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Overheard at Lem's:

Blogger Amartel said...

I do love the 70s, when men could wear tiny sequined matador jackets, or whatever that is, and still be men.

Remember when Robert Plant wore blouses?

The video is great of example of how tightly drummer Bonzo and guitarist Page fed off each other. Some have said that was the key to the Zeppelin sound. 

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Bonzoleum, the maker of the video, clowns around, but I am entertained. He notes the stamina required to play the 12 minute song. I know because I was captivated by that very song as a 15 year-old when it first came out. I still consider it peak Bonham. That song alone probably took a point off my high school GPA: I liked nothing more than to skip school, go home, and practice songs in the basement much like in the video. It was addictive. I especially liked the shuffle beat that Bonham laid out in the middle during Page's guitar solos and also the snare drum marching fill at 9m 55s which is the direct precursor to every anthemic drum beat by U2. Bonzoleum nails the cover with only a few errors. I recently tried "air drumming" the whole thing and I'm thinking of doing this as aerobic exercise; air drums are even more strenuous because there is no bounce there.

Bob Dylan recorded a cover of "In My Time Of Dying" on his very first (1962) album:

Dylan's version traces back to recordings by various black southern artists, notably one by Blind Willie Johnson. The song's refrain "Jesus gonna make up my dying bed" in turn goes back to Psalms 41:3:

The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

Our word Psalm derives from the Ancient Greek word ψαλμός (psalmos), said to describe the twitchy twangy plucking sound made by a harp or zither.* The Greek word in turn is a translation of the Hebrew word מזמור (mizmor) which is also rooted in "pluck." Psalms were sacred songs, poems, or poetic compositions used by worshippers.

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The song holds up well after 50 years. I posted this because after all these years, I just found something new and cool about it.

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Overheard at Lem's:

"We have gotten a stupid amount of rain this year and a break would be nice."

Be careful what you wish for, Sixty:

link

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link

I remember seeing the Wilson sisters when that song* came out:

I wonder what they thought about playing for a crowd of teenaged boys?

_________________________

*Heart's drummer stole that basic 4/4 drum beat (with bass drum triplets) from John Bonham's Achilles Last Stand.

Full, misheard lyrics after the jump

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The video is short and not at all a hagiography. Credit due is paid up front. What I really like is that it gets to what I've been trying to say here previously regarding Bonham. The musical notation in the video makes several points quite clearly, if you can keep up.

Deal with it.

The gates of Mortar

Today I bricked up some holes in a friend's foundation. A smart aleck asked if that's what we youngsters are calling it these days. Nope, not a euphemism, an actual job. Animals were getting in and they ate holes in her duct work. Once again, that's what really happened.

It's been a few years since I have done any masonry work, and it didn't turn out so pretty, but once the mortar sets it will be functional.

Nice sunset this evening, unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of it. This was the best I could manage:

Among family and friends...

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One hundred years ago the legendary German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen described his 27th aerial victory as 'just another lattice-tail enemy aircraft'

I have a Google alert set to "von Richthofen" which feeds me these links.

This is the centennial of the Red Baron era, and it seems that each of his "kills" is memorialized by a newspaper from the victim's hometown in Britain. The linked article includes a very famous photograph:

Where have we seen that photo before? (that's von Richthofen in the cockpit and his brother Lothar is seated with his legs crossed).

What did he mean by "just another lattice-tail enemy aircraft"?

The Brits were seriously outgunned 100 years ago.

linky

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Lady Gaga's old Zeppelin cover band:

linkage

Lady Gaga made a great appearance with Metallica at tonight's Grammys.

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Overheard at Lem's:

Rabel said...
Yesterday:
"Butte Sheriff's Department officials said Friday afternoon that the massive crater in the main spillway of Oroville Dam likely won't force the use of an emergency spillway to divert water from the swelling reservoir."
Today:
"Water began pouring over the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam early Saturday for the first time in its 48-year history."
Tomorrow?
"If it keeps on raining...you know the rest."
February 11, 2017 at 3:17 PM

linkage

Jimmy Page explains how they got that cavernous drum sound. It wasn't special effects.

linkage

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Overheard at Lem's:

She was good for about two seconds, then did the same - walk down that hall, turned her back on me to point at the hall and then she kept rambling on. And rambling on was precisely what I did - information my foot! linkage

linkage

The old classic is surprisingly complex for a Zeppelin song, from the Tolkien-inspired lyrics to John Bonham's percussive efforts. Wiki delivers:

There has been much doubt around Bonham's percussions in the background throughout the song, having regard to the particular resonance that it captures. There are no versions consistent in this respect: often mistaken for bongos, some said of a small plastic bin for waste played with the hands from the side of the bottom, others about the sticks on his drum kit vinyl seat pad, or even the soles of the shoes he wore during the recording session and so rhythmically beaten with his drum sticks; the book John Bonham: A Thunder of Drums reports instead of a hard case for guitar on which Bonham improvised percussion background with bare hands. linkage

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linky

I love the guitarist!  She's got the low-slung guitar, leaning-back-while-playing style of Jimmy Page nailed.

The drummer has energy too -- she just isn't as groovy as Bonzo was.

More photos here

"Jury finds Led Zeppelin did not steal intro to 'stairway to heaven'"

CNBC:  The verdict in Los Angeles settles a point that music fans have debated for decades but didn't find its way to court until two years ago, when the trustee for the late Randy Craig Wolfe filed a copyright lawsuit.

Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant told CNBC they were grateful to the jury for confirming what they said they have known for 45 years.

"We appreciate our fans' support, and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us," Page and Plant said in a statement....

In trying to show the works were substantially similar, the trust had the tricky task of relying on sheet music because that's what is filed with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Jurors were not played the "Taurus" recording, which contains a section that sounds very similar to the instantly recognizable start of "Stairway." Instead, they were played guitar and piano renditions by musicians on both sides of the case. Not surprisingly, the plaintiff's version on guitar sounded more like "Stairway" than the defense version on piano.

Experts for both sides dissected both compositions, agreeing mainly that they shared a descending chord progression that dates back three centuries as a building block in lots of songs.

I was goin to leave this story to ChickL if he wanted to post about it, but I could not resist passing up that story title.  (Link)

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Get the Led Out of Flint:

link in case the video doesn't load

h/t AprilApple

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This song was on heavy turntable rotation at my house as a teen. I used to love to play along on drums.

link in the video doesn't load

Overheard at Bloomberg (in a story about Karl Rove):

Former New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen unsuccessfully challenged Trump's eligibility to participate in the state's first-in-the-nation primary. 'Everyone benefits from his demise but everyone wants someone else to do it,' Cullen lamented, saying the front-runner could damage Republicans among minorities and women, potentially for many years.

The obvious retort is what about candidates who do damage to whites and men? Why is that not freely admitted and talked about?

Song lyrics (in English) after the jump

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Jimmy Page played guitar on Donovan's 1966 homage to the witch:

Ever notice how all the key players in the ongoing Planned Parenthood scandal are women? Here's a candid shot of a Planned Parenthood exec relaxing at home in the kitchen:

Notice how every one of the women so far caught on video tries to look good on the outside: designer scarves, coifed hair etc. There is something uniquely evil about such women--especially middle aged women -- who carry out such banal evils while trying to "look good." As if any layer of costume can mask their venality. I can see their inner hag.

So now you better stop and rebuild all your ruins

For peace and trust can win the day despite all of your losing.

Why listen to you? You're terrible at geography.

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The very first song on the first Led Zeppelin LP: "Good Times, Bad Times"

I always thought the lyrics were disingenuous...a rock star bitching about a woman dumping him?

The real reason I put this up tonight was to draw attention to the amazing right foot of John Bonham...specifically to the so-called triplets he kicks with one foot. I'm talking about what sounds like a horse galloping by (if you ignore Plant and listen to the drums).

I found this -- one of many YouTube videos -- which neatly explains the technicality of what Bonham did:

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"Gallows Pole "is another ye olde folk song (like "House of the Rising Sun" considered here the other night). Coincidently, the plot of "Gallows Pole" was also originally written about a woman (called "The Maid Freed From The Gallows"), but Led Zeppelin's version left no doubt that it was about a man who didn't cheat the hangman.

Just like "House of the Rising Sun," Bob Dylan did an earlier version of the song called "Seven Curses." It tells the story of a woman desperately trying to save the life of her condemned father. She gives gold, silver, and herself to the judge who takes everything and hangs him anyway. This sad state of affairs reminded me of an episode of "Foyle's War" -- the one in which a young desperate woman gives herself to the one man who can give her a new life and he ends up taking hers instead (sorry for the spoiler).

Listen to the last lines in the Led Zeppelin version:

Oh yes, you got a fine sister, she warmed my blood from cold,
She warmed my blood to boiling hot to keep you from the Gallows Pole,
Your brother brought me silver, and your sister warmed my soul,
But now I laugh and pull so hard to see you swinging on the Gallows Pole

Cruel.

Led Zeppelin III is an underrated album, IMHO. There is a slew of great songs on that album, many of which were never overplayed. When I first heard it (on vinyl), I thought the recording quality was inferior to their other records. But Jimmy Page remastered it and re-released it this June.

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Whole lotta Bonzo love:

So this is the newest and coolest way for Jimmy Page to re-market old Led Zeppelin tracks -- literally one track/instrument at a time. Link  It's an analytical tour de force.  I wrote about analysis vs. synthesis in the context of chemistry here, but the same holds for any composition.

The launch of the LED ZEPPELIN reissue program, which is being led by Jimmy Page, includes the band opening 'its vaults to share dozens of unheard studio and live recordings, with each album featuring a second disc of companion audio comprised entirely of unreleased music related to that album.'

I approve! Plus it highlights the special funky groove that John Bonham had. More please!

BTW, here's the original photo used for that album:

Von Richthofen's Flying Circus

The Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen) is seated in the cockpit of his Albatross biplane. He shot down most of his kills in biplanes, but got famous for flying the Fokker DR1 triplane later in his career.

Von Richthofen's Fokker DR1 Triplane