Momentary return from lurkdom

[WMcCue@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

1. Hi Kim, how's it going? Oh wait, this is a public digest. Sorry about 
that! Never mind.

2. Diane, you're a treat. Please stay. Whoops, there's another one that 
should have been private.

3. Ah, hello?

4. Billy O's back! Nice thread.

But come clean, Billy, I bet deep down you really love that "sha-na-na-na, 
sha-na-na-na-na-na!" fade out on "SouthBound Saurez." 

Knocking "Tea For One?" I've killed for less. Electric blues deluxe. Did 
you know Percy wrote the lyrics in the lobby of a hotel in New York City? I 
love Page's solo. And it reminds me of my baby. "Sitting...looking at the 
clock...Time moves so slow...I've been watching for the hands to 
move...Until I...Just can't look now more..." Shivers!

So Billy, what you're saying is that Achilles, For Your Life and Nobody's 
Fault are the only good tunes on Presence? Are you sure you don't work for 
Rolling Stone?

Candy Store Rock, Royal Orleans & Hots on for Nowhere are the three 
funkiest tracks Zeppelin ever recorded. Hands down, no question. Bonzo 
NEVER played better. Check out the groove he lays down behind the verse 
that goes "Lost on the path to attainment..." I defy any other drummer to 
play that part.

I like most of them, but "Your Time is Gonna Come" is a pretty dumb song. 
"Lying, cheating, hurting, that's all you seem to do...." Barf!!!

Last word on the subject. I love "I'm Gonna Crawl." The cheese is extra 
thick (those "strings," those lyrics!), the vocal is heartbreaking and then 
Pagey stands up from his place in the orchestra to deliver a good old 
fashioned solo. Check out Bonzo's bass drum work towards the end. "People I 
just don't care how far!!!" The "adult" Led Zeppelin. A precursor of what 
could have come next.

5. There's an interview with Chris Squire out there in back issue land in 
which Squire implies that Page was too smacked out to be included in the 
XYZ project. Not sure in which rag this article appeared.

6. Anyone have any info on the origin/editor of Pure Blues fanzine?

7. The Page and Plant Tour! Sponsored by Lancome, Rogaine and Metamucil 
(sp?).

8. Connie, I think Percy left his voice in Japan during the Fall '92 tour. 
One more reason to damn those Japanese to a life burning in flames. Check 
out the 10-2-72 show - Dancing Days/No Use Greco bootleg - for his final 
attempts at reaching the high notes. Clearly not a performance on par with 
those halcyon days (Hello Dave Lewis!). He's hideous at the beginning of 
the show, is tolerable midway through and then finishes strong. 

Percy came to grips with his new mid-range approach by the time they got 
back to the UK for the Winter 92/93 dates. I think he sounds decent on 
12-22-72, for example. There were still lots of "narrative" (Luis Rey's 
term) performances due to the flu, coke abuse, etc., but I think he was 
starting to get comfortable with his "new" voice. It's a shame that his 
propensity for doing coke, smoking cigarettes and getting caught in bad 
weather took such an obvious toll on his gift. 

For those who find this thread interesting, rumor has it a gunslinging 
guitarist from New England is at work on a feature article for one of the 
Zep fanzines, detailing the demise of Plant's voice. The article culminates 
with a paragraph on the deliciously bad performance in Tempe, AZ at the end 
of the 77 tour. I hear that paragraph alone is worth the price of the 
issue.

9. Back to work. Bye for now!

10. Wait, one more thing! I've read commentary that describes Peter Grant 
as a shrewd businessman and a critical member of the Zep team. I couldn't 
disagree more. I'm sure the guys were far richer financially for his 
efforts, but look at the price they eventually paid. Two members of the 
band wound up as junkies, one dead. The singer lost his voice. (I think 
Plant was a victim of Grant's "the show must go on" mentality. Many of the 
gigs in 73 and 75 should have been re-scheduled.) He also comes off like a 
fathead in the Song Remains the Same, crying about a bunch of pathetic 
posters. Discuss...

11. One more thing, don't you love it when Jean asks a question, gets an 
answer from someone, dismisses their response and then winds up answering 
her own question? I love that more than life itself.

12. I can't stay away! Hello, my name is Billy. I'm a Zeppelin freak and I 
love every song they ever did. Except Your Time is Gonna Come, which is 
like fingernails on Jean's blackboard.

13. Hey Rob, is your nickname Mary, Mary Quite Contrary?

Love,
Billy