Family Fan
11-29-2007, 01:52 PM
For many, I include myself, The Beatles were the greatest bands of all time. No question, but, for me the band I grew up with is THE greatest rock band of all time is Led Zeppelin. They came just at the time I was clawing my way into puberty and moving toward adulthood and was the first band I was into with a girl who loved them too. It was onscreen when I kissed Debbie C at the old MidWay theater at midnight and we were carrying on so that the usher, they had those in those days, told us to 'cut it out.' :D
In 1977, I had just entered High School, kids were wearing their hair long, music was Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, The Who, Jethro Tull and of course Led Zeppelin. Sure, 'punk' had just started on the lower east side of Manhattan, but, anyone who had seen the 'mighty' Zep in their legendary concerts of '73,75 filmed at New York's Madison Square Garden for the Docu-Fantasy 'The Song Remains the Same', was geared up for the just announced tour, which was sadly their last, for the summer of 1977. It was the summer of the New York Black out, the summer Elvis died , but, when the tickets were announced for the MSG they sold out in less than half an hour, more shows were added, and my brother, George the guitarist, Charlie his buddy, Benny( who would decades later lose his life in the attacks of 9/11), Kenny my buddy and the 'girls', Laura, Ellen, Pat, Debbie C , oh hell, everybody was on line. :D We stayed overnight in the frigid late winter air, think it was Feburary, in tents. But, we all finally got tickets.thanks to George our guy 'inside' no questions asked or answered. :D I had never been to a major concert before, sure, I had seen basement bands, but, nothing could have prepared me for the concert of June 10,1977.
The night of the show, we got there three hours early, it was jammed packed with everyone from the press to the damed Hells Angels were there, it seemed every Cop in New York, on horseback and off, were outside. Well, we were finally let in an hour before the show was to start. When I walked to lower lodge seats a little to left of the stage hovering a few hundred yards away, I noticed the huge Amps hung over the Garden, as did a decidely familar cloud ;), these amps and the set-up on stage was so powerful, that till this day my ears are still ringing. :D
At least a half hour later than scheduled and the crowd of about 35,000 now in a state of frenzy, the lights suddenly went out and Jimmy Page held up this double-neck guitar and with lighting speed played the chords and the band joined into 'The Song Remains The Same.' The concert I remember till this day had begun. I still remember every song they did, the show lasted over 2 1/2 hours with 3 Encores. Here is the set list.
1. The Song Remains the Same" (Page, Plant)
2. The Rover" (intro)/"Sick Again" (Page, Plant)
3. Nobody's Fault but Mine (Page, Plant)
4. Over the Hills and Far Away" (Page, Plant)
5. Since I've Been Loving You" (Page, Plant, Jones)
6. No Quarter" (Page, Plant, Jones)
7. Ten Years Gone" (Page, Plant)
8. The Battle of Evermore" (Page, Plant)
9. Going to California" (Page, Plant)
10. Black Country Woman" (Page, Plant) / "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" (Page, Plant, Jones)
11. White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" (Page)
12. Kashmir" (Bonham, (Page, Plant)
13. Trampled Under Foot" (Page, Plant, Jones)
14. Over the Top" (Bonham)
15. Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Page, Plant)
16. Page Solo" (Page) / "Star Spangled Banner"
17. Achilles Last Stand" (Page, Plant)
18. Stairway to Heaven" (Page, Plant)
Encores:
* Whole Lotta Love" (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant)
* Rock and Roll" (Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham)
* Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
* Black Dog" (Page, Plant, Jones)
They ended with the now classic "Stairway To Heavan', and I remember the encores including 'Rock & Roll.' I was totally stunned, especially by the now sadly deceased John Bonham, who that night insipred me to take up drums. Robert Plants going into how much they loved the MSG stage in NYC, which is why they filmed the concert footage for the movie. John Paul Jones keyboards, bass, and of course the legend Jimmy Page.
It was a time of Vinyl records, cassetes, 8 tracks, and everyone I ever knew, alive,healthy and happy. :) I thought it was all over with the death of John Bonham in 1980, I still have the ticket from that night.
http://ourworld.cs.com/Ehcitna/Zepp+77+stub.jpg
Fast forward 30 years later, Benny died in the attacks of 9/11, the 'girls' were/are all married, some more than once :D, Charlie works for IBM in Boston, Kenny became a cop after we both had a stint in the US Navy, got shot ( a long story) and ended upstate NY about 200 miles from here with a wife two kids a washer and a dryer and happy. :) As for me and my brother, we still both play, drums for me and my brother his ever present Fender Strat, we did some session work over the years , but, nothing came of it. I still see George, still lives alone with his Dad upstairs, plays gigs out in Long Island for Weddings and Barmitzvahs. I lost my job after 9/11, brother has the wife and 'kids', my nephew, went and came back from Iraq.
Today, I got a call from George, he got advance copies of the newly remastered 'Song Remains The Same' DVD and CD before they go onsale. Typical George, he always got entertainment things before everyone else, no questions asked or answered. ;D So here I sit 30 years later, listening and the memories flood back, seeing this movie at midnight shows in NYC Greenwich village, in the days before VCR , the only way to see it. Here's the info., I don't need to buy 'Mothership' since I already have all the albums and then some. http://www.led-zeppelin.com/news/pr_tsrts_ms.html
Suddenly , Led Zeppelin is everywhere, TV, music stores a 'Reunion' concert slated from December with John Bonhams son, a great drummer in his own right, filling in for the late, great drummer. These remastered songs and the movie give one the closest you will ever get to seeing Led Zeppelin in all their glory, I know I was there and this has to be the definitive collection. Jimmy Page said in an interview in this months Guitar, where he sports his white hair and pose now, that we can expect to see more, a show at MSG? One can only hope, but, one can only imagine the price and I don't think the boys would be up to 6 nights like they did in 1977, but, who knows I never thought I would walk into a record store and see the words 'New' Led Zeppelin again. I even got a call from Kenny last night, he's 'in' for tickets. If it happens, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin playing will have the surviving members of that night. Hey, I'll even make sure Benny is there, I still have a picture of me and him from the 70's at my Mom and Dad's. I'll put it on a T-Shirt and wear it to the show. No Son Of B%^%^ Terrorists willl stop us as many of us being there. He used to always love 'Dazed and Confused' when Jimmy Page would use the violin bow and 'Stairway to Heavan' both the 'live;' versions,.. and no matter how long we wouldn't see each other, he would always say 'later', like we would see each other soon. Last time I saw him was a couple of months before 9/11, where he played the live 'Dazed and Confused'/ "Song Of Hope/Stairway" from the soundtrack of the 'Song Remains The Same.' I'm listening to it right now, it always reminds me of something a bit cosmic, an energy that exists between life and death, and with Benny and others I know, now on the other side, holds alot of emotion. To some this post may seem silly, pretentious, even nutty, but, the old adage is true, you had to be there, I was in the 'Misty Mountain' past long gone, but, still around. Music often invokes emotion, why should the quintessential Rock Band Led Zeppelin be any different, it took me and friends to the edge that night and we pushed off into space. Even if you didn't live it, buy it, try it, as Ralph Kramden said to Alice in Honeymooners once when he was trying to hit a high note and didn't quite do it..'Well, Thats a Little Piece Of It, Alice.' If anyone wants to know a little piece of me, this time, band and music are a little piece, hey, it's a big chunk. Led Zeppelin flies again,just in time, as we need a song of 'hope' now more than ever. :)
http://ourworld.cs.com/Ehcitna/Led++Zeppelin.gif
In 1977, I had just entered High School, kids were wearing their hair long, music was Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, The Who, Jethro Tull and of course Led Zeppelin. Sure, 'punk' had just started on the lower east side of Manhattan, but, anyone who had seen the 'mighty' Zep in their legendary concerts of '73,75 filmed at New York's Madison Square Garden for the Docu-Fantasy 'The Song Remains the Same', was geared up for the just announced tour, which was sadly their last, for the summer of 1977. It was the summer of the New York Black out, the summer Elvis died , but, when the tickets were announced for the MSG they sold out in less than half an hour, more shows were added, and my brother, George the guitarist, Charlie his buddy, Benny( who would decades later lose his life in the attacks of 9/11), Kenny my buddy and the 'girls', Laura, Ellen, Pat, Debbie C , oh hell, everybody was on line. :D We stayed overnight in the frigid late winter air, think it was Feburary, in tents. But, we all finally got tickets.thanks to George our guy 'inside' no questions asked or answered. :D I had never been to a major concert before, sure, I had seen basement bands, but, nothing could have prepared me for the concert of June 10,1977.
The night of the show, we got there three hours early, it was jammed packed with everyone from the press to the damed Hells Angels were there, it seemed every Cop in New York, on horseback and off, were outside. Well, we were finally let in an hour before the show was to start. When I walked to lower lodge seats a little to left of the stage hovering a few hundred yards away, I noticed the huge Amps hung over the Garden, as did a decidely familar cloud ;), these amps and the set-up on stage was so powerful, that till this day my ears are still ringing. :D
At least a half hour later than scheduled and the crowd of about 35,000 now in a state of frenzy, the lights suddenly went out and Jimmy Page held up this double-neck guitar and with lighting speed played the chords and the band joined into 'The Song Remains The Same.' The concert I remember till this day had begun. I still remember every song they did, the show lasted over 2 1/2 hours with 3 Encores. Here is the set list.
1. The Song Remains the Same" (Page, Plant)
2. The Rover" (intro)/"Sick Again" (Page, Plant)
3. Nobody's Fault but Mine (Page, Plant)
4. Over the Hills and Far Away" (Page, Plant)
5. Since I've Been Loving You" (Page, Plant, Jones)
6. No Quarter" (Page, Plant, Jones)
7. Ten Years Gone" (Page, Plant)
8. The Battle of Evermore" (Page, Plant)
9. Going to California" (Page, Plant)
10. Black Country Woman" (Page, Plant) / "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" (Page, Plant, Jones)
11. White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" (Page)
12. Kashmir" (Bonham, (Page, Plant)
13. Trampled Under Foot" (Page, Plant, Jones)
14. Over the Top" (Bonham)
15. Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Page, Plant)
16. Page Solo" (Page) / "Star Spangled Banner"
17. Achilles Last Stand" (Page, Plant)
18. Stairway to Heaven" (Page, Plant)
Encores:
* Whole Lotta Love" (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant)
* Rock and Roll" (Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham)
* Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
* Black Dog" (Page, Plant, Jones)
They ended with the now classic "Stairway To Heavan', and I remember the encores including 'Rock & Roll.' I was totally stunned, especially by the now sadly deceased John Bonham, who that night insipred me to take up drums. Robert Plants going into how much they loved the MSG stage in NYC, which is why they filmed the concert footage for the movie. John Paul Jones keyboards, bass, and of course the legend Jimmy Page.
It was a time of Vinyl records, cassetes, 8 tracks, and everyone I ever knew, alive,healthy and happy. :) I thought it was all over with the death of John Bonham in 1980, I still have the ticket from that night.
http://ourworld.cs.com/Ehcitna/Zepp+77+stub.jpg
Fast forward 30 years later, Benny died in the attacks of 9/11, the 'girls' were/are all married, some more than once :D, Charlie works for IBM in Boston, Kenny became a cop after we both had a stint in the US Navy, got shot ( a long story) and ended upstate NY about 200 miles from here with a wife two kids a washer and a dryer and happy. :) As for me and my brother, we still both play, drums for me and my brother his ever present Fender Strat, we did some session work over the years , but, nothing came of it. I still see George, still lives alone with his Dad upstairs, plays gigs out in Long Island for Weddings and Barmitzvahs. I lost my job after 9/11, brother has the wife and 'kids', my nephew, went and came back from Iraq.
Today, I got a call from George, he got advance copies of the newly remastered 'Song Remains The Same' DVD and CD before they go onsale. Typical George, he always got entertainment things before everyone else, no questions asked or answered. ;D So here I sit 30 years later, listening and the memories flood back, seeing this movie at midnight shows in NYC Greenwich village, in the days before VCR , the only way to see it. Here's the info., I don't need to buy 'Mothership' since I already have all the albums and then some. http://www.led-zeppelin.com/news/pr_tsrts_ms.html
Suddenly , Led Zeppelin is everywhere, TV, music stores a 'Reunion' concert slated from December with John Bonhams son, a great drummer in his own right, filling in for the late, great drummer. These remastered songs and the movie give one the closest you will ever get to seeing Led Zeppelin in all their glory, I know I was there and this has to be the definitive collection. Jimmy Page said in an interview in this months Guitar, where he sports his white hair and pose now, that we can expect to see more, a show at MSG? One can only hope, but, one can only imagine the price and I don't think the boys would be up to 6 nights like they did in 1977, but, who knows I never thought I would walk into a record store and see the words 'New' Led Zeppelin again. I even got a call from Kenny last night, he's 'in' for tickets. If it happens, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin playing will have the surviving members of that night. Hey, I'll even make sure Benny is there, I still have a picture of me and him from the 70's at my Mom and Dad's. I'll put it on a T-Shirt and wear it to the show. No Son Of B%^%^ Terrorists willl stop us as many of us being there. He used to always love 'Dazed and Confused' when Jimmy Page would use the violin bow and 'Stairway to Heavan' both the 'live;' versions,.. and no matter how long we wouldn't see each other, he would always say 'later', like we would see each other soon. Last time I saw him was a couple of months before 9/11, where he played the live 'Dazed and Confused'/ "Song Of Hope/Stairway" from the soundtrack of the 'Song Remains The Same.' I'm listening to it right now, it always reminds me of something a bit cosmic, an energy that exists between life and death, and with Benny and others I know, now on the other side, holds alot of emotion. To some this post may seem silly, pretentious, even nutty, but, the old adage is true, you had to be there, I was in the 'Misty Mountain' past long gone, but, still around. Music often invokes emotion, why should the quintessential Rock Band Led Zeppelin be any different, it took me and friends to the edge that night and we pushed off into space. Even if you didn't live it, buy it, try it, as Ralph Kramden said to Alice in Honeymooners once when he was trying to hit a high note and didn't quite do it..'Well, Thats a Little Piece Of It, Alice.' If anyone wants to know a little piece of me, this time, band and music are a little piece, hey, it's a big chunk. Led Zeppelin flies again,just in time, as we need a song of 'hope' now more than ever. :)
http://ourworld.cs.com/Ehcitna/Led++Zeppelin.gif