but run his hands up the neck to simulate it?

He wrote the musical landscape for the singer, not to show whether or not he could play a song that he's played a thousand times before. I hope you guys are joking and this "did he play it or not" issue isn't something you really care about.

The did he/didn't he play it thing is not trivial - if he got up there and mimed it completely (and I am 99% convinced this is what he did), it's a real shame. Not a crime against humanity, but it's the first time I am aware of him ever doing it, and it somehow takes away from the integrity which he has always conducted himself with.

You can tell by watching the whole song, there are points where Jimmy stops strumming the main riff, yet the audio continues on.

At the end of the day, not a big deal, but part of what has always been so exciting about watching and listening to Jimmy in the live setting is just that - it's live. He sometimes teeters on the edge of brilliance and failure. By pre-recording, that edginess is somehow taken away. I understand the reasons why he would have made that choice, but I personally wouldn't have done it, and I hope he never does it again.

That said, i also think it was so damn awesome that Jimmy Page played the closing ceremony of the Olympics - who would have thought?!

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