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THE COMPLETE BBC SESSIONS – INITIAL FEEDBACK AND COMMENT/THE GRAND UNVEILING/JOHN BONHAM 36 YEARS GONE…/LZ NEWS/BEDFORD RECORD FAIR/DL DIARY BLOG UPDATE

23 September 2016 2,683 views 4 Comments

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The Complete BBC Sessions: Initial feedback and comment:

The release of the Led Zeppelin Complete BBC Sessions has generated a host of comment and feedback – here’s some observations –  kicking off with some comment from Jimmy Page:

This one via the Planet Rock  website:

Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page has told Planet Rock he’s hoping to hit the studio in 2017 to record new music.

The music legend appeared on MOJO Rocks with Phil Alexander on Saturday night to talk about Led Zeppelin’s Complete BBC Sessions album and he joked he’s been “quite rightly” chastised for not releasing fresh material sooner.

“The BBC Sessions was an epic, when you think everything has to be listened to in real time and all of that,” Jimmy said. “It’s an epic but it’s an epic I was really prepared to take on because historically it was really important for people to have all that information about what was going on in the studio at that point of time.

“It took a lot of time and I must say that I hoped by this time (September 2016) that I would be sort of playing with other musicians. I’ve said that to you before but I still hope to do that. Clearly now it’s not going to materialise until next year. That’s not that far away now!”

Having remastered Led Zeppelin’s back catalogue and released The Complete BBC Sessions, Jimmy also refused to rule out restoring more of the band’s material.

“I’m sure there will be some (restored) releases over the next few years,” Jimmy continued. “But it’s the sort of thing where we need to have a good old chat with the band y’know. A few band meetings to discuss the ideas. So, I hope so!”

Jimmy also told Phil that he’s in contact with his former Yardbirds band members about releasing restored versions of their works.

“I’m in touch with the members of the Yardbirds and I hope to be seeing them relatively soon and then the material I’ve got we’ll see how much of it comes out. Hopefully all of it will come out but they haven’t heard all of the things, they’ve just heard certain samples of things and they were really thrilled with what they heard, which is cool.

“It’s all stuff that was done right in the last stages of The Yardbirds, it’s more or less almost in that last year that we had together. It’s got things that were really sort of crossover.

“I’m just really keen to do that and do it with them… so we’re all involved, bits of memorabilia and all of that. I’m very very hopeful that it will come together. I’m confident that it will.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Jimmy spoke in great detail about the BBC sessions, having to audition for the corporation before going on air, how Led Zeppelin’s career took off “like a bushfire” in America, the “amazing synergy” the band utilised and explored, the fabled ‘lost session’ and much more.

http://www.planetrock.com/news/rock-news/jimmy-page-hoping-to-record-new-music-in-2017/

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This review via Pitchfork:
Maybe you’re the person who hasn’t quite made up their mind up about Led Zeppelin. That’s fine but fair warning, the band is the apotheosis of overstuffed arena rock, from private jets to strong-arming managers to personal excess in every musical, sexual, and philosophical front. Lester Bangs wanted to chuck pies at them in defense of Truth and/or Iggy Pop. Hammer of the Gods depicted them as decadent goons and tried to make that seem admirable. Yo La Tengo’s “Sugarcube” video, without even needing to name them, reduced their lyrical and aesthetic sensibilities to an interest in “where the hobbits dwell.” If you’re a young music head who shuns rockism, appropriation, and womanizing as loathsome retrograde traits to be avoided, being into Zep means your faves don’t come more problematic.

Still, rock dorks were tangling with this issue long before any of us, and in the context of reckoning with Led Zeppelin—especially as an oft-bootlegged yet still elusive live-band document—the official two-disc release of BBC Sessions in 1997 felt like a moment of clarity. Rhino’s 2016 reissue of the BBC Sessions is also a big important musical-legacy package deal, and justifiably so: Jimmy Page supervised a new remaster in the spirit of the studio album reissues that commenced two years ago, there’s an additional third disc that includes an unearthed performance that hadn’t been heard since its original 1969 broadcast, Dave Lewis’ contextual liner notes are informative and revelatory, and if you just love black-and-white photos of arcane recording gear and empty performance halls, you’re in luck. But above all that, it’s an exhaustive look at the lengths Led Zeppelin would go to for a chance to make it big through sheer force of music, and it’s borne out by witnessing the band in the process their own self-creation.

See more at:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22402-the-complete-bbc-sessions/

Thanks Stephen Humphries for flagging that one.

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unveiling-one

The Grand Unveiling:

I’ve been building up to this for a few days – finally the time was right here to unveil Led Zeppelin The Complete BBC Sessions…The Super Deluxe Box set with my compete liner notes which Jimmy asked me to contribute.
As mentioned before, I’ve been living with this project since early in the year – the compiling of the liner notes is a story in itself which I’ll relay in the next TBL mag. It went through many an edit and revision before all parties concerned – and most importantly Jimmy Page himself, were happy with it.
So it’s a great feeling to be looking at the finished article as published in the book that comes with the super deluxe edition in complete form and as an edit in the 3CD package. It’s been a privilege and an honour to be involved…

There’s been some other very complementary comments regarding my liner notes:

Dave–I got the super deluxe edition today and just finished reading your liner notes. You did such beautiful work. Fantastic job. You somehow even made the music better.
Jim O’Donnell

My, my…..
“Liner Notes” was a bit bit of an understatement no Dave? You literally “wrote the book” on this latest release!
I can think of no one more qualified…
“The wonder of devotion” has surely paid off in spades for you.
Congratulations again.
Thrilled and proud of you, from one “fan” to another
CJ N Alli Jacheo

Dave, such an accolade couldn’t be more deserved. The work you have put in over the years, the hours and days, more decades of devotion to such an iconic band. You have made it your life and the liner notes are just a small proportion of what you have achieved. You are a credit to music, to the fans, yourself and of course Led Zeppelin. Henry Nicholls

Congratulations!! Dave, your contribution to the incredible career of LZ has been nothing short of vital!! As a fan, a historian, an archivist, and promoter of the band, you are unequalled. Real happy for you, man. You deserve it.
Ed Jane Fail Murphy
Dave, I cannot honestly think of anyone more deserving of this than you. I think I have brought just about everything you have published. Your honesty and lack of bullshit means a great deal to not only fans but the boys too. Well done and God Bless x
Dave Simpson

Wonderful recognition of all the work you do Dave keeping the Zeppelin flame burning bright
Andrew Johnson

Sincere thanks for all the amazing feedback and comments that have come in – I’m truly humbled…

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First Impressions of the Led Zeppelin ‘The Complete BBC Sessions’ by Ken Winovich – September 20, 2016:

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What’s a Zep collection filled with a mish-mash of ‘more-often-than-not’ inferior live bootlegs coupled with the rudiments of the official studio recordings that make up the foundation of any Zep fan’s collection? But every Zep collector finds him/herself standing at the crossroads of official recordings and bootlegs. What else could there possibly be?

That’s where ‘The Complete BBC Sessions’ come in. Where else can you find raw, slightly extended or well extended versions of their early classics like ‘Communication Breakdown’ or a blistering extended version of ‘Dazed And Confused’ complete with improvisations? Led Zeppelin were captured better live than on record (that’s because live, there were no time constraints other than those local authorities could impose on them once late-into-the-evening had arrived at their concerts) and what we have here in ‘The Complete BBC Sessions’ is a raw, intimate setting starting very early in their infancy (the band were only 7-10 months old) and then again just about one third of the way through their illustrious career in 1971, affording a grand opportunity for the band to showcase themselves in their own country over it’s prime airway and what better way to do that than by introducing a track that never appeared in their official 10-Lp works with ‘Sunshine Woman’. If you weren’t tuned in and missed it….well not it can be heard.

By the time Led Zeppelin arrived at the Beeb in early March of 1969, they were well oiled. They recorded and paid for their first Lp themselves, toured Scandinavia and Britian and then embarked on their first U. S. Tour. By the time they hit San Francisco in January 1969, they were the new powerhouse to be reckoned with and whatever bands shrugged them off as a quick passing fad or who bought into the critics ‘hype’ bullshit, they were sadly mistaken. Zeppelin blew past even the headliners like Vanilla Fudge and they blew everyone else off the stage like Iron Butterfly. They blew past The Who and The Rolling Stones and soon, even the Beatles would be in their cross hairs.

Listening to these early ’69 and ’71 recordings and you can see why. It’s there – the raw explosive power. Manager Peter Grant’s timing for the bands BBC debut was impeccable just as they arrived home to start their second UK tour. Their first album wasn’t even released yet in Britain and what an explosive way to introduce themselves properly at home! Of the two yearly BBC offerings of 1969 and 1971, I find that it is the 1969 BBC recordings that I treasure the most and it should be the other way around when one looks at the fact that their fourth Lp was a masterpiece. In that 1971 BBC appearance which I first heard on bootleg, I felt as if they were playing to me and I played that one over and over. It was a best-seller on the bootleg market and was re-released on bootleg countless times. In fact the first time I heard that ’71 performance, I remember saying “Must have been back in the day when they were playing to a few hundred people” judging by the claps. Hardly! In their first year they had already played many shows in the 17,000-20,000 capacity and several festivals in the 6-digit crowd range. There was very little historical information on the band back then and nary any books at all. Zep shunned the press and instead let their music do the talking.

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I could kick myself back in 1969 for not tuning in more often to our new Pittsburgh album-rock underground station in WDVE which was born that year as a spin-off of AM station KQV but that’s what set Zeppelin apart from all the rest. Their albums were never boring. I quickly got bored with other band’s albums which seemed to have a couple hits on them and all the rest was fluff. No wonder I wandered off. But Zeppelin had this quality in their music that reached out and grabbed you by the throat and once that happened, you could never escape. It was so powerful. Plus it had variety. They would slay you with two heavy opening kickers and then slow it down with a nice slow bluesy jam. Just listen to the explosive opening track ‘Immigrant Song’. The monitor needle goes from ‘0’ to ’10’ after John Peel’s intro “This is something we’ve waited for for a long time…” and you’ll hear what I am talking about. Who opens a show like that? Nobody did it better than Zep! Those set openers were always followed by another kicker (‘Heartbreaker’😉and your jaw was already on the floor!

When this package was originally released back in 1997, I was completely awestruck at the rawness and power of their sound and the potency that it had and the extra companion tracks found in this new release really hammer home that fact. Live, they never played any one song the same like several other bands do, which you could have stayed home from their live concerts and just played their albums. But a song like ‘Over The Hills And Far Away’ from Zep’s 5th album would change live show after live show and even from the 1975 tour to the 1977 tour. If you were fortunate enough to be there at those live shows where absolute musical improvisational genius occurred on many nights, you never forgot it. So with these BBC recordings, you are hearing Zep’s improvisational development early in their career.

Even more so, Jimmy Page has personally re-visited every scrap of Zeppelin audio and ensured that it has been reprocessed with all the latest technological advancements – in short – brought up to snuff – and I expect this release to exceed expectations as all the official nine studio packages had. Things get off to a smoking start with crystal-clear remastered BBC in glorius 96 kHz 24-bit audio which only makes them more potent than the ’97 release. As with the studio packages, I thought I would be obsessed with just the companion tracks but that’s not so.

These remastered BBC Sessions are smoking hot and they sound so bloody good, one has a hard time accepting the fact that the recordings are 47-45 years old. They defy reality. That only means years of listening enjoyment lie ahead. The BBC also deserve credit as not only do the recordings sound great, they afforded the band the opportunity to play longer rather than a quick “Yeah, yeah. Thank you! Who’s next?” ‘quickie’ so standard back at that time and era. To sum up the historical importance of these Zep BBC performances, John Paul Jones said it best with “this was the forming of the band in progress” and if current history holds up, I’ll add to that with ‘this was the forming of the greatest rock and roll band – while in progress’ – back in that era. Period. Nothing then to now has knocked the mighty Zep out of the way.

Scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being ‘The Best’:

Content: 5.0

Audio: 5.0

Satisfaction: 5.0

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Remembering John Bonham 36 years gone….

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This Sunday marks the 36th anniversary of John Bonham’s untimely passing. Here’s a personal view of those events and the aftermath first published in TBL issue 30.

The Optimism, The irony and the Agony:

I was just turned 24 years old and so far 1980 had been a rollercoaster year for me for many reasons.

Back in the early autumn it’s fair to say Tight But Loose, the Led Zeppelin magazine I had established in late ’78 was on something of a roll. It was turning into a very exciting year on all things Zeppelin. Issue 4 had been issued in April – the first A4 size issue with professional printing. I’d built a strong rapport with their Swan Song office managed by Unity MaClean and in the summer I’d been lucky enough to view five of the Over Europe shows at very close quarters.

I’d spoken to John Bonham a few times during the tour – and on our last night in Munich as we all revelled in a night club, John wrote down his phone number and told me to call him when we got back in the UK (That piece of paper written on a German hotel note pad page with his name and number on remains one of my most treasured possessions). I remember vividly him giving us an affectionate big bear hug as we left the club that night.

On Thursday July 24th I phoned him at Cutnall Green. We had a long conversation. John was very happy with the way the Europe tour had gone and was now looking forward to a holiday. He told me there was a group meeting due the next day to discuss what was to happen next. He said to call during August for more news. During that second call in late August, John strongly hinted they would be returning to America in the autumn.

When the first dates were announced in early September I’d already made up my mind to go. I was planning on the Landover/Philadelphia dates. I was constantly in touch with Swan Song that month and on Thursday September 18th I visited the office to take in some early text of the forthcoming Tight But Loose issue. Jimmy Page was at the office that day and I spent over half and hour with him one on one in the inner sanctum of their plush interview room. He talked enthusiastically of their plans and showed me a model set up of their new lighting and stage rig. The model was complete with a miniature representation of each of them on stage. I asked him about the ongoing chronological live project and he told me he had been looking at some footage to go with the tracks. He also said that the outtakes from the last album were still under consideration to use in some format. An album and UK dates in 1981 were also planned.

I wrote down hurriedly the content of our conversation that early evening and one quote stands out: ”I feel there is a lot more to do simply because this band thrives on a challenge – you’ve only got to look at Presence for that”

The following Tuesday I phoned Unity at Swan Song for the latest news. Unity informed me they were commencing rehearsals in Bray Studios later in the week. Excitedly I took down notes on a piece of paper as she told me all this. I still have that note – a reminder of the optimism of that time. Unity told me there may be a possibility for me to attend rehearsals the next Tuesday. Now that would be something very special.

Tight But Loose 5 was to be an Over Europe special with a 10,000 word report of the tour formulated from the five gigs I’d witnessed. I’d been working on it fairly non stop since August and it was nearly complete. I spent the next two days finishing up the lay out – these were the days when I cut it all in myself scrapbook style to be printed. On Thursday September 25th (with huge irony) I finalised the opening editorial which I’d written on September 22th – it was the last piece of the magazine. ”By the time you are reading this” it stated, ”Zeppelin will be mid way through a 4 week trek across the US” It was all ready to go. I was ecstatic and with good reason.

The mag was ready to print, there was a chance I may even get to see them in rehearsal the next week and America beckoned in October.

All that optimism and hope would evaporate over the next few hours.

The first call came just after 7pm. Carolyn from Newcastle, one of the initial Tight But Loose subscribers told me the shocking news she’d just heard. John Bonham had been found dead at Jimmy Page’s Windsor home. I refused to believe it. ”How can it be?” I explained ”They are in Bray rehearsing” .

I said I’d make some calls. I was in my bedroom so I turned on the radio and waited for the 7.30 news on Radio One. Surely if it was true it would be a lead item. It wasn’t and for a few seconds I hung on to the hope it was all a mistake. Then it happened:

”This news just in. Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham has been found dead….”

I just couldn’t believe it. I rushed down to my Mum and Dad in a state of shock. The phone was constantly ringing from other fans and even a couple of radio stations in America wanting confirmation. Later I met up with my fellow Bedford Earls Court vets Dec and Tom also both shocked and stunned. I spent the night at Dec’s finally going to sleep around 4am.

In the morning in a daze I walked the two miles home stopping in a newspaper shop (further irony – the shop is a stones throw from the house where years later I would move to). There in all the papers was the devastating news in cold hard print. The Daily Mail had a picture of Bonzo on stage at Earls Court on the front ….

I sat on a nearby bench and cried.

There was no way it could continue without Bonzo. I did not consider them carrying on from the moment I heard the news. I rang Unity at Swan Song on Monday. She was very supportive and informed me they all felt the magazine should go out as soon as possible. I wrote a new editorial which was one of the most painful things I’ve ever written.

I did think about going to the funeral but decided against it. It was just all too much. The press reaction was another difficult factor to deal with. I had several calls to give quotes out. There was a terrible story in the Evening Standard stating Page’s occult interest as the reason for their bad karma. They ran a picture of tour manager Rex King captioned as Bonzo which showed their ignorance of it all.

Overall the press coverage in the music weeklies was somewhat muted. There were no big four page tributes or special supplements. I think it gave them the opportunity to brush Zep under the carpet and concentrate on the new wave acts they were now all championing.

Life for all of us had to go on.

The next few weeks saw the distribution of the magazine and I was in constant contact with the Swan Song office. I visited a few times over the next few months – one very weird afternoon on Friday November 14th when they had just come back from Jersey. All the roadies were in the office having been informed it was over though that was all being kept secret for the moment. Everyone there just seemed without a purpose.

And of course officially on Thursday December 4th came the inevitable statement.

Looking back to that bleak September day 30 years on, it was a life changing turn of fate for all of us. Looking at my diary from those times I think I went through something of a minor breakdown during the weeks and months afterwards. There were some dark days though gradually things did improve.

Though it’s hard to believe now, Led Zeppelin’s reputation took a serious dip in the early 80s. The changing musical canvas diluted their achievements – a situation not helped by the often confused state of the respective solo careers of Page and Plant. The real tuning point was perhaps again ironically Live Aid. While it was so apparent by the performance that it could never be Led Zeppelin without Bonzo – the whole chaotic drama of the occasion threw the whole Zep legacy back into the spotlight.

I think that was the moment we all knew it still meant something – and would continue to mean something to subsequent generations. The 1990 Remasters re issues were also a crucial turning point – suddenly Led Zeppelin were everywhere again and over the past two decades their true legacy has been rightly recognised and is now firmly cemented for all time.

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One of the integral reason’s for their longevity is the remarkable contribution John Bonham made to the band. In the intervening years since his passing, his groundbreaking percussive skills have been rightly acclaimed, imitated and sampled.

Much has been written about John’s life in recent years. Perhaps too much of it in my view on the ugly side of his character. He was no saint for sure but his insecurities were often fuelled from a deep desire to be with his family.

It’s the immense musicianship that he brought to Led Zeppelin that will ensure his own lasting legacy.

Take a look at the DVD footage of John…. on stage tearing through Moby Dick at the Albert Hall, the pure joy of his intro and sparring with Jimmy during The Ocean at the Garden, the intense concentration during In My Time Of Dying at Earls Court, the smiles and pure elation of Rock And Roll at Knebworth.

…and remember him (always) this way

Dave Lewis

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LZ News:

Led Zeppelin News Update:

In conjunction with the Led Zep news site, each week I will be re- producing highlights from their weekly email update news summary. This goes out every Sunday. Sign up details are below. Many thanks to James Cook.

Led Zeppelin
•”The Complete BBC Sessions” was released on September 16. A livestreamed listening event was held on September 14 at Olympic Studios in London featuring Jimmy Page being interviewed and the premiere of the new music video.
•Led Zeppelin has released a new animated video to promote “What Is And What Should Never Be” from “The Complete BBC Sessions.”
•Reviews have been coming in for “The Complete BBC Sessions.” Rolling Stone gave it 4.5 out of 5, The Daily Mail gave it 5 out of 5, The Observer gave it 4 out of 5, Gigwise gave it 9 out of 10, American Songwriter gave it 4.5 out of 5, and Record Collector gave it 3 out of 5.

Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page and Jack White in a still from “Later With Jools Holland” on September 13 (BBC) •Jimmy Page has given plenty of interviews to promote “The Complete BBC Sessions.” We’ve collected as many as we could find below, sorted by which category they come into. Seen any that we haven’t listed here? Please send them our way!
Written interviews
Rolling Stone
USA Today
The Telegraph
For Guitar Players Only
n-tv Der Nachrichtensender (in German)
Reforma (in Spanish)

Radio interviews
Q104.3
The BOB and Tom show
BBC Radio 6 Music
Virgin Radio UK (we don’t have a link for this!)
Classic Rock (we don’t have a link for this – it’s an Australian radio interview that aired on September 16)
BayFM
Planet Rock Radio (starts at 1:23:50)
Team Rock Radio
BBC Radio 4 (starts at 21:49)
BBC Radio 1 (starts 2 hours in) •There are more interviews still to come. A new interview with Jimmy Page will air on US radio station Rock100.5 tonight.
•Jimmy Page appeared on “Later With Jools Holland” on September 13 to talk about “The Complete BBC Sessions.”

Robert Plant
•Robert Plant has been on holiday on Martha’s Vineyard. He visited photographer Peter Simon and posed next to the famous “I am a golden god” photo of himself on a balcony of the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles in 1975.

Upcoming events:
October 8/9 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at the Festival of Disruption in Los Angeles.
October 15 – Robert Plant’s “Austin City Limits” performance will be shown on PBS.
October 28 – Robert Plant will performa at Bill Wyman’s 80th birthday celebration in London.

The Led Zeppelin News email goes out every weekend. To receive it each week sign up here: https://t.co/yp9fGJMS

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Bedford Record Fair:

The Bedford Record Fair organised by VIP Fairs is back in town this Saturday – I’ll be there on the TBL stall – I look forward to seeing all that can make it along – here’s the details:

VIP RECORD FAIR
The Harpur Suite, Harpur Street, Bedford MK40 1LE
SATURDAY 24th SEPTEMBER
From Prog rock and Punk Rock to Soul and Reggae, the biggest Record Fairs
in the UK return to Bedford on the 24th. With sellers from all over the UK,
it’s one of the biggest events of it’s type – a must for music fans.

Admission 10am. to 1 pm. £2. Free entry 1pm to 3.30pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/1791290567759913/

http://www.vip-24.com/Bedford.htm

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An evening with Graham Jones, author of the book Last Shop Standing:

This is another local event I am aiming to be at – Graham wrote the excellent Last Shop Standing -an overview of the UK record shop business.

Graham will be talking about his time in the music industry and will be playing excerpts from the successful Last Shop Standing film as shown on Sky Arts and available as a DVD (which you will be able to buy on the night along with Grahams books). Remember you can eat beforehand at Herd with a fantastic menu available.
FREE ENTRY!
When?
Wednesday, September 28th 2016 07:30pm
Where?
Herd
25 St Cuthbert’s Street
MK403JG Bedford

www.vinylbarn.co.uk
www.herd.cool
www.lastshopstanding.com
http://www.vip-24.com/Bedford.htm
https://www.facebook.com/events/1791290567759913/

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DL Diary Blog Update:

I’ve been feeling well weary and less than 100% these past few days, so this feedback below is a welcomed tonic…it’s always great to hear from a satisfied customer – this came in via e-mail a couple of days ago:

Very happy with my TBL back issue bargain bundle! Loved the extra numbered print! And the Pink Floyd commemorative postage stamps (on the envelope) are fabulous. It’s a true Celebration Day.
I have collected your books for years and use The Concert File …
Sincerely,
Julio
USA

How nice is that…

There was always going to be a coming down period following all my amazing adventures of the past month….and come down it did. As mentioned above, I’ve been feeling really exhausted these past few days. A couple of panic attacks have added to my worries. I was so tired on Saturday we had to blow out the intended trip to see T Rextasy at the o2 Academy Islington. It was just a bridge too far.

The fact is that we have a big workload here right now dealing with Janet’s mum Betty’s bungalow. With the place to clear out and many a trip to the tip and other things to sort -that has been – and continues to be a main focus for us.

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I have chipped away at some TBL 42 text this week and I’ve spent some time working out a schedule for the coming months with the Evenings With book project requiring some key planning ahead. It’s one of those times where it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel – post summer it can often feel like that.

There have been some silver linings – not least with the unveiling of the Complete BBC Sessions packages here. It was a produ moment shared by the good lady Janet and Adam who took the pics of the grand unveiling.

It’s also been very gratifying to hear some very nice comments about my liner notes -that really does make it all worth while.

This weekend there’s the Bedford Record Fair and I’ll be behind the TBL stall rather than wading through the racks – although I might have a little look to see what’s about…

 

Finally a poignant one.

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This is an editorial news piece l wrote on September 22, 1980 ready to be included in the forthcoming TBL issue number 5….three days later, John Bonham sadly passed away and this news piece was duly withdrawn…poignant indeed.  36 years on to the very day I wrote that piece, yesterday afternoon I opened the new Compete BBC Sessions super deluxe box set that I’ve been privileged to write the liner notes for. .Led Zeppelin then and now – always in the present tense…

On Sunday, I’ll be pausing for thought to recall John Bonham and the events of 36 years ago. Hearing the Complete BBC Sessions is another vivid reminder of what was lost that fateful late September day – and thankfully also a clear indication of what remains…and what remains through the music is the immense contribution John Bonham made.

There is no finer example of that on the new Complete BBC Sessions set than the previously unreleased version of Communication Breakdown – the version on the bonus disc from the Top Gear session of March 3 ,1969.

Just marvel at the moment from two minutes 18 seconds through to the finish at 2.59 as he scatters across the Ludwig kit during the spontaneous middle break bringing the funk to Led Zeppelin as only he could..

John Bonham..always remembered – always loved…

It’s one of the many great moments on the new Complete BBC Sessions. Listening to it all in the last couple of days, it feels like it’s time to get back to the simple business of loving them for the music – the music that continues to inspire and light up our lives…

Dave Lewis – September 23, 2016

Until next time – have a great weekend…

TBL Website updates compiled by Dave Lewis

with thanks to Gary Foy and James Cook

Follow TBL/DL on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/tightbutloose.loose

The TBL/DL Facebook  page has regular updates and photos – be sure to check it out.

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YouTube Clips:

Remembering John Bonham…

Led Zeppelin: Moby Dick:

Led Zeppelin – The Ocean:

Led Zeppelin – Rock And Roll:

 

 

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4 Comments »

  • VHP said:

    Dave,

    I think the bigger shock would have been if Jimmy had (by now) actually released some all new music and played some live shows in 2016, and not the fact that this hasn’t happened.

    With future Yardbirds re issues & Led Zep releases being planned I hope it doesn’t delay it any more! But i fear it probably will do. Jimmy seems more happy being a sound engineer / producer these days than a playing musician.

    On a different tack, 36 years since John sadly left us. Wow, where has that time gone?

  • Jacqui said:

    Dave. The editorial from September 1980 really hurts.

  • Byron Lewis said:

    Thanks again Dave. I certainly hope the Yardbirds get together yeilds some treasures, who knows perhaps even a tour (wishful thinking). In the mean time theres no rush, so get your bungalow cleared as a priority, we can wait a while for the next TBL.

  • Jez Firth said:

    Dave, that has to be one of the most informative and moving pieces I have ever read on this site. Brilliantly written, I must admit I shed a tear or two myself.

    What an accolade to write those liner notes, it’s nothing more than you deserve.

    Thanks for it all.
    J

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