Re: Plant spiel 77

[TangerineMan <tangerineman@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jerry writes
 
> Some funny Plantations before TYH 5-18-77 (a beautiful solo near the end of
> it!): "So we decided that we'd look through the material... and never tried
> to do on stage before, and see if we can adapt some of it for you might say
> a four piece band playing with six people. So we didn't get Willy
> Preston???,

Did he really say "Willy"? I don't have 5/18, but it wouldn't surprise me
coming from Plant... Anyway, it's definitely a reference to Billy Preston,
who became the "fifth Beatle" when he was invited to join the band in studio
in January '69 for the what eventually became the "Let It Be" sessions. As
mentioned in the "Anthology" documentary, it was a wise move: the best way
to stop internal bickering in a band (and it was rampant within the Fab Four
by that time) is to bring in another player--voilà, the others are all of a
sudden on their best behaviour so as to welcome the newcomer into the fold.
 
> 1. What if Zep had reformed in 77 to have six people? Then it might have
> survived. Pagey and Plant might have trained acolytes to gradually take
> over.

But then it wouldn't have been Zeppelin--see the other debate ongoing at
this moment.

I've seen articles and book chapters that mention Page was always reluctant
to share the spotlight and bring in a second guitarist for live
work--although it would certainly have filled out their sound. He was always
worried about being upstaged, even looking askance at JPJ's decision to use
the eight-string Alembic bass, fearing it would drown out his guitars.
Jonesy was right to bring in the instrument, though. It helped to compensate
for gaps that a second guitarist would have filled, and IMO it also helped
draw attention away from the fact that Page's tone was becoming reed-thin
(much like the guitarist himself).

Lewis & Pallett's "The Concert File," in a sidebar on p. 43, claims "there
were vague talks of adding a fifth member for live performances. Although
the discussions never developed, Peter Grant remembers that Keith Emerson
was mentioned as a possible candidate. 'There was also a rumour that made
Brian Lane, the manager of Yes, very paranoid,' recalled Grant. 'And that
was that we were going to get Chris Squire to join on bass and move John
Paul to keyboards permanently. That was never a serious consideration
though.'"
> 
> 2. I've often felt that there is some hostility in the back of Plant's
> banter about Jonesy--"what an old wanker" from 6-21-77 comes to mind.

There was definitely some ribbing going on all the time, often accompanying
the introduction of Jones prior to "No Quarter." Today Plant would probably
claim it was good-natured, but I'm fairly sure Jones doesn't remember it the
same way. Although he wouldn't hold a grudge--he's not the type--there's
probably some lingering resentment. In his December 2001 interview with
Steve "The Lemon" Sour of LZ History fame, Jonesy remarks that Plant had a
sexist and homophobic attitude that came through in his onstage banter.

Remember, though, Plant used to diss Bonzo onstage a fair bit as well. But
the two were lifelong buddies and so Bonham probably took it well. For the
more patrician Jones, it may well have been a different story.