JPJ Strikes Again

[Dan Barron <dbarron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Story courtesy Reuters/Variety

By Gary Graff

DETROIT (Reuters) - When Led Zeppelin made its first trip to the BBC
Studios in London during March of 1969, it was a young band with one
album done, a second on the way and a buzz based on guitarist Jimmy
Page=27s tenure with the Yardbirds and bassist John Paul Jones=27 lengthy
session credits.

The group=27s sound was primal and raw and not completely formed. It=27s
first selections were sledgehammer cover versions of the blues great
Willie Dixon=27s =22You Shook Me=22 and =22I Can=27t Quit You Baby.=22

But even the casual ear could pick up a special, distinctive chemistry
that was bubbling under the standard 12-bar changes.

And within two years, the group was wending its way through the shifting
dynamics of its opus, =22Stairway to Heaven,=22 as well as intricate
acoustic pieces such as =22Going to California=22 and =22That=27s the =
Way.=22

This rapid growth is traced on =22BBC Sessions,=22 a new release of
frequently bootlegged material from the Led Zep archives and a more
complete chronicle of the legendary quartet=27s performance prowess than
the soundtrack album from the 1976 film =22The Song Remains the Same.=22

=22That is a natural process, obviously, of just playing a lot together;
you get closer and closer, you get to anticipate each other=27s moves,=22
says Jones, explaining that while he and guitarist Jimmy Page were
seasoned professionals when the group performed, singer Robert Plant and
drummer John Bonham -- whose death in 1980 led to the band=27s dissolution
- -- didn=27t have much big-time experience.

=22I think what you=27re hearing is the maturation of the other two more
than us,=22 he says.

Jones acknowledges that performing on BBC programs such as =22Top Gear,=22
=22Chris Grant=27s Tasty Pop Sundae,=22 =22One Night Stand=22 and =22In =
Concert=22
were major gigs for rock bands.

The Beatles, Rolling Stones and other groups made several significant
appearances on the BBC, often as a way of getting around the national
network=27s sticky =22needle time=22 rules, which permitted disc jockeys =
only
so much time each day to play records -- thereby limiting exposure for
rock bands.

But in Led Zeppelin=27s case, the BBC dates also provided the group with
an opportunity to give the listening audience a taste of how its songs
evolved after they were recorded.

=22We were allowed to expand and play five-, six-, seven-minute songs,=22
says Jones, 51, who was born John Baldwin and became a professional
musician at age 16. =22The albums were always the starting point of the
music, and then we=27d take it out and expand it on the road.

=22And then we=27d come straight off the road and into those studios. So =
the
fire in the playing was particularly noticeable, and the cockiness was
there.=22

The BBC outings also allowed the band to play some of its blues and
rocks favorites by other artists. The Beatles=27 =22Live at the BBC=22 =
album
was filled with covers, and besides the Dixon cuts, =22BBC Sessions=22 =
finds
Zep working its way through Eddie Cochran=27s =22Something Else=22 and =
Sleepy
John Estes=27 =22The Girl I Love.=22

Jones says these were songs done mostly =22for fun,=22 but that in the =
early
days of the band they also served a more pragmatic purpose.

=22We started putting them in in the early days, when the act wasn=27t =
that
long,=22 he remembers. =22It all kind of started in Boston, I think, at =
the
Tea Party, when we had a very short act, and we played for an awfully
long time. Anybody that knew more than four bars of anything would start
it, and we would all just join in.

=22But it was fun, mainly. You=27re not trying to be like, =27Hey, this is =
a
new angle=27 or a different interpretation.=27 We weren=27t that pretentiou=
s.=22


Jones says the idea for =22BBC Sessions=22 was hatched during the meetings
he, Page and Plant regularly have to sort through Led Zeppelin business.


The musicians culled the song list from four broadcasts during 1969 and
1971, deciding to duplicate some songs -- such as =22Dazed and Confused=22
and the Dixon tunes -- to further illustrate the group=27s musical
development.

The 1971 =22In Concert=22 broadcast from London=27s Paris Theatre was
particularly noteworthy, since it features a preview of =22Stairway to
Heaven=22 and other songs from Zep=27s then-forthcoming fourth album. But
Jones says he remembers nothing particularly momentous about that
performance.

=22It was recognized as a good song and a good track, but it didn=27t go
down half as well as the stuff the audience knew,=22 he says. =22That=27s =
the
way of live shows, anyway.=22

The release of =22BBC Sessions=22 raises the question of whether more
concert material from the Zep archives is on the horizon. Page and =22BBC
Sessions=22 engineer Jon Astley have both alluded to other available
recordings, but Jones says there are no firm plans for additional
releases.

=22These live tapes pop up rather than come from a great big store we=27re
going to release bit by bit,=22 says Jones, who=27s planning a solo album
for 1998 while Page and Plant are working on another album together.

=22You come across this stuff. This one kind of appeared while we were
doing other Zeppelin business.=22

Jones adds that he meets =22too often=22 with Page and Plant on residual =
Zep
business matters. His relationship with the two has been strained since
the singer and guitarist reunited in 1994 without inviting Jones or
telling him about it. Feelings soured further when they named their
album =22No Quarter,=22 after one of Jones=27 Zep compositions.

=22I felt, not stupid, but ... why? Why doesn=27t somebody just say
something. Just say, =27We don=27t want you,=27 or whatever,=22 he says. =
=22I
really don=27t mind. It just seems so spineless to sort of crawl away.=22

Jones got even at Zep=27s 1995 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame, when he thanked his former bandmates for =22remembering my (phone)
number.=22 The zinger remains a highlight of Hall of Fame lore, and Jones
remembers Neil Young, who jammed with Zep that night, poking Page and
Plant in the ribs and admonishing them, =22don=27t you forget his phone
number ever again.=22

However, Jones acknowledges, the episode has put a chill in their
relationship.

=22I find it hard to talk about, and they certainly don=27t want to talk
about it,=22 says the married father of three grown daughters. =22I know
Page certainly looks at me a bit funny sometimes. I think Robert=27s in
another world; I don=27t know what he thinks anymore. And we were close.
It seems just odd.=22

Page and Plant each declined to respond to Jones=27 comments. That said,
there=27s still a chance that the three might reunite for Atlantic
Records=27 50th anniversary bash last year, as they did for the company=27s=

40th anniversary celebration. But Jones makes no promises.

=22I don=27t know; it=27ll be funny doing anything with them again,=22 he =
says.
=22I kind of hope I don=27t have to. I don=27t know what more I can tell =
you
about that. I would rather not, to be honest.=22
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
(Gary Graff is a nationally syndicated journalist who covers the music
scene from Detroit. He also is the supervising editor of the
award-winning =22MusicHound=22 album guide series.)

Reuters/Variety