TBL 31 is ready to go – as you can see there is a revised standard cover.
Having the recent opportunity to feature a rare Led Zeppelin photo from 1971 as the main cover photo for TBL 31, we have decided to produce two runs of the magazine for this issue – the aforementioned Zep design alongside the already previewed Roy Harper & Jimmy Page version.
So for TBL – issue 31, we are also producing a special strictly limited edition Roy Harper & Jimmy Page reunion collector’s cover edition.
This will feature …

Photo by Michael Rae for TBL
Jimmy Page is 68 today (January 9th)
He continues to command the upmost respect from peers and fans alike. The trio of UK guest appearances last year only enhanced the affection and fascination we have for the guitarist who in a 50 year career, has written the rule book on the art of rock guitar. Over the past few months Jimmy’s ” On this day” feature via his official website has become a daily ritual for fans to soak up personal revelations from his archive -adding further enlightenment on his vast acheivements.
Here’s a …

John Paul Jones is 66 today (January 3rd.)
Over the past year his involvement in the Anna Nicole opera, alongside appearances with Spin Marvel, Seasick Steve and Minibus Pimps, has continued to  demonstrate his appetite to be involved in music of all forms. Here’s a round up of some inspired moments from a career that continues to surprise, innovate and delight.
Happy Birthday John – from all of us to you…
You tube clips compiled by Gary Foy
Dazed And Confused

Trampled Underfoot

Here I Am

Nosumi Blues

When The Levee Breaks

Grind

Going To California

Hoediddle

That’s The Way

Mind Eraser, No …

And so we come to the end of 2011. Another eventful 12 months of TBL activity laced with a measure ups and downs. Here are some overall reflections on the year about to go by.
As for the three ex members of Led Zeppelin, it’s been a fairly productive period albeit in differing ways.
Robert Plant consolidated on the success of 2010 with further touring periods in the US and then in Europe during the summer. The accolades received at the American Music awards were due acknowledgement for the effort that has gone …

As you get over the turkey and mince pie overload – here’s a little piece of fun TBL fiction on how things might have been back in the day…
It was Christmas 1979 and Jimmy Page was feeling pretty pleased with himself.
The last of the presents were wrapped and under the tree. The turkey was all ready to cook. In the kitchen he switched on the Amstrad 7070 radio/tape deck and pressed it to radio medium wave mode.
‘’All in all it’s just another brick in the wall…’’
The familiar school kid’s chorus of …

39 years ago today I was lucky enough to be in attendance at the closest gig Led Zeppelin ever played to Christmas in the UK. Saturday December 23rd 1972 was a cold dank day and the walk up Muswell Hill to the Alexandra Palace was a bit of a trek. All worth it of course as this very impressionable 16 year old was again in the company of musical giants.
The venue itself had not been used for a gig for years and was a little cold and impersonal – the …

In the wake of the recent 02 fourth anniversary, five days later on December 15th my thoughts turned to the events of 30 years ago – for it was on that night in 1981 that the three ex members of Led Zeppelin were seen together in public for the first time since they announced they could not continue as they were a year earlier.
Back in the early months of that year, Lynn Sizemore who was PR to the Golden Lion Roadies Charity For Children Association, the charity formed from the …

John Paul Jones has received an honorary fellowship from Deptford’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in South London.
John, a former Blackheath schoolboy, received the accolade at the prestigious performing arts college in Creekside last Thursday.
He joins the ranks of other acclaimed artists who have received the honour, including Academy nominated composer John Powell, musician Ravi Shanker and Classical FM Managing Director Darren Henley.
Them Crooked Vultures have released two previously unheard live tracks via their facebook site recorded on their world tour last year (possibly from Sydney).
The two tracks – ‘Nobody Loves Me …

Photo by Donato Farace
Four years ago this weekend thousands of lucky fans converged on to the 02 Arena in London to witness the live return of Led Zeppelin for one night only in memory of Ahmet Ertegun. Millions more across the world tracked the unfolding events via texts and online reports.
It remains perhaps the most significant night in their history as fans young and old were able to see and understand either by being lucky enough to be there, or via the many you tube clips that surfaced immediately after …

The Christmas issue of Record Collector is out now – it features Led Zeppelin as the cover subject and inside there is a ten page feature celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Led Zeppelin IV album written and compiled by Dave Lewis.
This chronicles the story of the making of the album, the origin of the sleeve design and four symbols, an analysis of the rare Led Zeppelin IV UK pressings plus an extensive Led Zeppelin IV Global Rarities guide compiled by renowned Zep vinyl collector Nick Anderson. There’s also a spotlight …