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Led Zeppelin hits media circuit

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Interviews with the members of Led Zeppelin are popping up everywhere. A chat with Jimmy Page is included in the December issue of Classic Rock magazine hitting newsstands today, and Robert Plant and John Paul Jones are making media appearances tonight.

The magazine cover is made to look like the cover of Led Zeppelin III. The first installment in a two-part interview with Page is just one part of this special collector's edition, much of which is devoted to Led Zeppelin.

In the United Kingdom, Jones appeared on the BBC Radio 2 program hosted by Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie. He discussed the Mothership release and the upcoming Led Zeppelin reunion concert.

The hosts played "Black Dog" and "Trampled Under Foot" from Mothership, as well as "The Last Goodbye" from the album he produced for Uncle Earl. That four-piece old-time string band is currently on tour in England.

Plant will surely face a question or two about Led Zeppelin while guesting on tonight's episode of PBS television's "Charlie Rose." [Update: No Zep-related questions were asked! See TV spot here.] However, the singer is being interviewed alongside Alison Krauss and producer T-Bone Burnett; the three are promoting the recent release of their album, Raising Sand.

This issue of Classic Rock magazine "comes encased in an exclusive wallet that apes the design of the Zep III album," according to the magazine's official Web site. "What’s more, our wallet was designed by none other than the mysterious and enigmatic Zacron – the reclusive artist who actually created the original Zep III sleeve way, way back in 1970!"

The magazine also includes a feature on Zacron and an interview with former Atlantic Records executive Phil Carson, as well as features on the band's March 1969 Supershow appearance and on Page as a producer, or "Rock's Sonic Architect."

Several famous musicians also comment on Led Zeppelin's reunion in the new issue. The magazine carries quotations from "Slash, Roger Daltrey, Ian Anderson, Tony Iommi, Neal Schon, Steven Tyler, Nancy Wilson, Kid Rock, Dave Mustaine, Ace Frehley, Billy Gibbons and many more" including Ritchie Blackmore.

Led Zeppelin will also be the cover story of the Holiday 2007 issue of Guitar World magazine. Also available as a special collector's issue, it will feature two separate covers – one with a blue background and the other with a white background.

The Guitar World covers, each bearing a new photo of Page holding a guitar, promise Page's "most in-depth interview ever" as well as features on "the historic reunion tour," "his new custom Les Paul guitar," and "On the Road with Zep in '73."

Both shots of Page for Guitar World were taken by photographer Ross Halfin.

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Led Zeppelin Reunion


Photo courtesy of Simon Keeping

The surviving members of Led Zeppelin regrouped in 2007, with Jason Bonham on drums, to perform a year-end tribute to Ahmet Ertegun. Their widely praised concert was witnessed in person by fewer than 20,000 people. It is likely never to be repeated, and there are no announced plans to release the concert for home viewing. However, clicking the image above will bring up multi-cam footage of the entire Led Zeppelin performance as it happened on Dec. 10, 2007, at the O2 arena in London.

Many posts on LedZeppelinNews.com have centered on the possibility of a full-scale Led Zeppelin reunion, noting particularly the inaccuracies reported by the popular press.

Page


Jimmy Page stars with fellow guitarists Jack White and The Edge in this guitar documentary, directed by Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth"), which had widespread theatrical showings beginning in August.

LedZeppelinNews.com provided a review of "It Might Get Loud" at that time.

"It Might Get Loud" will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Dec. 22 in the United States. Click here to pre-order on DVD or Blu-Ray. Prior to this, "It Might Get Loud" will be available on iTunes for two weeks beginning Dec. 8.

- What else should I know about "It Might Get Loud"?

- What else is Jimmy Page up to?

Plant


Just prior to the Led Zeppelin reunion concert in 2007, Robert Plant released the album Raising Sand with Alison Krauss. Their partnership has been the subject of much critical and commercial success, including victories at the Grammy awards two years in a row.

A follow-up to that album has been in pre-production, but Krauss's current priorities are new recordings and eventual touring with her signature band, Union Station. Progress on the second Plant/Krauss album is anticipated following the completion of the Union Station tour.

More recently, Plant entered the studio with famed U2 producer Daniel Lanois for some recording sessions, the nature of which has not been disclosed.

Following the breakup of Led Zeppelin, Plant went on to a rewarding career as a solo artist. He released six albums of his own between 1982 and 1993, two collaborative albums with Jimmy Page between 1994 and 1998, and two more solo albums since that time. Yet until Raising Sand, his biggest commercial success came in releasing an EP of classic cover material under the name The Honeydrippers.

- What else is Robert Plant up to?

Jones


John Paul Jones is now in one of the hottest and hardest rock bands, Them Crooked Vultures. The frontman, handling lead guitar and vocals, is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is on drums. As for Jones, he offers not only bass and keyboard but also mandolin, keytar, lap steel and whatever else is needed.

One album was released in November, and another is forthcoming. A tour of North America completed in November, and the band now heads to Europe in December and Australia in January.

- What's the latest on Them Crooked Vultures, the group featuring John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme?

- What else is John Paul Jones up to?

Jason Bonham


Jason Bonham, son of the late John "Bonzo" Bonham, does not take lightly the responsibility of carrying on his father's legacy. Having made a head start at drumming while he was a child, Jason is now passing on the same lessons to a third generation of Bonham drummers.

John Bonham's death in 1980 left such an impact on the surviving members of Led Zeppelin that they knew immediately they could not continue as they were. Yet Jason Bonham's familiarity with the band made him a shoe-in to join his father's bandmates on the few occasions reunion concerts have taken place.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of Bonham's most successful album release to date, the Platinum-certified disc The Disregard of Timekeeping released by his band, Bonham. To mark the milestone, he recently toured with a new band and played under the banner of "An Evening with Jason Bonham."

In the past, Bonham has also toured and/or recorded with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Foreigner, UFO, Paul Rodgers, Joe Bonamassa, Virginia Wolf, Airrace, Healing Sixes and Motherland. He also acted in the movie Rock Star and appeared on the reality TV show "SuperGroup."

- What's the latest on Jason Bonham?

Who Else

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