Get The Led Out - Ep2629 wk of 13jul

'Get The Led Out' Explores The Incredible History Of The Rock Band Led Zeppelin!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, this is Carol Miller. Welcome to our Get the
leadout count. On July thirteenth, nineteen eighty five, the three
surviving members of led Zeppelin took part in live A.
Phil Collins played Live Aid first on the London stage
and flew across an ocean to introduce the long awaited
reunion in Philadelphia, and boy I was there. Jimmy Page,

(00:20):
Robert Plant and John Baul Jones had rehearsed for ninety
minutes with drummer Tony Thompson of Chic. Then Phil joined
in on a second drum set, feeling his way through
three led Zeppelin songs without the benefit of their rushed rehearsal.

(00:45):
The former Zeppelin bandmates have nixed their live set from
being released on any official Live Aid product. On July fourteenth,
nineteen seventy three, Led Zeppelin had a day off after
two nights in Detroit. By the time they played the
following night in Buffalo, manager Peter Grant had reached out
and greenlighted the idea for a feature film starring led Zeppelin.

(01:07):
Joe Massot's previous directorial credits included the movie Wonderwall, featuring
a soundtrack by George Harrison. Now Joe had reached out
to led Zeppelin about his film idea, but it took
them some time to warm up to it. Management welcomed
Joe in Boston and then he assembles his film crew
to begin shooting footage in a matter of days. They

(01:28):
shot first in Baltimore and Pittsburgh before Zeppelin's final run
in New York sixty years ago. On July fifteenth, nineteen
sixty six, newlyweds John and Pat Bonham welcomed their firstborn

(01:48):
child into the world. Their son, Jason John Bonham had
recently joined The Way of Life, hailed as Birmingham's newest
rave group. Unfortunately, the Way of Life never recorded while
John was on drums, and his talents were largely undiscovered
outside of Birmingham until about two years later. In July

(02:08):
nineteen sixty eight, the Yardbirds had played their last and
John Bonham was playing drums on a UK tour backing
the American singer Tim Rose. Jimmy caught one of the
shows and spent several weeks trying to recruit John Bonham
for the band that became led Zeppelin. On July sixteenth,
nineteen eighty one, Robert Plant had just sung his final

(02:30):
show of the year with the Honey Drippers. They had
played nothing but cover tunes through at their low key
run of shows in England. Robert and guitarist Robbie Blunt
went on to write music together. They assembled a band
and recorded at Rockfield Studios on a Welsh farm. The
song slow Dancer was inspired by music Robert has experienced
while traveling with Jimmy Page. She's got a mood about

(02:52):
him which has been kicked around for years and years
in the camp that I have been in with Jimmy
we used to go to North Africa together. I'm intrigued
and infatuated by the music from that part of the
world at its moves. The atmosphere is tremendous. Man and
on what I wanted to try and do, to try
and take that atmosphere and move it across a few degrees.

(03:14):
On July seventeenth, nineteen seventy seven, John Bonham pounded away
for twenty three minutes for the final extended drum and
timpany solo of his career. A crowd of sixty two
thousand onlookers witnessed this at the Kingdome in Seattle. This
happened to be the second Megadome show of Led Zeppelin's

(03:37):
nineteen seventy seven tour. Back in April, there had been
seventy six thousand at the Silver Doman Pontiac, Michigan. Their
tour itinerary held future dates at the Superdome in New
Orleans and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. For whatever reason, drum
solos dropped from led Zeppelin set after the Seattle show.
The led Zeppelin carried on gigging in nineteen seventy nine

(03:59):
and nineteen eighty. John Bonham's drum solos were a relic
of a bygone era. This is Carol Miller. Thanks for
Getting the let Out. Check back next week for another
Get the Letout Calendar podcast