EARLS COURT BOOK EXCLUSIVE TBL/RUFUS STONE PRE ORDER/ ROBERT PLANT ON STAGE/PRESENCE 39 YEARS GONE /PAGE & PLANT MEADOWLANDS 20 YEARS GONE/ DL DIARY UPDATE/
Exclusive TBL/ Rufus Stone Pre order Details:
Here’s an opportunity to pre order the forthcoming Earls Court photo book at a special offer price…
Five Glorious Nights – Led Zeppelin at Earls Court compiled by Dave Lewis published by Rufus Stone Limited Editions:
The forthcoming large format photographic book capturing the full visual splendour of Led Zeppelin’s milestone concerts at Earls Court in May 1975.
The book includes over 200 colour and black and white photos –many of them rarely seen plus accompanying text that explains why these concerts were among the finest the band ever performed –all superbly presented in a limited edition album size deluxe high quality volume.
Rufus Stone Limited Editions/ TBL Pre order sale:
In association with Rufus Stone Limited Editions I can announce details of an exclusive Rufus Stone pre sale on the Five Glorious Nights book
The general pre orders for the book will not go on sale to the public until April 17th 2015.
However Rufus Stone are now running an exclusive pre sale for TBL readers and those who signed up for info on the book.
The book will go on general sale for £130 (plus delivery) but you can order for the special price of £100 (plus delivery). Only 1200 copies of the main edition will be made available worldwide.
There is also an exclusive, leather bound edition and slipcase in a run of just 100 copies for a special offer price of just £200 per copy (plus delivery), saving £50. These are selling fast so be sure to order quickly if you require this version.
All orders placed for the pre sale via Rufus Stone/TBL will be accompanied by an exclusive limited edition 10x 8 print.
The links to both editions are below:
For the standard edition go to:
http://www.rufuspublications.com/rufusbooks/Led-Zeppelin-Earls-Court
For the limited leather bound edition go to
http://www.rufuspublications.com/rufusbooks/Led-Zeppelin-Earls-Court2
When the book is ready to ship which is provisionally late May 2015, you will receive an email with tracking information
Note all orders are processed and distributed via Rufus Stone Limited Editions not TBL
For more information visit
Latest work in progress update: I spent much of last weekend assessing the photo selection to begin the lay out and design. I’ve been at designer Mick Lowe’s Studio Mix every day this week working on the page lay out and photo spreads- this process will on go throughout this month. We will be doing our very best to make this book something really special and worthy of the price. DL – April 8, 2015
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Robert Plant on stage:
Robert was on stage at the Ledbury Rotary Club last Saturday – this report from the Hereford Times:
Ledbury Rotary Club charity concerts could easily become the hottest ticket in town in future, after the rock god Robert Plant turned up unexpectedly for last Saturday’s show and sang on stage.
Mr Plant arrived with singer songwriter Deborah Rose, and sat in the audience, surrounded by the “could it be?” whisperings of his fellow concert-goers.
Their suspicions were confirmed when, during a break, Miss Rose invited “Robert” up on stage, for a duet of “Love Hurts”, which was originally a Roy Orbison hit.
Ledbury Rotary club spokesperson, Jan Long said: “Accompanied by guitarist Matt Worley, Deborah Rose and Robert performed the song to rapturous applause. Many in the audience had begun to whisper about the identity of the man with the beard and long curly hair, and sure enough theatre-goers had guessed correctly, it was global rock star, Robert Plant lead vocalist of the famous group, Led Zeppelin.”
Mrs Long added: “We were all mesmerised by this rock star in little old Ledbury.
“There were even empty seats in the theatre. Now people will be kicking themselves they were not there. It was all so unexpected and just lovely.”
http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/12874340.Robert_Plant_sings_in_Ledbury/
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TBL Archive Special:
Presence at 39:
The seventh Led Zeppelin album As does Presence was released 39 years ago this week .
Alan Freeman aired the whole album on his show non stop on the Saturday afternoon of April 3rd. That first hearing of Achilles Last Stand remains one of my all time thrilling aural experiences and of course it still sounds brilliant.
I have a fair few copies of this album including one that retains the shrink wrap –and another that has an inscription by Aubrey Powell the co-designer of the sleeve –this says ‘’What’s that obilisk exactly?’’ –a reference to the mysterious sleeve. This was signed for me when he came here to film some memorabilia for a Robert Plant video in 2005. As for the album – no boogies with Stu, no hat’s off to Harper’s. No funk or reggae parodies –no mellotrons or synths. Just full on full power Led Zep. The basic bass/drums/guitar/vocal approach gives the record a very live feel – leading to my conclusion that Presence is the nearest they got to capturing over a complete studio album, the unpredictable edge and power of their on-stage performances. It’s also stock full of Jimmy Page’s genius guitar rages. Achilles Last Stand, For Your Life and Nobody’s Fault But Mine are all as good as anything he has ever applied himself to.
There were some mixed reviews of Presence at the time but overall it received a favourable response. Jonh Ingram’s review in Sounds was a five star rave that I still love reading. ‘’ In the Presence of pure rock’n’roll’’ it proclaimed quite rightly. Given the circumstances it was recorded under, this seventh Led Zeppelin album was an amazing achievement – pull it out over this weekend and revel again in an album that reflects the real heart and soul of Led Zeppelin.
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TBL Archive Special:
Presence – The Heart and Soul Of Led Zeppelin:
In the UK the album went gold on advance sales alone and was the fastest selling album in the Atlantic group’s history up to that point. It was an instant number one. In the US it made the biggest leap in Billboard’s then chart history moving from 24 to the top spot in its second week of release. By and large it was also favourably received by the critics and fans alike.
On May 23 Page and Plant were back on stage at the LA Forum jamming with Bad Company for an encore performance of ‘I Just Wanna Make Love To You’. “I want to get back on stage so much,” said Plant after the show. Despite constant rumours during that summer of 1976 Grant declined all offers, awaiting Plant’s full fitness in the new year. The attention instead turned to the long awaited release of their Song Remains The Same movie and soundtrack. These events seemed to somewhat overshadow the Presence album and as the album’s sales drifted off, it seemed the majority of fans were content to store the strange looking sleeve away, preferring the thrill of the film and its accompanying live album.
When it came to rehearse for their 1977 tour though, it was the number that in his Sounds review John Ingram said would be “A Motherfucker live” that they immediately got to work on. ‘Achilles Last Stand’ went on to become a centrepiece of their comeback US tour which commenced in the spring of 1977. “Presence was our stand against everything. Against the elements and chance,” Plant told the NME’s Roy Carr from the Manticore rehearsal studio.
With such enthusiasm for the new album, it’s somewhat surprising that they hardly plundered their seventh album for live material. Only ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ and ‘Achilles’ were adapted for live performance. Perhaps Robert felt that some of those songs were too personal to perform repeatedly. It’s a shame that the riff numbers, such as ‘Royal Orleans’ and ‘Candy Store Rock’, were never given the opportunity to develop in a live setting It was to be a situation they would repeat with their next album In Through The Out Door.
For Jimmy Page though it was a watershed. “All our pent up energy and passion went into making it what it was. That’s why there was no acoustic material there. The mechanism was perfectly oiled. We started screaming in rehearsals and never stopped.”
Presence was on extraordinary chapter in their career. A soap opera of events surrounded its emergence as they turned inner turmoil into something constructive. The atmosphere that surrounds the whole record is one of urgency and fight. It needs to be listened to with the knowledge of just exactly what they were going through at the time. Then its true power is undeniable.
This isn’t the Led Zeppelin record for musical diversity. But it is the record for sheer out and out muscle and thrust. From the multi-dubbed guitar orchestration on ‘Achilles’, the incredible venom of Page’s solo on ‘For Your Life’ (his best ever?), the chugging infectious rhythm of ‘Candy Store Rock’ to the spine-tingling amalgamation of Page’s guitar and Plant’s harmonica on ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ this is the Page-driven Led Zeppelin as a pure unadulterated rock and roll band firing in the studio as never before… and as they never would again. It’s also the nearest they ever got to capturing, over a complete album, the unpredictable edge and power of their on-stage performances within a studio environment.
Dave Lewis – extracted from The TBL Files /Celebration II
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Jimmy Page & Robert Plant – Back in the USA – 2o years gone:
20 years ago this spring ,Jimmy Page & Robert Plant were on the first leg of their Unledded No Quarter tour. The tour opened in Pensacola and ran through until Vancouver on May 26 before moving into Europe, going back to America and eventually ending in Australia and Japan in early r1996
Given all that has happened since, not least the 02 reunion, the Celebration Day film and the reissues, it’s easy to forget the impact this reunion had at the time. 11 years on from their last tour together, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant recaptured the imagination of Zep fans around the world. On stage they extended the creative edge of the MTV Unledded shows and combined it with the dynamic rock foundation that Led Zeppelin built their reputation on. The deployment of the Egyptian ensemble and orchestra added a unique exotic edge. I was lucky enough to see two shows at the Brendan Byrne Arena Meadowlands on April 5th and 6th. Along with thousands of other fans, it was massively exciting to be given the opportunity to see and hear the Zeppelin catalogue re interpreted with such panache and viguor by the principal songwriters of much of the original material.
To mark the 20th anniversary here’s my on the spot report from Meadowlands Arena that first appeared in a TBL Newsletter in May 1995
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Dave Lewis Diary Update:
I saw Jimmy Page with Ross Halfin at the record fair last Friday. Jimmy was on great form – he told me how pleased he was with the fans reaction to the Physical Graffiti – ”I’m very much looking forward to hearing the reaction to the next three of reissues” he added tantalisingly. It was a real inspiration to see him.
Such inspiration has been much welcome as it’s been a bit of slog here juggling everything – and with Janet’s mum Bet not so good -yesterday she had to go into hospital for some tests and is staying in for observation tonight.
As mentioned above, much of the Easter weekend was spent wading through the Earls Court photos to commence the lay out. There was one point when as I was surrounded by the photos on the floor when I looked around and thought ”how an earth is all this going to come together?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s an absolute privilege to be involved in this project and I am relishing the challenge -but it’s a big one with a tight timeframe to get it all completed ready to print next month. The subject of Led Zeppelin at Earls Court is of course one dear to my heart and with the book now on pre- sale I do feel a real sense of responsibility to make Five Glorious Nights something really special. This is one of, if the most important projects I’ve ever undertaken.
Now we have all the photos at our disposal I am working intensely to ensure there’s a real continuity with the lay out and design – given the importance of the subject matter this has to be much more than a mere photo book – my objective is to give every reader a real sense of the magnitude of the gigs. All accompanied by a clear summary of each of the shows and how each night had it’s own distinctive feel. Fundamental to all that is the synergy of the photos and again a lot of thought is going in to make these amazing images best tell the story.
And let me tell you there are some simply awesome photos – Robert in all his rock god finery , JPJ holding it all together in that jacket with onions on (!),John Bonham himself up on the drum rostrum at the heart and soul of the band …and Jimmy Page be it with Dan Electro, Gibson, Fender Strat, Double Neck, violin bow ,Theremin, amongst the dry ice and lasers…it’s all here – add to that close ups of the acoustic set, the four part harmony of Tangerine, group shots that illustrate the sheer power they commanded at the time…like I’ve said before, I’ve seen a lot of Earls Court photos over the years but much of what we are considering for the book is previously rarely seen.
So the challenge is well and truly here on and it’s one within all the current plate spinning, that I’ll be applying myself with utmost dedication – ensuring that Five Glorious Nights Led Zeppelin at Earls Court May 1975 not only does absolute justice to the subject but it is worth every penny of the asking price.
Other inspirations have come via some recent vinyl acquisitions – amongst them from Friday’s fair, The Rolling Stones Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out, the Harvest label sampler Picnic -A Breath of Fresh Air, the Dave Berry 1964 LP on Decca which has Jimmy on a lot of the tracks ,Fairport Conventions Liege and Leaf, Best of Matthews Southern Comfort, Joni Mitchell Mingus and the truly excellent Jack Bruce album Harmony Row.
I am on a bit of a mission to pick up various singles circa 1969 -1971 that I would have purchased at the time if the pocket money had sufficed – in that category I got Thunderclap Newman’s Accidents,Natural Sinner by Fairweather and Free’s My Brother Jake with the brilliant B side Only My Soul. I also picked up a superb four track track Faces EP with Memphis/You Can Make Me Dance Sing Or Anything, Stay With Me and Cindy Incidentally plus the 1966 Bob Dylan single on CBS I Want You backed with a great live version of Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues recorded in Liverpool on the famous ’66 UK tour. Top stuff.
Right that is about it for now – there’s a book to design so I’d better get back on it…
Dave Lewis, April 9, 2015
You Tube Clips:
Led Zeppelin – Over The Hills And Far Away – Earls Court May 24, 1975:
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant – Calling To You – McNichols Arena Denver May 8, 1995:
Until next time…
Dave,
Presence at 39! WOW, I remember that period of time so well. Caught the mighty Zep at Madison Square Garden and still to this day I am most reminded of the power that was presented. Seeing Led Zep previously at the Garden, I still remember how the band took the show up to another level. Nobody’s Fault But Mine still brings back chills.
Saw the ‘No Quarter’ tour and always thought that this was a chance for the Zep fans to thank Jimmy and Robert for the previous glorious years past. Missed Jonesy of course, but realized years later that Jimmy and Robert had to repair or work on their musical relationship. Robert was in control of the proceedings, but as a Page fan, Jimmy was firing on all cylinders. The crowd of course was nuts; clapping, standing , screaming with Plant constantly grinning saying Thank Ew! As they say, memories make me a wealthy man!
Wools
“Only ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ and ‘Achilles’ were adapted for live performance.” Hmmmm. Presumably I was dreaming that I’d been to a small gathering in Montreux – the Jazz Festival – where Page and Plant did a little Candy Store Rock outing.
OK, it wasn’t Zeppelin per se, but it was pretty close.
I too was on the floor at the Meadowlands Arena back for a visit to my old NJ stomping grounds, then back for 2 more in Houston and New Orleans. Can’t believe it’s 20 years ago. Definitely the most emotional concerts for me ever. The thrill of seeing both of them together and taking it to another level in so many respects. I remember walking out of those arenas on Cloud 12.
The next three reissues – hope that TSRTS is one of them; but does it mean he’s tied up for a while, unable to tour?
Cheers Dave, your updates are always a welcome respite.
Thanks for another great posting Dave. And yes, it is appropriate indeed to acknowledge 20 Years Gone for the Page/Plant 1995/96 tour…I was lucky enough to see several shows but I guess the most unforgettable moment was the first one I saw in Landover, Maryland at the old Capital Centre (which was being called US Air Arena by that point) on 3/22/95.
The opening string of songs culminated with Dancing Days. That was the first point in the show when the music stopped, and when it did, the fans took their opportunity to be heard and nearly imploded the arena with an emotional, sustained and deafening roar that I can still hear, rattling around in my memory banks. It wasn’t so much the music, which of course was great, it was just the sight of Jimmy and Robert onstage, together again at last. And they both smiled and waved and I think maybe they were even a little surprised at the intensity of the reaction they were getting. A moment I will never forget.
The best show I was lucky enough to see on that tour was in Philadelphia at the old Spectrum on 10/24/95. Jimmy ripped the place apart that night just like it was 1973 all over again. Good times, great memories.
Looking forward to the book!
Oh, and the Presence thing…that was a pretty decent little record…
Aahhh, 1995 what a year. Pensacola, Paris, Poole, Birmingham, Wembley and New York.
Can’t believe it was 20 years ago.
I bumped into Jimmy at Gatwick airport last month, he was in a good mood, going off on holiday. He had been admiring my bookshelves at Ross H house the day before 🙂
I believe I’ve shared this Presence remembrance with you before, Dave, but I distinctly recall my first airing of the record while stopped in a Chevy Monte Carlo, listening to 98 Rock radio out of Baltimore on a particularly aggressive sound system.
I lived very close to Andrews Air Force base outside of DC at the time, and the new Zeppelin tune featured was Nobody’s Fault But Mine. I amped up the volume in anticipation, and my immediate reaction was that I was hearing an F-18 take off from the runway nearby but in fact it was Jimmy Page taking flight.
I still come back to that crystalline memory to this day.
Dave glad to see you are ploughing on with the book
I have no doubt it will be a triumph!My orders in, can’t wait!
Ref Presence i too remember the build up of expectation after P.G.
and how quickly it went off the boil. I always thought it suffered
because of the cover art.It wasn’t Zeppelin enough and could have equally been
by the Doobies or a host of west coast rockers. TRSTS by comparison
has a brilliantly designed and executed cover.
Leave your response!
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