This Just Made My Day

Really, it did. I was in a fairly poor mood before I saw this.

I'm not a huge fan of "mashups," but when I saw this over at Sal Nunziato's Burning Wood, I went crazy for it. Terrific work by "Soundhog." I'd love to have an audio copy of this.

Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day

I'm really into Led Zeppelin right now.

Like, REALLY into Led Zeppelin.

Maybe Jimmy Page cast a spell on me.

I've written about Zeppelin before. How I feel like they represent the best and the worst of 70's rock. I feel like much of their recorded live work is a little too indulgent for it's own good, while their studio work just defines the idea of a great hard rock band. I recently picked up the Led Zeppelin DVD, and it's a great set, with lots of great live footage, but it still has these moments when I find myself thinking "get back to the song." Yeah, I like a good long-form jam from time to time, and I can dig a focused drum solo, but I dunno.

When Led Zeppelin reunited (replacing fallen drummer John Bonham with his son, Jason) in 2007 to play one night at the O2 Arena in London, at a tribute concert for Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, twenty million people submitted for the lottery to get eighteen thousand tickets. Rumors abounded that this gig might be the first step to a full-out reunion tour of the world, but Zep fans sensed (rightly, as it turned out) that this might be it. The last chance to catch Led Zeppelin live, or even an only chance.

The word that came from London after that evening, from the lucky few that witnessed it, was that Zeppelin had managed the impossible. Especially after lackluster reunion appearances at Live Aid (with Phil Collins not quite making the grade on drums) and the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Concert. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham had brought the magic back to the stage for a powerful two hour show.

Well, if this Celebration Day set is an accurate depiction of what happened that night, and nobody's saying it isn't, they did. I'm not going to say they were as good as they were in their heyday. I don't honestly know, this is the only full, beginning to end, Led Zeppelin show I've seen on video, and I've certainly never seen them in person.

What Celebration Day represents is a rock-solid performance that any band, especially one that hadn't played together for nineteen years, ought to be proud of. Yeah, there's down-tuning to accommodate Plant's voice...but Robert Plant was 59 years old when this show was performed. No, he can't hit those notes anymore, but neither can the majority of men in their 20's. He sounds great, honestly. I feel like his voice gets stronger during the show. The opening number, "Good Times Bad Times," worried me a bit, just because Jason Bonham was laying in a LOT of backing vocals (much more obviously than the recorded version). By the time they got to "Kashmir," near the end of the set, Plant was on fire.

Page is clearly VERY happy throughout the show, which makes sense, because I think he wanted this for a very long time. I'm sure he wanted more of it, too, but it wasn't to be (I'll get to that). His playing is solid, much better than the footage of the "heroin years" I've seen. That said...Page is a little sloppy. Not a criticism, at all, that's part of who Jimmy Page is, and how he plays the guitar. He's not Steve Vai, and never will be. He plays with feel, and the feeling you get is absolute joy to be on stage with Zeppelin again.

John Paul Jones, what can you say? "The quiet one." Here's were you really find the precision. I've heard reviews that comment that he looks "nervous." Yeah, guys, he always looked that way. Concentration, that's what I see. His playing is really immaculate, "Trampled Under Foot" is an absolute highlight, and undeniably driven by Jonesy. The guy is the secret weapon of the band's whole sound.

Young Mr. Bonham (a laugh in itself, the guy's 5 years older than me) acquits himself very well. I have read that he was very embarrassed by his performance at the Atlantic 40th Anniversary show, and had something to prove. He proved it, as far as I'm concerned.

It's just, hands down, a great two hours of rock on an epic scale. Maybe you don't like that. I do, so I'm kind of in heaven with it. There's nothing embarrassing about this performance, or the package

Really, my only question is; why did it take them five years to release it?

I have the four-disk CD/CD/Blu-Ray/DVD set. The audio version is on the two CDs. The concert film is on the Blu-Ray, and the special features are on the DVD. I have to admit, I felt the special features a bit lackluster. Basically it's a vintage news report (used in the intro of the concert), and then a collection of BBC reports about the concert. In addition we get rehearsal footage, which is essentially the whole show played on a soundstage somewhere for management and roadies, I'd guess. It's interesting, if not revelatory, in making clear how hard these guys worked to make sure this would not be another misfire.

*I will note that I stopped watching the rehearsal footage after a couple of songs, and have not revisited it yet. Maybe something cool and very different happens, but I would guess no.

As to criticisms? There are some songs I would've liked to hear, say, "Immigrant Song," but apparently Plant put the kibosh on anything that was too "metal." The rumor was that he didn't even want to play "Stairway to Heaven," but was talked into it. I think part of the real joy here is knowing that Plant was so reticent, and seeing how great he is. How engaged he is in the performance, and how engaging he is. I know he's past his prime, but he is a magnetic frontman.

As to the aftermath. I think that Plant was right to walk away from any further touring/recording. I know it was difficult for the other three, who apparently auditioned the likes of Myles Kennedy and Steven Tyler to step in. Still, I think Plant knew they had achieved something that night in the O2, and that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make it happen over and over again. That it was better to go out in triumph than to risk a slide into mediocrity, or worse. Plus, I just don't think his heart's in this kind of music anymore, what with his more folk-and-roots influenced recent work. God bless the man for sticking to his convictions and not taking the cash for something he, deep down, would've had to fake.

Honestly, the show happened, and I have this record of it, and that's enough.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Favorite Tracks:

• For Your Life
• Nobody's Fault But Mine
• Kashmir
• Whole Lotta' Love

The Frankenstein Playlist; Track Nine

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
• 8- Black the Sky by King's X

"He made me friendless, loveless, an orphan, an outcast. And so I take away his friends, his love. I will take you."

No Quarter
by Led Zeppelin



Close the door, put out the light.
You know they won't be home tonight.
The snow falls hard and don't you know?
The winds of Thor are blowing cold.
They're wearing steel that's bright and true
They carry news that must get through.

They choose the path where no-one goes.

They hold no quarter.

Walking side by side with death, The devil mocks their every step
The snow drives back the foot that's slow, The dogs of doom are howling more
They carry news that must get through, To build a dream for me and you

They choose the path where no-one goes.

They hold no quarter. They ask no quarter.
The pain, the pain without quarter.
They ask no quarter.
The dogs of doom are howling more!

"All Back to My Place" - Damen Ave. Edition (via Burning Wood)

 I'm quite a fan of Sal Nunziato and his blog, Burning Wood. It's a great stop for anyone who's into music. Sal's signifigantly older than myself, but I still find myself really enjoying his tastes and interests.

Anyway, today's post was a "Burning Wood Edition" of MOJO magazine's "All Back to My Place" feature. I couldn't help but post my responses, and I thought it might be interesting enought to share as a blog post of my own.

WHAT MUSIC ARE YOU CURRENTLY GROOVING TO?

I'm also on a Who kick right now, hard. I'm a guitarist, and I suddenly came to a realization in the last month or so about how fucking cool Townshend's guitar approach is. Also how a lot of his style compliments what I do, naturally. Really into any live tracks I can find, especially.

WHAT, IF PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, IS YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE ALBUM?

*sigh* Hard one. I'll just fall back and punt with The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle. It feels, to me like Bruce on the cusp of figuring out exactly who he wants to be, as an artist, while still embracing that spastic seaside kid he was on the first album. Plus, fucking "Incident"...gets me every time.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST RECORD YOU BOUGHT AND WHERE DID YOU BUY IT?

My recollection is a copy of Lou Reed's New York on cassette during an unending family road trip. Mainly because I thought the cover was cool. That said, I have a shameful feeling it was Buckner & Garcia's Pac-Man Fever.






WHAT MUSICIAN HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO BE?

Springsteen is the big one. I want to sing like that, play like that, and have a band that amazing. It's changed over the years, however, as I, and my tastes, have. John Lennon, Keith Richards, James Hetfield.

WHAT DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER?

That is kind of a ridiculous question. Does ANYBODY sing the same song in the shower all the time. Usually, it's whatever is stuck in my head at the moment, even one of my own tracks I'm working on. That said, "Baba O'Riley" comes up a lot.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SATURDAY NIGHT RECORD?

Zeppelin II. In my book, their best. That said, this is another place where I would answer differently in many situations. For example, I almost put in The Sword's Warp Riders, which I just fell in love with. It certainly feeds the metalhead that is still a big part of me, while also capturing a classic rock vibe (It reminds me of Thin Lizzy a lot, at moments) that I'm just loving now.

AND YOUR FAVORITE SUNDAY MORNING RECORD?

Zakk Wylde's Book of Shadows, which I think is one of the most under-appreciated albums ever. Great songs, great vocals, great playing, free of his usual bombast. You may write this off as "Ozzy's Guitarist," but give a couple of tracks a listen. It's great stuff. Runner up: Rodrigo Y Gabriela's self-titled debut. The Latin vibe mixed with rock and metal influences just works for me when I'm in a "relax" mood.

The Lure of Live Albums

I had a conversation a while back, almost a year ago, I guess, where I was discussing music with a friend. I said that I really loved live albums, and often prefer them to studio records. The response was interesting, that how she preferred studio recordings because they we exactly the way the artist wanted the songs to sound.

Which, I suppose, is true. However, my response to that is, basically, a live recording is how the songs really sound. In the best cases and examples, it's the band, as it exists on stage, playing full-out and without any chance to go back and fix anything. Even if there's a bunch of hired-hand backup musicians, it's still what the "band" can generate right in front of you. I find that vastly more enthralling.

Yeah, sometimes a "live" album is full of overdubs, re-recorded vocals, and other studio trickery. Kiss' Alive! and Alive! II being two rumored examples of "live" albums that took almost more studio work than the original studio albums. Ace Frehley all but admits this outright in his autobiography.

You can contrast that with Metallica's LIVE SHIT: Binge and Purge box set, which was actually 3 full shows, two on video, one on audio. I'm always impressed when on one of the video shows, Kirk Hammet's guitar solo goes pretty blatantly out of key. Impressed because they left it there, because that's how the show went down. It would've been so easy to fix it, especially at that moment, right after the Black Album release, when they were as popular as they would ever be. I admire that.

Even beyond the idea that a live version is the song in it's most natural form, I also find, more often than not, that live versions are far more energized and exciting. The Who, for example, I will take a live version of pretty much any song in their catalog over the studio version. Even something like "Squeeze Box," which sounds almost nothing like the studio version (no accordion on stage), but just screams with energy. I'll admit that part of the factor with The Who is that some of their studio stuff just sounds awful. My copy of Tommy (admittedly an older master) is embarrassing in how poor the sound quality is. I don't think anybody ever really captured the best of The Who, as musicians, in a studio.

Now, of course, it can backfire, too. I've commented before that Led Zeppelin, when they let their impromptu jams get out of control, could be stultifying. How the west Was Won is OK, but The Song Remains the Same is a nightmare. Neither of them even brushes at the greatness of the studio albums.

Now, in these last two cases, I'll admit, I never actually saw them live, but I'm talking about live albums and recordings. I'm sure, if I was in an arena with Led Zeppelin, I'd be much more open to the musical digressions. Alas, I never had that chance, and I do regret it. Same with The Who prior to Keith Moon's death.

Rush is a band I love, and, for such a detail-oriented, technical group,  it's kind of amazing how much more often I'll reach for one of their live albums (and there are several), rather than a studio disk. Now, here's a group where there is tons of on-stage augmentation, samples and other pre-recorded bits. Of course, they're all triggered by one of the three guys on stage. It's kind of amazing to watch Lee, Lifeson and Peart not only play their instruments with such technical perfection, but also trigger all this other stuff at the right moments. There's also a goofy sense of humor and playfulness that isn't always as readily apparent on their studio tracks.

On the flip side of the power trio coin is King's X, who really only have one "real" live album out, Live in London. Whereas Rush wields much technology to hit the nuances of their material, King's X is three guys, and...well, that's pretty much it. It's a master course in forming your sound around what you can do with what you have. Bassist Dug Pinnick often wields a 12-string bass, and his tone, in general, fill in a lot of sonic room. One of my absolute favorite live acts, and, when you see them, it's almost always up close and personal.

Of course, for me, Springsteen is the quintessential "you HAVE to see him live" artist. I, personally, have over forty-eight hours of Springsteen music on my Zune. Most of that is live recordings, and most of those are bootlegs. I'm happy to say I own recordings of every Springsteen concert I've seen.

Obsessive? Sure.

However, I can tell you that every, single show I've seen has unique moments. Unlike, say, Rush, where every show of a tour is, essentially, the same, The Boss' show are constantly in motion and evolving. The set lists, while adhering to a structure, are always changing. I don't know how many other acts I could see two nights in a row, and feel it's worth it. I tried two Rush shows 3 days apart, and I have to admit, I got a little bored the second night. I mean no disrespect to the boys in that, but to point out (and I'd bet they'd agree) they craft a great show that they can repeat for every audience. So, it's not "organic," but it is awesome.

There are relatively few Springsteen live albums, I can recommend  Live: '75-'85, Live in New York City, and Live in Dublin. For a neophyte, I'd recommend the New York City disk. It's from the E-Street Band reunion tour, and the show is on fire. The first is a box set, and is rather sprawling, and the Dublin show is from the Seeger Sessions Band era (which is AWESOME, but not "classic" Bruce).

Ultimately, I do love live albums. They may not be as "perfect" as the studio recordings, but I think they more than make up for it in energy and direct performance. There's something magical about a really good live album.

Stuck In My Head 12.22.2011

I have been on such a Zeppelin kick, lately. This is one of my favorite Zep riffs....



The Ocean
by Led Zeppelin

[Count-In: John Bonham] - "We've done four already but now we're steady
and then they went: One, two, three, four"

Singing in the sunshine, laughing in the rain.
Hitting on the moonshine, rocking in the brain.
Got no time to pack my bag, my foots outside the door.
Got a date, can't be late for the high hopes hailla ball.

Singing to an ocean, I can hear the ocean's roar.
Play for free, play for me and play a whole lot more.
Singing about the good things and the sun that lights the day.
I used to sing on the mountains, has the ocean lost its way.

Oh Yeah...

I don't know

na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na

Sitting round singing songs 'til the night turns into day.
Used to sing on the mountains but the mountains washed away.
Now I'm singing all my songs to the girl who won my heart.
She is only three years old and it's a real fine way to start.

Oh yeah.

It sure is fine.

Blow my mind.

When the tears are going down.

Yeah, Yeah.

Oh so good.

We're in Play Reading Mode on Damen Ave.

So, the blogging has been a bit slower.

Yes, it's that time of the year when my theatre company starts looking at shows to slot for our next season. So, that's a list of anywhere form 15-20 plays to read, of which I usually am assigned about 4-6. Of course, being someone who likes to know what they're talking about, I try to read all of them

This year, however, the timetable is very, very tight. Our first discussion meeting is Sunday evening. I've completed my assigned scripts, and now it's a matter of figuring out which ones I want to add to my read list. I'm, personally, very invested in what happens with our '12-'13 season, so I'll giving it some extra effort.

Anyway...lame excuse for another "Stuck In My Head" Blog....




The Battle of Evermore
by Led Zeppelin

The Queen of Light took her bow and then she turned to go
The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom and walked the night alone

Oh, dance in the dark night, sing to the morning light
The Dark Lord rides in force tonight, and time will tell us all

Oh, throw down your plow and hoe, race now to my bow

Side by side we wait the might, of the darkest of them all

I hear the horses thunder down in the valley below
I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon, waiting for the eastern glow

The apples of the valley hold the seeds of happiness
The ground is rich from tender care, which they do not forget, no, no
Dance in the dark night, sing to the morning light

The apples turn to brown and black, the tyrant's face is red

Oh, war is the common cry, pick up your swords and fly
The sky is filled with good and bad, mortals never know

Oh well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow
Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow

The pain of war cannot exceed the woe of aftermath
The drums will shake the castle wall, the Ringwraiths ride in black (ride on)

Sing as you raise your bow, (ride on) shoot straighter than before
No comfort has the fire at night that lights the face so cold

Oh, dance in the dark night, sing to the morning light
The magic runes are writ in gold to bring the balance back, bring it back

At last the sun is shining, the clouds of blue roll by
With flames from the dragon of darkness, the sunlight blinds his eyes

Oh, bring it back, bring it back...

WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH

I think I've mentioned here before, I've been alternating reading Dennis Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro series (I'm up to Sacred) with various one-off books. Non-fiction has always been a good palate-cleanser for me, and, lately, that's been rock biographies. It's allowed me to not be overcome with, well, sameness, while reading a single series. On top of that, it's inspiring on both ends, as I've been working on music more, and I've also got a writing project in the detective, neo-noir genre in the embryonic stages.

The latest rock bio was When Giants Walked the Earth, by Mick Wall. It's a pretty comprehensive, in depth exploration of the creation, career, dissolution, and legacy of Led Zeppelin. Now, dear reader, I can't know what your own feelings about Led Zeppelin are, but I can share mine...

When the band came together in 1968, as Jimmy Page's attempt to revive and reinvigorate The Yardbirds (they were actually billed as The "New" Yardbirds, at first), in which he was the last of a epic line of lead guitarists, it was a bit of a watershed moment for rock. The hippy/flower-power moment had really run it's course, and the scene was ready for something new. Page had a concept, a band that would mix the "light and dark," as he called it, the acoustic and electric, the melodic and the powerful. He set out to find the players to bring that concept to life.

Zeppelin, on disk, represents the best of 70's hard rock. Tunes and melodies liberally lifted from blues classics (often without credit, as Wall points out), mixed with John Bonham and John Paul Jones' amazing rhythm section, Page's epic guitar, and Robert Plant's unmistakable vocals. You really can't argue with the greatness of those albums, even if there are limp tracks. Nobody's perfect.

Now, the live Zeppelin, which I freely admit to having no first-hand experience with, and can only judge based on film and album, The Song Remains the Same, as well as the How the West was Won materials, was a beast capable of amazing flights of musicianship, and stultifying indulgences. Yes, yes, John Bonham was (arguably) the greatest rock drummer of all time, or at least his time, but I maintain that no one needs a 45 minute drum solo. I've only watched the full "Moby Dick" drum solo in The Song Remains the Same once, when I saw it in a theatre, every other time....fast forward. Same with Page's unending guitar solo.

I've never been overly into "jam bands," with songs stretching longer and longer to accommodate various solos. As a musician, I can get off on the display of chops, but there's a point where even that loses it's hold on me. It's especially hard for me when the recorded material is tight and powerful.

To sum up; Zeppelin represents the best of 70's rock, and also the worst of it's indulgences.

To Wall's credit, as he was/is actually friendly with all of the surviving members of the band (although Page apparently wan't nothing to do with him since the book's release), he's straightforward about all the highs and lows of the band's career. I think he's maybe too harsh about the rare performances since John Bonham's death, and the breakup of the band. Certainly, the charity concert at the London O2 arena in 2007 has been noted by many as a pretty sterling gig from a reformed band, and Wall just sorta brushes it off.

As you might expect, the book covers a lot of ground. With Wall trying to explore all four band members, and manager Peter Grant, who he (correctly, I think) positions as a major force in all aspects of the band's output. Since he knows all of the guys, and has repeated interviewed them, I felt his observations and conclusions were pretty solid.

His depiction of Bonham, in particular, is interesting. He almost depicts the man as bi-polar, with his epic partying on tour merely a mask for depression over being away from his home and family for months on end. This, tied in with what seems to be a intrinsic need to be what the people around him want him to be. There are descriptions of Bonham misadventures that, with no exaggeration, position the man as almost a monster. Attacking women, drinking insane amounts, and destroying property for seemingly no reason other than loneliness, and the idea that's what expected of him. While Page and Plant indulge in what might be called "normal" rock star hedonism, and Jones, seemingly, removes himself from that scene completely, Bonzo just leaps, head-first, into the deep end.

Wall spends time on Page's heroin use, and the S&M games he liked to play with groupies. Really, however, it's clear he wants to dig into the guitarist's occult beliefs, and his interest in the teachings of Alistair Crowley. There's a long section of the book about Crowley, and what might have drawn Page into that belief system. Pointing out that, unlike the popular perception, Crowley really wasn't a satanist, but more of a pagan, with a belief system that embraced all human weakness as somethign to be explored fully. It's pretty obvious Page was into Crowley, he purchased many of the homes where Crowley had lived and conducted rituals.

"The Hermit" -by Jimmy Page?

Wall takes some pains to not paint the guitarist as some frothing Satan-worshiper, but points out how much of the imagery, lyrics (apparently, you don't have to play Stairway to Heaven backward for it to be "the most Satanic song, ever"), and "jokes" (like the Crowley quotes inscribed in the vinyl of the first pressing of Led Zeppelin III) are tied to Crowley. That Page craved power, the power to make his creative visions manifest.

Now, if you want to get in a twist about that, the book will offer some ammunition for you. (Possibly why Page has now ended his friendship with Wall) Me? I could care less. Good music is good music, and I figure whatever sort of belief you want to have is your business. I got no truck with Scientologists, either.

Although, I was really drawn by the discussion of "The Hermit," the artwork on the inner sleeve of Led Zeppelin IV. It's credited to an artist that apparently no one has ever heard of, is obviously inspired by the tarot and the teachings of Crowley, and Wall begins to make a case that art-school-trained Jimmy Page may have created it himself.

Who knows? Page ain't talking.

There is one annoying thing about Wall's book. He's taken a tactic of writing large sections of the book in second-person "You are Jimmy Page, you've grown tired of session work..." etc. It's a decision that wears out it's welcome pretty fast (maybe for him too, there are far fewer of these asides in the latter half of the book), and leads to wall covering the same information over and over again. I think ever John Paul Jones interlude was about arranging some song for some soul artist. If it felt insightful, it would've been clever, but, alas, it doesn't. Even "inside" Page's head, there's only so many times I wanna hear about how uninspired he was by his session work.

All-in-all, I found When Giants Walked the Earth a pretty decent read. It's well researched and has a lot of information right from the horses mouth, so to speak. If you're a fan, you'll probably want to read it, if you haven't all ready. Wall clearly loves the band, but isn't afraid to speak up about things that disappointed him.

Stuck in My Head 11.11.11

Ramble On
by Led Zeppelin

Leaves are fallin' all around, time I was on my way
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay
but now it's time for me to go, the autumn moon lights my way
for now I smell the rain, and with it, pain
and it's headed my way
Aw, sometimes I grow so tired
but I know I've got one thing I got to do

A-ramble on, and now's the time, the time is now
Sing my song, I'm goin' 'round the world, I gotta find my girl
On my way, I've been this way ten years to the day
Ramble on, gotta find the queen of all my dreams

Got no time to for spreadin' roots, the time has come to be gone
And though our health we drank a thousand times
it's time to ramble on

A-ramble on, and now's the time, the time is now
Sing my song, I'm goin' 'round the world
I've gotta find my girl
On my way, I've been this way ten years to the day
I gotta ramble on, I gotta find the queen of all my dreams
I tell you no lie

Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear
How years ago in days of old when magic filled the air
'twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, mm-I met a girl so fair
but Gollum and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her
her, her, yeah, and ain't nothin' I can do, no

I guess I'll keep on ramblin', I'm gonna
Sing my song/Sh-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, I've gotta find my baby
I'm gonna ramble on, sing my song
Gonna work my way all around the world
Baby, baby/Ramble on, yeah

A-do-do-n-do-n-do-n-do, my baby/Baby
A-ramble on, baby
A-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-de-do-de-do-de-do-de-do-de, yeah, yeah/
I can't stop this feelin' in my heart
Everytime I feel I will leave, I really gotta part
Gotta keep searchin' for my baby/
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, babe
I've gotta keep a-searchin'for my baby
My, my, my, my, my, my, my baby/
Yeah-yeah, a-yeah-yeah, a-yeah-yeah
My, my, my, my, my, my baby/
Yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah
Ooh, my, my, my-my, my-my, my-my, yeah/
I can't find my bluebird, I'd listen to my bluebird sing
but I, I can't find my bluebird
I keep a-ramblin' baby/ Ah, ah, yeah
I keep a-ramblin', baby/I keep, keep, keep, keep, keep
Babe, babe, babe, babe/
I keep a-ramblin', baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby
My, my babe
Bay-ya-by/A-goodbye, goodbye, a-goodbye, baby
Well, something's wrong

Props to whoever transcribed those lyrics...impressive accuracy.

A Bit of Led Zeppelin, and Oy! Audition Notices...

I get so depressed.

I know I am not crazy, that there used to be far more opportunities out there. Anymore, when I look at the listings, I just feel slightly depressed. There's rarely anything that really excites me.

There seems to be more musicals, however. Yeah, they're in the suburbs a lot of the time, but I don't recall that many musical auditions even 3 years ago.

*shrug*

Who knows?

I do get the distinct impression that many of the companies I admire out there have circled the wagons, and aren't publicly auditioning. I might be wrong about that, but I sure haven't seen a lot of action from a couple of places I make a point to keep an eye out for.

*shrug*

Who knows?

Downloaded How The West Was Won, a Led Zeppelin live album from a couple of years back.



I distinctly remember seeing it at the Virgin Megastore on Michigan Avenue, and giving it a quick run-thru on a listening station.

That store's gone now. So's Rock Records over on Washington. I guess there's a Coconuts over on Randolph, but otherwise any sort of record store, with any depth of stock is not to be found in downtown Chicago. There's Borders, of course, but I don't think anyone would say they have a "deep" catalog of stock on-hand.

...But I digress.

I also got The Song Remains the Same from Netflix, and finished watching that last night.



I am a Zeppelin fan, but not at all what I would call a "rabid" one. I do tell myself, over and over, that I really ought to own the whole catalog, because the songwriting and musicianship is just that good. Plus, those albums really do represent the blueprint for 70's hard rock, which, of course, I am a huge fan of. They were a great band, and, even now, I'd drop a large amount of cash to see them play live.

However, I'd never experienced anything showcasing Zeppelin as a live act before this. I've read many things about their live performance, from it being incredibly powerful, also incredibly indulgent, to being incredibly sloppy.

After taking this material in, I think it's all true.

Zeppelin was a hotbed of great songcraft. No one, NO ONE can deny that. However, I quickly became annoyed with the random guitar soloing. "Immigrant Song, " on record, doesn't have a guitar solo, and is better for it. When Page goes off on a noodling jag, it kinda cuts the balls off the song. He also seems to do this on every, single number.

Maybe I'm spoiled by bands like Rush that keep their shows tight and focused on the songs. Or Springsteen, who has storytelling moments that are set into specific songs for specific reasons. Perhaps the most annoying thing about these two live documents is that they showed little real forethought, or sense that the setlist was anything more than a random ordering.

Now, granted, neither one of these things is an actual document of a single live show. They're edited and constructed from the raw material. A single show at Madison Square Garden for The Song Remains The Same, and a myriad group of recorded shows for How the West was Won. Still, you think the band, and especially Jimmy Page, might've taken the opportunity to really think about the song order and such....

Doesn't really feel that way. Maybe I'm wrong, but it really doesn't.

Perhaps Zeppelin was a lot like Guns 'N Roses in it's heyday. I saw them twice in the 90's. One show (Mile High Stadium, Denver on the co-headlining tour with Metallica) was just God-awful, while the other (Civic Arena in Omaha) was fantastic. Utterly fantastic. G'NR was (is) famous for not having a setlist. The band has to be ready to play whatever song Axl Rose call for at any given moment.

I think that makes the arc of the show utterly random, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Maybe Zeppelin, with their blues background, worked in much the same way. Going by "feel" over planning. I admit this can give you higher highs, but also lower lows.

And, yeah....Page came off a little sloppy on the guitar. Again, I think it's a "feel over precision" thing. It's not like it came off that he couldn't play.

It's also worth pointing out that live shows are supposed to be just that, live. I'm almost 100% sure if I'd seen these songs played live exactly as they are on these releases, I'd be over-the-moon happy with the show. No recording can capture the feeling of being there.

The weird-ass "dramatic" elements in The Song Remains the Same didn't really help, either....so odd. Rip the Nazi-guy's head off and it spurts rainbow colors...Ohhh Kaaay...