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OCTOBER IS LED ZEPPELIN 2 MONTH AT TBL

8 October 2009 4,610 views 3 Comments

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TBL Exclusive Interview With Eddie Kramer On Led Zep 2 40 Years On…

In an exclusive interview conducted by Dave Lewis on Monday in London, Eddie Kramer the director of engineering and mixing on Led Zeppelin 2, reflected on the making of the album 40 years on.

Eddie took time out from presenting his ‘’Evening With Eddie Kramer ’’ event at Metropolis Studios to talk about the album for TBL. Looking back to the mixdown session of Whole Lotta Love, he described it as ‘’A happy mistake’’.

‘’I was living in New York and I had a call I think from Steve Weiss’ office, He was Zep’s attorney and was also represented Hendrix. Zeppelin was in town and asked if I could record them. I’d seen them a few times in that year so was more than pleased to do that. So we cut a batch of tracks at various studios like Juggy Sound and then mixed the entire album in two days at A and R Studios. The whole thing with Jimmy was that we liked to leave in little ad libs and things, it added to the whole vibe. So on Whole Lotta Love we left in that cough at the beginning. Then on the ‘’Way down inside’’ Robert vocal part we found we had a leakage from track 8, a previous vocal track that we couldn’t seem to lose, so Jimmy and I cranked up the reverb and left it in. Big mistake? Happy mistake. Lovely…’’

Watch this space for more of Eddie’s thoughts on Zep 2 soon…

Your Led Zeppelin 2 Feedback required:

Where did you first hear the Led Zeppelin 2 album?

Where did you buy it?

How does it shape up four decades on?

What are the best live versions of the nine tracks?

Do you have a rare Zep 2 pressing?

We’d like to hear your views on any of the above topics as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Led Zeppelin 2.

Email davelewis.tbl1@ntlworld.com with your thoughts.

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3 Comments »

  • Billy McCue said:

    Dave,
    My first encounter with Led Zeppelin II and the band’s music in general was in 1975 and happened as the result of finding a Whole Lotta Love 45rpm single in my brother’s music collection. Believe it or not, Living Loving Maid was my first favorite Led Zeppelin track and I played it over and over and over, much to my brother’s chagrin. Seems odd to say now more than 30 years on, but at the time as a 12-year old cheeky lad, WLL and its groovy trippy psychedelic freakout middle section was too “weird” for me. I loved the more poppy and accessible B-side. I still love LZ II – especially this time of year. I equate most of Zep’s albums with seasons and LZ II will always be one for the fall. Probably inspired by those memorable lines from Ramble On – “leaves are fallin’ all around, time I was on my way.” I think the album as a whole still holds up very well. Can’t say I ever listen to Moby Dick but the rest of the tracks still bring a big smile and sound great – especially What Is… Lemon Song and the aforementioned Ramble On. I love the versions of WIAWSNB from the How the West Was Won album and BBC ’71 sessions. There are too many great live versions of WLL, Heartbreaker and Bring It on Home to single out just one of each. My pick for Thank You goes to the “Three Days After” show from Los Angeles – the second of two nights. Believe it was June 3, 1973. Epic! Thanks for the opportunity to share some thoughts on this landmark album in the band’s history, and in the history of rock and roll. Love, Billy

  • Stephen Mayo said:

    … ‘2’ was where it all started for me … I was 12 years old, liking the ‘guitar’ sounds of Mud & especially ‘The Sweet’, when the cousin of my best friend shoved a tape of ‘2’ in my hand saying ‘you must listen to this if you like guitar’ … and that was it! 35 years on & I still listen to ‘2’ on a regular basis – I will always remember my parents insisting on listening to that very tape in the car to ‘get a handle’ on my new ‘obsession’ shortly after I got it, and I was ‘cringing’ in the back when it got to the ‘squeeze my lemon’ bit … a bit like Dave my ‘obsession’ is still as strong today as it ever was – cheers bron-yr-aur-stomper

  • Steve Wood said:

    I was a new student in a college in Wigan, there was a guy who looked like lennon swanning around the place with a bunch of albums under his arm. He was a common room DJ they had a great sound system and we heard everything from Zep 2 to Franks Hot rats, some of the girlie girls had trouble in spelling Zeppelin but as good guys do we converted them. Zep 2 was played endlesly and I reported back to my pals the stuff I was now listening to, the storys surrounding this album all hype worked, but the music is ever present. I’m certainly glad I did only a yeat there but from that I saw the group twice and mighty dam pround they’re British.

    Steve wood, Manchester, England

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