Saving Grace featuring Robert Plant-  The Alban Arena Friday February 22, 2019…

TBL on the spot report:

Saving Grace – Back To The Future…

Dateline : September 25,1999:

The Priory of Brion – The Boardwalk, Sheffield.

From backstage right Robert strides on as Kevyn Gammond strikes up the moody intro of Season of the witch

‘’When I look out my window

Many sights to see’’

Those are the words Robert Plant utters as he walks up to the mic

It sounds so right Simple as that it’s evident from the first note that Robert’s voice is as powerful an instrument as ever and for the next hour he employs it with the utmost effect making these sons sound his own. It was an immensely uplifting exep1experience to hear his voice sounding so good.

27 February 2019

Dateline: February 22,2019

Saving Grace – The Alban Arena, St. Albans

‘’When I look out my window

Many sights to see’’

Those are the words Suzi Dain utters as she walks up to the mic

Behind her Robert Plant adds a suitably harmony and It still sounds so right.

For history is repeating itself somewhat because here I am nearly 20 years on and 50 more Plant gigs logged in between, watching Robert Plant in close proximity in similar circumstances to that Priory Of Brion appearance back in 1999. On that occasion he was performing the songs ‘’he has kept in his back pocket’’ as he put it with an unfamiliar line up in a series of low key appearances.

20 years on, he is again performing in an unfamiliar line up in a low key setting. Saving Grace as they are known, are performing the third support slot to Fairport Convention. This is the new unit Robert is amongst to perform more of those songs ”from his back pocket.” A welcome diversion before he goes back on tour with the Sensational Space Shifters in the summer.

The acoustic feel and deployment of singer Suzi Dian has provided the opportunity to revisit the hugely successful Raising Sand album and let it be said that the lady does an admirable job in creating the vocal foil that worked so well  for Alison Krauss

The full line up on The Alban stage reads Robert Plant on lead vocals and maracas, Suzi Dian on vocals, Tony Kelsey on mandolin, baritone and acoustic guitars, Matt Worley playing the banjo, acoustic and baritone guitars and cuatro and Oli Jefferson on percussion.

The aforementioned delivery of Donavan’s Season of the Witch is the fourth number in the set. By that time, they have already impressed with the opener Standing and a quite startling version of Satan Your Kingdom Must Come down. A suitably sparse outing for the Great Depression-era blues/country gospel song was first recorded in 1931 by South Carolina evangelist Blind Joe Taggart – and revived by Robert on the Band Of Joy album. Complete with In My Time of Dying insert.

‘’Meet me Jesus meet me’’

Watching Robert Plant sing those familiar lines in close proximity, some 44 years almost to the day I first heard them on Physical Graffiti was simply life affirming. It can take its place right up there in the most thrilling moments I have had in the company of the singer amongst the 123 occasions I’ve been lucky enough to see him perform live over these past 47 years

Oh my Jesus indeed…

Robert’s vocals throughout were absolutely exquisite – the resonance of his voice echoing out of the PA was truly something to behold. Suzi Dian provided the perfect foil for this material taking on the likes of Raising Sand’s Stick With Me Baby.

Robert’s solo delivery of Nature Boy the Nat King Cole standard was utterly mesmerising. It reminded me of  the sparseness of Stolen Kiss from the lullaby album and The Ceaseless Roar album. He made every note and syllable count…

A haunting version of Patty Griffin’s Ohio was another highlight. This was the song Robert contributed to on her ‘American Kid’ album. Incidentally Robert mentioned he had been listening to Patty’s  new album on which he sings harmonies on the tracks What Now and Coins.

It was back to Raising Sand with Your Long Journey Doc and Rosa Lee Watson early 60s The pair drifted in and out of the song supplementing each other with subtly and charm.

Robert used the maracas quite frequently (they look to be the same ones he can be seen holding in a pic in the 02 reunion programme). His on stage banter was relaxed and humorous – at one point he sang a few words of Hi Ho Silver Lining.

A sparkling slightly re-worked take on The Everly Brothers Gone, Gone, Gone raised the tempo. Quick aside – Fairport themselves cut a version fo this one on a BBC session in 1968 and can be heard on the Fairport at the BBC set

It all led into the group finale – the entire band gathered around the mics for I Bid You Goodnight the set closer during the Band of Joy era circa 2011.

So it was in the confines of this lovely venue, I witnessed another Robert Plant diversion – it was an absolute privilege to do so – a very special night when there really was magic in the air…

Fairport were great too –Robert introduced them on stage and highlights of their set include Walk Awhile, Matty Groves and a rousing finale of Meet On The Ledge

Coming away from the arena some words Robert Plant once said came to mind ‘’The past can look after itself –I go on undaunted’.

He certainly does and long may he continue to do so….

Dave Lewis, February 23, 2019

All pics by Krys Jantzen

Robert Plant at  Love Rocks NYC, The Beacon Theatre, New York City, March 7th, 2019:

TBL on the spot report from Dave Roberts…

Back in January, tickets went on sale for the 3rd annual Love Rocks NYC. This is an organization that prepares and delivers meals to residents of New York City that are very ill, and can not prepare meals for themselves.

When I saw that Robert Plant was headlining, partnered with my wife Cindy’s birthday, I immediately headed to Ticketmaster . Much to my surprise, I was able to purchase 2 tickets in the 1st row, of the lower balcony. Great for taking pictures, no one standing in front of you.
The 2019 version of Love Rocks NYC would again be held at the incredible Beacon Theatre. The venue is breathtaking inside, and has been the sight of many milestone events since 1929. The capacity is 2,894 seated. Two events that come to mind are Martin Scorsese’s movie ‘Shine A Light’ with the Rolling Stones, and Joe Bonamassa’s Beacon Theatre, Live from New York.As we landed in New York the morning of the show, I couldn’t help but wonder with all the artists on the bill, how is this going to work. I would soon find out.One of the hosts for the evening, Whoopi Goldberg, was known to be not well for the last month. Upon arriving at the venue, we were informed that actor / comedian Bill Murray would be stepping in.

As I stood in line waiting for security to open the gates, I started to think about the relationship Led Zeppelin has with the city. From the filming of the movie ‘ The Song Remains The Same’ to the marathon shows in 1975 and 1977 at Madison Square Garden to the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert, their last North American concert. Although I never attended a Led Zeppelin concert in New York City, many of the people in line had, and were willing to share their memories.

Upon entering the theatre, I asked a hostess what time was the curfew. She said to me this is New York, it will be over when it’s over. That’s great perfect answer.
We went to our seats at 07:30 pm for the 08:00 pm start to take in the atmosphere. Very friendly people around us.

At 08:15 the lights darkened, and we were about to get underway. First up was Grace Potter who opened with the Jefferson Airplane song ‘White Rabbit’ . She then sang Credence Clear Water Revival’s ‘Proud Mary’ This would be the template for the evening with most artists performing one or two songs.

Between artists, Martin Short, Bill Murray, Kevin Bacon, and Chevy Chase would entertain the crowd, and remind us to continue to support the charity.
The following is the order the artists performed prior to Robert Plant: Jimmie Vaughan with Doyle Bramhall II, Larkin Poe, Lukas Nelson, Buddy Guy, Ivan Neville, Marcus King, Keb’ Mo’ , Taj Mahal, Hozier, Mavis Staples, Sheryl Crow, Billy F Gibbons, followed by Ann and Nancy Wilson, who had not performed together since 2016.By this time it was getting close to midnight, and barring any surprises, Robert Plant was up next.

With that, the six backing vocalists from the house band congregated at centre stage. Then Robert appeared and joined them.
The first song was an old Elvis Presley song called ‘Don’t’ . The harmonies were absolutely brilliant. As I was watching the song, based on what I have read, it has a very similar sound to Robert’s band Saving Grace.

Second song was another Elvis song called ‘A Mess Of Blues’ Jimmie Vaughan joined Robert on this one, and did an excellent job of recreating that old 1950’s sound on the guitar.

Third song was ‘Rich Woman’. For this one Robert invited Cheryl Crow to join him. The version they performed was very similar to the one Robert recorded with Alison Krauss on Raising Sand.

Fourth song was Led Zeppelin’s ‘Black Dog’. Robert asked Sheryl to stick around for one more, which she was thrilled to do. Again this version was in the style of the version with Alison Krauss.

Fifth song was Led Zeppelin’s ‘Thank You’. This was my personal favourite of the night. There is a excellent version on YouTube from the show.

The sixth song of the night was Shake, Rattle and Roll. For this song, Lukas Nelson, Jimmie Vaughan, Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Taj Mahal, and Grace Potter returned to the stage to help out. The vocals moved from musician to musician, and was extremely impressive given the first time they rehearsed the song was that afternoon.

The seventh and final song of the night was Traffic’s ‘Feelin’ Alright’. All the musicians that had contributed their talents to this glorious night returned to the stage. After the song the artists stayed on the stage to socialize with each other. There was a genuine level of admiration between the artists. Robert was clearly the number one priority for all of them to savour the moment.

I looked at my IPhone, and it was 12:30am Friday morning. I guess the hostess was right, this is New York.

Dave Roberts

Many thanks to Dave for that great report and superb photos

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It was 50 years ago – 50 years of DL music passion 1969 – 2019:

I ran this piece last week to celebrate this personal music milestone  – here it is again with some additional content.

It all acts as prelude to a series of DL Celebrates 5o Years of Music Passion postings that will appear throughout the year. The first of which, The sampler Albums – The Rock Machine Turns You On follows this introducionary piece

50 years ago around the Easter period, The Beatles released their first single of 1969. Get Back coupled with Don’t Let Me Down – these tracks had been recorded in January during the infamous Get Back sessions.

This is a significant release for me as this is the record that attracted me back to music – an attraction that has grown manifold over the past 50 years.
I say ‘back to’ as aged 7, I did have a brief flirtation with music mainly focused on The Dave Clark Five. I was pretty obsessed with Dave Clark’s drumming skills and replicated his drum kit in our back garden using old paint tin cans. Glad All Over remains one of my all time fave singles.

The first live gig I ever attended was the Dave Clark 5 package that came to the Bedford Granada in April 1964. In some wonderment I watched a line up of acts that included The Mojos, The Hollies, The Kinks and the aforementioned DC5.

However, this passion was eroded somewhat by childhood distractions such as Thunderbirds, Doctor Who and the Daleks, The Man From Uncle, James Bond and from 1966 -the year that England won the World Cup, my attention turned to playing football, watching it and following of Tottenham Hotspur. I also spent many an hour playing Subbuteo table football (anyone else remember that?)

My initial love of music took a back seat and remained somewhat dormant until that Easter of 1969.
Back then when I was aged 12, in the local café near our street there was a juke box – sixpence for two goes. My gang were often in there and one of the records that was played constantly from the moment it was released was Get Back. Now this I loved – really loved I loved its driving rhythm, bustling drumming,cool vocal with talk of ‘’Sweet Loretta Martin (who) thought she was a woman’’ and Billy Preston’s rolling keyboards.

I also loved the B side Don’t Let Me Down which was also often played on the juke box. The pleading vocal of John Lennon hit the mark every time.
I was well aware who The Beatles were of course. I had been to see both the Hard Days Night and Help films at the cinema. Anyone growing up in the 60s could not really avoid them – they were everywhere. I certainly knew they were very important I was playing the aforementioned Subbuteo table football at a friends house when his elder brother came in with a copy of the just released Sgt Pepper album.

My interest in them though had been from afar.

That all changed when I heard Get Back. A little over a month after this release, The Beatles had another single in the charts titled The Ballad of John And Yoko. I loved this one too.

One of the distinctive aspects of these Beatles records was that the label depicted a green apple, while the B side was the core of an apple. I quickly learned that the Beatles now released records on their own Apple label. I thought this design was a deft touch – it ignited something in me that would lead to a deep fasciation for actual record labels, designs and sleeves. It all went hand in hand with the affinity I developed for the long playing record and 45 RPM single. An affinity that remains as strong as ever.

I could not get enough of all this. As the song goes, music was now my first love – big time. I wanted to hear it, read about it, watch it and talk about it. Remarkably, in a matter of five years I would be selling it. Eventually – even more remarkably, my writing about it would reach fellow music fans across the globe.

From that moment of hearing and admiring Get Back grew an intense passion. I avidly read the NME and other music papers, I listened to Alan Freeman’s Pick of the Pops chart show every week on Radio One. I kept right up to date with all the weekly chart happenings and my appreciation of so much music grew and grew – The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, The Who, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Free, Family, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crosby Stills, Nash & Young, Jethro Tull to name but a few, all appeared on my musical radar during the next few months – and stayed there.

Of course, there was one other act of much importance as all this would lead me to the biggest passion of all – Led Zeppelin. And anyone reading this will realise the immense consequences of all that.

Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham came into my life in late 1969 when I heard Alan Freeman play Whole Lotta Love. Throughout the next 12 months my enthusiasm for this band grew ever more intense – leading up to the release of Led Zeppelin III. By then I was well and truly hooked.

Whilst I enjoyed so much other music, my love of Led Zeppelin was on an altogether different level. This was not just a band…it became a way of life. I saw them live for the first of 15 occasions the following November at the Empire Pool Wembley. It was an illuminating night of electric (and acoustic )magic – many more magic nights would follow.

By the time I had clocked up that 15th appearance at the 02 reunion in December 2007, I had created a magazine about them, met them, interviewed them and written several books about them. From that small acorn in 1969 grew a mighty oak tree…the many branches of which continue to resonate…

Back to the story: when I could afford it I began buying singles and albums – The Who’s Pinball Wizard and the Island Records sampler LP You Can All Join In being amongst my first purchases in this new era. Many more would follow.

The Beatles Get Back single was announced via a very clever press advert. It described this new record with a series of incisive phrases.

It carried the headline The Beatles as nature intended. It read as follows:

‘’Get Back’’ is The Beatles new single. It’s the first Beatles record which is as live as can be in this electronic age.

There’s no electric watchamaclit.

‘’Get Back’’ is a pure springtime number.

On the other side there’s an equally live number ‘’Don’t let me down.’’

Paul’s got this to say about Get Back…

‘’we were sitting in the studio and we made it up out of thin air. We started to write words there and then …when we finished it we recorded it at Apple Studios and made it into a song to roller coast by’’.

P.S. John adds its john playing the fab live guitar solo.

An now John on Don’t Let Me Down.

John says don’t let me down about ‘’Don’t let me down’’

In ‘’Get Back’’ and’’ Don’t let me down’’ you’ll find The Beatles as nature intended

I could easily apply my then new found enthusiasm with the same statement because it really did feel like I had found total redemption in music – as nature intended.

50 years on now aged 62, nothing has changed – music is the DNA that defines who I am and what I do. In sharing it over the years, it has built lasting friendships and created much camaraderie. I am in touch with fellow music enthusiasts from Ecuador (hi Jose!),Japan, Brazil and many other countries.

The good lady Janet and I would meet when we worked at WH Smith selling records.

As of now, I am officially celebrating 50 years of music passion.

So thank you dear Beatles for opening the music floodgates for me that Easter all of 50 years ago.

Oh and John Lennon …I did not let you down about Don’t let me down – and you never let me down either….

Dave Lewis – April 25, 2019.

DL celebrating 50 years of music passion 1969 – 2019 – post number one:

The Sampler Albums… 

In 1968 The CBS Rock Machine Turned You On – Including Jimmy Page and Robert Plant?

The Rock Machine Turns You On – Various Artists (CBS PR2)

In the 1968 chapter of the excellent new David Hepworth book A Fabulous Creation, David relays the importance of the rock sampler album, notably the CBS release of that year The Rock Machine Turns You On

Ah yes, the sampler album, those of us of a certain age will recall the deluge of budget priced sampler albums that surfaced around the late ’60s and early ’70s. Their attraction was that they normally sold for around 19 shillings and 11 pence (the equivalent of a quid) or 14shillings and 6. This provided the opportunity for teenagers like me, to climb on board the hip and trendy world of the underground.

Due to the more affordable price, one of my first albums I purchased aged 13, was the Island sampler You Can All Join In. This opened my ears to a host of inspiring tracks from the likes of Jethro Tull, Free ,Fairport Convention, Traffic, Spooky Tooth ,Tramline and the exotically named Wynder K Frog.

The purpose of these samplers was to draw attention to the variety of performances on offer and perhaps lead you on to the equivalent album. That worked for me later on in the pursuit of albums by Free, Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention

David Hepworth’s entry in the sampler world came a little earlier in June 1968 with the release of The Rock Machine Turns You On. The CBS label (Columbia in the US) were the pioneers of such releases and in the book, the compiler of this set David Howells recalls how Columbia in the US suddenly found them with a breadth of emerging rock talent. This from a label that was more associated with the likes of easy listening artists such as Ray Conniff, Andy Williams and Tony Bennett.

Inspired by a cheap sampler set on RCA titled Pop Shopper and issued in the early 60s, Howells saw the potential of compiling tracks from the CBS stable to promote their catalogue in the UK. The Rock machine Turns You On was stickered 15 tracks for 15 shillings. The 15 artists featured lined up as follows: Bob Dylan, Moby Grape, Spirit, The United States of America, The Zombies, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Leonard Cohen, Blood Sweat And Tears, The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel ,Taj Mahal, The Electric Flag featuring Mike Bloomfield, Roy Harper, Tom Rose and Elmore Gantry’s Velvet Opera.

On the back cover it featured some heady words of wisdom extracted by Howells from a US Columbia advertising campaign for this hip new emerging era. It read as follows:

THE ROCK MACHINE IS A MACHINE WITH SOUL.

The Rock Machine isn’t a grind-you-up. It’s a wind-you-up. The sound is driving. It’s your bag. So it’s ours. It’s the Super Stars. And the Poets. It’s the innovators and the underground. It’s the Loners and the lovers. And It’s more. Much more…

This all worked a treat and led on to many major labels following suit – the aforementioned Island Records with You Can All Join In and Nice Enough To Eat  plus the pleasingly titled El Pea and Bumpers . Polydor waded in with the double set Bombers – Harvest with Picnic, a Breath of Fresh Air and the Harvest Bag, Atlantic with the Age of Atlantic and New Age of Atlantic , Liberty with Gutbucket. Probe with Handle With Care. CBS extended the Rock Machine Turns You On into a second volume Rock Machine I Love You and then issued the superb double album samplers Fill Your Head With Rock and Rockbuster. There were many others.

At the time I loved looking at these samplers in the local record shops – the line-up of tracks providing a gateway into a brave new musical world – and I invested in a few too.

Unsurprisingly, I am still a big collector of such items and the David Hepworth book reminded me of the importance of the original The Rock Machine Turns You On sampler.

This a remarkable collection – not least because it has various Led Zep references amongst the 15 tracks. Alongside the more well established CBS artists of the era (Dylan/ The Byrds/Zombies/ Leonard Cohen etc.) there are no less than six that have Zep connections.

In the influences department, there’s Moby Grape’s Can’t Be So Bad – very much a part of the young Robert Plant’s musical heritage. Then it’s hats off to one Roy Harper, represented by a quaint busk through Nobody’s Got Any Money In The Summer, taken from his Come Out Fighting Genghis Smith album.

A further connection comes via Tim Rose presenting in dynamic style Come Away Melinda from his 1968 album. That was the year Tim Rose was supported by The Band of Joy where he spotted the young John Bonham and later offered him the drum stool for his summer UK tour. It was during that particular Tim Rose tour at the Hampstead Country Club on July 31 ,1968 that Page witnessed the Bonham phenomenon for himself when he was assembling a new Yardbirds line up that would eventually emerge as Led Zeppelin. Page immediately offered him the job.

Then there are three tracks on this album that were covered by the early Led Zeppelin. Spirit’s Fresh Garbage was incorporated into the As Long As I Have You medley during the debut Zep American tour. As is plainly evident on the original, its strident riff was tailor-made for interpretation on that Page painted Fender Telecaster. Of course the ‘Taurus versus Zep Stairway To Heaven ‘ high profile court case would go on to become their more notorious association with Spirit.

The Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield on guitar attack Chester Burnett’s Killing Floor. It was this arrangement (also used by Jimi Hendrix) that Page and co loosely based their Led Zep 2 staple The Lemon Song upon. Bloomfield’s fluid guitar dominates this slightly faster work out that features some jazz rock like sax towards its climax. Back in 1969, it did not take long for publisher Jewel Music to claim a cut of the Zep publishing fee which would lead to The Lemon Song appearing under the title Killing Floor on later copies of the second Zep opus.

And finally Elmore Gantry’s Velvet Opera tune in with their most famous offering Flames. Elmore who? you may ask, and what’s it got to do with the Zep?

Well, although there is no surviving taped evidence, both Page and Plant have stated that this was one of the numbers The New Yardbirds/early Zeppelin fleshed out their initial sets with. It may have also been considered as a possible studio contender for the first album sessions. The Elmore Gantry original is certainly typical of the aggressive psych rock stance that Page brought to The Yardbirds in their final days and its soulful refrain “You’ve been burning me up” would have been perfect fodder for the raw vocal technique of the young Plant. Indeed, the singer would perform his own version of the song during his Priory of Brion touring era circa 2000.

As for Elmore Gantry’s Velvet Opera, two of their members, Richard Hudson and John Ford, went on to join The Strawbs and later formed their own Hudson Ford group scoring a top ten UK hit with Pick Up The Pieces. Elmore himself went on to form the bogus Fleetwood Mac that went out in the mid-70s when the real Mac was off the road. He later, formed Stretch, and enjoyed a hit in the mid-70s with Why Did You Do It.

So here’s the thing:

David Hepworth notes This Rock Machine Turns You On sampler was originally released in early 1968.

With this thread of Zep influences revolving amongst the grooves, could it possibly have been one of the albums Robert Plant took along to spin to Jimmy Page at that first meeting of minds in Pangbourne in the summer of 1968?

Or that Jimmy Page already had a copy lying around?

There’s enough evidence in their early repertoire to make that claim fairly plausible.

Here’s a quote from a 1990 Robert Plant interview:

“On stage the song’s opened up so much. We’d do As Long As I Have You, the old Garnett Mimms track, Fresh Garbage by Spirit, Flames by Elmore Gantry and his Velvet Opera. All these things would come creeping out the woodwork. That was the beauty of Led Zeppelin.”

On a final note – my copy of The Rock Machine Turns You On has the original CBS inner sleeve and it’s a beauty.

One side comprises of eight reasons to buy records under the title ‘’Here’s how records give you more of what you want’’.

It’s a fascinating snapshot of the way records were perceived and 50 years on, much of it still rings true

Here’s the full text:

HERES HOW RECORDS GIVE YOU MORE OF WHAT YOU WANT:

1: THEY’RE THE BEST ENTERTAINMENT BUY: Records give you top quality for less money than any other recorded form. Every album is a show in itself. And once you’ve paid the price of admission you can hear it over and over again.

2: THEY ALLOW SELECTIVITY OF SONGS AND TRACKS: With records it’s easy to pick out the songs you want to play, or to play again a particular song or side. All you have to do is lift the pick-up arm and place it where you want it. You can’t do this easily with anything by a long-playing record.

3: THEY’RE CONVENIENT AND EASY TO HANDLE: With the long playing record you get what you want to hear when you want to hear it. Everybody’s familiar with records too. And you can go anywhere with them because they’re light and don’t take up space.

4: THEYRE ATTRACTIVE , INFORMATIVE AND EASY TO STORE: Record albums are never out of place. Because of the aesthetic appeal of the jacket design, they’re beautifully at home in the living room and library. They’ve also got important information on the backs – about the artist, about the performance or about the programme. And because they are flat and not bulky. You can store hundreds in a minimum of space and still see every title.

5: THEY’LL GIVE YOU HOURS OF CONTINUOUS AND UNINTERUPPTED LISTEING PLEASURE. Just stack them up on your automatic changer and relax.

6: THEY’RE THE PROVEN MEDIUM. Long -playing record look the same now as they did when they were introduced in 1948 but there’s a world of difference. Countless refinements and development s have been made to perfect the long playing records technical excellence and ensure the best in sound reproduction and quality

7: IF IT’S AVAILABLE IN RECORDED FORM, YOU KNOW IT’LL BE AVAILABLE ON RECORDS. Everything’s on long playing records these days…your favourite artists, shows ,comedy, movie soundtracks, concerts, drama, documented history, educational material…you name it. This is not so with any other recording.

8: THEY MAKE A GREAT GIFT because everybody you know loves music. And everybody owns a record player because it’s the musical instrument everyone knows how to play. Records are gifts that say a lot about to the person you’re giving them to. And they keep on remembering

AND REMEMBER..IT ALWAYS HAPPENS FIRST ON RECORDS

The reverse of the inner bag lists 25 CBS label albums with sleeve illustrations. This mirrors the changing tide of tastes as the likes of Leonard Cohen, Chicken Shack, Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel, Taj Mahal, Tim Hardin, Gun and, Blood Sweat and Tears rub shoulders with Tony Bennett, Ray Conniff, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Funny Girl and West Side Story.

The musical times they were a changing and The Rock Machine Turns You On was a tangible testament to that statement.

In summary: The Rock Machine Turns You On is a vinyl gem. I would advise any Led Zep fan to check it out at their earliest convenience.

Dave Lewis – April 25, 2019

Dave Lewis – Celebrating 50 years of music passion 1969 – 2019: Post number 3:

In praise of the cassette…

In his recent excellent book A Fabulous Creation, author David Hepworth notes the rise of the popularity in the cassette format during the late 70s/early 80s. This was inspired by the launching of the Sony Walkman and the fact that many music lovers (this writer very much included) took ownership of their listening habits by taping albums and creating compilations and mix tapes.

The earlier tape format the Eight Track Cartridge never really took off being more of an in car entertainment fix – and prone to unreliability. I do have a few of these – mainly Zep ones.

I have great affection for cassettes –indeed I still have boxes of them – a bulk of them with Led Zeppelin lives concerts on because back in the day, the cassette was the currency Led Zep tape collectors dealt in. And boy did I do some dealing…

The first Zep live cassettes I received arrived in early 1973. I replied to an advert in Sounds for rare live tapes – back came an extensive list of many artists. I had already made a contact for bootleg albums and invested in a few – this tape list though was something else.

Very quickly I built up a library of recorded Zep gigs – the Wembley 1971 show, Glasgow Playhouse and Newcastle 72 – many more would follow as I made contact with fellow Zep tape collectors and began trading with fellow fans – notably Russ Rees and Andrew Strauss. I also invested in a fair few Beatles, Stones and Dylan titles too.

The quality varied of course but that never really bothered me – as long as I could decipher what they were playing – all was good. I diligently made plain covers for these cassettes and numbered them – the first LZC001 being a recording of the BBC 1971 John Peel In Concert that I acquired in 1973.

Later there would be copious tapes of the 1975 US tour, Earls Court and the 1977 and 1980 tours. Many a gem lit up my cassette player – the 1969 BBC radio sessions, the Cleveland mixing desk tape soon to be on record as The Destroyer, outtakes from the fourth album sessions – all revealing insights into the process of how this very special band performed onstage and recorded in the studio. All this considerably aided my ever growing Zep cassette obsession.

I might state at this point I was never one for taping gigs myself. I did attempt to record the Knebworth August 4 date on my trusty and bulky Phillips recorder – however I only got an hour of it as the batteries ran out. A similar attempt a year previously at the Bob Dylan Blackbushe concert went the same way. I did tape a lot of stuff off the TV and radio – however, the TV was always a problem with back ground noise. When I taped BBC’s Film Night programme in November 1976 when they aired a clip from the just released The Song Remains The Same film, I ended up with a unique version of the Dazed And Confused extract they screened. Throughout it you can hear our budgerigar chirping away in the background!

Post Zep, the tapes kept on coming – not least from Robert Plant solo gigs and The Firm. Meeting Andy Adams in the late 1980s opened my ears to yet more rarities on this well-worn format. Andy’s sources for searching out unreleased Zep stuff were second to none.

He and I have often talk in reverential terms about the magical moment around 1989 when we sat in his place in Canvey island listening to a tape he had acquired of outtakes from Olympic Studios and Polar studios – most notably All My Love with that gorgeous extended ending. We sat there in total awe…

When Jimmy Page and Robert Plant undertook a world tour in 1995, It was still the cassette format that was used to captured much of the shows. Indeed the opening US leg even had a tapers section. Many a collector helped me with that particular cause notably Simon Pallett and Dave Fox.

However, by then the CD revolution had well and truly kicked in. With its extended playing time the CD was a perfect vehicle to present the lengthy Zep gigs such as Earls Court and Knebworth.

The market was soon saturated with Zep CD titles and record fairs in Camden and Victoria were the destination points to soak up the latest bootleg CD releases – not least the expensive and brilliantly packaged Tarantura label releases. Unsurprisingly, I invested in a stack of these underground releases. I can recall many a record fair during that era when I would leave with my pockets bulging with newly purchased bootleg CDs – and devising a way of making sure the good lady Janet did not see them as I breezed through the door!

From there, the introduction of DAT audio players and recordable CD players made it very convenient to record gigs and put them on straight on to CD.

Alas, the trusty cassette was no longer the medium by which we shared our collecting passion.

The cassette was gone…but never to be forgotten. Certainly not by me. I still have a cassette player and I still dig out cassettes to play – and they still sound great.

Some of my pivotal musical enlightenment came via the trusty cassette. Yes they were often over hissy and prone to spooling problems – but there was something uniquely compact about the cassette. Small but in its own way quite beautiful.

And this passion for cassettes was not just resigned for my Zep collecting.

Like many reading this – I made many a lovingly compiled cassette compilation. This was long before the days of iPods, iTunes playlists, Spotify etc. There was an art to getting the right join of a track via the pressing of the record and play button – I recall a very cool segue I created between Roxy Music’s Sentimental Fool straight into Elvis Costello’s Watching The Detectives and The Sex Pistols Pretty Vacant into Did You Know Wrong -the B side of God Save The Queen. Like I said, before iTunes, Spotify  etc we could be out own producers.As David Hepworth notes in his book, during the 80s sales of blank tapes went through the roof. A worried music industry set about a rather futile campaign that declared ‘’Home Taping is Killing Music. ..and it’s illegal. It was doing nothing of the sort as real music fans were formulating compilations by recording albums they had already purchased. For a brief period Island Records even abated the home taping cause by introducing a controversial 1+1 series – this cheekily put a full album on one side of the cassette while the other was left blank for the purchaser to record on it as they saw fit. Even as far back as the mid 70s, the record companies were keen to exploit the tape market. I found an EMI in house magazine recently from March 1975. It details their plans for a ‘Beatles For Sale’ campaign to promote The Beatles catalogue on cassette and eight track cartridge. As it quaintly  puts in in the opening blurb:

 As the cassette and cartridge market has developed considerably over the years, more and more people have  accepted this relatively new medium as the ‘Sounds Software of the Seventies’ we are sure that people will want to hear their favourite sounds on their new cassette and cartridge equipment. Therefore the Tape Department are proud to present their ”Beatles For Sale” campaign”

On the Zep front, in the 1990s, I lovingly produced a series of custom home made cassette compilation under the banner TBL Soundbites. These custom made tapes gathered various bits and pieces together of rare Zep and Page & Plant performances. I had a few of these made up each time to give out to TBL contributors and friends – long time TBL contributor Pete Gozzard was a massive help in putting these together – oh what fun we had in doing that. It reached six volumes and gathered together some unique content – For some of them I had full sleeve notes and track details printed. I am very proud of them.

The NME got in on the cassette compilation game by creating a series of their own –which were made available through the paper. Superbly compiled by the late great NME journalist Roy Carr, I still have and play the Dept Of Enjoyment 1984 tape and a superb jazz compilation Night People. In 1985, my very good friend Dec kicked off his record label Rorschach Testing by producing a very attractively packaged cassette compilation titled Discreet Campaigns, designed by future TBL designer Mick Lowe – this featured exclusive and rare material by the likes of New Order and the Cocteau Twins.

Back in the mid 80s, when I was writing a weekly pop column for the local paper, many local bands gave me demo tapes on cassette to review – some of which I still have. Keeping with the demo tape theme, I remember there was a cupboard full of demo cassette tapes in the Zep Swan Song offices – on one of my visits I remember coming across a demo cassette of The Q Tips, the band that featured soon to be solo star Paul Young .

Finally, it’s worth mentioning the impact cassettes had on the music business during the late 70s and 80s. Managing a record shop I saw first-hand how the trend particularly for the more middle of the road artist such as Abba and The Carpenters, switched from vinyl to cassette – boosted by the convenience of the format for in car play and Sony Walkmans. As David Hepworth points out in his book, in 1989 the cassette was the most popular music carrier in the USA with 65 percent of the market, CD was second with 26 percent and vinyl a poor 9 percent. It was a similar story here in the UK. Cassettes and then CD’s accelerated the premature killing off of vinyl. I vividly recall respacing the Our Price shop floor in 1991 to accommodate more CD room at the expense of vinyl.

Technology eventual deemed the cassette format all but redundant. Like I said, gone but not completely forgotten. In recent times there’s been something of a minor cassette revival There is an annual Cassette Store Day event to celebrate the format – a limited edition Prince cassette was made available for this year’s Record Store Day. They are still out there…

As is well known, I love LP’s and singles – I also still love CDs and I still love cassettes – all of these formats have and continue to bring me great listening joy.

I may be in a minority in sticking with cassettes but there’s a deep sense of pleasing nostalgia to be had by playing an old fave on what was once such a tried and trusted format. Indeed many of the cassettes I have hold exclusive music I have nowhere else to source from.

One example of this is while I have multiple copies of  the Led Zeppelin’s Presence on vinyl album and CD, there is still something very special still about the cassette recording I made of the album as it was aired in advance of it’s release on the Alan Freeman show on the afternoon of Saturday April 3, 1976.

There’s a unique authenticity about that cassette as it reels its way around the deck. It recalls simpler days when music came to us in a simpler method.

Right, I’m off to snap in that TDK cassette one more time with feeling. It’s only the compact cassette – but I like it…like it…yes I do…

Dave Lewis  – June 18, 2019

Brian Jones 1942 – 1969:

Last Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the passing of Brian Jones, the founder member of The Rolling Stones. Long time TBL contributor Paul Sheppard visited his grave on the day – here is Pul’s poignant post from his Facebook page:

Brian Jones 28th Feb, 1942-3rd July, 1969.
Given it’s the 50th Anniversary of his passing, given that he was born in Cheltenham and spent his younger years here and given that I live in Cheltenham, I thought it appropriate to visit his grave today and pay my respects. The graveside was packed with fans including one guy from Manchester and another from Cincinnati, both of whom had made special journeys to be there. Funnily enough the American from Cincinnati was also there with his daughter, who is an undertaker by profession. Kinda weird, that one! Anyway, they were good to chat to and to share memories alike. Brian Jones’ daughter was there today though I didn’t join the scramble for photographs. Also, both Donovan and Bill Wyman have stopped by this week too. My pic shows my favourite Rolling Stones book propped up to be part of the pic. I avoided selfies as I wanted the remembrance to be about Brian; a selfie would have been more about me, which I didn’t think was right.

Paul Sheppard

Many thanks to Paul for that report. The Brian Jones anniversary prompted me to reflect on my own experiences of that week in July of 50 years ago –  so in another in the series…

Dave Lewis – Celebrating 50 years of music passion 1969 – 2019: Post number 4:

The Rolling Stones and me and a week in July 50 years ago…

I can remember quite a lot about the days that led up to The Rolling Stones performing that famous free concert in Hyde Park all of 50 years ago on Saturday July 5.

On Tuesday, July 1 all our school converged on the main hall to watch the Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in Caernarfon Castle in Wales. Later in the week on Friday July 4 I awoke to see the headlines in the newspapers that Brian Jones, the recently departed Rolling Stones founder member, had been found dead in somewhat mysterious circumstances in the swimming pool of Cotchford Farm home.

The Stones were due to play that massive concert just two days later. On that Friday afternoon of July 4, I walked from school into town – my destination was the WH Smith book shop in the High Street, then known as FR Hockliffe.

A quick aside – little did I know that afternoon in 1969 that in a mere five years, I would be working at this shop behind the record department counter commencing a 35 year career in music retail.

The reason for the visit was for me to select a book of my own choice as a school prize. I had done pretty well that first year in the Silver Jubilee secondary modern school and had been awarded the merit prize. I spent some time wading through the books settling on a Billy Bunter book by Frank Richards. I loved the Bunter books – whilst there I also bought a copy of Tom Brown’s Schooldays. Reading was already a big passion – my regular other choice reading was the New Musical Express – aka NME – the huge selling weekly music paper.

As mentioned in a previous post, back in the spring of 1969 aged 12, I had got right back into music after hearing The Beatles’ Get Back single.

I was now immersed in the world of pop and rock and I knew from reading the NME that The Rolling Stones Hyde Park free concert was going to be a very big deal.

After buying my books at FW Hockliffe I returned home to watch the TV coverage of the Wimbledon Ladies singles final. Our own Anne Jones making it are British triumph by beating Billie Jean King 3-6,6-3 6-2. This piece of sporting history was also enjoyed by The Beatles. The July 4 entry in Mark Lewisohn’s remarkable book The Beatles At Abbey Road reveals that on that same afternoon, The Beatles were at work in Abbey Road Studios recording Golden Slumbers/ Carry That Weight. The studio engineers has been listening to the live BBC Radio 2  coverage of the Anne Jones -Billie Jean King final and had relayed it to the three Beatles, Paul, George and Ringo through the mixing console.

Whilst in town earlier that afternoon had I ventured to the popular local record shop Carousel ( which I often did), I may well have seen copies of the new Rolling Stones single Honky Tonk Women on sale as it was released that same day. I may also have seen the new John Lennon/ Plastic Ono Band single Give Peace A Chance which also came out that day. At the time the eight shillings and sixpence asking price for a single was way out of my league. However in the coming weeks I would subsequently hear them both many times on the radio and on the local juke box at our local café.

On Saturday July 5, Radio One broadcast regular updates of the gathering crowds in Hyde Park to which I avidly listened to. Oh to be there but I was far too young. Seven years later I did make it to the free concert Queen gave in Hyde Park.

I read all about the Hyde park concert in the following weeks issue of  NME and gazed in wonder at all those amazing photos – Jagger looked incredible. In September, I watched the Granada TV documentary Stones In The Park when it was screened on ITV.

By then, I had deemed The Rolling Stones as my favourite group – just edging it over The Beatles. That would all change of course in a few months when I heard Whole Lotta Love by a group called Led Zeppelin.

I loved the Honky Tonk Women single – with its dramatic intro and bluesy chorus. I also loved the B side You Can’t Always Get What You Want. This was often played on the local café juke box. The B sides of popular singles would often get an airing on that juke box. Actually there was an exception to that. There wasn’t much call for the B side of Give Peace A Chance – Remember Love sung rather softly but not that sweetly by Yoko Ono.

Around 1973, I acquired an audience recording of the Stones Hyde Park show on a bootleg LP. Years later, when it received an official release on DVD I eagerly snapped it up. It’s a superb documentary and very much of its time and takes me right back all of 50 years to that memorable week in July when in much schoolboy wonderment, I soaked up all the remarkable events that were unfolding on the music scene.

Later in the month there would be more awe inspiring events to take in when Neil Armstrong made that first step on the Moon.

Ahead lay Woodstock and the Isle of Wight fFstivals, the release of Abbey Road and an album titled Led Zeppelin II

It was 50 years ago and my musical landscape was being broadened by the week…oh for a time machine to relive it all again…

Dave Lewis, July 7, 2019

August  5 2019

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