There have been more birthday celebrations here with the boy Adam reaching his teenage years. That’s just about the age I was when Led Zeppelin came calling. Adam has so far resisted such temptation, though he can drum out a mean Bonham like back beat to Immigrant Song. He has however showed much commitment to that other Lewis household pastime – the support of Tottenham Hotspur FC. In fact he does so with a passion and knowledge that shames his old dad somewhat.

As a birthday treat the good lady and I and the birthday boy travelled to White Hart Lane for the pre-season friendly against Roma. A convincing 5-0 win made for a most enjoyable day. David Bentley looks to be a very shrewd signing and there’s a genuine optimism in the air. Being Spurs it could all go wrong of course. As for Adam, he was most impressed to be in with the hardcore supporters behind the Park Lane end goal. Cries of “Yid army! Yid army!” have punctuated the air at regular intervals since. He’s growing up fast…    

There’s a few days break for the Lewis clan this week though we aren’t going far as it’s a bit of an important one for our Sam who receives her exam results on Thursday. Might get around to a bit more life laundry, catch up on the backlog of CD’s and DVD’s and books awaiting attention, upload some playlists on the old iPod and I’m sure a beer or two will be supped.

Stuff on my list to get to: Here We Round The Mulberry Bush 60 soundtrack CD (which I’ve been searching for and got via a US dealer), Fillmore Last Days on CD (had the box set vinyl years and got this cheap on Amazon used and new), Sandy Denny Gold Dust Live (another Zavvi sale gem), a couple of Robert/Alison live CDR’s, Knebworth Aug 11 DVD (29 years ago today) Fairport Convention compilation DVD, All You Need Is Love Beatles episode on DVD (great Beatles White album feature in Mojo this month) Life Of Pete Townshend biography.

Then it’ll be back to the slog for the last weeks of summer with the good lady’s birthday and mine to follow – and of course there’s a new TBL to plan and get underway. Talking of which…

TBL 21 is on the streets – and it’s a great feeling having signed off a third magazine in the space of eight months. Thanks again to the xyz boys for bringing it to life in particular Martyn with another superb design. Also big thanks in the direction of Stephen Humphries and Gary Davies for their input.

For me one of the best things about doing all this is that it always acts as a prompt to go back to the music. During the writing and researching and once the finished product emerges. With that in mind, here’s a playlist guide to what you might want to have near to hand on CD or loaded up on the iPod as you turn the pages of another outpouring of Zep related text:

For page 6 and Bonzo’s Greatest Beats… well I’ve had those 20 selections on an iPod playlist marked ‘Bonzo Perfection’ for months. It’s the best of the best.

Turn over to page 7 and despite all the controversy, returning to Robert and Alison’s Raising sand album has proved something of a revelation. A late summer night delight when the sun should have been shining and the sound of rain is all that’s clear outside.

For Stephens’ Robert 60 at 60 feature the easy picks are the Mothership and 66 To Timbuktu CD’s. Loading up the 60 selections on iPod will also provide the ideal celebratory soundtrack to his milestone birthday.

Eddie’s feature on page 18 will of course direct you to the various incarnations of The Song Remains The Same CD though expect to be listening to it with perhaps a different view after reading Eddie’s comments. One point to make: All this attention sprung on the original live set has only gone to emphasize the affection this once much maligned project set now attains. Eddie’s great Garden Tapes feature will also have you searching out the DVD’s menu.

For the Zeppelin At 40 Scrapbook pages, Houses Of The Holy and Physical Graffiti are the required period choices and perhaps a bit of the old live Earls Court to encapsulate the glory years.

We may never know quite know how Zep sounded on that famous first Bath Festival in 1969 though we can now see stills of the live action from the remarkable cine film discovery as reported by Gary Davies on page 28. However, we do know how they sounded the night before via the 1969 One Night Only broadcast featured on the official BBC Sessions CD. Vintage stuff.

So those are the sounds recommended to match the sights of TBL 21 – all designed to take you back to the music with fresh perspective.

Which is what it’s always been about.