1 00:00:01,740 --> 00:00:08,420 [Music] 2 00:00:08,639 --> 00:00:09,840 And you're just learning to play the 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,000 guitar. Yes. Can you can you from a 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:13,280 teacher? Do you play anything except 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,839 Skiffl? Yes. Vanish and dance. Do you as 6 00:00:15,839 --> 00:00:16,880 well? Can you move on? What are you 7 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:17,760 going to do when you leave school? Take 8 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,320 up skiffl. No, I want to do uh well 9 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,320 biological research. What you want to do 10 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,800 is do what? Research into into germs. 11 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,920 Yes. And to you 12 00:00:38,660 --> 00:00:41,930 [Music] 13 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:54,679 [Music] 14 00:00:57,530 --> 00:01:00,399 [Music] 15 00:01:00,399 --> 00:01:02,559 I'd like to introduce Led Zeppelin to 16 00:01:02,559 --> 00:01:04,209 you 17 00:01:04,209 --> 00:01:05,920 [Music] 18 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:10,600 on bass guitar. John Paul Jones 19 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,880 on drums. John Bonham 20 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,600 guitar. Jimmy Paige. 21 00:01:18,810 --> 00:01:22,240 [Music] 22 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,439 I'm myself, Robert Plan. 23 00:01:29,759 --> 00:01:31,439 I'm not Peter Pan, and I don't want to 24 00:01:31,439 --> 00:01:34,079 strut around with a bare chest and hair 25 00:01:34,079 --> 00:01:36,560 down to my back. That whole period was a 26 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,840 period. It was a law unto its itself. It 27 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,200 was like early pioneer days for excess, 28 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,119 if you like. And I guess I've gone 29 00:01:45,119 --> 00:01:46,399 through the whole thing, come out the 30 00:01:46,399 --> 00:01:50,560 other side with a a smile on my face. 31 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:53,119 Every now and again, somebody comes 32 00:01:53,119 --> 00:01:56,560 along and it kind of rocks the planet. 33 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:58,799 I just believed in what I was doing. I 34 00:01:58,799 --> 00:02:00,240 didn't take prisoners along the way 35 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:01,520 really. 36 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,479 [Music] 37 00:02:04,479 --> 00:02:06,000 The whole thing about Led Zeppelin was 38 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,319 it was so beautifully haphazard. It was 39 00:02:08,319 --> 00:02:11,039 really real. 40 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:13,280 Their 41 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,160 music blazed a trail across the world, 42 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,480 but few classic rock bands divide 43 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,440 popular critical opinion as much as Led 44 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,440 Zeppelin. 45 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:26,319 They were just a great band in every 46 00:02:26,319 --> 00:02:27,760 department. There's no one out there 47 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,800 like them. 48 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,120 Even if you didn't like the songs, even 49 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:35,360 if you didn't like the entire aura that 50 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:36,959 surrounded them, the hype and the 51 00:02:36,959 --> 00:02:39,120 nonsense and the grouping, you couldn't 52 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,120 ignore the fact that these people were 53 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,000 phenomenally gifted instrumentalists. 54 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,680 They knew about their instrument. 55 00:02:48,959 --> 00:02:52,160 We needed an enemy when punk came along 56 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:53,840 and bands like Led Zeppelin were the 57 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:55,760 perfect target. This was actually a bit 58 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,879 spinal tap 25minute guitar solos. That 59 00:02:58,879 --> 00:03:02,920 is exactly what we were against. 60 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,040 Music corresponds to the drugs that 61 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,040 they're doing. It was pot music. They 62 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,000 were cool. Heavy metal is a kind of 63 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,640 excuse for thinking clearly about what 64 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:15,280 music is. Everyone calls them the 65 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,920 godfathers of metal. They might be 66 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:19,680 inspiration for it, but they weren't 67 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,480 metal. They were a rock band. I never 68 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:23,920 actually asked Jimmy what did he feel 69 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:26,239 about the title heavy metal. I suspect 70 00:03:26,239 --> 00:03:28,000 he would just think it's nonsense. 71 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:29,360 Jimmy, is this something that you've 72 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:30,640 been interested in for a long time? Sort 73 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:31,760 of folk side of things, because you're 74 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:33,040 obviously normally associated with a 75 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,120 rather different type of music, which is 76 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,519 what? Well, rather heavier and rather 77 00:03:37,519 --> 00:03:38,720 more rocky than the sort of folks we're 78 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:40,080 hearing today. I think it's all folk 79 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:41,760 music actually. Yeah. If you'd listen to 80 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,230 some of those, the instruments change. 81 00:03:44,230 --> 00:03:55,840 [Music] 82 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,519 This wasn't something which was just 83 00:03:57,519 --> 00:03:59,760 long hair drug rock and roll, but this 84 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,680 was serious music which you should take 85 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,680 seriously. 86 00:04:13,519 --> 00:04:16,320 Combining the raw power and intensity of 87 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:18,400 hard rock with the finesse of 88 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:20,880 contemporary blues and the delicacy of 89 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,600 British folk music, Led Zeppelin's 90 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,479 revolutionary sound redefined rock in 91 00:04:26,479 --> 00:04:30,310 the 1970s and all that followed. 92 00:04:30,310 --> 00:04:31,990 [Applause] 93 00:04:31,990 --> 00:04:35,749 [Music] 94 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:41,759 The great thing about Zep was that it 95 00:04:41,759 --> 00:04:46,160 was like a huge sort of uh incredible 96 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,960 one night stand. You know, it was like 97 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:50,800 everything you could wish for on on the 98 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,560 first fantastic free date. You know, 99 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:56,479 everything thrown in, every sort of 100 00:04:56,479 --> 00:04:59,040 altercation, every 101 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,600 lust and every swing and every bit of 102 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,600 truth. 103 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,199 The legend has been dogging me all the 104 00:05:13,199 --> 00:05:14,240 way along the line, but that's all 105 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:15,520 right. Something to talk about. Who 106 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,520 cares? 107 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,360 It all began on January 9th, 1943 108 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,600 in the blacked out, heavily rationed 109 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,240 England of the war years when James 110 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,400 Patrick Paige was born in H, Middle Sex. 111 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:36,560 His initial aspirations of becoming a 112 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,120 biological researcher were soon swept 113 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,360 aside by his obvious talent for the 114 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,360 guitar. 115 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:52,560 The origins of Led Zeppelin can be 116 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,600 traced back to the early months of 1968 117 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,360 with the demise of one of the most 118 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,000 prominent British blues bands. The Yard 119 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,500 Birds. 120 00:06:01,500 --> 00:06:05,120 [Applause] 121 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,000 The Yard Birds were a part of the RandB 122 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,560 boom. They had a really good reputation. 123 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,199 eyes just hurt my brain. They were made 124 00:06:13,199 --> 00:06:16,639 up of of Keith Ralph and Eric Clapton 125 00:06:16,639 --> 00:06:19,039 and Jim McCarti and Paul Samuel Smith 126 00:06:19,039 --> 00:06:21,280 and Chris Jagger and obviously became 127 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:23,600 very famous here and in America because 128 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:25,520 they had three of the biggest guitarists 129 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,310 in the world. 130 00:06:28,310 --> 00:06:29,520 [Music] 131 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,960 Jimmy Paige joined the Arbers in mid66. 132 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:34,400 That's where he cut his teeth after 133 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,039 leaving the session scene. Jimmy was one 134 00:06:37,039 --> 00:06:38,639 of the finest and still is one of the 135 00:06:38,639 --> 00:06:40,000 finest guitars in the world, but he was 136 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:41,840 one of the most used and most sought 137 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:44,479 after session guitarists on the scene. 138 00:06:44,479 --> 00:06:46,000 It's amazing some of the records that 139 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,039 he's been on. He was even on things like 140 00:06:49,039 --> 00:06:51,280 Who Records and never credited probably 141 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:54,660 playing with half the UK as 142 00:06:54,660 --> 00:06:56,479 [Music] 143 00:06:56,479 --> 00:06:58,960 for a brief period. Jeff Beck and Jimmy 144 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,759 Paige were both in the Yard Birds and 145 00:07:01,759 --> 00:07:03,680 that was, as you can imagine, double 146 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,680 firepower. 147 00:07:09,199 --> 00:07:11,120 How long? 148 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:16,319 About 10 of God. Yeah. 14 years. 149 00:07:16,319 --> 00:07:19,520 Sorry. Longing the tooth keep We're all 150 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,520 from 151 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:27,120 We all move through the same 152 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:29,599 thing. 153 00:07:29,599 --> 00:07:32,880 I met Jimmy Paige through Eric Clapton. 154 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:34,800 And I'd known Eric Clapton's since the 155 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,759 Yard Birds time. So I was always trying 156 00:07:37,759 --> 00:07:40,479 to find out what they were doing. From 157 00:07:40,479 --> 00:07:43,199 1966, under the shrewd management of 158 00:07:43,199 --> 00:07:45,680 Peter Grant, the Yard Birds had built a 159 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:47,919 notable following in America. The one 160 00:07:47,919 --> 00:07:49,360 thing that counted for them was they 161 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:51,280 were big in the States. The Yard Birds 162 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,680 could tour in America and get big 163 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:55,919 crowds. 164 00:07:55,919 --> 00:07:58,560 In those days, everybody thought the 165 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,720 artists work for the manager. You know 166 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:02,960 in America it was like oh so and so he 167 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:05,039 owns them people. You don't own them. 168 00:08:05,039 --> 00:08:07,440 After all they hire you. They give you a 169 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:09,199 percentage of their money to do your 170 00:08:09,199 --> 00:08:12,790 very best for them. 171 00:08:12,790 --> 00:08:15,199 [Music] 172 00:08:15,199 --> 00:08:17,520 We did something like nine American 173 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:19,759 tours or some phenomenal, you know, of 174 00:08:19,759 --> 00:08:21,840 tours that used to last sort of 6 to 8 175 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,800 weeks. And it wasn't until Peter managed 176 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:26,800 us that I don't I think I ever came back 177 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,840 with any money from an American tour. 178 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:34,560 Well, time happy. 179 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:37,519 By the late 1960s, Peter Grant had 180 00:08:37,519 --> 00:08:40,000 earned a reputation as a nononsense 181 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,399 heavyweight manager. He was totally 182 00:08:42,399 --> 00:08:44,320 untrustworthy. I mean, he was sort of 183 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,320 this size, you know, you'd need a camera 184 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,000 with not only wide angle, but high 185 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:49,600 definition to even capture him. He was 186 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:51,839 so enormous. And he was kind of totally 187 00:08:51,839 --> 00:08:54,160 physically overbearing. And it's a bit 188 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:56,320 like and he and he he affected to being 189 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,080 a cottony. So when you were telephoned, 190 00:08:58,080 --> 00:08:59,920 it's a bit like being telephoned by God. 191 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:01,680 You know, you can automatically stood 192 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:03,519 up. Don't [ __ ] talk to me. It's my 193 00:09:03,519 --> 00:09:05,519 bloody act. I do bet I leave you 194 00:09:05,519 --> 00:09:06,800 anytime. You couldn't even get a 195 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,360 starting line. You're going to tell me 196 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,120 that you let I bet it wouldn't happen in 197 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:12,720 Europe. I don't know how the guy got in 198 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,160 the building. This isn't Europe or 199 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,720 England. No, I can see that. It's so 200 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:18,320 inefficient. You got to front him out 201 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:20,800 with that terribly being British and the 202 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,760 right verbal. It's what I call verbal 203 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,160 violence. You know, you don't actually 204 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:27,600 say, "I'm going to do this to you." But 205 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,080 you intimidate them. That's what that's 206 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,120 the game, intimidating them 207 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,000 verbally. And I realized that if you 208 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,560 were British, you could really do it 209 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:40,560 because you could always out verbal them 210 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:44,519 anytime you wanted to. 211 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:46,080 You know, they have a great thing of 212 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,560 calling you Paulo. Listen, pal. I go, 213 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:51,600 I'm not your pal. How dare you dress me 214 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:53,839 like that? Address me like that? I 215 00:09:53,839 --> 00:09:57,040 hardly know you wretched little man. You 216 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:58,480 know, and they think, "Fucking hell, 217 00:09:58,480 --> 00:09:59,839 what's that all about? They've never 218 00:09:59,839 --> 00:10:03,720 heard anything like it before." 219 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:08,880 The Yard Birds got left behind when the 220 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:11,920 purest RandB boom was giving way to the 221 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,600 psychedelic thing coming from America. 222 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,880 But eventually, they fell apart. 223 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:22,320 What was seemingly an end turned out to 224 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,290 be the beginning. 225 00:10:24,290 --> 00:10:26,959 [Music] 226 00:10:26,959 --> 00:10:29,760 When the Yirds disintegrated, Jimmy took 227 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,120 over the idea of doing another band and 228 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:34,880 he originally called what became Led 229 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,839 Zeppelin the new Yar Birds. 230 00:10:37,839 --> 00:10:41,120 Jimmy Page was already playing Dazed and 231 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,120 Confused in the Yard Birds with the old 232 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:45,519 lineup. So he was obviously hatching 233 00:10:45,519 --> 00:10:47,760 something a lot different from the pop 234 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:49,519 direction that the Yard Birds were going 235 00:10:49,519 --> 00:10:51,519 into. I remember I was with him. We're 236 00:10:51,519 --> 00:10:53,760 driving down Shbury Avenue or somewhere 237 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:54,800 one day and I said, "What are you going 238 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:56,560 to do? You know, you going to go back 239 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:58,320 sessions or form a new band?" And he 240 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:00,959 said, "Well, I'm going to get a new band 241 00:11:00,959 --> 00:11:04,160 together. Will you help sort it out for 242 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:07,040 us?" You know, I said, "Fine." That's 243 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,000 how we started. And what eventually a 244 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,850 bunch of musicians became Led Zeppelin. 245 00:11:12,850 --> 00:11:14,320 [Music] 246 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,120 I had in my mind exactly what what I 247 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:18,880 wanted to try and get together and then 248 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:20,880 it was just a matter of of searching 249 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:23,040 around for the right personnel that 250 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,279 could that could pull it off. Um, by 251 00:11:25,279 --> 00:11:28,079 that I mean, you know, for the sort of 252 00:11:28,079 --> 00:11:30,240 work that I'd managed to expand around 253 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:32,000 the Yirdirds material cuz there was a 254 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:33,680 lot of areas in there for improvisation 255 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:35,120 and I'd come up with a lot of riffs of 256 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,760 my own and ideas and, you know, passages 257 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,160 and movements and things. 258 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:41,839 Through the sessions, he'd met John Paul 259 00:11:41,839 --> 00:11:44,399 Jones, who was a respected 260 00:11:44,399 --> 00:11:45,920 multi-instrumentalist, really 261 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,640 specializing in bass, but he could play 262 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:50,959 keyboards and everything. So, he came 263 00:11:50,959 --> 00:11:53,120 in. Jonesy called me up and said, "Hey, 264 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,600 you you're getting a band together." He 265 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:57,600 said, "I really like to be part of it." 266 00:11:57,600 --> 00:11:59,440 And obviously, we knew each other from 267 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:01,680 the session days. great keyboard player, 268 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:04,560 great bass player, great intuition, did 269 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:06,480 a lot of things that that you you 270 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,040 wouldn't actually immediately recognize 271 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:10,800 on a on a Zeppelin record, but a lot of 272 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:12,639 his arrangements and a lot of the sounds 273 00:12:12,639 --> 00:12:14,240 and the keyboard things that were went 274 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,320 on had a lot to do with John. You always 275 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,880 have to have the quiet one. Uh, but I 276 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:20,560 think he was very essential apart from 277 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:22,959 the fact he was a brilliant bass player. 278 00:12:22,959 --> 00:12:24,880 And if you hear his his bass playing on 279 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,600 dazed and confused, he's just makes the 280 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:33,360 track the finger walking kind of style. 281 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,320 He later would be introducing other 282 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,360 sounds like meatrons and synths, you 283 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:41,760 know, he wasn't just a guy at the back 284 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,279 playing bass. He added a lot of color. 285 00:12:45,279 --> 00:12:48,160 With a basist on board, Jimmy now needed 286 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:49,920 a front man. I wanted somebody who could 287 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,399 really belt out the blues and well rock 288 00:12:52,399 --> 00:12:54,800 rock really but blues but also be able 289 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,519 to handle other well you know the 290 00:12:57,519 --> 00:12:59,040 subtleties as well. So it needed 291 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:00,800 somebody with a really really good vocal 292 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,440 range and power. First of all he'd asked 293 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,000 a guy called Terry Reed who turned him 294 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,519 down because at that time he had a solo 295 00:13:09,519 --> 00:13:11,839 contract and a and a solo album coming 296 00:13:11,839 --> 00:13:15,200 out. So he wasn't going to throw in his 297 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,639 lot with, you know, this new band which 298 00:13:18,639 --> 00:13:20,639 is forever known as the bloke who turned 299 00:13:20,639 --> 00:13:24,120 down Led Zeppelin. 300 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,480 Paige found his man in Robert Plant when 301 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:32,000 I was 19, you know. I mean, I was fed up 302 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,720 at fixing the roads and working on a 303 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:36,480 Saturday and a Sunday, you know. I mean, 304 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:38,720 it was nice to meet anybody who and when 305 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,480 I heard him play, it was such a 306 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,000 celebration. It was great. He's somebody 307 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,240 who could play the blues with an 308 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,639 attitude that wasn't just black. 309 00:13:48,639 --> 00:13:52,399 It was very much London art school. That 310 00:13:52,399 --> 00:13:54,639 kind of attitude, the kind of aggressive 311 00:13:54,639 --> 00:13:57,199 angular thing. He is one of the finest 312 00:13:57,199 --> 00:13:59,040 vocalists to have come out of this 313 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:00,800 country. He's probably one of the finest 314 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:02,560 vocalists in the world. My parents 315 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:04,560 wanted me to go into, you know, a 316 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:07,839 profession, but I was already sold on 317 00:14:07,839 --> 00:14:10,639 music and there was a terrible 318 00:14:10,639 --> 00:14:13,519 um impass for quite a long time between 319 00:14:13,519 --> 00:14:15,680 us. But I knew I had to do this, you 320 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:17,199 know. I mean, it sounds very romantic 321 00:14:17,199 --> 00:14:19,120 now cuz I could be selling cars in 322 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,240 Warsaw really, you know, but I I just 323 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,480 had to do it. I when you hear those 324 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:27,519 voices crackling off the jukebox in some 325 00:14:27,519 --> 00:14:29,360 kind of 326 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,320 uh smoky black and white cafe in 1962, 327 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:33,519 you want to know where that's coming 328 00:14:33,519 --> 00:14:37,040 from and what it's like in that game and 329 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:41,040 I'm in it. So I got there, you know, I 330 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,120 always thought he sounded best on the 331 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,320 acoustic stuff cuz then it was revealed 332 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,320 that he wasn't just a screamer. He had a 333 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,040 really good voice. Plant of course is 334 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,160 the showman, but Jimmy had a way, I 335 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,720 noticed this frequently when uh in the 336 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,519 in the heyday of when he thought plant 337 00:14:59,519 --> 00:15:01,519 was going on a bit, he'd suddenly start 338 00:15:01,519 --> 00:15:03,519 playing, cutting him short in the nicest 339 00:15:03,519 --> 00:15:05,680 possible way and done so perfectly that 340 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,320 nobody would notice. Um the same with 341 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:11,120 Bonum. I mean, 342 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,839 when's he going to stop? 343 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,839 We were just very keen, very eager, and 344 00:15:17,839 --> 00:15:24,079 very driven. and uh and very um 345 00:15:24,079 --> 00:15:26,720 I guess full of it. You know, we're 346 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,360 particularly bombastic, Ronzo and 347 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,720 myself. And so um yeah, we were 348 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,079 determined to the almost to the degree 349 00:15:36,079 --> 00:15:39,680 of uh nausea in our companions, you 350 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,920 know, it was great. We were just meant 351 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,840 to be going somewhere fast. 352 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:46,420 [Music] 353 00:15:46,420 --> 00:15:51,489 [Applause] 354 00:15:51,839 --> 00:15:54,000 Drummer wise, there were a few tried 355 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,399 out. I think Jimmy had the sound in his 356 00:15:56,399 --> 00:15:58,320 head. He wanted to carry on playing 357 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:01,120 bluesbased stuff, but he wanted to have 358 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,880 this real hard rock edge, essentially a 359 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:06,570 new sound. 360 00:16:06,570 --> 00:16:11,519 [Laughter] 361 00:16:11,519 --> 00:16:14,240 Although I I had in mind a a very 362 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:15,680 powerful drummer, you know, I wasn't 363 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:17,440 ready for John Bonham, I must say. He 364 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:19,279 was uh beyond the realms of anything 365 00:16:19,279 --> 00:16:21,440 that I could possibly have imagined, you 366 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,000 know, it's absolutely phenomenal. 367 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,399 He was stunning. I mean, I think each 368 00:16:26,399 --> 00:16:28,399 individual member of Zeppelin could have 369 00:16:28,399 --> 00:16:30,880 shone in any band. They were that good, 370 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,199 you know, and John was an amazing 371 00:16:33,199 --> 00:16:36,240 drummer. He had power. I mean, immense 372 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:38,880 power. I mean the the the the way he hit 373 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:40,959 the kit was phenomenal. I remember 374 00:16:40,959 --> 00:16:42,800 Hendrick's one night coming up to Bonso 375 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,600 in a club in New York. 376 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:47,440 And in those days everybody used to jam. 377 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:49,600 It was a place called Steve Paul Seam. 378 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:54,079 There was Buddy Miles and uh Hrix Beck. 379 00:16:54,079 --> 00:16:56,079 There was loads of us. Me, Rod Stewart, 380 00:16:56,079 --> 00:16:58,959 people all over the place. And um he 381 00:16:58,959 --> 00:17:00,720 came over to Bonso and he said, "You 382 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:02,160 know what?" He said, "You got to foot 383 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:04,240 like a rabbit." Cuz Bonso's bass drum 384 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,640 was so 385 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:08,079 And we used to take the mickey out of 386 00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:09,280 people who used double bass drums 387 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,280 because Bonsai just said, "What you want 388 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:12,799 two for?" Without Bonsa, the band 389 00:17:12,799 --> 00:17:14,000 wouldn't have meant anything at all. 390 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,160 Sure. I mean, he was the the emulsifying 391 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:17,520 agent. He was everything. He was like 392 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:19,760 the whole core of the thing. He was the 393 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:21,839 guy who stopped it being just another 394 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:24,319 rock band really. At least in its 395 00:17:24,319 --> 00:17:27,120 performance, the writing, I mean, 396 00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:29,520 Jimmy's approach 397 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,520 was so unique and he's so unique. But I 398 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:33,919 mean, Bonso's whole delivery was the 399 00:17:33,919 --> 00:17:36,080 thing that made it what it is. Jimmy 400 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:37,840 Paige is the man who made that group 401 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:40,320 work. Not because he's just a great 402 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,360 guitarist, because he is, but he is he 403 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:45,520 is the one who really had a sense of of 404 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,240 of musical discipline. I don't really 405 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,480 believe rock bands are democracies. I 406 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,480 think rock bands are led by one or two 407 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,480 people. 408 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,080 The family atmosphere was very, very 409 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,240 important to them. And you always have 410 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,000 one member of the family who's slightly 411 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:03,440 stronger than the other who says, "I 412 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:04,640 think we should do this rather than 413 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:06,640 that." I think Jimmy would would be the 414 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,160 person they look to, but the other two 415 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,039 will hate me for saying that. But um 416 00:18:11,039 --> 00:18:12,640 that doesn't matter. That that's my 417 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:14,559 view. I think that that Jimmy was the 418 00:18:14,559 --> 00:18:16,160 musical intelligence which guided it 419 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,039 along. 420 00:18:19,039 --> 00:18:21,280 The group's first rehearsal was in a 421 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:23,360 London basement. We first played 422 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:24,799 together in a small room in Gerard 423 00:18:24,799 --> 00:18:27,200 Street in a basement room in what is now 424 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,760 Chinatown. And it was just wallto-wall 425 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,320 amplifiers, you know, Marshalls sort of. 426 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,960 There's a space for the door and that 427 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,120 was it. And um literally was just 428 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:38,559 everybody looking at each other. What 429 00:18:38,559 --> 00:18:41,760 should we play? So there was an old yard 430 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:43,120 number called the train kept rolling 431 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:45,440 which Jimmy said, well it's just like is 432 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,840 and he go 433 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,039 right. So 3 4 434 00:18:51,039 --> 00:18:54,080 and wow the whole room just exploded you 435 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:56,320 know silly grins and oh yeah this is it 436 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:58,799 man. Yes, you know it was it was pretty 437 00:18:58,799 --> 00:19:00,880 bloody obvious actually it was it was 438 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,600 going to work from the first number. The 439 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,559 first gig that the lineup played was 440 00:19:06,559 --> 00:19:09,280 October the 18th 1968 at the marquee. 441 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,120 They were built as as the new Yard 442 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:12,400 Birds. And there's one eyewitness 443 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,320 account where the guy felt a bit short 444 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,240 changed cuz it was only yard one Yard 445 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,400 Bird on stage, but then like one song 446 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:22,480 in, he he didn't care, you know? It was 447 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:24,799 so good. Everything was going firing off 448 00:19:24,799 --> 00:19:26,080 in all directions. There was lots of 449 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,720 tangents musically. Um, well, I started 450 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,120 developing the use of me voice to match 451 00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:33,200 in with what Jimmy was doing with the 452 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,679 guitar, you know. 453 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,000 The great thing about earlier concerts 454 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,559 that I went to was that it was perfectly 455 00:19:44,559 --> 00:19:46,960 clear that the other three were trying 456 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:48,880 to individually play the other straight 457 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:50,880 off the stage. Anything you can do, 458 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,120 mate, I can do much better, which of 459 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:56,080 course is the kind of tension musically 460 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,720 in in groups which are great at 461 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:00,720 improvising, you need. I mean, 462 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,960 basically, I'm a rock and roll singer. I 463 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,000 my early days I'm based on the the hips 464 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:08,240 of Billy Fury, you know, and the voice 465 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,240 of Elvis. So to get this far down the 466 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:14,000 line by taking these curves is quite 467 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,050 exciting. 468 00:20:16,050 --> 00:20:19,280 [Music] 469 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:22,240 Peter Grant's attempts to book the band 470 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,039 on a tour of English clubs was met with 471 00:20:25,039 --> 00:20:27,360 total indifference. I think it was the 472 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:29,600 yard bird stigma. People thought it was 473 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:31,840 confusing the transition. There was a 474 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:33,440 sort of stigma that the Yard Birds had 475 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,200 burnt out, so this band couldn't be that 476 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,200 good. 477 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:40,240 They were rubbished. The record 478 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:41,679 companies couldn't figure out what the 479 00:20:41,679 --> 00:20:43,360 hell all this rubbish was because I 480 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:45,120 mean, you know, the idea of a white 481 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:48,240 middle class lad singing about, you 482 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:50,799 know, the impoverishment of Delta Blues 483 00:20:50,799 --> 00:20:53,919 is totally absurd. So, you you're not 484 00:20:53,919 --> 00:20:55,520 dealing with something which is pure. 485 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:59,120 The idea of blues and purity sung by 486 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:01,840 white middleclass kids, however skillful 487 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,000 they are technically, is a nonsense. 488 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,480 They're creating something of themselves 489 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:08,880 and something which is meaningful to 490 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,880 them. 491 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,200 What we would call RandB is not what we 492 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,039 call RandB now. It's just it was genuinely 493 00:21:19,039 --> 00:21:20,880 rhythm and blues. And they were one of 494 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,200 the forerunners. When you hear Robert 495 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:24,960 Plant perform a song and you believe it, 496 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:26,799 you never doubt that that's Robert Plant 497 00:21:26,799 --> 00:21:28,720 really trying to tell us something about 498 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,039 him. You never doubt that that's Jimmy 499 00:21:31,039 --> 00:21:34,000 playing his heart out. What he did was 500 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,679 interpret blues and rock blues in a more 501 00:21:37,679 --> 00:21:40,640 aggressive, tougher way with more power 502 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,799 and more passion. That was Jimmy's idea. 503 00:21:42,799 --> 00:21:45,360 He felt that you could play it louder 504 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:49,280 with more fight, more balls. They like 505 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,760 cream had managed to combine something 506 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,240 which was instantly appealing in the way 507 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,280 that all great popular music is. Uh 508 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:01,120 instantly connecting back to blues of a 509 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:04,720 very hard specific variety and yet was 510 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,039 trundling off at great rate in a new 511 00:22:07,039 --> 00:22:10,039 direction. 512 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,039 Jimmy Paige had found his sound, but he 513 00:22:17,039 --> 00:22:18,960 still needed to lose the yard bird 514 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,840 stigma. They decided to change the name. 515 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,120 They were nearly called the Whoopy 516 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:27,200 Cushion. Um, which obviously got 517 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,039 discounted and then there was talk about 518 00:22:29,039 --> 00:22:33,280 a super group with Keith Moon and John 519 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,679 Nwistle and all that bunch. I think it 520 00:22:35,679 --> 00:22:37,200 was NWizzle said, "Yeah, if we did that, 521 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:38,880 it' go down like a lead balloon or a Led 522 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,120 Zeppelin." So that's how they they 523 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:41,919 thought, "All right, we'll call 524 00:22:41,919 --> 00:22:45,240 ourselves that." 525 00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:50,080 But the weird thing about them was they 526 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,039 didn't set the place on fire. When they 527 00:22:53,039 --> 00:22:55,520 first started, they had a hard time. 528 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,400 They didn't make any effort to endear 529 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:00,480 themselves to the British musical press. 530 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,039 They quite quickly understood that this 531 00:23:03,039 --> 00:23:04,400 kind of music and this kind of 532 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,200 improvisatory related to the deep south 533 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,520 in the United States music would find 534 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:11,679 its feet in the United States, which is 535 00:23:11,679 --> 00:23:15,110 exactly what happened. Baby, 536 00:23:15,110 --> 00:23:17,679 [Music] 537 00:23:17,679 --> 00:23:21,120 please don't go. In 1968, Peter Grant 538 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:23,520 left England with a mission to secure a 539 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,000 world distribution deal. 540 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:27,280 America's where all the money is. I 541 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:28,799 mean, that's where the huge crowds are. 542 00:23:28,799 --> 00:23:32,000 The UK is great, but if really if the UK 543 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,600 are going to be slagging you off every 544 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,000 week. 545 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,159 Yeah. I mean, he just felt the general 546 00:23:38,159 --> 00:23:40,720 vibe over here wasn't receptive to them. 547 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,799 And in the end, they went to an American 548 00:23:42,799 --> 00:23:45,200 record label. 549 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:50,080 That label was Atlantic Records. 550 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,480 Rock and roll is a direct outgrowth from 551 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,320 the blues and from rhythm and blues. 552 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,679 And all those great English guitar 553 00:23:59,679 --> 00:24:03,679 players like Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton 554 00:24:03,679 --> 00:24:06,559 and Jimmy Paige 555 00:24:06,559 --> 00:24:10,320 uh were heavily heavily influenced by 556 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:14,640 the blues. You know it's cold down here, 557 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,520 baby. 558 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:19,200 Ahmed Eert was one of the few people 559 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:21,520 that immediately got it. He actually got 560 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,320 it. Ahmed and his brother Neswi were 561 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:26,480 legends of the music industry and they 562 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,039 used to go into these black clubs and 563 00:24:29,039 --> 00:24:31,120 they they were moved by the music rhythm 564 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:33,840 and blues and a lot of these songs that 565 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:35,360 were sang by the slaves in the 566 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:37,360 plantation. So what they did is they 567 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:38,960 took dad's money and they opened up a 568 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,279 record label called Atlantic which was 569 00:24:41,279 --> 00:24:44,480 basically a black RandB record label and 570 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,000 they start branching it out where they 571 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,000 started taking in white artists. They 572 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:49,760 moved into England and they started 573 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,640 bringing the English acts over and Led 574 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,200 Zeppelin became a very natural band for 575 00:24:55,200 --> 00:25:00,360 Ahmed to want and to insist on having. 576 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,919 Armit Ertigan gave him $200,000 577 00:25:03,919 --> 00:25:06,640 which was huge for that time. That was 578 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,159 like the biggest deal anyone had ever 579 00:25:08,159 --> 00:25:09,860 got. 580 00:25:09,860 --> 00:25:15,760 [Music] 581 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,360 We did almost everything on a handshake. 582 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:22,400 Uh we would eventually formalize it by 583 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:25,679 contract, but once we made a deal, 584 00:25:25,679 --> 00:25:28,480 verbal deal, that was a deal signed in 585 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,679 blood. Everything going to be all right 586 00:25:31,679 --> 00:25:34,400 this morning. 587 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,400 He had this confidence. He exuded this 588 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,080 confidence about he knew he had the best 589 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,240 band. And so all you got to do is give 590 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:41,679 me the best deal. You know, if you 591 00:25:41,679 --> 00:25:44,480 won't, somebody else will. We're having 592 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,559 lots of fun. When you're dealing with 593 00:25:46,559 --> 00:25:49,120 artists and musicians, you got to be 594 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:50,720 there 24 hours. You can't do it like 595 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:52,240 you're selling you're selling these 596 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:53,840 glasses and at the end of day you say, 597 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:55,200 "Oh, [ __ ] it." You know, you put it on 598 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:56,880 the shelf and forget it. You know, 599 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,039 tomorrow I'll sell 600 00:25:59,039 --> 00:26:02,000 50 cases of glasses. You can't do that. 601 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,159 You've got to be there for your artist. 602 00:26:04,159 --> 00:26:05,600 You got to believe in your artist and 603 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,200 you got to be there for them. 604 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:11,520 Led Zeppelin arrived at the end of the 605 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,960 1960s, but they already sounded like the 606 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,720 future. A new era had begun. It wasn't 607 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,120 until we played at uh I think it was a 608 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:24,960 Filmore that suddenly we went in right 609 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:26,480 at the must have got in right at the 610 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,960 right time. They did their first gig in 611 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,440 America in December 68 and it 612 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,240 built and built and built. 613 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,440 The group's debut album Led Zeppelin was 614 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,559 recorded in 1968 at London's Olympic 615 00:26:48,559 --> 00:26:52,000 Studios. It turned rock and roll on its 616 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,000 head. 617 00:26:56,159 --> 00:26:57,919 I had an idea of what exactly what I 618 00:26:57,919 --> 00:26:59,520 wanted to do with the first album and 619 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,279 the band. I wanted to make music which 620 00:27:01,279 --> 00:27:04,720 was really uh that people would respect 621 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:06,480 and I knew it was good but I hadn't got 622 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:07,840 the faintest idea that it was ever going 623 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:09,120 to become as big as what it did 624 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:11,120 obviously. I mean and I and but I hadn't 625 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:13,120 even thought or or wished it to. I think 626 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:14,640 the only thing I wanted to do was to do 627 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:16,720 something which uh which could stand the 628 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:18,600 test of time. 629 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:23,200 [Music] 630 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,279 We just found something that um we had 631 00:27:25,279 --> 00:27:26,640 to be very careful with this thing that 632 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:28,400 we'd found because we might lose it. But 633 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,279 it was remarkable just the power and I 634 00:27:31,279 --> 00:27:33,200 was very intimidated. I don't know. I 635 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,039 mean maybe I had a complex or maybe I 636 00:27:35,039 --> 00:27:37,600 was just neurotic or paranoid or 637 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:38,640 something like that. But I thought this 638 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,960 is all too much. Am I really here? Do I 639 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:42,880 belong in this sketch? And so really the 640 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,200 the record feels like that for me for my 641 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,840 contribution. you know, really as a as a 642 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,919 collection of tunes and a way to play 643 00:27:49,919 --> 00:27:54,039 and expand. It was great. 644 00:27:56,799 --> 00:27:59,279 The sound just kind of exploded in every 645 00:27:59,279 --> 00:28:01,679 direction. You couldn't predict in any 646 00:28:01,679 --> 00:28:03,679 given song what it was going to do, 647 00:28:03,679 --> 00:28:05,840 where it was going. That was what was so 648 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:07,279 exciting. I mean, this was a real 649 00:28:07,279 --> 00:28:09,920 adventure musically. 650 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:14,640 [Music] 651 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:16,480 There's a lot of contrast on the album 652 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:17,760 and that's one of the things that I 653 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:19,120 really wanted to get together which I 654 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:21,200 didn't think anyone else was doing and 655 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,919 that's and that was the uh but then 656 00:28:23,919 --> 00:28:25,600 again you know that's the way it shaped 657 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,679 up but fortunately it shaped up the way 658 00:28:27,679 --> 00:28:29,840 that I you know hoped it was going to. 659 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:31,440 This one was unlike anything you'd heard 660 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,640 before because it was for a start rude. 661 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:36,480 It was great. I mean no one had gone 662 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,640 that far. No one had really taken that 663 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:41,360 essence of the blues. The Stones had 664 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,360 obviously been doing it for years, but 665 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,000 they'd somehow blown it up. This was 666 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,200 like pin you against the wall stuff. I 667 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:50,799 came to write the very first review 668 00:28:50,799 --> 00:28:52,880 about Led Zeppelin. I mean, I just said, 669 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:54,480 you know, this is absolutely the 670 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:57,679 successor to Cream. These are formidable 671 00:28:57,679 --> 00:29:00,640 musicians, and it definitely um helped 672 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:02,159 to get them off the ground. I know 673 00:29:02,159 --> 00:29:04,480 because uh early on it was very 674 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,440 frequently quoted from 675 00:29:10,559 --> 00:29:12,159 Younger people don't realize that whole 676 00:29:12,159 --> 00:29:13,600 a lot of that album isn't their own 677 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,320 writing. He chose very well the songs to 678 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,399 cover. All the things that Jimmy did on 679 00:29:18,399 --> 00:29:20,240 that first album, he made them into 680 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,080 Zebra songs. They were Z. 681 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,240 How many more times it was a bit naughty 682 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:27,919 cuz it was actually How Many More Years 683 00:29:27,919 --> 00:29:31,300 by Howling Wolf. 684 00:29:31,300 --> 00:29:33,360 [Music] 685 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,000 same melody and everything except they 686 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:37,360 just changed a few words and it was 687 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:39,440 called How Many More Times and given 688 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,840 like a supercharged riff. I mean, you 689 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:43,600 shook me had already been on Jeff Beck's 690 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:45,440 album and that was an old Willie Dixon 691 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,760 song, but it would appear on the sleeve 692 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,039 traditional arranged by Le Elyn, you 693 00:29:51,039 --> 00:29:53,520 know. Um, the Stones had done that too 694 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,000 with Robert Johnson. It was a common 695 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,240 thing to take some old blues guys song. 696 00:29:58,240 --> 00:29:59,840 He didn't rip him off, but he definitely 697 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:01,520 borrowed from the Muddy Waters in that 698 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,400 first album. 699 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:04,610 [Applause] 700 00:30:04,610 --> 00:30:06,880 [Music] 701 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,120 Through rigorous touring and word of 702 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,760 mouth, Led Zeppelin were rapidly raised 703 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,720 to Olympian heights. 704 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:17,679 You weren't saw a Zeppelin concert. You 705 00:30:17,679 --> 00:30:19,840 wouldn't hear the album. You would hear 706 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:21,679 a version of the album. And that's what 707 00:30:21,679 --> 00:30:23,840 made it so brilliant. Jimmy solos were 708 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:25,840 close, but maybe they weren't the same. 709 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:27,919 Uh Robert's singing was was maybe the 710 00:30:27,919 --> 00:30:29,279 same, maybe it wasn't. you would 711 00:30:29,279 --> 00:30:32,159 actually be invited to another version 712 00:30:32,159 --> 00:30:33,679 of it. It's great. It's like seeing a 713 00:30:33,679 --> 00:30:35,760 film with three different endings. Their 714 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:39,540 gigs were very much rituals. 715 00:30:39,540 --> 00:30:52,559 [Music] 716 00:30:52,559 --> 00:30:55,600 Led Zeppelin reached instantaneous fame 717 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,240 despite the almost universal negativity 718 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,799 of the press. The critics were lukewarm, 719 00:31:00,799 --> 00:31:03,520 but we we played a storm. We had cues 720 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:05,279 right three times around the block and 721 00:31:05,279 --> 00:31:07,440 stuff like that, playing in small clubs. 722 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,240 It was big. It was real hot. The British 723 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,360 musical press loved nothing more than to 724 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,000 destroy anybody. it thought it had 725 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:17,600 created. 726 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,480 Now, and there are zillion examples of 727 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,159 that. What was difficult for them about 728 00:31:24,159 --> 00:31:26,720 Led Zeppelin was they hadn't created Led 729 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,720 Zeppelin. 730 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,679 They got slacked off as being brainless. 731 00:31:33,679 --> 00:31:35,600 Sometimes they would lump him in in a 732 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,320 kind of Black Sabbath role. The press at 733 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:40,559 that time 734 00:31:40,559 --> 00:31:42,399 was very odd. When the press don't 735 00:31:42,399 --> 00:31:47,039 derive a trend or a fashion or an idea, 736 00:31:47,039 --> 00:31:49,120 they feel like they're having to follow 737 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,720 and the power moves from the media onto 738 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,360 the band and the band decide who who 739 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:56,640 they're going to have interviews with 740 00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:58,640 and who they're going to talk to. The 741 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:00,799 media don't like that. We I'm talking 742 00:32:00,799 --> 00:32:03,200 about the general popular music press. 743 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,200 We didn't make them. We're not 744 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:07,279 responsible. Who are these guys? You 745 00:32:07,279 --> 00:32:09,039 know, did they pay us to write about 746 00:32:09,039 --> 00:32:11,840 them nicely? Uh, what I've just said is 747 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:14,080 totally lious, but it's absolutely true. 748 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:16,000 You won't find a rock journalist now 749 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:17,360 that would ever say anything bad about 750 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:20,360 Zeppelin. 751 00:32:22,030 --> 00:32:26,799 [Music] 752 00:32:26,799 --> 00:32:28,559 Where I give them credit is because they 753 00:32:28,559 --> 00:32:30,559 didn't put out a single. They never 754 00:32:30,559 --> 00:32:33,279 became overcommercialized. They didn't 755 00:32:33,279 --> 00:32:36,000 release singles because they felt the 756 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:38,480 albums were supposed to be an entity 757 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,240 listened to from beginning to end. The 758 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:41,519 record company over here made the 759 00:32:41,519 --> 00:32:43,279 mistake of actually pressing up and 760 00:32:43,279 --> 00:32:45,440 releasing a single, but as soon as Peter 761 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:47,200 Grant got wind of that, he clamped down 762 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,640 on it. To us, it was like, you know, 763 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:54,320 taking away a very important tool in 764 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,640 breaking a group, but we were not 765 00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:59,120 allowed to put out singles. 766 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,200 Uh, he did not want them to appear on 767 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,519 television, which made it also very 768 00:33:03,519 --> 00:33:05,840 tough to promote. They didn't do 769 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:10,519 anything the the right way. 770 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,000 During 1969, while on the road, the band 771 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:16,159 recorded their second album, Led 772 00:33:16,159 --> 00:33:19,120 Zeppelin 2. It was that second album 773 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:20,960 that did it. That's the one that really 774 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:24,320 broke them in in the UK. 775 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:25,679 A whole lot of love. And that was the 776 00:33:25,679 --> 00:33:26,799 track where it all kicked off. I 777 00:33:26,799 --> 00:33:28,399 remember when that came out. I mean, it 778 00:33:28,399 --> 00:33:30,880 was unlike anything else. There have 779 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:32,640 been there were heavy metal sounding 780 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,120 tracks, but not like that. Then you've 781 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:36,799 got, you know, the orgasm bit halfway 782 00:33:36,799 --> 00:33:40,550 through. It's like 783 00:33:40,550 --> 00:33:43,640 [Applause] 784 00:33:47,519 --> 00:33:49,279 and that was on the jukebox in my local 785 00:33:49,279 --> 00:33:52,080 pub. You know, you'd walk in and uh that 786 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:53,519 section would be on and there would be 787 00:33:53,519 --> 00:33:55,600 all these B sitting around drinking with 788 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:58,180 that going on. It was startling. 789 00:33:58,180 --> 00:33:58,390 [Applause] 790 00:33:58,390 --> 00:34:05,039 [Music] 791 00:34:05,039 --> 00:34:08,159 By 1973, under the management of Peter 792 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:10,879 Grant, Led Zeppelin were breaking box 793 00:34:10,879 --> 00:34:14,359 office records. 794 00:34:14,399 --> 00:34:16,560 One of the problems about all rock and 795 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:20,079 roll groups of that era is finding 796 00:34:20,079 --> 00:34:22,079 someone they could trust as their 797 00:34:22,079 --> 00:34:25,200 manager. It was chaos. 798 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:28,320 They needed someone to hold their hand. 799 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,399 What Peter Grant did, partly because of 800 00:34:30,399 --> 00:34:32,240 his size, which one should never be 801 00:34:32,240 --> 00:34:34,639 underestimated, was he gave them a 802 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:37,440 feeling of security. He was someone who 803 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:40,159 would get them through whatever problems 804 00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:42,159 came along. And of course, there are 805 00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:44,240 legions of problems. You know, if you've 806 00:34:44,240 --> 00:34:47,359 got a cash cow group called Led 807 00:34:47,359 --> 00:34:49,760 Zeppelin, you've got record companies. 808 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:51,359 It's mostly run by criminals and 809 00:34:51,359 --> 00:34:53,599 halfwits and certainly gangsters and 810 00:34:53,599 --> 00:34:55,440 probably the mafia. You got to be 811 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,599 protected against these awful people who 812 00:34:57,599 --> 00:35:00,400 is going to protect you. Then you've got 813 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,880 every promoter in every city that you 814 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,040 are going to who is damn certainly going 815 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,920 to rip you off. So again, you need a 816 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:10,560 kind of strong man who's going to say, 817 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,200 "Give me the money now." You had people 818 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,240 inside this building selling poses and 819 00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:17,599 you didn't know anything about I didn't 820 00:35:17,599 --> 00:35:18,960 know about it. As soon as we found out 821 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,599 about it, we stopped it. Yeah. As soon 822 00:35:21,599 --> 00:35:24,880 as we found out about it and told you, 823 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:26,880 you stopped it. All right. So, you walk 824 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:28,320 away and let them get away with it, they 825 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:29,920 tell everybody else. Well, how much 826 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,320 kickback were you getting? None. I knew 827 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:33,760 nothing about it, right? Then you're 828 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:34,960 going to have like it's going to be a 829 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:36,079 chain. You're always going to have 830 00:35:36,079 --> 00:35:38,000 trouble. Once you establish that, people 831 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,400 know not to [ __ ] with you then. They 832 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:42,079 know not to [ __ ] with you. So long as we 833 00:35:42,079 --> 00:35:43,839 screw you an extra few bob out of the 834 00:35:43,839 --> 00:35:46,560 group. 835 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:48,160 You're the [ __ ] controller of the 836 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:49,920 date, you silly, aren't you? Well, 837 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:51,280 that's like saying that anybody that 838 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:52,880 jumps on a stage, I'm responsible for 839 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:56,160 it, too. No, don't be sus. No, it's your 840 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:57,280 responsibility to see that the 841 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,079 concessionire the building you rented, 842 00:36:00,079 --> 00:36:02,160 you rented it and you control it isn't 843 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:04,640 selling [ __ ] pirate posters. You do 844 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:06,000 the music and I'll take care of 845 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,800 everything else. I'll do the record, 846 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:10,240 promote it. I mean, that's what a 847 00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:12,800 manager does, but it really was that 848 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:14,880 sort of division. Don't even think about 849 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:16,560 anything else. I won't bother with 850 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:20,160 anything else, you know. 851 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,400 I'll I'll tell you what, you know, what 852 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:24,640 what's possible, what you can do, this 853 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:26,560 sort of thing. But you just take care of 854 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,280 the music, take care of the band, and 855 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:30,480 you know, you won't have to worry about 856 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:32,240 anything. 857 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:35,280 I saw Peter Grant with one particular uh 858 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,680 promoter. He was going to kill him. And 859 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,560 he said, uh, I want the money now. And 860 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:42,560 he he made the promoter go and get the 861 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,720 cash. And he counted it in front of him. 862 00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:47,599 I watched Peter doing it. And that was 863 00:36:47,599 --> 00:36:49,760 really awesome to see. Awesome is the 864 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:51,839 right word for once. And I said, "Well, 865 00:36:51,839 --> 00:36:53,920 I've come for the $1,000 you owe me." 866 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:55,839 And he said, "You're not getting it." I 867 00:36:55,839 --> 00:36:56,880 said, "Well, you ain't leaving this 868 00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:58,480 caravan, pal, without you don't give me 869 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:00,000 the $1,000." And he pulled this thing 870 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,640 out for us big revolver on there, you 871 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:03,920 know. I said, "I don't care what you 872 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,079 got. You got to pay us $1,000." He said, 873 00:37:06,079 --> 00:37:08,160 "I'm going to shoot you." I said, "I 874 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:09,440 very much whether you're going to shoot 875 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,440 me for $1,000." I said, "Don't be so 876 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,599 [ __ ] cheap." Whether they liked him 877 00:37:13,599 --> 00:37:15,200 or not, I don't know. Whether they 878 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:17,599 trusted him or not, I don't know. They 879 00:37:17,599 --> 00:37:20,560 knew then um that he did very silly 880 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,200 things with their money, but all 881 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:24,880 managers did very silly things with 882 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,520 their money. A lot of managers in those 883 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,240 days didn't discuss money with their 884 00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:32,560 artists. Not necessarily because they 885 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:34,880 were ripping them off or whatever, but 886 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:36,720 they themselves were very naive. They 887 00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:38,400 didn't understand the business 888 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:39,920 themselves. I mean, they didn't 889 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:41,599 understand the the way the Americans 890 00:37:41,599 --> 00:37:44,000 worked or the transportation costs or 891 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,200 the the taxes, the withholding taxes. 892 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:49,599 He'd do anything for that band. He was 893 00:37:49,599 --> 00:37:52,560 one of the first artistdriven managers, 894 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:54,560 you know? I mean, how he would stand up 895 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,480 today, who knows? But as far as I was 896 00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:59,040 concerned, his his benchmark was he 897 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:00,880 fought for the artist. 898 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,200 He was brilliant in how to present the 899 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:06,160 band and he'd say don't do this, you 900 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:09,440 know, or don't do that or we ought to go 901 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:11,119 here but then we, you know, won't go 902 00:38:11,119 --> 00:38:13,280 there and then then we now we'll go here 903 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:15,280 and I think this is a good time for 904 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,520 this. He that was how he operated with 905 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,520 us 906 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:23,839 throughout their musical career. Led 907 00:38:23,839 --> 00:38:26,000 Zeppelin were dogged by a roguish 908 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:27,760 reputation. 909 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,400 It was the ultimate rock and roll 910 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:32,079 excess. They used to hire the boat at 911 00:38:32,079 --> 00:38:34,800 this Boeing 720 912 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:37,680 jet costing like $30,000. 913 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:39,520 It was all decked out. It had a bed in 914 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,359 the back. There was like they had a 915 00:38:41,359 --> 00:38:44,079 woman on the tour for the sole purpose 916 00:38:44,079 --> 00:38:46,640 of dishing out coke. This was someone on 917 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:50,000 the payroll. We did have parties 918 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:51,920 with the band like a musician like they 919 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:53,520 get up at midday or whatever time they 920 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:55,680 get and the whole day is built up to 921 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:58,560 like that 8:00 when somebody says the 922 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:00,960 house lights go out it's Led Zeppelin 923 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:02,480 and the concert goes like that. So the 924 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:04,640 whole day is a build from getting you 925 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:06,880 just can't go off at the end of the 926 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,240 night can you and go get you know Agatha 927 00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:12,000 Christie out or something and really you 928 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,119 can't do that. 929 00:39:15,119 --> 00:39:17,599 It was pretty common place amongst bands 930 00:39:17,599 --> 00:39:19,839 on the road. I'm surprised we got quite 931 00:39:19,839 --> 00:39:22,560 I mean the Who the Who used to use 932 00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:24,720 explosives, you know, how how do we get 933 00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:28,920 the the rep? 934 00:39:29,359 --> 00:39:33,400 Uh it was pretty universal. 935 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:36,640 Um we were in some pretty awful hotels 936 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:39,920 to be honest. you never recognize hotel. 937 00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:42,960 And after a while, they used to get so 938 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:44,560 that the manager would actually put you 939 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,880 in rooms that needed redecorating so 940 00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,920 that he would get them paid for. 941 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,320 John Bonham was just like he was on a 942 00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:56,880 permanent kind of club 1821 holiday. You 943 00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,920 know, it was that kind of excess with a 944 00:39:59,920 --> 00:40:02,000 great deal of wreckage. 945 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,119 Bon was on a rampage one day and he 946 00:40:05,119 --> 00:40:06,560 smashed everything. He even got the 947 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,480 security into helping smash the pool 948 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:10,880 table cuz he couldn't do it on his own. 949 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,920 And and the um you know before we were 950 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:15,920 checking out they came up and and the 951 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:18,480 guy happened to be English 952 00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:20,640 and he's looking at all the damage and 953 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,480 he said to Bonsa kind of looking down 954 00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:24,240 his nose at him very smugly, "Oh, you 955 00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:26,960 left the mirror." Bons did I? I'm sorry 956 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,520 about that. Smashed it straight in front 957 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,359 of him. 958 00:40:31,359 --> 00:40:32,640 You know, I mean there was absolut they 959 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:34,160 were absolutely demolished if they were 960 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:36,880 done. But I mean it wasn't every night 961 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,200 when we went to pay the bill. The 962 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:40,880 manager asked about all the damage was 963 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:42,240 said just give us the bill for the 964 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:45,760 damage. So we paid for the damage and he 965 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:49,040 was like it was like seething. And Peter 966 00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:50,240 said look you've been paid for the 967 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:52,320 damage. He said you know what what's the 968 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:54,400 big deal? And he said it's not that. He 969 00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:56,400 said it's just that you guys can do what 970 00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:59,119 you want. He said he said I like working 971 00:40:59,119 --> 00:41:01,040 in this hotel. He said I hate this. I'd 972 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:03,440 love to do what you do. He said, "Pick a 973 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:05,599 room and give me the bill." And he did. 974 00:41:05,599 --> 00:41:07,760 The guy went down, threw everything out 975 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:09,359 the window, smashed the windows, and 976 00:41:09,359 --> 00:41:12,240 gave us the bill, but got the cash out. 977 00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:15,560 That was it. 978 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:18,560 But there are differing opinions on the 979 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:22,000 legendary tales of rock and roll excess. 980 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,480 I was teleoned by Peter Grant. He said, 981 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:26,480 "Well, you know, the lads are going on 982 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,040 tour and we want you to come on tour in 983 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:31,040 the plane and we want you for at least 984 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:33,520 three months." Then very slowly the 985 00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:35,680 truth emerged. Jimmy was not wanting to 986 00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:37,599 go on tour and he was dreading it 987 00:41:37,599 --> 00:41:40,160 because life on the road is not a great 988 00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:41,920 deal of fun. I mean, it's an 989 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:44,079 unforgettable experience for me for all 990 00:41:44,079 --> 00:41:46,400 kinds of reasons. Not the least of which 991 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:49,280 was, it's almost impossible to imagine 992 00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:51,760 four people who just performed before 993 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:55,040 50, 60, 70,000 people coming off stage. 994 00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:57,839 What do you see? Totally exhausted. They 995 00:41:57,839 --> 00:41:59,520 don't want to see anybody particularly. 996 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:00,960 They don't want to talk to anybody. 997 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:02,640 They're not interested in the groupies. 998 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:03,839 They're not interested in all this 999 00:42:03,839 --> 00:42:05,680 mountain of food that the good promoter 1000 00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:08,079 has laid out. They just want to sit very 1001 00:42:08,079 --> 00:42:10,160 quietly. They don't want to get drunk or 1002 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:13,119 get drugged. Sit very quietly and maybe 1003 00:42:13,119 --> 00:42:16,480 read a book, read a newspaper and have a 1004 00:42:16,480 --> 00:42:18,079 cup of tea. I remember Jimmy was 1005 00:42:18,079 --> 00:42:21,359 ordering cups of tea and go home to bed. 1006 00:42:21,359 --> 00:42:23,280 And it wasn't that I was kind of 1007 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:26,800 expecting late night parties as it were. 1008 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:28,240 It never crossed their mind that there 1009 00:42:28,240 --> 00:42:30,160 would be a late night party. They were 1010 00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:33,160 monklike. 1011 00:42:33,599 --> 00:42:35,680 Peter Grant stories. That was all part 1012 00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:39,920 of the great big Zeppelin myth. And that 1013 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:42,240 was brilliant because it it was the 1014 00:42:42,240 --> 00:42:44,480 forerunner of what McLaren did with the 1015 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:46,640 pistols. You know, it was good copyright 1016 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:49,040 and and you know something when we read 1017 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:50,880 the enemy and the melody maker in those 1018 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:52,720 days or or the Rolling Stone and you 1019 00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:54,160 hear the stories about the band or two 1020 00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:56,079 you go, I'd love to be doing that 1021 00:42:56,079 --> 00:42:59,119 myself. That's fantastic. The neatest 1022 00:42:59,119 --> 00:43:01,359 was Robert Plant. I mean everything 1023 00:43:01,359 --> 00:43:04,240 beautifully neatly laid out. John Paul J 1024 00:43:04,240 --> 00:43:06,400 little photographs of his wife and 1025 00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:09,599 children and suddenly you saw four 1026 00:43:09,599 --> 00:43:11,599 wonderful musicians didn't really want 1027 00:43:11,599 --> 00:43:13,520 to have anything to do with this kind of 1028 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:15,520 mad circus which surrounded them 1029 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:18,000 although they knew that paid their wages 1030 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:20,630 and they were committed to it. 1031 00:43:20,630 --> 00:43:22,880 [Music] 1032 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:25,520 For the composition of the 1970 album 1033 00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:28,240 Led Zeppelin 3, Jimmy Paige and Robert 1034 00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:30,560 Plant retired to a remote cottage in 1035 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:33,520 Wales. The result was a more acoustic 1036 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:38,319 sound. Zep 3 was, you know, all 1037 00:43:38,319 --> 00:43:40,160 bandwritten one way or another, you 1038 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:42,560 know. Uh, so that's the difference 1039 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:46,319 immediately. But I I know that Zep we we 1040 00:43:46,319 --> 00:43:48,880 really did attempt to break the mold of 1041 00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:50,640 the previous Zeppelin albums to make 1042 00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:53,200 some to create something as diverse as 1043 00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:57,119 possible to really I suppose to try and 1044 00:43:57,119 --> 00:43:58,960 achieve you know to try and broaden what 1045 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:01,920 we could do. Um it's a long time ago. I 1046 00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:05,440 mean I was only about 20 212 then. Um, 1047 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,280 but I just see the kind of combination 1048 00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:13,280 of electric and acoustic and, 1049 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:15,440 you know, the sort of pastoral mixed 1050 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:18,720 with the spook as being a great, you 1051 00:44:18,720 --> 00:44:20,720 know, it's a it's a great dynamic for a 1052 00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:23,440 collection of songs. 1053 00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:25,359 The third album got slagged off a bit 1054 00:44:25,359 --> 00:44:28,000 having this predominantly acoustic 1055 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:30,319 mood, but I thought that was a good move 1056 00:44:30,319 --> 00:44:32,319 cuz it didn't typ cast them as a hard 1057 00:44:32,319 --> 00:44:34,000 rock band. And then when they came out 1058 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,079 with the fourth album, which was the 1059 00:44:36,079 --> 00:44:37,839 Monster, that made it all the more of a 1060 00:44:37,839 --> 00:44:40,839 peak. 1061 00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:44,160 Led Zeppelin 4 was the band's most 1062 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,720 musically diverse release. It was to 1063 00:44:46,720 --> 00:44:49,200 become one of the bestselling albums in 1064 00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:52,400 rock history. 1065 00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:55,200 Black Dog and Rock and Roll, I mean, 1066 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:57,440 they still sound incredible for their 1067 00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:00,640 locomotive unstoppable power. They're 1068 00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:02,720 the quintessential hard rocking Led Zepp 1069 00:45:02,720 --> 00:45:04,400 Zeppelin songs. That would have been 1070 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:06,560 enough to establish them back on that 1071 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:08,880 level. But the album also had Stairway 1072 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:12,040 to Heaven. 1073 00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:17,760 The idea of what I had there was to 1074 00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:20,640 start it with this this acoustic piece 1075 00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:22,480 and then and then for it to build almost 1076 00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:24,800 like an adrenaline rush by the end. And 1077 00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:27,920 so in fact, it actually gets faster 1078 00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:29,839 from beginning to end. It gets it 1079 00:45:29,839 --> 00:45:33,560 increases in tempo. 1080 00:45:34,079 --> 00:45:37,119 By 1975, Led Zeppelin had become the 1081 00:45:37,119 --> 00:45:39,440 most commercially successful rock band 1082 00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:42,400 in the world. For millions of fans, they 1083 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:45,440 would come to epitomize the 1970s like 1084 00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:48,680 no one else. 1085 00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:51,810 [Applause] 1086 00:45:53,359 --> 00:45:56,079 Meds in there were so huge. They were 1087 00:45:56,079 --> 00:45:58,319 kind of like part of the furniture. If 1088 00:45:58,319 --> 00:45:59,839 you were cool and you were happy and you 1089 00:45:59,839 --> 00:46:02,480 loved leader as the audience got bigger 1090 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:04,319 and the album sold more, you knew what 1091 00:46:04,319 --> 00:46:06,319 to expect and then it was real fervent 1092 00:46:06,319 --> 00:46:08,720 worship. 1093 00:46:08,720 --> 00:46:10,480 [Music] 1094 00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:13,200 The biggest gig ever was 73 in Tampa, 1095 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:15,760 Florida. When they played to 56,000 that 1096 00:46:15,760 --> 00:46:18,640 hit the record books, they really were 1097 00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:21,520 beyond huge in America in those days. 1098 00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:23,599 There wasn't the massive pyro technics, 1099 00:46:23,599 --> 00:46:25,200 there wasn't the massive light shows. 1100 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:27,839 was just purely the band with some good 1101 00:46:27,839 --> 00:46:29,920 lights and it just goes to show how 1102 00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:33,800 powerful that band were. 1103 00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:36,640 They reached a pinnacle where whereby 1104 00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:38,800 they they didn't need to prove anything 1105 00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:40,880 to anybody. They didn't need to prove 1106 00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:42,720 commercial success. They didn't need to 1107 00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:44,560 prove themselves musically. Those 1108 00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:46,480 accolades had come progressively over 1109 00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:48,480 the years. They didn't need to prove 1110 00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:50,960 anything. So when you get to that point, 1111 00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:52,880 then actually you become somebody 1112 00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:56,160 totally different. 1113 00:46:56,320 --> 00:46:59,379 [Music] 1114 00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:03,040 The 1975 double album Physical Graffiti 1115 00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:05,760 gave full reign to the quartet's diverse 1116 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:08,720 interests. Sellout appearances in the UK 1117 00:47:08,720 --> 00:47:11,119 followed its release, but rehearsals for 1118 00:47:11,119 --> 00:47:13,359 a world tour were abandoned when Robert 1119 00:47:13,359 --> 00:47:15,599 Plant sustained multiple injuries in a 1120 00:47:15,599 --> 00:47:19,200 car accident. Around 76, the cracks were 1121 00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:21,440 starting to show. Jimmy was starting to 1122 00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:25,440 get into the hard drugs 1123 00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:28,880 and Bonsai was like a total alien. Now 1124 00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:30,319 for your drummer to be permanently 1125 00:47:30,319 --> 00:47:32,400 pissed is not good. It's like your 1126 00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:34,640 engine room's going to pack up and you 1127 00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:36,640 know one gig he collapsed halfway 1128 00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:38,160 through the set and had to be carted 1129 00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:40,800 off. So Led Zeppelin would were seen as 1130 00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:42,880 this huge band but they were treading 1131 00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:44,640 water and and things weren't going very 1132 00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:46,560 well. They'd lost their kind of 1133 00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:50,599 untouchable god status. 1134 00:47:51,359 --> 00:47:54,560 By 1977, Led Zeppelin began their 1135 00:47:54,560 --> 00:47:58,000 rescheduled US tour. Then, Robert Plant 1136 00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:00,000 had suffered a terrible tragedy when his 1137 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,920 son died from an infection. 1138 00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:05,520 By that time, his family meant a lot 1139 00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:07,040 more to him than all that rockstar 1140 00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:09,040 stuff. Anyway, he was a family man 1141 00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:11,920 really, and that was an 1142 00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:14,720 awful tragedy. 1143 00:48:14,720 --> 00:48:16,560 The remaining dates were immediately 1144 00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:19,200 cancelled amid speculation the band 1145 00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:21,520 would break up. 1146 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:24,480 As Led Zeppelin took a back seat, the UK 1147 00:48:24,480 --> 00:48:29,240 was shaken by the arrival of punk. 1148 00:48:31,040 --> 00:48:34,960 Punk totally altered the perception of 1149 00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:37,359 what a band could be. 1150 00:48:37,359 --> 00:48:39,839 Led Zeppelin did look like old dinosaurs 1151 00:48:39,839 --> 00:48:42,720 and they were then relegated to being a 1152 00:48:42,720 --> 00:48:44,319 band with a huge following but in the 1153 00:48:44,319 --> 00:48:46,559 manner of you know the people who go and 1154 00:48:46,559 --> 00:48:48,700 see Iron Maiden. 1155 00:48:48,700 --> 00:48:51,870 [Music] 1156 00:48:52,079 --> 00:48:54,960 September 1980 Led Zeppelin were 1157 00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:57,520 rehearsing at Jimmy Page's UK home in 1158 00:48:57,520 --> 00:48:59,920 preparation for an American tour when 1159 00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:02,160 the tragic death of John Bonham brought 1160 00:49:02,160 --> 00:49:04,720 the 12-year reign of Led Zeppelin to an 1161 00:49:04,720 --> 00:49:07,720 end. 1162 00:49:08,240 --> 00:49:10,079 Apparently he got up and had four 1163 00:49:10,079 --> 00:49:13,200 quadruple vodkas 1164 00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:15,680 cuz he he demanded they stop off for 1165 00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:18,400 breakfast on the way to the rehearsal 1166 00:49:18,400 --> 00:49:21,520 and breakfast was ham roll and four 1167 00:49:21,520 --> 00:49:23,200 quadruple vocas and he carried on 1168 00:49:23,200 --> 00:49:25,680 drinking all day and that evening was 1169 00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:28,880 sort of put to sleep and 1170 00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:32,920 he choked on his own vomit. 1171 00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:37,680 We were just rehearsing for a tour to go 1172 00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:40,319 to America. I think tickets had been 1173 00:49:40,319 --> 00:49:43,720 sold even. 1174 00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:45,280 So 1175 00:49:45,280 --> 00:49:47,920 whatever had gone on had been put aside 1176 00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:50,400 and you know 1177 00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:55,319 all ready to ready to go again. 1178 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:59,760 When Bonham died, then something went uh 1179 00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:01,359 well, they really effectively stopped 1180 00:50:01,359 --> 00:50:02,800 playing, but that was one reason why 1181 00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:04,319 they couldn't really play anymore 1182 00:50:04,319 --> 00:50:06,559 because they were all, you know, they 1183 00:50:06,559 --> 00:50:09,680 were all part of the same family. The 1184 00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:11,760 demise of Led Zeppelin was pure and 1185 00:50:11,760 --> 00:50:14,240 simply the death of John Bonham. They 1186 00:50:14,240 --> 00:50:17,920 would never really get over it. That was 1187 00:50:17,920 --> 00:50:19,680 it. The end of Zeppelin. Nobody really 1188 00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:22,240 knew what to do. And I didn't want to 1189 00:50:22,240 --> 00:50:23,760 join another band. And I mean after 1190 00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:25,520 Zeppelin, you know, it was pretty hard 1191 00:50:25,520 --> 00:50:28,920 act to follow. 1192 00:50:30,319 --> 00:50:32,480 During the following decades, Jimmy 1193 00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:34,559 Paige and Robert Plant renewed their 1194 00:50:34,559 --> 00:50:36,319 longtime partnership for several 1195 00:50:36,319 --> 00:50:38,559 projects, some of which by their own 1196 00:50:38,559 --> 00:50:41,680 admission were shambolic. When Led 1197 00:50:41,680 --> 00:50:43,520 Zeppelin ceased, it didn't mean to say 1198 00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:44,720 that I couldn't sing anymore. It just 1199 00:50:44,720 --> 00:50:46,160 meant to say that I couldn't sing in 1200 00:50:46,160 --> 00:50:48,559 that set of circumstances. 1201 00:50:48,559 --> 00:50:51,200 In 1994, Robert Plant received an 1202 00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:53,440 invitation from MTV to play on the 1203 00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:56,160 network's Unplugged series. He invited 1204 00:50:56,160 --> 00:50:58,720 Paige to share the stage with him. John 1205 00:50:58,720 --> 00:51:02,160 Paul Jones, however, was excluded. 1206 00:51:02,160 --> 00:51:04,960 I read about it in the papers to be 1207 00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:08,160 brutally frank. Um, I don't really know. 1208 00:51:08,160 --> 00:51:10,640 Uh, 1209 00:51:10,640 --> 00:51:13,680 I mean, you know, what I'd have done had 1210 00:51:13,680 --> 00:51:16,800 they'd have asked, I don't know, but 1211 00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:19,920 they didn't. So, you know, good luck to 1212 00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:21,680 him. 1213 00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:23,280 But I don't really know much about I 1214 00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:24,319 don't know anything about the project 1215 00:51:24,319 --> 00:51:26,319 project except what I've read. Whether 1216 00:51:26,319 --> 00:51:30,400 people like it or not, it's happening. 1217 00:51:30,400 --> 00:51:32,800 It's pretty sharp. It's pretty virile. 1218 00:51:32,800 --> 00:51:37,720 It's quite reflective and it's cheap. 1219 00:51:38,300 --> 00:51:39,599 [Applause] 1220 00:51:39,599 --> 00:51:42,599 Our 1221 00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:46,319 main concern was if we could sing songs 1222 00:51:46,319 --> 00:51:47,839 from the past, we should create songs 1223 00:51:47,839 --> 00:51:50,640 for the future. And as a singer and a 1224 00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:54,079 guitarist, we had a lot of affinity in 1225 00:51:54,079 --> 00:51:57,119 the past and uh and that we should we 1226 00:51:57,119 --> 00:51:59,760 should make it our own neutral dual 1227 00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:01,440 project. 1228 00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:05,119 In 2007, 39 years after their first 1229 00:52:05,119 --> 00:52:08,000 rehearsal, Led Zeppelin reunited for a 1230 00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:10,240 one-off performance at London's O2 1231 00:52:10,240 --> 00:52:14,319 Arena. A reported half a billion fans 1232 00:52:14,319 --> 00:52:16,319 attempted to purchase tickets. They're 1233 00:52:16,319 --> 00:52:18,240 doing this one-off concert um in memory 1234 00:52:18,240 --> 00:52:21,200 of Armitan, I believe, and have all 1235 00:52:21,200 --> 00:52:24,000 sworn. I'm not sure I 100% believe it 1236 00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:26,240 that they're not going to go on tour. Um 1237 00:52:26,240 --> 00:52:28,800 I'm hoping to get tickets. I'll go. I'm 1238 00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:31,839 not a huge fan of of some of the 1239 00:52:31,839 --> 00:52:34,160 nostalgia tours. I mean, they're very 1240 00:52:34,160 --> 00:52:35,920 talented people. You know, they all know 1241 00:52:35,920 --> 00:52:38,400 how to play their instruments. You know, 1242 00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:42,160 whether Robert can sing the same as he 1243 00:52:42,160 --> 00:52:44,559 used to sing back then. I mean, he's 1244 00:52:44,559 --> 00:52:47,280 about 60, so 1245 00:52:47,280 --> 00:52:49,040 I would think it would be hard going for 1246 00:52:49,040 --> 00:52:51,839 him. Absolutely over the moon. It's it's 1247 00:52:51,839 --> 00:52:55,200 it's scary. Good. Scary. It's nice to be 1248 00:52:55,200 --> 00:52:57,520 out so late without having a nap. 1249 00:52:57,520 --> 00:52:59,440 The surviving members of Led Zeppelin 1250 00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:01,920 were joined by John Bonham's son, Jason, 1251 00:53:01,920 --> 00:53:05,119 on drums. I spoke to Robert about it 1252 00:53:05,119 --> 00:53:07,119 just recently because we hadn't spoken 1253 00:53:07,119 --> 00:53:09,599 since the announcement. And I said, "How 1254 00:53:09,599 --> 00:53:12,480 do you feel?" He said, "I'm a little um 1255 00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:15,839 overwhelmed and and kind of just can't 1256 00:53:15,839 --> 00:53:18,720 comprehend the size of the the people, 1257 00:53:18,720 --> 00:53:20,880 the interest. This something that I did 1258 00:53:20,880 --> 00:53:23,200 such a long time ago is still held so 1259 00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:26,480 highly by so many. It's very very um 1260 00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:30,400 humbling, he said. So it is it shocked 1261 00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:32,319 him. I think Jimmy always thought that 1262 00:53:32,319 --> 00:53:34,240 they were the size they were, but this 1263 00:53:34,240 --> 00:53:36,720 has really documented it. So thanks to 1264 00:53:36,720 --> 00:53:39,119 everybody. It's uh my mom was in tears 1265 00:53:39,119 --> 00:53:41,040 when she, you know, the announcement. So 1266 00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:42,319 thanks for the support. You know, it's 1267 00:53:42,319 --> 00:53:44,240 wonderful. 1268 00:53:44,240 --> 00:53:47,680 It was just so spellbinding and it was 1269 00:53:47,680 --> 00:53:49,839 partly fearsome. Terrible is a good 1270 00:53:49,839 --> 00:53:51,599 word. You know, it was great cuz it did 1271 00:53:51,599 --> 00:53:54,400 work and it was real and it was true. I 1272 00:53:54,400 --> 00:53:55,680 thought that we'd be castigated no 1273 00:53:55,680 --> 00:53:57,520 matter how good we were, but we weren't. 1274 00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:00,720 Awesome. Fantastic. Let's keep going. 1275 00:54:00,720 --> 00:54:02,559 Wow. 1276 00:54:02,559 --> 00:54:05,119 Zeppelin, I think, in the end, couldn't 1277 00:54:05,119 --> 00:54:07,200 resist 1278 00:54:07,200 --> 00:54:09,520 the question which was frequently put to 1279 00:54:09,520 --> 00:54:12,160 them, were we really as good as that? 1280 00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:13,839 The problem with musicians is they're 1281 00:54:13,839 --> 00:54:15,920 forever chasing their ghost. They can 1282 00:54:15,920 --> 00:54:18,400 never be what they once were. All of a 1283 00:54:18,400 --> 00:54:19,599 sudden, they're worried about their 1284 00:54:19,599 --> 00:54:20,640 banker. They're worried about how 1285 00:54:20,640 --> 00:54:21,599 they're going to pay this mortgage. 1286 00:54:21,599 --> 00:54:24,000 They're worried about this and that and 1287 00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:26,880 it's all related to being boxed in. And 1288 00:54:26,880 --> 00:54:29,520 an artist has no boxes. An artist just 1289 00:54:29,520 --> 00:54:32,480 sees and it opens up to them. And what 1290 00:54:32,480 --> 00:54:35,520 money does and bankers do is they hone 1291 00:54:35,520 --> 00:54:36,960 you in. They put shutters on your 1292 00:54:36,960 --> 00:54:39,440 dreams. I will be very surprised if they 1293 00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:41,359 take up the offer for 100 million or 1294 00:54:41,359 --> 00:54:43,520 whatever it is to do a tour. I don't 1295 00:54:43,520 --> 00:54:45,200 think that will happen. Robert Barner 1296 00:54:45,200 --> 00:54:46,800 has been very dignified and gracious 1297 00:54:46,800 --> 00:54:48,880 about all this. He can't go on there and 1298 00:54:48,880 --> 00:54:52,240 be the Viking sex god every night. He He 1299 00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:54,079 said he'd feel silly doing that. Well, I 1300 00:54:54,079 --> 00:54:56,079 am retired. This is retiring compared to 1301 00:54:56,079 --> 00:54:57,680 what I used to have a sock down me jeans 1302 00:54:57,680 --> 00:55:00,319 and I was all over the place. Now, I 1303 00:55:00,319 --> 00:55:02,720 take this as being early retirement. 1304 00:55:02,720 --> 00:55:04,400 It's quite a nice way to to see 1305 00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:06,319 yourself. 1306 00:55:06,319 --> 00:55:08,480 Cheers. Okay. Thank you. Your voice 1307 00:55:08,480 --> 00:55:12,200 broke for a second then. 1308 00:55:12,240 --> 00:55:14,960 They were an amazing band with great 1309 00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:17,440 players and great songs and that is 1310 00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:20,640 their legacy. Those songs are cut above 1311 00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:22,480 pretty well anything that was done at 1312 00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:24,160 that time. There's no one out there like 1313 00:55:24,160 --> 00:55:26,720 him. Everyone's been trying, you know, 1314 00:55:26,720 --> 00:55:28,800 for years to do it. I can hear Led 1315 00:55:28,800 --> 00:55:31,200 Zeppelin in a million bands from the 1316 00:55:31,200 --> 00:55:33,440 most extreme American hardcore outfits 1317 00:55:33,440 --> 00:55:35,359 to people like what Jack White gets up 1318 00:55:35,359 --> 00:55:38,359 to. 1319 00:55:39,920 --> 00:55:42,640 They are a great example of longevity. 1320 00:55:42,640 --> 00:55:44,480 Those albums they've made are like a 1321 00:55:44,480 --> 00:55:47,839 Picasso. They are there forever. Led 1322 00:55:47,839 --> 00:55:50,400 Zeppelin were indisputably the greatest 1323 00:55:50,400 --> 00:55:53,680 rock band in the world and probably 1324 00:55:53,680 --> 00:55:57,000 still are. 1325 00:55:58,160 --> 00:56:01,400 Thank you. 1326 00:56:02,360 --> 00:56:05,459 [Music] 1327 00:56:06,280 --> 00:56:09,339 [Applause] 1328 00:56:15,920 --> 00:56:19,320 Heat. Heat. 1329 00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:22,619 [Music] 1330 00:56:25,839 --> 00:56:28,839 Heat. Heat. 1331 00:56:29,160 --> 00:56:44,260 [Music]