It Might Get Loud

And it definitely does. Well worth the price of admission. While you may not agree with the choice of guitarists it's a great look at three different generations and what inspired and inspires them. Each of them take a walk back through their early days early influences. The deleted scenes are nearly as long again as the main feature.

I came away with a greater respect for Jack White. I just didn't get him before this but now I see that he and Page are not that far apart musically. Watch for the scene where White writes and records ( on an old 8 track no less) a song for the cameras. There are musicians who spend weeks in the studio trying to capture what White got down on that tape in a short period of time.

The best part was the look on Jack White and The Edge when Page ripped into "Whole Lotta Love". Like kids at a candy store.

Sonic Boom

Frank Reddon's book is finally out. I got it the other day and I'm about 40 pages in. For those not "in the know" it's about Led Zeppelin and the impact of their first year or so. Reddon interviewed musicians and fans who were there for the book.

Here's a link: Enzepplopedia

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The Song Remains The Same

It's been updated and restored. I doubt there is anyone who hasn't heard this yet. It's out now and on my wish list for Christmas.

I remember going down to the Broadway Cinema when I was in high school to catch it when it played. Back in my day repertory theatres were the only way to catch movies a second time around. No vhs or dvd rentals then. That's something my kids will never understand, or ever enjoy probably. There was something really exciting about catching the midnight showing of TSRTS or Rocky Horror Picture Show ( Yeah, I was there in the back row. Didn't dress up though, not quite that fanatical).

Anyhow, TSRTS is one of my all time favourite concert movies. Sure, Robert's voice isn't up to par and maybe Jimmy was off sometimes, but the whole vibe of the movie hasn't faded for me over the years. It still smokes now as it did then.

Beginning of a classic combination

In mid-August of 1965 Jimmy Page was the house producer for the newly formed Immediate Records. Jimmy played a huge part in getting John Mayall in for a recording session with his hot new guitarist, Eric Clapton. Eric brought his recently acquired gear along to the session. A Les Paul that he purchased from Lew Davis's guitar shop sometime in May, as well as a Marshall amplifier.

The sound from this combination so horrified the engineer he turned off the machine, saying it was unrecordable. He couldn't believe anyone wanted a sound like that. Page persuaded him to turn it back on and he would take full responsibility and history was made. The Mayall single "I'm Your Witch Doctor" was the result. Page has stated in interviews that Clapton deserves all the credit for the creation of that Les Paul/Marshall sound.

This is out of the Strange Brew book that I have been reading. It's fascinating to see all the interaction of the players and bands as the time goes along. The book lists not only live shows but who was there. Peter Green saw Mayall with Clapton and was inspired to purchase a Les Paul for himself. I don't think I need to tell anyone how that went. Jack Bruce ended up playing with John Mayall and Clapton because Ginger Baker wanted him out of the band that he was in previously. Clapton knew Steve Winwood from impromptu jam sessions on stage with Spencer Davis.

I have always been interested in where these musicians come from. When I was younger they just seemed to come from nowhere. This book is highly addictive.

Jimmy Page Signature EDS1275

I would like my den to look like this, but it doesn't. This is the first run of the Page Signature. These are aged to look like the original. I count 26 so I assume Jimmy gets his choice and the other 25 will list for $33,500. Way too much money for me but I predict, like the 25 aged custom shop LP signatures, they will increase in value from the starting gate.

From all accounts just beautiful guitars but the Epiphone banner in the back kind of ruins the picture, for me anyways.

Dazed And Confused - The Yardbirds

A Yardbirds take on this song. Different lyrics though. I always knew that Page carried over a fair amount of stuff from this group but never really knew specifics. It's interesting to see how much was kept for the Zeppelin version and what changed.

If you haven't noticed..

I am heavily into Les Pauls. Love 'em. I was cruising around my computer yesterday and found a few pictures.



This is the one on the top left of my blog ( I know it's obvious, but I thought I would say it anyway). That's Jimmy's #1 on the left. I love the mis-matched look of the top with one side darker than the other. To me a Les Paul is a guitar done right. Big thick mahogany body, maple cap and mahogany neck. There is not another style or combination that comes close.



If I remember correctly this guitar was literally found under a bed in Germany. Absolutely dead mint with all the case candy. The bleed onto the neck binding hasn't even faded yet. It's a 1960 with a nice flame top. Now I gotta go play.

Led Zeppelin Biography

This one right here:




I thought it was a great book, especially for the fan. There's a lot of background material on the guys before Zeppelin that I found very interesting. That's one of the real kicks I get, finding out where musicians came from before the point that I heard of them.

After that it's a moment by moment, gig by gig, album by album history of the band. I found it very in-depth and well written, more so than the one by Peter Cole. I didn't agree with all the music criticism though. If I like a song, I like a song. I'm not sitting there thinking "That bass could have been recorded a little better" or "The vocals are too far back in the mix". I might be naive but I just figure that about 99% of the time that's just the way they wanted the song to be.

I do agree that Page runs hot and cold and that towards the end of the 80's as his habits were really catching up to him that he ran more cold than hot, but there were still some great moments.

All in all, a great read for the true Zeppelin afficionado.