FIVE GLORIOUS NIGHTS LED ZEPPELIN AT EARLS COURT REVISED & EXPANDED EDITION – PRE ORDER NOW/LZ NEWS/ SAVING GRACE IN CHELTENHAM /TAMPA 1973 – IT WAS 49 YEARS AGO /DL DIARY BLOG UPDATE
Five Glorious Nights – Led Zeppelin at Earls Court May 1975 – revised & expanded edition due for publication in October 2022:
I’ve been keeping this project under wraps as Rufus Stone publisher Mark Smith and I have working towards this announcement for some months.
We are both very excited with the prospect of making the Five Glorious Nights –Led Zeppelin at Earls Court book available again –and the opportunity to make a good thing even better.
The additional 32 pages will be taken up with yet more iconic previously unseen images from this historic run of concerts.
I was also very keen for Mark to come up with a more affordable price point for the standard edition and at £59 on pre orders before August 31 it offers real value for money and provides scope for the book to reach a wider audience. There is also a metal leather limited edition of 150 copies only at £450.
Mark and I are very much looking forward to working on this new edition in the coming months to produce the very best book we can and I will keep you updated on the progress.
Here’s the link to pre order:
https://www.rufuspublications.com/rufusbooks/Led-Zeppelin
LZ News:
Here’s the latest round up from LZ News:
Led Zeppelin
- An expanded edition of Dave Lewis’ Earls Court 1975 photo book “Led Zeppelin – Five Glorious Nights” will be published in October. The new edition features 32 extra pages and new photographs. It’s available in a standard edition and a leather and metal edition limited to 150 copies.
- A paperback edition of the biography “Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin” will be published on December 22, according to Amazon UK.
Robert Plant
- Patty Griffin will release an album of demos and home recordings named “TAPE” on June 10 that will include a duet with Robert Plant. The album’s tracklist has been published but it’s unclear which track is the duet with Plant.
- Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were interviewed by NPR’s Here & Now show.
- Robert Plant’s UK tour with Saving Grace concludes tonight when the band play their final scheduled performance at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. You can watch three songs from their April 26 show in Halifax here and a clip from their April 27 performance in Stockport here. Robert Plant was photographed in Hull on April 14 with house music DJ Graeme Park.
Upcoming events:
May 1 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival in Cheltenham, England.
May 7 – The Black Country Beats exhibition at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, which is set to include Robert Plant’s career, will open.
May 13 – The Tunespeak competition to win tickets for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ US tour will close.
June 1 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Canandaigua, New York and Jimmy Page and Scarlett Sabet will be interviewed on stage at Hay Festival in Wales.
June 2 – Jimmy Page will be interviewed on stage at Hay Festival in Wales.
June 3 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Saratoga Springs, New York.
June 4 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Forest Hills, New York.
June 6 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Clarkston, Michigan.
June 7 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Chicago, Illinois.
June 9 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Indianapolis, Indiana.
June 10 – Patty Griffin’s album “TAPE,” featuring a duet with Robert Plant, will be released.
June 11 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Columbia, Maryland.
June 12 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
June 14 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Cary, North Carolina.
June 16 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Atlanta, Georgia.
June 17 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
June 22-26 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, England.
June 26 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at BST Hyde Park in London, England.
June 29 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at Roskilde Festival in Roskilde, Denmark.
July 1 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Hamar, Norway.
July 2 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Bergen, Norway.
July 5 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Rättvik, Sweden.
July 8 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at Cactusfestival in Bruges, Belgium.
July 10 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the Royal Park Live festival in Baarn, Netherlands.
July 13 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland.
July 14 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the Lucca Summer Festival in Lucca, Italy.
July 16 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at JazzOpen Stuttgart 2022 in Stuttgart, Germany.
July 18 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Sopot, Poland.
July 20 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Berlin, Germany.
August 15 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in San Diego, California.
August 17 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Santa Barbara, California.
August 18 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Los Angeles, California.
August 20 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Stateline, Nevada.
August 21 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Berkeley, California.
August 23 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Napa, California.
August 25 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Bend, Oregon.
August 27 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Troutdale, Oregon.
August 28 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Redmond, Washington.
August 30 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Salt Lake City, Utah.
September 1 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Denver, Colorado.
September 3 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Grand Prairie, Texas.
September 4 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Austin, Texas and the Black Country Beats exhibition at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, which is set to include Robert Plant’s career, will close.
October – The expanded edition of “Led Zeppelin – Five Glorious Nights” by Dave Lewis will be published.
October 19 – The French translation of “Led Zeppelin By Led Zeppelin” will be published.
December 22 – The paperback edition of “Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin” by C.M Kushins will be published.
2022 – “Robert Plant: A Life In Vision,” a photo book edited by Dave Lewis, will be published.
Early 2023 – “A Whole Lotta Music: Life To My Ears,” the memoirs of Tight But Loose editor Dave Lewis, will be published.
2023 – The remastered and expanded 30th anniversary edition of “Coverdale–Page” will be released.
Many thanks to James Cook
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Saving Grace featuring Robert Plant and Suzi Dian in Cheltenham:
Two on the spot reports from the Saving Grace performance at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival last Sunday…
A May Day jolly to welcome this Spring with much barn dancing to accompany the upbeat merriment of the first few tracks.
This was a far cry from the first time I caught Robert, back in 1979. This was far more civilised than back then, very much up close and personal with no t-shirts in the lobby – feck em, who needs t-shirts he denounced. From the moment they waltz onto the stage, Suzi strapped into her accordion (she didn’t bother with it during Season of the Witch) the crowd warmed to the almost hoe down atmosphere, hand clapping to the beat at every opportunity but courteous to cease when the duet fell back to their harmonies.
Robert has nurtured this setup through a musical apprenticeship, beginning as support band and now onto sell out gigs. His enthusiasm for this new collaboration was evident throughout, taking pleasure from working with such a beautiful voice. As they put it during the last line of Chevrolet, “do something new”. This leads onto just where he’s going with Alison Krauss. He appeared to lament having to turn his back on this for a while, to catch a 12 hour flight to Nashville.
Byron Lewis
All photos by Jonathan Taylor
TBL Archive Special: It was 49 years ago… the moment Led Zeppelin elevated from being an exceptional rock band to becoming a worldwide musical phenomenon…they way it’s been ever since…
Led Zeppelin US tour opening date – Friday, May 4, 1973 Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, USA:
Setlist (from River City Review)
Rock and Roll, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Moby Dick, Heartbreaker, Whole Lotta Love, Communication Breakdown
Notes: Other tracks most likely performed but not listed in the review: Celebration Day, Bring It on Home Intro/ Black Dog, Over the Hills and Far Away, The Ocean. Four Sticks was noted in the review, but almost certainly not performed.
Led Zeppelin wasted very little time on their U.S. tour to demonstrate their incredible drawing power and meteoric popularity, pulling in 49,236 fans (out of the 50,277 stadium capacity). The concert grossed $246,180 and broke the Atlanta Stadium concert attendance record set by The Beatles on August 18, 1965 (who drew a comparatively modest 33,000 fans).
A closed-circuit TV system projected the group on two 16×24 foot screens positioned on the sides of the stage. This was the very first time the band had ever employed such screens, specifically for faraway fans. Unfortunately, the other stadium gigs on the 1973 U.S. tour did not utilize the technology (Tampa, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh); however, large video screens were eventually used again for their 1975 Earl’s Court shows, 1977 Pontiac, Michigan, 1977 Seattle, and 1979 Knebworth shows.
This concert marked the debut appearance of John Bonham’s Ludwig Amber Vistalite drum set. Bonzo used this set all the way through the last gig at Earl’s Court in London on May 25, 1975.
Although not documented for this concert, Celebration Day was added to the set list on this tour, the first time it had been performed since Charlotte, North Carolina on June 9, 1972. Out on the Tiles had been replaced by Bring It on Home as the introduction to Black Dog on this tour. No Quarter was performed live for the very first time and Moby Dick made a return appearance to the set list for the U.S. tour (the first time it had been played in concert since the October 9, 1972 Osaka, Japan show).
The gig was reviewed in the River City Review, a Memphis, Tennessee underground newspaper. Bill Read’s review featured the following comments:
“The band waited until everyone had time to get into the Stadium and get settled before they started the show and 8:30, and even then people were still arriving. The audience rose to its feet in a gesture of welcome, even as John (Bonzo) Bonham started the group off into ‘Rock and Roll.’ After completing this number, Robert Plant returned the greeting that had been given, and then continued with ‘The Song Remains the Same’ and ‘The Rain Song’ from their new Atlantic release, Houses of the Holy. Plant then made a reference to the now defunct Atlanta Pop Festivals, and proceeded into ‘Misty Mountain Hop’ and ‘Four Sticks’ (ed. note: he was probably referring to Black Dog). For those who could not see very well, there were two large viewing screens on either side of the stage, which showed interesting close-ups of the band as they gave their spectacular performance.”
“As John Paul Jones began the rather un-Zeppelinish ‘No Quarter,’ a fogging devise went into play, creating the eerie effect you might expect for the song. This selection in particular was reproduced in an excellent manner by all members of the band. Then, Jimmy Page, Zep’s producer and lead guitarist, and Plant put a sensual and intense effort into ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You,’ and, much to the delight of the audience, ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ ”
“As the crescent moon shone above, and as God looked down on all of His children, they bestowed upon the spectators their new rendition of ‘Dazed and Confused.’ During the song Jimmy Page stepped forward with his Customized Led Paul, took out his violin bow and expertly fed his original brand of musical data into an echo unit. Page sent the head of every person conscious into a world of ecstasy and wonder; and it occurred to me that we might have been given a preview of music born twenty years from now.”
Hit Parader (December 1973) carried an exclusive on tour with Led Zeppelin cover story written by none other than their press agent – Danny Goldberg. The article read just like Goldberg’s press releases, describing all their record-breaking exploits. He even quoted the mayor of Atlanta, Sam Cassell, as saying “This is the biggest thing that has hit Atlanta since the premiere of ‘Gone with the Wind.’ ” In his 2008 memoir, “Bumping Into Geniuses: my life inside the rock and roll business,” Goldberg conceded that the quote had actually been contrived by Peter Grant the morning after the Atlanta show.
Saturday, May 5, 1973 Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida, USA
Setlist:
Rock and Roll, Celebration Day, Bring It on Home (Intro)/Black Dog, Over the Hills and Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Dazed and Confused (incl. San Francisco), Stairway to Heaven, Moby Dick, Heartbreaker, Whole Lotta Love Medley (incl. Boogie Chillun’), The Ocean, Communication Breakdown (incl. It’s Your Thing)
The band certainly did not have to wait a very long time to top their Atlanta attendance figure. The next night in Tampa they drew a record 56,443 fans ($297,632 gross receipts), passing The Beatles attendance record for a single artist set at Shea Stadium in New York on August 15, 1965 (attendance: 55,600).
Photos of Robert Plant and the record crowd appeared on the front page of the Atlanta Constitution with the headline “Stadium Rocks – Led Zeppelin Plays to 50,000.” The article was primarily focused on the crowd itself and mentioned that it was the first time the field had been opened to an audience. Curiously, it also mentioned that “paper and aluminum cans were trampled underfoot or were skittered across bare parts by the wind.” Coincidence?
Soon after the Tampa show, an Associated Press article written by journalist Mary Campbell was published in newspapers throughout the United States. Robert Plant discussed the Tampa concert with Campbell:
“I think it was the biggest thrill I’ve had. I pretend – I kid myself – I’m not very nervous in a situation like that. I try to bounce around just like normal. But, if you do a proportionate thing, it would be like half of England’s population. It was a real surprise. Tampa is the last place I would expect to see nigh on 60,000 people. It’s not the country’s biggest city. It was fantastic. One would think it would be very hard to communicate; with 60,000 people some have got to be quite a distance off. There were no movie screens showing us, like in Atlanta. The only thing they could pick up on was the complete vibe of what music was being done.”
Plant was asked why the band was more willing to talk to the press this time around and he responded:
“Last summer when the Stones were in America we were doing a tour concurrent with theirs. We had no coverage. We were beating their attendance, though…We’ve been aware of how we’ve been doing for a long time. And I really think some people ought to know what we’ve done. I’m proud of what we’ve done and what we are doing, and so many more people could dig it. That is the idea.”
Phil Rogers, staff writer for the Evening Independent (May 7, 1973) newspaper in St. Petersburg, Florida reviewed the gig in an article titled “Led Zeppelin Style: Start Slow to Buiold” (sic). Here are some key excerpts from Rogers’ article:
“Then the long awaited were on stage. Zeppelin started slow and built slow, for each song, for the whole show. Robert Plant’s voice vibrated into the open cavern of people that covered – painted – wallpapered every viewable spot in the stadium.”
“At times attention wandered from the stage. Someone said she was bored. At the time the remark was made, I would tend to agree. No one else in the crowd seemed to be exactly jumping up and down either. But then, Led Zeppelin was building.”
“Led Zeppelin was starting to warm up. Jimmy Page took a violin bow to his guitar, drummer John Bonham took a long, very excellent drum solo and the sound started to come alive…The first notes of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ drew immediate applause. ‘There’s a lady…’ Plant’s voice brought recognition to the rest of the crowd and more cheers for the group. The best song so far; things were getting better.”
“The finale, ‘Gimme Some Lovin’ (sic). White doves, released from the stage, flew to the audience in a message of fluttering, wheeling peace. Thousands, upon thousands of matches spotted the stadium like little eyes looking for the group’s return. A granted request.”
The Watcher (May 21-27, 1973) underground newspaper (Winter Park, Florida) carried a review of the record-breaking show titled “The Apex of Rock and Roll Attendance – Led Zeppelin Fills Tampa Stadium.” Written by Michael Crites, the review included the following observations:
“Led Zeppelin performed a predominantly high-energy concert with only a taste of their progressive soul and glamorock experiments of recent days, and their acoustic tunes. The quality of sound was not good, very little of the patented Zeppelin echo was audible and there was a somewhat fuzzy edge. Of course, these are natural drawbacks to a stadium show.”
“One of the outstanding numbers from ‘Houses of the Holy’ titled ‘No Quarter’ is indicative of Zeppelin’s schizophrenic nature. The song included a mysteriously mellow piano, a solid drum beat and disguised heavy guitar. At the mellotron Jones activated the strings, which are dynamite in your living room and probably would be exciting in a concert hall. Zeppelin took off in developing an orchestrated piece formed by intricate composition.”
“The fifteen minute drum solo was a useless filler and a condescension to the masses. I think Bonham is a damned good drummer without continuous beating. Charlie Watts has never played more than thirty seconds by himself. ‘Moby Dick’ was the only boring portion of the show.
A three and a half minute news report was broadcast on local TV station, Channel 13. The feature showed the band getting off their planes and into limos, footage of the crowd, and short clips of the band performing on stage (with Misty Mountain Hop from the fourth LP being played instead of the actual live audio). Part of this feature was used as the intro to their 2007 reunion concert at the 02 Arena in London
DL Diary Blog update:
Friday April 29:
I’ve been sorting some CDs out here from the DL collection and as can be seen, a fair few of them- but there again you can never have too many Led Zeppelin bootleg CDs – oh and that’s the playlist sorted for the next year…
Saturday April 30:
Saturday is platterday – on the player some early morning Eagles – the One Of These Nights album sounding mighty fine in the spring sunshine here…
Saturday April 30:
Saturday is platterday…on the player The Beatles Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – a splendid time is always guaranteed…
Saturday is platterday – on the player some early evening Bad Company –the excellent Bad Company Live 1979 Record Store Day release…
Update here:
A busy week with the announcement of the Five Glorious Nights Led Zeppelin at Earls Court revised and expanded edition. Mark Smith and I have been working on this plan for some time and it’s great to finally get the news of all this out there. This will be the focus here for a good few weeks – alongside of course looking after the good lady Janet. She is making steady progress after her full hip replacement operation.
So May is here and there’s a lot to do and a lot to play as I’m catching up on a number of recently acquired LP’s and CDs including the following LPs secured on Record Store Day:
BAD COMPANY – LIVE 1979
DANA GILLESPIE – FOOLISH SEASONS
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD – SEE ALL HER FACES 50TH ANNIVERSARY
ELTON JOHN – THE COMPLETE THOM BELL SESSIONS
JONI MITCHELL – BLUE 50: DEMOS, OUTTAKES AND LIVE TRACKS FROM JONI MITCHELL ARCHIVES, VOL. 2
LAURA NYRO- TREES OF THE AGES: LAURA NYRO LIVE IN JAPAN
PETE TOWNSHEND’S DEEP END – FACE THE FACE
THE ROLLING STONES – MORE HOT ROCKS (BIG HITS & FAZED COOKIES)
SANDY DENNY – THE EARLY HOME RECORDINGS
SANDY DENNY- GOLD DUST LIVE AT THE ROYALTY
AMBROSE SLADE -BALLZY
Thanks for listening – stay safe and well you very lovely people…
Dave Lewis – May 5, 2022
Until next time…
TBL website updates written and compiled by Dave Lewis
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Hey Dave, that is one amazing collection of bootleg Zeppelin CDs!!!
What interesting reviews of concerts back in the early 70s. Things they think are important to mention, much that was left out. It seems like a whole different world now.
I also didn’t realize there were more shows in the US until I read this. Now I have to get tickets to the Red Rocks show on Sept 1. 🙂
Thanx for all you do Dave!!!
Hi Dave,
Had the very great pleasure of seeing Saving Grace at the Olympia in Liverpool. The venue’s a Victorian music hall and has a pleasingly run-down feel. Plant obviously loves the haunted vibe – he’s played the Olympia at least three times (as the road goes on apparently forever). We had great seats and wallowed in the the glory of the great man’s presence. Talk about on form. This was a wonderfully powerful show – far, far better than I expected. Thank you Robert!
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