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Steven Tyler rumor aired on eve of John Paul Jones Q&A

Saturday, October 25, 2008

A public question-and-answer session with John Paul Jones scheduled to take place tomorrow just got more interesting.

It has been quiet since the statement by Jimmy Page that his jam sessions with Jones and Jason Bonham were not as monumental as the press had been making them out to be. At the time, media reports speculated about a Led Zeppelin album or tour already under works.

But that was before Robert Plant said he had no intentions of taking part in either an album or tour. And it was also before rumors spread placing the other rehearsing Led Zeppelin bandmates in the midst of a singer other than Plant.

Names like Myles Kennedy and Jack White have been touted in the press, but not a word on the subject has been uttered by Page, Jones or Bonham. It has been a while since any of them elaborated on it, and Jones in particular has been the least vocal in recent months.

But the quiet one is about to open his mouth. Jones is slotted to take questions during the event. Surely, not everything people want to know from Jones at this point has to do with instruments and strings and tunings. Especially not when the latest singer rumored to be jamming with the Zeppelin trio sans Plant is none other than Steven Tyler of Aerosmith!

What will Jones say tomorrow if asked to confirm or deny the rumors of his involvement with Page and Bonham and another singer? The question has been ready since the Mansons Guitar Shop in Exeter, England, announced Jones's participation a few weeks back in workshop taking place this weekend.

Perhaps the level of interest will be much higher thanks to the latest rumor about what has been going on behind closed doors and what might be around the corner.

An unnamed source has apparently told the Daily Mail that Tyler has spent a few days rehearsing with the others. As reported only one day before the Q&A with Jones, the source says, "Steve was jamming with Zep. They had a great time but Steve kept fluffing his lines. He got quite flustered about it."

Tyler has long admitted to being a huge fan of Led Zeppelin -- and also of Page's earlier band, the Yardbirds. The Boston band was founded in the early 1970s while Zep had just taken off. Aerosmith recorded "Train Kept A-Rollin'," which was a cover the Yardbirds used to play and had been resurrected in concert by Led Zeppelin in the band's early days. Page sat in with Aerosmith in 1990 while the group played London.



After Tyler inducted Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, he and Aerosmith's Joe Perry sat in with Bonham, Jones, Page and Plant for a few songs.



Tyler also narrated the hour-long program "Legends" for VH-1 that focused on Led Zeppelin.

It is likely that during tomorrow's question-and-answer session, Jones will be prompted to address publicly for the first time the rumors he and the others involved with Led Zeppelin have been jamming with singers. Even if no decision has been reached as to what project may come out of the jamming, the opportunity to talk about Tyler or Kennedy will be there for Jones, should he choose to.

Kennedy, who fronts the band Alter Bridge and also plays guitar in addition to sporting a wild vocal range, has not commented on reports spread by Britain's The Sun and elsewhere that he has been musically involved with Jones, Page and Bonham.

Jones may have to tell all. The day of reckoning is upon us. This is tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow ...

1 comments:

solerso said...

so what happened at the guitar show?

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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