BILL CLINTON FAILED TO REUNITE LED ZEPPELIN/ROBERT PLANT FAN RESTRAINING ORDER/PATTY GRIFFIN ON AMERICAN KID/TBL 35/DL DIARY UPDATE
A couple of high profile Zep related news stories are doing the rounds – here’s the first one via Rolling Stone.com
Bill Clinton Sought Led Zeppelin Reunion for Sandy Benefit:
Even a former president couldn’t bring Led Zeppelin back together: Bill Clinton approached the rockers about reuniting for the “12-12-12” Hurricane Sandy benefit last year, but group turned down the request. According to a 60 Minutes Overtime segment, David Saltzman of the Robin Hood Foundation – the recipients of the “12-12-12” benefit – and film executive Harvey Weinstein flew to Washington D.C. to sound out Clinton on the idea.
The 42nd president met with surviving Led Zeppelin surviving members Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page in Washington when the band was in town for the Kennedy Center Honors. Though Clinton made his plea, the band simply said no.
RJ Cubarrubia.
”Harvey Weinstein had this great idea that we could enlist Bill Clinton to convince Led Zeppelin to reunite. . . The president was terrific — ‘I really wanna do this, this will be a fantastic thing, I love Led Zeppelin’ And Bill Clinton himself asked Led Zeppelin to reunite, and they wouldn’t do it.”
– David Saltzman, executive director of the Robin Hood Foundation, on a 60 minutes webcast, explaining the failed diplomatic machinations to recruit the legendary British rockers for the 12-12-12 concert at Madison Square Garden – which, even without Led Zep, raised $50 million to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy. Clinton apparently approached Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones when all three were in D.C last December for the Kennedy Center Honors
Photo shows Bill Clinton with John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page, right, at a State Department dinner for Kennedy Center honorees in December 2012. Fellow honoree Buddy Guy is on left. Photo Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post
The Bill Clinton story has been all over the net today….my view? While the cause was of course more than worthy…a week for them to prepare was surely never going to be feasible..
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This one has also had major coverage:
Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant obtains temporary restraining order against fan
Robert Plant has taken out a temporary restraining order against a fan. According to documents obtained by TMZ, the singer has been harassed for the past three years by a delusional,
love-struck fan, named Alysson Billings, who believes she is in a relationship with Plant despite the pair having never met.Plant is said to have taken out the temporary restraining order as he fears for his safety. Plant says Billings sent him hotel keys, flowers, random packages and has appeared at his concerts all over the world. The Zeppelin front man sought advice from a security assessment team after Billings obsession grew darker after he began his relationship with current girlfriend Patty Griffin, sending the singer increasingly threatening letters.
http://www.nme.com/news/robert-plant/70126
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On a brighter note – here’s a report via Billboard on the making Patty Griffin’s new album American kid which is out this week:
“We both have similar places that we come from as singers,” she says of Plant. “He inspires me. He goes far and deep”
Just how intimate can this sound? That’s the question Patty Griffin set forth to answer when recording her seventh solo album, “American Kid,” out May 7 on New West Records.
The cult singer/songwriter already connects with a legion of fans through songs detailing all manner of heartbreak and joy. But for her first album of new solo material since 2007’s “Children Running Through It” (2010’s Grammy Award-winning “Downtown Church” was a live recording), she says, “I wanted it to sound like I was in the room with you.”
To that end, she and producer Craig Ross hired her stage sound engineer Roy Taylor to rig up “a bunch of old microphones to get that local sound,” while hunkered down at the “funky, lived-in” Zebra Ranch Studio located an hour outside of Memphis, owned by Luther and Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi All-Stars (both of whom play on the record).
“Studios are designed to pull out all of that beautiful ambience you get from singing in a room, and then the engineer puts it back in digitally or through whatever machinery you’ve got,” says Griffin, speaking from her home in Austin. “But I wanted it to be a little rough around the edges. I didn’t want it to be slicked up; I didn’t want the life all drained out of it.”
With its hypnotic rhythms and varied textures, first single “Ohio,” inspired by the Toni Morrison book “Beloved,” was a natural pick to set up the album. The track is one of three that features Robert Plant. The Led Zeppelin frontman, whom Griffin is dating and with whom she collaborates in the rootsy Band of Joy, sings harmony and gets a co-writing credit for rearranging the track, Griffin says.
“We get a lot of energy from each other’s singing,” she notes of their creative back and forth. “We both have similar places that we come from as singers-a lot of emotion, and sometimes the emotion overrides technique. He inspires me. He goes far and deep.”
Griffin seems bemused by the subject of online speculation about whether the two are married or not. “We’re not legally married, no,” she says, putting rumors to rest. However, their romantic and professional partnership means she spends more time in the United Kingdom when they’re not hunkered down in Austin, leading to the decision to release “American Kid” overseas, which hasn’t been the case for several of her prior records.
A loss inspires:
“American Kid” proves to be Griffin’s most soulful and pensive album yet, owing to the life circumstances that inform it.
“My dad was getting ready to pass away and I was just kind of writing for myself; he was a big influence for a lot of the record,” Griffin recalls of her father, a World War II vet and high school teacher who died in 2009. “It’s life, and everybody goes through it. But it was good to have that outlet, to be able to write songs about it.”
Meditative, but not somber, the album kicks off with “Go Wherever You Wanna Go,” in which Griffin imagines a carefree afterworld. “It occurred to me that there’s another way to look at this besides my own grief, which is: They’re OK. They don’t have to pay bills anymore-no taxes!” she says with a laugh.
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DL Diary update:
Firstly many thanks to all the lapsed TBL subscribers and new comers who have responded to the prompt that with TBL 35 on the way, it’s time to re subscribe for the 2013 magazines . There are still a plenty of past TBL readers/subscribers who have yet to do so…the links to order are as follows
To subscribe to the 2013 TBL magazines – covering issues 35 , 36 and 37, here’s the ordering link:
http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/?page_id=18106
You can also order TBL 35 as a single issue at this link:
http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/?page_id=20595
Many thanks in advance for all your support.
The new cover with the Kezar photo by Dan Cuny has gone down a storm…don’t miss out…
After a bank holiday weekend that saw a bit of a celebration for Tom’s birthday, more work on TBL 35 text and the constructing of our new garden table and chairs (with no assistance required -oh yes!)…it’s back to TBL 35 matters today bigtime today.
This week Mick and I we will be laying up Mike Tremaglio’s superb 1973 tour log that covers the Europe tour of March/April and the first leg of the USA tour. It’s an outstandingly detailed piece that offers a clear overview of a remarkable Zep touring period – and another highlight /reason for investing in the forthcoming issue.
There will be a bit of a respite tomorrow night as the good lady Janet and I join our good friends Terry and Marian to celebrate Terry’s birthday and I’ll be nervously clocking Spurs progress against Chelsea –a big hurdle to overcome in the battle for a Champions League place. On the playlist as the weather improved, Fleetwood Mac Rumours, Chet Baker & Strings (up there with Kind of Blue) and Led Zeppelin Kezar not surprisingly
Here is the good lady Janet and I relaxing on the aforementioned new garden furniture yesterday …it’s only a piece of flatpack from Homebase…but we like it!
Until next time…
Keep listening, keep reading…
Dave Lewis/Gary Foy
May 7th, 2013.
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Robert may well be unnerved and upset by this love struck stalker but not as upset about his beloved Wolverhampton wanderers being relegated to the first division. Ah well Robert, Won’t be seeing you at Anfield for a good few years.
Check out the reader comments about Plant and the stalker on Mail Online – a hoot!
Fabulous patio furniture. I love this time of year.
And good for the boys to turn down Clinton to his face. Wish more would’ve just said no to that charlatan.
Thanks Steve!
You should have spoken to me about the furniture Dave , i would have helped out there! Looking forward to the next TBL.
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