Iâm really sorry for lz tag for this post but I need to attract more people
I'm trying to find the lyrics to Terry Reid's "Milestones" anywhere. It's a completely unique song but the lyrics are nowhere to be found. I'm trying to make them out by ear, but I can't understand clearly.
maybe someone has already been interested in this question and has the lyrics.
The magick is back! Jimmy Page offers his most candid discussion of the upcoming Led Zeppelin reunion and his dancing days in the Seventies.
There are many words one can use to describe Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelinâs mythic guitarist: âmysterious,â âbroodingâ and âimperiousâ spring to mind. But on the day of our appointed meeting, the mood of rockâs notorious dark lord is an uncharacteristic hue. He is, you might say, âchipper.â
As Page breezes into the cavernous London photo studio where we will conduct our business over the next couple of hours, there is a bounce in his step and an easy-going loose-limbed quality to his gait. Most striking, though, is his hair, which he has let go from black to its natural white. The effect is striking, as if the former badass Dionysian has transformed into a good-vibey Gandalf.
âCheck this out,â Page says as he enthusiastically cracks open one of the guitar cases heâs brought to our meeting. Inside is a brilliantly beat-to-shit cream-colored Fender Stratocaster. âThis is the guitar I used to play all the parts on âTen Years Gone.â I gave it to John Paul Jones ages ago, and he gave it back to me during our rehearsal for the reunion show,â he says with a smile.
Yes, Page is upbeat. And he has every reason to be. His beloved Led Zeppelin, the band he formed in September 1968 with singer Robert Plant, bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham, is regrouping to take one final victory lap, and response to the reunion has been nothing less than seismic. At last estimate, more than 200 million ticket applications had been received for the bandâs only scheduled show, at the O2 Arena in London on November 26. Page, Plant and Jones will take the stage with Jason Bonham, son of the late Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, to headline a concert in honor of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died December 14, 2006. The show will be the first time Led Zeppelin founding members have performed together since May 1988, when they played at Atlantic Recordsâ 40th anniversary concert, also with Jason Bonham on drums.
To add to the excitement, on November 20 the band is reissuing its 1976 concert film, The Song Remains the Same, in a two-DVD set. (A two-CD companion set will be released simultaneously.) Featuring performances from the bandâs epic three-night stint at Madison Square Garden in July 1973, the film has been remixed and remastered in 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, and more than 40 minutes of previously unreleased material - including performance footage of âOver the Hills and Far Awayâ and âCelebration Dayâ - have been added.
Although Page cautions not to read too much into it, the two events share a subtle link: the reunion show and the revamped concert film offer him an opportunity to address some long-standing unfinished business. First, there is the matter of Led Zeppelin living up to their legacy. During their 11-year reign, Zeppelin went from strength to strength, producing one of rockâs most durable and celebrated bodies of work. Outside of the Beatles, itâs hard to think of any other band with such a consistent track record. Yet, if you wanted to look for chinks in the armor, you would undoubtedly find them in the bandâs previous two reunions: a 1985 appearance at Live Aid featuring drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins, and the 1988 set at the Atlantic Recordsâ 40th Anniversary concert. Even Page admits the shows were disappointing.
This time, he insists, will be different.
âThe show in November represents an opportunity to really present Led Zeppelin properly, and weâre taking it very seriously,â Page says. âThe performances at Live Aid and at the Atlantic event were not good for various reasons. It wonât be the case this time.â
Second, there is the matter of The Song Remains the Same, which has been in great need of an overhaul. As Page notes, when the movie and soundtrack entered into the digital realm back in the Nineties, they ânever received the care theyâve deserved.â The new DVD and CD reissues will, at long last, present Zeppelinâs celebrated 1973 concert performances as they deserve to be seen and heard.
Obviously, we had plenty to discuss with Page, and given his frame of mind, he was in a mood to talk. In this latest, and perhaps most surprising, installment of the Led Zeppelin saga, the guitarist weighs in on the future of led Zeppelin and offers some revealing insights on their celebrated past. Whatâs more, Page serves up what is perhaps his most candid discussion ever of Zeppelinâs legendary 1973 tour, the notorious âfantasy sequencesâ the individual band members filmed for The Song Remains the Same and the role that magick played in his life at that time. The song may remain the same, but as Page explains, no one ever said it couldnât change its tune.
GW: Before we talk about the reunion, I would like to go back to 1973, Led Zeppelinâs âGolden Age,â and talk about The Song Remains the Same. What was the genesis of that project?
JP: At the time we were interested in presenting the band on film. We had already shot the Royal Albert Hall shows in 1970, but by 1973 we had moved on so far in such a short time that we felt the Albert Hall footage was passe in every respect. We looked and dressed differently, and the whole communicative quality of the music had been improved. We also had another two albums under our belt, so the 1970 shows were quite clearly behind us.
We also felt we could do a more professional job, using multiple cameras and more sophisticated equipment. Prior to the three Madison Square Garden shows in New York, the film crew came to two dates to prepare camera angles and quickly realized that there were huge gaps in the filming. The crew hadnât covered basic things, like filming the verses to certain songs! We surmised that they were probably stoned; it was quite as simple as that. Everybody was stoned at the time, but at least we did our job. [laughs]
GW: From what I understand, it was at this time that the band came up with the idea for each member to film a fantasy sequence that would cover these massive gaps in the film.
JP: Yes. It was our solution to that problem. The director, Joe Massot, was asked to work with members of the band to develop their own segment.
GW: Which was your favorite?
JP: I really liked John Bonhamâs. It really captured his essence as a family man. It was fun and the flip side of his roaring stage persona. In many ways, it reflected the way we all were at home.
GW: How were the fantasy sequences developed? Did you guys discuss them with each other beforehand?
JP: Not really. I knew what I wanted to do, and Robert did, too - storming the castle and all of that.
GW: When you saw the segments put together, did any of them surprise you? Was the band mutually respectful of one anotherâs sequence?
JP: In those days, I think being mutually respectful still meant there could be some piss taking. [laughs] Iâm sure there were nudges behind peopleâs backs, and fair enough! I mean it was hard to find the dividing line between doing a fantasy sequence in a rock and roll film and trying to be a star of the silver screen.
GW: Johnâs segment mightâve been fun, but yours was the most striking.
JP: I had very strong ideas about my segment. I wanted to be filmed climbing this mountain face by my house in Loch Ness on the night of a full moon. Massot was astonished, because the night was perfect and the location was just how I wanted it to be. We shot it in December, so there was snow on the ground and these great clouds going past the full moon. We created this scaffold for filming the shot, and everything was perfect and ready to go, but Iâd forgot the most obvious thing: that I was going to have to do multiple takes climbing up and down this rather steep mountain. It was actually easy climbing up, but it was difficult getting down. I kept thinking, What have I done! It was bloody cold up there, too, I know that much!
GW: At one point in your segment, youâre dressed as a hermit and you rapidly age into an old man. How was that done?
JP: The transformation was done with a life mask [a mask produced from a cast of the individualâs face], which I still have. Using that as a foundation, they created several different faces that showed me as I might look at various ages of life. I donât know how many there were, but there were quite a few. Then they joined all those shots of the different faces together.
When the film came out, I took my daughter, who was then six years old, to see it. That probably wasnât a great idea, because the film was so long and she was so young. But at the point where my transformation scene came about, the theater was quiet, except for this little voice that cried out, âThatâs not my daddy!â [laughs]
GW: Could we talk a little about the meaning behind your sequence?
JP: To me, the significance is very clear, isnât it?
GW: Well, I find it interesting that you were choosing to represent yourself as a hermit at a time when you were really quite a public figure.
JP: Well, I was hermetic. I was involved in the hermetic arts, but I wasnât a recluse. Or maybe I wasâŚ
The image of the hermit that we used for the [inside cover] artwork on Led Zeppelin IV and in the movie actually has its origins in a painting of Christ called The Light of the World by the pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt. The imagery was later transferred to the Waite tarot deck [the most popular tarot deck in use in the English-speaking world]. My segment was supposed to be the aspirant going to the beacon of truth, which is represented by the hermit and his journey toward it. What I was trying to say through the transformation was that enlightenment can be achieved at any point in time; it just depends on when you want to access it. In other words, you can always see the truth, but do you recognize it when you see it or do you have to reflect back on it later?
GW: There was always a certain amount of speculation about your occult studies. It may have been subtle, but you werenât really hiding it.
JP: I was living it. Thatâs all there is to it. It was my life - that fusion of magick and music.
GW: Your use of symbols was very advanced. The sigil [symbols of occult powers] on Led Zeppelin IV and the embroidery on your stage clothes from that time period are good examples on how you left your mark in popular culture. Itâs something that major corporations are aggressively pursuing these days: using symbols as a form of branding.
JP: You mean talismanic magick? Yes, I knew what I was doing. Thereâs no point in saying more about it, because the more you discuss it, the more eccentric you appear to be. But the fact is - are far as I was concerned - it was working, so I used it. But itâs really no different than people who wear ribbons around their wrists: itâs a talismanic approach to something. Well, let me amend that: itâs not exactly the same thing, but it is in the same realm.
Iâll leave this subject by saying the four musical elements of Led Zeppelin making a fifth is magick unto itself. Thatâs the alchemical process.
GW: After you finished the fantasy sequences, you changed directors.
JP: Yes. After inspecting the footage, we discovered that we were still lacking. So the decision was made to hire a new director, Peter Clifton, and go into a British facility called Shepperton Studios. We recreated the Madison Square Garden stage and shot the remaining bits that we didnât have. It was a good idea, but the only problem for me was figuring out how to mime my own lengthy improvisations. It was pretty impossible to do with any degree of accuracy. But after we finished at Shepperton, it was time to stitch it all together. We knew that a lot of things would be completely out of sync, but we werenât that concerned because we thought it was just something fun for the cinema.
[missing page]
JP: To make the visuals sync better to the music, we had Kevin Shirley [sound engineer on Led Zeppelin DVD and the band's 2003 release How the West Was Won] move the music around with Pro Tools. He really did a fantastic job. It's much better now.
But as I mentioned earlier, in the original film I'm out of sync a lot because I was trying to mime to my own improvisation at Shepperton, but it didn't look so obvious because everyone else was out of sync, too. Since Kevin was able to really tighten the vocals and the drums, now I really look out of sync! [laughs]
GW: The album soundtrack to The Song Remains the Same has also changed substantially.
JP: Yes. Our first major change was to include the entire set in its original running order, something we've never done on a live album before. So of course the new soundtrack album features songs that weren't on the original. The pacing of the movie is different from the pacing of our actual 1973 set, but for those that are interested, the CD gives you that original experience.
GW: I appreciate the new mix on the CD. I always felt that the original was a little dry and lacking in concert hall ambience.
JP: That may be. I always thought it was a little flat dynamically. But I've got to tell you, when Warner Bros. put out the movie on VHS and DVD, they just threw it out there without involving us. The same with the soundtrack. So, to be fair, this material has never been remastered or received the care it's deserved until now.
GW: When the movie finally came out, it was a pretty big box office hit.
JP: It was really gratifying. This was in the day before VHS tapes or DVDs, so the only place you could see it was at the movie theaters. It had a big cult following, and people would see it multiple times at midnight movie festivals. It was like the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
GW: And it was probably hard to get Led Zeppelin concert tickets. The movie was the only way many people could see the band.
JP: That's why we did it. It made sense to do it. But, as usual, whenever we worked with people outside of our core group, it was a shambles. We did our best to pull it together, and it required a lot of imagination to salvage what could've been a disaster.
GW: It's always harder than it should be to get people to put the same care into a project as you would.
JP: You'll see a great example of that sort of carelessness in the film. Before I went onstage, I warned all the cameramen to stay away from me within reason, because I didn't want to be distracted while I was trying to perform. Of course none of them listened, and at one point you see this guy with a camera coming up to me and he's stepping all over my wah-wah pedal! You can hear it going up and down, so I just carried on using that wah-wah sound. What else are you going to do? It's "warts and all," the whole damned thing!
GW: Watching the film, I was impressed by the amount of precision, finesse and control you applied to working the volume and tone knobs on your guitar. It's almost a lost art.
JP: First, you have to be lucky enough to have an amp that operates on the threshold of clean and dirty, so that it can interact with the controls of the guitar. Once you have that then you can start really playing with the volume and the control.
It's different these days because there are so many way to create guitar sounds, but back in the Seventies you had to use what little you had to the greatest effect. All I had to really work with was an overdrive pedal, a wah-wah, an Echoplex [tape delay] and what was on my guitar. It wasn't a lot, and I had to create the entire range of sounds found on the first five Zeppelin albums. With that in mind, the volume and tone controls, and how and where you picked, were quite important.
GW: How did the rather lengthy live improvisations on songs like âDazed and Confusedâ and âNo Quarterâ develop?
JP: Well, when youâre playing with a band that was as good as we were, you didnât really want to stop after a one-minute solo! And look, if youâre playing the same songs night after night on a long tour, improvising was a way to keep the music alive and interesting for yourself. I never wanted the songs to settle in. Iâve always enjoyed living by my wits with regard to my guitar playing. That goes back to even my session musician days, where I had to come up with parts on the spot.
People have complained to me through the years that I never played the solos from the albums live, particularly on something like âStairway to Heaven.â But maybe I should do that at the reunion show, just to prove I can actually play them. [laughs]
What I liked about improvising is that great music is about tension and release, and sometimes you pull something out and sometimes you donât. Itâs not exactly a failure when you donât play something great; itâs more like a heroic glitch! [laughs] Your chance of success is greater, though, when youâre surrounded by other great musicians, like I was.
GW: Did you prepare for the film? Were you concerned about playing your best for posterity?
JP: No, it wasnât like that at all. I think the only way I prepared for the filming was by staying up for five days straight! [laughs] Thatâs the truth. I mean, we were in New York, we were making a movie and playing great shows, and it was difficult to shut down that kind of electricity. Youâd try to go to bed, but most of the time you gave up, because it was more fun just to go out and enjoy yourself. It was seriously conductive to that.
During a typical Zeppelin show there was such an intense exchange of electricity between the band and audience. The band set off the charge and the audience gave it back, and it just built through the night. That was the phenomena: that transmission.
GW: Werenât you having some problems with your hands at that time?
JP: No, I did have some tendonitis around that time, but I was over it. There was no injury there. Not to the fingers, anyway. [laughs]
GW: When you went back and revisited the soundtrack and the movie, did something stand out for you?
JP: Yeah, I thought âRain Songâ was really good. I bet you didnât expect me to say that, but it has a real drama to it. Itâs not as good as the studio version, but I think it has its own character. I also liked the bowed section on âDazed and Confused,â which really went well with the fantasy sequence.
GW: One last dumb question regarding the â73 performances: Who re-haired the violin bow that you destroyed night after night while playing âDazed and Confusedâ? Fixing a bow is not something just any roadie can do.
JP: As you know, new violin bows are expensive, so what we would do is buy a bunch of warped ones and take them on the road. They were much cheaper!
GW: Letâs talk about the reunion show in London. Why the reunion now?
JP: I know why Iâm keen on doing it. I really enjoy playing with the other musicians, and itâs a chance to do it properly. Weâre taking it very, very seriously, and I know it will be good. It couldâve happened anytime, anywhere, but we respected Ahmet Ertegun, and paying tribute to him was a good motivation.
GW: How long have you been rehearsing?
JP: Actually, the bulk of the rehearsals are going to be in November, but weâve gotten together a few times and started working on some things.
GW: How is the band different?
JP: Well, Jason Bonham is not John, but Iâve played with him quite a bit, so itâs going fine. I brought him out with me as my drummer on my solo Outrider tour [1988], so heâs aware that I might not play the same thing every night. [laughs] So thatâs good!
GW: How long are you going to play? Any surprises?
JP: Initially, they asked us to play a certain amount of time, but weâve extended it to get more songs in. We quickly realized that we couldnât play âDazed and Confusedâ for 30 minutes, have a drum solo and then play âStairway to Heavenâ for 20 minutes and leave. [laughs] You know, do âRock and Rollâ as an encore and be off! We just couldnât do that. So in order to show people how we used to perform, and play with flair and passion, weâre going to do a pretty long set.
One surprise is that weâre going to play âFor Your Life,â which weâve never played in concert. I donât think weâve played it any other time than when we recorded it. Itâs quite a tricky piece of music, so Iâm pleased weâre doing it.
GW: What was the first song you guys played together at the reunion rehearsals?
JP: It slips my mind, but I think it was âHouses of the Holy.â
GW: Did the music come back to you easily?
JP: Itâs not like I havenât played over the last several years; I just havenât made a profile of it. I played a lot of Zeppelin when I toured with the Black Crowes [in late 1999] and with Robert.
GW: Are you using your original gear?
JP: Iâm using some of the original guitars like my number-one Les Paul and the [Gibson EDS-1275] Doubleneck. Iâve got a Les Paul Custom that Iâm pleased with. I havenât settled on what amps Iâm using yet, but Iâll be using the pedal board that I used on all the Plant/Page projects.
GW: Whatâs the prevailing mood? Do you think the reunion will extend to other shows?
JP: I donât know. Iâve read that Robert Plant doesnât think it will, but itâs a bit silly because there is such a massive demand. Itâs a bit selfish to do just one show. If thatâs it, we probably shouldnât have taken the genie out of the bottle.
"Robert Plant interview" (Melody Maker, March 28, 1970)
One of these days, Robert Plant is going to surprise a lot of people - mainly those who see him simply as the screammy purveyor of ersatz eroticism to mindless teenyboppers.
In fact although Robert genuinely enjoys working with Led Zeppelin and wouldnât at this moment want to play regularly with anyone else, his musical brain is altogether in a different area.
Ask him what he really digs, and names like Arthur Lee, Poco, the Youngbloods, and - especially - Neil Young pour forth.
âThe only heavy band I really dig is the Zeppelin,â he says. âApart from that I dig the mellower things - for instance Iâd love to see Trader Horne make it, because theyâre doing beautiful things (and Judy Dybleâs very pretty), and also people like the Fairport Convention. Even that Matthews Southern Comfort album was really excellent.â
TALKED
Does this mean that Robert is ill at ease when heâs out on stage with the Zeppelin, raving away on something like âWhole Lotta Loveâ?
âOh no ⌠thatâs something I need, that I have to have. Itâs like bottling it all up and when I go on stage I can let it all out. Itâs really very good for me.
âJimmyâs path and my path seem to criss-cross, they meet at certain pointes along the way, and thatâs where we meet and play together.
âWeâre really into very different things, and John Paul and Bonzo are too. In fact I suppose if we all sat down and talked about music, John Paul and Bonzo and I simply wouldnât agree at all.â
The last time I saw Robert, back in the autumn, he was plotting and planning the second album, which eventually topped the charts very emphatically here and in the States. That record contained one track, âRamble On,â which was a clue to Robertâs real personal direction, but it was neglected.
âYeah ⌠âRamble On.â That was my baby, and I hoped everybody would suss it out and realize that was where I want to go. But I never even heard it mentioned ⌠I was very disappointed about that.â
Now heâs planning the third one, which will probably contain more of the West Coast type of music that he loves so much.
âWe havenât prepared much material yet, but we have got a few things down, AND ITâS ALL ACOUSTIC FOLKS! You can just see it, canât you: âLED ZEPPELIN GO SOFT ON THEIR FANSâ or some crap like that.
âNo, seriously, Jimmy and I are going to rent a little cottage near the River Dovey in Wales where we can lock ourselves away for a few weeks just to see what we can come up with when thereâs no one else around. The next album will probably come out of that.â
DECLINE
Led Zeppelin came up so fast that you couldnât see them for the smoke, and phenomena like that often donât last too long. Robert obviously has his eyes set on playing his own kind of music, but does he visualize playing it with Zeppelin?
âFor a start, I donât think weâll go into a decline. Weâve made people aware of us, and what weâve got to do now is to consolidate the position weâve arrived at, so that eventually weâll be able to say what we really want to say, and people will listen to it because itâs us.
âThatâs why weâre working so hard now, and I dig it because we can get through to a lot of people. And I enjoy the raving bit, like on âWhole Lotta Loveâ I really enjoy watching their faces when I start itâ (imitates facial contortions of young females when confronted by Plant Rampant) âand sometimes I sing the most ridiculous words to it.
âThen I look at their faces again to see if theyâve sussed it out, and if they havenât ⌠then I laugh all the more.
âOne band I hope really makes it is Bronco, because Iâve known Jess Roden for a long time. When we were about 15 we were in competing groups, he was in the Shakedown Sound and I was in the Crawlinâ King Snakes. Iâm not kidding, his band could have blown the Who ten miles off stage ⌠to say nothing of Led Zeppelin.
âI went down to hear them rehearsing and they sounded really fine. The lead guitarist was with me in the Band of Joy, and Iâm really longing for them to do well.
âTerry Reid, too - heâs fantastic. When I started with Zeppelin I was really nervous and I didnât have it too together, but after a couple of weeks with him I realized what I should do. I went to hear him at Mothers in Birmingham some time ago, and we sang together on the stage. Man, that was fantastic ⌠after only half an hour I was really whacked out.
âWow, can you imagine it - Roden, Reid and Plant? That would be fantastic. Maybe thatâs the sort of way itâs going to go, because I really want to work with people like that.â
Unlike a lot of other people, Robert is a very enthusiastic listener, and will go out of his way to hear people whose work he admires.
âCrosby, Stills, Nash and Young - well, I spent all that concert wiping the tears off my face. Every time Neil Young did something it was just all too much for me.
âThe way he plays guitar is really indescribable. Itâs very simple, but it pleases my ear a lot more than some people who can play five million notes a second. Itâs real music.
AUDIENCE
âArthur Lee, too, is incredible, and when you hear bands like Love, or the Youngbloods on stage at somewhere like the Fillmore in San Francisco then you begin to realize where theyâre at, and that the âvibrationâ thing from the audience isnât just something thatâs talked about at the Speakeasy.
âWhen I heard the Youngbloods, I realized that they were doing it just how Iâd always wanted to do it. Maureen and I stood there smiling all the way through their set - we simply couldnât stop smiling. So beautiful.â
By this time weâd reached Heathrow Airport, where Robert was catching a flight to Vancouver to begin their new American tour.
âI have to get there a day early,â he explained, âbecause the long jet journey always ruins my voice for a while.â
But all the dashing around isnât for nothing. Itâs to get Robert Plant to the kind of position where he can reveal what he really wants to do, and when that happens Iâm sure weâre in for some more good music. - RICHARD WILLIAMS
The worst thing I see in the Led Zeppelin fandom right now is the sheer amount of AI garbage. We have a ton of great photos of the guys, and fan accounts are still working on finding new ones, but we're still creating fucking stupid AI content. Remember what Jimmy Page said last year?
âIf we allow Al to co-opt the heart of human creativity, we are not ushering in a bold new era â we are signing the death warrant of originality itself.â
I've been collecting and transcribing a lot of articles, interviews, and scans lately so I thought it would be easier to just put them all here for easy reading
1960s misc.
BBC report of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II NME review (1969)
Cash Box Led Zeppelin tour article (1969)
1970s interviews/articles
Jimmy Page UFO article (NME)
1972 cover story (MM)
1970s concert reviews/misc.
Earl's Court concert program
1972 LA concert review
California 1972 concert review
Melody Maker 1970 cover
1980s interviews
Robert Plant Kerrang! interview (1982)
Robert Plant Led Zeppelin discography interview (1983)
Interview with Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page, Uncut, May 2008
Republished in Uncut's Ultimate Music Guide to Led Zeppelin
Four months after the momentous Led Zeppelin reunion show, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones talk to Allan Jones and David Cavanagh about that historic night. About the ups and downs of their 40-year relationship. And, of course, about the future of their band. "One day," says Mr Plant, "we could do it again for another really, really good reasonâŚ"
Robert Plant is interviewed by Uncut at 10.30am on Friday, January 18, at the offices of his management company, Trinifold, in Camden. It's cold and blustery and Plant has just driven down from Worcestershire for a day of business in London, which has meant an early start and a long journey. Not that either has had anything remotely like a diminishing effect on Plant's evidently bountiful energy. He's 60 this year, but there's little sense about him of someone thinking of slowing down, taking it easy. The day after we meet, he's off to the States, where in April he starts a major tour with Alison Krauss and T Bone Burnett with whom last year he made Raising Sand, the best album of his solo career. For the next hour and a half, however, sitting on the edge of a huge leather sofa, he talks at candid length and with enormous affection about his 40-year relationship with Jimmy Page â "my brother" â the triumphs and troubles they have enjoyed and endured, his excitement at playing with an "on fire" Jimmy at the O2 reunion on December 10, and what comes next for Zep.
UNCUT: So what was it like stepping out on the O2 stage with Jimmy after all that time?
Robert Plant: The kind of resonance in the air â for people who didn't have to blink an eyelid to get in there, for people who come from Australia or Japan, to Jason [Bonham]'s family, John's family, all the families â anticipation and expectation was huge. The potential for failure was also great because nobody knew what it was going to be like.
Did the success of the show test your previously stated resolve not to reform for a full-blown reunion and tour?
RP: Not at all. I really enjoyed it. And hopefully, one day, we could do it again for another really, really good reason. Our profit is â it's metaphysical. And that's the thing, especially with my connection with Jimmy. I mean, the two of us are almost umbilically attached in some strange way and have been down the years. And that's survived everything. From the time I was 19 to now, when I'm 59.
You first met Jimmy when he came to see [Plant's pre-Zep band] Hobbstweedle play. Can you remember your initial impression of him?
RP: I remember it very clearly. He was very reserved, very polite, slightly withdrawn and definitely it was evident to me that he didn't have the common touch and probably didn't need it. Even though I was hot and pretty self-confident, Jimmy, with all his sort of quietude, he had a great advantage. I felt immediately this was a different kind of guy to anybody I'd met before. So I was welcomed into Jimmy's home and immediately I realised his interests and the whole landscape of his music and his life was very broad and esoteric. And I just couldn't believe it. I just thought, 'God' â quietly to myself â 'this is going to be a real learning curve.' And of course it was, right up until the drugs, right up until it got kind of unworkable in Zep.
Are you saying to some extent that looking at him was like looking into a mirror, that what you saw in him was a reflection of yourself?
RP: Only on a superficial level. I was brash and bullish, and he was very retiring. And as much as I was tactile, he was quite the opposite.
As you became more confident with your own role in the band, and started to get a lot more personal attention, was Jimmy cool with that? Or was it a source of friction, given that it was Jimmy's band?
RP: No, not at all. No. I mean, surely, bearing in mind that he's a very bright man and there's always reserve behind the reserve, and he's always got two or three things going on, plus his charm, and he's got buckets of that now, why would he have a problem with that? He was masterminding the whole thing, so he had to encourage it. And it was there to behold. I mean, I was doing what I was doing and he was doing what he was doing and it was the two guys at the front. If I'd have been static or if I hadn't had the appeal or the front myself, I'd have been out of there. Gone. And during Led Zep I [1969], as far as I was concerned, I thought that I was going to go anyway. I didn't feel that comfortable, because there were a lot of demands on me vocally â which there were all the way through the Zeppelin thing. And I was quite nervous and I didn't really get into enjoying it until II, because I thought, 'Shit!' The equipment was so inferior in those days for vocals, I could never hear myself. There were no monitors, nothing. So I was quite demure, but at the same time when it came to playing live, that was when I was OK. I could perform 'cos I believed in it. I can't do anything I don't believe in. Now, especially.
You've described a flourishing personal and creative relationship with Jimmy. When did it start to unravel?
RP: Well, we went to Bron-Yr-Aur [in 1970, to regroup after a gruelling US tour] to write, to begin work on III and we were brothers then. II had been created in a flurry, on the road in various studios. But here we were on the side of a mountain near Machynlleth, going, "Er, OK." But the great thing was that we wanted to change it, we wanted to make it more pastoral. I think Robin Williamson and some of The Incredible String Band were in Machynlleth with some Bulgarian singers in some farmhouse somewhere, so there was a vibe around. It was like, I don't know, just a feeling, you know, "We've got to be able to do something here." So we wandered off to a â guess what? â waterfall and played and sang and took the cassette machine, and it was to me bliss, pastoral bliss. Because I really wanted to bring music out of the ground, if you like, rather than out of the city, rather than out of some "squeeze my lemon" place. We wrote "That's The Way" one morning, and the lyrics were good â I was, I don't know, 23. And the magisterial movement of the chords in the stanzas between the verses, it was all one could ever wish for. And as a couple of guys, we really⌠we sat by the fire at night and I've still cassettes somewhere of the old grandfather clock ticking. There was no electricity, outside toilets, the smell of woodsmoke and alcohol. I don't think we even smoked dope then. I know Jimmy didn't. He didn't drink or smoke, really. And we were on a roll. We were spectacularly close and we knew we'd got something going which was genuine, not some fabricated bullshit, and being together was something very special. We were really, really good buddies. Later, when Jimmy's health wasnĘźt too good [Plant is presumably referring to Page's heroin use] it wasn't the same⌠it was a different time.
As Jimmy became more insular and withdrawn, how much did you miss those adventures you used to share?
RP: Inevitably, perhaps, the intimacy changed as time went on. Now, health problems are one thing â but also a genuine reason for it to change was the fact we had families. So we became part-time adventurers and part-time dads. And you know that's just a shame. Because you can never really give enough to either side of it, the wanderlust or the commitment to family. So the intensity changed. And that period of adventure moved into Physical Graffiti [1975], which was spectacular, which was recorded similarly to Houses Of The Holy [1973], to the extent that we rented a place with a mobile studio, and everybody was pretty cool and it was all great, great, great. And if there were some dalliances in one direction or another, it certainly wasn't a solo project. We were all up to no good, one way or another. It's just a question of how much you're doing and how the constitution will take it. So I wasn't upset with Jimmy, I didn't become remote. He didn't become remote. We'd both just moved to another place. And if you think about the difference between III and Physical Graffiti, they're both great, but Physical Graffiti really is the band at its most creative and expressive. So, I don't think there was ever really a problem right up until perhaps just before I lost my boy [Plant's son, Karac, died in 1977] and then the actual thing of being on the road touring was quite questionable for me.
In what ways?
RP: Well⌠I just thought⌠I think it was so big that there was no infrastructure to contain it. By 1977, I was 29, just prior to Karac's passing, and that sort of wild energy that was there in the beginning had come to the point where we were showboating a bit. Unfortunately, we had no choice. We were on tours where places were going ape-shit. There was no way of containing the energy in those buildings. It was just insane. And we became more and more the victims of our own success. And the whole deal about the goldfish bowl and living in it, that kicked in. And that's what happens. Look at any big group. There's no way around it.
No matter how much you all love each other and no matter how instrumental Peter Grant was and no matter how many security guys we had and all this stuff, it was still insane, because there was no way out. It was like being a crazy Elvis. And so everybody retired to their own corners within the environment, in the hotels. Everybody had their own way of dealing with it. So the group moved and the individual personalities in the group evolved again. We changed, all of us. But all the time, Jimmy was pushing it, which was great. He was always thinking about stuff. I mean, by the time we were doing Presence - which is before'77âI was in a wheelchair. I was pretty banged up. You haven't got enough time and neither have I to go through all these changes, but they were all quite amazing, because something pretty constructive came out of them, even when things were very painful. And that's a great thing, I think. We were men. We weren't teasy-weasy kids. We had to be men because of the things that we had to share â even if we did go home to our own individual soliloquies. But it kind of went off the rails in the end because everybody got a little bit too relaxed and haywire. For me, then, it didn't really work from '77 onwards. However, there were moments at Knebworth that were spectacular. But the price you have to pay to get to those moments, I didn't think was worth it anymore. It wasn't my idea of constructive open-heart surgery.
Did you ever confront Jimmy about his heroin use and the effect it was having on himself and the band?
RP: I think with most users, the denial is part of the condition and because most everybody around was in one way or another denying something, there was no central point of solidarity. If Peter hadn't been so unavailable himself, he might have pulled the whole thing he together, 'cos his influence was huge. But it didn't work like that. But nonetheless, I still think that by that time Jimmy and I had become quite adept politically at keeping it going, even though I felt very compromised. I also felt for him, you know.
How could you not?
RP: Exactly, exactly, yeah, yeah. I mean, he was my buddy. He will always be my buddy. But, you know, everything happened that happened and Jimmy's come through it and he's got himself back. He's now the same guy, almost, whatever the scars and the surgery. He's got it, he's back.
How different was he at the O2 reunion from the guy you worked with on the UnLedded tour in 1994?
RP: If Jimmy was as healthy then and when we came to do Walking Into Clarksdale, if he'd been as open and as healthy and he'd had the resolve then that he has now, we'd probably have gone somewhere else again. Because I'm always exhilarated by hearing him play. I think he's met his demons now and he's made that public now as much as he can without losing face. Without giving too much away, the olive branch came out. And when he brought that branch out â he said, "I offer you an olive branch."
Which you were happy to accept?
RP: Yes. I mean, I wish he could've given it to himself so many years back.
Has it been painful to watch what he's been through?
RP: Not really, no. You've got to make your own way. I mean he's got great kids, I'm his friend, he's got a lot of friends. He's just got to be honest with himself. I think that's where he's at now.
To what do you attribute this new resolve?
RP: He's had a lot of wake-up calls. I suppose in a way he must be intrigued that some people have stuck around when, like in my case, I don't need anything from him at all. I just don't. After all that, after you survey your own projection on others, some people will just walk. Others won't. Because there's unfinished business, definitely.
Do you think itâll ever be finished?
RP: No. I donât think so. And I donât think thereâs any need for it to be finished. Because as long as heâs got a bit of creative electricity going through his nut, then thereâs going to be something to do sometime. Itâs just in what form and how much of a compromise it would be to the real root of what we had as Zeppelin. Because all that razzamatazz, people are addicted to it. Everybody wants to have some fun, but we would probably try to go to a different place to have that fun, musically. With a different sort of canvas. But itâs easy for me to say now, with Raising Sand reinventing itself every two weeks. I mean, itâs got its own life. I've never been involved with anything with its own life like this. Especially since I wasnât expecting anything more than a position on the Americana charts in Billboard or something. But heâs been incredibly gracious about that. Because it was quite an unusual thing. I mean, weâd been planning the release of Raising Sand for about a year, because Alison had to finish her projects last summer, so the release was set for around Thanksgiving. And then, when we agreed that we [Zeppelin] play together, there was definitely a feeling of âWhatâ s going on here? How come heâs doing that, when weâre rehearsing for Led Zep?â Well, I couldnât help that.
Did that cause any friction?
RP: Not really. But it was a kind of incredulous moment when they realised that I was bluegrassing itâŚ
Finally, how did you feel as you finished that set at the 02?
RP: First of all, we did what we set out to do and more, in every respect. We showed people that Led Zeppelin did go on a bit. There was an opportunity to get a drink occasionally during the show. But at the same time, thatâs what we were. The personality of the audience has changed from those days when everybody was in the same condition as the band. Now it was more like the 68th wonder of the world, rather than a gig. So I felt a bit embarrassed. I felt a bit like Iâd gone into character, in a way, even though I sang my nuts off. And the interplay between us all was excellent. I just wanted to take it somewhere else for a minute. I kept saying during rehearsals, âMaybe we can just drop that bit there and perhaps finish off with âGoodnightâ by The Incredible String Band?â
What, from âA Very Cellular Songâ?
RP: Yeah, thatâs it. [Sings]: âI was walking in Jerusalem, just like John⌠Lay down my sweet Jesus, wonât you lay and take your rest.â And, âYeah,â Jimmy said. âWe always said weâd do that.â And of course we didnât, because the occasion was bigger than that. And thatâs the trouble with the whole thing about Led Zeppelin. It was always bigger than the beauty of what we had in mind. So I felt like it was a job done, that we were friends, strong, good. Allan Jones
John Paul Jones is interviewed by telephone, on January 28, a few days before he presents an award to, and performs with, John Martyn at the Radio 2 Folk Awards, and less than a fortnight before he makes an appearance with the Foo Fighters at the Grammys, conducting the orchestral arrangement to their song, âThe Pretenderâ. Jones, 62, is one of the most respected musicians in the world, whose recent activities (notably as a mandolin player) have seen him collaborate with artists as diverse as Robyn Hitchcock, Ben Harper and Gillian Welch. Jones, who could be seen playing a banjo backstage during the hours before Zeppelinâs O2 Arena concert (âIt calms me downâ), is a famously dry-witted soul, who precedes most of his answers with a slightly puzzled-sounding âermâŚâ Uncut receives a preliminary call from Jonesâ office, 20 minutes before the interview, just to check that weâre ready and that we are who we say we are. Jones does not sound like a man who enjoys having his time wasted.
UNCUT: Firstly, what did it feel like to be playing with Jimmy again at the 02?
John Paul Jones: Pretty damn good. We put a lot of work into it â I'd done a lot of playing with him in the months preceding it â and it was fun revisiting the numbers and playing with a really good player again.
Is he as good as the Page of old?
JPJ: Yeah, he is. I know it sounds obvious, but he was always one of my favourite guitarists and as soon as we started rehearsing, I was amazed to hear how heâd actually improved. He seemed to have grown since I saw him last.
Itâs difficult for him, isnât it, to perform these songs live? Some of them have upwards of five or six tracks of guitar on the recordings.
JPJ: Obviously, we always used to do songs that had a lot of overdubs, and we used to have to come to some arrangement about doing them live. So weâre kind of used to it, but yeah, you've got to be pretty nimble to cover all the important parts. He did it without a second thought.
He came on wearing shades. Was he nervous?
JPJ: Ha! No, he seems to like wearing shades⌠for pictures and things like that.
I know that Ahmet Ertegun was the reason for the reunion, but what do you think it meant to Jimmy?
JPJ: Ahmet meant a lot to us all. We wanted to be on his label in the first place, so, yes, it was a tribute to a very important man. That we did a full Zeppelin show⌠albeit a short one, at two hours⌠[Jimmy] was very happy. Itâs probably similar to what it meant to all of us, which is: itâs nice to be able to do it, to prove to yourself that you can do it.
Can we read anything into the fact Jimmy oversees all re-releases and DVDs? Does he care more about Zeppelinâs legacy than you and Robert?
JPJ: No. Itâs true that he certainly puts more work into it â he was the producer in the band, and so itâs more a continuation of those duties, I suppose. But the band was his original vision, it holds a very special place in his heart. It holds a special place in all of our hearts.
I know you werenât involved with UnLedded, but was there a part of you that was at least glad to see Jimmy working with Robert again?
JPJ: [Doubtfully] Yeah⌠I wasnât particularly glad for anybody at that point. [Laughs] But yeah⌠it was mitigated by that thought. At least he was playing. It was probably good for him.
Can you and Jimmy joke about that now?
JPJ: We donât actually joke about it. It was quite a hard time for me. But weâre past it, if you know what I mean.
Would you like to make another Led Zeppelin album?
JPJ: Exrr⌠Iâd have to think about that.
Really?
JPJ: Led Zeppelinâs a⌠I mean, it was great to do the [02] show. We spoke afterwards, and we both thought the same â it felt like the first night of a tour. You think, âOh, I could do that a bit better, or change something in that song.â And we didnât get a chance to do any more.
Would it be hard to build that momentum back up again? Because Robertâs off on tour withâŚ
JPJ: [Interrupting] Yeah. Yeah.
Do you think the reunion began and ended at the 02?
JPJ: Itâs possible. It is possible.
You donât sound too certain about the prospect of an album.
JPJ: No. Iâm not sure. I'm not too certain about anything, right at the moment. Iâve got no idea whatâs going to happen. But I'd certainly like to play with Jimmy again. David Cavanagh
Jimmy Page is the last Zeppelin member to be interviewed, on March 10, at the Gore Hotel, a discreet establishment in Londonâs Kensington. On the day that the UK is hit by its worst storms in 25 years, a healthy-looking Page â 64 years old, clad entirely in black, with slicked-back white hair â meets Uncut in a basement room of the Gore, which is decorated with tapestries, candelabras, ornate mirrors and log fireplaces. The tapestries have a slight Transylvanian aspect, with spooky castles half-visible through small gaps in dense forests. The room is painted a deep, rich, peppermint green. After friendly introductions, Page, who has recently been filming a documentary with Jack White and The Edge (âthree generations of guitar players â yep, you've got itâ) sits himself down on a low, purple velvet settee. Teetotal for some six years now (although he still enjoys the occasional cigarette), Page drinks black coffee and sips water throughout our interview. Shall we begin at the O2 Arena? âWhy not!â
UNCUT: What memories and emotions from the night of December 10 stand out for you?
Jimmy Page: First of all, I think that what we intended to do, we accomplished. Judging by the feedback, it really moved a lot of people. It was a totally different show to the production rehearsal beforehand, but that was intended; we wanted to be able to move this way and that, musically, within the framework of the songs. So, yeah, on reflection, it was mission accomplished.
Was there a point in rehearsal when you thought, âWeâre going to be OK, weâre going to pull this offâŚâ
JP: Yes, at the first rehearsal. Look at the psychology of it. If the four members get to get together in a room to play, nobody wants to be the one who causes it not to work. Everyone went into that room with a will, I believe, to make it work. And it was really exciting to be playing the music with such intent.
You walked onstage at the O2 wearing shades. What could you see in the faces of the front rows?
JP: I wasnât concentrating on the audience. It was heads-down for the first three numbers, which we did as a medley, non-stop, and when I took my glasses off, I didnât see the audience then, either. I was just getting lost in the music. Weâd paced ourselves for this concert, weâd given it our total commitment, and nothing was going to get in the way of it â not even broken fingers â forget it, nothing was going to get in the way of this.
What were the most stunning performances that night?
JP: From the feedback I've had, it all built towards âKashmirâ. Everybody who remarked on it, whether it was the public or other musicians, said that âKashmirâ was totally out of this world.
What was it like backstage afterwards? Was it emotional?
JP: It was. I had my young kids there. I was really keen to see them before the show, and then after it, as I knew it was going to be a very intense spectacle for them. I spent most of the time in a room downstairs with my family, and the families of John Paul Jones, Robert and Jason. It was emotional. It was extremely emotional onstage as well. Intense. But a positive emotion. It was a joyous experience, a celebration.
Almost all the reviews praised your playing, and John Paul Jones has told us there were times when he felt you were playing better than everâŚ
JP: Thatâs really kind of him. I must say there were moments. The thing is, when youâre going for the spontaneity of the night, if you like, you really want to know that you can still do it. I knew I could. People think I havenât been playing lately, but I have. I've been playing all along.
Led Zeppelinâs music was written while you were in your twenties and thirties. Is there anything intrinsic in those songs that makes them fiendishly difficult to play in your sixties?
JP: No, I wouldnât say so, providing youâre mentally and physically sound. The original players, that is; I wouldnât say that any guys of 60 could play that music. Itâs a more complicated music than what you seem to be saying. Thereâs a subtlety in how it all synchronises togetherâŚ
Sure. I wasnât suggesting that Uriah Heep, in their sixties, would suddenly be able to play Zep stuff.
JP: No, and I wouldnât be able to play Uriah Heep stuff. But with Led Zeppelin, that music is probably going to go through to the DNA imprint of my children and my grandchildren. Itâs so much a part of me. I just go into a sort of⌠For example, a number that we did in the rehearsals was âThe Roverâ. Now, we hadnât played âThe Roverâ before, not in a complete versionâŚ
I always think of âThe Roverâ as a perfect illustration of Zep at their most confident.
JP: That sort of swagger? Itâs got a real swagger about it. An intentional swagger.
Well, I was thinking more about the fact that you write this great song, which most bands would kill for, and then you casually leave it off the album [Houses Of The Holy] that itâs supposed to go on.
JP: Well, yes, but it had its time and its place. The place for âThe Roverâ is quite clearly where it comes, in Physical Graffiti, as thatâs where it really works.
Will there be a CD and DVD from the 02?
JP: It was recorded, but we didnât go in with the express purpose of making a DVD to come out at Christmas, or whatever. We havenât seen the images or investigated the multitracks. Itâs feasible that it might come out at some distant point, but itâll be a massive job to embark upon.
We learn in our Sunday newspapers that Robert has turned down an offer to tour the world with Zeppelin. Whatâs the situation? Could a tour happen?
JP: The focus was towards the O2 show. Thatâs what I had my focus on. As for Robert, he had a parallel project [with Alison Krauss] and itâs been successful, which I suppose means he doesnât have time for Led Zeppelin at this point. What I do know â what I do know â is that the rehearsals, and the O2 gig, were really inspiring. OK? Thatâs all I'll say.
Right, but are Led ZeppelinâŚ
JP: Thatâs as fair an answer as I can give you.
Canât you go any further than that?
JP: I donât know what John Paul Jones has said, and I donât know what Robert has said. But I know how I felt about the thing, andâŚ
But it sounds like you, yourself, are open to the idea of a Zeppelin tour, and possibly an album? I donât want to put words in your mouthâŚ
JP: Well, donât put words in my mouth. I know how⌠Look, I started this by saying that there was a will to succeed, if you like, in those original rehearsals. And everybody had such a commitment to it. Now, if you're talking about a tour â other dates, maybe recording together â thereâs only one thing thatâs going to be the common denominator with that. And thatâs commitment. Thatâs how we did the O2.
Somewhere in a Zeppelin office, though, is the phone ringing off the hook? Offers from American promoters, inquiries from record companiesâŚ
JP: Oh, I'm sure there is. I'm sure there is.
Do you get bothered with that on a daily basis?
JP: In what respect would I get bothered with it? No, I donât get bothered with it.
In the respect thatâŚ
JP:I do get bothered with it, I suppose, because thereâs so many people, who may recognise me, who come up and say, either (a) they went to the O2 that night or (b) they didnât and are you touring? And I have to say, âWell, at the moment, weâre not. At the moment, there are no plans.â
At the very least, has this given you a new boost of energy and purpose? For instance, you were interviewed in 2004 and said you were working on ânew, radical, unexpectedâ material. What stage of development has that material reached?
JP: I'll tell you exactly the sort of music I've been writing. Theyâre the sort of vehicles and frameworks that could be applied â because I remember saying one thing in that interview, that âa good riff is a good riffâ â but these are vehicles that could be used in various situations. I might have one thing that could be just as easily recorded with an ethnic drum orchestra as with a rockânâroll band. Do you see what I mean? Or you could play it acoustic. Itâs the application of it. But I'm ready. I'm ready, now, to present the stuff that I've got.
I donât know if youâve noticed, but itâs been 10 years since you last released an album of new songs, which was Page & Plantâs Walking Into Clarksdale in 1998.
JP: That doesnât matter! No! What does that matter?
There was a time whenâŚ
JP: No! I've done other things since then⌠There was a time when what?
When youâd have been desperate to let the public hear the latest music youâd created. To let it be heard, enjoyed and admired.
JP: What, you mean, within the working vehicle of a band? Oh, yes, yes, thatâs right. But I havenât had a band to tour with. No, but Iâve done a number of projects, though.
But not new albums. Not since 1998. You did a live album with The Black Crowes, but that wasnât really a new album.
JP: Yes, but I've just done a documentary, and I did some of my new music in that. I've got enough new music to make it sort of⌠sort of tantalising and⌠yes, to reapply a commitment to that, shall we say.
When you look back at the way you put Led Zeppelin together in 1968, does it sometimes seem ridiculously easy? I mean, you ask Terry Reid to be the singer, who says no, but he knows this bloke, whoâs absolutely perfect, and he just happens to know the best drummer in BritainâŚ
JP: Have you heard River by Terry Reid? No? Because if you havenât, I'm just trying to show you the reason why Terry Reid was considered. Also thereâs something thatâs relative to the whole timing of this. You just said that John Bonham was the greatest drummer in England. I thoroughly agree with you. But his reputation had not reached London. He hadnât come out of the Midlands yet. He'd just started to play with Tim Rose â he certainly wasnât playing with Robert â but when I heard John play, it was, well, there was just no doubt about it. Il tell you what, you just felt it. Everyone felt John Bonham.
If Terry Reid had said yes, Led Zeppelin would have got a great singer â but you wouldnât have had that ethereal, haunting quality that Plant brings to the first album. Itâs quite a disturbing sound in places; heâs almost on the cusp of male/female sexuality. Was anyone else singing like that at the time?
JP: Not to that degree, no. He stretched his vocal range way beyond what anyone else had done. The likes of Terry Reid and Steve Marriott had the attitude, and the mid-range, but Robert was doing sort of vocal gymnastics. He wasnât singing like that when I heard him up in the Midlands. I donât think heâd ever sung like that before the first Zeppelin album. I donât think John Paul Jones had ever played like that before. Nobody had played like that before. I certainly hadnât.
Is it true âWhole Lotta Loveâ was written onstage during a gig in America, when you were all jamming on a Garnet Mimms song?
JP: No. No. Absolutely incorrect. No, it was put together when we were rehearsing some music for the second album. I had a riff, everyone was at my house, and we kicked it in from there. Never was it written during a gig â where did you hear that?
I read it in a book.
JP: [Sarcastically] Oh good. I hope it was that Rough Guide. Thatâs the latest one, the most inaccurate. Theyâre all inaccurate, you know.
You were one of the first producers, around 1968, to realise people werenât just listening to music on mono record-players anymore, but had moved onto stereo, and headphones.
JP: Yeah! Well, I'd been touring America with The Yardbirds, and something that was apparent was that there were two streams of radio. One was the Top 40 AM stations, which were playing the singles, and the other was the FM stations which put on whole albums. I thought this was magnificent, because you'd hear what a band was really up to. That registered with me. Those FM listeners were the sort of people I wanted to reach.
But the stereo aspect? There are a lot of very impressive sound effects on early Zeppelin LPs.
JP: I knew for sure that people were listening on headphones. It was something that was really important within the production. You get lots of movement going on [he waves his hands in the air]. Apart from the fact that it was fun to do, it presented an incredible picture in your head as you were listening.
How was the swirly effect at the end of âWhen The Levee Breaksâ achieved? I always imagine you sitting there with a joystickâŚ
JP: Itâs sort of like that, isnât it? Itâs interesting on ââŚLevee Breaksâ, youâve got backwards harmonica, backwards echo, phasing, and thereâs also flanging, and at the end you get this super-dense sound, in layers, thatâs all built around the drum track. And youâve got Robert, constant in the middle, and everything starts to spiral around him. Itâs all done with panning.
Was it important that Zeppelin should become a huge band, an internationally renowned band, as well as a bloody good one?
JP: Initially, coming from The Yardbirds and putting it all together, I had a long-term plan that it wasnât just going to be a band that would make singles and trite music. It was going to have longevity, and it was going to make profound music. That sort of ethic â well, you want to have success, donât you, as that means your music is going to be heard. And also your contemporaries would say: âThatâs a really good band you've got there.â And we didnât â this is the key â we didnât have to worry about singles, and âIs there a follow-up to âWhole Lotta Loveâ on the third album?â No! We donât want one! Because thatâs going to restrict you. The whole thing was to burst out, burst open, and go over the horizon and beyond, and beyond, and beyond.
âIn My Time Of Dyingâ, on Physical Graffiti, ends with a joke and a burst of laughter. It seems a bit inappropriate, I feel, after such a devastating 11-minute performance. Was that humorous reaction typical of Zeppelin in the studio?
JP: We were just having such a wonderful time. Look, we had a framework for âIn My Time Of Dyingâ, OK, but then it just takes off and we're just doing what Led Zeppelin do. Weâre jamming. Weâre having a ball. We. Are. Playing.
When you worked on the DVD of The Song Remains The Same, what went through your mind as you watched footage of the young Jimmy Page in â73?
JP: Well, it was sticky tape and glue, really. The live footage was shot by the film crew over three nights. They shot more than that, but they might have had problems with their communications because youâd find, when all the film was viewed, that they had whole areas that were missing in the songs. There were so many holes in it. So I'm sort of miming at Shepperton to what I'd played at Madison Square Garden, but of course, although I've got a rough approximation of what I was playing from night to night, itâs not exact. So the film that came out in the â70s is a bit warts-and-all.
You havenât quite answered my question. When you look at the guitar player in those scenes at Madison Square Garden â heâs the leader of the greatest rock band in the world, heâs dressed in a fabulous outfit, heâs playing guitar with a violin bow, heâs got the best haircut heâs had in his lifeâŚ
JP: Hahahahaha!
âŚdo you look at him and think, âWow, my God, heâs pretty impressive?â
JP: [Pause] I look at him and think, âHeâs really living it. Heâs really, you know, in his music. And thatâs wonderful. I can relate to that, and I can see him taking chances, and I can see him making mistakes.
Youâre often described as the curator of Led Zeppelinâs heritage. Are you?
JP: No, I'm not, but I've certainly tried to make sure that there wasnât a rape and pillage of it. I'm very conscious that less is more.
Was playing with Robert at the 02 a very different experience to the Page & Plant tours of the â90s?
JP: Of course it was different, because it was better. With no disrespect to the musicians who played in Page & Plant, itâs got to be better to play the music with the key members whoâve written it. So thatâs Robert, thatâs me and thatâs John Paul Jones.
Why did Page & Plant end when it did?
JP: The LP was all right, but it was scaled right down. There could have been a follow-up, but itâs a leading question, isnât it? I had some material written for another album. I had about a dozen numbers, and some of them were really good, but Robert heard them and he wanted to go in another direction. He wanted to do a solo album. Fair enough.
Robertâs now touring with Alison Krauss. Does it infuriate you? Do you feel like saying: âBut Robert, this is LED ZEPPELIN weâre talking about!â
JP: No, because heâs made many departures and thatâs what he feels he needs to do. No, he can do what he wants. Weâre all grown men, for heavenâs sake. But I know what is inspirational, and what is really challenging, and that is the sort of direction that I personally â personally â intend to go.
If there were to be a new Zep album, would you expect to be the producer as before?
JP: No, I'm not getting into that.
I know you built those Zeppelin albums to last, but could you really have imagined that people would be listening to them 40 years later?
JP: I hadnât really considered that I would be around to witness 40 years later. But I knew that I listened to blues from the â30s, and rockânâroll from the early â50s. I was listening to a lot of music that predated my birth. There was a possibility that [Led Zeppelin] would be listened to. I believed that the musicianship on the Led Zeppelin albums, is⌠I donât want to say itâs a textbook for musicians, but it has a hint of that. Anyone who plays an instrument, and who appreciates the tactile quality of it, thereâs a lot for them. And not only that. People who donât play music at all â thereâs still a lot there. You can hear it. You can appreciate how it was put together. David Cavanagh
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