Many people, when they hear the words yard birds, think of mockingbirds, blue jays, or prisoners.  I however, have the distinct pleasure of living directly across and without view of the Indian River.  Despite the fact that the rows of fences and houses completely block the view out, I get the bounty of wildlife daily in my front yard.  Among the most unusual of yardbirds are these two which have been appearing daily:

Little Blue Heron

Cooper's Hawk

On a normal day it’s mostly just these:

White Ibis

Osprey

and occasionally these:

Eastern Pheobe

Just to name a few..

I have a really cool yard.. it’s time I spend more time in it~

What do you see in your yard that might not be so common anywhere else?

Por Juliana Gomes

} Hoje, dia 26 de Novembro, tem Deal With The Devil @ Clube Berlin!

Se você gosta de rock, mas rock mesmo, então você não pode perder a noite de hoje do Berlin com a banda Deal With The Devil.

Os violões de aço plugados, com a bateria, o baixo acústico e a gaita dão o timbre diferenciado para os clássicos revisitados pelo Deal With The Devil. A banda paulistana, formada por Johnny Monster que está presenta na voz, baixo, violão e percussão, Judaz Mallet na voz, violão e baixo, Mondrian Alvez com o violão, voz e gaita e Eduardo Ramirez com o som da bateria, voz e percussão. O quarteto homenageia grandes nomes e assina seu pacto com os ídolos que incendiaram o mundo da música.

As influências são do mais puro rock dos anos 60, 70 e 80. De Rolling Stones, Beatles, Doors, Yardbirds, Cramps, Drifters, Stooges, Who, Clash, Led Zeppelin e grandes ícones como Iggy Pop, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Johnny Winter, Robert Johnson e Raul Seixas. Até mesmo Amy Winehouse e não perca o set especial do AC/DC que os meninos farão para aquecer o show que está por vir em São Paulo.

Dazed and Confused à l’origine écrit par Jake Holmes…

… devient par la suite un morceau des  “Yardbirds par les Yardbirds”…

… avant  bien sûr que Jimmy Page, parti fonder Led Zeppelin, ne l’emmène avec lui et  ne le crédite qu’à son seul nom.

Ok, le procédé n’est pas très correcte mais aux vues du chef d’oeuvre électrique qu’est devenu le morceau on fermera les yeux.

The Yardbirds in London, 1966, by Gered Mankowitz

Here’s the latest batch of Music Musings and Miscellany’s unapologetically subjective selection of the twentieth century’s best 1000 singles.

COASTERS – Searchin’ / Young Blood (Atco 6087 1957)
Not the Coasters at their most comic, but a fine pair of catchy doo-wop / pop tunes nevertheless.

COCKNEY REBEL – Sebastian / Rock and Roll Parade (EMI 2051 1973)
I’ll be the first to admit that “Sebastian” borders on ludicrous pomposity with its quasi-operatic structure and full-on bombastic orchestration, not too mention Steve Harley at his most mannered in the vocal department. Still, there’s something deeply appealing in its guileless over-the-topness.

CABARET VOLTAIRE – Seconds Too Late / Control Addict (Rough Trade 60 1980)
“Seconds Too Late” is one of Cabaret Voltaire’s most chilling tracks, steeped in paranoia and foreboding. It also still sounds amazingly contemporary. Here’s the original video:

PINK FLOYD – See Emily Play / The Scarecrow (EMI Columbia 8214 1967)
English psychedelic pop at its very best.

BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean / Electric Chair Blues (Paramount 12608 1928)
The early blues artists never shied away from topics not normally associated with popular song – disease, addiction, poverty, early death. All were only too real in the world around them. “See The My Grave Is Kept Clean” is a sombre song with the protagonist already dead asking for one last favour. The sad thing is, after Jefferson died the following year, he was buried in an unmarked grave. When a headstone was eventually erected in 1967, the precise whereabouts of his resting place was no longer known. In 1997 he finally got his wish with a proper granite headstone, and ten years later, the cemetery was renamed the Blind Lemon Jefferson Memorial Cemetery. As for the song, it’s been covered many times, most famously by Bob Dylan. My personal favourite version was by the Dream Syndicate.

JUDY COLLINS – Send in the Clowns / Houses (Elektra 45253 1975)
An opinion splitter. Many people find this Stephen Sondheim song almost comically mawkish. I’m not among them (obviously, otherwise it wouldn’t be here). Sinatra used to sing this a lot, but I think Judy Collins nails it. It’s weird that it feels so sad and resigned and yet I haven’t got a clue what it’s all about. But the “well, maybe next year” bit at the end is the epitome of crushed hope to me, and always brings a chill to the spine.

FIELD MICE – Sensitive / When Morning Comes To Town (Sarah 18 1989)
Sarah Records and the Field Mice – the kings of twee. Even many of their fans wear it like a badge – an infantile world of innocence and sweets. I never saw it. OK, they could be a bit wet at times, but “Sensitive” is actually a really angry song.. It’s fast and often furious as it rages against a callous world where aestheticism is perceived as a weakness. A big, meaty ‘fuck you’ to philistines.

BIG STAR – September Gurls / Mod Lang (Ardent 2912 1974)
I see Big Star as the precursors to the Replacements. Romanticism tinged with self-destructive tendencies. At times bright and sunny (as on this little gem), at others like an emotional car crash (most of the legendary Sister/Lovers). There were also times when they churned out some dreary dad-rock, but it was 1974.

LOVE – Seven and Seven Is / Number Fourteen (Elektra 45605 1966)
Surrealistic punk rock played out on acoustic guitars and featuring a (literally) explosive climax. What’s not to love?

MARVIN GAYE – Sexual Healing / instrumental (Columbia 3302 1982)
An Indian summer or a new beginning? After his Belgian exile, serious depression and final freedom from his fraught relationships with Motown and the Gordys, Marvin came back and showed the young pretenders like Alexander O’Neal and Luther Vandross who was the boss in the bedroom soul stakes. Murdered by his father two years later, the opening question can never be answered.

JOE TURNER – Shake, Rattle & Roll / You Know I Love You (Atlantic 1026 1954)
It’s all about sex, of course. Many people will only know the bowdlerized Bill Haley version. Most of the lyrics were changed or cut to protect the sensitive dispositions of white folk (and allow radio play). Including the cunnilingus references (“I get over the hill and way down underneath”). Inexplicably they left the “I’m like a one-eyed cat peepin’ in a seafood store” line unchanged. Too subtle for ‘em I guess.

JOHNNY KIDD & THE PIRATES – Shakin’ All Over / Yes Sir, That’s My Baby (HMV 753 1960)
There was more to British rock & roll than Cliff Richard and the Larry Parnes school of clean-cut clones. Not much more, though. The frankly bonkers Vince Taylor and the great Johnny Kidd are the only ones who spring to mind who could hold their own with their American counterparts.

JIMMY REED – Shame, Shame, Shame / There’ll Be a Day (Vee-Jay 509 1963)
Jimmy Reed was one of only a few of the original electric blues artists whose career truly flourished in the wake of the British blues boom. Many of his songs have become pub back room standards including this one.

THE YARDBIRDS – The Shapes of Things / You’re a Better Man Than I (Columbia 7848 1966)
If Clapton had had his way, the Yardbirds would have remained a footnote in rock history, regurgitating electric blues standards for a white audience. Fortunately he gave way to Jeff Beck, and they turned in some some fantastic pieces of proto-psychedelic pop like this fuzz-drenched beaut. Arguably they were the prime influence for the nuggets generation of US garage bands alongside the Stones, and are still much more appreciated across the pond than they are here.

THE CHORDS – Sh’Boom / Little Maiden (Cat 104 1954)
What better way to end this installment than the sublime, uplifting sound of the luckless Chords. One hit wonders, as much to do with legal battles over the name than any failure to match the quality of their debut single, they did at least leave one song of joyous originality and feel-good vocal dexterity. Supposedly a response to the prevalent fears of nuclear annihilation, it shrugs off the threat and parties. And why not.

More soon

I love new music. It’s one of the few things that keeps me going. But when I settle into a night of searching YouTube for old jams with my dad, it feels like coming home again. This is the music that makes me tick. Like my favorite pair of underpants, I just keep reaching for it.

Case in point:

[The Yardbirds, "Shapes of Things"]

London in the 60s. What I would give.

Currently in position #1 on the Netflizzle queue; dying to see:

Can you even stand it?

[Image from Blow Up.]

[Veruschka shot by Richard Avedon.]

I’ll be listening to this song on repeat today. Of my dad’s incredible record collection, this album was in my top 5.

[Spooky Tooth, "Evil Woman"]

There was a rebellious energy to the songs back then that I can dig. While discussing career skills yesterday, my father said, “You’ve got a skill. The ‘I hate authority’ skill.”

-Carey

Ahogy századszorra is végignéztem ezt a zseniális jelenetet a Nagyításból, valami beugrott. Furcsán ismerős volt a sok üvegestekintetű, zombiszerű fiatal, akik a történelem legjobb évében, 1966-ban, a Yardbirds egyik legjobb számára csak bénán álldogálnak. Hol is láttam már ilyeneket, hol is, hol iss… Ó, hát persze! Legutóbb például a Tűzraktérben, miközben a Mario bros. nyomta a zenét. Előtte meg mondjuk az A38on, annak a menő osztrák indie együttesnek a koncertjén. Amikor kicsípik magukat, felveszik a kalapot, vintage mellényt, piros rúzst, A-vonalú ruhát, vagy akármit, elmennek bulizni, és valami megmagyarázhatatlan okból kifolyólag egész este a fal mellett ülnek karba tett kézzel, cigiznek, neadjisten még grimaszolgatnak is, ha valaki jól meri érezni magát. A nihilizmus és a sznobizmus gyomorforgató keveréke.
Nem akarom azt hinni, hogy már a szent és sérthetetlen ‘60as években is ez volt.

Para empezar bien la semana. Compuesta por Graham Gouldman y aprovechada por los Yardbirds.

Para ver la letra

For your love.
For your love.
For your love.
I’d give you everything and more, and that’s for sure.
For your love.
I’d bring you diamond rings and things right to your door.
For your love.

To thrill you with delight,
I’ll give you diamonds bright.
There’ll be things that will excite,
To make you dream of me at night.

For your love.
For your love.
For your love.

For your love, for your love,
I would give the stars above.
For your love, for your love,
I would give you all I could.

For your love.
For your love.
For your love.
I’d give the moon if it were mine to give.
For your love.
I’d give the stars and the sun ‘fore I live.
For your love.

To thrill you with delight,
I’ll give you diamonds bright.
There’ll be things that will excite,
To make you dream of me at night.

For your love.
For your love.
For your love.
For your love.

Here’s the other half of this morning’s haze-filled work, the pre-orders:

Sinatra, Frank – In the Wee Hours (180 Gram)
Sinatra, Frank – Live in Paris (2xLP, 180 Gram)
X – Wild Gift (180 Gram)
Yardbirds, The – Roger the Engineer (180 Gram)
Young Marble Giants – Live at the Hurrah (180 Gram)

The alliance of music and film is taken a bit for granted these days, but let’s be honest: The two are inseparable. Take, for example, this, this and this. And that’s with omitting the way-obvious scene in Say Anything where new-wave-kid John Cusack proudly blares Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” out of his ghettoblaster to woo his girl… something that no self-respecting new wave kid would have done, but we digress. (It’s not available online due to copyright restrictions, anyway.) The point is music and film are a match made in heaven, something Hollywood learned well in the ’80s and ’90s and that independent filmmakers have taken even further in the years since. 

The latest example is coming to the Moxie Cinema screens a week from this Friday. (In other words, 10/16.) It Might Get Loud takes the viewer into the minds, histories and influences of three of rock’s most prominent and influential guitarists: Jimmy Page of The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, The Edge of U2 and Jack White of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs. It’s a chance to see each player’s style turned inside-out as the three sit down together and reveal the secrets behind their respective sounds, a rare reveal to be sure. (For The Moxie’s full synopsis, including critical reviews, click here.) 

Intrigued? Want to see some of your rock ‘n’ roll heroes show you the tricks of their trade? Tickets are just $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and students and $6 for matinees… or you can watch our Twitter feed later this week and next for chances to win tickets for free. By the way, if you’re not already following us on The Twitters, now might be a good time to start.

Ein Klassiker des Bluesrocks – die Yardbirds mit “Train kept a rollin”:

Enjoy!

Speed of Dark Report:

Click here to go to SOD to check Led Zeppelin “How Many More Times”, The Yardbirds “White Summer”, Link Wray “Rumble”, plus more.

If you haven’t heard about The Half Rats yet, well you must be living under a rock or just listening to the radio top 40. The Half Rats are another band out of Lafayette Indiana AKA Party City USA.  They are a 60’s garage pop band.

They have played  at both of the Johnny Rad Fest and rocked the place  every time.  The first year they played Friday and Saturday night because one of the members at the time Ryan Puetz was playing in Brimstone Howl and they canceled the day of the show.  So Half Rats stepped up and said they were Brimstone Howl, which may have not been a good idea because there was a write in Thrasher Magazine about the fest and said how Brimstone Howl really rocked the place.

They are strongly influenced by The Kinks, Beach Boys, Yard Birds, The Hollies, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Them, Searchers and 60’s garage.

To the review.

Side A – Glass Eyes is catchy song with back up singing by the Jivettes.  This song is written about dating your friends ex chic. But being in love with her.  This song could have been on the radio back in the 60’s when music was alright on the radio.

Side B- Johnny Savage this is a Doo Wop 50’s style song about meeting a bad boy.  This song also features the Jivettes. It sounds a lot like a Shangra-Las or Ronettes song.

If you like the following bands you should check these guys out. Kinks, Yardbirds, Stones, Shangra Las, Black Lips, Beach Boys, ? Mysterians and most 60’s garage. Check them out.

I give this a 7 out of 10.

Side A- I give 10.

Glass Eyes

Click for link to their page.

The Half Rats

Eric Clapton e Jeff Beck juntos. No futebol, seria algo como a dupla Pelé e Coutinho? Não, acho que tá mais para Leônidas + Pelé, ou Zico + Kaká. Craques que se respeitam, mas não jogaram juntos, por questão de geração. Os dois guitar heroes passaram pelo The Yardbirds, mas não ao mesmo tempo. Quando Clapton saiu da banda britânica (bluesman fanático, odiou a cover pop For Your Love), Beck entrou. Jeff e Jimmy Page ainda chegaram a tocar juntos nos Yardbirds, na clássica cena do filme Blow Up / Depois Daquele Beijo (leia +). O site Eric Clapton.com me informa que eles já fizeram jams em festivais e shows beneficentes. Mas só no ano passado dividiram um concerto todo numa grande arena, no Japão. E agora Clapton e Beck querem repetir a dose. Vai ser na Arena 02, em Londres, 13/02/2010! Tem noção do que será esse show? Veja aqui. Fenomenal o jeito como Beck dedilha a guitarra. Vamos rezar aos deuses do rock para esse showzão aportar aqui… ao menos em DVD.

February 28, 1987 (Club Soda, Montreal)

New Yorker Garland Jeffreys is one of a long line of performers who, despite being a favourite of critics, just never made it big commercially. With a distinctive voice and songs that combine elements of rock, reggae, jazz and other influences, his music has never fit snuggly into one category (other than just “great”). But since he arrived on the scene in the mid-70s, he’s maintained a cult following which continues to this day.

His landmark 1977 album, “Ghost Writer” was a favourite for airplay on Montreal’s CHOM-FM, the station I listened to throughout my teens (and briefly worked at). In fact, the song “Spanish Town” is #312 on the station’s list of the Top 500 Rock Songs, right after The Yardbirds’ “For Your Love” and ahead of The Beatles “With A Little Help From My Friends” (although they spell his name ‘Jeffries’). [A side note--although his music has been re-issued on a few compilations, Ghost Writer has never been issued on cd, save for a Japanese import released many years ago. That's just criminal.]

On a dreary February night in 1987, I had the opportunity to see him and it wasn’t something I was going to miss, especially at an intimate venue like Club Soda. Other than just being an overall great show, one of the most memorable elements was the brilliant way he sarted the show. The band came on stage, but no Garland. Suddenly we hear him start singing, but we don’t see him. Figure he’s going to walk out on stage like the band did. Then a spotlight comes on, shining on a figure sitting hunched over at the bar at the back of the club. He then slowly gets up, and sings his way through the crowd toward the stage. No one even really knew he was there. Simple, but incredibly memorable.

His recorded output over the years has been sporadic, and his stuff is hard to find. Best place is Amazon. But if you want to discover a talent that you may have missed the first time around, he’s worth the effort.

Below is a live clip of “New York Skyline”, a track from “Ghost Writer”. A beautiful ode to the Big Apple.

2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the most legendary British amp ever made: the Vox AC-30. Used by everyone from 60’s bands such as The Beatles and Rolling Stones, to acts such as Queen, U2 and new bands such as Oasis, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian, no other amp has put its mark on British rock music as the Vox AC-30 has.

Vox AC-30: the classic sound of British rock!

The Vox AC30 was created in 1958 as “big brother” for the fifteen watt AC15 model, Vox’s original flagship amplifier. An article from the current issue of Total Guitar magazine describes how Hank Marvin, the guitarist in Cliff Richard’s band The Shadows, asked Vox to create a louder amp, so his guitar could be heard above the deafening noise of Cliff’s screaming, pubescent audience. Thus was born the ultimate British valve amp, launched in 1959 to great acclaim. The AC30 is one of the most recorded guitar amplifiers in rock history, not surprising given its universally acclaimed warmth and three-dimensional tonal character. What is slightly surprising is that it seems to have lost none of popularity over the years, quite the reverse in fact.

With a number of modern enhancements including blendable channels, a true bypass FX loop, spring reverb and master volume, to name just a few, the new AC30 Custom Classic is an evolution of the original that is sure to become a classic in its own right.

Models Available:

	VOX AC30 CC1 (1x 12″ speaker) £759 VOX has taken the best AC30 designs and added a number of useful, very cool features to create the AC30CC1, the most tonally flexible and affordable AC30 to date!
	VOX AC30 CC2 (2x 12″ speakers) £799 The AC30 CC2 updates the legendary amp with new and improved features – a guitarist’s dream amp, no less!
	VOX AC30 CC2X Custom Classic (2x 12″ Celestion Blue Alnico speakers) £1299 The VOX AC30CC2X uses the same circuits as the original VOX AC30 with the Top Boost channel, preserving the authenticity and tone of the original’s circuit. Even the original components were copied when possible
	VOX AC30H2, Heritage Series (Hand-wired) £1399 Your search for the Holy Grail of VOX tone ends here. This amp transports you through the golden age of VOX tone, combining the prized EF86 preamp channel of 1958 with the 1963 Top Boost channel all in one amplifier, and the result is perhaps the finest VOX amplifier in the company’s 50 year history.

Prices still too dear for your budget? You can still get a classic Vox valve tone with the new, all-valve 5w amp Vox AC4 TV for only £169! Also available as a limited-edition Vox AC4 TV with 8″ speaker, only £159! ALSO AVAILABLE: Vox AC4 Head, only £195.

A bit of history:

When the Vox AC-30 was launched, it didn’t take long for it to become the amp of choice for British rock bands, used by everyone from The Beatles (both George and John had AC-30s) to the Rolling Stones – and most other British Invasion bands who followed. Keith Richards said: “The Vox AC-30 is the best all-round British amp of all time, without a doubt.”

The Beatles and their AC-30 amps…

The Rolling Stones (left) and Jeff Beck in the Yardbirds: defining sixties rock with AC-30s…

The AC-30 is an amp suited for most styles of music: Jeff Beck(in The Yardbirds) helped to invent garage and psych-rock with the help of a fuzz pedal and a Vox AC-30; Marc Bolan recorded some of the most enduring Glam Rock songs with it; Rory Gallagher helped to define 70’s Blues Rock with an AC-30; Brian May used AC30s (lots of them!) in Queen; Paul Weller kick-started a mod revival with his punk band The Jam and trusty Vox AC-30s, and The Edge of stadium rockers U2  still swears by his old AC-30.

Brian May and lots of AC30s…

Marc Bolan of T-Rex (left) and U2. The AC30 was essential to their sound

Metal-heads be warned! The Vox AC-30 is not the ideal choice for crunchy, hi-gain tones. But, even so, Kirk Hammet of metal gods Metallica also fell in love with the sound of a Vox AC-30 and used it in the studio for the Load and Reload albums. He said: “I was also impressed with the Vox AC30, I didn’t really know how good that was before.”

Today, despite the popularity of many great amps (by Fender, Marshall, Orange or Hiwatt, for instance) it’s still the Vox AC-30 that is used, live or in the studio, by many of the biggest new British rock acts, crowning the Vox AC-30 as the classic Bristish rock’n'roll amp – as popular now as ever, having helped to shape the sound of some of the finest rock songs of the past 50 years!

Since the 90’s, the Vox AC-30 has been as essential to the new generation of British bands as it was in the 60’s. Bands who use/ have used AC-30 amps include Britpop legends such as Oasis, Suede, The Verve and Radiohead.

All three Radiohead guitarists use AC30s

Noel Gallagher of Oasis (left) and Bernard Butler of Suede

In the 2000’s, after a few years of the UK music scene being dominated by US-acts like the Strokes and White Stripes, The Libertines started a British rock revival with Vox AC-30s and became the most influential new English band of the decade. Since then, acts who have used AC-30s include Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Razorlight,  The Kooks, Babyshambles, Mystery Jets and many, many others…

And on the other side of the Atlantic, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters is perhaps the most famous Vox AC-30 user. He told Total Guitar: “We used an AC30 on pretty much everything. You can go clean, dirty, bright or fat.”

The Libertines, with Vox AC30s

Arctic Monkeys (left) and Kasabian, also using the trustworthy Vox AC30

The Vox AC-30 saga continues, and there’s no question it’ll help to define rock for many years to come. The question is – have you discovered how amazing this amp is yet? If not, check the models we have in stock and step into rock’n'roll history!

Troubled Souls Unite Report:

Click here to go to TSU to check The Kinks “Schooldays (Live)”, The Yardbirds cover “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”, and more.

This might be one of the cooler guitar licks of the 1960’s.  It’s a great rock tune.  Too bad it never gets airplay, even on “oldies” and so-called “classic rock” stations.   Enjoy it here.

Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975)

While the Rolling Stones cornered the market in outlaw machismo and dirtyass rock ‘n roll, Led Zeppelin brought a piratical swagger to the party that has never been matched. Physical Graffiti is the album accepted by many as Jimmy Pages swansong; wrecked by gruelling tours, heroic excess and the responsibility of creating five back to back million selling albums, his creative input here was equalled for once by that of John Paul Jones, resulting in an album that rivals ‘Exile on Main Street’ as the definitive seventies statement. The sheer braggadaccio of ‘Night Flight’ ,  ’Trampled Underfoot’ and ‘In My Time Of Dying’ demonstrates Page’s gifts were never confined to the sledgehammer assault typified by ‘Kashmir’.  These riffs remain peerless, boasting the musculature of a gymnast, a tension built on the brutal drums of John Bonham that renders the priapic posturing of Robert Plant, in his pomp, wholly appropriate. The songs bristle with agression and sexual intent, the album shows a global phenomenon at it’s zenith. Three years later, beset by car accidents, death, violence and addiction they were gone. Dark as the post Altamont landscape had become, Jimmy Page and co fashioned something extraordinary; dangerous, exciting and very very cool. Their like will never be seen again.

Here are Steve “The Lemon” Sauer’s reflections on historical events and recent news surrounding the band that is our focus – Led Zeppelin.

Steve has been learning about the Led Zeppelin story from books and personal interviews he has conducted over the years. For just as long, he’s been sharing those stories through his online publication On This Day in Led Zeppelin History (www.OnThisDayInLedZeppelinHistory.com) as well as his more recent offering, Lemon Squeezings: Led Zeppelin News, (www.LedZeppelinNews.com).

Many thanks to Steve for his help and insights.

Let’s roll!
Frank Reddon

Steve Sauer Remembers Zeptember

As Frank mentioned, I’ve been publishing On This Day in Led Zeppelin History in one format or another since 1998. Each year, during the month I call ZEPtember, the dates remind me of the extreme highs and lows experienced throughout Led Zeppelin’s history.

Those highs began in Zeptember 1968, shortly after the first rehearsals that brought Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant together. The first live concerts of this new band (then known briefly as The New Yardbirds) took place on Zeptember 7 at the Gladsaxe Teen Club in Copenhagen, Denmark.

They first recorded their own material at Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, England on Zeptember 27. The recordings for that first Led Zeppelin album were made shortly after that, giving us the earliest preserved document of how powerful this young band sounded in those formative days.

The month also includes several other highlights, including a historically beloved concert at Los Angeles’ Inglewood Forum on Zeptember 4, 1970. That performance yielded the famous bootleg LP set Live on Blueberry Hill later that decade.

On Zeptember 23, 1971, Led Zeppelin embarked on its first tour of Japan, a set of dates full of wonderfully hilarious stories about samurai swords, food fights, a suspected peeping Tom incident and other lighthearted shenanigans that may or may not have contributed to the group being banned from the Tokyo Hilton hotel.

Zeptember 1980 began as a month full of expectations. The band took the opportunity on Zeptember 11 to announce a set of tour dates in North America. A revitalized Led Zeppelin gathered on Zeptember 24 to begin rehearsing for the tour, planning to debut a live arrangement of Carouselambra, the longest and most difficult number from In Through the Out Door.

Sadly, that anticipated North American tour never came to fruition because John Bonham died in his sleep only one day into rehearsals, Zeptember 25.

In some ensuing years, Zeptember showed some rays of hope. In 1985, two months after the first performance by Led Zeppelin’s surviving members, Robert Plant said farewell to the first group of touring musicians in his solo career.

This occurred at a time of piqued public interest into Led Zeppelin’s history, with the unauthorized Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis becoming a New York Times Bestseller.

Many believed that circumstances were paving the way for a more permanent reunion. Indeed, some rehearsal sessions the following year took place, briefly bringing funk drummer Tony Thompson of Chic into the fold.

Likewise, a new wave of hope was ushered in during Zeptember 2007 with the announcement of a Led Zeppelin concert to follow later in the year as a way of paying tribute to the late Ahmet Ertegün.

When guitarist Jimmy Page broke his finger, the original November 26, 2007 performance at London’s O2 Arena was rescheduled to December 10. That evening, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, with the addition of John Bonham’s son, Jason, treated fans to a brilliant performance truly worthy of bearing the Led Zeppelin name.

One year ago this month saw the release of Frank Reddon’s first published book, Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 – Break & Enter. This 736-page hardcover book collects rarely told stories from Led Zeppelin’s initial tour of the United States and Canada plus many contributors’ thoughts on the debut Led Zeppelin album.

For those of you who haven’t yet seen this textbook-quality work for yourselves, I suppose now would be a great time to disclose I’m one of the contributors, although I’m certainly not alone in that capacity.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve experienced a unique Zeptember.

John Paul Jones’s new band, Them Crooked Vultures, announced its first headlining tours of North America, Europe and Australasia.

Robert Plant appeared at a charity gig in London, England to benefit an organization that champions music therapy.

A film documentary featuring Jimmy Page and two other generations of guitarists, Jack White and The Edge, called It Might Get Loud, opened in movie theatres throughout the United States this month. (It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last Zeptember – 2008).

As for Jason Bonham, this Zeptember saw him announcing some upcoming tour dates with Bonham, the eponymous band that earned the second-generation drummer his first Gold record award.

Although the prospects of any of these four celebrated musicians collaborating in the immediate future are not very promising at the moment, I can’t help but believe we are going to see a time of prosperity for them. That’s my hope for the new month about to begin, which is, of course, Rocktober.

My friends at Enzepplopedia have given me the honour of introducing their latest publication, an e-book called J.J. Jackson Remembers Led Zeppelin: The Music and the Guys Who Made It.

This e-book of more than 80 pages offers complete transcriptions of interviews that Frank Reddon conducted with the late J.J. Jackson. Five of the six interviews have never been published in their entirety anywhere before.

J.J. Jackson was ingrained into the American consciousness as one of the original five video jockeys for MTV. To those who heard his voice on the radio in Los Angeles and Boston before that, however, he was a beloved on-air personality of the late ’60s and all throughout the ’70s. To the members of Led Zeppelin, J.J. was a treasured friend.

This unique story places Jackson as a Boston radio DJ who had the presence of mind to promote Led Zeppelin on the air prior to the release of their first album. Because of this, Led Zeppelin experienced some of its earliest successes in Boston and Jackson earned the band’s valuable friendship.

In these interviews conducted five years before his death, Jackson speaks with excitement as his vivid memories literally come to life.

In reading this, you can tell those memories are just gushing forth! Jackson and interviewer Reddon sometimes become sidetracked in their conversation, but it’s always a journey the reader can come along on, and it is consistently diverted back to the original topic in a timely fashion.

Notably, Reddon makes a brilliant move seldom seen elsewhere. He provided his interview subject with some live audio recordings of the four Led Zeppelin shows Jackson personally attended at The Boston Tea Party (Jan 23 – 26, 1969), prompting further recollections. There’s no other book on the market like this one!

J.J. Jackson Remembers Led Zeppelin was written by Frank Reddon, edited and compiled by his sister, Lou Anne Reddon.

The e-book also includes a foreword written by one of my heroes, Dave Lewis, author of the fine long-running Tight But Loose fanzine series and books including Led Zeppelin: A Celebration, The Concert File (with Simon Pallett) and the recent book Then as It Was about the Knebworth Festival in 1979. In that book, Lewis transcribes an interview that J.J. Jackson conducted with Robert Plant and John Paul Jones after the festival.

Led Zeppelin may not be an active band today, but authors like Frank Reddon have given its modern-day fans a new way to share their love of that band. For folks who never saw Led Zeppelin perform live, this new e-book provides an opportunity to experience the firsthand accounts of someone who not only had those concert memories but also had unparalleled access to the band in its formative days.

It is a joy to read and another great reason this is a wonderful time to be a Led Zeppelin fan.

Steve “The Lemon” Sauer
Zeptember 2009