Becoming Led Zeppelin:

This via LZ News:

Jimmy Page was in Venice to promote “Becoming Led Zeppelin,” the feature-length authorised documentary charting the beginning of the band.

Page took part in a press conference with director Bernard MacMahon and producer and screenwriter Allison McGourty to promote the film the day after its first screening.

Here’s Jimmy’s reply to one of the questions in the press conference…

Can you talk about the independence you had with Led Zeppelin? What most concerned you with the legacy of Led Zeppelin? How do you see Led Zeppelin’s place in music history today?

Jimmy: Right, OK. So the very first part of this was I was in a band called The Yardbirds that was really known on the underground scene and the underground venues in America. By this time, there had been five members of The Yardbirds and Jeff Beck and I had been in the band as the two guitarists but then Jeff went on to do a solo career and so that left me with putting my ideas into the band.

Basically, then that band split up. However, during the … the Boston Tea Party was one of the gigs that we used to do and Thee Image Club in Miami and … let’s see. There are many, many, many, I’m not going to try and list them all because you’ve got other questions you want to ask.

But basically when the band folded, the four-member band folded, I had a choice of what to do next and the thing that I wanted to do next was form a group. I knew exactly what was going on with underground radio in America, that they played stereo records and they were starting to play full sides of records as opposed to just three-minute singles. It was two different markets altogether.

So there was an underground radio, there was underground concerts, but in England nobody knew what we were doing but we were really quite a cult band.

So here comes the second part of the story then, is are you going to go to a record company and say ‘well I was in a band called The Yardbirds that has now split.’ ‘Were you on any of the hit records?’ ‘No I wasn’t on any of the hit records but we’ve got a really big following in America, it’s a guitar-based band.’

The best way to do that was not to say ‘can we have an advance to make an album?’ The way to do it was to actually make the album and then present it.

So as far as Led Zeppelin today, I think the whole of the work of Led Zeppelin is an incredible textbook for musicians, that’s what I do believe and I’m really happy that it is so.

I’m a self-taught musician as well, it’s not something that I learned in an academy. I would like to encourage all musicians, whether they do go to an academy, classically trained or whatever or self taught. Because to play an instrument, it’s such a wonderful thing to have a connection with an instrument.

The full transcript of the press conference can be seen at LZ News  – see links below – many thanks to James Cook for some excellent reporting and Ken Winovitch for further info.

…………………….

LZ New- here’s the latest round up from LZ News – many thanks to James Cook:

Led Zeppelin

• The first screenings of “Becoming Led Zeppelin,” the authorised, feature-length documentary film about the origins of Led Zeppelin, took place this week at film festivals in Venice and Colorado. Jimmy Page attended the Venice International Film Festival to promote the film, taking part in a press conference yesterday which we transcribed in full here. Elsewhere, we’ve rounded up all of the reviews of the film published so far. Most critics have criticised the film for being too long, although many reviews have noted that the film seems to appeal mainly to Led Zeppelin fans. There’s no word yet on when the general public will be able to see “Becoming Led Zeppelin.”

• Well-known Led Zeppelin fan Andy Adams died last week and Tight But Loose editor Dave Lewis paid tribute to him in a post on his website. “A kind, caring generous soul who shared his passion to the benefit of so many and brightened up our lives by doing so every day … he will be so sorely missed,” Dave wrote.

• Led Zeppelin published the twelfth episode of the band’s official history episode online. It covers the beginning of recording sessions for the band’s fourth album in 1971.

Robert Plant

• Robert Plant has big plans for his new solo project Saving Grace, according to trademark filings we dug up. He has taken out global trademarks covering the use of the band name for audio and video releases as well as merchandise. It’s the first of Plant’s solo bands to be trademarked in this way, potentially indicating he could return to Saving Grace after touring with Alison Krauss to promote their upcoming new album.

• Robert Plant reportedly attended the opening of a clock in Kidderminster on August 21.

Upcoming events:

September 3-7 – “Becoming Led Zeppelin” will be screened at the Venice International Film Festival.
September 7 – “Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin” by C.M. Kushins will be published.
September 9 – The revised and expanded edition of “Evenings With Led Zeppelin” will be published.
September 25 – The 2021 John Bonham celebration event will be held in Redditch.
October 13 – Jimmy Page will be interviewed on stage at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.
November 9 – “Led Zeppelin: The Biography” by Bob Spitz will be published.
November 19 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ second album “Raise the Roof” will be released.
2022 – Robert Plant will go on tour with Alison Krauss and “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 – A remastered and expanded 30th anniversary edition of “Coverdale–Page” will be released.

For all the latest Zep and related news check out the Led Zeppelin news website at:

Evenings With Led Zeppelin Revised & Expanded edition – update:

NOW AVAILABLE TO UK BUYERS!

PUBLISHED TODAY IN THE UK!

ONLY £26.99 VIA AMAZON

The book is now readily available in the UK  via Amazon and in selected book shops  – if you receive your copy be sure to let us know what you think…

As can be seen I have been a very busy man this past few days packing the pre orders for the TBL editon of the Evenings With Led Zeppelin Revised & Expanded edition.

Ably assisted by the good lady Janet we have made a fair few trips to the post office and all pre orders are now in transit via Royal Mail. I have some copies left of the 100 run (which due to postage costs has had to be restricted to the UK) but get in quick – these copies are signed by me and include an exclusive 4 page insert with an interview with Mike Tremaglio and I conducted by Andy Adams – now a poignant last project that I worked with him on.

The book is also available on both Amazon UK and Amazon US –and will be in various bookshops.

Just to re iterate what this new revised updated and expanded edition consists of here’s some statistics:

The book now consists of over 300,000 words and 3,100 images and has been extended by 48 pages

– 55 concert entries have been expanded in length with new text, images and information

– 55 concert entries include new press concert previews & reviews (many with images)

– 100 concert tickets added

– 75 concert adverts added

– 25 concert photos added

– 20 handbills/posters images added

– 20 miscellaneous images (programs/membership cards/press releases/contracts/venue pics, etc.) added

– 11 new unconfirmed or cancelled Led Zeppelin gigs added

– 11 pre-Zep 1968 concert listings added

– 10-page concert Bootleg CD discography added to the Appendix section.

Here’s the ordering links:

TBL limited Edition UK only: Some copies remaining  but get in quick

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/evenings-with-led-zeppelin-the-complete-concert-chronicle-revised-and-expanded-edition-pre-order-now/

Amazon UK:

The book is now readily available in the UK  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Evenings-Led-Zeppelin-Complete-Chronicle/dp/1913172392/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=evenings+with+led+zeppelin&qid=1619437890&sr=8-1

Amazon US:

US publication has gone back slightly to the end of September  

https://www.amazon.com/Evenings-Led-Zeppelin-Complete-Chronicle/dp/1913172392/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=evenings+with+led+zeppelin&qid=1619437826&sr=8-1

So get ready for yet more Evenings With Led Zeppelin….

Dave Lewis – September 9 2021.

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 from the old Yardbirds’ date sheet ­- a ten-date tour of Scandinavia. Billed as ‘The New Yardbirds’, the group that would become Led Zeppelin made their stage début on September 7 in Denmark.

They would not perform as ‘Led Zeppelin’ until six weeks later – at Surrey University on October 25, 1968.

The venue for their first ever performance was the Teen Club in Gladsaxe, Denmark, a Copenhagen suburb. The Teen Club was actually a gymnasium at Egegård Skole (School), which was converted into a rock club on Saturday nights.

The band was fulfilling an old Yardbirds commitment to perform at the club. In New Musical Express (July 13, 1968), it was noted that the Scandinavian tour would start on September 14th; in fact, for many years this date was generally acknowledged as the date of their very first gig. The following week’s Record Mirror (July 20, 1968), correctly mentioned that the tour would start on September 7th.

Among the 1,200 – 1,400 youngsters who witnessed rock and roll history was a 17-year old student, Jørgen Angel, the photographer for the club’s in-house magazine, Teen Club Nyt (News). Thankfully, Angel took plenty of outstanding photos of the new band with his mother’s camera.

Angel recalled the historic concert for Jaideep V.G. of Rave magazine: “I was pretty disappointed because The Yardbirds were supposed to play that night. It was sometime in the evening that I heard a band called The New Yardbirds would perform. I thought maybe that has nothing to do with The Yardbirds. Maybe there’s just one person left from The Yardbirds, which turned out to be right, it was only Jimmy Page from The Yardbirds who played that night. And the others I had never seen or heard of. But when they went on stage it was something very special and different and spectacular. They were full of energy and they were different. I had no idea they were going to be big.”

“Standing by the side of the stage it was obvious that there was a chemistry,” said Peter Grant. Robert recalls: “We were very green – it was a tentative start but we knew we had something.”

The stage act for the début tour was based loosely on the set The Yardbirds had been performing on their final US tour. ‘Train Kept A Rollin’ was the opener and ‘Dazed & Confused’ the centrepiece, with Page using the violin bow. Old blues chestnuts ‘I Can’t Quit You’ and ‘You Shook Me’ were also delivered in the arrangements that would later appear on their first album. Early self penned numbers included ‘Communication Breakdown’ and ‘How Many More Times’ – the latter built around Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘How Many More Years’.

The act was fleshed out with a variety of covers – something that would remain a feature of their sets for many years to come. Elmore Gantry’s ‘Flames’ and Garnett Mimm’s ‘As Long As I Have You’ were early staples at this point. They also came up with a dynamic arrangement for the folk standard ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’. Page had played the Joan Baez version to Plant on their initial meeting. “I want to do a version of this but with a certain dynamic edge,” he told his new singer.

It was obvious to them all that even on this début tour the line-up had an identity all of its own. Page: “We realised we were working under false pretences, the thing had quickly gone beyond where The Yardbirds had left off. We all agreed there was no point in retaining the New Yardbirds tag so when we got back from Scandinavia we decided to change the name. It was a fresh beginning for us all.”

Photographer Jorgen Angel also revealed to told Huge Jones’ Proximity magazine ”I took a number of photographs There wern’t many actual lights on stage in those days -at least nothing you could use, so I used a flash. I used my mother’s holiday camera and my father’s old flash and I just snapped away. When I first knew of the gig I was disappointed even before the concert because I was looking forward to seeing The Yardbirds again and what we were getting was one Yardbirds member and three totally unknown guys. My disappointment was only up until they started performing because it was a great concert”.

PRESS REACTION:

Teen Club Nyt (October 1968) by Bent Larsen:

“The English group YARDBIRDS had been rehearsing their new set most of the afternoon. So when they entered the scene they were really hot to get started and give it all. Their performance and their music were absolutely flawless, and the music continued to ring nicely in the ears for some time after the curtains were drawn after their show. Let me in particular give my praise to JIMMY PAGE who has made a great job with the 3 new men. They really succeeded and in particular the guitar solo by Jimmy Page created huge applause. We can therefore conclude that the new YARDBIRDS are at least as good as the old ones were.”

DATE:                         September 7, 1968 (2nd show)

VENUE:                     Brondby Pop Club, Nørregårdshallen

LOCATION:              Brondby, Denmark

 Billed as: “The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page”

Support Acts: The Day of Phoenix;

The Eyes; Ham

BACKGROUND INFO:

The band wasted little time in getting the next concert under their belt, performing a second show of the day in another Copenhagen suburb. The Brondby Pop Club was very similar to the Gladsaxe Teen Club, in that it was a rock club located in a school gymnasium.

PRESS REACTION:

Glostrup Handelsblat (Sept. 11, 1968):

                “When you start a new season you always try to make the opening night a little better than you need to. The ‘little better’ this time was the fantastic Yardbirds in a whole new lineup…The Yardbirds however, requires a closer examination. Jimmy Page has again put a new band together. The music is the same, only better than ever.”

                “Robert Planto (sic) should face some small criticism and a lot of praise for an excellent performance. There is no doubt that he is a good singer but he doesn’t have to twisht his body like he’s having a ruptured appendix, or does he? Musically the band is super-great. Their hard disciplined beat is amazing. Of course it was foremost Jimmy Page that was responsible for this but the drummer should also be mentioned; a drum solo so wild and good is hard to find. It was so good that one almost wished that John Bonham wouldn’t stop.”

Thanks to Mike Tremaglio for the above info as researched for the Evenings With Led Zeppelin book.

In 2013 this historic occasion was marked by the unveiling of a plaque at the original school they performed that first show at

Jerry Ritz who was there back in September 1968 reminded me of this great  website –

http://www.ledzeppelin1968.com/ZEPPELIN_DEBUT.html

TBL Archive Special 2: If it’s September…it must be time for Live On Blueberry Hill…

TBL Archive Special 3: Little By Little…

Robert Plant Wembley Arena – Tuesday, September 10 1985 – it was 36 years Ago today…

Krys Jantzen flagged this one by sending an excellent pic taken by him outside the Wembley Arena venue on the night.

36 years ago -that is just incredible because it does seem like a second…or a lifetime ago.

Robert only performed two proper UK gigs in 1985 on this night and two days earlier at the Birmingham NEC.

This was the Shaken’ N’ Stirred tour – in support of the rather difficult third album released in May. Robert had toured the US that summer and bang in the middle of all that came the call to perform at Live Aid. The axis was well and truly spun because despite the chaotic nature of it all – it had ignited the flame again.

Shaken’ N’ Stirred – yes a difficult album and very left field in a Plant experimentation sort of way. At times the time signatures did go all over the place (Kallalou, Kallalou anyone?). But when it was good as on Little By Little, Easily Led  and the superb Sixes And Sevens, it was very good indeed. I remember playing the quasi- rap Too Loud to all sundry in proclaiming Robert’s contemporary status.  I also remember getting very excited about the 12inch single and double pack seven inch release of the second single from the album Little By Little. We were on holiday in Weymouth when it came out and purchased it from the local branch of the long gone John Menzies chain.

On stage, it was still very much a Zep free zone  – though at times he relented slightly. I’ve just played In The Mood from the bootleg CD of the Wembley Arena gig and it reminded me that a cry of Hot Dog during that number was the nearest we got to getting hot under the collar for the days of yore. That, and a few lines from Since I’ve Been Loving You during the close of Slow Dancer and a Boogie Cillun insert in Young Boy Blues – but that was yer lot back then – it was still a case of ”No led anything”.

This was the mid 80s and the order was changing.

I too was actually in something of a new era. Newly married the year before, my writing energies had transferred into writing two weekly music columns for the local newspaper – I did get the odd Zep mention in and did review this gig. I was also well ensconced in the music retail world and was about to embark on an exciting challenge that would see WH Smith open their own stand alone record stores called Sound FX – I was to be the manager of the Bedford store.

Zep related wise ,I was still as keen as ever to follow the respective careers so when these dates were announced it was a must see situation.  The Birmingham gig on the Sunday had been a little under par due to some sound problems but for London we had a right result.

The set list lined up as follows:

Intro music – Song To The Siren by This Mortal Coil – this is a stunning version of the Tim Buckley number with vocals by Liz Fraser of the Cocteau Twins – I remember buying this the next week. Robert would later cover this track himself, performing it live with the Priory Of Brion and Strange Sensation and recording it for the 2002 Dreamland album.

In The Mood/Pledge Pin/Pink and Black/Little By Little/Burning Down One Side/Too Loud/Thru With the Two Step/Messin’With the Mekon/Slow Dancer/Good Rockin’At Midnight/Young Boy Bluies (including Boogie Chillun insert/Sea Of Love/Honey Hush/Encores: Like I’ve Never Been Gone/Big Log/Easily Led.

The good lady Janet was next to me in our fourth row tickets – and backstage before the gig, we had seen and spoken to Robert as well as Jimmy Page who was in attendance. This one felt like an event being a major London gig – amongst others backstage I also recall seeing Slade’s Noddy Holder.

One of the other things that spring to mind from that night is the merchandise. Alongside the usual t shirts that was a high quality though rather garish Shaken’ N’ Stirred pink and black sweat shirt. it was on sale for a then extortionate £20 – twice the rice of admission of the gig – our good friend Kam invested in one and every time he wore it, we ribbed him for years as being the most expensively dressed man in the house!

The gig itself was a hugely enjoyable one. This presentation featured the Honeydrippers segment where, aided by the Upton Horns and The Queen Bees, Robert donned a sparkle T shirt to zip through Good Rockin’ Tonight, Young Boy Blues which included a Boogie Chillun interlude, Sea of Love and Honey Hush. Overall it was a high energy performance on a large stage that did look slightly like a block of cheese.

Little did we know that this gig would be a very significant one. Overall, I remember it as being a really good performance – the good lady Janet rates this as one her fave gigs.

For this would be the last live performance of this line up that had carried Robert from 1983. So it was goodbye to Robbie Blunt, Phil Martinez, Jezz Woodroffe  and Richie Hayward. As Robert stated in 1988. ”A little light came above my head at Wembley. It happened half way through the set. I might’ve been singing ‘squeeze my lemon until the juice runs down my leg’or ‘I’m a fool for a cigarette’. No seriously, It could have been anything but I realised that I’d taken this little journey round and round in circles ever decreasing and dumbfounding everybody by showing how to waste a perfectly good career’.

Judging by the tone of that statement this was a man at a definite career crossroads. Live Aid had put the Zep spark back in his mind. There was a plan to meet with Jimmy and John Paul Jones in Bath for a get together to see what might happen.

As it turned out nothing much did. This re- grouping at a village hall near Peter Gabriel’s studio in early 1986 did show some promise but ultimately came to nothing. ”Two or three things sounded promising, a sort of cross between David Byrne and Husker Du” commented Plant later adding ”For it to have succeed in bath I would have had to have been far more patient than I had been for years”. The rehearsals fell apart when drummer Tony Thompson was injured in a car smash.

What happened next? Well Jimmy went off to make the Outrider album and Robert gathered a new set of musicians around him – come in Phil Johnstone, Chris Blackwell, Doug Boyle and Charlie Jones which led to the excellent Now And Zen album.

When I turned up at Leicester University to see a low key warm up date of his new band in January 1988, It was evident that Robert Plant was at last more than comfortable with his past. For the first time in his solo career, Robert performed Led Zep numbers. In The Evening and Trampled Underfoot felt like a rebirth that night and it remains one of my favourite all time ever gigs.

As for me, well Sound FX proved not to be the future of music retail (the writing was in the wall when I saw the design of the counter which was made to look like a beat box cassette player complete with hand rail – most embarrassing!). WH Smith sold the chain to Our Price in 1986 -a wise move as we were now part of a very successful chain and with the CD boom about to hit, there would be great retail days were ahead.

Writing wise, I had formulated a plan for a major Led Zeppelin reference work. I’d already began looking for a publisher and I was initially turned down flat by Chris Charlesworth at Omnibus Press who in a classic rejection letter advised me that Omnibus and I quote ”only sold music books by bands that sold lots of concert tickets like Bon Jovi’. Sensibly he revised that view a year later and went with the idea – the result was the A Celebration book published in 1991.

36 years on, I am not too sure if Bon Jovi remain shaken’N’ stirred for their particular passion but I know Robert Plant does..

Little by little – the days pass by…

Dave Lewis – September 9, 2021.

TBL Archive 4:

After a very tough week it was good to get out to the Spitalfields Market Record Fair yesterday –here with my fellow record collecting comrades Steve Livesley, Alastair Chorlton and Cliff ”the ticket man” Hilliard.

There was of course much talk of Andy Adams and I relayed the sad news of his passing to a few of the stall holders who knew him and they were of course very shocked. The all had very fond memories of Andy which was heart-warming to hear

It was also great to meet up with Richard Grubb and Mick Bulow for the first time in over 18 months..

Friday September 3:

After a very tough week it was good to get out to the Spitalfields Market Record Fair in London yesterday.

I think Andy Adams would have approved of these two investments – reissues of the classic Led Zeppelin Going To California and Burn Like a Candle bootlegs… they were two of his favourites for sure…

Saturday September 4:

Very sad to hear the passing yesterday of long time friend Perry Izzard who lived in Fishguard in Wales.

He was a big music fan, his favourites being Bill Nelson and Be Bop Deluxe.

RIP Perry…

Saturday September 4:

DL recent LP and single record acquisitions…

Spitalfields Market Record Fair haul on Friday: the Detective Takes One To Know One Japanese pressing on Swan Song and the Supertracks compilation were Birthday presents via Cliff Hilliard and Richard Grubb –thanks fellas!

Sunday September 5:

Feeling very blessed on my Birthday with the good lady Janet…

September 5:

Feeling very blessed on my 65th Birthday… Some rather splendid Birthday presents from Steve Livesley and Anne Marie thank you folks

Wednesday September 8:

It was 48 years ago today…

48 years ago today on Saturday September 8 1973 I was lucky enough to witness The Rolling Stones at Empire Pool Wembley. Such was the demand to see them, they played both an afternoon and evening performance on this day. I attended the afternoon show which prompted Mick’s opening greeting ‘’How are you this afternoon, just give me a minute to wake up’’

Support acts were Kracker newly signed to the Rolling Stones label and the excellent Billy Preston who also appeared with the Stones.

For me , aged 17 and three days old it was an incredible thrill. Mick and co were amazing with Mick Taylor on peak form – amongst many highlights Dancing With Mr D and Star Star from the just released Goats Head Soup and and Rip This Joint and All Down The Line from Exile On Main Street.

I was already a massive Stones fan but this incredible afternoon cemented my passion for all time – a passion that continues to shine (a light) ever brightly – and though it’s sometimes a battle with The Beatles, they are my number two all- time fave band…

Note my arena ticket back in 1973 was all of £2.20 – when I saw them at Twickenham Stadium some 30 years later in 2003 my front block gold ticket was £150…but of course worth every penny…

Wednesday September 8:

Wednesday treats at the Slide Record Shop Bedford..

At the always excellent Slide Record Shop today, I was well pleased to find a couple of gems namely the Nina Simone album A Very Rare Evening back in print for the first time since 1979 –this copy a Canadian import complete with obi strip – plus the David Bowie tribute album Modern Love – a double album set which has 17 contemporary acts re working the classic Bowie Catalogue.

The likes of We Are King, Halado Negro and Mathew Tavares shine fresh light on Sound And Vison, Heroes Modern Love and more…

With the Indian summer drawing to a close, this pair will be on the autumn playlist for sure and will sound great come rain or shine…

Thanks Warren and Nerys..

Wednesday September 8

The good lady Janet and I would like to offer our heartfelt thanks for all the many Birthday messages we received on our respective Birthdays – it was truly overwhelming and we are both humbled and very blessed by your kindness.

Many thanks all you lovely people and stay safe and well – much love from us here.

Dave and Janet xx

Update here: