BOOK REVIEW: Robert Plant: A Life

The Golden God, one of the prototypes for just about every hard rock and heavy metal lead singer who has ever strutted across a stage in his wake, Robert Plant is still a slightly mysterious and private person. Certainly more open, less guarded, and not as intensely private as his former Led Zeppelin bandmate and songwriting partner Jimmy Page, Plant is nonetheless an intriguing figure who has spent the bulk of his life and career doing all that he can to distance himself from his old band's legacy, whose music and impact are ironically the very reasons for his current fame and reputation. In Robert Plant: A Life, author Paul Rees has attempted to tell the story of the enigmatic rock icon's life and career from his humble middle-class beginning in the Birmingham area through his halcyon days in Led Zeppelin and his rebirth as a restlessly searching and critically acclaimed solo artist always looking forward as he seemingly keeps his past at arm's length.

Author Paul Rees is a well known music journalist who has interviewed some of the biggest names in rock music over the past thirty years, as well as serving as editor of both Q and Kerrang! magazines. For his Plant book, he drew upon numerous interviews conducted with Plant over the years, as well as more recent firsthand accounts and discussions he'd had with some of Robert's closest friends and associates, some of them dating back to his schooldays in the Black Country. Starting at the very beginning, Rees tells the story of the young boy who was born in 1948 and had a comfortable and stable upbringing but who was bitten by the music bug at an early age. It was the arrival of American artists like Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, and Buddy Holly that hooked the young boy, as well as his discovery of American blues music. Much to the chagrin of his parents, Plant began singing in local rock and blues bands, causing his once promising academic career suffered. He was further smitten by the psychedelic and folk sounds coming out of the American west coast scene in the mid-1960s, slotting bands like the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and Buffalo Springfield, as well as folk musicians like Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez alongside with his beloved blues and traditional English and Celtic folk music in his personal catalog of influences. There was even a short-lived and ill-fated dalliance with a recording contract with CBS Records that came to naught. By 1968, Plant was playing regular pub gigs around the Birmingham area in the Band of Joy (which included future Zeppelin drummer John Bonham) when Jimmy Page was tipped off to his vocal style. Page and manager Peter Grant were planning on creating something new out of the ashes of the Yardbirds and first things first, they needed a singer. He and Plant hit it off musically, if not in terms of their personalities, and after bringing Bonham and John Paul Jones into the fold, Led Zeppelin was born. The rest is, as they say, history and I won't rehash it as the book does a fairly good job of giving the basic story of the band; I and others have also written on it extensively, so it's not worth dwelling on further here.

What Rees does do is show how Plant seemed to grow more disillusioned with the monster that Led Zeppelin became as they got bigger and bigger and the experience grew to be more about the excesses of life on the road than the music they created. In particular, he hated what his friend Bonham turned into, as well as the way Page exerted an iron grip over the band and started to resent Plant's ascension to equal status after his initial years as the understudy. Coupled with how the latter half of Zeppelin's career was marred by tragedies such as Plant's car accident, rampant drug addiction throughout their camp, and the twin horrors of Plant's son Karac and friend Bonham dying, and it's not hard to see why he came to resent the entire experience after the band split in 1980. The book takes approximately half of its page length to get to the end of Zeppelin's career; the remainder deals with Plant's subsequent life and solo career. The portrait painted is of a restless spirit who is insatiably curious and hungry for all different types of music and how to incorporate them into his own sound, a stark contrast with Page who has seemed to have been trapped in the shadow of Led Zeppelin over the last few decades. This wandering spirit extended into Plant's personal life, where his long marriage to wife Maureen ended in the early 1980s, upon which he subsequently took up with her younger sister (whom he had long been rumored to have had a thing for in the 1970s according to many in the Zeppelin camp). The book further traces his career through his two disastrous mini-reunions with Zeppelin in 1985 and 1988, the two albums he made with Jimmy Page (No Quarter and Walking Into Clarksdale, the tour for the latter album having been attended by yours truly), and the successful and critically acclaimed run of albums he's made over the last decade, spearheaded by his Grammy-winning collaboration with Alison Kraus, Raising Sand. The final Led Zeppelin reunion, in 2007, is also discussed in detail and unsurprisingly, it is revealed that Plant really didn't want to do it and only agreed because of his admiration for recently deceased Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, to whose memory the concert was dedicated. Again, Plant is described by those around him as restless, a man who doesn't seem to want to escape his past so much as to just continually never revisit it.

While the book is, on the whole, enjoyable to read and interesting, it does tend to focus too much on Led Zeppelin (and Jimmy Page in particular) in certain spots. This is understandable as, to Robert's eternal consternation, the spectre of Zeppelin hangs over everything he does. Also, Plant's complicated and tense relationship with Page is central to much of his life and career. However, there are certain extended passages where it seems Rees spend too much time on Page's side of things, sections which feel like they would sit more comfortably in a book dedicated to him rather than one about Plant. Another noticeable aspect is that, while the author has done his work interviewing many of Plant's friends, families, and associates, there's very little directly from the man himself. There are numerous passages where the author mentions "Plant told me..." or "I was with Robert at a restaurant when he said..." but more often than not, the narrative relies on other common sources of information or firsthand accounts from longtime associates and friends like Ross Halfin, Benji LeFevre, Richard Cole, and others. While it doesn't make the book any less enjoyable, it definitely makes it feel like a completely unauthorized account. Many of the best unauthorized biographies can still feel like they are authorized given the amount of research and primary source material that goes into them. Robert Plant: A Life falls a little bit short of this, but it's still a valuable and worthwhile read for any fan of the legendary singer, even though the new information revealed tends to be of the small tidbit variety rather than anything too revealing. There is another recently published biography on Plant, entitled Robert Plant: The Voice That Sailed the Zeppelin, that I will be reviewing at a later date. Until I do so and can make a side-by-side comparison, I'm glad to have read Paul Rees' book as I feel I understand Plant a bit better than I did before.

MY RATING: 7/10 

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Quintessential Songs: Reducing a Band's Essence to Just One Song (PART 1)

Recently I was having a conversation on Twitter with someone about the Rolling Stones when their great song "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" was brought up. The fellow I was chatting with mentioned that, to him, this was the quintessential Stones song. Since it's one of my favorite Stones songs, I could totally see his point, but it also got the wheels in my head turning. Does every band that any of us like have that one song that perfectly encapsulates everything about them? And could this be a fun and interesting way to help each other discover new music by grabbing our interest with that first, special song? I allowed my imagination to get away from me a little bit more and the longer I mulled this over, I decided to have some fun with it. 

So here's the challenge:

Imagine that you've just met a time traveler...they could be from 100 years in the past or from 100 years in the future. Or maybe you've met an alien being from another planet who has no idea what music is. Regardless of the scenario, pretend that you are confronted with this person and have to describe what music is (doesn't have to be rock music, it can be any genre). You're explaining it and they're just not understanding what it's all about. You think to yourself "you know what? It'll be easier if I just play them some music...that will convey it better than mere words can." However, they don't have a lot of time before they have to be on their way...you've only got time to play them ONE SONG from each artist, so you need to make sure it counts.  This one song needs to:

- encapsulate the artist's essence and overall sound
- be memorable enough that it will stick in their head after just one listen
- if the artist has distinctly different eras to their music, it should cover enough of them such that it can bridge most, if not all of them in the one song

Sounds tough, right?

After a lot of thinking and analyzing, here are the quintessential songs I've come up with for some of my favorite artists, with explanations why (and audio) to help my arguments. If you like some of these bands, please share your picks in the comments section, as well as your picks for other bands not mentioned here. This is Part 1 of what will be as many posts in the series until I run out of ideas, so here goes!

The Rolling Stones: I have to start with the band that was the impetus for this entire exercise, don't I? I thought long and hard about this because "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" as discussed above would be a great choice: it's got an iconic Keith riff at the beginning, a sexy groove, sneering vocals from Mick, and a killer jam during the second half. However, it's not my choice for their quintessential song mainly because it's not too well known outside of serious Stones fans. That's not to say that the quintessential songs should be the most popular ones, but they should have enough mass appeal such that someone uninitiated could pick up on why after just one listen...after all, that's the reason the song is popular in the first place, right?  With that being said, my choice is...

Jumpin' Jack Flash. Released as a non-album single in 1968, for me this song (which narrowly beat out "Satisfaction" and "Gimme Shelter") has all of the ingredients that capture what the Stones are all about: an instantly recognizable riff, a slinky groove, a catchy chorus ("well it's aaaaaaaaaaall right now...") strutting, cocky vocals from Mick, and a darkness and swagger about the lyrics.  It's also has one foot in the experimental 1960s Stones approach that they were soon to leave behind while the other foot is firmly planted in the powerful blues/roots rock approach they'd reach their zenith with over the next five years. In short, it captures everything great about the Stones as they were exiting the singles-driven Brian Jones era and entering the album-driven Mick Taylor era. 

The Beatles: This was a really tough one because, I mean, how do you only pick ONE song to explain to someone how great the Beatles are? Beyond that, they had so much artistic growth in such a ridiculously short period of time that it's almost impossible to choose just one track that encapsulates everything they did. The early years were marked by infectiously catchy and exciting pop songwriting, the middle years had more complex songs, arrangements, and pioneering recording techniques, and the final years had a more stripped down but no less innovative approach. Beyond that, the sheer number of insanely popular and beloved songs means that there's a huge amount of stuff to choose from. That being said, I thought long and hard about this and came up with my choice, which is...

Hey Jude. Perhaps it's no coincidence that this is also my favorite Beatles song of all time, but I think it really does capture the essence of the band.  Play, or even just say, those first two words of the song to anyone and they'll instantly know what you mean. Hell, all of my kids knew this song when they were so young that they could barely speak. It's got a beautiful melody, uplifting lyrics, a great arrangement, and an anthemic chorus that you can't help but sing along to every time you hear it (go ahead and try to resist...I dare you!). Seeing Paul play this (and singing along with the entire crowd) when I saw him in concert was one of the highlights of my life, and that's no joke. It hearkens back to the pop craftsmanship of the early years, the stripped down sound of the later years, and an ambitious production (strings and horns at the end) as in the middle years. Plus, John Lennon was on record for after stating that it was his favorite song that his longtime collaborator ever wrote...coming from John, that's got to count for a lot, doesn't it? (Songs it narrowly edged out: too many to list!)

The Who: There's a lot of ground to try and cover here with this band if you're going to reduce it down to just one song. There's the early, high-energy R&B stuff (1964-65), the mid-1960s power pop with all of those great, classic singles (1966-68), the rock opera/stadium anthems of the 1969-73 period, or the more introspective, cynical, and experimental later era stuff (1975-78). For me, there is and has always been one Who song that perfectly captures the essence of the band, and tough as it is to pass over classics like "Won't Get Fooled Again," "Pinball Wizard," "My Generation," "Love Reign O'er Me," "Slip Kid," and "Who Are You" among many others, the ultimate Who song for me is...

Bargain. First of all, this song has been hailed by critics, fans, and the band themselves as containing one of, if not THE best ensemble performances of the Who's entire career as captured on record. As Pete Townshend once said of this song, "I didn't play the guitar on that one...it played me." It's the perfect balance between the hard rock they were masters of and the melodic introspection Pete was always able to inject into his songs. And of course, you have Roger Daltrey getting inside the heart, mind, and soul of the main character, delivering the vocals with incredible passion and power. The chorus is instantly recognizable and hits you like a ton of bricks ("I call that a bargain...the best I ever had...the best I EVER HAD!"), and the quieter middle section sung by Pete Townshend is so beautiful and moving, musically and lyrically, that it's enough to make you cry. And that, to me, is what makes this the quintessential Who song: it goes from ass-kicking rock to tear-jerker back to kicking your ass again in the span of a few minutes. It doesn't hurt that in addition to Daltrey's and Townshend's tremendous performances, Keith Moon and John Entwistle turn in one of the performances of their lives. John's bass guitar is all over the place, melodic and powerful, while Moon is a monster on the drum kit but is at the same time incredibly tasteful and plays to the song. His double-bass drum flutters and the workout he gives his entire kit during the outro is exciting as all get out, and the final strummed guitar chords and synth melody still give me chills after all these years. Everything great about the Who, all in one song...that's the whole point of this post, isn't it?

 (I had to include this live version from San Francisco in December 1971 because it's just so damn good!)

The Kinks: Along similar lines, the Kinks' career was so long and so varied that there are numerous distinct eras that need to be taken into account. There's the early R&B and proto-punk rock/heavy metal of early singles like "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night." There's the mature, groundbreaking string of brilliant hit singles from 1965-1968 like "Tired of Waiting For You," "See My Friends," "Waterloo Sunset," "Sunny Afternoon," "Autumn Almanac," "Days," and more. There was the string of brilliant albums beginning with 1966's Face to Face and running through 1972's Everybody's in Showbiz. There was the concept album phase of the early to mid-1970s, their hard rock/arena rock phase of 1977-1984, and the gradual petering out of their career from the mid-1980s until 1996. Ray Davies was one of the most brilliant and prolific songwriters of his, or any, generation (and his brother Dave was no slouch in this department either) and managed to steer the Kinks on an always unpredictable course over their thirty-two year career. And as a fan of all of their material, I found it incredibly hard to choose just one song to encapsulate everything about this great band. How do you pick just one song to cover all of the ground that they did over such a long career? Surely some aspect of their essence, their sound will be left out, right? Keeping all of this in mind, and thinking long and hard about this, I came up with...

Lola. An obvious choice, perhaps, but hear me out. I was trying to come up with one of the more obscure, but no less excellent, Kinks songs to fit the bill and while several came close, all roads kept leading back to Lola. For me, it's the right song for a number of reasons. It has an instantly recognizable and iconic riff at the opening of the song. It straddles the hard rock side of the Kinks' music with a bit of theatrical camp. It has classic Ray Davies lyrics that are not only cerebral and thought-provoking, but very humorous. It's got great harmony vocals from Dave (which I've always found to be absolutely integral and vital to the Kinks' sound), as well as a great band performance from all involved. And the chorus is catchy and, at this point, known by just about anyone in the English speaking world whether they even know the song or not. It also fits perfectly within the Kinks' ethos of being a great standalone single, yet also fitting in context perfectly on the album it was lifted from.  Finally, the seemingly humorous (and true!) tale of a man falling in love with a woman who may or may not be a man in drag hints at deeper things, such as questioning and reaffirming what it is that makes the singer masculine. The ambiguity when Ray sings "well I'm not the world's most masculine man, but I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man, and so is Lola" is classic Davies: is Lola glad he's a man, or is Lola a man, too? It's left unresolved and for the listener to decide. In my mind, the answer to this open-ended question has always been "yes"...as unresolved as the question itself. That's the mark of a great song, and for me Lola is quintessential Kinks.

Led Zeppelin: Yet another band who had distinct phases to their career, although perhaps in a different way to the Kinks, Who, or Beatles. While they definitely incorporated different elements into their sound and effectively utilized dynamics and acoustic instrumentation, they never strayed too heavily from their heavy blues and folk roots. Still, they were definitely a 1960s band that evolved as the 1970s went along, unlike the one-dimensional heavy metal bands they subsequently inspired. That being said, it was still quite difficult for me to distill their musical essence down to just one song because there were so many facets to Led Zeppelin: hard rock, blues, Celtic/English folk, and more. Beyond that, there are signature elements of their sound, from Robert Plant's powerful vocals and Jimmy Page's virtuoso guitar work, to John Paul Jones' brilliant bass guitar and multi-instrument work and John Bonham's fantastic drumming. In addition, Bonham and Jones were one of the finest rhythm sections in the history of rock...one of the few that really locked in and could swing. I had to keep all of this in mind when making my decision, which ended up being...

Over the Hills and Far Away. No, I didn't go for the obvious choice of "Stairway to Heaven"...great song, but overplayed to death. As for other signature Zeppelin songs like "Black Dog," "Whole Lotta Love," "Immigrant Song," "Achilles Last Stand," and others in that same vein, they didn't have as much of the famous light and shade that Zeppelin traded in. Honestly, this song beat out "Kashmir" and "Ramble On" by a very slim margin: "Kashmir" just doesn't feature enough of Page's guitar or Jones' bass, while "Ramble On"...well, it's a GREAT song but I just feel "Over the Hills and Far Away" beats it by a nose. In my opinion, it's got it all when it comes to Zeppelin: a quiet acoustic intro that builds up, a hard rock main body of the song, Plant singing in his best, most powerful wail, driving bass and drums from the Jones/Bonham rhythm section, a great Page electric guitar solo, and a gentle acoustic outro. Plus, it's catchy and melodic, two things Led Zeppelin almost always was (and for which they don't get nearly the credit they deserve). It may not rock as hard as their heaviest moments, but Led Zeppelin was never only about being heavy, and to me "Over the Hills and Far Away" is the perfect cross-section of everything that makes Led Zeppelin great.

The Doors: For the last entry in Part 1, I've decided to pick a song from one of the greatest American rock bands to come out of the 1960s, and again, a personal favorite: The Doors. Besides being one of the biggest bands of the era, the legendary band from Los Angeles had one of the most unique line-ups and sounds in all of rock, consisting solely of guitar, organ, drums, and vocals. No bass guitar at all in the band except on some of their studio tracks. The bulk of the bass parts on record, and all of them on stage, were handled by keyboard player Ray Manzarek's left hand on a Fender Keyboard Bass; at the same time, he played his intricate and complex keyboard/organ/piano melodies with his right hand. Beyond Ray's talent, they had a solid and talented drummer in John Densmore who had more of a jazz background than in rock, but he had a very unique style and sound. The same can be said for guitarist Robby Krieger, who was not a blues and rock based guitarist like the vast majority of his peers, but rather was rooted in classical, jazz, and flamenco guitar. He played without a pick, had a one-of-a-kind style, and wrote the majority of the band's music (along with Morrison). While their various albums had subtle shades and shifts in sound, at their core the Doors were a blues-based psychedelic band with more classical and jazz leanings than anyone around at the time. With all of that said, and with all of their music to choose from, I perhaps still took the obvious way out by choosing their first #1 single...

Light My Fire. Written mainly by Robby Krieger (with significant input from Jim Morrison), the Doors breakthrough single from 1967 is widely considered to be their signature song and in my opinion, is the ultimate Doors song. Starting with a machine-gun crack of John Densmore's snare drum, it's got every element of the Doors sound wrapped up in its 7-minute duration. First, there's Ray Manzarek's throbbing keyboard bass and classical flourish lead melody line that drives the entire song. There's Krieger's bluesy/jazzy fingerpicked guitar licks filling the spaces between throughout, playing more of a supporting role to Ray's keyboards. Densmore's Latin-influenced jazzy drumming and rock-steady backbeat underpins it all and is the foundation the other three rest upon. Jim Morrison's vocals, ranging from his hushed baritone before he gets into his throat-tearing screams, build excitement before he ends the song by whipping himself into a frenzy at the end of the song. The lyrics range from a simple professing of the singer's desire for his girl's love to some slightly darker, almost mysitcal elements as to what needs to happen so that they can "set the night on fire." Sandwiched in between the beginning and ending verses is a long solo section that takes up half of the song and is a showcase for both Manzarek and Krieger, the former playing a hypnotic bassline with his left hand while his right hand solos masterfully, the latter playing a very jagged and dissonant solo that sounds nothing like all of the blues noodling of his fellow American guitar contemporaries. While the Doors had loads of great songs throughout their career, for me, "Light My Fire" is the song that has all of the elements that made the Doors one of the biggest American rock bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

So concludes Part 1 of this series! It was a lot of fun and made me really think about what it is about each of these bands that appeals to me when it comes to their music. If you're a fan of any of these bands, what do you think of my selections? Agree/disagree? And for your own favorites, what would your one song be to show an uninformed listener what they were all about?  Part 2 will have more of these song choices from other bands, so I hope you'll stick with me as we go through this exercise!

PART 2 TO FOLLOW SOON!

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BOOK REVIEW: Jimmy Page on Jimmy Page

For someone who was as flamboyant and creative on the stage and brilliantly talented in the studio as the driving force behind one of the biggest rock bands of all time, Jimmy Page remains one of the most mysterious and least understood giants of music.   Part of it is just in his personality to be quiet and let his work do the talking. Some of it is probably down to the deliberately cultivated aura of mystery that Page and his Led Zeppelin bandmates developed that has kept interest in them strong beyond the band's demise in 1980, and some of it is almost certainly the result of the endless speculation and misunderstanding by fans, journalists, and critics over the ensuing years. In any event, the story of Jimmy's life has never been told in a true memoir. There are of course really good books about Led Zeppelin, good unauthorized biographies, and a wonderful collection of interviews with Jimmy over many years that is probably the closest we will ever get to an autobiography.  However, there hasn't been a true book about Page by Page until recently.  With the publication of Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page in 2013, the man himself has finally compiled his life story, albeit in his own unique way: through photographs.

***special thanks to Rhianna at Genesis Publications for sending me a copy of the book to review!***

For his first true autobiography, Jimmy Page decided to tell his life story visually, starting with his childhood and running all the way to the present. In addition, this was to be a story about his lifelong marriage to music and the guitar and as such wouldn't focus on his personal life.

Starting with his early teenage years, Jimmy uses photographs from various sources, including many from his own private collection, to tell the story of his life with the guitar. Starting out playing in local bands with his school friends in Surrey, where he grew up, in his late teens Jimmy gave up the rigors of gigging in order to eventually become the top session guitarist in London.

Page on BBC TV as a teenager playing some skiffle

He played on innumerable sessions ranging from rock records to commercial jingles, soundtracks, pop, jazz, classical, and everything in between.  While this varied musical apprenticeship would serve him very well in terms of his playing, songwriting, and production in his later career, he began yearning to play in a band again.

 Live on French TV w/the Yardbirds in 1968

Having turned down an opportunity to join the Yardbirds when Eric Clapton left the band in 1965 (and recommending his schoolfriend Jeff Beck in the meantime), when an opportunity came to join the band again in 1966, Jimmy jumped at the chance. Replacing bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, Page originally joined on bass guitar before rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja switched to bass. This short-lived Yardbirds line-up, with Beck and Page on dual lead guitars, only produced a handful of songs and gigs, but the excitement they generated was palpable. Beck left in 1967, leaving Page as the sole guitarist to ride out the remainder of the band's career.  Stifled by the Yardbirds' need to produce pop singles while they were simultaneously getting experimental and more psychedelic on stage, the band disintegrated in the summer of 1968, leaving Page with the band name, the manager (Peter Grant), and not much else. He set about putting a new band together, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

 Live with Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden, NYC in July 1973

Led Zeppelin would go on to be one of the greatest bands of all time and would establish Page as a guitar wizard, master producer, and genius songwriter.  As such, the bulk of this book focuses on his career in Led Zeppelin. However, he made a lot of music before and after the band, and what's great about his book is that Jimmy chronicles it all. In addition to the aforementioned photos of Page that have been seen before, there are loads of rare and new photos in the book. The tour dates for each year are also listed, along with photos of his passport stamps (and his various passport photos over the years). Along with being another nice little personal touch, it hammers home the point just how hard he worked for so many years.  The best photographs, in my opinion, are those that show Page off stage and in more normal (at least to us non-rock star folks!) circumstances. Backstage, at home, in the studio, on vacation...all of these photos really serve to humanize Jimmy and show that he wasn't the dark wizard he's been made out to be for so many years.  Whether they are from his pre-session days, his session and Yardbirds days, the Led Zeppelin years, or the various projects he undertook after Led Zeppelin (including the 2007 one-off reunion concert they played at the O2), all of the photographs are wonderful and capture moments and moods in a way that words cannot.  They also show a nice progression of a very bright, handsome, and energetic young man growing and maturing throughout his life and aging gracefully into the elder statesman of music that he is now.  It should be noted that there are also paragraphs accompanying most pages where Jimmy explains what was going on in his life and career during that period while giving some context to the photos, so the book isn't entirely devoid of words. However, the beauty is that Jimmy lets the images do the bulk of the talking.

Live with Led Zeppelin at the O2 Arena, London in December 2007

If I have one criticism of the book, it would be only that Jimmy stays away from anything personal. I understand that he is putting all of the focus on his life and his music and emphasizing how intertwined they are.  It's just that, beyond photos of him in the various houses he's lived in throughout the years, it would have been nice to see some more intimate personal shots, like of him with his parents as a child, the house he grew up in, his wives and lovers, children, etc. However, I'm nitpicking at this point and the lack of these sorts of photos certainly doesn't take anything away from how enjoyable this book is.  While Light and Shade offered the closest Jimmy will ever give us to a written memoir, Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page gives us his life in photographs and is an essential guide to understanding this true musical genius.

 A nice, long interview where Jimmy discusses guitars and music

MY RATING: 9/10

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BOOK REVIEW: Light and Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page needs no introduction. As the founder of Led Zeppelin and one of the greatest guitarists and producers in rock history, he's left an indelible mark on music and is rightly revered as one of the all time giants of the genre. However, much like the band he launched and guided to almost universal acclaim during their twelve year career, the man remains shrouded in mystery. Part of this is down to how private and quiet a person he is, while much of it was and still is a purposely cultivated mystique. His long-standing distrust and disdain for the press, going back to the earliest days of Led Zeppelin, are also a huge reason why so little is known about Page beyond the music. While there have been books written about the band, some of them quite good, not much has been devoted to Page in particular. This is surprising given his stature as a musical giant in the rock world and the high esteem in which he is held. A very good biography was published several years ago, but this was unauthorized and done with no input from Page whatsoever...only the author's dogged research gave the book its source material.  In recent years, Jimmy has published a photographic memoir called Jimmy Page on Jimmy Page, but this was a very expensive limited edition book although a less expensive mass-market version has recently been released (which I hope to review on this site soon). However, even this book focuses only on Page the musician and doesn't reveal any insight into his private life.  That is where Light and Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page tries to fill the gap.

Brad Tolinski is well known as the editor-in-chief of Guitar World Magazine and is someone who has interviewed some of the most famous names in music.  Over the years, he's sat down multiple times with Jimmy Page and discussed a wide range of topics, mainly relating to music but also to Page's personal life, drugs use, and interest in the occult. This book is compiled from the author's numerous interviews with Page and presented in chronological order such that it presents a picture of the guitarist's life from his birth and childhood in rural Surrey in 1944 all the way to the present.  While the bulk of the book understandably focuses on his work in Led Zeppelin, there are also many other fascinating areas of Page's career that are touched on. This is most notable when the end of Zeppelin in 1980 is discussed, as most books treat Page as though he'd stopped working at this point. Light and Shade doesn't do this, instead devoting a significant portion of the book to Page's various solo and side projects throughout the 1980s and 1990s, culminating with the one-off Led Zeppelin reunion in 2007.

The structure of the chapters remains the same throughout the book: a short two-to-five page summation of that particular phase of Page's life and career followed by the relevant interview between the two. Even though these interviews took place over the course of many years, it is to the author's (and his editor's) credit that it never feels like a cut-and-paste job. It's remarkably readable and flows quite nicely. Many of the passages will be well known to fellow Zeppelin fans, but there is still a lot of interesting insight from Page. More than that, hearing him discuss his life and music in such informal settings really does a lot to humanize him. While one is still left with a sense of mystique and intrigue about the man, especially because he never gives away too much when it comes to his personal life, he does peel away quite a few layers of mystery from his image. It was interesting, too, to hear him say that he knows a lot of the false narratives and urban legends that have sprung up about him over the years. In many cases, he's more than happy to reveal that what we've all thought about him over the years is incorrect...but he won't set the record straight. It also shows that he has quite a dry and funny sense of humor, something that is not usually associated with him.

Where the book really gets good for fans, especially if, like me, you play guitar and grew up in awe of Page's mastery of the instrument and his studio production, is when the discussion turns to specific songs, albums, and recording sessions.  Again, Jimmy doesn't give all of his secrets away, but to hear him discuss the various guitars, amps, effects, and settings he used, as well as how he mic'd and recorded it all, is just wonderful. I was instantly transported back to my small bedroom circa 1993, remembering how I spent hours puzzling over certain riffs and sounds on Zeppelin records while I tried to suss them out on my guitar.  It's also great to read him really expound upon his early pre-Zeppelin years as a top session guitarist and member of the Yardbirds. In particular, his lifelong relationship with childhood friend (and former Yardbird bandmate) Jeff Beck is really cool to read about. There are several chapters, termed "Interludes," where Page, the author, or an outside writer will expound upon a particular aspect of Page's life, such as his gear set-ups, his top-10 guitar moments, his stage fashion, and so on. There is even one written by his former Zeppelin bandmate John Paul Jones, which I really enjoyed! The only ones I didn't particularly care for were the joint interview with Jack White (whom I do like) as it didn't really contribute anything in the way of knowledge about Page, and the final one where an astrologer expounds upon the heavenly signs to discuss Page's life.  However, these are minor quibbles of mine and hardly take away from the book as a whole.

Overall, this is a great book and probably the closest we will ever get to an actual autobiography from Jimmy Page. While it does somewhat frustratingly not offer a ton of new information in regards to his personal life, there are some new bits in here. Better than that, though, are all of his discussions on the music...how it was written, how it was recorded, and how Zeppelin performed it live. This book isn't perfect, but it's excellent and I highly recommend it as an essential read for any Led Zeppelin fan. Any time you can learn from the master himself, how can that not be a good thing?

MY RATING: 8/10

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BOOK REVIEW: When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were one of, if not the biggest band in the world during the 1970s. Formed in 1968 from the ashes of the Yardbirds (and initially going by the name of the New Yardbirds), session guitarist and final Yardbirds axeman Jimmy Page put together a new band in order to fulfill the musical vision he had been turning over in his mind for years. In bringing in Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham, he created the perfect band for what he wanted to achieve. Their almost overnight success into one of the biggest selling and most popular bands in the world by the end of 1969 is an incredible story, as is the rest of their career. Shrouded in mystery and intrigue, the Zeppelin story has captivated people for decades (myself included), with fact and myth intertwining often to comically inaccurate effect. However, while there have been several books written about the band, these tended to be heavily sensationalized accounts of the band's career, mainly focusing on their on-the-road debauchery and behind-the-scenes scandal. In particular, former road manager Richard Cole's Stairway to Heaven and writer Stephen Davis' Hammer of the Gods fall into this camp, both riddled with many inaccuracies and criticized by Plant, Jones, and Page. They tend to be notorious more for their shock value than anything of serious substance about the band.  Thus, for such an important and influential band, there has never really been a definitive and well-researched book on Led Zeppelin. That is the reason why, when I heard of the publication of When Giants Walked the Earth a few years ago, I was very excited and interested in reading it to see if the true story of Led Zeppelin would finally be told the way it deserved to be told.

Mick Wall is a well-known music journalist who also happens to have been a friend of the band for many years. Drawing on years of research and personal interviews with the principals involved, he's written this biography, albeit in a rather unique format. While the bulk of the book is made up of the narrative of the band's story, there are italicized sections interspersed throughout each chapter. As explained by the author in the introduction, while these sections are not told in the words of the band, they are based on factual research and Wall has approximated what he thinks they might say via his own imagination. I'll return to this device as it's one of the main things I'm conflicted about with regards to the book.

Any history of Led Zeppelin has to focus on Jimmy Page as the driving force within the band, seeing as he was their visionary, the de facto musical director, and producer of all of the band's music. While Wall does an admirable job telling the story and giving equal time to all four band members when it comes to the meat of the Zeppelin story, when focusing on their personal lives, he spends the lion's share discussing Page. Mainly, he delves with impressive detail into Page's nearly lifelong fascination and devotion to the life and teachings of Aleister Crowley. For better or worse, Page's interest in the occult and magic has been a lingering and omnipresent aspect of the Zeppelin story, with many people over the years going so far as to imply that the entire band were involved in some sort of devilish magic to explain not only their meteoric and rapid success, but to also rationalize the almost constant stream of dark and shadowy circumstances that dogged the band, especially during the last phase of their career (1977-1980). While the author doesn't wholly buy into this (nor do I),  he does approach Page's study of the occult from a more scholarly manner and it makes for fascinating reading. In particular, while many criticisms of this book decry the amount of space devoted to this discussion, I found it interesting and, based on what I think the author was trying to achieve with it, it describes a lot about Page's personality and approach to life, music, the band, and the general way he conducted his life.  Thankfully, Wall doesn't resort to playing up the occult aspect (or the road debauchery) the way it's been portrayed in Cole's and Davis' books (among others), which help to keep the book on an even keel. Because of this approach, the reader can take this book much more seriously than those other two books.

As mentioned above, Wall draws on years and years of personal interviews with the members of Led Zeppelin, manager Peter Grant, and others who worked with them over the years (in various capacities) in order to present the complete and true story of their career.  Beginning with the decline and end of the Yardbirds in mid-1968, crumbling around Jimmy Page after he finally traded session work in for a spot in a real band in 1966, Wall goes into detail as to the mindset and approach of Page and Grant as they plotted creating a new band which could fully realize the musical vision Page was steering the Yardbirds toward when they split up. The book does an excellent job telling how the band came together and what the mindsets were of the four when they united, as well as where they were at in their various careers (and how they got there). From there, the tale of Zeppelin's flight continues chronologically, through every album and tour, and every high and low.  In addition to the well known tales (such as the "Mudshark Incident" from 1969), new bits of information were shed on such high points as the creation of their landmark albums Led Zeppelin II, IV, and Physical Graffiti, as well as the low points like the disaster that was (most of) the 1977 US Tour and it's ridiculously tragic ending that resulted not only in the arrest of Bonham, Grant, Cole, and John Bindon for the savage beating of one of Bill Graham's employees, but the sudden death of Robert Plant's son. Thankfully, Wall doesn't end the book with Bonham's death and the official split of the band in 1980; he also chronicles the scarce few times they've gotten back together since then, most recently (and seemingly for the final time) in 2007. Throughout it, the picture he paints is striking in its dichotomy: whereas Robert Plant was, in 1968, the provincial Northern lad unsure of himself and lacking confidence, since the end of Led Zeppelin, he has been the most successful, critically and commercially, of the former members, and he's the one who is the most secure in who he is and where he is in life, refusing to live in the past and resurrect Led Zeppelin. Conversely, Jimmy Page, who was the oldest, most experienced, and confident member, the one who put the band together in the first place, has spent the thirty-four years since the band's demise dabbling in some projects but mainly sitting around waiting for a time when Plant may finally want to work with the band again. Jones, in keeping with his personality, wants to be included (even after such hurtful snubs as Live Aid in 1985 and the Page/Plant tours in the mid-1990s) but has at the same time carved out a respected and successful career both as a member of Them Crooked Vultures as well as an in-demand arranger and producer.

 A blistering performance from beginning to end, from 1970

One thing that struck me, however, from reading this book is that, contrary to what I had thought for many years, these guys weren't particularly close as friends...certainly not in the sense that other bands such as the Beatles, Who, or even Rolling Stones were, bands that had some nearly unbreakable personal bonds. Plant and Bonham had a friendship that dated back to their teen years in Birmingham, but Page was quite apart and withdrawn (his songwriting partnership with Plant the exception) and Jones often found himself the odd man out (partially down to his quieter personality) and was happy to spend time on his own and with his family. Another revelation was just how out of control Bonham was while on the road from the very early days. While I'd known that in the later half of their career his behavior was an issue, I had no idea it went back as far as the early 1970s and that it put a lot of strain on the viability of the band. He was terribly homesick and hated being away from his family for long stretches, but this manifested itself in some pretty terrible behavior...beyond the usual drunken hijinks and destruction that his fellow madman drum god and friend Keith Moon of The Who also indulged in.  Bonham's behavior, often in cahoots with Cole, took a much darker, violent, and depraved turn. The one thing that saved him, however, was the music and the grounding his family gave him when he got back home. Finally, while Peter Grant's reputation as a hard-nosed and no-nonsense manager whom one didn't want to cross is well known, his proclivity to resort to frighteningly violent behavior, especially as the 1970s wore on and his addiction to cocaine deepened, was shocking. When contrasted with the more sensitive and kinder aspects of his personality, it made him more of a conflicting figure than he was before, at least to me.

As far as the style of the book, it's quite enjoyable to read and while I've read several critiques of the way Wall writes in the first person when offering his insight or opinion during the recounting of a conversation he's had with one of the band, I had no issue with this. In fact, quite the opposite...I felt that it added detail and perspective to the tale. Also, while he's clearly a fan, he's not shy in discussing the more unseemly aspects of their career and he tends to be fair with his praise and criticism of their albums (which, for the most part, I agreed with). Lastly on these counts, he doesn't shy away from discussing Page and Plant's tendency to "borrow" musically and lyrically while not giving due credit where credit is often due. Now, getting back to the italicized passages I mentioned at the beginning of this review...when I first read the author's description of them in the introduction, I had trepidations and was sure I would dislike them. By the time I finished the book, I fell somewhere in between loving them and hating them. While the information contained therein was enlightening, mainly as it offered background tidbits of information on the pre-Zeppelin activities and careers of the four band members and Peter Grant, and the second person voice it was written in was harmless enough, it got annoying when a lot of slang and dialect was thrown in to what seemed like almost gratuitous effect. This was particularly the case with the "Brum-isms" of Plant and Bonham, which I felt were overdone. On the one hand, since this was the author using the information he'd gathered and imagining the actual things the guys might have said, I could remind myself that they didn't really say all of this. On the other hand, it got a bit silly and almost impossible to suspend disbelief enough to think they would have even talked this way (except, perhaps, for the case of Grant, who is well known to have spewn forth vast quantities of profanities with ease). For me, these passages (and a few scattered typos and minor inaccuracies) were the only things that detracted from an other superb book. 

As befitting a band of their stature, I am secure in my opinion that When Giants Walked the Earth is the definitive biography of Led Zeppelin. While there are several excellent books available (many of them in my personal library) discussing the band's music, previous attempts at telling the whole story fell short for a variety of reasons. While this book isn't perfect (and let's be honest, how many are?), it's close enough and of high enough quality that, if you're a serious fan of Led Zeppelin, you need to have this book.

MY RATING: 8.5/10

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Family Records: A Vinyl History Tour of My Youth (Part 1 of 2)

I've made no secret of the fond memories I have of listening to all of the great music from my parents' era when I was growing up. It started when I was very little and just heard whatever they were listening to in the background, whether it was on the home stereo, in the car, or on the radio. Eventually I got old enough to be curious about who and what I was listening to and gravitated to certain bands and musicians, and eventually after that, I was old enough to start listening on my own. In a way, you could say that these formative musical experiences were my "gateway" to a lifetime of musical obsession, both as a listener and collector of music as well as a guitarist and songwriter.

Besides what was in the grooves, what enchanted me as much in the 1980s and 90s as it entranced music fans years before me was the complete package that a vinyl record offered.  The square foot of real estate offered by the sleeve gave rise to some truly spectacular cover artwork, both front and back. And if you had an album that had a gatefold and/or some special inserts, well, it was like exploring a book about the music while you were listening to the music. I remember spending many hours poring over the artwork and packaging as a kid, both while I had the records playing as well as at random times when I just wanted to look at them again. These moments were usually snatched when my dad was at work (since the records and stereo system were in his home office) or when my parents weren't home and I could really crank up the volume. A little later, I had a record player in my room as part of a component stereo system (does anyone under thirty know what I'm talking about here?) and could bring albums up to listen to. Beyond that, I made cassette copies of them to use in my Walkman (again, anyone under thirty?) when I was in the car on family trips and later on, school field trips or away baseball and basketball games. Eventually, of course, CDs came along and while I still buy physical releases by all of my favorites, there is something about the size and tactility of a vinyl record that, despite some great examples, CDs can't quite match.

This post isn't meant to sound like I'm some audiophile or hipster snob extolling the virtues of vinyl at the expense of every other format...rather it's a celebration and fond look back at the vinyl records I listened to as a kid and as a teenager, which is doubly cool (at least to me) since they're also the very same records my parents listened to when they were growing up. For a reference point, my parents were born in the early-to-mid 1950s, so they would have been anywhere from 13 to 30 when they were buying and listening to these (depending on which year they were released).

So here we go...

(and when you're ready, here's PART 2)

THE WHO:

Anyone who has read my site knows that I am a massive fan of The Who...simply, they're one of my top 5 bands of all time. As such, these albums were my introduction to this great, great band.

Tommy (released 1969)

One of the great albums of the 1960s and of all time, groundbreaking as the first full-blown "rock opera" and an album near and dear to my heart. This is not only because of the great music contained within the grooves, but because of the overall presentation. The cover is a striking work of art that folds out into a triptych, mysterious and fascinating. Why are The Who waving their hands inside the giant sphere? The flying birds and the starry-gloved fist bursting out of the cover, pointing at you...what does it all mean? These are the questions that I asked myself over and over when I would sit and listen to this record.

Front Cover

Rear Cover

One flap opened...

Even better, there was a triptych inside, and a libretto with additional pictures describing the story alongside the lyrics. This was (and still is) an album you can lose yourself in for hours, and lest we forget, musically it still sounds great.

The inner triptych

The libretto is at far right next to the second record

Live at Leeds (released 1970)

If Tommy was The Who beginning to become masters of the studio with dense, layered, and cerebral rock, then Live at Leeds was the other side of the band as a loud, hard rocking, take-no-prisoners live act that was rightly called the greatest live band of all time. As an answer to the elaborate packaging of Tommy, Live at Leeds instead came in a nondescript plain brown cover with the title stamped on the front like some random parcel sitting on a loading dock somewhere. (This juxtaposition of packaging between the previous album and this one echoes what the Beatles did with Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967 and the White Album in 1968; the same can be said for the change in sound from an ornate studio production to a stripped down, heavier approach). But even if the plain cover fooled you, what was on the record would shake your senses rather quickly, as this is some of the finest, heaviest, and greatest live music ever recorded. I can still remember how blown away I felt when I first heard this record, two songs in particular: Young Man Blues, which to this day has some of the heaviest riffing I've ever heard, and Substitute, which is pure power pop perfection and has "that drum fill" (any Who fan will know what I mean). Contained inside are numerous facsimile documents and photos, including a band photo from 1965 (which I remember sneaking to school so I could photocopy it in order to hang it in my high school locker), and a reproduction of the famous "Maximum R&B" poster (which I was able to find a copy of to hang in my college dorm room). The label on the record famously lets the listener know that the "crackling noises are OK!" and this is one album that, even now, needs to be played at nothing less than maximum volume. I spent a lot of time reading all of the inserts over and over, and later on I was able to play the entire album note-for-note on guitar...the band I had in high school and college (with my brother on bass) used to play the entire thing when we'd jam. What a record!

Front cover

Opened up: inserts on left, record on right

The poster included in the album

Who's Next (released 1971)

Tommy found the Who entering the peak phase of their career, both live and in the studio, and the absolute peak of their non-concept albums is Who's Next (ironically, it arose from the ashes of the aborted concept album Lifehouse that Pete Townshend had written for the band in 1970). This is a no-frills nine-track album that stands as one of the great records in rock history. The vibrant cover is one of the most famous of all time and looks great in the larger size afforded by vinyl. The back cover is a backstage shot with Keith Moon being his usual crazy self and it told me, even as a young kid, that the superb drummer was also quite the character (which I'd learn about in more detail years later!).

Front cover

Rear cover

Quadrophenia (released 1973)

Of all of the Who albums, this one has always been my favorite and to this day, it remains one of my top three favorite albums of all time. I am not exaggerating when I say that this album helped me out immensely when I was a teenager and saved my life (and my sanity) on more than one occasion. Absolutely everything about, from the great music to the incredible packaging, marks this as one of the masterpieces of the rock era and certainly the pinnacle of the Who's career (even Pete Townshend himself has been quoted as saying he'll never write anything better than this). I spent hours and days with this album, listening to it, memorizing every lyric and musical nuance, and studying the cover and the gorgeous libretto, to the point that it's in my DNA. The book allows you to follow the story of the album in real time as you listen to it, and the overall gray coloration of the entire package, plus its strong connection to ocean and water themes (which, as someone who has a deep love for the ocean, is yet another way in which it resonates with me on multiple levels) and this is probably THE perfect album for me and my life.  I remember buying this on CD in the early 1990s and being so disappointed at the packaging; I was thrilled when it was finally released in 1996 with the original libretto included...smaller, yes, but at least it was intact and it was THERE.

Front cover, complete with price tag of $4.99 in the upper righthand corner

Rear cover

Inner gatefold with story on the left, credits on the right

The libretto

Libretto

Who Are You (released 1978)

The final Who album with Keith Moon and, in my opinion, the final Who album, period. Another no-frills album with no elaborate packaging, but a great collection of songs. As a kid, I only knew the growling title-track from the radio and the rest of the album confused me until I was old enough to appreciate what Pete was doing with his writing by this stage in the band's career. I still think it's a great, underrated, and unique Who album. The artwork is great, with all of the tangled leads and cables and the vibrant colors. The band still look badass on the cover...weary and intense, but still great (Keith's weight gain notwithstanding). The eerie message on Keith's chair got to me even back then.

JOHNNY WINTER

As I've written about before, when my dad would listen to Johnny, I was enthralled with his playing and voice and thought he must be a really flamboyant black guy who had the blues in his DNA. Imagine my surprise a little bit later when I found that I was right in every way but one, and that not only was he white but that he was albino! Such things didn't matter then and they don't now, but I do remember my surprise when the image in my mind didn't match the guy on the album cover!

Johnny Winter And/Live (released 1970/71)

This is a weird one, as it's a two-record set that combines his 1970 studio album And with his 1971 live album And Live. Both are great, however...some weak tracks on the studio side but the live album is blistering!

Front cover

Rear cover

Captured Live! (released 1976)

This one is just incendiary. I remember this being one of the ones where the guitar playing just made my jaw drop when I first heard it and I really listened to it intently for many years. I still love cranking this one up. This one has a no-frills sleeve with a shot of the massive crowd on the back cover, but every song is just a tour-de-force of guitar, not to mention the great band Johnny had behind him.

JETHRO TULL

Tull is a band I've always been a big fan of, but only their earlier material...after their Thick as a Brick album from 1972, I don't care for their stuff. Luckily, the records my dad had of theirs were from their classic earlier period and the combination of their very British heavy-guitar sound with their more acoustic folk pieces, not to mention the bizarre addition of Ian Anderson on lead flute (which somehow worked!) was totally unique. I loved these guys and still do.

Benefit (released 1970)

Tull's third album and probably the one where their mix of English psychedelia, folk, and electric blues came together in its most perfect form. I spent a lot of time listening to this one and...

Aqualung (released 1971)

What a great album, and rightly considered one of the greatest of all time. The title track, "Cross Eyed Mary," and "Locomotive Breath" were favorites as a kid and I spent a lot of time trying to suss those out on guitar. The entire album is great from start to finish, though.

TRAFFIC

Traffic are another band that may not be as well known now as they should be, but they were/are a favorite of my dad's, and a band that I love as well. Led by the brilliant Steve Winwood, their blend of English psychedelia, folk, jazz, and R&B was really unique, and the sheer number of great songs and albums they had speak volumes about their place in rock history.

Best of Traffic (released 1969)

A compilation of their earlier hits and album tracks, there's some great stuff on here...mainly their 1960s non-album singles, which were especially difficult to get in the US as I believe most of them were only ever released in the UK.

John Barleycorn Must Die (released 1970)

One of my favorite albums and one of the band's best. The opening salvo of Glad/Freedom Rider is just fantastic and there isn't a duff track over the course of the entire album. Pretty minimalist packaging in terms of coloration but the burlap-sack texture on the sleeve and the woodcut image on the front totally fit with the theme of the album.

The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys (released 1971)

Another great album, especially the long title track, and this one is interesting because the outer cardboard record sleeve has the corners cut off in order to create the 3D cube effect (although when the record and inner sleeve are inserted, the corners stick out.

SANTANA

Santana (released 1969, left) and Abraxas (released 1970, right)

Another great guitarist, although I'm only like the first three albums he and his band did. These are the first two, and have typically ornate and cool-looking late 1960s/early 1970s artwork. Even better, the original full-size poster that came with Abraxas is still in my dad's copy!

Poster included in Abraxas

LED ZEPPELIN

What can be said about the mighty Led Zep that hasn't already been said by so many others, including me? Yes, they "borrowed" heavily from their sources, but it can't be denied that they were incredibly talented and creative and remain one of the greatest bands in the history of rock. Jimmy Page was and still is one of my biggest guitar influences and their sonic assault, contrasted with their use of loud/soft dynamics and acoustic instrumentation knocked me out as a kid and still thrills with each listen.

Led Zeppelin II (released 1969)

I spent a LOT of time with this record, playing air guitar to Page's solo spot in "Whole Lotte Love" and later on, studying it and using it to learn how to play each and every one of its songs. It has a pretty cool gatefold (not shown) of a giant blimp flying through spotlights that my oldest daughter liked when I took the picture below.

Led Zeppelin IV (released 1971)

Along with 1975's Physical Graffiti, their high-water mark. Just a flawless album from start to finish. Add to that some truly cryptic artwork with nary a mention of the band's name anywhere on the outside, and the presence of those runes inside (as well as on the record label) and the air of mystery was palpable to a young boy. The gatefold picture of "The Hermit" and the ancient font used to write the lyrics to "Stairway to Heaven" on the inner sleeve only complete the whole package.

In Through the Out Door (released 1979)

The final album, a transitional one that sadly ended up being their last since John Bonham tragically died in late 1980. I've always liked this record, even though it's not their best and many Zeppelin fans loathe it. Besides the music, the packaging was great and a perfect example of vinyl's superiority over other formats. The front and back covers are different character's perspectives from within the photo and a total of *six* different sleeves ensured that there was a lot of variability as to what record you got when you bought this (mainly because it was shrink wrapped in a plain brown wrapper so you didn't know which one you got until you bought it!). The inner sleeve also has a secret...wet it with some water and a note in the ashtray appears with a message. Neither my dad nor I ever did that so the sleeve is intact, as seen below. Still, pretty cool!

Front of inner sleeve

Back of inner sleeve

JIMI HENDRIX

Again, nothing needs to be said about Jimi; quite simply, one of the greatest, most influential and groundbreaking guitarists of all time. My dad once told me that hearing Hendrix for the first time in late 1966/early 1967 was like hearing something from another planet...it was that unique. I will admit that Jimi is an influence on my playing in terms of my having learned to play many of his songs and using some of his riffs as jumping off points for my own playing, but to say I can even come close to approaching him would be ludicrous. I spent MANY hours listening to these records...it's just great music, and like most of the great frontmen, he had a top-notch band behind him.

Are You Experienced? (released 1967)

One of the greatest debut albums of all time and a real blast to listen to...this is, as I read years ago, "the blues by way of Venus." It blew minds in the 1960s and it blew my mind twenty years later. Pretty minimalist packaging, but a great fish-eye lens photo of the band (with a really groovy jacket Jimi has on...the eyes on his shoulders used to weird me out as a kid!).

Electric Ladyland (released 1968)

Jimi's magnum opus. I also think it's one of the greatest albums by anyone, any time, period. Four sides of incredible music running the gamut from hard rock, blues, jazz, psychedelia, R&B, and everything in between. No two songs sound the same on this album and the level of musicianship is awe-inspiring, although Jimi's perfectionism and attention to detail are what led Noel Redding to leave the band the following year. The packaging is befitting a work such as this, with the instantly recognizable cover, a great group shot on the rear, and loads of other pictures in the gatefold.

 

Band of Gypsys (released 1970)

The last album Jimi would released in his lifetime.  What was initially a way to get out of a lawsuit due to a bad pre-fame contract he'd signed ended up resulting in one of the great live albums and a wholly unique entry in his catalog. The nascent funk and soul beats found on this record would transcend rock music into the next decade and beyond, and the level of Jimi's playing on these new songs was absolutely staggering: one only has to listen to "Machine Gun" and "Power of Soul" to realize this was a guy who was on another level from any other great guitarist who's ever lived. The album cover is striking and one of my favorites.

The Cry of Love (released 1971)

Released a year after his death and compiled by his longtime engineer Eddie Kramer and his drummer Mitch Mitchell, this collected the most complete tracks intended for his fourth studio album at the time of his death. All of this material has been subsequently released by the Hendrix family on the excellent releases First Rays of the New Rising Sun and South Saturn Delta in the 1990s, but forty-five years ago, this was the only way to hear these new Hendrix songs. A great album cover, some interesting pictures in the gatefold (including Jimi leaning out of a window with a rifle!) and this was one that fascinated me once I dug deeper into it after absorbing the releases he put out when he was alive.

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL

Having just reviewed a biography on the band, I was reminded yet again about something pertaining to CCR that always had me shaking my head in awe: these guys put out a TON of great records and songs in such a short span of time! In three and a half years, they released seven studio albums (including three in 1969!) and a bunch of great singles. Forty-five years on and the music still sounds as fresh and vibrant as it did back then. I've always loved CCR and they were a great way to learn guitar...the songs sound fairly complicated and well-put together but are deceptively simple when you break them down. That's the hallmark of a great writer, which John Fogerty certainly was, but you can't overlook the fact that the band as a whole was what made these tunes so magical.

Creedence Gold (released 1972)

Oh man, do I love this record. Not only is it a great collection of songs, but the packaging is really neat. The front has die cut silhouettes of each band member, and when you turn each flap, there's a picture of them. The back cover has a great group shot, and the inner sleeve has photos of each of their album releases. I spent a lot time playing guitar along to these songs and it served as my springboard to discover the rest of their great music.

STEELY DAN

I've always been a big Steely Dan fan...it stemmed mainly from hearing their songs on the radio. I've always liked their catchy songs, Donald Fagen's really weird voice (but it works!) and their amalgam of rock, soul, and jazz. My parents had every album on vinyl except for their final (before their 1990s reunion) release, 1980's Gaucho. I spent a lot of time listening to these records and discovering the numerous deeper album cuts that you never hear on the radio.

THE BEATLES

Well, of course! Last but certainly not least, as you know, the Beatles are my favorite band of all time and their music has been with me as long as I can ever remember, from birth (and before, probably!). Growing up, I heard them all the time on the radio and on these records...it wasn't until later on in the late 1980s when the entire UK discography was released on CD that I absorbed everything they had ever released, but even so, I played, played, and played some more these two albums. They are of course...

The Red Album (1962-1966) and The Blue Album (1967-70) (both released 1973)

These are two examples of how great compilations can be if enough time, care, and attention to detail is taken when putting them together.  They contain a perfect mix of singles, B-sides, and album tracks and offer what's probably the best comprehensive cross-section of the band's entire career (although of course, I would direct EVERYONE to simply buy all of their albums...they're essential). I loved the striking contrast between what they looked like in 1963 on the cover of Red and what they looked like in 1969 on the cover of Blue...same pose, same building, but they looked so different and it blew my childhood mind that it was only a span of six years (it still boggles my mind when I think about it). The inner gatefold is a cool picture from the famous "Mad Day Out" photo session of July 1968, which is one of my favorite sets of photos of the band (one of my favorite posters I had when growing up is from that photo shoot). The A- and B-side Apple labels were always cool, and still are.  Just great, fond memories of these records as a kid.

That's it for Part 1! I hope you've enjoyed it, and feel free to share any of your memories of these records (or others) in the comments section below. Stay tuned for Part 2 where I'll go through the rest of the records that I grew up with!

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