TBL Archive Special :
Melody Maker Poll Awards: November 28, 1979 – 41 years gone…
41 years ago on a late cold November afternoon in 1979, I walked into the plush surroundings of the Waldorf Hotel in London and ordered a vodka and lime at the bar just behind Richard Cole who was organising drinks for three quarters of Led Zeppelin.
The occasion was the annual Melody Maker Poll Awards for which Peter Grant had rounded up Robert, Bonzo and Jonesy to accept a remarkable seven awards. Richard Cole and assorted roadies and …

ELECTRIC MAGIC 49 YEARS GONE:
 
November 21st is always a bit of a special date in my calander 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 …

Led Zeppelin Berkeley Daze 1st Night 4 LP bootleg box set: 
Here’s my thoughts on the recently released Berkeley Daze 1st Night 4 LP bootleg box set… 
48 years ago this month I purchased my first ever Led Zeppelin bootleg. It was the famous Live On Blueberry Hill on the Trade Mark of Quality label on colored vinyl. I paid £6 for it via a postal order to a mail order outlet I saw advertising in Sounds music paper. It’s arrival on Thursday December 14 1972 was a red letter day for sure.
Thus …

TBL Archive Special: Led Zeppelin II – it was 51 years ago today…October 22,1969…
Led Zeppelin II – A Kind of Rock
To celebrate the release of the Led Zeppelin II album this week back in 1969 – some thoughts 51 years on…
Led Zeppelin II:
A Kind Of Rock…. Still Flying
In the same way Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue defined the jazz genre, the second Zep album well and truly encapsulated rock music as we know it. Dave Lewis re appraises Led Zeppelin II on the occasion of its 51st anniversary.
In reappraising the …

 
John Paul Jones – Them Crooked Vultures Live Stream in support of  Teenage Cancer Trust on October 16: 

Previously unseen  footage of Them Crooked Vultures performing at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010 will be streamed on YouTube on Friday October 16 at 10pm. This is in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
The gig in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust took place at the Royal Albert Hall on March 22,2010. I was very lucky to be in attendance that night – as were a fair few of the TBL crew.
Here’s …

John Bonham 40 Years Gone today…
To mark the 40th anniversary of the passing of John Bonham here’s some personal recollections from myself and long time TBL contributor Gary Davies…
The Optimism, The irony and the Agony
Dave Lewis reflects on the personal impact and aftermath of the events of Thursday September 25th 1980
I was just turned 24 years old and so far 1980 had been a rollercoaster year for me for many reasons.
Back in the early autumn it’s fair to say Tight But Loose, the Led Zeppelin magazine I had established in …

Sounds Four Part The Complete Led Zep –  42 years Gone – DL Reflections.
42 years ago this month I had my first Led Zeppelin written work published in a major UK music paper – my research for a 10 year retrospective look back on the band’s career in Sounds was extensively used across four weekly parts. It was an incredible thrill to see my work reach a wide audience and it was the kick start to many great things – here’s how it all came to be…
During 1977 and into …

TBL Archive Special 1: September 7, 1968 – the on stage debut 52 years gone:
52 years ago on September 7th 1968, the line soon to be known as Led Zeppelin performed their very first concert in Gladsaxe Denmark. – the first of two appearances that day… 

REMEMBERING 52 YEARS GONE….
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7th, 1968
GLADSAXE, DENMARK
TEEN CLUB BOX 45
DATE:                         September 7, 1968 (1st show)
VENUE:                     Teen Club, Egegård Skole
LOCATION:              Gladsaxe, Denmark
Billed as: “Yardbirds”
Support Acts: Fourways; Bodies
With The New Yardbirds line-up complete, there was an outstanding engagement to fulfil that was left over …

DL NOW I’M 64 – ON THE OCCASION OF MY BIRTHDAY…

I’ve been listening to The Beatles’ When I’m Sixty Four since I was around 11 years old.
Rrecorded for the Sgt Pepper album, its repeated phrase of ‘’Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m sixty four” is a quirky lament to old age and I never gave it a second thought that one day I would reach such an age.
Well that day has come…for today Saturday, September 5 I reach the grand age of 64…  
So as …

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant MTV Unledded – 26 years gone….TBL Archive Special – Part Two:
26 years ago this month, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant reunited for two performances filmed by MTV at the London TV Studios for their Unplugged series. Appropriately dubbed Unledded, this saw the pair roll back the years with an inspiring re-evaluation of the Led Zeppelin catalogue. In its way this was every bit as significant as the 2007 O2 reunion as they sort to put into perspective their past achievements. The omission of John Paul …