Re: in Fact, it Revolves around the Zep

[cathy kelty <catharinak@xxxxxxxxxx>]

 Tim, that's so strange, because I was thinking much the same thing
  yesterday.  Driving around, had the O2 show on.  Jimmy's playing is
  this bright crystalline beam of light, just blows my mind every
  time.  JPJ - he's so rarely talked about, I believe because he's just
  perfect.  What can you say after "that's perfect?"  Jason is not
  Bonzo, who was on such another level that of course no one is Bonzo,
  but he did his best and I believe with familiarity and consistent
  playing together, the "ogasmic sympatico" :-)  of the original group
  could be attained.  And I thought, what more does Plant want?

  Let me quickly add, he has every right to want what he wants, it's
  just - ?  Clearly the others were willing to accomodate him, look at
  Jimmy's complete curtailment of STH's guitar parts. At the O2 the
  song became a platform for Plant's voice, rather than the ridiculous
  display of guitar and spiritual virtuosity it usually is.

  Pure conjecture on my part, but I think there are a few of things
  going on.  One, Plant was a very young man when he worked with
  Zeppelin, hungry, willing to go to the ends of the earth.  He's
  literally been there, done that and gotten several of the tee
  shirts.  He may put it in a manner that's sometimes annoying, but it
  remains true that reaching that again is probably not in the cards at
  the age of 60.  Not to mention, how many Led Zeppelins are there?  No
  one has ever been able to touch them.

  Also, his voice is wonderful but it isn't what it used to be, in
  fact, it hasn't been what it used to be since about 1974 or so.  Just
  a fact of nature, not a slam.

  What he wasn't in that band was The Lead.  Most bands work around the
  lead singer, or else, the lead guitarist gets his or her moments in
  the sun and might be a co-lead.  In Zeppelin (and please, your milage
  may vary and I respect that) to my mind Plant came in at slot # 4.
  Yes, he was privileged to work with that group of musicians, and he
  kept up with them most of the time, but he was also cursed to work
  with that group of musicians.  It's his blessing, it's his curse. :-)

  "Keeping up" is hard work.  In any other band too, well, either it
  wouldn't have worked because he was an overwhelming force of nature
  himself and the other musicians wouldn't be able to keep up with HIM,
  the wild young man with the prodigous voice, or he would have been
  the unquestioned star.  Being # 4 in the musical sense had to be
  grating, after a time.  (For flamboyance I'd certainly put him at #
  1.)

  Throw in the horrible accident and the tragedy of losing his young
  son while on the road, the end of his marriage, and the loss of Bonzo
  for which I can't believe they all didn't feel somewhat guilty... and
  I do understand why he would never feel good about working with them
  again.  Personally I believe making it work would be one of the most
  healing things I've ever witnessed in life, and a great homage to
  John Bonham, and Jimmy's due.  That's the reason so many people are
  invested in it (besides the music). But, I can hardly put him down
  for being utterly gun shy.  And in fairness, he hasn't been, he has
  worked with them again.

  I spend way too much time thinking about this stuff... :-)

  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  To dare, to will, to remain silent is magic...

  Feb 26, 2009 05:50:06 PM, tcdruck@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

    I've often thought that if I ever appear on Letterman, I want the
    band
    to play me in starting at Bonzo's drum lead into the final
    section of
    Heartbreaker - that next 60 seconds may be the absolute hardest
    Zeppelin
    ever played in the studio, just sheer, raw power and Robert
    screaming...  work so hard I can't unwind, get some money
    saved...

    It gives me chills to think about what it must have been like to
    be
    Robert Plant, and cuts to the quick of something I don't
    understand
    about Robert to this day.  There are very few people who've ever
    had the
    privilege of knowing, every single day, that they're going
    onstage that
    night with the most powerful band in the world behind them.  I
    can't
    overstate what that means to a singer - I've played some shows
    with some
    shaky bands from time to time.  To know, every night, that your
    band is
    going to tear the roof off the joint and all you have to worry
    about is
    keeping up?  That's when being in a band is the most fun, when
    you can
    get out there and really let loose.  Why wouldn't you want to be
    in that
    band forever?  It's the most powerful feeling in the world,
    Golden Gods
    and wanting to screw the whole first row and all that wrapped up
    into
    one - my three buddies are the flat-out, cat's ass, full-throttle
    Hammer
    of the Gods and I have the *privilege* of singing with them every
    night.  Why wouldn't you want to feel that way again?  I'll never
    get
    over it, never be the same.  And I never sang for Led Zeppelin.

    TimD