Aww Mike, get some drums on there and you won't be able to tell them apart!
Aww Mike, get some drums on there and you won't be able to tell them apart!
~ Cathy ~
And I dream I'm on vacation 'Cause I like the way that sounds,
It's a perfect occupation for me.
I decided to revive this thread because I am currently reading Mick Wall's biography, When Giants Walked The Earth.
I knew all the basic facts about Zeppelin. What I wanted was some insight into the band members' personalities and their relationships with each other. Sadly, this is mostly absent. Apparently Richard Cole, the road manager, didn't like Plant much, and that is about the end of it.
Wall writes in standard British rock journalese, i.e. endless slang, and endless use of the 'f' and 'c' words. There are also a lot of spelling errors, the worst case calling one of the band's albums 'In Through the Outdoor'.
He uses a peculiar device where he tries to imagine each member's thoughts about their early careers. I was expecting that he would develop this and follow them as they became bigger, but I've now basically read the story of how Plant and Bonham met in about four separate 'flashbacks' and it is just tedious. For Page it's all about how great a session player he was but how he was gonna show them all, etc. Jones' thoughts are pretty much ignored.
Most of it is about Page. Wall takes it for granted that he's the musical genius. I don't disagree with this but Zeppelin was a band. The contributions of the other three were important too. It's Marc Eliot (To The Limit) all over again. There is a whole section on Aleister Crowley which was just annoying. I know about Crowley's influence on Page but I think it has been over emphasised.
His analysis of the albums is perhaps the strongest feature of the book, but while flipping through it, I noticed that Plant's solo career is pretty much reduced to the Alison Krauss collaboration (again, similar to Eliot's contemptuous treatment of Glenn).
One day a great biography of this seminal band will be written. This is not it.
Thank you Julie for that!! I wondered if I should get this book but haven't simply because I have sooooo many Zep books and figured wouldn't be much more there than the others. Now I'm really glad I hadn't wasted my money.
I agree that the whole Page/Crowley thing has been overdone but also admit freely that I have absorbed everything I have ever been able to find about it, including buying books about Rock N Roll myths and legends simply because they mention it. I have always found it very fascinating, whether it's that extreme or not. I have to assume alot of it has been if for no other reason other than the fact that he has always bought so many of Crowley's personal possessions, even his home.
I find it interesting that you think his analysis of the albums is the strongest feature of the book since you said he also refers to In Through The Outdoor. You would think he would actually know the correct names of the albums.
I guess if I find it cheap enough at a record show or on ebay, I might pick it up just to scan through it, but I won't go out of my way or spend a good amout of money for it tho.
He sings it high, he plays it low
Guess what Willie is asking for for Christmas!!!!
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Led-Zeppelin-Charles-R-Cross/dp/0061809144/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1254853493&sr=8-1[/ame]
This looks pretty cool!! I bought one for Katie that was similar last year of the Doors.
He sings it high, he plays it low
Cool! Hope Santa's taking notes.
you better put it all behind you, baby, 'cause life goes on
you keep carrying that anger, it'll eat you up inside--
Thought you Zep fans might be interested in a new book with lots of rare photos!
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdail...ew-photo-book/
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Led-Zeppelin-Visual-Biography-Ultimate/dp/081095009X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255549107&sr=1-2[/ame]
Product Description
Good Times, Bad Times: Led Zeppelin captures the public and private lives of rock gods Led Zeppelin through rare and iconic photographs. More than any other band, they embodied the rock-star lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock and roll and came to define the music and culture of the 1970s. Forty years after the release of their first album in 1969, Led Zeppelin—Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham— continues to fascinate and inspire legions of fans, young and old alike.
A general overview of the band’s history will introduce the core of the book: a gallery of more than 200 photographs, laid out in chronological order, more than half of which have never been published. Whether onstage, backstage, recording in the studio, on tour, or at home—the band is shown as never before. From their very first performance in Denmark on September 7, 1968 (as the new Yardbirds) to their last performance in London in 2007, this collection of images will remind die-hard fans why the group became, and remains, one of the greatest and most notorious bands in the history of rock and roll.
"They will never forget you 'till somebody new comes along"
1948-2016 Gone but not forgotten
I am gonna see if Booksamillion has it. Willie, I have seen the light You are responsible for my newly found interest in Zeppelin.
You will have to tell us which songs you like, EL.
After I finished reading When Giants Walked The Earth I re-read Stephen Davis' Hammer Of The Gods. A lot of this consisted of tedious stories of groupies, drugs, etc. However I thought at its heart it was more honest than Wall's book. It also didn't write off Plant's solo career in a couple of paragraphs.
I also have been listening to all 84 Zeppelin tracks on my iPod and have been impressed by some lesser known songs or songs that I didn't know as well. These include Wearing & Tearing, Hots On For Nowhere, Your Time Is Gonna Come. Some of the tracks from Physical Graffiti that I've had trouble getting to know I have made an effort to get them stuck in my mind - The Rover & Night Flight being the best examples.
Yesterday it played the awesome In My Time Of Dying and I thought 'not Stairway next, please'. Sure enough, Stairway was the very next song.
I really like Kashmir, and Whole Lotta Love.