S. F. Oliveira (2015) Led Zeppelin and Beyond. http://lzbrazilianbook.weebly.com/
Foreword
I wrote some articles about Led Zeppelin between the years 2011 and 2015. I decided here gather all in one block. It is found either repeated quote to the extent that I wanted to defend a different idea. Still, I chose to keep everything as it was originally written. There may be contradictions, I do not care. What remains clear, however, is that I consider Led Zeppelin the greatest and the best rock band of the world.
Selmane Felipe de Oliveira © profelipe ™
. Jimmy Page and Peter Grant
. Guitar Army
. Golden Years
. The Rover
. Groupies
. Revenge
. The Power Station
. The “Freudian” Robert Plant
. Houses of The Holy
. The Seventies
. Past & Present
. Punk Rock
JIMMY PAGE AND PETER GRANT
Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were musicians studios, which provided services for many rock bands in the 1960s, such as The Rolling Stones and The Who, among others.
Robert Plant and John Bonham were not famous and they were quite young. Jimmy Page was founder and leader of Led Zeppelin. In the beginning, he was not sure about the kind of group he wanted: something more “folk” or some heavier stuff. However, when Page heard John Bonham for the first time, he would be defined the group’s sound.
The idea of forming the band came from a practical necessity: Jimmy Page was the Yardbirds guitarist and other musicians dropped out of the band and there were still concerts to do in Scandinavia. There was a contract. So he and the manager Peter Grant decided to call new musicians to the band.
The first shows were under the name New Yardbirds. There was another problem with the name (Led Zeppelin) when the band played in Germany at the beginning. A lady of the traditional family associated with the Zeppelin did not allow the use of that name on the shows in the country.
Jimmy Page and Peter Grant knew exactly what they wanted to Led Zeppelin. The real place for the band would be the United States. They knew they would have to work harder to build an identity for the group and to make money.
The money came from the albums and from the shows. There were nine tours (only in the United States) from 1968 to 1973.
Jimmy Page was already famous before Led Zeppelin. He (with Peter Grant’s experience) made a great deal with Atlantic Records.
Jimmy Page’s project was correct: after the second American tour, there was no doubt, everyone knew of Led Zeppelin fame.
Peter Grant has adopted some strategies: the group did not appear on television (which had a bad sound in the 1970s); the band would not be worried about singles (who wanted to hear the music, would have to buy the albums); “The Starship” (Led Zeppelin’s airplane) would give more freedom to the group in the United States; everyone should avoid the press and the musicians were untouchable (they could do anything as black magic, violence, sadomasochism, underage girls and orgies).
The second Led Zeppelin album was recorded on the road. A myth was born (heavy sound, sexual lyrics and “blues”).
There was no more “peace and love” of the sixties. It was a new decade with new styles to a new youth. Led Zeppelin and the seventies have become synonymous.
GUITAR ARMY
“Presence” is not an easy album to listen to. It was the first album I bought at the time. It was released in 1976.
When I said a bought the LP, a friend asked about the sticker of the album. I did not know about this detail and I bought it without the sticker.
Honestly I did not understand the music the first few times I heard the LP. A friend listened to the album and she said, “Man, I can not understand, it’s too heavy.”
On the other hand, when I lent the album to a party in the neighborhood, the guy who organized “the game” (that was the name used when there was a party at someone’s house) wanted to stay with LP. He understood the music. So I thought there was something very good in that album.
Another time, I lent the LP to a school friend and the guy disappeared. It took me months to get the album back (well scratched by the way). But I recovered the “Presence”. Over the years, I bought this album sometimes (vinyl and CD).
Only in college, after smoking “cannabis” offered by a colleague, finally I understood the LP. I was shocked. It was fantastic! It has become my favorite album of Led Zeppelin.
The first song became a “classic” of the Led Zeppelin. It was the best in what Jimmy Page called “guitar army”:
“The open track of the album would be its masterpiece: ‘Achilles Last Stand’ was the culmination of Jimmy’s desire to build multi-tracked harmonized guitars into a towering structure of movement and emotion. Its predecessors were 'Stariway To Heaven’, 'The Song Remains The Same’ and 'Kashimir’, and its inspiration was Moroccan travels. Jimmy deploys his myriad guitar voices over what Zeppelin connoisseurs came to consider John Bonham’s greats rhythm track.” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 185)
HP Newquist talked to Jimmy Page about the song. He called “the dizzying multiple layers of guitar overdubs.” (Guitar International, August 1998)* Page explained it in his own words:
“Well, ‘Achilles’ is the ultimate example of that. (…) When you’re doing an overdub, you’ve got to shape the sound in your head. That’s where I guess I’m lucky; it’s part of what I can do without a struggle, almost immediately. It’s probably experience, really, isn’t it? I’ve got a lot of experience.
(…) But ‘Achilles’ began as a bit that had come out of ‘Dazed and Confused,’ a live bit that we did. And I said to John Paul Jones that I’m going to put a rising scale over this. At the time, he said ‘Well, it can’t be done,’ and I said, ‘Oh yes it can. I know what it is.’ I didn’t even bother to play it but it was in my head from the point when we were first rehearsing it in Los Angeles. I remember the day it happened, and I knew what it was; I could just feel it. And then when I got in the studio I did it in harmony!
(…) I knew the scale and how the rest of it should go; or, rather, what I call a progression. I’ve never been into practicing scales, though I shouldn’t say that because I don’t want to discourage anyone from doing them, but I just did progressions. I mean, it could be a scale, but I think of them as progressions.” (Guitar International, August 1998)*
It was written on Songfacts** “Jimmy Page overdubbed 6 guitar tracks to create a huge sound.” I thought it was more than 6 different guitars. I was not the only one:
“Featuring some incredibly fast and powerful drumming from Bonham, a steamrollering bass line from Jones, played on an eight string bass, a typically mystical and imaginative lyric and vocal from Plant and no less than a dozen seperate guitar tracks from Page it is the archetypal embodiement of everything Zeppelin ever stood for.” (Martin Leedham, Mar 04 2012)***
Anyway, it doesn’t matter how many guitar tracks were on the song. The guitar army was there. And it was fantastic.
The problem was to play it alive in a concert. “Achilles Last Stand” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” were on the shows of Led Zeppelin. “For Your Life” was played once on Celebration Day (2007).
About the problem of guitar army alive in a concert, Jimmy Page said:
“‘Achilles’ is the classic one. When Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards came to hear us play, Keith said, ‘You ought to get another guitarist; you’re rapidly becoming known as the most overworked guitarist in the business.’ Quite amusing. There are times when I’d just love to get another guitarist on, but it just wouldn’t look right to the audience.” (§)
So Jimmy Page became “the most overworked guitarist” in the studio. Alive, there was never a second guitarist of Led Zeppelin.
(*) HP Newquist. Jimmy Page Interview: Bring it On Home. Guitar International. August 1998. http://guitarinternational.com/2010/08/20/bring-it-on-home-jimmy-page-walks-into-a-new-future-with-an-old-friend/
(**) Achilles Last Stand by Led Zeppelin. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=359
(***) Martin Leedham, Mar 04 2012. http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/led_zeppelin/presence/
(§) Dave Schulps Interview with Jimmy Page. October 1977. http://www.iem.ac.ru/zeppelin/docs/interviews/page_77.trp Apud, Wikipedia.
GOLDEN YEARS
The death of John Bonham more than the end of Led Zeppelin, it meant the end of an era.
Led Zeppelin was created by guitarist Jimmy Page and businessman Peter Grant. It came from the ashes of the Yardbirds.
John Bonham was very important in the group’s style choice: heavy sound, aggressive and professionalism.
With his death, Led Zeppelin could not continue it. At the time, it was made clear in a statement published in the press:
“The loss of four dear friend, and the deep sense of harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 210)
It was to be the end of history.
However, over the following decades, many people most could not accept the end of the symbol of the 1970s.
First, it was media speculation. Then, over time, even the original group musicians began to play the music of Led Zeppelin in their solo careers.
The inevitable came (for the first time) in 1985. It was Live Aid. It was the greatest moment of the festival. There were two more musicians: Phil Collins (who was the Robert Plant’s drummer at the time) and Tony Thompson. There was no time to rehearsal. The historical importance of the reunion was enough.
The anniversary of 40 Years of the Atlantic was in 1988. Again, without an appropriate rehearsal, the show was not at the level of what was the Led Zeppelin in concert. Jason Bonham was on drums.
In April 1990, there was another show. This was informal because it happened at the wedding of Jason Bonham.
In June of the same year (Classic Rock, January 2001, p. 42), Plant, Page and Jones played with drummer of Faith No More (Mike Bordin) to return with Led Zeppelin. It did not work. Jimmy Page did not approve the performance of Mike Bordin.
Page and Plant also made the project “No Quatter” for MTV, but without using the name of Led Zeppelin because there was no participation of John Paul Jones.
In 2014, in his interviews to promote the new editions of the albums of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page often make it clear that he would return to play with the band, but that resistance would come from Robert Plant.
Jimmy Page explains that the success of the “Celebration Day” in 2007 was possible because of weeks of rehearsals and because the musicians wanted to erase the bad impression left by the shows in 1985 and 1988.
It was correct.
Just watch the show or listen to CDs of “Celebration Day”.
Even so, you could not go on like Led Zeppelin, after all, there was no Peter Grant, the years have changed and the musicians were old (the voice Robert Plant was not the same anymore) .
The Led Zeppelin existed between 1968 and 1980. It was perfect. And that was it.
THE ROVER
I've always been a Led Zeppelin fan. There was a time that there was no LZ fan club in Brazil. So I decided to create “The Rover”, which was a quarterly fanzine. It existed between 1984 and 1986.
I typed the paper and translating the material. In the end, I put the sources and as thanks to those who helped me in that volume.
There were the "newsletters" too. They were sent (there was no Internet) when there was something special, like an interview or some last minute news. I signed a US newspaper called “Feathers in the Wind”, which was a major source of the updates of Zeppelin musicians.
The personal computer was rare in the period - 1984-1986. I studied English, French and German, but also committed many mistakes against the Portuguese - who appeared at The Rover. In Brazil, international bands concerts were very rare - what would change with the Rock in Rio in 1985. I was there to honor "the night of heavy metal" with Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and AC / DC.
The emergence of other Led Zeppelin fan clubs in Brazil and the end of “Feathers in the Wind” were the main factors that led me to finish the activities of The Rover.
GROUPIES
The musicians of Led Zeppelin were with the groupies in orgies (despite being married in England). Jimmy Page was, for example, lover of Lori Maddox when she was 14 years old. In the book “Hammer of Gods” appears Jimmy Page’s opinion about the groupies:
“The girls come and pose as starlets, teasing and acting arrogantly. There was no problem if you humiliate them a bit. Everyone knows what they came for.”
Sex was one thing. However, there was sadomasochism (SM) too. About SM, in an interview with Tony Barrell in 2010, the guitarist said:
“I’m sure some of your readers may have flirted with the SM. (,,,) I also have an appetite for all things of this world… or not…”
In fact, Jimmy Page did not deny his interest in SM. As he said, everyone “knew what they came for.” The musicians, of course, felt free to do anything with the groupies.
Girls knew Jimmy Page was into black magic and SM. He liked to use a Nazi SS Storm Trooper Hat at the Led Zeppelin’s concerts. It was public. It was also an accessory used in SM.
It was the seventies. Today, with so many restrictions on freedom of the individual , it would be difficult to find musicians and groupies act that way. Many musicians tried to be like Led Zeppelin (music and behavior). However, they failed.
REVENGE
Robert Plant, sometimes, doesn’t show respect to the past of Led Zeppelin. Why?
First, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were musicians with important works on records as groups The Rolling Stones or The Who. Jimmy Page was known for his experience with Yardbirds. When he formed Led Zeppelin, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. Once, Plant said:
“(…) he was really the master of Led Zeppelin. I was just chief whip.” (Guitar World, July 1986, p. 64)
John Bonham was young but he had his own style:
“According to (Jeff) Beck, Jimmy said: “Listen to this, listen to Bonzo, this guy called John Bonham. that I’ve got.’ When Beck heard the version, his heart sink. ‘I looked at him and said: ‘Jim, what?’ and the tears were coming out with anger.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 57)
Robert Plant was young too. However, he was critized. After the first U. S. tour, “the pop critics insulted his aria-like blues wails and his prissy, hyper-masculine posing. (…) Even Jimmy wasn’t absolutely positive about Robert. Cole recalls: ‘It was a very touch-and-go thing whether Robert would even be in the group after the first tour, because he didn’t quite seem to make it up to Page’s expectation. At the time, there was a possibility he wouldn’t do another tour. That was the truth.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p.64)
Robert Plant became a sex symbol. He and Jimmy Page were the stars of Led Zeppelin. After Bonzo’s death and the end of the band, Plant started his solo project with his first record “Pictures At Eleven”:
“(…) Robert took the tapes to Jimmy Page for approval. ‘It was very emotional,’ he later told an interviewer. ‘We just sat there and I sort had my hand on his knee, We were just sitting through it together. He knew that I’d gone, that I was off on my own with the aid of other people and just forging ahead, and all I wanted him to do was to do the same thing.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 213)
John Paul Jones didn’t like “Pictures At Eleven” and he told it to Robert Plant:
“Jonesy thought I could have done a lot better with the first record.” (Guitar World, p. 64)
The revenge of Zeppelin’s singer would come with the project of “No Quarter”. John Paul Jones said:
“It’s a Jimmy and Robert’s reunion. I’m sure they’ll be doing Zeppelin’s stuff, but they didn’t bother to ask me.” (Record Hunter, November 1994, p. 97)
What about Jimmy Page? The critics came to Coverdale-Page’s project. Robert Plant said:
“Page & ‘Coverdale’? It was ridiculous when ‘I’ did it…”(Vox, May 1993)
The cover of Rock World’s magazine (June 1993) was: “Zep Wars! Coverdale – Page – Plant (The interviews)” In fact, Jimmy tried to work with other musicians. Robert did it with his first record and said about Page: “(…) all I wanted him to do was to do the same thing.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 213) However, when the guitarrist tried to work, Plant didn’t respect his project.
Robert Plant said in 1993: “The idea that Led Zep would reform with Jason on the drums, though, is preposterous. What’s gone is gone.” (Vox, May 1993, p. 18) But in December 2007, he, Page, Jones and Jason did a concert with one and half hour under the name of Led Zeppelin.
“Whole Lotta Love” was one of the greatest song of the seventies (it was relesead in 1969). The music was perfect, but there was problems with the lyrics. Robert Plant:
“‘Whole Lotta Love’ did push rock ‘n’ roll another couple of steps. If the lyric hadn’t been stolen, the music would have been lesser for it. The mistake came in not crediting Dixion.
Page’s riff was Page’s riff. It was here before anything else. I just thought, ‘Well, what am I going to sing? That was it, a nick. (…) well, you only get caught when you’re successful. That’s the game.” (Musician, June 1990, p. 47)
This is Robert Plant. What more? It’s hard to say anything about the future. Probably Led Zeppelin is on the past and it was made by four musicians and Peter Grant. The master was Jimmy Page. Plant was right about it.
THE POWER STATION
While still attending college, I was very radical in terms of music. I loved heavy metal and I hated "pop music". That was until a friend talked about the Power Station in the university cafeteria. He was also a fan of Led Zeppelin. I said that he was wrong about the Power Station because there were Duran Duran’s musicians in the band. He insisted: "Man, I know, but this band is good and heavy."
I decided to listen the Power Station and I started to leave my musical prejudice aside. Then I published an ad in a Brazilian magazine and I wrote that wanted to have contact with people who liked certain groups, including the Power Station. To my surprise, I received several letters (there was no internet) with pictures of fans (girls) of Duran Duran. They were the “duranies”.
I loved it, of course, after all, some girls were very beautiful. At the time, I met with them especially in São Paulo. When Duran came to Brazil in 1988, I already knew everything about the band (I went to the show in Rio) and it was a special moment for everyone.
Basically, many people do not understand how someone who is a Led Zeppelin’s fanatic could hear a simple song as the Duran Duran's music. In my case, this was one of the reasons.
1985. The drummer of the Power Station was called Tony Thompson. When the musicians of Led Zeppelin decided to meet for the first time after the end of the group (at Live Aid project), they chose Thompson to be the drummer. Phil Collins also participated of the show because, for some reason, he wanted to participate in several concerts of the event.
After that, the musicians of Led Zeppelin rehearsed with Tony Thompson for a possible return of the group. The project was stopped after an accident suffered by Tony Thompson.
THE “FREUDIAN” ROBERT PLANT
Freud wrote about the importance of the father in the life of everyone. It was true about Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. On the early days, his father did not believe that Robert had a serious job.
Led Zeppelin was adored by millions of people. The musicians were millionaire. All this was not enough for the father of Robert.
“When, finally, the ‘Financial times’ article appeared [about the group], Robert excitedly put his arm round Danny’s shoulder and rasped: ‘My dad finally believes I’m a success. (…) Now he finally thinks I may have done the right thing not to become a chartered accountant.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 140-141)
Unfortunately, it was not the end of the story. On the latter days, the luck of the band has changed. The son of Robert Plant died from a mysterious virus infection in 1977. His name was Karac. At that time, Robert’s father said:
“All this success and fame, what is the worth? It doesn’t mean much when you compare it to the love of a family.” (Chris Welch. The Story of Led Zeppelin. In.: HM Photo Book. London: Omnibus Press, 1983)
The young Robert Plant did not get the most important thing for him: the respect of his father. Nowadays he became an old Englishman. In 2009, Simon Cable ironically wrote a title for the Daily Mail: “Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant joins Establishment after accepting CBE from Prince Charles.”* Simon Cable wrote in the article:
“He was the bare – chested screamer who embodied the phrase sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Robert Plant was almost as renowned for his hellraising behaviour as for his performances with Led Zeppelin. But old rockers never die – they just end up at Buckingham Palace.”*
Robert still sings. He is famous and rich. However, about the history of respect…
(*) Simon Cable. Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant joins Establishment after accepting CBE from Prince Charles. Daily Mail, 10 July 2009. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1198901/Led-Zeppelins-Robert-plant-joins-Establishment-accepting-CBE-Prince-Charles.html
HOUSES OF THE HOLY
Today I would like to write some words about Led Zeppelin. I take two books: “Led Zeppelin” by Florence Rajon (Paris: Prelude et Fugue, 1997) and “Hammer of Gods” by Stephen Davis.
I open the books without any ideas about what I should write about the band. Coincidentally, with no intentions, I open Rajon’s book at the page 99, when he writes about the album of “Houses of the Holy” and the other book, I open at the page of 124, when Davis writes “They worked at Electric Lady with Eddie Kramer, mixing tracks like Houses of the Holy.”
I do not worry about “déjà vu” or coincidences. For some people, it would be some kind of strange.
Then I took the lyrics of Houses of the Holy:
“From the houses of the holy
We can watch the white doves go
From the door comes Satan’s daughter
And it only goes to show, you know
There’s an angel on my shoulder
(…) Let the music be your master
Will you heed the master’s call
Oh, Satan and man”
It reminds me (immediately) the French book about Led Zeppelin: “The inside of the cover, which depicts a man carrying a child at arm’s length, as an offering made to the deity of the ruined castle, intrigued fans who recognized the ominous death of Karac Plant four years later.” In French:
“L’intérieur de la pochette, qui représente un homme portant un enfant à bout de bras, comme une offrande présentée à la divinité du château en ruine, intrigua les fans qui reconnurent le sinistre présage de la mort de Karac Plant quatre ans plus tard.” (Florence Rajon, p.101)
There was no secret about mysticism of the group. However, there is a strange association between the image inside of the cover of the album – “a man carrying a child at arm’s length, as an offering made to the deity of the ruined castle” – and the words of the song saying: “Let the music be your master. Will you heed the master’s call? Oh, Satan and man.”
It does not mean the death of Karac Plant was the result of an image of an album or the consequence of the lyrics of a song. By the way, the music of Houses of the Holy would be appear only on the next album, Physical Graffiti.
A tragedy happens in the life of any person. Sometimes it is a mystery. But when a person is associated with mysticism, it is easier to explain the event as if it were an omen of bad luck. It was the case of led Zeppelin.
THE SEVENTIES
In the sixties, rock movement changed people’s comportment, but it did not change much about political relations. In the seventies, people seemed not to believe in revolution anymore. These were heavy metal and progressive music years. The music was more important than the lyrics. It was clear at the symphony sound of progressive rock and, in the other side, the ‘noise’ of the heavy metal groups. One example: Led Zeppelin. With the 5 minutes of The song remains the same, the lyrics were:
“I had a dream. Crazy Dream. Anything I wanted, anyplace I need to go. Hear my song. People won’t you listen now? Sing Along. You don’t know what you’re missing now. Any little song that you know. Everything that’s small has to grow. And it has to grow! California sunlight, sweet Calcutta rain. Honolulu star bright – the song remains the same. Sing out Hare Hare, dance the Hoochie Koo. City lights are so bright, as we go sliding… sliding… sliding through.”
What does it mean? Probably nothing. The important was the sound. Robert Plant’s voice was as an instrumental in this music and the meaning of the words was not essential. Some people could remember Stairway to Heaven or Rain Song, but here, as in the most progressive songs, the lyrics were about love or mystical meanings, not about what really happened in people’s life. With punk movement, in the late seventies, it was different. They were not musicians. It was just noise. They didn’t care. The important was the lyrics, the protest against the ‘old’ rock bands (as Led Zeppelin or Rolling Stones) and the rules of capitalist society. Punk was more than music. It was a way of life. The lyrics of Anarchy in the U.K.:
“I’m an antichrist
I’m an anarquist
I don’t know what I want But I know how I get it
I wanna destroy.”
Anarchism and rock music. Of course, this combination didn’t make punk a social movement, but, at least, it tried to put rock to what it was in the fifths: a music against rules. It was not only about the musicians. The behavior of the audience was important. It was true in the fifths and the seventies.
Punk was not the last movement of rock music – after that, there were different styles as disco music, new wave, hip hop and so on. Rock became important to the labels of music. Musicians became millionaires. Any new kind of music tried to change people’s ideas and, at the same time, it tried to make money as any capitalist industry.
By the way, it was the main problem: to use rock as protest became a way of making money. It sold almost everything: records, t-shirts, concerts, sodas… It worked as any product. Basically, rock music became mainstream. Young people of Woodstock were the parents in the eighties. They were different, of course, but rock and roll wasn’t a surprise or any symbol of protest. It was the decade of yuppies. Money was the only thing that mattered. Music as disco or new wave was their soundtrack.
In fact, lyrics of rock music never tried to show some left political views. There were some Bob Dylan’s songs, punk music and others, but they were not the majority. It doesn’t mean, however, that rock music did not changed the way of life in the second half of the twenty century.
PAST & PRESENT
It is not possible to fight against the past. Robert Plant should learn about that.
He likes to make jokes about Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page or John Paul Jones. One example:
“Robert appeared on BBC Breakfast to promote the new album. And once again he seems to have said something casually insulting, and totally ludicrous, about his former bandmates.
(…) We’re told that Page and Jones ‘liked to play in E’ – fair enough so far – but ‘now I’m with people who can change key. There’s a little bar that you can put across the guitar’.”*
Robert Plant thinks he is funny and “his humor” would the best way to talk about his own past. He is wrong.
About BBC Breakfast, he is not a musician to talk like that. By the way, when he tries to play guitar he “becomes the joke” as it happened once (Rock n Roll Hall of Fame).**
In fact, his solo career would never be better than Led Zeppelin. When he really thinks about guitar’s sound, he never forgets Jimmy Page.
Doug Boyle played with Robert Plant. He said about it:
“I think there was a part of Robert that missed Jimmy an awful lot. He’d often say to me, ‘Jimmy would have done this’ or ‘Jimmy would have done that.’ It would always make me want to say, ‘Look, I’m not Jimmy. If you want him, go and get him.’ The two of them are like brothers. There’s something very, very deep there.”
It is the “freudian Robert Plant” again. He makes jokes and, at the same time, loves Led Zeppelin. He likes marketing. It means he uses Led Zeppelin every time he needs to promote a new album or when he needs to do concerts in South America.
In fact, Robert Plant is one of the best singers of rock and roll. However, he would not be famous if there is no Led Zeppelin. Does anybody remember Band of Joy (his band before Zeppelin)?
(*) http://forums.ledzeppelin.com/index.php?/topic/21981-robert-plant-interviewed-on-bbc-breakfast/
(**) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aFqjP1iuzY
PUNK ROCK
In the 1970s, rock music became a big business: millions of records sold, stadium shows for thousands of people and of course the result of all this was the rapid enrichment of bands such as The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.
It is easier to criticize than done. Jealousy also moves many people. In this context, it emerged (in England) the punk movement. As teenagers did not know how to play musical instruments, they invented the "Do It Yourself".
To call the attention of the press, they turned the rock idols in "decay dinosaurs" that were millionaires and famous. Their main targets were the most famous: Stones and Zeppelin.
At the time, the musicians of Led Zeppelin recorded three songs. One in particular, "Wearing and Tearing", Robert Plant, wanted it to be released immediately as "single" to show if the punks would be able to play "that." Jimmy Page had another idea. It should be from an EP of Led Zeppelin. In the end, only three songs were released (in 1982) as part of "Coda".
The punk movement was basically an English phenomenon in the late 1970s. It did not affect the trajectory of Led Zeppelin. 1979 was the year of the album "In Through The Out Door" - totally new songs with Zeppelin's own style (as if punk never existed).
The punk movement’s groups (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Generation X, among others) had attention of the media. Johnny Rotten spent all the time (in the 1970s) criticizing Mick Jagger. He would represent the image of decadent rock millionaire.
In January 1978, Rotten left the band. In 1979, bassist Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose. It was the end of the history of punk band.
However, in 1996, the musicians of Sex Pistols, who were no longer teenagers, decided to tour only to make money (what they criticized before). It was the "Filthy Lucre Tour". The irony was that Rotten still insisted on criticizing Jagger, as if he, singer of Sex Pistols, were not doing the same thing.
Billy Idol's "Generation X" loved to criticize the excesses of Led Zeppelin. In practice, however, he tried to live as 1970s icons, especially in the case of Jimmy Page.
Bebe Buell (mother of Liv Tyler) was one of Jimmy Page’s groupies. Years later, Billy Idol would come out with the same groupie.
Pamela Des Barres said about Page:
“Jimmy carried whips and liked to inflict some damage on the girls . He also developed a habit of visiting gay clubs dressed in Nazi uniform and applied heroine being surrounded by drag queens.”
What about punk rock?
. The sympathy for Nazism was copied (in a confused way) by punks as Sid Vicious.
. Billy Idol liked to have sex with transvestites (including photos available on the Internet).
In fact, the punk movement has never been taken very seriously. There was some quality - especially with The Clash - and there was "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Pistols" (1977). And that was it.
Foreword
I wrote some articles about Led Zeppelin between the years 2011 and 2015. I decided here gather all in one block. It is found either repeated quote to the extent that I wanted to defend a different idea. Still, I chose to keep everything as it was originally written. There may be contradictions, I do not care. What remains clear, however, is that I consider Led Zeppelin the greatest and the best rock band of the world.
Selmane Felipe de Oliveira © profelipe ™
. Jimmy Page and Peter Grant
. Guitar Army
. Golden Years
. The Rover
. Groupies
. Revenge
. The Power Station
. The “Freudian” Robert Plant
. Houses of The Holy
. The Seventies
. Past & Present
. Punk Rock
JIMMY PAGE AND PETER GRANT
Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were musicians studios, which provided services for many rock bands in the 1960s, such as The Rolling Stones and The Who, among others.
Robert Plant and John Bonham were not famous and they were quite young. Jimmy Page was founder and leader of Led Zeppelin. In the beginning, he was not sure about the kind of group he wanted: something more “folk” or some heavier stuff. However, when Page heard John Bonham for the first time, he would be defined the group’s sound.
The idea of forming the band came from a practical necessity: Jimmy Page was the Yardbirds guitarist and other musicians dropped out of the band and there were still concerts to do in Scandinavia. There was a contract. So he and the manager Peter Grant decided to call new musicians to the band.
The first shows were under the name New Yardbirds. There was another problem with the name (Led Zeppelin) when the band played in Germany at the beginning. A lady of the traditional family associated with the Zeppelin did not allow the use of that name on the shows in the country.
Jimmy Page and Peter Grant knew exactly what they wanted to Led Zeppelin. The real place for the band would be the United States. They knew they would have to work harder to build an identity for the group and to make money.
The money came from the albums and from the shows. There were nine tours (only in the United States) from 1968 to 1973.
Jimmy Page was already famous before Led Zeppelin. He (with Peter Grant’s experience) made a great deal with Atlantic Records.
Jimmy Page’s project was correct: after the second American tour, there was no doubt, everyone knew of Led Zeppelin fame.
Peter Grant has adopted some strategies: the group did not appear on television (which had a bad sound in the 1970s); the band would not be worried about singles (who wanted to hear the music, would have to buy the albums); “The Starship” (Led Zeppelin’s airplane) would give more freedom to the group in the United States; everyone should avoid the press and the musicians were untouchable (they could do anything as black magic, violence, sadomasochism, underage girls and orgies).
The second Led Zeppelin album was recorded on the road. A myth was born (heavy sound, sexual lyrics and “blues”).
There was no more “peace and love” of the sixties. It was a new decade with new styles to a new youth. Led Zeppelin and the seventies have become synonymous.
GUITAR ARMY
“Presence” is not an easy album to listen to. It was the first album I bought at the time. It was released in 1976.
When I said a bought the LP, a friend asked about the sticker of the album. I did not know about this detail and I bought it without the sticker.
Honestly I did not understand the music the first few times I heard the LP. A friend listened to the album and she said, “Man, I can not understand, it’s too heavy.”
On the other hand, when I lent the album to a party in the neighborhood, the guy who organized “the game” (that was the name used when there was a party at someone’s house) wanted to stay with LP. He understood the music. So I thought there was something very good in that album.
Another time, I lent the LP to a school friend and the guy disappeared. It took me months to get the album back (well scratched by the way). But I recovered the “Presence”. Over the years, I bought this album sometimes (vinyl and CD).
Only in college, after smoking “cannabis” offered by a colleague, finally I understood the LP. I was shocked. It was fantastic! It has become my favorite album of Led Zeppelin.
The first song became a “classic” of the Led Zeppelin. It was the best in what Jimmy Page called “guitar army”:
“The open track of the album would be its masterpiece: ‘Achilles Last Stand’ was the culmination of Jimmy’s desire to build multi-tracked harmonized guitars into a towering structure of movement and emotion. Its predecessors were 'Stariway To Heaven’, 'The Song Remains The Same’ and 'Kashimir’, and its inspiration was Moroccan travels. Jimmy deploys his myriad guitar voices over what Zeppelin connoisseurs came to consider John Bonham’s greats rhythm track.” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 185)
HP Newquist talked to Jimmy Page about the song. He called “the dizzying multiple layers of guitar overdubs.” (Guitar International, August 1998)* Page explained it in his own words:
“Well, ‘Achilles’ is the ultimate example of that. (…) When you’re doing an overdub, you’ve got to shape the sound in your head. That’s where I guess I’m lucky; it’s part of what I can do without a struggle, almost immediately. It’s probably experience, really, isn’t it? I’ve got a lot of experience.
(…) But ‘Achilles’ began as a bit that had come out of ‘Dazed and Confused,’ a live bit that we did. And I said to John Paul Jones that I’m going to put a rising scale over this. At the time, he said ‘Well, it can’t be done,’ and I said, ‘Oh yes it can. I know what it is.’ I didn’t even bother to play it but it was in my head from the point when we were first rehearsing it in Los Angeles. I remember the day it happened, and I knew what it was; I could just feel it. And then when I got in the studio I did it in harmony!
(…) I knew the scale and how the rest of it should go; or, rather, what I call a progression. I’ve never been into practicing scales, though I shouldn’t say that because I don’t want to discourage anyone from doing them, but I just did progressions. I mean, it could be a scale, but I think of them as progressions.” (Guitar International, August 1998)*
It was written on Songfacts** “Jimmy Page overdubbed 6 guitar tracks to create a huge sound.” I thought it was more than 6 different guitars. I was not the only one:
“Featuring some incredibly fast and powerful drumming from Bonham, a steamrollering bass line from Jones, played on an eight string bass, a typically mystical and imaginative lyric and vocal from Plant and no less than a dozen seperate guitar tracks from Page it is the archetypal embodiement of everything Zeppelin ever stood for.” (Martin Leedham, Mar 04 2012)***
Anyway, it doesn’t matter how many guitar tracks were on the song. The guitar army was there. And it was fantastic.
The problem was to play it alive in a concert. “Achilles Last Stand” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” were on the shows of Led Zeppelin. “For Your Life” was played once on Celebration Day (2007).
About the problem of guitar army alive in a concert, Jimmy Page said:
“‘Achilles’ is the classic one. When Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards came to hear us play, Keith said, ‘You ought to get another guitarist; you’re rapidly becoming known as the most overworked guitarist in the business.’ Quite amusing. There are times when I’d just love to get another guitarist on, but it just wouldn’t look right to the audience.” (§)
So Jimmy Page became “the most overworked guitarist” in the studio. Alive, there was never a second guitarist of Led Zeppelin.
(*) HP Newquist. Jimmy Page Interview: Bring it On Home. Guitar International. August 1998. http://guitarinternational.com/2010/08/20/bring-it-on-home-jimmy-page-walks-into-a-new-future-with-an-old-friend/
(**) Achilles Last Stand by Led Zeppelin. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=359
(***) Martin Leedham, Mar 04 2012. http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/led_zeppelin/presence/
(§) Dave Schulps Interview with Jimmy Page. October 1977. http://www.iem.ac.ru/zeppelin/docs/interviews/page_77.trp Apud, Wikipedia.
GOLDEN YEARS
The death of John Bonham more than the end of Led Zeppelin, it meant the end of an era.
Led Zeppelin was created by guitarist Jimmy Page and businessman Peter Grant. It came from the ashes of the Yardbirds.
John Bonham was very important in the group’s style choice: heavy sound, aggressive and professionalism.
With his death, Led Zeppelin could not continue it. At the time, it was made clear in a statement published in the press:
“The loss of four dear friend, and the deep sense of harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 210)
It was to be the end of history.
However, over the following decades, many people most could not accept the end of the symbol of the 1970s.
First, it was media speculation. Then, over time, even the original group musicians began to play the music of Led Zeppelin in their solo careers.
The inevitable came (for the first time) in 1985. It was Live Aid. It was the greatest moment of the festival. There were two more musicians: Phil Collins (who was the Robert Plant’s drummer at the time) and Tony Thompson. There was no time to rehearsal. The historical importance of the reunion was enough.
The anniversary of 40 Years of the Atlantic was in 1988. Again, without an appropriate rehearsal, the show was not at the level of what was the Led Zeppelin in concert. Jason Bonham was on drums.
In April 1990, there was another show. This was informal because it happened at the wedding of Jason Bonham.
In June of the same year (Classic Rock, January 2001, p. 42), Plant, Page and Jones played with drummer of Faith No More (Mike Bordin) to return with Led Zeppelin. It did not work. Jimmy Page did not approve the performance of Mike Bordin.
Page and Plant also made the project “No Quatter” for MTV, but without using the name of Led Zeppelin because there was no participation of John Paul Jones.
In 2014, in his interviews to promote the new editions of the albums of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page often make it clear that he would return to play with the band, but that resistance would come from Robert Plant.
Jimmy Page explains that the success of the “Celebration Day” in 2007 was possible because of weeks of rehearsals and because the musicians wanted to erase the bad impression left by the shows in 1985 and 1988.
It was correct.
Just watch the show or listen to CDs of “Celebration Day”.
Even so, you could not go on like Led Zeppelin, after all, there was no Peter Grant, the years have changed and the musicians were old (the voice Robert Plant was not the same anymore) .
The Led Zeppelin existed between 1968 and 1980. It was perfect. And that was it.
THE ROVER
I've always been a Led Zeppelin fan. There was a time that there was no LZ fan club in Brazil. So I decided to create “The Rover”, which was a quarterly fanzine. It existed between 1984 and 1986.
I typed the paper and translating the material. In the end, I put the sources and as thanks to those who helped me in that volume.
There were the "newsletters" too. They were sent (there was no Internet) when there was something special, like an interview or some last minute news. I signed a US newspaper called “Feathers in the Wind”, which was a major source of the updates of Zeppelin musicians.
The personal computer was rare in the period - 1984-1986. I studied English, French and German, but also committed many mistakes against the Portuguese - who appeared at The Rover. In Brazil, international bands concerts were very rare - what would change with the Rock in Rio in 1985. I was there to honor "the night of heavy metal" with Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and AC / DC.
The emergence of other Led Zeppelin fan clubs in Brazil and the end of “Feathers in the Wind” were the main factors that led me to finish the activities of The Rover.
GROUPIES
The musicians of Led Zeppelin were with the groupies in orgies (despite being married in England). Jimmy Page was, for example, lover of Lori Maddox when she was 14 years old. In the book “Hammer of Gods” appears Jimmy Page’s opinion about the groupies:
“The girls come and pose as starlets, teasing and acting arrogantly. There was no problem if you humiliate them a bit. Everyone knows what they came for.”
Sex was one thing. However, there was sadomasochism (SM) too. About SM, in an interview with Tony Barrell in 2010, the guitarist said:
“I’m sure some of your readers may have flirted with the SM. (,,,) I also have an appetite for all things of this world… or not…”
In fact, Jimmy Page did not deny his interest in SM. As he said, everyone “knew what they came for.” The musicians, of course, felt free to do anything with the groupies.
Girls knew Jimmy Page was into black magic and SM. He liked to use a Nazi SS Storm Trooper Hat at the Led Zeppelin’s concerts. It was public. It was also an accessory used in SM.
It was the seventies. Today, with so many restrictions on freedom of the individual , it would be difficult to find musicians and groupies act that way. Many musicians tried to be like Led Zeppelin (music and behavior). However, they failed.
REVENGE
Robert Plant, sometimes, doesn’t show respect to the past of Led Zeppelin. Why?
First, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were musicians with important works on records as groups The Rolling Stones or The Who. Jimmy Page was known for his experience with Yardbirds. When he formed Led Zeppelin, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. Once, Plant said:
“(…) he was really the master of Led Zeppelin. I was just chief whip.” (Guitar World, July 1986, p. 64)
John Bonham was young but he had his own style:
“According to (Jeff) Beck, Jimmy said: “Listen to this, listen to Bonzo, this guy called John Bonham. that I’ve got.’ When Beck heard the version, his heart sink. ‘I looked at him and said: ‘Jim, what?’ and the tears were coming out with anger.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 57)
Robert Plant was young too. However, he was critized. After the first U. S. tour, “the pop critics insulted his aria-like blues wails and his prissy, hyper-masculine posing. (…) Even Jimmy wasn’t absolutely positive about Robert. Cole recalls: ‘It was a very touch-and-go thing whether Robert would even be in the group after the first tour, because he didn’t quite seem to make it up to Page’s expectation. At the time, there was a possibility he wouldn’t do another tour. That was the truth.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p.64)
Robert Plant became a sex symbol. He and Jimmy Page were the stars of Led Zeppelin. After Bonzo’s death and the end of the band, Plant started his solo project with his first record “Pictures At Eleven”:
“(…) Robert took the tapes to Jimmy Page for approval. ‘It was very emotional,’ he later told an interviewer. ‘We just sat there and I sort had my hand on his knee, We were just sitting through it together. He knew that I’d gone, that I was off on my own with the aid of other people and just forging ahead, and all I wanted him to do was to do the same thing.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 213)
John Paul Jones didn’t like “Pictures At Eleven” and he told it to Robert Plant:
“Jonesy thought I could have done a lot better with the first record.” (Guitar World, p. 64)
The revenge of Zeppelin’s singer would come with the project of “No Quarter”. John Paul Jones said:
“It’s a Jimmy and Robert’s reunion. I’m sure they’ll be doing Zeppelin’s stuff, but they didn’t bother to ask me.” (Record Hunter, November 1994, p. 97)
What about Jimmy Page? The critics came to Coverdale-Page’s project. Robert Plant said:
“Page & ‘Coverdale’? It was ridiculous when ‘I’ did it…”(Vox, May 1993)
The cover of Rock World’s magazine (June 1993) was: “Zep Wars! Coverdale – Page – Plant (The interviews)” In fact, Jimmy tried to work with other musicians. Robert did it with his first record and said about Page: “(…) all I wanted him to do was to do the same thing.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 213) However, when the guitarrist tried to work, Plant didn’t respect his project.
Robert Plant said in 1993: “The idea that Led Zep would reform with Jason on the drums, though, is preposterous. What’s gone is gone.” (Vox, May 1993, p. 18) But in December 2007, he, Page, Jones and Jason did a concert with one and half hour under the name of Led Zeppelin.
“Whole Lotta Love” was one of the greatest song of the seventies (it was relesead in 1969). The music was perfect, but there was problems with the lyrics. Robert Plant:
“‘Whole Lotta Love’ did push rock ‘n’ roll another couple of steps. If the lyric hadn’t been stolen, the music would have been lesser for it. The mistake came in not crediting Dixion.
Page’s riff was Page’s riff. It was here before anything else. I just thought, ‘Well, what am I going to sing? That was it, a nick. (…) well, you only get caught when you’re successful. That’s the game.” (Musician, June 1990, p. 47)
This is Robert Plant. What more? It’s hard to say anything about the future. Probably Led Zeppelin is on the past and it was made by four musicians and Peter Grant. The master was Jimmy Page. Plant was right about it.
THE POWER STATION
While still attending college, I was very radical in terms of music. I loved heavy metal and I hated "pop music". That was until a friend talked about the Power Station in the university cafeteria. He was also a fan of Led Zeppelin. I said that he was wrong about the Power Station because there were Duran Duran’s musicians in the band. He insisted: "Man, I know, but this band is good and heavy."
I decided to listen the Power Station and I started to leave my musical prejudice aside. Then I published an ad in a Brazilian magazine and I wrote that wanted to have contact with people who liked certain groups, including the Power Station. To my surprise, I received several letters (there was no internet) with pictures of fans (girls) of Duran Duran. They were the “duranies”.
I loved it, of course, after all, some girls were very beautiful. At the time, I met with them especially in São Paulo. When Duran came to Brazil in 1988, I already knew everything about the band (I went to the show in Rio) and it was a special moment for everyone.
Basically, many people do not understand how someone who is a Led Zeppelin’s fanatic could hear a simple song as the Duran Duran's music. In my case, this was one of the reasons.
1985. The drummer of the Power Station was called Tony Thompson. When the musicians of Led Zeppelin decided to meet for the first time after the end of the group (at Live Aid project), they chose Thompson to be the drummer. Phil Collins also participated of the show because, for some reason, he wanted to participate in several concerts of the event.
After that, the musicians of Led Zeppelin rehearsed with Tony Thompson for a possible return of the group. The project was stopped after an accident suffered by Tony Thompson.
THE “FREUDIAN” ROBERT PLANT
Freud wrote about the importance of the father in the life of everyone. It was true about Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. On the early days, his father did not believe that Robert had a serious job.
Led Zeppelin was adored by millions of people. The musicians were millionaire. All this was not enough for the father of Robert.
“When, finally, the ‘Financial times’ article appeared [about the group], Robert excitedly put his arm round Danny’s shoulder and rasped: ‘My dad finally believes I’m a success. (…) Now he finally thinks I may have done the right thing not to become a chartered accountant.’” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of Gods, p. 140-141)
Unfortunately, it was not the end of the story. On the latter days, the luck of the band has changed. The son of Robert Plant died from a mysterious virus infection in 1977. His name was Karac. At that time, Robert’s father said:
“All this success and fame, what is the worth? It doesn’t mean much when you compare it to the love of a family.” (Chris Welch. The Story of Led Zeppelin. In.: HM Photo Book. London: Omnibus Press, 1983)
The young Robert Plant did not get the most important thing for him: the respect of his father. Nowadays he became an old Englishman. In 2009, Simon Cable ironically wrote a title for the Daily Mail: “Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant joins Establishment after accepting CBE from Prince Charles.”* Simon Cable wrote in the article:
“He was the bare – chested screamer who embodied the phrase sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Robert Plant was almost as renowned for his hellraising behaviour as for his performances with Led Zeppelin. But old rockers never die – they just end up at Buckingham Palace.”*
Robert still sings. He is famous and rich. However, about the history of respect…
(*) Simon Cable. Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant joins Establishment after accepting CBE from Prince Charles. Daily Mail, 10 July 2009. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1198901/Led-Zeppelins-Robert-plant-joins-Establishment-accepting-CBE-Prince-Charles.html
HOUSES OF THE HOLY
Today I would like to write some words about Led Zeppelin. I take two books: “Led Zeppelin” by Florence Rajon (Paris: Prelude et Fugue, 1997) and “Hammer of Gods” by Stephen Davis.
I open the books without any ideas about what I should write about the band. Coincidentally, with no intentions, I open Rajon’s book at the page 99, when he writes about the album of “Houses of the Holy” and the other book, I open at the page of 124, when Davis writes “They worked at Electric Lady with Eddie Kramer, mixing tracks like Houses of the Holy.”
I do not worry about “déjà vu” or coincidences. For some people, it would be some kind of strange.
Then I took the lyrics of Houses of the Holy:
“From the houses of the holy
We can watch the white doves go
From the door comes Satan’s daughter
And it only goes to show, you know
There’s an angel on my shoulder
(…) Let the music be your master
Will you heed the master’s call
Oh, Satan and man”
It reminds me (immediately) the French book about Led Zeppelin: “The inside of the cover, which depicts a man carrying a child at arm’s length, as an offering made to the deity of the ruined castle, intrigued fans who recognized the ominous death of Karac Plant four years later.” In French:
“L’intérieur de la pochette, qui représente un homme portant un enfant à bout de bras, comme une offrande présentée à la divinité du château en ruine, intrigua les fans qui reconnurent le sinistre présage de la mort de Karac Plant quatre ans plus tard.” (Florence Rajon, p.101)
There was no secret about mysticism of the group. However, there is a strange association between the image inside of the cover of the album – “a man carrying a child at arm’s length, as an offering made to the deity of the ruined castle” – and the words of the song saying: “Let the music be your master. Will you heed the master’s call? Oh, Satan and man.”
It does not mean the death of Karac Plant was the result of an image of an album or the consequence of the lyrics of a song. By the way, the music of Houses of the Holy would be appear only on the next album, Physical Graffiti.
A tragedy happens in the life of any person. Sometimes it is a mystery. But when a person is associated with mysticism, it is easier to explain the event as if it were an omen of bad luck. It was the case of led Zeppelin.
THE SEVENTIES
In the sixties, rock movement changed people’s comportment, but it did not change much about political relations. In the seventies, people seemed not to believe in revolution anymore. These were heavy metal and progressive music years. The music was more important than the lyrics. It was clear at the symphony sound of progressive rock and, in the other side, the ‘noise’ of the heavy metal groups. One example: Led Zeppelin. With the 5 minutes of The song remains the same, the lyrics were:
“I had a dream. Crazy Dream. Anything I wanted, anyplace I need to go. Hear my song. People won’t you listen now? Sing Along. You don’t know what you’re missing now. Any little song that you know. Everything that’s small has to grow. And it has to grow! California sunlight, sweet Calcutta rain. Honolulu star bright – the song remains the same. Sing out Hare Hare, dance the Hoochie Koo. City lights are so bright, as we go sliding… sliding… sliding through.”
What does it mean? Probably nothing. The important was the sound. Robert Plant’s voice was as an instrumental in this music and the meaning of the words was not essential. Some people could remember Stairway to Heaven or Rain Song, but here, as in the most progressive songs, the lyrics were about love or mystical meanings, not about what really happened in people’s life. With punk movement, in the late seventies, it was different. They were not musicians. It was just noise. They didn’t care. The important was the lyrics, the protest against the ‘old’ rock bands (as Led Zeppelin or Rolling Stones) and the rules of capitalist society. Punk was more than music. It was a way of life. The lyrics of Anarchy in the U.K.:
“I’m an antichrist
I’m an anarquist
I don’t know what I want But I know how I get it
I wanna destroy.”
Anarchism and rock music. Of course, this combination didn’t make punk a social movement, but, at least, it tried to put rock to what it was in the fifths: a music against rules. It was not only about the musicians. The behavior of the audience was important. It was true in the fifths and the seventies.
Punk was not the last movement of rock music – after that, there were different styles as disco music, new wave, hip hop and so on. Rock became important to the labels of music. Musicians became millionaires. Any new kind of music tried to change people’s ideas and, at the same time, it tried to make money as any capitalist industry.
By the way, it was the main problem: to use rock as protest became a way of making money. It sold almost everything: records, t-shirts, concerts, sodas… It worked as any product. Basically, rock music became mainstream. Young people of Woodstock were the parents in the eighties. They were different, of course, but rock and roll wasn’t a surprise or any symbol of protest. It was the decade of yuppies. Money was the only thing that mattered. Music as disco or new wave was their soundtrack.
In fact, lyrics of rock music never tried to show some left political views. There were some Bob Dylan’s songs, punk music and others, but they were not the majority. It doesn’t mean, however, that rock music did not changed the way of life in the second half of the twenty century.
PAST & PRESENT
It is not possible to fight against the past. Robert Plant should learn about that.
He likes to make jokes about Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page or John Paul Jones. One example:
“Robert appeared on BBC Breakfast to promote the new album. And once again he seems to have said something casually insulting, and totally ludicrous, about his former bandmates.
(…) We’re told that Page and Jones ‘liked to play in E’ – fair enough so far – but ‘now I’m with people who can change key. There’s a little bar that you can put across the guitar’.”*
Robert Plant thinks he is funny and “his humor” would the best way to talk about his own past. He is wrong.
About BBC Breakfast, he is not a musician to talk like that. By the way, when he tries to play guitar he “becomes the joke” as it happened once (Rock n Roll Hall of Fame).**
In fact, his solo career would never be better than Led Zeppelin. When he really thinks about guitar’s sound, he never forgets Jimmy Page.
Doug Boyle played with Robert Plant. He said about it:
“I think there was a part of Robert that missed Jimmy an awful lot. He’d often say to me, ‘Jimmy would have done this’ or ‘Jimmy would have done that.’ It would always make me want to say, ‘Look, I’m not Jimmy. If you want him, go and get him.’ The two of them are like brothers. There’s something very, very deep there.”
It is the “freudian Robert Plant” again. He makes jokes and, at the same time, loves Led Zeppelin. He likes marketing. It means he uses Led Zeppelin every time he needs to promote a new album or when he needs to do concerts in South America.
In fact, Robert Plant is one of the best singers of rock and roll. However, he would not be famous if there is no Led Zeppelin. Does anybody remember Band of Joy (his band before Zeppelin)?
(*) http://forums.ledzeppelin.com/index.php?/topic/21981-robert-plant-interviewed-on-bbc-breakfast/
(**) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aFqjP1iuzY
PUNK ROCK
In the 1970s, rock music became a big business: millions of records sold, stadium shows for thousands of people and of course the result of all this was the rapid enrichment of bands such as The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.
It is easier to criticize than done. Jealousy also moves many people. In this context, it emerged (in England) the punk movement. As teenagers did not know how to play musical instruments, they invented the "Do It Yourself".
To call the attention of the press, they turned the rock idols in "decay dinosaurs" that were millionaires and famous. Their main targets were the most famous: Stones and Zeppelin.
At the time, the musicians of Led Zeppelin recorded three songs. One in particular, "Wearing and Tearing", Robert Plant, wanted it to be released immediately as "single" to show if the punks would be able to play "that." Jimmy Page had another idea. It should be from an EP of Led Zeppelin. In the end, only three songs were released (in 1982) as part of "Coda".
The punk movement was basically an English phenomenon in the late 1970s. It did not affect the trajectory of Led Zeppelin. 1979 was the year of the album "In Through The Out Door" - totally new songs with Zeppelin's own style (as if punk never existed).
The punk movement’s groups (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Generation X, among others) had attention of the media. Johnny Rotten spent all the time (in the 1970s) criticizing Mick Jagger. He would represent the image of decadent rock millionaire.
In January 1978, Rotten left the band. In 1979, bassist Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose. It was the end of the history of punk band.
However, in 1996, the musicians of Sex Pistols, who were no longer teenagers, decided to tour only to make money (what they criticized before). It was the "Filthy Lucre Tour". The irony was that Rotten still insisted on criticizing Jagger, as if he, singer of Sex Pistols, were not doing the same thing.
Billy Idol's "Generation X" loved to criticize the excesses of Led Zeppelin. In practice, however, he tried to live as 1970s icons, especially in the case of Jimmy Page.
Bebe Buell (mother of Liv Tyler) was one of Jimmy Page’s groupies. Years later, Billy Idol would come out with the same groupie.
Pamela Des Barres said about Page:
“Jimmy carried whips and liked to inflict some damage on the girls . He also developed a habit of visiting gay clubs dressed in Nazi uniform and applied heroine being surrounded by drag queens.”
What about punk rock?
. The sympathy for Nazism was copied (in a confused way) by punks as Sid Vicious.
. Billy Idol liked to have sex with transvestites (including photos available on the Internet).
In fact, the punk movement has never been taken very seriously. There was some quality - especially with The Clash - and there was "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Pistols" (1977). And that was it.