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Any requests for Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck's Saturday jam session?

Thursday, April 2, 2009

How about that April Fool's gag yesterday?

So, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck are to share a stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony held in Cleveland this Saturday.

No word if they plan to jam together, but I'm hopeful. In the event that they do, what should they play? There's a list of likely choices.

  • "Train Kept a Rollin'" or "Stroll On"
    "Train" was a favorite that all Yardbirds guitarists had to do, and it became so much the group's trademark tune that even when the rights weren't in place for them to perform it for the film Blow Up, they took credit for a basic lyrical rewrite of it called "Stroll On." Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith took "Train" to greater heights, but it's that riff that Beck and Page are playing the only time they were ever filmed playing together as Yardbirds members.
  • "Shapes of Things"
    Beck's first big tune from the Yardbirds days provided fodder for his Rod Stewart-led Jeff Beck Group lineup on the album Truth. Page evidently liked Beck's arrangement of it as he brought it out on tour with the Black Crowes in 2000.
  • "Beck's Bolero"
    It doesn't matter which one of these guys wrote the chords or the melody. The point is they played it together, and it's gone on to become one of the biggest B-sides ever laid to vinyl. The recording sessions for it led to the development of the name "Led Zeppelin" by either John Entwistle or Keith Moon (again, it doesn't really matter which).
  • "You Shook Me"
    It was a prerequisite for any British rock band inspired by the blues to use a Willie Dixon song or three. Both Led Zeppelin and the Jeff Beck Group went with this one (with John Paul Jones on keyboard on both). Here's a track that wouldn't need much rehearsal.
  • "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"
    Here's the only Yardbirds single that featured both Beck and Page on it (Page on bass), but by the time it was released, Beck was out of the band. The song features a chunk-a-chunk rhythm guitar and one fireball of a guitar solo, both courtesy of Beck. But it was Page who carried the song on over the course of the Yardbirds' final year and made it become one of those heavy Yardbirds tracks now revisited as having foreshadowed the musical direction Jimmy was destined to go in with Led Zeppelin. The tune is made complete with a maniacal insult that pointed out the typical criticism of the long-haired rocker. People used to laugh at musicians and their effeminate manner of dress. Now who's laughing?

1 comments:

Wyatt said...

For my money, definitely Happenings Ten Years Time Ago and Bolero. I know everyone loves Train, but I'd love to hear those other two first.

You think Jimmy's actually going to play though? It's going to be quite a let-down if he doesn't, that's for sure.

You Shook Me might be cool, but who's going to sing? Is 'Hot Legs' Rod going to be there?

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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