What does Oomrah fruit mean?

[Ana Madani <madania@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Many have noted the edit WLL from the '71 performances on the BBC
>set.  I also noticed an edit on Communication Breakdown at the
>Playhouse Theater in '69...  on my bootlegs, Robert cuts into
>"It's your thing, do what you wanna do...".  I've always liked
>that little part, and it's beens snipped from the Atlantic
>release.  

Those pesky little copyright permission/royalty details, perhaps?

The VH1 special finally gets approval:

>John Paul made a comment along the lines of "I'd tell you to listen to the
>bootleg, but Robert would kill me!".  Is Plant still against the idea of
>bootlegs?  Is he still an obstacle in getting live material out to the
>public?

I'm not a mind-reader (nor do I play one on TV), but I got the impression
JPJ was referring to something specific on that particular Earls Court show
(all of which I believe are commonly available in trading circles), maybe
to how good his NQ solo sounded (he *does* hate false modesty, you know).

Anyway, here's Plant's position on bootlegs (from the '95 Rockline interview):

"I think it's great, because I collect bootlegs myself--I got some great
Tim Buckley stuff recently--and I mean, I'm not really interested in my own
live performances.  I just like to play and forget about it....  But the
thing is--we saw the Grateful Dead not too long ago, and  I thought it was
really admirable the fact that, behind the sound desk where you couldn't
sell seats, that they'd got boom stands with microphones and so everybody
could please themselves if they wanted to tape it. And I think maybe we
could use that as a point when we do shows too, so that people could come
and tape it.  There's no point in being precious about it, you know."

This is from a guy who supposedly wanted a lot of his own between-song
patter cut from the officially released BBC sessions.  Make what thou wilt
of  it.

[BTW, I saw a Tim Buckley live in Boston in 1969 bootleg at a record show
recently.  It was a 2 CD set, for $20.  Worth it?  If you have any idea,
e-mail me.]

>I am actually afraid that Jimmy and Robert are burnt out and that they
>just don't have the creative reservoirs that they used to. If that is
>the case, then I'd selfishly like them to just stop now. I don't want to
>see Elvis get fat, I really don't. Even more, I'd love them to blast my
>fears away with a mind altering new album.

If the insider's reports on the TBL web page are any indicator, it's going
to be just that.  As for creative reservoirs, well, let's face it: P/P (and
JPJ too) are getting older, and it's an irreversible process.  Maybe when
people start getting older, they don't really stop being creative, but they
begin expressing it in slightly different ways.  It's not that it's gone;
it's just different.  I don't think, for instance, Robert Plant in 1968
would have been able to write a lyrics like Wonderful One; it takes a
different perspective that only comes through experience and maturity, and
the ability to move on from where one was before.  On a tangent, I really
have to wonder at people who make comments about "aging rockers"--I believe
one of the main sneers at younger blues guitarists is that you can't really
play blues until you've lived them.  Thus, people like Page and Keef should
be just hitting their prime.  But all you hear about is "oh, those old
wrinkly rockers, why don't they just go away?"  I read a comment recently
that Richards made to the effect that if he were black, people would be
celebrating the fact that he's still around and really enjoy his music
instead of just complaining about how old he is.  It was a damn good point,
I thought. ["Do ya like James Brown?"] 

The upshot of  all this is that if you can enjoy and appreciate the
differences between LZ I and In Through The Out Door (and I wouldn't leave
out the subsequent solo material or NQ by any means), I think you'll be
able to do the same for the new album. Let's all just bear in mind that
they aren't Led Zeppelin anymore and aren't trying to be, shall we?

It's all in how you look at it, I guess.  In my opinion there are links to
what came before in both Page's and Plant's solo material, and we'll
probably hear some of those, both lyrically and musically.  For instance,
FoN was a somewhat serious album, but there's a lot of humour in there too.
 Same for the C/P album--some of it's serious, but a lot of it's just for
fun.  But in the music there's also an indication of what may come, since
what they do then is move the sound forward and push the envelope to make
it distinctive.  Yallah is a challenging number for most Western listeners,
but there are links in there.

> ...as I was pumping Irony.

Not Ira Gershwin?  Oh, no, that was the 1988 shows and--well, never mind.

Now there's another song I'd like to hear P/P do live if they ever play
each other's solo material again.  It'd be great to hear Page play his own
solo on that track live instead of hearing the various guitarists from
Plant's solo lineups butcher it (just my opinion here).   But then again,
since Phil Johnstone wrote it, it'll probably never happen.  Ah well.

>2. Last night I dreamed that Ana Madani was doing the "Dance of the Seven 
>Veils" in a coffeehouse in Cairo while "Four Sticks" from the Bombay 
>Sessions wailed in the background.

I prefer the Unledded version  myself.

> I was sitting in the front row at a 
>table with Theolyn and the Aimsta, both dressed in their finest harem 
>outfits. I was wearing a white cotton seersucker suit with an Indiana Jones 
>fedora. The hooka pipe was smoking, the black coffee was flowing and the 
>diamond in Madani's navel was sparkling. Sweet dreams are made of this...

What, no floral print blouses, plaid trousers, chunky jewelry or oreo
shoes?  And you call yourself a Zephead!

I'm afraid I have to hock the diamond--I need to catch up on the cable bill
before Friday.

Can't pretend that growing older never hurts.... ;-),
Ana

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"War between sexes may be a valid way of life for some 
 but it has to be profoundly stupid"
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