The 34th anniversary of Led Zeppelin at Knebworth is upon us this weekend and once again our thoughts will drift back to that golden summer of 1979 when Led Zeppelin performed two unforgettable concerts in the ground of the famous stately home.

The subject matter of that period have been well prevalent here in the last few months as the writing, collation and design of the revised Led Zeppelin Then As It Was – at Knebworth 1979 revamped edition has taken shape.

This weekend’s anniversary is a timely moment to inform you where this project is at.

Firstly apologies for the delay in bringing this to fruition.  It’s been a long outstanding task that I have finally been able to turn concentrated attention to.

The good news is…it’s looking pretty epic…

Designer Mike Lowe and myself have approached this as an entirely new book, creating a completely revamped edition in the style of the much acclaimed Feather In the Wind – Led Zeppelin over Europe 1980 volume.

Much progress has been made in the past few weeks and we are moving into the latter stages of design. There is still a bit of a way to go but it’s all shaping up very well. The aim is to publish the book in the late autumn hopefully in time for Christmas.

All pre orders have been logged as received over a quite lengthy period, since I first announce it in 2011. So if you ordered a while back, don’t worry it’s all in hand. All incoming orders will be allocated the lowest numbered edition as received.

Here is what is in store:

Hardback style book in the same size as the Feather In The Wind book

256 pages across 13 chapters and 6 Appendix sections.

Over 150 colour photos throughout the book – many of them rarely seen before -amongst them Copenhagen warm up shots, soundcheck photos, crowd views, on stage photos and many more. The lead photo above is by Ian Avey.

This extensive visual imagery really captures the atmosphere of the event and times.

100,000 word text including: Chirs Charlesworth preface, state of play overview, original Dave Lewis TBL issue 3 text, extensive I Was There first hand recollections, full on stage transcriptions, Knebworth interviews, Knebworth aftermath, American view by Larry M. Bergmann , and finally the Back to Knebworth 30 Years Gone chapter bringing the story full circle

Plus full Appendix sections on the Knebworth bootlegs compiled by Graeme Hutchinson , memorabilia, statistics, playlist and  an In Through The Out Door discography compiled by Nick Anderson – all fully illustrated in colour.

This is a total overhaul of the first edition with over 35,000 words of additional text and many more rare photos and memorabilia images.

Here’s the complete chapter breakdown:

Foreword  by Ross Halfin

Introduction

Preface: How Could They Fail? by Chris Charlesworth

Chapter One: Led Zeppelin 1979: The State Of Play by Dave Lewis

Chapter Two: Led Zeppelin In The Evenings :Back! By Dave Lewis

Chapter Three: Led Zeppelin – The Copenhagen And Knebworth Concert Logs

Chapter Four: Led Zeppelin’s Blind Date: Seeing Was Believing by Dave Lewis

Chapter Five: Led Zeppelin at Knebworth: I Was There: Nostalgic recollections from out in the field (and from the Falconer Theatre, Copenhagen)

 Chapter Six: Nineteen Hundred & Seventy Nine:Secrets Revealed, Memories & Perceptions Of Knebworth A personal view by Larry M. Bergmann Jr.

Chapter Seven: The Pre & Post Knebworth Radio Interviews

Chapter Eight: The TBL Interviews: Aubrey Powell & Nicky Horne

Chapter Nine: Showco Inc: The Light & Sound of Led Zeppelin at Knebworth ’79

Chapter Ten: The Knebworth Aftermath by Dave Lewis

Chapter Eleven: Zep on the Town – November 1979 by Dave Lewis

Chapter Twelve: A Knebworth Postscript: Christmas 1979 – A fictional story?

Chapter Thirteen: Back To Knebworth – 30 Years Gone…by Dave Lewis

Appendix One : Led Zeppelin  at Knebworth : The Bootleg Discography compiled by Graeme Hutchinson

Appendix Two:  Led Zeppelin at Knebworth:  The Memorabilia compiled by Dave Lewis

AppendiThree:  Led Zeppelin at Knebworth : The Statistics compiled by Dave Lewis

AppendiFour:  Led Zeppelin at Knebworth: The Playlist compiled by Dave Lewis

AppendiFive:  In Through The Out Door: Worldwide Rarities Discography compiled by Nick Anderson

Appendix Six:  Notes & Sources

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All books will be individually numbered and signed by the author.

Led Zeppelin Then As It Was – At Knebworth 1979 is the latest in the TBL publishing series that analyses the concert history of Led Zeppelin in greater detail than ever before.

If you were there back in 1979 …you will revel in reliving the memories…if you weren’t lucky enough to be…this is the opportunity to discover the full story surrounding the final remarkable on stage performances in their homeland of Led Zeppelin with John Bonham…

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In summary…it’s been a bit of slog getting there but I am really pleased with the way this is turning out and I’ll be endeavoring to ensure that this another worthy addition to the TBL product catalogue.

You can pre order the book at the following link:

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/?page_id=1962

In the coming weeks I’ll continue to update on further progress.

Led Zeppelin Then As It Was – At Knebworth 1979 is the book that will take you back to that field just outside Knebworth during an English summer of 1979…and unlike the way it was for thousands of us 34 years ago this weekend…there are no sleeping bag required…

Dave Lewis  – August  2nd, 2013

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Dave Lewis Diary Update:

August is upon us and it’s going to be a busy one here for sure. There’s on going work on the Knebworth book project, plus The Rolling Stones feature to wrap and another writing project to assess, alongside the development of the next TBL magazine issue 36 –there’s already some great stuff on that to get moving. I’m aiming to catch Hats Of To Led Zeppelin’s gig at the Stables Milton Keynes on Aug 24 and then later in the month there’s the prospect of Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters return to the UK commencing with the Bristol date. The recent You Tube clips and reports from his US tour have more than whetted the appetite to get in sight of that Shure SM microphone again –it’s been far too long. I’ll have details of a pre gig TBL meet for Bristol and the Wolverhampton Sept 2nd date in due course.

There’s also a lot of family stuff going on here with the boy Adam’s 18th birthday next Friday and birthdays for Janet’s mum and the good lady herself later in the month. We are also lined up to attend the wedding of Janet’s cousin’s son this weekend and we will be well suited and booted for the occasion.

It was very nostalgic watching the Anniversary Olympics event last weekend. Can’t believe it’s now a year when we basking in that Olympic feelgood factor –of which for one day we able to sample for ourselves when we attendedthe Diving events. Of course attention will turn to the new football season big time this month and for Spurs fans it’s the will he or won’t he saga of the possible departure to Real Madrid of Gareth Bale that is the hot topic. It does look like he will be on his way which will be a bit o a loss for sure.

Last Sunday I took part in the annual Music Quiz at the Cricketers Arms pub and I’m pleased to say that our team Crazy Horses led by my fellow publisher friend Jerry Bloom retained the trophy we won last year. It was a tough battle though – I came good on naming the Perry Mason theme and Bobby Vee’s The Night has a Thousand Eyes (that shows my age!) I was not so hot on anything after 1980! Afterwards we chatted for a good while about the bands who played in Bedford in the 60s and 70s – The Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Who, Free, Mott, Thin Lizzy etc –Jerry has plans to compile a book on all that at some point.

Above: With the Cricketers Arms Music Quiz trophy as won by Jerry’s Crazy Horses team.  

On the player, the soundtrack from The Song Remains The Same with the 40th anniversary of those Madison Square Garden gigs in mind, plus David Bowie Live at the Universal Amphitheatre (thank you John P) and the new Booby Whitlock reissue Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way – a welcomed package of the early 70s output of the Derek and the Dominos keyboardist and singer with George Harrison and Eric Clapton guesting. Looking ahead I’m already lining up a couple of tasty wants for my birthday list namely the Bob Dylan  Bootleg Series Volume 10 set Another Self Portrait and the Marc Bolan At The BBC collection.

Right…time for some Knebworth nostalgia – this is what was going down in that field just outside Stevenage  34 years ago- and each passing year only magnifies the memories…and their achievements. Get ready to read all about in in the forthcoming Then As it Was book…meanwhile this is the way it was 34 years ago…

Knebworth You Tube clips:

The Bedford Three (me, Tom and Dec) reaction as they came on stage…as recorded on my Phillips portable. Be warned – this gets very noisy as we were a little bit excited… and yes they were on the f***kin’ stage Tom….!

Cine film

Heartbreaker

Until next time…Keep listening, keep reading…

Have a great weekend