Get the Led Out - Ep 2521 wk of 19may

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

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, this is Carol Miller. Welcome to our Get the
Leadout calendar. On May nineteenth, nineteen seventy seven, an eight
millimeter film camera captured the moment led Zeppelin touchdown in
Baton Rouge. Their private passenger Jet Caesar's chariot had the
logo of their record company, Swansong on its tail fin.
They walked directly into a limo taking them to Louisiana

(00:21):
State University's Assembly Center. This was their second time there
in two years, but the first time a filmmaker showed
up with that eight millimeter camera. Although led Zeppelin probably
didn't know it at the time, they had also been
filmed the night before in Birmingham, Alabama. They did eventually
find out, and the footagees made it onto both led
Zeppelin's official DVD and YouTube channel thirty years ago. On

(00:53):
May twentieth, nineteen ninety five, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
played at San Jose Arena in California. Apart from the
led Zeppelin songs they did on that tour, they had
a few other tricks up their sleeve. Their set included
shake My Tree, which was a song from Jimmy Page's
project with David Coverdale. During this song, they filled San
Jose Arena with echoes of Robert's voice and Jimmy's Thereman.

(01:31):
Next up at the show was Page and Plant's cover
of Lullaby by The Cure, whose guitarist Paul Thompson was
in their touring band. On May twenty first, nineteen seventy seven,
Led Zeppelin continued their tour of the US, reaching the
Summit in Houston, Texas. They played acoustic sets every night,
despite the challenges of doing so in front of tens

(01:52):
of thousands of people. Acoustic sets required lots of different instruments,
and the ones John Paul Jones was using were rather big.
At one point, he switched from a triple neck acoustic
guitar to another monster of an acoustic instrument, the stand
up bass. While this was happening, Jimmy Page and Robert
Plant found themselves teasing a song Led Zeppelin never played

(02:15):
live in full custard pile. What we're doing is we're
trying to make it intolude while mister John Paul Jones
brings out yet another one of his secret weapons. It's
what every rock and roller ever wont to stand up
bass forty five years ago. On May twenty second, nineteen eighty,
led Zeppelin was supposed to be performing in Vienna, Austria,
on the first date of a European tour. Instead, they

(02:37):
were still in London, having postponed the tour by four weeks.
In the meantime, Zeppelin rehearsed at the new Victoria Theater
in London. At that time, led Zeppelin didn't have any
future touring plans beyond their tour of Europe. Because Robert
Plant had been in an accident over the past five years,
he didn't really want to plan that far ahead and

(02:58):
wanted to plan Zeppelin tours one at a time. Fifty
years ago. On May twenty third, nineteen seventy five, led
Zeppelin entertained in London at Earl's Court Arena for more

(03:22):
than three hours. They had played the venue twice the
previous week and had two more performances to go. Music
critic Philip Norman wrote in The London Times about Zeppelin
quote uncharacteristic modesty, a different asceticism which only goads their
millions of admirers to infatuation even more extravagant, and he continues,

(03:44):
what's impressive above all about Led Zeppelin is their lack
of conceit, the inner concord that one sees in their existence.
Robert Plant drinks tea on stage and was the only
rock singer to whose words I have ever paid this
smallest attention unquote rock critic, WHOA. It's different in England,
isn't it. This is Carol Miller. Thanks for Getting the

(04:05):
let Out. Check back next week for another Get the
Letout Calendar podcast