Hammer of the Gods - Led Zeppelin

I used to work concert security in St. Louis, and got to interact with the band - on a small level - during their 1989 "Steel Wheels" tour. They seemed nice enough, but somewhat aloof - maybe it was just getting used to being back on the road, maybe they're a bit reserved at first, I dunno.

Of all the bands I interacted with, I'd say the best was AC/DC - they understood that their success was because of their fans, and they showed it in the way they treated the fans. They'd have the aftershow party backstage where the band would do a "meet and greet", and they couldn't do enough! I personally witnessed Angus get a drink for a fan, and Brian take a picture of a fan with Angus. They made sure that everyone got everything they'd brought autographed, that everyone got their picture taken with the band, that everyone got an autographed something - CD, LP, promo photo - to take with them, and everyone got something to eat and/or drink.

But more than that, they seemed like they genuinely wanted to be there - it wasn't the ol' "Let's hurry up and get this over with!" attitude, they really liked being with the fans!

I saw so many band display that "rockstar" attitude, and show almost disdain and contempt for the fans, it was enjoyable to see a band that actually cared about their fans.

Off the top of my head --

Steve Miller - nice guy.
Huey Lewis - nice guy.
David Bowie - unapproachable, surrounded by his staff.
Eric Clapton - the same.
Hank Williams Jr. - the same.
Edie Brickell (Mrs. Paul Simon) - walked with her to Walgreen's to buy makeup. Most down-to-earth performer I met.
Eddie Van Halen - A#1 (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*).
Robert Cray - A#2 (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*).
Paul Stanley - A#3 (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*).
Lou Gramm - A#4 (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*).
Fab & Rob of Milli Vanilli - contact high from being near them!
Los Lobos - best food for staff and crew ever!
Don Henley - the Playboy mansion on tour.
Aerosmith - Steven Tyler's dressing room sign was "Heywood Jablomi".
Fleetwood Mac - took John McVie to Steak-'N-Shake for a vanilla malt.

It was fun, but after the Guns N' Roses riot at Riverport Ampitheater I quit.

 

My old man was a musician in St. Louis.

 

Why must I choose just one?

Led Zeppelin is the literally the perfect band. With exceptional artists in every facet of the band. I can't think of a more complete band, usually there are parts lacking in a band, and I can't find them with zeppelin.

I think the beatles are vastly overrated and the LZ is a much better band. Don't get me wrong, I like the beatles, but after they went commercial, the quality of their music went downhill.

 

I could certainly come up with a list as well although it would be predominately from 1971-1974 when I was involved with Bill Walker's Joint Productions. Topping my list of (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)s would be Rod Stewart but as I mentioned earlier Ronnie Wood was very down to earth albeit into heavy partying.

 

When Rod played St. Louis, I was working barricade - we sat in the pit between the stage and the barricade at the front row, there was about a four foot gap between the two. We were sitting with our backs to the stage, facing the crowd, and the only way we could see where Rod was was to watch where the lights pointed, and follow the faces of the crowd.

I see all the people in front of me start to get a little jumpy, and the lights are pointing in the area I'm sitting in, and all of a sudden I feel something bump the side of my head. I look over and there's a dress shoe and a sequin sock - Rod is sitting on the edge of the stage with his legs dangling down. My first thought is "Cool! I just got kicked in the head by Rod Stewart!" followed by "I hope he doesn't come off the stage into the crowd!"

But he didn't, and that was that.

That, and that he would kick soccer balls off the stage and into the crowd are my two memories of Rod Stewart.

Of all the performers I met and got to interact with, I'd say the most down-to-earth, open, warm, friendly, funny person I ever met was Greg Jacobs - Humpty Hump of the band Digital Underground. He was a pleasure to be around - he was having fun, enjoyed what he was doing, didn't have the "rockstar" attitude, and made it fun for all!

 

As a member of the production crew most of my experiences with the groups were after the shows at the hotel as we stayed at the same hotel. Yes, this included the parties which were often fun with unknown women walking the hallways looking for the party. If they were "hot" we'd take them to the party and most were. The phrase "sex and drugs and rock-n-roll" was well established at these afterhours parties. LOL

 

So what were you - guitar tech, sound tech, board operator, rigging?

 

My nose is big... yeah it's big like a pickle.

 

John Bonham, without a doubt.

I mean, the band wouldnt be Led Zeppelin if it was missing a single member, they were all so talented. But John Bonham, well hell, I cant really think of anything that describes his talent other than "John (*)(*)(*)(*)ing Bonham."

The guy was the greatest drummer that has ever lived, and there's a reason why the band didnt go on without him. Though I doubt they would've gone on without any of the other members.

 

I did so many things at so many different shows that it would be hard to peg a single responsibility. I've worked the sound board as well as lights but that was more of a fill in position. Mostly I was responsible for much of the backstage activities from ordering the limos, ensuring the dressing rooms were ready for the group, making sure refreshments were available, supplying the backstage passes and notifying the groups when it was time to go onstage. I avoided the tear-down as that took away from "party-time" after the show and I'd already put in a full day by the time the show was over.

 

However, Kashmir and "Bring it on home" made it to my Walkman years ago. Nothing else by Led Zeppelin.

 

John Bonham was certainly an exceptional drummer but I still believe it was the synergy of the group moreso than the individual talents of the members that made Led Zeppelin the greatest rock group of all time.

I would personally select Danny Seraphine, the original drummer for Chicago Transit Authority, as being the best all around drummer in rock although he's relatively unknown by many. His drum work on their first album is outstanding and unequaled by any other drummer IMO.

Jimmy Page was a great guitarist but Jimi Hendrix changed the entire rock music world in the 1960's while Jimmy Page was with the Yardbirds.

Freddie Mercury would be my choice over Robert Plant as a vocalist.

As for John Paul Jones, because of his varied contributions from bass to keyboards, it's harder to do a one-on-one comparison but I would choose Keith Emerson as a superior keyboard player and I would probably cite Jack Bruce of Cream as being a better bass player.

Notwithstanding all four of the member of Led Zeppelin's members were exceptional and in a very select group of the top musicians in rock and roll. Individually they had peers but as a group they were unmatched IMO.

 

This is part of the reason why I am voting for Jimmy Page!

He had the right attitude and in my opinion is the greatest guitar player of all time! ( sorry Eddie Van Halen )

Also he was way into the Occult! That is cool. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Page#Interest_in_the_occult ) I wonder if he ever got any Baron Julius Evola books?

 

I would still argue that Jimi Hendrix was the greatest guitar player of all time as he did more to change our perception of guitar playing that any other guitarist. At the sametime Jimmy Page was unquestionably the leader of Led Zeppelin and his guitar playing was increadible and I agree that Eddie Van Halen, also a great guitar player, wasn't as good a Page.

 

'Good' is a very subjective term. At a purely technical level, I would suggest that EVH was much better than Page, but that isn't the point. I would also suggest that Tony Iommi wasn't a technical genius on the guitar, but again that isn't the point - like Hendrix, he re-wrote the book on what a guitar could be used for musically, and (along with the rest of the band, obviously!) pretty much created an entire genre in the process. In fact, I would say that he was probably more directly influential in that sense than Page.

Now I think about it, i would actually question whether Led Zeppelin as a whole we 'greater', certainly in the sense of long-lasting musical influence, than Black Sabbath anyway. They also had that blend of memebers who were something unique, new and special in all departments, and I would argue went much further in creating something genuinely new than Zeppelin, who were very much building on the work of Hendrix and combining it with Blues and Folk influences. Great music, and very influential, obviously, but was it as genuinely original as what Sabbath did? I would contend that it wasn't. Whether Sabbath count as a 'rock' band in the context of this thread is a different question, of course, but in my opinion they were (and are) the more original, creative and long-term influential of the two, and each member was, in their own way, at least the equal of their counterpart in Zeppelin (yes, even Ozzy - as 'imperfect' as his singing was and is, applying that pure 'flatness' of delivery, without all of the blues-drawn embelishment of Plant, was certainly something new and original for that kind of 'rock' music, and turned it from heavy and distorted jazz/blues into something far more 'sinister' in atmosphere).

Ozzy = more innovative of sound and style than Plant.
Iommi = more innovative of sound and style than Page.
Butler = probably a technically better bass player than JPJ, and certain applying the bass to 'rock' in a way that was more innovative.
Ward (going to get slammed for this, but still....) = at least as good, if not better, than Bonham, and certainly (for me) more interesting in the way he applied his drumming to compliment the music.

Whether we apply the 'rock' label is a matter of opinion, of course, but I'm going to say that Black Sabbath was the the 'greater' of the two bands (collectively, and in every department), on the grounds of genuine originality and innovation, and also on the grounds of lasting musical influence.

 

My pick is John Paul Jones. Though Zep was Page's creation (as The New Yardbirds), Jones influenced the music's evolution beyond blues rock. From 'Houses of the Holy' on, Jones was the driving force of the music/sound of Zep. He has also done well for himself on his own, though not often recognized for it.

I saw Zep live twice...in '73 with the 'Houses of the Holy' tour and in '77 with the 'Presence' tour. F'ing Incredible!!!

A few of his things since Zeppelin.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qoWcIl53ac&feature=related"]Triple Neck Song - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqb5pII7od4"]John Paul Jones - Hoediddle - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goK4u-cxlXg&feature=related"][HD] 12 - Spinning in daffodils Them Crooked Vultures (Cologne 8-12-2009) - YouTube[/ame]

 

I posted about Zep before reading the thread through. I see y'all are talking about some fave bands. I HAVE to mention Captain Beyond, one of the most innovative bands ever. They're a stand alone one-of-a-kind band. CB was the first band I ever saw live. WOW...blew my (*)(*)(*)(*) away!!!

Captain Beyond had Rod Evans (original singer for Deep Purple), Lee Dorman and Rhino, both from Iron Butterfly on guitars and Bobby Caldwell (from Johnny Winter And) on drums. Caldwell is arguably the best rock drummer ever. They made 2 albums with the original lineup in the early '70's.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXz-UIaauqQ"]Captain Beyond - Captain Beyond (tracks 1-3) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al5rXrKwdPo"]CAPTAIN BEYOND Distant Sun - YouTube[/ame]

 

There are two things that made Hendrix's guitar playing unique --

First, he played left-handed, using a Fender Stratocaster that was turned upside-down and re-strung for him. Because of the way the pickups are on a Stratocaster, the strings had a different sound - low notes were "brighter", and high notes were more mellow.

Second, he had very large hands. If you watch film of him playing guitar, you will notice that he sometimes uses his thumb on his right hand to fret the bass notes, while his fingers played the melody.

Watch this, and you'll see what I mean --

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5zxDlFgehQ]Red House[/ame]

 

I'm not sure that he didn't reverse the pick-ups as well as it only requires two screws to remove them, turn them around and then reinstall them but perhaps he didn't do that.

A lot of guitar players use their thumb for bass notes so that isn't all that unusual.

What I found amazing about Hendrix is that he only had a distortion booster and a wah-wah pedal and, of course, his (tube) Super Reverb Fender amp to produce all of the sounds he was able to create.

Of course there is also the fact that I've literally watched while he was playing and he was able to create sounds without touching the guitar with his hands at all. I've never seen anyone do this like Hendrix and I'll have to find a video that demonstates it... but that's neither here nor there. Hendrix never had a band like Led Zeppelin as he was the sole creative force and everyone else simply tried to keep up with him.

 

For anyone who read my previous response, I was trying to be a smart ass, but only ended up looking like a dumb ass. Sorry about that.....

I vote for Jimmy.

I have watched The Song Remains The Same at least a couple of dozen times, mostly at the movie theater.

Since I've Been Loving You from that move is my all time favorite guitar solo.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5OzpcilIDY"]Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains The Same/ Part 3 - YouTube[/ame]

 

Spirit loses 'Starway to Heaven' plagiarism lawsuit...

Led Zeppelin win “Stairway to Heaven” plagiarism lawsuit
June 23, 2016, Jury says the band did not lift Spirit's song "Taurus"

 

The jury made the correct decision and for good reason.

Let is also clarify that this was the estate of Randy California making a claim that Randy California never made during his lifetime. Randy California never claimed that Led Zeppelin plagiarized his song Taurus at anytime I'm aware of. The claim made by the "Estate" that Randy California never pursued a lawsuit due to a lack of funds is also false. Randy California had the financial resources and would have been backed by his record company financially as well.

The jury was only allowed to see the sheet music and not listen to the actual recordings and as a musician I know that the sheet music for the two different songs is fundamentally different. As musicologist Lawrence Ferrara pointed out there was not substantial similarities between the two songs. They're in different keys, different time signatures, and contain different progressions.

BTW I like both songs and was a huge fan of Spirit even before Led Zeppelin existed.

 

Yup. It is a very similar musical idea, of course, and one might obviously have unconsciously influenced the other in some way, but it's hardly a unique musical device anyway. If you're going to say that Page 'stole' the riff from Taurus, you might as well say that Taurus itself was 'stolen' from the Beatles 'Michelle' - it is essentially the same musical idea, but played in a slightly different way, little faster and with a different resolve at the end (just as Stairway is the same musical idea as Taurus, played slightly differently, and with a different resolve at the end). I don't suppose that such a simple and obvious kind of progression had never before been discovered by any other musician either.