1980 was a weird time for The Who. Keith Moon had died, Kenny Jones was the new drummer, they added John Rabbit Bundrick on keys, and they toured without an album to support.
Who Are You was two years old and Face Dances hadn’t been recorded yet, so The Who did a basic ‘Hits’ tour. On this night Pete was playing with a broken hand, but the show must go on, and it did. If you like to hear the whole show, in excellent quality, from Mike Millard’s master tape, you can download it here: https://mega.nz/folder/iwskmCba#NOcQt2LZi7ANE2TGG0oNhw
This is one of the best, if not THE best, show from Led Zeppelin’s 1973 US Tour. Zep always deliver in Los Angeles and this is no exception. You can download the entire show (the sound isn’t the best) right here: https://mega.nz/folder/u5VjDKKL#a5Tn0W8ATuYUIhFzNVXyJQ
This is a Mike Millard Master recording (that means the sound is amazing) of Queen’s March 3, 1977 LA Forum concert. This was supporting Day At The Races (I think) and before News of the World. It’s a great show featuring Queen right after Bohemian Rhapsody, but before We Will Rock You. In the lap of the gods, as it were. 😉 If you want to hear the entire concert you can download it here: https://mega.nz/folder/v0tk0QST#xcMmYqDO4GNFe4kELy-4kA
The 1996 tour of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant was an amazing variety of unplayed songs, arrangements, and fun. This show is the Feb. 17 1996 Page/Plant concert in Nagoya, Japan.
This is a matrix of a superb soundboard and an excellent audience recording, and you will love it.
This is one of the very few soundboards we have of Led Zeppelin in 1971, and it’s a beauty. This show, from Aug 31, 1971 is a top ten on many fans’ lists, with good reason.
Episode 34 is up! Led Zeppelin in Copenhagen, May 3, 1971. This is an amazing show, in the Top 10 for sure, if just for the only performances (I think) of Four Sticks and Gallows Pole EVER. I also play Stairway because it’s a performance from before the release of Zep 4, and no one in the audience had heard that song before. Not the best recording, alas, but one of Zeppelin’s best shows. Wild and free. Enjoy.
I was at this show. This is the first leg of the Page/Plant reunion tour (Unledded), and it was good. It got better and tighter as the tour progressed, but it was awesome to see Jimmy and Robert together again.
I recently found an almost excellent audience recording of this show (Portland OR, May 23, 1995) which I share with you. Here’s the complete show. Thank you for listening.
Hola! I had more from this show that I wanted you to hear, so I did a part two. Also, I added a treat from 2/13/75 (the night before) which is Ronnie Wood joining Led Zeppelin for a sizzling Communication Breakdown.
Did you know that in 1978/79 John Bonham & Roy Wood (former ELO alum) recorded a song together? You do now! It is called Keep Your Hands On The Wheel. It’s a track on Roy Wood’s album, On The Road Again. It’s interesting to hear Bonzo playing with another band.
This session undoubtedly occurred during Led Zeppelin’s hiatus after the death of Robert Plant’s son, in 1977. Last week I posted a session Bonzo did with Paul McCartney, because it’s interesting to focus on John Bonham, after so much attention on Jimmy Page.
The song itself is, in my opinion, nothing to write home about, but the style of John Bonham is evident. No one could mic him as well as Jimmy Page, though. Enjoy.
A scan from the issue in which the interview appeared. Courtesy of Royal-Orleans.
John Bonham Interview
Audio From 1972 Led Zeppelin NME Story
As the creator of the World’s Okayest Led Zeppelin Podcast I am constantly scanning for new, and relevant, LZ stuff to share with you. Thanks to the excellent Led Zep fan forum, Royal-Orleans, I’ve discovered audio from a 1972 interview of John Bonham. There are precious few interviews with Bonzo, and this audio is a revelation.
This was right around the time that Houses of the Holy was recorded, right on that cusp before they became HUGE. They were already huge but in 1972 they still played around with cover songs, medleys, and John Paul Jones still had a Hammond Organ instead of a mellotron. It’s incredibly fascinating hearing him speak about how Zep was slagged in the British press about being sellouts, and being too big, while he’s telling Roy Carr (the interviewer for NME) about how Zeppelin was the only band to go back to the clubs (1971).
It’s a great interview where one can hear what a …. good guy Bonzo was. He was only 24 at the time, and he’s got to answer questions like a politician. Defending Led Zeppelin for avoiding television and the press, which is obviously the best thing Zep ever did, given the attitude the press had toward them. Zeppelin made it big DESPITE of the press. DESPITE avoiding publicity and exposure. They made it because they were simply the best rock band in the world. I just published a podcast featuring some unreleased live music from the 1972 tour. Listen and you’ll see why they were so amazing.
Bonzo has a wonderful attitude and I really like this guy we hear. He defends the accusations that Zep sold out and retired to their enormous mansions by telling Roy Carr that he and Robert had the same homes that they had at the beginning. They were country boys and homebodies (especially Bonzo).
I really enjoy this peek into the history of the band at the cusp of SUPER STARDOM, and the year before The Song Remains The Same was filmed. The gist of the whole thing is that Zep were 4 amazing musicians who didn’t let ego change their dynamic (at least at that point) and their talent and synergy meant they could do all this without collaborators, session musicians, or outside input. Enjoy this super cool John Bonham interview.
