ELECTRIC MAGIC – 53 YEARS GONE/ LZ NEWS/KNEBWORTH BOOK LAUNCH 2013/THE BEATLES WHITE ALBUM IT WAS 56 YEARS AGO/ DL DIARY BLOG UPDATE
ELECTRIC MAGIC 53 YEARS GONE:
November 21st is always a bit of a special date in my calendar year – as it was on this day back in 1971 that I was lucky enough to witness Led Zeppelin live at the Empire Pool Wembley –and as you will read, nothing was ever the same in our house after that. Over the next few days I’ll be wading through the Empire Strikes Back Tarantura CD box set to recall the night the Wembley Empire Pool was, as the Melody Maker headline ran ‘Zapped by Zeppelin…’
Here’s some personal reflections…
Schoolboy wonderment, Wally, Pigs and Plates at the Pool
53 years ago this week I first witnessed the pure live power of Led Zeppelin when I attended the second Electric Magic show at the Empire Pool Wembley on the evening of Sunday November 21st 1971. I was just 15 years old –the effect would be a lasting one. Looking back one of the things that stands out from that time is that Zep had a ‘’leaders of the underground’’ stigma about them.
This was the latter period of the UK underground scene –the famous Oz obscenity trial was a only a couple of months before and on that November night there hung a heady atmosphere as London’s counter culture elite came out to see them. This feeling of being amongst the counter culture was enhanced by the presence of a large stall within the Empire Pool for Virgin Records Richard Branson’s newly inaugurated discount record retail operation. They were proudly selling the new Led Zeppelin album in that mysterious sleeve. There was also the famous Electric Magic poster on sale for all of 30p which now changes hands for upwards of a grand. I wish I’d brought more than one!
This was the night Home and Stone The Crows were the support acts and during both sets their respective guitarists took out a violin bow and briefly did a ‘’Jimmy’’ in mock respect for what would occur later. The in between entertainment was provided by the infamous performing pigs that didn’t and the plate spinner Olley Gray who also didn’t fare too well. Warm up records played by DJ Jeff Dexter included Redbone’s Witch Queen Of New Orleans and Isaac Hayes’ Shaft – both hits of the time (Page would insert the riff of Shaft into their version of Dazed And Confused the next week in Manchester.
There were frequent cries from the audience of ‘’Wally’’ a gig going tradition sparked by a roadie at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Never around when needed, the road crew cries of ‘’Where’s Wally?’’ was taken up by the festival audience – and ensuing audiences at big name gigs such as this one.
Then it was time for the main event. Promoter Ricky Farr introduced them and it was evident how loud it was going to be from the moment Bonzo rattled around the kit and Jimmy flexed the Gibson. Then 1 -2-3-4 …Blam!
I was watching Led Zeppelin perform Immigrant Song in front of my own eyes…and nothing was ever the same again.
And nothing was ever this loud. The sheer force of the riff physically pushed me back. After the initial shock of that moment, well the rest of proceedings for this particular schoolboy were just awe inspiring. I watched it all with open mouthed wonderment.
So many vivid images remain from that first stunning exposure to the grown up music world. The immediate upturn of seeing this thing in the flesh was that my interest increased manifold. The scrapbooks became more meticulous, the hunger for knowledge about them more intense and the need to follow their every move a virtual means to an end. It was a year of waiting before they returned to the UK and I saw them at Alley Pally and then came five glorious nights at Earls Court and more. By then journalistic reporting of Zep in the Melody Maker and NME by the likes of Roy Hollingsworth, Nick Kent and Charles Shaar Murray had inspired me to put pen to paper myself and the seeds of Tight But Loose were being sown.
Ultimately it was that night back in November 1971 that sparked the insatiable belief in their music that has stayed with me ever since. It was a night of true Electric Magic and the intervening 50 years have done nothing to diminish its impact.
Back then at 15 years old, I knew I had witnessed something very special –but little did I realize that 53 years hence at aged 68, Led Zeppelin would still mean so much to me and countless millions across the world.
Then as now… they still weave the (Electric) Magic….
Dave Lewis – November 21 2024
Here’s the Evenings With Led Zeppelin entry for the November 20/211 1971 Wembley Empire Pool gigs…
Peter Grant 29 Years Gone:
Remembering the late great legendary Peter Grant – the man who Led Zeppelin, 28 years gone on November 21,2021. Here’s a tribute I wrote for the TBL magazine issue 11 at the time…
Here’s the latest round up of news via the Led ZepNews Update:
Led Zeppelin
‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ will be released on IMAX screens on February 7
For several days this week, we’ve been pondering a double mystery (yes, LedZepNews really does think about this stuff so that you don’t have to). When is “Becoming Led Zeppelin” coming out? And why hasn’t the new trailer been officially released online?
Last month LedZepNews reported that a May 16 release date for the film was looking likely based on a listing from a European film industry website.
But for weeks we’ve been hearing rumours of a February release for the film in the US. These rumours were even coming from people who had been invited to preview screenings of the film, giving them added credibility.
Yesterday, we discovered the answer to both mysteries. We found an IMAX cinema in the US had accidentally let slip that the film will be released on February 7.
And we also found an interview with an album cover artist who explained that the film is being released as part of a partnership with IMAX, a likely reason for the dual release dates. That also explains why the leaked promotional poster we revealed last week directs fans to watch the film on IMAX screens.
That interview also mentioned that the new trailer is going to be released online around Thanksgiving. This would explain why this week Sony Pictures Classics, the film’s US distributor, took action to remove a fan-filmed version of the new trailer from YouTube. You can still read our shot-by-shot analysis of the new trailer here.
Our best guess is that we see the new trailer released officially at the end of this month, the film is shown on IMAX screens beginning on February 7 and then May 16 will be either a wider non-IMAX release or that is the date when the film comes to Europe.
Is this the rarest Led Zeppelin record in the world?
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A cropped image of the front of the unreleased sleeve for the 1979 Led Zeppelin promotional record Led Zeppelin Past, Present and Future
Only a handful of copies are known to exist of the sleeve for a Led Zeppelin promotional record designed in 1979 but never released. And only two copies of the actual vinyl record have been found.
Last month, a new copy of the sleeve for Led Zeppelin Past, Present and Future emerged for sale online with an astonishing price tag of $99,999. That listing has sparked renewed debate about how many copies of the sleeve exist and how much they’re worth.
So we figured it was the perfect time to dig into the history of the record, speaking to dealer Rick Barrett about his discovery of the unreleased record in the 1990s and the seller of the newly emerged sleeve.
Shel Talmy died
Shel Talmy, a record producer who worked on sessions with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, died on November 13 following complications from a stroke.
Back in 2012, Talmy spoke to the Finding Zoso website about his sessions with the future Led Zeppelin band members.
“I originally started using Big Jim Sullivan who was the only other one, and then when I found Jimmy, who I thought was even better because he was more with it,” Talmy told Finding Zoso. “He was doing what I thought should be done and certainly what was being done in the states so it was a no-brainer.”
Robert Plant
Pro-shot footage of a Saving Grace show was released online
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Robert Plant performing as part of Saving Grace at the Baloise Session music festival in Basel, Switzerland on October 25, 2024 (ARTE Concert)
As we continue the long wait for a Saving Grace album, we now have the next best thing: Professionally filmed video of the band’s full October 25 performance at the Baloise Session music festival in Basel, Switzerland. This is the same footage we discussed in last week’s email.
The show is available to watch on the ARTE Concert website and YouTube channel. However, it seems the video is region-locked to only work in some European countries.
Don’t worry if you’re not in Switzerland, though. We dug into the website’s code and found this link to a page on the website which takes you directly to a downloadable high definition video of the show which is available for everyone to watch, regardless of where you are.
Robert Plant visited the Accrington Stanley Wham Stadium
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Robert Plant (second from right) visiting Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium on his way to Saving Grace’s November 5 performance in Harrogate (Twitter/Accrington Stanley)
Here’s something we forgot to include in last week’s email: On his way to Harrogate for Saving Grace’s November 5 show, Robert Plant stopped off at the Wham Stadium which is home to the football club Accrington Stanley.
The club’s supporter liason officer Robert Houseman spoke to the Lancashire Telegraph about Plant’s visit. “He took a few pictures and as we left, I asked him about his line of work and who he was,” Houseman said.
Upcoming events:
- November 23 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Woking, UK.
- November 24 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Southend, UK.
- Around Thanksgiving – The new trailer for ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ is likely to be released online.
- December – Gibson is expected to release regular production models of its replicas of Jimmy Page’s 1969 Gibson EDS-1275 double neck guitar.
- December 4 – The auction for Bob Ludwig’s test pressing of Led Zeppelin II will end.
- Late 2024 / Early 2025 – Jimmy Page’s amp company Sundragon will release its new Nymph amps.
- February 7 – ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ will be released on IMAX screens in the US and Canada.
- Spring 2025 – An expanded version of Live at the Greek, the live album featuring Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes, is due to be released.
- March 21 – The book ‘Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love: A People’s History’ will be published.
- May 3 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Brussels, Belgium.
- May 5 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
- May 6 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- May 8 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- May 9 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Malmö, Sweden.
- May 11 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Gothenburg, Sweden.
- May 14 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Oslo, Norway.
- May 16 – ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ is likely to be released in cinemas around this date and Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Stockholm, Sweden.
- May 18 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Tampere, Finland.
- May 19 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Helsinki, Finland.
- May 21 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Tallinn, Estonia.
- May 23 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Vilnius, Lithuania.
- June – The book “Rock Visions”, which has a chapter on Led Zeppelin memorabilia, will be published.
- September 11 – The book “Valhalla!: The A to Z of Led Zeppelin” by Paul Brannigan will be published.
- October – John Paul Jones’ song cycle for Dame Sarah Connolly will premiere in London.That was our 367th email. Have any questions or feedback? Reply to this email and we’ll get back to you.Follow Led Zeppelin News on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date on news as it happens, and check ledzepnews.com for the latest news.
Many thanks to James Cook for his continued excellent LedZep News coverage.
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November 16,2013: Knebworth Book launch…
Eleven years gone
On this day in 2013, I launched the revised version of my Then As it Was Led Zeppelin At Knebworth 1979 book at the two day VIP Musicmania Fair at Olympia, November 16th/17th.
This Knebworth book launch at the VIP Musicmania Fair was a hugely enjoyable two days.
My fellow stall holder Jerry Bloom and I set up early on Saturday morning – it was great to see faces old and new over the two days – Marc Roberty long time Eric Clapton authority and author was the first to buy the book. There were a fair few key contributors to the book in attendance including Graeme Hutchinson who compiled the bootleg discography, Phil Tatterhsall who provided the cover photo and more plus Ian Avey, Phil Harris and Ian Coleman provided their respective I Was There memories. It was also good to see Classic Rock news editor Dave Ling ,and amongst others Krys Jantzen, Julian Walker ,Michael Stendahl from Sweden, Mark Taylor, Gary Steagles, Dennis McDonnell, Lausen Blair and Mark Winslade – Mark showed me a custom made Tight But Loose badge he had made to attend the Reading Festival in 1980 –classic!
It was of course an absolute thrill to have Jimmy Page drop by at the TBL stall in between his record shopping at the fair with Ross Halfin.
Jimmy was very complementary about the book which really was a fantastic accolade to say the least – and made all the hard work of producing the book worthwhile. He posed for this photo with me taken by Ross.
I gave him a copy of the book and he asked me to sign it for him – for which in return he signed one for me (now that’s what I call a fair deal!). ”Dave – well done!, Rock on!!” was his wonderful inscription.
When he asked what number I’d like in the ‘’book number ‘’ box Jimmy took the initiative and smiling mischievously, filled it in marking it book number ‘’666’’…
Unsurprisingly, this copy of my Knebworth book personally signed and numbered by Jimmy Page is one of my most prized Zep possessions…it was some moment all of seven years ago today……
Dave Lewis, November 20 2024
It was eleven years ago today….2:
This was the second day of the launch of the revised version of my Then As it Was Led Zeppelin At Knebworth 1979 book at the two day VIP Musicmania Fair at Olympia.
I took the opportunity to try on this rather fetching Zozo jumper a perspective buyer of the book had brought in – this is the style of jumper Jimmy wore at the 1971 Electric Magic shows at Wembley Empire Pool in November 1971 …I think he looked better on him than it did me…
DL – November ,2024
The Beatles White Album was released 56 years ago on November 22 1968 – here’s my thoughts on the reissue of six years back…
My thoughts on…
The Beatles White Album remastered – reissued…
I was 12 years old when The Beatles released a double album simply called ”The Beatles” – I was vaguely aware of it as we had the NME every week in our house. At the time music was not a big passion for me but that would all change with the release of The Beatles next single Get Back. Issued the following April, it was the record that took me back to music after an initial burst of interest following The Dave Clark Five when I was aged seven.
I do very much remember the events of that year of 1968. In terms of the White Album timeline – On May 29 I was at our school sports day in the afternoon and in the evening watched Manchester United beat Benfica in the European Cup Final – all this occurred on the day before they entered Abbey Road Studios to begin the White Album sessions. I know I was on holiday in Wales when Hey Jude was released at the end of August and about to celebrate my 12th birthday the day after they shot the Hey Jude & Revolution promo films at Twickenham Studios. On my actual birthday the next day (September 5), they were in the studio working on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. it’s also worth mentioning that in late July, Paul McCartney was in the Bedfordshire vicinity – calling in to a pub in the nearby village of Harrold. Not only that, he took to the piano for an impromptu delivery of Hey Jude. Oh to be in the pub for a drink that night!
1969 would be the breakthrough year for my lasting musical obsession and passion – greatly inspired by the weekly watching of Top Of The Pops, reading the NME, the juke box in a local café, school friends beginning to buy singles and listening to Alan Freeman’s Pick of The Pops every Sunday afternoon. It was on Alan’s radio show in late 1969 when I first heard Led Zeppelin.
By then, I had already heard bits of The Beatles double album forever tagged The White Album with that distinctive sleeve. An older friend we played Subbuteo table football with, was an album buyer and on one occasion when we visited his house, he had both the Blind Faith album and The Beatles White Album on top of the family radiogram. I remember we were intrigued by the title Why Don’t We Do it In the Road.
I was fascinated with both these albums – but especially The Beatles. The package alone was striking. That plain laminated white sleeve, the block title, the individual number, the black inner sleeves, the remarkable poster (we gawped at the pic of Macca naked but for a strategic pole in front of him) and the record labels depicting the green Apple on the front and the Apple core on the reverse side. I had previously marvelled at the Hey Jude, Get Back and Ballad of John and Yoko single labels – seeing that distinctive design on a full size LP was awe inspiring. In fact everything about being a Beatles fan was awe inspiring. It still is.
From then on, I intensively followed their every move – the Let It Be single, album and film, the sad break up, the early solo careers. When I began working at British Home stores in June 1972, I now had some income to buy albums. In early 1973, I purchased The Beatles White Album from Carlows record shop in Bedford.
At last, I had the full 30 tracks and four sides at my disposal. An embarrassment of riches then…and now. in fact it’s amazing to think that on this 50th anniversary, that when I finally got hold of a copy of The White Album it was a mere five years old.
It kick started a long running love affair I have with this two record set.
The Beatles White album was one of the first albums I purchased when I got a CD player in 1988. I have the mono CD pressing that came as part of The Beatles Mono Box set, I’ve searched out an original mono pressing which has some slightly differing mixes, I have an import version on the Odeon label – in all I must have around 15 different pressings.
As for the bootlegs, I have a brilliant 3 CD set The Alternate White Album with outtakes and demos, I have the legendary Esher demos CD , the so called Peter Sellers tape comprising of early mixes Ringo handed to Peter Sellers prior to the albums original release. I have the nostalgic 1968 WABC FM US broadcast of an advance acetate of the album, I have the free Mojo CD The White Album Recovered that has modern artist covering songs from the White Album.
I have a stack of original NMEs, Melody Makers, Disc music papers covering The White Album’s development in 1968. I have many a magazine feature on the subject. Tony Palmer’s Observer review as featured on the back of the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album is amongst my favourite Beatles writings.
One of my party pieces when I worked at Our Price and Virgin anytime the White album was delivered to the shop was to name the thirty tracks that make up the album in quick succession. I knew them by heart of course.
My favourite tracks on The Beatles Anthology releases are the White Album outtakes that feature on the Anthology 3 set.
As a collector of singles featuring Beatles cover versions I have picked up a fair few cover versions of songs from the White Album. The release of any new Beatles album always saw a spate of artists keen to cover Lennon/McCartney songs for potential hit singles – The White Album was no exception – indeed The Marmalade took their version of Ob- La De, Ob -La Da to number one in late December.
The cover versions from the White Album I have are as follows:
Everybody’ Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey – Fats Domino (Reprise)
Issued in 1969, this finds Fats applying his familiar New Orleans boogie woogie style to the Lennon rocker. Produced by Richard Perry who went on to work with the likes of Carly Simon, Harry Nilsson, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, Diana Ross and Ringo Starr.
Blackbird by Danny McCulluch (Captiol)
An interesting arrangement – McCulluch a former bassist with The Animals and Eric Burden band, he brings a rasping Rod Stewart like vocal to this rock soul soup up with upfront percussion.
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill/I Will by Youngblood (Pye)
Two sides of White Album covers issued in February 1969.The A side is a faithful chorus led outing that omits Lennon’s ad-libbed ”All the children sing” The B side version of I Will is a dreamy pleasingly whimsical affair with multi layered vocals. Youngblood were a Birmingham based band with Cozy Powell featuring in their line up until late 1968.
Back In The USSR – Cliff Bennett and his Band (Parlophone ) Cliff’s band at one time included the late Chas Hodges who went on to be part of Chas and Dave. Cliff’s cover version of Got To Get You Into My Life ( produced by McCartney) was a top ten hit in 1966. This is a rather frantic fuzz guitar dominated delivery sans the airplane effects.
Ob -La -Di Ob -La -Da by The Bedrocks (Columbia) – slightly more Caribbean sounding renditions that made the lower regions of the UK chart in late 1968. Produced by Norman Smith who worked on the early Beatles hits as an engineer and went on to produce the early Pink Floyd.
Ob -La Di Ob – La -Da by The Marmalade (CBS) – the more commercial arrangement that scored them a number one single in the UK.
I also have…
Hey Jude by Wilson Pickett (Atlantic) – brilliant funked up delivery from the soul man with Duane Allman guesting. One of the best ever Beatles covers.
Hey Jude/Those Were The Days by The Larry Page Orchestra (Page One) – well produced orchestral arrangements.
One other White Album covers curio I have is the 1968 album by Ramsey Lewis titled Mother Nature’s Son recorded and released in December 1968. This album features cover versions of ten tracks from The White Album expertly re imagined by the legendary jazz pianist. It has some pioneering use of the Moog synthesizer – an instrument The Beatles would make copious use of on the Abbey Road album in 1969.
This is all leading to one clear fact: The Beatles’ White album is my second favourite album of all time behind Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin.
For this is much more than a mere record – it’s been a lifelong companion to me through ups and downs. Not just a mere record but for me a way of life.
So what is it that so enthralls me about this two record set?
For a start the sequencing of the 30 tracks is just perfect. The cross fades, the abrupt endings, the off -mic chat, the count ins – it all fits so perfectly. My familiarity with it’s contents is such that I know every nook and cranny of it’s sequencing. Jimmy Page was also a deft hand when it came to the sequencing of the Zep albums.
It’s a true song cycle. A kaleidoscope of stories, characters, dreams and magic.
The quality of the songwriting is just immense – much has been made in the past about the disharmony among the four at the time. Whilst there were obvious tensions there were many moments of pure Beatles fun – a fact emphasised by producer of the new remaster Giles Martin in various recent interviews.
Now we have so much more of it to enjoy with the arrival of The Beatles White Album remastered reissue.
Back in 1988, I purchased Mark Lewisohn’s superb The Beatles Recording Sessions -The Official Story of The Abbey Road Years. This book chronicled every Beatles recording session and in collating the book, Mark was given total access to listen to every last cough and splutter as The Beatles were at work. For the time it was an incredibly illuminating book. On September 26 1988, I was lucky enough to attend the launch of the book inside Abbey Road Studios number 2 one of four occasions I’ve been lucky enough to be inside those hallowed walls. For the record, the other occasions – August 1983 for The Beatles At Abbey Road show, October 1992 for the Mark Lewishon Compete Beatles book launch – a very memorable day as David Coverdale and Jimmy Page were in the studio that day working on their album – I spoke to David briefly. Then in February 2010 to see amongst others, Robert Plant at the Sound & Vision Event for Cancer Research UK.
I’ve since spoken to Mark about that book and his later massive Beatles Chronicle publication. Indeed his books have provided much inspiration as to how I have gone about my own Zep chronicling over the years.
Reading his descriptions in that Recording Sessions book of the multiple takes that survive in the archive was absolutely fascinating – and none more so that the expansive coverage of the recording of what would become the White Album. At the time of reading the book, I marveled at how privileged Mark had been to hear all that amazing music being made as it happened.
Now, through the wonder of Giles Martin and the EMI team, we can all be privy to such Beatles studio recording insights – for as they did for Sgt Pepper, we now have a vastly expanded reissue of that illustrious double album – with an array of previously unheard demos and outtakes.
Last Friday, it was a joy to invest in The Beatles White Album Giles Martin new stereo mix on vinyl on the day of release at the excellent Slide Record shop in Bedford…93 minutes of musical heaven awaited.
And what a 93 minute experience it is. It sounds incredible – so warm and precise, the instrumentation so well defined. Giles Martin has made a great iconic work even greater… 50 years on there are still new revelations in to be heard in this work of genius…
Alongside that new stereo remaster of The White Album on vinyl, I also have invested in the ultimate super deluxe package that includes:
CDs 1 & 2: The BEATLES (‘White Album’) 2018 stereo album mix
CD3: Esher Demos
– Esher Demo tracks 1 through 19 sequenced in order of the finished song’s placement on ‘The White Album.’ Tracks 20-27 were not included on the album.
CDs 4, 5 & 6: Sessions
– 50 additional recordings, most previously unreleased, from ‘White Album’ studio sessions; all newly mixed from the four-track and eight-track session tapes, sequenced in order of their recording start dates.
Blu-ray:
– 2018 album mix in high resolution PCM stereo
– 2018 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 album mix
– 2018 Dolby True HD 5.1 album mix
– 2018 direct transfer of the album’s original mono mix
Phew!
This one I could not resist and I had to invest as an early Christmas present.
Over the next few days and weeks (however long it takes!) I will be intensely listening to this ultimate White Album experience.
Like I said – it’s not just an album…its a way of life…being re acquainted with this incredible new remastered reissue has been quite life affirming
It’s The Beatles…
It’s The White Album…
It’s brilliant…
Dave Lewis – November 12,2018.
Saturday November 16:
Saturday is platterday on the player Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti – coming up for a 50th anniversary early next year and still sounding utterly magnificent…
Saturday November 16:
A rather lovely selfie with the visiting Dec yesterday including a full Lewis line up of Adam, the good lady Janet, Sam and little Ollie…
Sunday November 17:
The Final night of the week long Dec roadshow and a great turn out in The Ship yesterday – pic here with a few of the crew including Jem, the good lady Janet, Lee, Steve, Pat, Phil, and of course the main himself. Six nights out in a row.. It’s been quite a week…
Until next time…
Dave Lewis – November 21 2024
TBL website updates written and compiled by Dave Lewis
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