This is the only known footage of The Who at Leeds University on Valentine's Day, 1970, when their legendary Live at Leeds album was recorded. Someone took all of the fragments and stitched them together and synced them with the album...this is incredible stuff and it's a damn shame film of the entire show isn't available.
This is great stuff! No light shows, no lasers or smoke bombs, no backing dancers or video screens...just 4 guys on stage in a college dining hall/refectory playing some of the most exciting, ass-kicking rock of all time.
I've also been able to collect as many photos as I can find on the Internet from that legendary night, which I've posted below (NONE OF THESE PHOTOS ARE MINE, I make no claims to them as my own,and the copyright belongs to the owners, NOT ME). If you know of any more, please let me know...I'd love to see them!
Were you there in Leeds that night in 1970? Or did you ever see the Who live back when they were truly THE WHO, when Keith Moon was alive (ie pre-1978). If so, please leave a comment, I'd love to discuss it with you!
Backstage photos:
Kim and Keith Moon
Pete and Karen Townshend
John Entwistle and Kim Moon
The stage being set up before the show:
The concert:
Some pictures of the crowd that night, and a picture of the recording equipment used to capture the music...it was set up in the kitchen!
This coming Monday, I'll be seeing a musical hero of mine, Damon Albarn, at the Royale in Boston. As a fan of Blur for nearly the past twenty years, I've enjoyed Damon's music and songwriting immensely...I wouldn't have written two books about Blur if I didn't! I'm also a big fan of his Gorillaz side project. I've been lucky enough to see both Blur (2003) and Gorillaz (2010) live, and I'm now really excited to see Damon bring his new band in support of his solo album, Everyday Robots, to Boston. If you haven't checked out the album, I recommend it...while it's not a masterpiece, it's quite good and apart from Richard Russell's production, musically it's top-notch and showcases a more melancholy side to Damon's writing.
If you'd like to read my reviews of the previous times I saw Damon, I've posted them below. My review of Damon's show on Monday will follow shortly after the concert!
"It was nine years ago today that I saw Blur live in Boston (July 18, 2003). I wrote up my memories of that incredible concert for 6 Music to (possibly) include in their Blur special. Below is what I wrote about that night, if you'd like to read it: I was a junior at university in 1999 when I heard they would be playing a show in New York City showcasing their "13" album at the end of March. I lived north of Boston at the time (~4 hour drive to New York) and was all set to go, had tickets, etc but decided at the last minute to not go due to some tough exams I had coming up. I remember thinking "I'll see them later this year when they come back to the US" which of course they never did. Fast forward to 2003 and they played a show in Boston (actually, 9 years ago to this day...July 18, 2003, and I've got a copy of that show on CD, too). I had ordered tickets well in advance and began to panic as they hadn't shown up until 3 days before the show. It was a very hot and humid July evening (much like tonight!) and they played the now defunct Avalon NightClub on Landsdowne St in Boston. After taking the subway into the city, my brother and I walked the rest of the way to the club, got there early, and made our way right to the front of the stage to stand and wait. The club ended up filling up to capacity, which was nice...I knew Blur had a huge cult following here in the US so it was nice to see so many fans and talk with them. After the opening band (who I don't remember their name), Blur came on and played a stunning show, nearly 2 hours. Standing at the front of the stage, the view was of course great, we got to shake Damon's hands a few times as he came by and the few times he jumped into the crowd, we held him up and carried him back to the stage. When they came back on for the encore, they were hanging around on the stage before they started and we got to chat with Alex for a minute before they began playing (he was having a cup of tea, complete with saucer, with his bass slung over his shoulder, waiting for the encores to start!). The coolest thing about the show was it was the first time on the 2003 tour they played The Universal. I also remember Damon wearing a sportcoat over his Fred Perry to start the show, but he soaked through it so quickly that he took it off after only a few songs! After the show, when milling around to leave, I ended up speaking to a fellow from the UK who was there with his wife and he'd actually been a light tech on their 1995 UK tour so had seen them loads and said this was one of the best shows he'd ever seen them do. By the end we were all very hot and soaked with sweat and walking out into the muggy summer night didn't help, but it was honestly the best concert I've ever been to to this day and I still remember it fondly. I can even hear myself cheering and yelling loudly on the recording I have of it (I was very close to the taper, maybe ~15 ft away from him)."
Anyone who knows me well would expect me to conclude this review with those three words…I’ve been a massive fan of Damon Albarn’s “other band” for 15 years and always considered Gorillaz to be his solo side project and nothing more. But after seeing Gorillaz rock out the Agganis Arena in Boston last night touring in support of their third album Plastic Beach, I’ll have to reevaluate that sentiment later on in this review. For those not in the know, Albarn, the genius behind Gorillaz, is a multi-talented songwriter, vocalist, keyboard/guitar player who originally rose to fame in the 1990s as the frontman for legendary British rock band Blur…since 2000, he’s been the musical soul behind the three mega-selling Gorillaz albums, partnering with Jamie Hewlett, who is the brains behind the visual presentation.
The concert began with openers N.E.R.D., who this reviewer was not familiar with at all, although the crowd of mostly college kids seemed to know every word. Songs I did pick out were Party People, Rock Star, and Lapdance. They also announced they were playing some new songs from their upcoming album, to be released “sometime in November.” Their mix of hip-hop and R&B singing was fairly interesting although as someone who isn’t a fan of those genres, I spent most of the set waiting for it to be over. However, they performed well…I did enjoy their vocal harmonies, as well as the incredible drumming by their two drummers. Finally, around 9pm, Gorillaz took the stage in front of a massive video screen and large multicolored-lit letters spelling out their name. Decked out in pirate and sailor gear (hats, striped shirts, naval jackets, eyepatches) they fit right in with the theme of the upcoming show. Albarn himself, not needing any costume due to his incredible charisma and stage presence, dressed simply in a red and black striped top, black jeans, and sneakers. The set began with an extended instrumental intro before a video of Snoop Dogg synced to the rest of the band welcomed everyone to the “World of the Plastic Beach.” For the next 100 minutes, Gorillaz weaved their way through about as perfect a set list as you could ask for, playing songs from all three of their albums, including the “hits” like Clint Eastwood, DARE, Feel Good, Inc., Stylo, and 19-2000. Highlights for me included Last Living Souls, O Green World, Kids with Guns (which contained an awesome extended jam at the end), and long and excellent versions of Empire Ants and Glitter Freeze. The ending encores of Don’t Get Lost in Heaven, which segued into Demon Days, was suitably epic and sent the crowd home on a blissful high. The Gorillaz band itself was excellent, highlighted by Damon Albarn’s incredible vocals and keyboards. Paul Simonon (bass) and Mick Jones (guitar), both of The Clash, were fantastic, and they were augmented by another keyboard player, two phenomenal drummers, backing singers, a string septet, and for some songs, a Middle Eastern quintet. While various animations and videos played behind them, this band wove intricate soundscapes and rocked out as tight and as hard as any band that’s out there. Joining them at various points in the set were Bobby Womack (Stylo, Cloud of Unknowing), Snoop Dogg (via video on Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach), De La Soul (Superfast Jellyfish and Feel Good, Inc.), Little Dragon (Empire Ants, To Binge), Bashy and Kano (White Flag, Clint Eastwood), and Shaun Ryder (via video on DARE). After Phases I and II, during which the live performances of the first two albums (Gorillaz and Demon Days) involved the band playing behind screens or in shadows while the animations took center stage, the live show is now centered on the band itself, out there for all to see. And what can be said about Albarn himself? One of the most talented musicians of the last 20 years, he was as dynamic a frontman last night as he was in his Blur days, jumping and dancing around the stage while delivering vocals that ranged from soft and heartfelt to strident and powerful, and everything in between. Although he did mention Boston was one of the first places he ever came to in the USA (back in 1991), he wasn’t very talkative, certainly not as much as he is when playing with Blur (and as someone who has seen Blur and listened to over 200 of their live recordings, it was very obvious to me). The man was all business on tonight, although you could tell he was genuinely happy to be there doing what he was doing onstage. One thing I noticed was that the crowd for the Gorillaz was much more age diverse than that for N.E.R.D., with 50 and 60 year olds dancing alongside teenagers and college kids (and even some young children). Mostly, however, it was a mix of every age in between. The crowd as a whole was a bit static and lame, especially close to the stage, which was rather surprising. No such problems a bit further away, where I was sitting…everyone was dancing and singing along with enthusiasm. On a cold and rainy night that was anything but enjoyable outside, Gorillaz delivered one of the best concerts in recent memory for this reviewer. To return to the statement that opened this review, are Blur better? Yes and no. Blur will always be Albarn’s “main” band (at least to me), the one he’s best known for and the one that will always be my favorite. But in my mind, Gorillaz is no longer just his side project. They’re a legitimate band in their own right who are just as good and just as exciting. Gorillaz is as good as Blur. Go see Gorillaz live if you can…you won’t be sorry"
As one-third of the 1960s band Cream, Jack Bruce is a legend. He was the lead vocalist, bass player, and main songwriter for the band and if he had never done anything before or after those glorious years of 1966-1969 when Cream were active, he'd still be revered as one of the greatest bassists and singers in the history of rock music. But there was, is, and continues to be so much more to Jack Bruce than the classic music he made with bandmates Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. Jack's life and career are the story of a supremely talented and visionary musician, always restless and pushing forward, never quite achieving the commercial success he's deserved outside of Cream. Yet he continues to be critically acclaimed and recognized for his mammoth contributions to musical genres as diverse as rock, jazz, blues, classical, and Latin. This review, following my reviews of Eric's and Ginger's books, completes the trilogy of autobiographies of the members of Cream; in many ways, Jack's is the most interesting of all of their stories.
Author Harry Shapiro is a big Jack Bruce fan and was able to enlist the cooperation of Jack himself in order to write this authorized biography. Using his own research, as well as numerous interviews and recollections directly from Jack, Shapiro traces Bruce's story from his humble origins in Scotland all the way to the present day, recounting all of the highs and lows along the way. Born during the middle of WWII Britain and raised in a working-class family in Glasgow by his staunchly communist parents, Jack and his brother were not expected to transcend their class much as they grew up. However, from an early age it became apparent that young Jack was quite gifted musically, first as a singer and then as a musician. Able to play piano and compose classical pieces by the age of twelve, he was able to get into prestigious music academies in Glasgow and took up the cello and double bass. Soon, his ear was bent by the nascent sounds of the jazz, blues, and rock and roll that were seeping into 1950s Britain and Jack had found his life's calling. Moving on to London by the early 1960s, Bruce began earning a living as a musician, earning more in a week than his father did in a month. Through a variety of groups, he eventually came to join forces with his eventual lifelong nemesis Ginger Baker, as well as Dick Heckstall-Smith and Graham Bond as members of Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. Splitting off to form the Graham Bond Organization, it was in this band (with guitarist John McLaughlin as an early member) that Jack first rose to national prominence in the UK. It's also here where he endless feud with Baker began. After being sacked from the group by Ginger, Jack crossed paths briefly with Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers before he moved on to a stint in Manfred Mann. In mid-1966, he was recruited by Eric Clapton into a new band he was forming with Baker that of course became Cream. I won't get into the demise of the band as it's been discussed to death by me (elsewhere on this site) and others, but it is after the end of Cream in early 1969 that Jack's story gets really interesting. When Cream broke up, it was Bruce, not Clapton, who was expected to have the most successful career since he was the voice and writer for the bulk of Cream's music. However, nothing ever goes as planned and the ensuing years have taken Jack on an interesting musical and personal journey that continues to the present day.
As Shapiro states in his introduction, when he told a friend he was setting out to write a book on Jack Bruce, his friend replied that it would be "a short book," assuming there was nothing of value to write post-Cream. However, he does an excellent job using the remainder of the book to chronicle Jack's long and varied solo career, beginning with his excellent 1969 solo debut album, Songs For a Tailor. Shapiro is clearly a fan and does an admirable job weaving all of Jack's various albums, bands, and side projects into the story. The discussions of each album and the key songs are fleshed out by the words of Bruce, as well as his longtime songwriting partner Pete Brown and the various musicians he worked with over the years. Nearly all of them have nothing but praise for Jack as a person and a musician (apart, obviously, for Ginger Baker). In return, Jack was also complimentary...the only blemish in this regard was his involvement in the ill-conceived and ill-fated supergroup West, Bruce, and Laing in the mid-1970s. Taking the place of his friend (and former Cream producer) Felix Pappalardi in Mountain, the newly christened band was more of a way for the three to make mountains of cash in order to feed their raging heroin (and in the case of West, food) addictions. Jack himself is honest about his reasons for doing it, stating matter of factly that he agreed to it because he needed the money and wanted a quick way to get back in the public eye. This section of the book absolutely trashes the project (not undeservedly), with all of those involved contributing.
Emerging from his heroin habit in the mid-1980s with a new wife, more children, all the while still producing several quality albums and tours, life eventually caught up with Jack in the late 1990s when he developed liver cancer from his years of heavy drinking. The description of his liver transplant in 2003 and the fact that he barely survived it was quite harrowing...I knew his health had been poor and remember hearing about his ordeal at the time, but I had no idea how close he truly was to death. He was quite literally 24 hours from life-support being removed before he made a miraculous recovery. Using Cream's upcoming 2005 reunion as his inspiration, Jack got better and was again in the worldwide spotlight with the success of the shows in London and New York alongside his old bandmates. The book wraps up Jack's story around 2010, showing a man who is still driven to evolve and move his music forward, but finally content in family life and his sobriety.
Some of Jack's best singing and playing (as well as Cream on top of their game)
Harry Shapiro writes with good flow and has an engaging style that makes for an enjoyable read. His obvious affection for Jack's music comes through loud and clear, which is a good thing although it does seem, after a while, that he hardly ever criticizes anything that Jack has done (at least musically). While I agree that Bruce has an impressive body of work, it began to grate slightly on me how the author praised literally, every single thing (apart from West, Bruce, and Laing) Jack ever worked on; at times, he seemed to be trying almost too hard to defend some of the weaker albums. Other than this, however, I can't really fault the book too much. Shapiro and Bruce were quite frank and candid when it came to discussing Jack's drug problems in the 1970s and early 1980s, his near-death experience due to his liver transplant, and his divorce from first wife Janet and subsequent marriage to his current wife Margrit. Lastly, it shed some more light on his feud with Baker, which has persisted from the early 1960s to the present day. While Ginger, in his book, portrays himself as an easy-going guy who was the victim of Jack's temper, and Eric describes them both as part of the problem in his book, Jack is more sanguine; he readily admits he has a temper (which was worse in his younger days) and that he's a strong-willed individual. He knows he and Ginger rubbed each other the wrong way. At the same time, it seems Jack has tried to mend fences and soften his approach in later years, while Ginger seems to have gone the other way and hardened his stance. The paradox in all of this is that both admit that the other is the perfect compliment to them in terms of musical rhythm section partner...the fact that they've played together in several bands (in addition to the Cream reunion) over the past forty years attests to this. Finally, the admission by Jack (and others) that he's always looked up to Ginger, from their first meeting as young men, was quite touching and a brave thing to admit to.
Jack Bruce is a titan of modern music who has flown under the commercial radar for most of his post-Cream career while continuing to write, record, and perform challenging, excellent, and critically acclaimed music. The sheer breadth of his talent and personality are staggering, and Composing Himself tells his story in a manner befitting the man and his talents.
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.
