JONES, PAGE & PLANT - LIVE AID

'It's been quite a day, and a very good day too'

Robert Plant onstage, JFK Stadium July 13th 1985

I can scarcely believe this was 34 years ago. Before I go any further I have to say this was NOT Led Zeppelin. This was Jones, Page & Plant coming together for the greater good. Of course, it's churlish to suggest it was nothing to do with Led Zeppelin. But, no John Bonham, no Led Zeppelin

In the days leading up to the shows rumours were rife. I had dozens of excited calls from the moment the whispers said Robert was going to sing some blues with Eric Clapton. Then, as the momentum grew Robert realized that to be part of it, to be an important part that made a difference, it was much bigger than a half arsed run through of Spoonful and Further On Up The Road.

He recalls making the call to Jimmy, who had just returned from a couple of July 4th jams with The Beach Boys, and putting the wheels in motion. Jonesy heard and made himself available and suddenly the wheels were turning.

Everything was ad-hoc and done at lightning speed on a wing and a prayer. Robert was on tour supporting his very 80's 'Shaken 'n' Stirred' elpee, and leading up to the day he had a 2 night stand at Rosemont Horizon, Chicago on the 10th and 11th followed by Joe Louis Arena, Detroit on the 12th. 3 straight nights would prove to be a wounding blow to the events at JFK.

Jimmy and Jonesy flew in and a rehearsal was hastily arranged during the day. Conflicting comments remember anything from half an hour to two hours rehearsal, more likely an hour to hour and a half in reality. Fantastic Chic drummer, the late Tony Thompson was behind the kit with the hardest job of all. Paul Martinez, lanky Keef wannabe would add clanky bass to Stairway To Heaven while Jonesy was on keyboard duties. Phil Collins was busy massaging his ego by playing a couple of soporific ballads at Wembley Stadium before whizzing over on Concorde to do the same before introducing 'some friends of mine (sic)' at just before 8.15pm ECT, just as the major TV networks picked up the gig.

Back then the whole 'Charidee' thing wasn't big new or really big money. Too many artists were unsure and blasé about the whole thing, unsure how it would benefit their careers. God forbid they would do it for the common good....

No Stones, Springsteen, Rush, Van Halen, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, ZZ Top, Thin Lizzy, Bad Company, Boston, Clash, Aerosmith, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Abba, Neil Diamond, Grateful Dead...... You see the point?

So, they did it. For those of you who don't know, they played

Rock And Roll

Whole Lotta Love

Stairway To Heaven

All in 22 (very) odd minutes.  I was working in a bar on Canvey Island that night. The day before I'd had so many  calls including one from the 'bootleg queen' (as Jimmy dubbed her) trying to be enigmatic and mysterious, it was gonna be awesome and 'Jimmy had taken the double neck'. Hmm.

I have no qualms in saying it was an incredible feeling. Robert jumped over the monitors, Jimmy swayed around, lord of all he surveyed, with that white scarf threatening to get caught in all and sundry. From the off it was terrible. Distorted sound, no balance. Robert's voice was shot and gargly, Jimmy was Crab-staggering drunk, doing the moves on a horribly out of tune Les Paul churning through a chorus pedal to try and hide the dissonance. Yet there was a feeling of wonder. Collins was useless, flailing away as if he'd never heard any of the songs (massive Led Zeppelin fan?... Pah!!), and Tony Thompson locked in with Jonesy.

Ragged, out of tune, drunk. At the coda of Whole Lotta Love Jimmy pulled a few call and response licks out of his Les Paul and for a few seconds there was magic. It's always been there, even in the middle of this. Come Stairway, it was an homage with all the expected moves and clichés. Yet, as Jimmy hit the solo he was at home and suddenly there was a feeling of the glory days.

The stadium, and the MTV presenters on the US TV Broadcast, had been going berserk throughout. Forget Live Aid, so many were here or tuning in just for this. As Robert left out 'buying' for the 95,000 at JFK to fill in the resonance and aftermath had begun. Was it real? Were they back? Was it really that bad?

Looking and thinking back it was a tribute, a moment of madness really. Jonesy said it 'felt like another of those big gigs' with his usual dry witted deprecating humour. It meant so much to so many, yet was to be a false dawn for those thinking and willing Led Zeppelin to be back. As I said, No John Bonham, no Led Zeppelin.

Post set they did a cursory and slightly difficult interview live on MTV, which left everyone a bit dazed and confused, including the 3 of them I would imagine...

10 days later Jimmy got up and jammed with Robert on shambolic encores of Mean Woman Blues and Treat Her Right. The resonance and expectation from the fallout after Live Aid I'm sure helped Robert to decide on a change of direction in his own career, after the conclusion of the Shaken n Stirred tour. 

The following January they tried to see if there was anything there, rehearsing in Bath with Tony Thompson. Positive soundbites from both Jimmy and Robert about the sessions are countered by both saying they walked away first. The tapes of these sessions have yet to surface, but would make interesting listening for sure. As it was Jimmy went back to The Firm for a second and final album/tour and Robert spent the best part of 2 years reinventing himself and surrounding himself with new, younger musicians. Jonesy returned to the background, content and able to follow his own muse.

In 2004 they refused to let it be released on the 4 DVD set, making a contribution to the cause instead. They've called it hideous and awful. Phil Collins has slated it, yet he was the weakest link by far. Even well below their best the surviving members of Led Zeppelin could still make a stadium shake and a Nation smile.

There are plenty of bootlegs, original vinyl sets gave one side to the soundtrack from the TV broadcast, and video and later DVD collections all feature it. It's been on You Tube for years in one form or another too. You really had to have seen it.