HOWARD MYLETT REMEMBERED/TBL ARCHIVE SPECIAL – LED ZEPPELIN OVER EUROPE 1980 COLOGNE – IT WAS 45 YEARS AGO/THE JIMMY PAGE 2015 TBL INTERVIEW/LIVE IN SEATTLE 72/BECOMING LED ZEP/NICK DRAKE/DL AT 70 COUNTDOWN/DL DIARY BLOG UPDATE
Howard Mylett Remembered : 15 years Gone…
June 19th marks the 15th anniversary of the passing of Howard Mylett, the legendary Led Zeppelin collector and original author.
He wrote the first ever biography of Led Zeppelin published in 1976 and went on to write a series of superbly researched Zep books. .
Howard Mylett had an engaging dry wit, incredible enthusiasm for collecting all things Zep, and above all, was always so generous in sharing his passion. He could be a cantankerous old bugger at times but that was all part of Howard’s make up.
It was some 53 years ago way back in 1973 when I first began corresponding with Howard after seeing a ‘’Zep Photos wanted/for sale’’ ad in the NME. My collection of photos and cuttings improved manifold thanks to Howard’s generosity. For a mere few pence he would send me batches of cuttings. I can still recall the thrill of seeing a package postmarked from Brighton landing on my doormat.
I knew it would bring forth more unseen Zep images and foreign and overseas cuttings from the likes of the US Circus and Creem magazines and French magazines such as Rock And Folk. Howard also had unimpeachable Japanese contacts and it was through him that I first obtained the series of rare Japanese photo books.
It was always a pleasure to visit him and his lovely wife Anita in Brighton.
I will never forget the final time I saw him early in 2011. Gary Foy and I travelled down to see him and I conducted an interview with him for the TBL mag. Despite his failing health, Howard’s passion for the world of Zep was burning bright as ever. It was an incredibly emotional afternoon as I think deep down, Howard knew we would not get many more opportunities to discuss our favourite subject again – and sadly that was to be the case…
Howard’s enthusiasm was infectious. He was a massive influence on my desire to put words into print about Led Zeppelin.
Since his passing, it has become even more evident how important Howard’s pioneering work was to me as a young impressionable fan.
Howard would have course loved all the Led Zeppelin reissues and book releases and Jimmy, Robert and John Paul Jones activities– and of course he would have loved the Becoming Led Zeppelin film. There have been plenty of moments when I dearly wish Howard was still around to see it all…
Howard Mylett will always be a much missed part of the Zep fan fraternity.. but never forgotten and there will be countless fans across the world who will be thinking of him on the 14th anniversary of his passing… rest in peace Howard – you shared it with us all …
Dave Lewis – June 18 2026
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This week marks the 46th anniversary of the first dates of the final Led Zeppelin tour – a low key 14 date trek taking in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Austria and Switzerland. I was lucky enough to attend five of those gigs. This is all chronicled in my Led Zeppelin Feather In The Wind Over Europe 1980 book
Here’s is an extract of chapter three, my on the road account written at the time and first featured in TBL issue 5.
Extract – Chapter Three: Rejuvenation Over Europe 1980 – Up close and personal: Cologne, June 18, 1980.
Raymondo straps on Jimmy’s Gibson. The audience are already in near frenzy as he steps on the wah-wah pedal and tunes up. Robert, straight to the right of the stage with both arms held aloft, is holding the microphone lead in that usual outstretched pose. Jimmy Page continues tuning up and eventually this becomes the chords for the opening bars of Train Kept A Rollin’, an old Yardbirds number and a track that was used as the set opener on the first Zeppelin US tours all those years ago.
As Jonesy and Bonzo crash in on cue, Robert, at once, is alive and totally immersed in the song. Let me tell you, it was a moment that crystallised the essence of rejuvenation this band has obviously undergone. The power, even for them, is awesome. Train Kept A Rollin’ stops and Nobody’s Fault But Mine starts. Minus the sonic intro but including some marvellous Plant phrasing (“Nobody’s fault but maahyyne….”) and harmonica wailings and with the now expected cry of “Oh Jimmy….Oh Jimmy…”, before a shuffling, twirling, twanging solo from James Patrick.
Two songs in and a further shock. Jimmy Page speaks! Yes folks, it’s true. For the first time I can recall, Jimmy greets an audience. A bit muffled, but it’s there alright – “Good Evening! Gonna do an old one, it’s called Black Dog.”
Yes Jimmy, an oldie but goodie. Robert is outstanding on this one. All the old poses – my it’s loud. It’s obscene, it’s beautiful. But Jimmy too, more than I’ve seen, wants to share the spotlight. No longer content to confine himself to the left of Bonzo’s kit – no – he’s everywhere.
I’ve never seen him move so much. Playing up to the crowd, cringing, grinning – you know the stuff. I mean, we’ve already got one amazing front man, but this time around Jimmy is almost playing off him. The spectacle of the two is something else. Hey, John Paul Jones too, seems to be more upfront these days. No longer slipping into the shadows next to Bonzo. No, he’s more prominent, nearer the front of the stage, not moving too much of course, but jigging a merry dance up there with those amazing fluid bass runs that undercut Jimmy’s slippery guitar work.
“Since we came here last, many things have happened, one of the most important being the album called In Through The Out Door.”
In The Evening is played next, with exceptional intensity. The drama of the intro itself is masterful. Spotlight on Bonzo as he rolls on the tympani, Jimmy crouched over his blue Strat clawing at the tremolo arm to achieve that drone and Robert, arms upheld, slowly walking up to the microphone and holding the opening line for several bars until the moment all four crash down collectively on that cascading riff. Taken at a slightly slower tempo than last year’s gigs, it still rates as a classic in the Zep stakes and as a testament to the power of the new Zeppelin sound. Another magic moment is, of course, the point where the song slips into the slower passage, guided by Robert’s outstretched arm in the direction of John Paul Jones, who plays a beautiful keyboard passage (not featured on the studio version) over Jimmy’s jangling out-stretched tremolo chording.
“This is one from the Houses Of The Holy period” Robert tells the audience and a blue spotlight picks out Jimmy playing the opening chords to The Rain Song – a song that has some of Robert’s best lyrics (“you are the sunlight in my growing”) and also features some controlled tympani from Bonzo.
“That was a song about a love that went right, this is one about a love that went wrong.”
Cue for the hillbilly cat workout of Hot Dog for which Jimmy switches to red Telecaster. Funny old track this. As much as I find it undistinguished on record, on stage it always delights as a fun clapalong. It also gives Robert the opportunity to hoedown with some delightful foot stepping.
The next song is also from the last album. Unannounced, it still gets one of the best receptions of the night, the moment Jonesy plays the opening string symphony notes of All My Love. As on record, this is beautiful. Jimmy plays some memorable chords on the Telecaster and Robert’s singing is full of sincerity. When John Paul Jones gets the middle classical solo off to a tee, Robert looks over and gives him a knowing smile. It was just perfect, and the outro too, with Robert extending the “ I get a bit lonely, just a little bit, oh just a little bit lonely” lines to maximum effect.
“That song featured J.P. Jones on keyboards, so does this track, Trampled Underfoot.”
Complete with side stage revolving beacons, this remains a definitive high energy Zeppelin improvisation number. On that extended solo Jimmy seems to reap forth the most incredible guitar lines and Robert does a delightful two step strut across the stage shaking his head back and forth until he swings round and screams “Push!”, “Push”, “Push yeah.” Vibrant stuff indeed. (“Eye Thank Yew”).
They slow the pace with the next track, Since I’ve Been Loving You, where naturally Jimmy leads the way with some amazing smooth lead guitar. Robert’s vocals too, soar out this painful tale, holding and bending the notes in all the right places. John Paul Jones aids the mix on electric piano. Towards the finish Robert really excels, “Ah I get down on my knees for you, fill my heart with pain, don’t make me lose, don’t make me lose…..” We got the booze, they got the blues remember?
From there it’s another high-spot. White light and smoke (one of the few effects employed) greet the intro of the epic Achilles Last Stand. Jimmy uses feedback to great effect, throwing his arm out in tune with the sound. Robert, meanwhile, is at his preening best unleashing the tale of where it all meets. “Where the mighty arms of Atlas hold the heavens from the earth.” For the “Ah-ah ah ah” repeat refrain, Robert and Jimmy cluster together in classic rock ‘n’ roll pose, swinging their heads back and forth showering in each others sweat.
Raymondo brings on a chair for Jimmy’s White Summer/Black Mountain Side segment, where he sits down with the Dan Electro. He gets so carried away that at one point he even drops his pick. On cue, the last refrain of Black Mountain Side is the moment when the band collectively leap back into action via a couple of flash explosions stage front and we are into Kashmir.
This is glorious. Robert does some incredible spontaneous choreography with Jimmy who is crouched menacingly over the Dan Electro guitar. Towards the end Bonzo leads the way out with a series of unbelievable drum fills, each one just a little more frenzied that the last, beating up to an incredible climax.
Just about the only song that could follow that is our anthem. Unannounced the opening chords of Stairway to Heaven get the expected response. Robert’s phrasing is, as ever, spot on and the tempo of the song is just slightly more speeded up than usual. He sings “Do you remember laughter, laughter,” and takes up a classic tambourine pose for Jimmy to weave the way out with a soaring double neck solo.
“Goodnight – It’s nice to be back on the road again.”
With that they’re gone. Ten minutes later they’re back with a rousing encore. “Good Evening! Never fails does it?” smiles Robert, adding the statement – “So this is what it’s like to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band! Then Bonzo thrashes the intro of Rock And Roll, which has Robert doing his pogo bit, and Jimmy leaping around the stage firing the Gibson at the audience.
After that, there is more than enough response to require a second encore, which they get. A compact, no nonsense Communication Breakdown remains faithful to the version on the debut LP, clocking in at no more than three minutes of energetic action.
“Not bad for a bunch of dinosaurs!… Goodnight Cologne… ”
That’s Robert’s final statement. That’s the second night of the tour. That was hot.
So how do you sum that one up? Folks – I’d say Led Zeppelin have gone full circle. Tonight in every aspect of their performance it was almost a ‘back to the roots’ approach. From the use of an old Yardbirds number to open with, right through to the choice of a twelve year old cut that still sounds good, to close with. In between was what I would consider to be just about the best set I’ve ever witnessed Zeppelin play.
There was a definite lack of self indulgence. A lack of excessiveness too. Five years ago it was exciting and relevant to include marathon numbers, the bow episode, the lasers, the effects, etc, but really they took that trip as far as it could go. The pendulum has swing in the other direction now. The throwback of the compact set Zeppelin performed tonight still had enough spice and vitality to satisfy and I applaud their conviction to do it that way.
It’s also a much needed return to feeling audiences again. By reducing the scale of the whole operation, Zeppelin have once again regained contact with the people. With the stage only six feet away from the nearest punter, it was a true platform of communication.
Another point – Knebworth was a magic event last year, there is no doubting that, but the size, grandeur and emotional experience of them appearing on a stage again, maybe glossed over the true spirit of their musical presence a little. Judging by the smiles on the faces of Robert, Jimmy, Jonesy and Bonzo all through the Cologne gig, that spirit is well in evidence on this tour and that’s an important aspect. The fact that they’re really enjoying playing together again. I mean, I’ve never seen Robert sweat so much on stage! They really want to please and it’s a great feeling to witness that.
Led Zeppelin have impressed me in many different ways over the years. As musicians, as performers, as writers, as people. Tonight they impressed me as a working rock ‘n’ roll band – above everything. That’s important.
Tight but loose? – you ain’t joking… And this is only the second night of the tour…
Extract from the book Led Zeppelin Feather In The Wind – Over Europe 1980 by Dave Lewis.
The Jimmy Page TBL Interview for issue 39:
To mark the eleventh anniversary of my interview with Jimmy Page for TBL 39, here’s the full interview feature as it was published back in 2015…
Jimmy Page: Conversing about the companion discs:
In an another exclusive interview for TBL, Jimmy Page talks Dave Lewis through the contests of the companion disc audio lined up for the final three Led Zeppelin reissues…
Then:
Extract from the Feather In the Wind book – Chapter Three: Rejuvenation Over Europe 1980 – Up close and personal:
June 18, 1980:
The magnificent city of Cologne, a mixture of hustling German efficiency and enthusiastic tourism, looks dull and hazy as our train rolls into the station on a June, Wednesday morning. It’s in the vicinity of the square that surrounds the impressive Cologne cathedral that the reality of what I’m actually doing here really hits home. Along a side street adjoining the square are a row of blue and red bill posters, each proclaiming the same message. “Lippman, Rau and Scheller present Led Zeppelin Concert 80.” The slogan spells out clearly that Led Zeppelin are once again fully operational as a working rock ‘n’ roll band.
Yes it’s true. Led Zeppelin are coming over to meet the 80s. Their first tour in three years is finally happening.
Now:
Fast forward 35 years – June 18, 2015;
The picturesque leafy west London superb of Barnes is a mixture of sleek restaurants upmarket shops as my bus rolls into the common. It’s in the vicinity of Church Street that the reality of what I am actually doing here really hits home. For there at number 117 to 123 is the impressive building known as Olympic Studios. The very building where Led Zeppelin created much of their music.
Yes it’s true. Jimmy Page is coming out to meet the people again. He is back on the promotional trial to inform and enlighten on the subject of the final three Led Zeppelin reissues – Presence, In Through The Out Door and Coda all due to be released on July 31. It’s a final Led Zeppelin Reissue media blitz that will take in Paris, Japan, the USA and Canada in the coming weeks.
This is actually my second visit to this famous old building in two days. On Tuesday I was here for the final playback hosted by Jimmy. Overall, this is my sixth visit to Olympic in the space of in the space of fourteen months. It was back in March 2014 that I made my first pilgrimage to hear the playback of the first three Led Zeppelin reissues.
The whole saga of this remarkable project actually began in late 2012 when I Jimmy mention in an interview with Phil Alexander in Mojo where he hinted at a project ahead that would involve extending the albums. At the London VIP record fair in January 2013, I asked Jimmy what the plan was and it was then he first explained his intentions to overhaul the entire studio catalogue. Further conversations along the way whetted the appetite for what was to come. I vividly recall Jimmy informing me that he had an alternate Since I’ve Been Loving You and also explaining the concept of the companion discs that would emerge.
So here we are on an extremely sunny day in Barnes at the end of the trail. It would seem TBL Jimmy Page interviews are like busses – nothing for a good while then two arrive in a short space of time. It was a mere nine months back when I last had a formal meeting with Jimmy. On that occasion he was promoting the Led Zeppelin IV and Houses Of The Holy albums.
Since then, there’s been the stand alone release in February of Physical Graffiti. I was lucky enough to attend both the playback events staged for that landmark reissue – the press event on February 2 followed by the Yahoo.com sponsored fan event on February 19.Knowing his schedule would be packed, I did not request and interview at that point – however, I was very keen to catch up with him to round it all off when the final three reissues were announced.
Two days ago it was back here for the ten track preview of these final reissues. Pleasingly I’ve also been added to the press schedule of interviews that Jimmy is giving. This time the venue is Olympic. The date of June 18, is by coincidence exactly 35 years ago to the day that I saw Jimmy perform on stage in Cologne on the second night of the Led Zeppelin Over Europe 1980 tour.
So around 2pm I enter the now familiar building and check in with Jason from Warners in the plush bar.
Ass a quick aside, who should be sitting over in the bar on his own but by ex Arsenal footballer and now media pundit Ian Wright. I move over for a quick chat with the more than amiable Mr Wright as we banter about Spurs and Arsenal and the current fortunes of England. It’s a very pleasant ice breaker for what lies ahead.
Yes, I’m a little nervous again at the prospect of a one on one with Jimmy. Perhaps apprehensive is a better description as I am fully aware of the time constraints of the interview. I again have thirty minutes to get the best out of this meet with the man. Back at the Kensington Gore hotel in early October, my interview was somewhat rushed, as things were running late.
This time it’s altogether less frantic. I am the last one in on a day of interviews that commenced at 11am. I am taken up to a small room to meet Jimmy and Warner exec Robin Hurley. The room is adorned by a large framed Led Zeppelin I cover – a turquoise one at that signed by Jimmy.
Jimmy looks great in neat black shirt and greets me warmly. What follows is around 35 minutes of informal chat. For this interview seems a lot less structured and formal than last time. Jimmy is well relaxed and looking back at over it now, what emerges from our conversation is something of a mutual Led Zep love- in. Some of my intended questions go out the window as it we get stuck in discussing the contents of the companion discs of the final three reissues.
That was always my intended pitch with this interview and it worked pretty well. As you will read on, there’s less questions and answers and more of an informal chat between us. And that is exactly how it felt at the time. So settle down to hear something of a conversational love in between the guitarist and TBL editor on the subject of the companion disc content of Presence, In Through The Out Door and Coda…
DL: Jimmy if I can get you to talk me through a few of the tracks on the companion discs
JP: Let’s do it.
DL: I think Presence is one of the band’s foremost achievements – so let’s start with Two Ones Are Won which is the Achilles Last Stand Reference Mix.
JP: Right from the rehearsals that were done in LA of this, I was already working out what I was going to do with the overdubs in my head. The situation was that we were rehearsing and I was writing in LA. Robert’s had this horrendous accident and his leg is in a cast. Then we go to the studio in Munich and t was intense times and really intense for Robert. He’s singing his heart out on it.
I did all the overdubs in the space of a day’s work there. I just remember going at it and I didn’t stop .I knew what I wanted to do. You might have noticed that there is a line that is missing on that version on the Companion Disc.
DL: Yes I did.
JP: It’s the line ‘’I know the way know the way’’. He wanted to do something to sum things up for what he was thinking about so that line was done afterwards. So I am in there with the engineer Keith Harwood doing the overdubs. It was all done manually back then, there was no computer recall .
It’s just me and him on the desk and its bloody good. The guitars that are on there, well I am on a serious roll with that. I’m really trying to prove a point.
DL:I reading at the time that you had to request a couple of extra days studio time from the Rolling Stones who were next booked in at Musicland?
JP: Yes that’s right. What it was, we had a three week and we were going to overrun the three week period. In those days, it was a not a case of taking a file away and bringing it up somewhere else. It was all manual mixing and you don’t want to stop and The Stones are scheduled to come in. So I had a word with Mick and asked if we could have two days extra out of their time, because we are finishing an album. We probably only needed one day but I wanted to have two just in case. Keith and I were so focused to the point where no time was being wasted. It was like whoever wakes up first, wakes up the other one and we go to the studio – actually it was always me that seemed to wake up first!
But I’m not exaggerating, that’s exactly how it was – it was so driven. So Mick arrives at the same hotel he asked ‘How did it go?’’ he thought we had just done a single track I said ‘’No we did the whole album overdubs’’. I remember playing him Nobody’s Fault But Mine which he knew from the blues thing, and he thought it was great..
DL: The reference mix of For Your Life has an alternate guitar solo.
JP: For Your Life really goes into something of a different vein. If people go ‘oh Led Zeppelin’ s heavy metal’’ well quite clearly it isn’t. On this quite clearly – this is something that’s entirely different. The whole time signature of it, the whole layering of guitars. The way that the riff changes, the overlays of it, the textures .I mean no one’s got anywhere near things like that.
It was really good to do it that sort of solo. It’s there historically though, it wouldn’t have made it on the album and it doesn’t matter – it’s like this tape turns up and there’s these stages of songs – when this tape appeared and I didn’t know we had much for Presence, so it was like ‘Thank you God’. It was in a box and it had no labelling on it.
DL: The instrumental Pod throws new light on the Presence sessions in so much that there were some reflective moments. Were you surprised to find that recording?
JP: Yes I was, because with Presence, it’s is such an urgent work isn’t it? It’s a guitar driven album the important point of Pod is to show within all of that, we can do something like that as a group. We can play like that, I think that’s so revealing. There were no boundaries as far as Led Zeppelin was concerned.
DL: Was it just going to be an instrumental piece?
JP: No, we just didn’t get to the point where Robert worked on it. So there’s no vocal on it so it, it was what it is, it’s the first pass of the track. If it had had vocal on, we might have done a different version or whatever. It’s more a question of it is what it was at that point and what is there is really charming.
DL: The reference mix of Royal Orleans has a very unorthodox vocal. It sounds to me like it’s John Paul Jones singing the vocals.
JP: No it’s not.
DL:Is it John Bonham?
JP: No, no, it isn’t – it’s Robert.
DL: Oh dear…I got that vastly wrong. I better change what I wrote about that. I was convinced it was Jonesy.
JP: No.
DL; It sounds like Dr.John – really gruff and bluesy.
JP: What Dr John Paul Jones? Well it wasn’t Dr John Paul Jones!
DL: Oh right…
JP: I played it to Robert – and he replied it’s his vocals so I am going to take it that it is. It’s certainly not John Paul Jones singing. I would certainly say the song and lyrics are definitely relative to our visits to discos and that whole funk thing.
DL: So to summarise, its Robert having a bit of a skit with the vocals – he’s just decided to change his style.
JP: I must admit when I first heard it I thought it might be John Bonham but it’s Robert. That is what is there.
DL: Right I’ll correct that! To move on – the Hots On For Nowhere reference mix is great to hear with less overdubs.
JP: It shows the character of the song. It also goes to show what a good engineer Keith Harwood was and I loved working with him especially on Physical Graffiti. He did the Kashmir mixes with me on that when we booked the orchestra here in Olympic Studio Two. We were really close
DL: He was a big loss.
JP: Oh yeah. Actually Can I just say on this album for those who want to know, that the kit has all the skins on the drums. There’s a head on the drum kit and that’s really important because you can hear the tone. It was quite common then for the front bass drum to be taken off for recording. With that you don’t get the resonance. You might get the attack of the pedal but not the note resonance. I was very insistent on that. The way it was miked was a science and I’m not giving too many secrets away. In the smaller studios like Musicland we were still using the same techniques as we had used in the larger studios like here at Olympic.
DL: The Companion disc version of In the Evening sounds amazing – what are your memories of recording in Polar Studios?
JP: It’s the opening track and it’s got an attitude. It’s worth going over the reason we went to Polar Studios. I was contacted by the people at Polar to see weather I’d go in with Led Zeppelin because basically they wanted an international group in Polar because you just associated Polar Studios with Abba and they wanted to make it more international. So if Led Zeppelin went in there, boy oh boy, it’s going to be international!
So they said they were going to be generous with studio time. However I knew it was state of the art equipment in there and yes it was superb. They had all the outboard equipment – but the playing area was dry there were no reflective surfaces to speak about apart from the glass. There were no wooden floors so the whole aspect of ambiance was not there . Here comes the interesting part. To actually recreate the ambiance, for the first time the bass drum skin comes off!
DL: I think In Through The Out Door shows that Led Zeppelin still had new places to go musically.
JP Absolutely. John Paul Jones had his dream machine keyboard set up and he had written a lot of material. So after the guitar album of Presence we had something of a keyboard album. It was a logical extension.
DL: You hinted to me a while back that you would have some fun with the Coda companion disc material
JP: Yes!
DL: Boy you have you had some fun – not one but two companion discs – there’s some great stuff across the two discs. Let’s start with If It Keeps On Raining.
JP: That was done in the studio two here at Olympic. I knew though, when we got to Headley and the drum sound we had it was like ‘Lets try this thing that we did before’. Now I could hear it in a totally different way. It was a totally different approach. So yes, what a joy it is to be able to bring this version out. I’ve referred to it before. So what is this phantom version of Levee Breaks? It’s here and it’s called If It Keeps On Raining….
DL: You must be pleased with the recognition the two Bombay orchestra tracks are already receiving?
JP: Yes I am. It was significant at the playback that it was the first track I wanted people to hear. There’s a method in it all. So the Bombay Friends starts with a drone and then there’s a drone leading into the next track which is In The Evening. The Bombay recordings were totally experimental. It a roomful of musicians and they didn’t know who we were and they had never heard of Led Zeppelin. They were used to doing Indian pop which is Bollywood film music. So going in there and taking it on was exactly the sort of challenge I loved to do. Have you heard the Four Hands version of Four Sticks?
DL: Yes it’s great.
JP: At the end of the Friends session I knew we had to take it further. I’d been playing along with them but I just wanted it to be them .The counted it in with this incredible drum thing it was quite unnatural. I don’t remember how many beats it was now butt was it was like 15 beats and double timing so what a joy to away with that. Like I said it was all purely experimental. We were coming back from Australia and New Zealand – there wasn’t a direct flight you would stop off so I thought what a good idea it would be to stop off and do some recording.
DL What Friends the only number you had planned for the Bombay recording?
JP: I didn’t know what we were going to do really. I was just going to see what happened. Because of the percussion they had with the tabla drums and everythinge, I realised we could approach Four Sticks and it would work.
DL: St. Tristan’s Sword sounds like a real pool of ideas – something of a Led Zeppelin brainstorm.
JP: It’s the equivalent of the sort of areas that we would get into doing jams on stage. It’s the sort of thing we would do on any given night playing live.
DL: Desire which is a rough mix of The Wanton Song is another stand out on the Coda Companion Audio.
JP: It’s great isn’t it? John is fantastic on that.
DL: Sugar Mama takes us right back to the beginning.
JP: It was something that came out of the first rehearsals at Pangbourne. I’ll be perfectly honest with you and people might crucify, but the reason it didn’t gain legs is because at the time once we had recorded it in the studio I thought it was too lightweight for the rest of the Led Zeppelin I album. It also didn’t go on the original version of Coda though it was considered. In fact at the playback and on the new Coda it segues straight into Poor Tom. That is exactly how I’d planned it to be on the first Coda.. The main stay for me doing Coda when I think back at the time is I knew we had Bonzo’s Montruex.
DL: That sounded so amazing on the playback on Tuesday – I’ll never hear it sounding quite as good as that again with that powerful Olympic Cinema sound.
JP: Neither will I!
DL: It harks back to the Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich drum orchestra things.
JP: The thing that you can put it into context with is a samba school. That’s what it is – it’s that sort of thing
DL: There’s that synth effect that you put on as well which really adds to it
JP: Yes it’s a harmoniser – that added to the steel drum sound. It was the John Bonham orchestra and I worked with John on it all the way , just the two of us doing it in Montreux. We knew what we were doing and what we could create using just percussion.
DL: A lot of fans have asked why the composition known as Swan Song hasn’t been released.
JP: The recording of it is only a run through -we ran through the two main sections of it and it was done quite quickly. We did passes of it, It was in fact a whole piece I wanted to run though with John Bonham and John Paul Jones to get the feel of it. So they had some idea of it when we returned to it. It was going to be something that would have taken quite a bit of time to work on with Robert, so in actual fact Swan Song became the tile of a record label instead of a song.
DL: At the Olympic Studios Playback you mentioned the possibility of releasing something for Record Store Day –is that a plan ahead?
JP: Maybe one day, say in five years time
DL: Looking back over the entire project, what have been your particular highlights from the Companion discs overall?
JP: What the whole context…
DL: Yes
JP: Well the Whole Lotta Love, Since I’ve Been Loving You, the version of Stairway it just keeps going on there’s just things that come out and stand out everything that is on these companion discs is on there for a reason there’s a purpose to it all.
DL: It’s certainly been an incredible journey. Have you a message for the fans now we are at the end of the programme?
JP: In the light the fact that they haven’t heard this stuff yet?
DL:Yes
JP: Happy listening …you in for some amazing surprises! (laughs). They are what they intended to be – a companion to the master audio of the original catalogue
Nobody is going to be able to do this like this – it was an ambitious project and its good arrive at the end if it and it ticks all the boxes.
DL I remember the first time you told me you were undertaking all this – you explaining to me how it was going to be like looking through a portal at any one time to reflect what the band were doing.
JP: That’s it -the fact that the albums were released in stages and with the Companion Discs. With the artwork of the sleeves a play on the original art work. There has been continuity to it all.
DL: Do you think other bands might adopt a similar idea?
JP: They may well follow but they won’t necessarily be able to do it be able to do it album by album. What it’s done Dave is this: there’s two sides of the coin – Led Zeppelin live and Led Zeppelin in the studio. This has addressed the whole of the studio situation the whole history of the studio work. Here’s the bottom line – it has doubled the output of what the studio situation was in the first place. From the beginning I knew that was possible and that is what it has been all about.
At this point Robin Hurley informs me I have five minutes left.
DL: Let’s just have a quick catch up on one of our favourite subjects which is record collecting – have you anything recent additions of note?
JP: Yeah one or two things.
DL: I just got hold of a Yugoslavian pressing of In Through The Out Door.
JP: Well I just recently went through an earlier archive of mine and I’ve got a test pressing of the first album.
DL: That’s very nice indeed!
JP: I’ve also got a Robert Ludwig mastered Led Zeppelin II test pressing. Things like that turned up you know what, it’s amazing because these are the things you hear that people have said they have got. Now I have found those ones again and I didn’t have to pay for them either!
Robin Hurley: Wasn’t that the Robert Ludwig one that was so noisy?
JP: No it wasn’t noisy it was hot and it jumped and that was it.
DL: That’s the holy grail
JP; Yes it absolutely is.
DL; So finally Jimmy, what’s next on the agenda – are you going to be seen to be playing?
JP: Yes let’s hope so. I mean I’ve had to put a lot of time energy and focus into all of this. I knew it was the right thing to do and I wanted to be able do it in an authoritative way – by that I mean as somebody who was there – more than the others were, as I was producing.
So I am really pleased the whole process of it. To have got the 02 thing out and all of this these studio releases with the companion audio in a very dignified way
DL: There’s been a lot of class about the whole campaign.
JP: Warner Brothers s have been great
DL: It remind me how good the campaigns were back in the day even though the music industry was very different back then – like when you were doing six covers for In Through The Out Door. They were pioneering days and its felt like that with detail included in the deluxe box sets.
JP: Yes like I said there’s been a dignity to it rather than just throwing it out there.
DL: Jimmy it’s been an absolute pleasure and I’d like to thanks for your time
JP: Thanks Dave – keep flying the flag for us…
DL: I most certainly will Jimmy…
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Interview over, there’s just time for some final pleasantries. As its 35 years to the day, I’ve brought along some photos of the Cologne date notably the photo on page of the feather In the Wind book which shows Jimmy speaking into the mic under the caption ‘’Jimmy Speaks!’’ .
‘’I remember that!’’ he laughs – very graciously he signs my photo as follows: ‘’Dave, thirty five years to the day and we’re still speaking – Rock on!!’’.We also pose for photos in front of the very impressive framed turquoise Led Zep I.
It’s indeed been an absolute privilege to speak to him on this auspicious anniversary. I can vividly recall the vitality and passion he brought to his playing that night on stage in Cologne as I looked over at him on the stage in some wonderment.
35 years on, that same vitality and passion for this subject has been more than apparent as I looked over at him during this interview.
Keep flying the flag? Oh yes indeed…
I, and countless fans across the world will be doing just that as these final three reissues are unleashed and beyond. Flying the flag for a musician who continues to enthrall his audience with an integrity that is simply beyond measure.
Dave Lewis – June 25, 2015.
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This via LedZep News…
“Becoming Led Zeppelin” has been nominated for the Best Documentary/Docu-Series category in the UK’s National Film Awards.
Public voting is now taking place for the awards, with voting due to close on June 27. You can vote online for free by registering through the awards website
Other documentaries competing in the category include “Harry Styles: One Night in Manchester”, “Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere” and “Becoming Victoria Wood”.
There’s a link to register your vote – see more at:
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It was 54years ago today …
Sunday June 14:
Remembering the late great Julie Felix on the occasion of her Birthday…
I was lucky enough to see her perform notably at a gig with John Paul Jones at Borders books shop in April 2002 – the pic here is at the after show signing with JPJ holding up a copy of TBL issue 14. I also interviewed her a couple of times for the TBL mag –the other pic is at the Icons of the Hall event at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2017 –such a lovely much missed lady…
It’s a Happy Birthday to our very good friend Mr Gary Davies…
Happy Birthday Paul McCartney…I quite like him…
Thursday June 18:
Thursday June 18:
Well, it was a nervy start but England were superb in the second half to beat Croatia in their first group match in the World Cup -it’s Ghana next up on Tuesday…
Busy here on a few things – some more work on the DL memoirs and it was great to catch up with some esteemed Zep comrades last Monday.
Thanks for listening…
Until next time…
Dave Lewis – June 18 2026
TBL website updates written and compiled by Dave Lewis
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