'So any time somebody needs ya, don't let 'em down although it grieves ya'
For me, one of the most important moments in the evolution of Led Zeppelin comes about 3 minutes into 'III', when Jimmy unfolds the lilting yet insistent open tuned acoustic riff to Friends. Yes, Led Zeppelin had played acoustic music before, and had already shown an array of colours to an already overflowing palette.
Coming straight after the power of Immigrant Song, the shock of suddenly flipping from a widescreen anthemic stadium filling roar to a hushed intimacy and barely audible chatter is one of my favourite Zeppelin moments of album construction, of sequencing.
Coming straight after the power of Immigrant Song, the shock of suddenly flipping from a widescreen anthemic stadium filling roar to a hushed intimacy and barely audible chatter is one of my favourite Zeppelin moments of album construction, of sequencing.
This is not only when the album opens up, but when Led Zeppelin open up. The seed was sown in Bron-Yr-Aur during Robert and Jimmy's first visit in May 1970. By early June an arrangement was in place and a backing track was laid down on June 5th in Olympic Studio 1. The instrumental outtake on the companion disc illustrates how quickly it all came together.
With some dramatic strings arranged by John Paul Jones and lots of tabla and bongo percussion, Led Zeppelin opened up a new World.
And like much of the cream of Zep, Friends shows four equally important and extraordinary performances merging together to create something new, beautiful and priceless.
And like much of the cream of Zep, Friends shows four equally important and extraordinary performances merging together to create something new, beautiful and priceless.
The coda is joined to Celebration Day with a descending synth tone, added really to cover the missing intro and provide a bridge, another change of mood and sound. Always a personal favourite, the live technology of the time, plus the fact Led Zeppelin would never employ extra musicians or tapes onstage, meant it was destined to stay a studio track.
During the Japanese tour in September, Robert hinted at it several times but the only time they got into it was during the final Osaka gig on September 29th with an ad-hoc short version that had Jonesy with the difficult task of having to play the string arrangement on bass. They would never have been relaxed enough to do that in the UK or US!
Although that was the only live performance, it was the prime candidate for a radical twist when Jimmy and Robert recorded and experimented in Bombay after the second Japanese Tour. The remarkable recordings from October 19th show just how forward thinking and ambitious they were.
The lifting, almost regal sounding recording on III is transformed in this groundbreaking 'World Music' collaboration. Hindu musicians listen, argue and joke with Jimmy as he explains and expands his 'western' riff with flutes, tabla drums, sitars and sarangi, complemented and completed in the two of the finished tapes to have surfaced from these remarkable sessions by a haunting almost hesitant and reverential Robert Plant vocal.
It's the complete counterbalance to his singing on III. There, Led Zeppelin are pushing the boundaries within (and breaking free from) the format, style and conservatism of western Pop and Rock. Here, Jimmy and Robert are guests, newborns in a different World.
The World at their feet. And finally, years after the wonderful bootlegs of rehearsals and finished takes one of the final versions was included in the deluxe edition of Coda.
The lifting, almost regal sounding recording on III is transformed in this groundbreaking 'World Music' collaboration. Hindu musicians listen, argue and joke with Jimmy as he explains and expands his 'western' riff with flutes, tabla drums, sitars and sarangi, complemented and completed in the two of the finished tapes to have surfaced from these remarkable sessions by a haunting almost hesitant and reverential Robert Plant vocal.
It's the complete counterbalance to his singing on III. There, Led Zeppelin are pushing the boundaries within (and breaking free from) the format, style and conservatism of western Pop and Rock. Here, Jimmy and Robert are guests, newborns in a different World.
The World at their feet. And finally, years after the wonderful bootlegs of rehearsals and finished takes one of the final versions was included in the deluxe edition of Coda.
Once again, never a single, we do have it on a Brazilian EP and the various Polish and Russian flexi postcard pressings.
Post Zeppelin it became the centrepiece of the Page Plant Unledded presentation and subsequent tour. Remarkable every night, sadly it took over 2 decades to be brought to fruition as a live number.
Taking the Bombay arrangement as their template, it became a moment of high drama and joy, a blending of one of the most remarkable and fruitful strings from Led Zeppelin's bow beautifully given the ultimate tribute.
Taking the Bombay arrangement as their template, it became a moment of high drama and joy, a blending of one of the most remarkable and fruitful strings from Led Zeppelin's bow beautifully given the ultimate tribute.
I like the fact you trace the journey of the song to it being played in the full by Plant and Page in the 90s. I absolutely love the breakdown you give each piece. I know the history pretty well from my reading but some the performance stuff is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact you trace the journey of the song to it being played in the full by Plant and Page in the 90s. I absolutely love the breakdown you give each piece. I know the history pretty well from my reading but some the performance stuff is fascinating.
ReplyDelete