Re: New Book About Zeppelin

[Buckeye <buckeye@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 5 Jun 2001, Daniel Barron wrote:

> The June 4 New Yorker magazine has a small blurb about an upcoming 
> book
> about Zeppelin entitled "In the Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin 
> and the
> Power of Rock Music."
>

Yes, this book has been in the works for about 5 years.  This book was
written by a former DGer, Susan Fast.  I got an advanced copy of the 
book
about a month ago, and I've been meaning to write a review.  So I 
guess
there's no time like the present!

This book, published by th Oxford University Press (list: paper 
$19.95;
cloth $55.00), is not your typical book about Led Zeppelin.  This 
book is
very deep and involved, much further than the usual fan would 
normally go.
I think that the average male Led Zeppelin fan who just likes to 
crank it
up, pop open a beer and light a doobie is not going to appreciate this
book as much as some.  To get a preview of this book, go here:

http://www.findarticles.com/m2298/3_17/62052926/p1/article.jhtml?cf=0

Susan's writing in this book resembles a college textbook.  She deeply
analyzes such issues as gender and sexuality, myths and rituals, 
eastern
and blues music influences, the physicality of the music and the use 
of
the body in live performances.  Sometimes I found myself thinking 
"Wow, I
never thought of that before", while other times I though "Yeah...., 
so
what?"  She examines several songs, both musically and lyrically, and
assigns full chapters to them (D&C Kashmir, StH and WLL).  I found 
myself
reaching for my dictionary on more than a couple times in reading this
book, so I actually learned new words.   Susan draws on her formal 
musical
training in some of her music analysis and I get rather lost when she
starts talking about Robert's tessitura!  Susan does a very good job 
about
seperating her fandom from her purpose - she doesn't let her love for 
the
band get in the way of the analysis.

This book is highly footnoted and references many people and works.  
Some
of the people mentioned in the book include our own Wendy Annibell, 
Jeremy
Mixer and Chris Williams.  Something that I really enjoyed is that 
Susan
interviewed John Paul Jones and he gives us some fresh insight into 
how
Led Zeppelin made music and other things I had not read before.

This book is a beefy 288 pages on 8.5" x 11" pages (at least my page
proofs are).  My copy does not contain the pictures, which are to be
unreleased concert photos (some by Wendy Annibell and Marty Perez).  
The
slated publication date is August 2001.

This book isn't for just any Led Zeppelin fan.  If the "socio-cultural
issues" of the band is your cup of tea, then you will love this 
book!!!
And at the risk of being stereo-typical, I think that girls will like 
this
book more than boys.  If you are the type that has to read everything
about the band, then you'll be happy, because this book has quite a 
few
new angles, and looks at quite a few things that have never been 
looked at
before (with respect to other Led Zep writings).  This is NOT a 
re-hash of
Stephen Davis - NOT even close!  I do think I like this book, but I 
would
rather have it read a little bit more like Creem magazine, and a 
little
less like the Physician's Desk Reference.  To me, the book is worth
reading, alone, based on the fact that there are so many things that 
she
touches on that I would have never even dreamed of thinking about.  If
there ever was a college class on Led Zeppelin, this certainly would 
be
the textbook!

I give the book 4 out of 5 stars.

Once this book is available, I will have a link on my webpage for
ordering.  Or, you can pre-order the book at Amazon, here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195117565/qid=3D991789063/sr=3D1-1/ref=3Dsc_b_1/102-3784007-9223328


- -Bruce the Buckeye
  
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