A to Zeppelin: The Led Zeppelin Story (2004) | Full Movie | John Bonham | Jimmy Page | Robert Plant

[Music] [Music] they were the quintessential hardrock band igniting a collision of wild hedonism and heavy metal thunder and now more than 35 years since their formation the legacy of Led Zeppelin still resounds [Music] in those days in the sixties there was sort of two geographical areas that were creating new music and one was the North Liverpool when he had the Beatles and then down south there were bands like The Rolling Stones Alexis Korner and the embryo Yardbirds but it appears to me that the bands in the south like ourselves as a Rolling Stones were influenced by American black blues artists and that's what tended to turn on the bands on in the south like The Yardbirds in our very early stages as a band we tried to emulate that sound probably badly we started going imports of Josh white Lead Belly particularly on you know people like that on the countryside and people like Muddy Waters and Howlin wolf on the other side [Music] but those records were kind of underground but they said something to you they had a direct message which was a very different message from the message that you were getting from your normal pot looook it was pretty austere in England for quite a long time you know we just come out of the European war Americans may not realize but up until you know even quite the late 50s we were still rationed you couldn't get things luxury items were you know pretty minimal also the music at the time prior to that explosion in the 60s was pretty narrow was pretty kitsch the British government started the great art school experiment and what happened is people like myself and platon and Pete Townsend and a lot of people found ourselves in this wonderfully liberated ridiculously created environment we then heard some black American music I worked in the record store there was another guy across town in this little town called Woking in Surrey it was a competition between us who could get the records from America the quickest you know all of the blues records all the R&B records all the some rock records that were coming out of America you know there was a competition it really is true that that whole era was English musicians getting seriously influenced by what was coming out in the States what are your names James Payton baby just learned really guitar I'm a teacher you play anything except Schiphol yes Spanish and don't do well by the radio and listen to overseas radio and things when I had to even be a good knock back on the record that made me want to play good so I was a baby that's playing house I just wanted to be part of it I knew something was going on I didn't include sticky times that basement electric guitar instrument I'm a voice and it seemed to generate so much energy we were all teenagers together more or less Paige plant lennon-mccartney you name by the time we'd reached the age of 20 we were playing that and having our own versions of it which was then a completely new thing among the kids which automatically being based in the same language took America by storm so we were exporting what was already American really exporting it to America and I realized that they were starting some kind of new genre music from the English side Keith Richards was doing that in satisfaction he had the flood stone or the league at all work of these guys dressed back Jimmy Page and our Clapton would just was just something out of this world and obviously the influences were was one concentrating now and blues playing I used to go just jam on a Thursday night and somebody came at you said we just playing on record yeah from that point I suddenly started getting this studio work and we knew Jimmy Page but he at the time was very ensconced during London session work well Jimmy was like John Paul Jones he came from that old school even though he was very very young at the time we was a session guy he played on little health my friends Joe Cocker he was a guitarist on that I mean he was a seasoned session musician in his early twenties there was only one other session guitarist who was working as steadily as Jimmy Page Big Jim Sullivan I was a better country player than Jimmy I could play all the bendi country stuff better than Jimmy code and he could play the rock stuff from the Blues so we hit a real happy medium in the studio because whenever there was a country session I would do it and when there was a rock session he would do it if you're on your way up and session work is a part of your you know your experience you know you get to see producers you get to see the [ __ ] that goes on you get to see arrangers have a range of a piece and you get the sense of dynamics and music I was a huge fan of John Paul Jones as well because he played bass on a lot of sessions than I did in London the rhythm section during the mid mid 60's onwards Bobby Graham on drums John Paul Jones on bass Jimmy and myself we come to the end of this roaring Rock number you know one of the others had done a fantastic solo you know it had been really tight and soup and you get this voice from the box come and yeah that was kind of all right yeah can we try another one take 39 and that's how it's been for 39 takes you know you've given your heart you've done you know and all you get from the box yeah that was okay what kind of inspiration are these people portraying to you you know it's fun in the beginning when it was like I'll do what you want do what you want but then it 80% 90% of the time I didn't know what what what possession I was going in on and one day I did a music session and it was philippic it was just reading music all the way through they don't stop it's just like you're hearing these horrific myth things you know you just keep turning music and play oh that's it I'm finished I'm out and that was at the time when I was hanging around with Jeff going to Yardbirds kicks and the bass player decided to leave the band and I joined on bass just to help me on a couple of gigs and then it was on to [Music] Guittard birds were heralded as one of England's most authentic and pioneering blues bands in the 60s feeling creatively stifled as a session player Jimmy Page decided to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity paul samwell-smith decided to come off the road and concentrate on producing jimmy amazing enough joined us on bass for a while anyone that could play as well as Jimmy can play bass pretty well you know he was so keen to get in the band he really you know really wanted to join it was like it was a little boy you know yeah I'll play bass you know I played tambourine everyone you know whatever when we played the carousel in San Francisco and it was one of those days when Jeff was ill they made an announcement on the PA they said oh well Jeff Beck won't be doing this kick but the bass player is going to play lead guitar and everyone's aware you know because the bass player was Jimmy Page so I think they were satisfied they were touring here I think again there was a lot of hope for what was going to happen and I think that kind of flaked ran off to be with his girlfriend in the middle of the tour and I think the band lost esteem I freaked out went mad had a breakdown and I think I walked out left to bang the our beds continued without me I just Jim carried on now taking over the lead guitarist slot Jimmy Page impressed his fellow bandmates with his sixth string virtuosity he brought his beautiful skill with cording and riffing and and a much harder edge and he was very disciplined he was a big come from session work he was a very professional guy you know and he was ambitious ed he was fresh so he brought all that energy into the last 18 months of the band you know what I would have called them the harder-edged precursor Led Zeppelin moved with Jimmy Page Jimmy's tenure with the yardbirds turned out to be short-lived but something bigger was waiting right around the corner management dispute just as much as Jimmy wanted to keep it going they finally decided there are other things they could do and and I think there were different musical things going on with everybody what he knew I mean though we all knew that this was the yardbirds last tour and he also knew that he was going to get the name and you knew from the musicianship that he he had that anyone who was going to be in the band with him had to be up to that caliber which was going to be very high John Paul Jones of course knew Jimmy from the old session days and he said listeners have heard your form in the band he said I wouldn't mind going on the road you know what's it going to be and that's how they all got together I was moping around the house one day and my missus said to me will you stop moping around the house why don't you join a band or something he said Jimmy Page's performing a group we just left the yardbirds if you're going to give him a ring my brother calls me he says this Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones have gotten together I went [ __ ] ell those two John Paul's like an expert John Paul's the music boffin so they had the music boffin in the background who is a good keyboard player good bass player you know brilliant musician the two singers actually you have a head of underground sort of name at that time in 68 with Joe Cocker and Terry Reid the us we'd be the singer in this new mayonese but there was I was very impressed I said I'd love to just can you hold that thought if you're not in now you're out Terry we couldn't do it so I know this great singer lives in Wolverhampton or wherever called Robert Plant so Jimmy and Peter went up to see Robert Plant performed somewhere Jimmy was so impressed with Robert Plant singing that he invited the fledgling vocalists to his boathouse on the Thames where the two discovered they shared the same love of the blues Robert was now in and the pieces who were falling into place Robert is amazing he was just you know the boy from Birmingham had such a powerful strong presence about him I don't know when Robert walked in a room you just noticed him Robert Plant immediately went to work convincing his friend drummer John Bonham to join the new band Palmas I didn't want to join the band for the longest time he's done and got money in the local dance band I suppose he want to jeopardize that didn't want to leave encouraged by the enthusiasm of his old friend Robert Plant John Bonham accepted pages offer and decided to join first time we all met in the little woman Gerrard Street to see if we could even stand each other first of all you know we're all here you know what we're gonna play Jimmy tomorrow I'm at you know numb for the train train kept a-rollin no diseases Jeff just oh you know just sort of uneven just the G to the you know good as they started off there's all that it could count in anyway and then we just looked at each other what if we're wrong even if it did it was gonna work the chemistry amongst the four of them there they look that sound their knowledge of music bottoms steady anchor on the drums pages rips they knew how at the time had a jam and not lose the chan they knew when to come back at the proper time very tightly Robert well a lot of the blues to say it's a Led Zeppelin you know he was a real blues man great heart plague you know great frontman looked the part but he was a real blues er Bonzo is just this unreal drummer so they were a great package we rehearsed an act an album on a tour in about three weeks oh he had gigs that were contracted under the name The Yardbirds so Zeppelin did there you know first six eight gigs under that new Yardbirds name I wonder I had a call from Jimmy and he actually came up to the office I'm kind of unannounced really he just wandered in he'd like to review I've done the vet one of his bands he'd been in years before so he thought oh well I'll speak to this guy Chris and tell him about my new group I said what was it called he said it's a Led Zeppelin and I wrote it in my notepad my misspelled Hitler le a Dean he said no no le D so I had the scoop on this amazing new band they chose the name Led Zeppelin through the home actually because there was a story that Keith Moon and John Entwistle had planned to split from the home they wanted to form a supergroup I think Jimmy Page was involved in that actually we're all drunk you know as usual and they were bringing up the thing I'll we want to leave the WHO and want to start a new band and they were bantering around names but the guy who came up with the name Led Zeppelin was actually John Entwistle it wasn't Keith Moon you know how it came about is there was an old st. inning than that you know it'll go down like a Led Zeppelin which means it'll bomb after fulfilling all of the previously booked dates as the new Yardbirds the band made its official debut as Led Zeppelin at SRI University in England on October 25th 1968 really the the basis of their of their of their sound was the our bird sound and I remember Jimmy playing me their first album and was dazed and confused' was on their we used to play that and they did their own version which wasn't far away and they did a couple of other things up were pretty similar it was a springboard our sound was a springboard for them but they took it a bit further they took it into that early heavy metal really it was like just really like jazz I have anymore time and really just extensions of how how well we've actually fitted together the qualities of Led Zeppelin one and never be touched never been matched never be equal the first time I heard Led Zeppelin I put on this the record and it was since I said wow I really know who those guys were I knew the Jimmy Page was I didn't know how they were the sound of the the record was was really impressive still in this day you put it on it puts most other stuff to shame the first song I heard of theirs was good times bad times and I was immediately struck by this drumming I've never heard this drumming before the communication breakdown you know the first time you hear it it was like oh my god and you tried to play the break and it was just too damn fast you know so you'd wind up scratching your record trying to slow it down and play it backwards and you know all of my records had these these needle marks that went straight across from trying to learn the guitar pricks they wanted us to take them onto over this as an opening act which is pretty ridiculous and think about it man I just blown away the tool was paid for underwritten by Jimmy Page Peter Grant and John Paul Jones the other two Bonham and plant were on salaries there was five shows with the vanilla pod right it was actually in the one in Oregon where I really realized and during the drum solo I was standing there with Jonesy and I just said to Jesus where'd you find this guy I think that they're coming to listen to what you're playing and not just to look at you and see what you are I mean I remember when I was let's go back a few years when I first went to see the Beatles because we've mentioned a few times it was to look at them you know it wasn't you didn't really bother what what you were listening to yeah and today it's not what you are you're playing well Bonzo was the best hard rock drummer ever hands down I mean no one comes within a mile of him he kept great time he was fearless he'd do things that you think you know how is he how's he gonna do this he was the best being the drummer first my attention went to John Bonham and his foot thing that he didn't good times bad time which was at the time totally unique had I thought that upon meeting him he said to me that I got that from you I said I know I don't do that and he pointed out on the Vanilla Fudge on where I actually did it one time and he took it and took it to the extreme the audience just didn't know what to believe what they were seeing and hearing it was different than what they'd ever heard before and it was powerful it was just non-stop but the thing was that they were so powerful but anyone who came after them they might as well they're not going on the stage without that they're the first band blows off the stage Led Zeppelin then would come in and do what was called underground you know those clubs and everything they played the whiskey there's an amazing show it was like ridiculous imagine that band in that small club it holds like 300 people it was chaos they went wild hands up jumpin up and down it's just the great show great music they played a place called the Boston Tea Party the Boston Tea Party was Boston's version of the film or so maybe 200 people to with maybe 250 tops that first night and they blew us all away so I went back on the air the next day and just said you've got to go see this man when they when they started breaking I mean they they couldn't believe it I started out as really just for musicians who kook you know got together and then when they when they started breaking I mean it was just uh you know amazing by the time they finish and ended up in New York they take in the whole country by storm I mean there wasn't a band that wanted to play before them I mean they'd they'd set the president of what they did a few years later which was not to play with anyone and just do the two to two and a half to three hour set energized by the overwhelming success of their inaugural tour of the state's Led Zeppelin returned to England but the British media ignored them it was a bitter pill to swallow and after a month and a half the band returned to America once again in front of adoring appreciative crowds Led Zeppelin felt right at home second tour was a summer 69 and by then I had gotten John his his drum set which is exactly like mine there was a 226 bass drums with a big Tom in the middle two floors and a big snare drum of the gong a lot of drummers have all these props but don't use them you know they might hit it once a song he's everything we played the same places roughly divide the film was the Boston Tea Party and when they went on the stage the second time you could see that they were anticipating the audience's anticipating their arrival and the performance and then it just went up from there while on tour whatever downtime the group could find was spent working on their second album in recording studios plenty records would do it for us booked a studio the band would go in do a bit more come out with the tapes gone to another city play another show go in late that night or that afternoon and that's how they made the record as Zeppelin's popularity grew so did their bank accounts they were offered a quarter of a million dollars to play the Yale Bowl in New Haven Connecticut but the group turned it down so that they could perform instead at the bat festival of Blues and progressive music back in England the first real major acceptance came over here I think that tends to piss the English critics off anything that gets discovered in America English critics have a problem with the prestige of playing at the festival in their homeland gave them something that money couldn't buy respect and acceptance Led Zeppelin was fast becoming the number one rock and roll band the world in our position we've spent years and years on the road sort of playing in little church halls and being beaten up and bricks thrown through the band windows and everything and to have money at last it's just another figure in my mind of mass acceptance which is what we all work for when Led Zeppelin - was finally finished the album was released stateside on October 22nd 1969 and was an instant hit with timeless classics like a whole lotta love and heartbreaker it didn't take long for Led Zeppelin to to knock the Beatles Abbey Road off the top of the charts at 5 minutes 33 seconds the album's centrepiece whole lotta love was deemed too long for AM radio airplay so Atlantic released an edited version as a single the band wasn't happy they didn't like releasing singles but I think it may have been because they wanted to originally one of the things was they wanted to show the whole product of the album if you take a single off an album and stick it out that's just a part of the album it might as well stay on the album you know but in the past through Atlantic Records they've worried it into saying oh let's have a single that's as the top 40 stations over there and lots of young kids who probably wouldn't get into the album unless they heard of a track on the top 40 stations I personally don't agree with all of that was this thing especially in the middle with the bongos and uh done Barnum's big roll that that you know part of it up out of a pop up and then page with the lead that did anime and then at that and then come out of it perfectly what a song the band members were garnering a lot of attention not only for their music but also for the way they dressed on stage especially Jimmy well you wore Velvets though and satins and silks and embroidered things and beaded things and you know there's feminine thing a lot of chiffon patent leather shoes things like that you know these guys were androgynous it feels safe in a way you know you feel like you're almost connecting with another part of yourself that was a very interesting draw for for young women too I think Jimmy Page really invented that image of the whole mighty rock guitar player the cloud of mystique that shattered the band grew with the news of Jimmy Page's interest in Aleister Crowley an early 20th century Englishman aligned with black magic and demonology Paige's fascination with Crowley led many to believe he was into black magic himself I think he was absolutely fascinated with the man and the knowledge of the will I don't think I mean you know you owned a lot of manuscripts and he he bought the inverness castle that was also Crowley's and I think with it he had purchased a lot of manuscripts and at one point he had a book store in England an occult book store and he was really more fascinated by the knowledge of it it was a sincere fascination and I think he took a lot out of it and I think it came through in his music a lot of that amazing depth and you know mystery and all that came out in his music he was very interested in those types of things otherworldly things you know that selling the soul to the devil so that's just [ __ ] none of that to place none of it I mean the whole myth about sending their soul to the devil I want you to cut your hand in blood we want you to make a pact you go to be a backer [ __ ] off with the [ __ ] devil and your [ __ ] get out of it you know I mean that I mean he just wouldn't what the hell are you talking about I mean it just wouldn't happen despite the truckloads of money that we're now pouring in whenever Led Zeppelin was in Los Angeles they chose to stay at the relatively luxury free Continental Hyatt House on the Sunset Strip week of course never stayed anywhere without the money we had but we just preferred that hotel they always used to rent the whole top of the the Hyatt House for one thing the sewer important was on the top on the roof you know so they could always go up to this room Foreman do the thing but as the lift door open and I looked out the carpet had about phone about that deep as I looked out this naked girl came sliding past other belly and then another one followed by a bottle of my John Paul Jones and John popper when our own Cruise in town and the choko crew we obviously had all that what rooms we wanted on me sunset sign the rear side we gave to the road crew we went into the road crews rooms took their televisions out and threw them out of the windows on the other side so that when the people came running upstairs they look and see the television is still there we didn't comprehend that we taken off the other side and thrown them out that window every single floor was a party everywhere you look there were people hanging out everybody called it the riot house the Hyatt House because it was a party house the managers there and Peter and I stand in there and I got the cash and we're going through the bill and the guys doing the bill Neeson and this and that and you know you have these room and you threw that out the window and now it's no I know we [ __ ] know what we done just give us the bill how much do you want fine got out the money look this way [ __ ] pager what's wrong with you he said you she said it's not hey Sam don't you know what I can't imagine what it must be like for you guys either I work in this [ __ ] hotel I'd love to smash a room up so Peter said oh look don't take one of the rooms and go specially that we're leaving the 15 minutes and ring with the belphin it was walking wrong was all about the decadence how could you not like having limos and jets and women and you know the Beatles hanging out with you every night and Stevie Wonder her and this and that you know in the champagne and it was fun yeah I think that's a pretty much you know set the industry standard there raised the bar in fact it only it only actually increased the interest in them because you stopped thinking about them just totally in this musical sense you know they were just a kind of spectacle and and there was just a bombardment of light and sound and now there's a completely new dimension to this group this appalling behavioral excess and in a way it kind of provided incredibly rich soap opera the band returned home exhausted from months on the road Robert and Jimmy took to a secluded spot in Wales called Bron Ron the isolation of the beautiful countryside was the perfect place to write and inspired the organic acoustic based material that comprised much of the next album Led Zeppelin 3 later the band and crew convened at Headley Grange a house in the English countryside was this old farming sort of Medicine there were four floors so it was like walking into almost the lobby of a hotel it's built in the 18th century and as he had about 10 bedrooms very spooky especially early in the morning with them the mist you know and this black dog that had died the week before that's where it was Epling got that track from there's a dog that died in one of the rooms and big baronial type banquet hall and huge fireplaces huge basement which ran the length and breadth of the house the main thing is that they're all together so therefore you don't waste time you haven't got four people and an engineer and that well there wasn't a producer Jimmy was the producer an engineer coming from different parts to be at a studio to start work at a certain time they were there and when they wanted to start they started the appeal of recording like that is that you you never under a red lights the place is yours to come and go as you wish whatever time you if you want to get up at 2:00 in the morning and record you can so you're not constricted by any time parameters and it's a very leisurely approach to recording things were getting awaited on the radio yet collie Simon James Taylor the people were wearing earth-tone colors so they started getting a little lighter - when you think about it a large portion of their songs were folk songs with just 12 string and acoustic guitars but there was a lot of oké incepted and believe it or not probably the heaviest folk band that existed work was progressing nicely with songs written and recorded all in the same location Led Zeppelin 3 was released at the end of October 1970 and as with their two previous albums the critics pandit they charged that the records largely acoustic format was an attempt to piggyback on the success of the popular new group crosby Stills and Nash I think they were hurt by the thing I mean they're sending more records than anyone else they were sending out more shows than anyone else there were only more than anyone else and you know all we were doing was getting pummeled by the press for no reason at all because what the press was saying didn't match up for the statistics I know that he was very sensitive about what they wrote about him and it really upset him a lot because he was one of the greatest guitar players ever and how dare they judge him you know Led Zeppelin recognized what really mattered most their fans though it didn't sell as well as Led Zeppelin to their phenomenal success was showing no signs of abating with the third album topping the charts for four consecutive weeks before a long page and plant found themselves back in Wales at Braun ROM writing new material for their fourth album after a brief recording stint in London the band once again headed out to Headley Grange to continue rehearsals and recording trained and also inspirational fellows waiting for a moment to walk in that was the difference with them nothing was truly planned but they were holding in their minds and hearts and down their spines especially Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones a lot of knowledge Percy Plant obviously had this gift and Bonzo was an actual fact at the time no one had played us so you put those four things together and you never knew quite what was gonna happen you knew it was gonna be good and so astounding you felt like some weird cypher who wasn't ready to catch something that had never happened before how do I catch this and not let them down how do I deal with this it was so big terrific and wonderful soon they were working in earnest on an evocative power ballad a song that would unquestionably become their anthem and in the process become one of the most played songs on rock radio stairway to heaven until the whole band comes in on the sixth verse it's basically it's a folk song in a minor and it's a lovely chord sequence and there's a little Mellotron in the back and a flute and it you know until Bonzo comes in it's it could be Peter Paul and Mary on steroids what it was required to on-location Headley no Andy Jones was doing the engineering now a lot of people with the song that that would take two or three days they took them two hours and it was done and you knew because you had worked with them before this is a basis for something really quite special and if you think about it still in heaven there were no instruments there's the drums there's the bass there's the acoustic guitar there is the Gibson guitar there are the two direct twelve strings after that Percy's voice and record us at the beginning in the end and that's it pal I mean it was good and I didn't know it was going to be you know almost of an answer but I knew it was the gem of the album sure Peter called and said hey James I want you I want you to hear something that we've just finished so he sent Richard Cole to come get me at this station and to be directly to the studios they wanted to hear what I felt about this you know and they put it on and I hope I just said to him gee this is the best thing they've ever done this is just gonna be incredible Led Zeppelin 4 was released in November 1971 and quickly rose to number 2 on the charts stairway to heaven was the album's highlight but at 7 minutes and 55 seconds it was much too long for the radio Atlantic pressed for a shorter version stay-away was gonna be a monstrous record I mean I think there may be quite clear to it you know arm it don't [ __ ] around because this time this is not gonna be a single and also they knew that if that people wanted to buy stairway to heaven and have to buy the whole album it became an industry really with Led Zeppelin when Peter grant turned it from a singles selling commodity to albums and that did bring a change that they could play for three hours and they could also sell albums Led Zeppelin's notorious manager Peter Grant was also throwing his weight around with concert promoters where bands once received fifty to sixty percent of a show's profits Peter asserted that the rules had changed from now on a whopping 90 percent would go to Led Zeppelin take it or leave it with their Peter grants their pioneering way of altering the structure of the major tours in America where it was the artists rather than the promoter who got the main source of revenue from those groups and artists were ripped off in every way from record companies to promoters in every aspect groups were ripped off and Peter Graham wasn't having that III had nothing but admiration for the man and he never ever forgot anyone no matter how big or how small on the ladder that he felt was good for the band and or for him you know he was with you a hundred percent we owe so much to that man he changed the balance for musicians to you know promoters with record companies etc I mean one man I mean so that is creative his vision was amazing his dedication was with Led Zeppelin and between them they had a very powerful tool in them no non-crossing he could be really mean he wanted to be not to me but just to other people you know he's such a big man and had such a big presence about him that if you ever saw him enraged or you would be terrified of him the promoters had no choice but to buckle under grants new demands Led Zeppelin embarked on their eighth tour of the United States raking in more money than ever back in LA they returned to their favorite haunts the riot house the whiskey and the rainbow Bar & Grill at that point in time there was an influx of baby groupies and I mean babies they were 13 and 14 and I was already the grand old age of 21 boy the guys wanted these baby girls that was the next step for these guys so Jimmy got involved with a young girl named Laurie I first heard Led Zepplin in 1973 and obviously it was stairway to heaven I became an immediate fan and fell in love with the band from day one and never had any aspirations of meeting Jimmy or wanting to meet them or anything like that at that particular time I was a teen model and so that's how I met Jimmy actually because he had seen my photograph and wanted to meet me what happened was is I guess Led Zeppelin came to town and had seen all these photos and Jimmy had made a call to reach out there saying I want to meet Laurie Maddox so next thing you know we were taking a drive down to the Hyatt House to go meet the band and I was terrified because first of all I was still hurt I mean I was a baby I mean come on I was and this is Led Zepplin she was 14 or not quite 14 and he just was intrigued with it you know we are head thing had run its course in his mind this sounded mine of course and so one day they were in town we hooked up we got together I was at The Whisky with him and he left with this girl I just had this really wonderful like you know calm demeanor about him something very mysterious and always kind and sweet I don't know how to explain them right is it the when you do meet him and when you do get to know him is you just immediately fall in love with him because he's so sweet I used to stand on the side of the stage and just be in awe and say why me you know he's saying in front of 30,000 people at the Forum and there I am standing there and you know he's playing this it was most beautiful thing ever the beginning of 1973 saw the long-awaited release of Zeppelin's fifth album houses of the Holy this would mark the first Led Zeppelin album to have an actual title ever since the Beatles breakup in April of 1970 Led Zeppelin had wrestled their crown away and were deemed Rock's most successful attraction by that time their popularity was so immense and far-reaching that a member of the Fab Four came calling to see what the fuss was all about George had come to the show because he called me up and he said in the window I arrived and I said what do you mean when you arrive you [ __ ] arrived at the beginning so he said well what about Wayne's when's the intermission I said what intermission he said you don't know I know I said they go on at 8:00 me finish at 10:30 she said you're joking I said no he said [ __ ] me we used to be booked for 20 minutes and be offstage in 15 on the tour Led Zeppelin played two sold-out crowds at New York's Madison Square Garden but the bigger story was the one that occurred offstage at the nearby Drake Hotel Jimmy called me one is $600 or something to buy a new guitar and I went to the safe and I've got the 600 and locked it back up again gave him his money and when we were leaving the hotel to go to Madison Square Gardens I needed to get the money out to pay the film crew and pay off the jet or whatever bits and pieces business wanted to do so previous to take what would bring all the money with you well when I looked in there the only thing in there were four passports they you know they'd know me for year two no I didn't see there I mean they weren't pissed off with me I think they were pissed off that it was gone the FBI conducted an investigation but the culprit was never found nor was the two hundred and three thousand dollars in cash the band returned home and spent the remainder of the year with their families the end of 1973 also spelled the end of Led Zeppelin's contract with Atlantic Records because of their immense popularity the price for a contract renewal would be steep part of that price was the formation of the band's own label swan song records we were like the first band that they have assigned and it just so happened that they were launching swan song that month so we as their protegees had to go to the openings in LA in new york of swan song the launch parties first time I met Bonzo was when he gave us a lecture on behaving ourselves Bonzo marched into our rooms I said this is a big day for us and you know keep the British flag flying and behavior so don't drink too much all right listen on may 10th 1974 Led Zeppelin hosted an elaborate launch party in LA for their new label Jesus I mean I've never seen celebrities like Groucho Marx when Gretchen walked in when these two blondes one on each arm he just stopped the proceedings Groucho may have impressed them but when Led Zeppelin heard that their musical hero Elvis Presley was playing the LA forum they arranged a meeting with the king Tom youlet the concha promoter was also would promote to Led Zeppelin that group their shows and they happen to be in LA at the time we were playing the forum and they wanted to be dumps and Tom youlet he asked out was okay free but lives up in the ceiling and said yeah but and they came up you know they met Elvis they were just thrilled could be they always idolized Elvis and you know they wanted another group setting up wasn't for Elvis we wouldn't been musicians and it was exciting for them and Elvis was jolly and there were nice guys it was a whole fun evening you know but I mean they were good everyone was kind of tiptoeing around because this was Elvis you know I'm sure they'd like me in the Queen of England or something you know somebody really never gonna get close to or even imagine you're gonna have anything to do with February 24th 1975 saw the release of Led Zeppelin sixth album and their first on swan song a double album Physical Graffiti quickly rose to the number-one chart position the band settled in Malibu to write songs for the next album and relax near their private playground of Los Angeles then in November of 1975 Led Zeppelin entered musicland studios in Munich Germany to record the presence album in a whirlwind 18 days they were quick I mean presents was done in like three weeks [Music] all the guitar overdubs were done in one night I didn't think I'd be able to do it in one night I thought it would take I have been doing of course maybe three different nights to get the individual section sort of crystallized and you know everything was just pouring out you know I was very happy with the guitar playing they rehearsed it and wrote another book flew into Munich I mean page at this wonderful idea which I hated that he always recorded in a miserable places and cold weather I don't know whether he did it on purpose because you knew there was nothing else to do but work and that way they left to turn out their quick if even Barbados had never get anything done in October of 1976 an idea that Peter in the band had put in motion years earlier finally came to fruition they had hired Joe Massa to make a movie about Led Zeppelin on the road and the resulting the song remains the same was finally released started in the Sheraton Hotel in Boston the very sitting around talk to you about a film which we took some time groovey talk about it suddenly said why don't we make a film jeans of the earth one gig at Madison Square Garden interspersed by what we would consider to be representations of how we'd like ourselves to be seen upstage you no see I think the main thing was to get over just wasn't a film of a concert I mean there's been lots of sort of lot lots of us read quite a few films that have just been concerts on stage and we wanted to get beyond that yes we're gonna be self-indulgent we might as well try and expand their indulgence a little making it totally in charge I had a picture tomorrow or they wanted to see that was a natural I've been the director Xu what was in their mind only no certain things that piss Nova factual film but nevertheless I mean as far as it goes on with me please dude is there it's a documentary more than anything else Led Zeppelin in concert and beyond I think a lot of the the joy went out at seven when there were a succession of tragic events which shocked everybody really definitely were at their peak of selling albums by the truckload and everybody wanted to see them and their shows a huge sellouts Zeppelin highly respected and then suddenly everything seemed to go pear-shaped on July 26 1977 tragedy struck when news came from England Robert Plant's five-year-old son Carrick had died from a stomach infection Robert was devastated and then there was the terrible news that Robert Plant some carrot had died back in England so they had to cancel the tour and everybody had to fly back but I think a lot of the fun were now out of birth exactly certainly as far as Robert Partners concerned no one pushed him to do anything Peter the band sat back and said well you know when it'd be all ready let us know what you want to do if you want to do something and that was really it eventually Robert reunited with the band to record their ninth album released at the end of 1979 in through the out door went on to sell more than 5 million copies the release of her album head games coincided with the release of enter the outdoor somebody brought me a test pressing of it and I heard it know Jesus despite the success of in through the out door discernible cracks were beginning to form within Led Zeppelin's airtight organization as well I've witnessed Bonzo just cut loose he had definitely split personality he would when he was drinking when he wasn't drinking he was a big teddy bear he wasn't one of the ones who messed around a lot at all he wanted to go home to his wife and kids he was such a good father and he really loved his wife and he really loved his kids and Jason I think that John's only problem was he had a classic drinking problem his his personality completely he was a different person sober than he was a drunk and when he became drunk he became loud and boisterous and a different person but when he was sober he was like gentle as a lamb with bombs oh it was like going out with a sailor who had 12 hours to live because he packed it all in he was a lovely guy at the end of 1 2 I went up to say goodbye knocked on his door come in and there he was he was packing his suitcase with very fastidious Johnny had always clothes hung and very neat and tidy but he was wrapping these sort of Japanese dolls and little dolls that he collected from various countries and towns for Zoe his little daughter and he was wrapping them individually and she was oh I don't see enough of her and they were all laid out in a row in this suitcase I thought wow people don't realize how about how much time they spent away from home so he was he would get really drunk and then become a whole other human being a real angry guy the mixed feelings would come when he had to go to work and he didn't particularly want to go to work he wanted to be at home with his wife and maybe having a baby or something like that by September Led Zeppelin was ensconced in rehearsals for their upcoming highly anticipated tour of America but it was during these rehearsals that the group was dealt an unthinkable blow bombs are when he got drunk was he didn't want to be in the raw end with him well he's just very kissed very nasty very wild you know the booze you know the booze and that's what killed him John Bonham was known as a man who loved his alcohol on September 24th 1980 Bynum was picked up from his hotel for rehearsals at Bray Studios during the journey Bonham consumed a steady diet of quadruple screwdrivers and continued to drink heavily at the studio a halt was called to the rehearsals late in the evening and the band retired to Jimmy Page's house in Windsor after midnight Bonham had fallen asleep and was taken to bed he died in his sleep later that night he was only 32 shocked I mean I was just shocked no one knew at that moment where how he died we knew that they were rehearsing but how could he die in a rehearsal you know this was the thing we didn't realize at the time he drunk and they put into bed and you know the classic rock and roll death you know choking on his own vomit so I thought he had a car crash the drugs are an idea I just knew something terrible the fallout from this was gonna be disastrous because there was such a tight-knit band and if one went that was it yeah there were four equal members you know when they were on that stage I mean just a sabia no one would shine more than the other for certain part but I mean together they were a unit I mean I think that's why they broke up there they you know Bonham was an integral part but that was what Led Zeppelin was was those four guys when he died the band evaporated and I think those guys just knew that you couldn't put anybody else in there and do what Bonham did and make that band work I think everybody probably wanted Led Zeppelin to continue and there were plenty of contenders for the job of being the drummer with Led Zeppelin cosy power Carmine Appice people that could have played it I could have done the gig but it wouldn't have been the same because John Bonham is so special and his personality was so powerful and of course that as I mentioned before they were a team and they were friends and you couldn't really replace him and I think in retrospect it was the best thing to do part of my charisma is you know he's reliant on the other three and the same with everybody else you know we really get off on playing together that's the whole secret I couldn't really go away and play with anybody else cuz if I wanted to play who else would I need for a drummer but buns ever you know the same with Jimmy and James II I don't think it could it wouldn't be right bonza was one of Roberts best friends from a very early age so Robert was almost mortally wounded he was wounded forever after it took a big toll on Robert and I think it took a big toll on the other two as well [Music] led zeppelin what can you say and how their their huge influence huge influence on everybody it was the most amazing thing ever you never see rocking more like that ever again there was nothing like it I mean they were the most fantastic live rock band ever no man has ever matched bands have come along who have been fantastic but who can do all of that Zeppelin will always be the number one hardrock band they were four amazing guys they look great they played great they were the first adventurous hardrock band and by virtue of that fact they'll always be the best [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: TheGrapevine

Views: 374,278

Rating: 4.8337545 out of 5

Keywords: A to Zeppelin: The Led Zeppelin Story Movie, Led Zeppelin, A to Zeppelin: The Led Zeppelin Story Full Movie, A to Zeppelin: The Led Zeppelin Story Feature Film, A to Zeppelin: The Led Zeppelin Story, feature film, movie, Mark McLaughlin, John Bonham, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, Peter Grant, Richard Cole, Andy Johns, Lori Mattix, Pamela Des Barres, Drama, Musical, Documentary, rock's heaviest band, rare footage, rock and roll, the Yardbirds, The Ramones

Id: U_E1kDfJskM

Length: 55min 32sec (3332 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 24 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/truth-4-sale]

Sorry for the mis-spelling... I was going with the YT description... But it's Lori Maddox, of course!!