Online release of 'It Might Get Loud' scheduled to precede DVD release by two weeks

Davis Guggenheim, the director of "It Might Get Loud," has just contributed a Q&A with Billboard.biz. (At first, the site incorrectly listed his first name as "David.")

In the interview, Guggenheim plugs the upcoming DVD and Blu-Ray releases of his film documentary that centers on guitarists Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White. But he also discusses an online release of the film by iTunes.

The iTunes download of the movie is currently scheduled for Dec. 8, two weeks earlier than the physical releases on DVD and Blu-Ray on Dec. 22.

Yukari Iwatani Kane of the Wall Street Journal's Digits blog reports this is part of a new iTunes focus on "Music Movies" -- "music documentaries, concert films, musicals and other music-related content."

"As part of the new iTunes feature, Apple has signed two deals to distribute music movies exclusively for a limited period ahead of their release through other outlets. The first is a new concert film, 'Kings of Leon, Live at the O2,' featuring the rock band. It will be offered a week before other outlets on Nov. 3. The other is Davis Guggenheim's music documentary 'It Might Get Loud' about the history of the electric guitar, focusing on Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White. That will be available first on iTunes on Dec. 8, ahead of its wider distribution on Dec. 22."

From the interview:

WSJ: How did this partnership with iTunes come about?

Guggenheim: We all felt like this was the kind of movie that is perfect for iTunes. I'm sort of suspicious of the fads, but when you can imagine that at ten o'clock on a Friday night, wanting to see a certain movie, specifically a rock and roll movie, you're sort of following the instinct that you might have had in the '70s in Greenwich Village, when you could walk out and go find films like this. After you watch the movie you might say, "I'm going to download that song by Jimmy Page." If you were a music lover, you follow these paths.

Guggenheim also spoke with the L.A. Times blog Pop & Hiss about the upcoming release of "It Might Get Loud" on iTunes. The resulting piece says:

"Guggenheim spoke fondly of mom-and-pop record stores, but added, 'there's no music store that can have everything that iTunes has.' ... 'To me, iTunes is my own mom-and-pop,' Guggenheim said. 'That sounds counter-intuitive, but it actually is.'"

Addressing the quality of a downloaded movie, Guggenheim posits in the Billboard.biz Q&A:

"I used to assume the quality was terrible. And for a while it was. But I downloaded 'The Sting' the other night and I couldn't tell the difference between that and a DVD. I think the quality issue is gone."

As for the convenience of a downloaded movie, the director tells Billboard.biz:

"It's perfect. If you're just a guy out there that loves movies, rock and roll music, and rock documentaries, you've seen all the music and movie venues disappear. The local music store, the local art house theater ... they're gone. That's the bad news. The good news is now there's a home for documentaries and music movies, and you don't even have to leave your home."

Yet the loss of the local music store is exactly what some people are mourning.

Led Zeppelin author Dave Lewis said this April he was reading "Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops? A Journey Through an Industry In Turmoil" by Graham Jones. Within months, his hometown newspaper published a letter to the editor by Lewis, reading, in part:

"It's all too easy now to order CDs from the likes of Amazon and download songs from iTunes. This is all well and good but the download generation, which includes my own children, will never experience the excited buzz of a Saturday morning trawling the record shops in search of the latest singles and albums.

"The whole interaction of the buying and selling of records created a social network long before the emergence of the internet generated My Space and Facebook sites and one whereby we actually talked to each other face to face as we shared our passion for our favourite artists.

"I am sure I am not the only one whose record collection inspires fond memories of many hours spent in the likes of Carousel, Harlequin Records, Carlow's, Andy's, MVC, Our Price etc."

Dave Lewis offers holistic, balanced view on Knebworth in upcoming book

"The lights bathed the band in clear vision and the audience went crazy," writes Stuart Whitehead about seeing Led Zeppelin during their last U.K. concert series, the Knebworth Festival 30 years ago this summer. "When things settled down you could sense a newfound confidence. They knew at this point they were still the biggest and best band in the world, and here were a hundred thousand fans agreeing, and at the same [time] giving punk and the U.K. music press an almighty one-fingered salute."

Whitehead is one of over 30 festival attendees whose firsthand accounts are carried as the centerpiece of the forthcoming book compiled by Tight But Loose fanzine writer Dave Lewis. "Then as It Was: Led Zeppelin at Knebworth -- 30 Years Gone" is soon to be released as a 270-page hardcover book in a limited edition, with a launch party taking place near the festival site next month. Lewis has announced ordering information for the book and provided a preview of some of the contents.

He reproduces his original review of the gigs published in Tight But Loose plus the transcript of an interview recorded by future MTV veejay J.J. Jackson, who was then an on-air radio personality for KLOS in Los Angeles, with Robert Plant and John Paul Jones after Knebworth. Along with the firsthand accounts, the new content in this book includes, the author says, "an engrossing view of the whole Knebworth episode from the perspective of an American fan, Larry Bergmann."

Lewis explains, "Zep was still a massive deal over there in the late 1970s -- there was no punk rock explosion to harm them and 'In Through the Out Door was a massive seller and No. 1 for weeks. It was cited as being something of a savior to the flagging U.S. music industry at the time. So it's good to gain a view of how it all appeared from across the water."

But of course, for Americans, most of the book is from the point of view of those on the other side of the Atlantic, including the introductory material. Jimmy Page's photographer of choice, Ross Halfin, contributed the foreword, which details what it was like shooting the Aug. 11 show. Former Melody Maker editor Chris Charlesworth has also lent his words to the project, penning what Lewis describes as "a very perceptive opening preface overview."

As a journalist, Charlesworth enjoyed close access to Led Zeppelin and published his interviews with the various band members in the '70s, but he held off for nearly three decades in reporting the full stories of everything he experienced and witnessed in the band's midst. He has written with a new level of unbridled frankness since the turn of the century when recounting, for instance, Zep manager Peter Grant's dealings with some limo drivers in Greensboro, N.C., and an eventful flight aboard the Starship from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1975. Charlesworth no doubt brings the same welcome candor in his preface to "Then as It Was," a lot of which centers on the press coverage afforded Led Zeppelin in their home country at the end of their four-year absence from the British concert stage.

"This was a period of big upheaval," says Lewis. "Punk rock had arrived, and out of it grew the new wave. This movement was set to render dinosaur bands such as Zeppelin redundant. So what you have is the situation of Zeppelin attempting to reconnect with their audience again, in the face of much derision from the press and media. How they coped with that is an interesting story in itself."

Lewis acknowledges the band's awareness of the pressure on them to present a worthy show. "I think they found it hard to ignore, particularly Robert Plant," he says. "In the book I summarize both the press reaction to the Knebworth shows and the 'In Through the Out Door' album. They did suffer some highly critical reaction -- Plant himself made comment to that onstage during their second appearance. They were very sensitive to it all.

"Taken as a whole though, there were some very balanced views. To quote Phil Sutcliffe in his review in Sounds at the time, 'How would you feel if you saw a dinosaur coming down the street? Surprise, fear, fascination, awe. All of these things. It's by no means all bad to be a living fossil.'

"The fact is, Zeppelin was still a very powerful musical force, and I think journalists seemed to have a job admitting that without losing face. In his foreword in the book, Ross Halfin makes a good point that the press didn't really dislike Zep that much -- not in the same way they derided, say, ELP or Yes."

Lewis doesn't gloss over the controversies the Knebworth Festival portends. As to the disputed number of attendees present, the quality of the performances particularly on week two, the less than stellar supporting lineup assembled for both weeks, or even the suitability of a two-show stint on such a large platform, Lewis addresses it all.

And he does so in a much more objective manner than he did writing for his fanzine at the time. As for his original review, published in full in the book, Lewis admits, "There's no denying it's a rose tinted view, but maybe that's not too surprising. Back then I was 22 years old and my whole world revolved around Led Zeppelin. I lived and breathed it, so Knebworth was in its infancy, and obviously I wanted to offer extensive coverage in the next issue."

Thirty years of retrospect have allowed Lewis to take a more reasoned reflect on the circumstances of the time. He now believes the Knebworth setting made Zeppelin "quite remote from their audience." By comparison, he points out that the Who in 1979 combined smaller shows at the Rainbow Theatre and the Hammersmith Odeon with a larger performance at Wembley Stadium. The Who, Lewis opines, "seemed more in touch with the musical climate of the time."

Despite any flaws in either the conception or the undertaking of the concert series, Lewis says that overall, "Knebworth was a triumph, and it put Zep right back in the spotlight." This is evidenced in some of the photographs from the shows, including ones taken both weeks by Alan Perry, which are used extensively in the book. In all, the book includes over 100 black-and-white illustrations and 16 color pages.

The shows certainly have also inspired collectors of both bootlegs and memorabilia alike, as some appendices in the book attest. One, a detailed Zep Knebworth bootleg appendix, is the work of contributor Graeme Hutchinson, who Lewis says "logs over 80 different vinyl, CD and DVD unofficial releases." In another appendix, U.K. collector Nick Anderson "offers a comprehensive and fully illustrated worldwide 'In Through the Out Door' discography" that "includes details of the differing promo pressings that came out and the singles that were issued from the album." An appendix on Knebworth Festival memorabilia draws mostly from the Brian Knapp collection, including a handwritten set list, various backstage passes, the shirt off of Page's back, the violin bow he used, a prototype bow he discarded in rehearsal, and fiberoptic cables that were used in conjunction with the laser sequence, to name a few items.

Lewis says he hopes the book will appeal to new fans and old. "On a nostalgic level, it's an affectionate reminder of the way things were in that field all of 30 years ago," he says. "For Zep fans that have come on board since, or were elsewhere at the time, it provides the opportunity to find out what it was all about." He says it "all adds up to what I hope is an engaging read that chronicles the final days of Led Zeppelin and the simpler times of the last great festival gatherings of the 1970s.

The first run is strictly limited, and each book will be individually signed and numbered by the author. Books will be available to those registering ahead of time at www.tblweb.com to attend the Aug. 8 gathering at the Lytton Arms. Books may also be ordered online via PayPal (see www.tblweb.com for details) or from the Wymer UK book site.

Lewis is scheduled to appear on the Nicky Horne Show on Planet Rock Radio on Sunday, July 19, after 8 p.m. GMT (4 p.m. Eastern).

Two worthwhile blog posts elsewhere

I found two things online today that deserve to be promoted here:

1. http://thornleyfans.blogspot.com/2008/11/led-zeppelin-and-myles-kennedy-thornley.html
   Some reverent thoughts about what makes Led Zeppelin so unique and timeless appear on this blog dedicated to Canadian musician Ian Thornley. The piece relates to what Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones ought to do musically after forming their new band featuring Jason Bonham and a yet-unnamed singer. The author also asks some good questions about what influence Page and Jones might glean from collaborating with bandmates who are decades younger.
2. http://davelewistbl.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/michael-lee%e2%80%99s-legacy-christmas-coda-and-the-gift-of-zep/
   The consistently good Tight But Loose author Dave Lewis drums up another round of eloquence in his lastest Diary entry, which opens with his reaction to the unexpected death of drummer Michael Lee just days after his 39th birthday. Lewis then segues to his thoughts on the holiday shopping season (which will be very much underway in the United States in just a few hours) and the early Christmas gift in 1982 that was Led Zeppelin's first posthumous album, Coda.

Both of these are worth reading, I think.

TBL in the mail

Issue 18 of the fan magazine Tight But Loose (tblweb.com) has arrived in my mail hot off the presses in the United Kingdom. There's a whole slew of news on Robert Plant activity in 2007, including discussion of some recent and upcoming concert appearances (a new Strange Sensation song is said to have debuted live!), some previously reported info on his album with Alison Krauss to be released in October (pre-orders onsale now), and something that was new to me.

Namely, Plant contributed two tracks that will be included on a compilation to be out in September that will benefit Fats Domino's foundation, established to help rebuild some portions of New Orleans that are still in poor shape from Hurricane Katrina two years ago. TBL details the track names plus where and when they were recorded and with whom. Also, Plant performed a set including both songs and some Elvis Presley songs as well as some Zep material onstage just after recording the album. I'll leave it to Dave Lewis to provide those details rather than repeating them here.

The Plant-Krauss coverage in TBL, while mostly stuff I'd seen elsewhere and even reported myself in the Aug. 20 edition of my newsletter, does reveal one detail that was new to me, although precise details are still pretty sketchy. There is talk of a single to be released from the Raising Sand album, probably prior to its release. Again, I won't reveal here which track Dave Lewis cites as most likely. TBL promises the next issue will go behind the scenes with the making of Raising Sand, and personally, I can't wait!

I did get some song samples from rounder.com and also on the album listing at amazon.com. From what I've heard, I'm particularly excited about the Everly Brothers track, "Gone, Gone, Gone."

Something Plant said in an interview for Rounder's electronic press kit struck me as particularly cool: that it was with this project that he was first paired with a singer of equal talent who could follow him. Look back through his history: Who all else has dared to sing harmony with Robert Plant? It's a short list. But probably nobody has done it as well as Alison Krauss did. Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself here. I haven't heard the full album yet! Thirty-second song clips and testaments from those who have heard the album, however, tend to support this statement.

Somebody just politely prodded on John Paul Jones' official discussion group that he's overdue for another update. They are pretty infrequent at that site; the last was in December 2006. Jonesy told me in December 2001, in a four-hour interview conducted in Philadelphia during the "budget tour" with King Crimson that preceded the release of his album The Thunderthief, that he wanted to interact with fans much more often than he was doing at the time. Jonesy soon handed off his Web design and maintenance to Canadian fan Sam Rapallo, the guy behind the Electric Magic site at led-zeppelin.com (yes, I was jealous, but he had a better résumé, and I still no nothing about making Web sites). They launched a new site, and JPJ's resolve to post more often quickly waned. Granted, maybe it's partially because he updates readers almost entirely on his solo activities, like progress on a new studio album that's been in the works for a long time but keeps getting shelved for other projects.

Jonesy has had his hands full, though, no doubt. There was producing Uncle Earl's album, there are bluegrass festivals, there's improving his skills on a mandolin and other assorted string instruments. But he did show up at Bonnaroo, the jam band festival in Tennessee earlier this year. A former coworker of mine texted me from Bonnaroo and told me he was watching JPJ play "Dazed and Confused" onstage. I thought my buddy was just messing with me! But I checked it out, and it's all over Youtube (in two parts). JPJ looked young -- way younger than he should, by comparison to Page and Plant anyway -- and he really appeared to be enjoying himself while revisiting this song he might not have played in front of a crowd since 1975 (verification/corrections, anybody?). Full coverage of this and his other Bonnaroo onstage guest spots in TBL.

The magazine also has a nice rundown of what to expect from the Mothership and TSRTS releases in November. As far as Mothership, I will go out on a limb and agree with Dave Lewis that the real prizes will be on the limited edition versions, especially the collector's edition. I might just happen to have a little inside information on this project myself. Stay tuned to my newsletter for anything I can reveal about that.

While there was nothing particular in this TBL about the ever-elusive Page other than a brief at-press-time mention of his role in testifying in trial against a man in Scotland who subsequently pled guilty to a charge of profiting from the sale of unauthorized live recordings of Led Zeppelin and other bands, TBL promises the next issue will have an interview with Page and info on a biography. Very ambiguous. Do they mean autobiography? It would be very interesting to read Page's own words on himself.

Finally, Dave Lewis discusses those Led Zeppelin reunion rumors and even points to the seemingly errant one-off rumor of a reunited Beck/Page Yardbirds. As for Zep, Lewis feels -- as do I -- that getting together for a once-only tribute show for Atlantic Records' Ahmet Ertegün is not far-fetched; anything further than that, on the other hand, is unlikely. For one thing, Plant will be touring with Alison Krauss to support Raising Sand! This much is sure.

Pocket-size 'Celebration' by Dave Lewis appears

This news originally appeared in an edition of the newsletter "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History."

Led Zeppelin: A Celebration. By Dave Lewis. London: Omnibus Press. Originally published in 1991. A new 2003 pressing of the book in CD size is now available. Signed copies available from www.tblweb.com.

This new version of the book can really be described using the words of one of the chapter names: "The Same Picture With A Different Frame." Paging through the book, I don't really see much of anything that's been revised or added. The first exception is a new two-page introduction with the author's opinions on reaction to his book and the legacy of Led Zeppelin to this day. Another exception is a brief update in the two-page biography of manager Peter Grant.

Possibly the only other exception is the six-page "What Happened Next," an addendum to the possibility of a Page-Plant-Jones reunion covering the careers of Page, Plant and Jones since the book's original publication. In this section, Dave Lewis makes use of some of the best quotes from the boys available, describing such emotions as why Plant wanted to include Page for the MTV appearance that led to their reunion, how Jones felt about not being included, and why Plant eventually wanted out.

Here, Dave Lewis mentions specific rumors of a Led Zeppelin reunion and even the name of another drummer other than Jason Bonham. (No, not Dave Grohl either! You'll have to read the book to find out who it was!) It's just about right that in the final paragraph of this section, Lewis says "the 'will they or won't they' saga drags on and on" today just as much as in 1991.

Plant's post-Zep biography also ends with another nod to "the 'will he or won't he' saga." Even though here Lewis was referring to this saga going on in 1991, it's as pertinent then as it is now. (Note to self: You can't go wrong ending any story on Led Zeppelin with an allusion to a possible reunion...)

That being said, the sections detailing the post-Zep careers of Page and Jones feel jarringly incomplete when they leave off at 1991. Dave Lewis's conclusion that Page is "sure to make new music in the future" turned out to be correct; some of his best recorded work was only a few years away on a Coverdale/Page album. The bio of Jones ends with Lewis' recommendation: "Should [Page and Plant] decide to play together at any point in the future, when it comes to the role of keyboards and bass ... [Jones'] contribution, as it was during the years 1968 to 1980, would be irreplaceable." Of course, it didn't exactly turn out this way.

Since the book hasn't changed much since 1991, it remains the ultimate Led Zeppelin resource, including information on Zep's studio output, including not just the official releases but some very great descriptions of some unreleased studio reels, a chronology, and lots of exhaustive info like the serial number of Jimmy's Gibson ES 1275 6/12-string double-neck (You'll have to buy the book to look up the serial number!).

This is in fact the first book I ever bought on Led Zeppelin. It's the one book on which I relied most heavily during the first few years of publishing my daily newsletter, "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History." I loved it then, and I love it now in its newer, more convenient size and shape. I'm sure the pages will soon be just as bent on this copy as they are on the old one.

Sadly, a few things in the book accepted as fact in 1991 have proven to be incorrect over the years, such as the date of Zep's April 1, 1971, Paris Theatre performance for the BBC (thought to have been March 25) and the dates of the subsequent shows in Copenhagen (actually May 3, not in June) and Milan (July 5, not July 3). Lewis' concert itinerary in an appendix has apparently not been touched since it appeared in 1991, which is why the first concert date listed as Sept. 14, 1968; research in recent years has turned up evidence that the opening night of the Scandinavian tour was actually Sept. 7. Be forewarned that not every detail in the book is actually true.

Dave Lewis concludes his introduction on a promising note, stating that everything that has happened since the original publication of A Celebration constitutes "more than enough for me to begin work collating a second volume." Elsewhere, Dave Lewis has announced he is compiling a followup, tentatively called A Celebration II. Hopefully, he will collaborate with some of his peers in the Led Zeppelin community to present the most accurate information available when the sequel is written.

Thrilling online clips preview Led Zeppelin's official DVD compilation

This news originally appeared in an edition of the newsletter "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History."

Ten days remain until the U.S. release of Led Zeppelin's chronological live set, DVD, and live album, How the West Was Won. (Click here for a description of their contents.)

Here's a quote that makes me hope the next 10 days go quickly. Dave Lewis and Dave Linwood at TBL/Web write:

"The Earl's Court footage captures Zeppelin at their most extravagant and thrilling, totally on top of their game and performing with supreme confidence. It's just sensational viewing."

Earlier comments from Dave Lewis are available here.

Also, in the last few days before we're offered supreme footage from concerts like the Earl's Court show described above, we can sit back and enjoy Led Zeppelin's newly improved official site, which now offers a sneak preview of five songs from the CD set. Visit www.ledzeppelin.com today! And for a sneak preview of "What Is and What Should Never Be" from the DVD's 1970 Royal Albert Hall performance, try the news page of Electric Magic's Web site at http://www.led-zeppelin.com/news/ and look for "AOL DVD preview." High-speed Internet connection recommended.

Update: None of the Web content described in the preceding paragraph is available any longer.

Madison Square Garden '73 shows to be reissued by 30th anniversary

This news originally appeared at the end of the edition of the newsletter "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History" published on the 30th anniversary of the start of Led Zeppelin's ninth North American tour, in 1973.

That's the beginning of the 1973 tour, 30 years ago today. The end of the tour, three nights at Madison Square Garden, was captured in the 1976 film The Song Remains The Same and its accompanying soundtrack. With the release of Led Zeppelin DVD in about three weeks, we'll see even more of those final shows than ever before!

Be sure to read the latest update on Led Zeppelin DVD at Tight But Loose's Web page. Visit http://www.linwood.demon.co.uk/dvdpreview.html (link no longer active) for information on the 1973 performance captured on the DVD and much more!

Finally, a five-song promo sampler for How the West Was Won has been hitting the airwaves. Listen to your favorite radio stations to find out whether the 1972 live versions of "Immigrant Song," "Heartbreaker," "Black Dog," "Over the Hills and Far Away" and "The Ocean" are currently in rotation.

TBL/Web also has a preview of the full 3-CD set. Read the comments from Dave Linwood at http://www.linwood.demon.co.uk/howthewestwaswon.html (link no longer active) and you might be singing the same thing I am, which is: "If I keep on drooling, the levee's going to break!"