LED ZEPPELIN - TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT

"I'm so glad I took a look inside your showroom doors"

So, Led Zeppelin recovened after Xmas 1973 to carry on working on new material. Back at Headley Grange, and with Jonesy's unsettled mind now at ease, a wider spectrum of material was composed and took the band to new, even more sophisticated places.

Before their unscheduled break the harder edged guitar-bass-drums material was honed - Sick Again, The Wanton Song, In My Time Of Dying as well as the insistent DADGAD muse that was to become Kashmir - and by late January they turned to different ideas. Jimmy brought the multi layered home demo's of Ten Years Gone that he'd assembled in Plumpton and the original piano led melody In The Morning would morph and evolve triumphantly into the new age epic In The Light.

One of the other new ideas was a driving, insistent idea led by Jonesy's Harpsichord. Musically it had one foot in Funk and Soul with more than a passing nod to Stevie Wonder's massive hit Superstition. The remarkable rehearsal tapes we have bring to life the light but hard working atmosphere as Bonzo is encouraged to try a variety of evermore complex drum intro's before he says what he knew all along, that Jonesy starts it before he and Jimmy crunch down. 

The original riff isn't quite there, it's reversed and the whole jam has a lighter, almost 'springy' feel. The intensity isn't quite there, but soon starts to emerge as they fine tune the riff and bridge arrangement. The structure comes together quickly - we've got 20 odd minutes of the writing process - to the point where by February 15th the basic track is recorded using Ronnie Lane's Mobile at Headley Grange. 

Now strident and insistent, Trampled Under Foot - the working title Brandy & Coke was used on the original reels as per the companion disc with Physical Graffiti - became a heady, muscular highlight of the new tracks. Jimmy added guitar dubs carefully with each verse, emphasising the hypnotic repetition of the main riff. When It came to the solo section, Jonesy set the tone with a great strident workout as Jimmy added swooping guitars, drenched in wah wah, swirling amid his patented backward echo as the solo section reached its climax. 

The final verses and coda get more and more intense, while maintaining the seemingly simple groove and crunch of the band. And Robert recognised the insistent groove as being overtly sexual, and almost overwhelmingly driving. 

Lyrically he turned to Robert Johnson for inspiration, likening a car to the sexual act as Johnson had done in that hotel room in San Antonio, Texas in 1936 when he laid down Terraplane Blues. It was so named after the Hudson Terraplane, a very popular car in the 1930's. 

Robert's lyrics, full of trouble free transmission, pumping gas and heavy metal underneath the hood were the perfect metaphor indeed. Throughout the early 1975 shows he'd explain the background nightly, more detail especially during the opening leg of the tour when the LP wasn't yet in the shops.

It's a fantastic song, and a masterful use of the power Led Zeppelin could summon up at will and use with consummate ease. It fits perfectly on side two of Graffiti, between the rollicking Houses Of The Holy and the grandeur of Kashmir. Arguably the finest side of music assembled by Led Zeppelin. 

An obvious live candidate, it was rehearsed at Ezyhire in late '74 and immediately put into the new set. Four of the eight new songs would feature in the live set - 5 if you include the brief appearances of The Wanton Song - and after the warm up shows settled into the middle of the set. Placed as a crunching boogie after the extravagant improvisations of No Quarter, Trampled Under Foot was brilliant from the off. 

Despite Robert missing, repeating and swapping lyrics the sheer power alone was enough to get cold concrete stadiums up and shaking. Jimmy added guitar swoops and howls as it began to stretch. Within it all, the band were right on the money, especially during the earlier shows on the tour where it seemed to have an almost overwhelming intensity. Played every night, you'd be hard pushed to find a poor version across the whole '75 Tour.

As Led Zeppelin hit the West Coast Robert would ad lib bits of Gallows Pole as the guys morphed into that crazed yet controlled rhythm as they headed for home. By the time Earls' Court came round it was a magnificent live beast. The version from May 24th sits in my mind to this day, with some of the most exciting footage to bring it to life. 

The 1975 Trampled Under Foot is the perfect live song for Led Zeppelin. It sums up their confidence, their ability to swing and crunch down at the same time and was in many ways the centre piece of a 'heavy' insistent live set. 

After the enforced and extended lay off from live work for some 22 months, the 1977 set had a change of emphasis, away from the subsonic dinosaur stomp of  much of the '75 shows. Both Jimmy and Jonesy had harder, edgier sounds and the acoustic set returned. Subsequently Trampled Under Foot began life as the 'standard' second encore. 

We have nine recordings from the first leg of the tour, from Oklahoma to Pontiac. It's a chaotic, insistent boogie, a farewell stomp after 3 or more hours of Led Zeppelin light and shade. even then,it rarely disappointed, and brilliant performances in Atlanta and the second Cleveland show are real highlights!

Once the second leg kicked off it was again the final fanfare in Houston and the last Maryland show. When Led Zeppelin returned to Broadway it was surprisingly absent for the six night stint. Once on the west coast for the second leg finale it appeared in the set on the 3rd, 4th and 6th nights, placed between Kashmir and Bonzo's showcase. And of the final four shows of the sadly truncated 3rd leg it's only missing from Seattle.

Come 1979 Trampled Under Foot returned for all four shows, once again following Kashmir before the final head for home. Although not as powerful as the early '75 versions it still had moments of magic and summoned up incredible energy and power.

And once more in 1980 it was a pivotal part of the set, right in the middle after All My Love and before the extended blues of Since I've Been Loving You. Like much of the tour in could be perfunctory one night, inspired the next. It grew in confidence and power as the tour rode on, with Zurich and Frankfurt standing out. By the last night in Berlin we had the most extraordinary version - the longest ever version that keeps strangely steady and linear. Over an almost martial tempo Jimmy uses echo endlessly to create crowds of sound and dissonance. 

We do have some live footage, cine clip from '75 include Chicago, Dallas, Long Beach, both Seattle nights, all the LA nights and of course the pro shot 24th & 25th Earls' Court films. In 1977 there's only a tiny clip from the LA Badgeholders show.

For 1979 both Knebworths are of course pro filmed, and there are various 1980 cine clips from Cologne, Rotterdam, Zurich and Munich.

And post Zeppelin Robert brought it back in 1988, linked with John Lee Hooker's 'Dimples'. Of course there was the magical encore jam with Jimmy at Hammersmith on April 17th. 

It was rehearsed for the Atlantic 40th (without Robert)... And, not forgetting the 02 tribute show....

Back in '75 it was a worldwide single with Black Country Woman on the flip. In the UK 5,000 were pressed as a 'special limited edition' giveaway to shops that stocked the Zeppelin vinyl catalogue, coming in a special die-cut black sleeve cat no DC1. 

Years later various rare pressings have turned up from white labels, test pressings, red label 'publisher' copies and even a UK 7" with a proper Swan Song cat no - SSK 19403! 

Of course there are various Worldwide rarities and oddities, from the edited mono/stereo US 7" to Japanese white labels and even a cassette single from the US, but once more the UK rarities top them all....

LED ZEPPELIN - THANK YOU

"If mountains crumble to the sea, 

there will still be you - and me"

Amid the live bombast of Led Zeppelin in 1969, it was easy to forget or at least downplay the subtlety and craft of their music. If Jimmy's 'light and shade' dictum originally manifested itself in the groundbreaking arrangement of 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You' and the journeyman tale of 'Ramble On', there was yet to be a pure, simple love song in the Zeppelin cannon. 

'Thank You' was probably rehearsed on the road, as an acoustic idea, and is another milestone in the burgeoning Page/Plant songwriting relationship. Robert and Jimmy have both noted it was the first song Robert wrote all the lyrics for. This may be slightly stretching the truth, but it's certainly one of the first. 

After the basis of the melody was established during the 2nd US Tour, the final structure was rehearsed in early June. The companion disc backing track was done on June 25th at Morgan Studios, Willesden (the same day as Living Loving Maid), among the final sessions for II. Only 'Bring It On Home' was yet to be recorded. 

It's a wonderful song. Subtle and light, it highlights both Robert's songwriting maturity and how his voice was becoming stronger and more adaptable. Although that 'unnerving' primeval wail that Jimmy once referred to is still there in abundance, here he keeps it in check and sings beautifully. Lyrically, it's for Maureen, an ode to their love and union (they'd only married the previous November 9th) and is personal and heartfelt. Live it was eventually transformed into an epic nod to Zeppelin's ever growing legion of fans and an emotional highpoint of many shows. Of course in 1972 they would compose 'The Ocean' especially for those that flocked in their millions to the 'Houses Of The Holy'.

Musically, it's incredibly well structured. Jimmy uses his Vox 12-string (previously he'd played it on 'Beck's Bolero') to great effect while Jonesy doubles on bass and Hammond Organ. Bonzo is suitably light and lyrical on drums, and only Jimmy is credited with backing vocals. His acoustic solo is the icing on the cake for me, one of his finest and largely unnoticed. And in a nod towards his experience of session work, arrangements and placing and order on an album, Jimmy adds a false fade out before the last Hammond swirl glides back to end side one. Perfect.

Once 'II' hit the shops 'Thank You' was to be augmented into the live show. From the start it was preceded by a John Paul Jones solo on Hammond. Now headliners with (almost exclusively) no opening act, the show was a 2 hour plus 'evening with', affording them the chance show all different aspects of the band live. 

The first live version we have is from Bristol on January 8th 1970, although it would certainly have been played on the first night of the tour in Birmingham the day before. Sadly the Royal Albert Hall show from the 9th only has a tiny clip of the audio of this on one of the menu's on 'DVD'. The official site lists it as 3rd encore, which is strange as it remained a solid part of the set throughout 1970 and only became an encore the next year.

Early live versions are pretty close to the studio version, even if Jimmy is already extending the solo. The main other difference is the length and style of Jonesy's showcase. He would sometimes throw in classical pieces or joking riffs like the Sailor's Hornpipe, as it became a precursor to the grandeur of No Quarter. 

The two shows at Madison Square Garden on September 19th are the last performances as part of the main set. One of the most famous versions is the BBC Paris Studios from April 1st, missing from all the early bootlegs and only appearing - without Jonesy's prelude - when a copy of the master reel began circulating in the mid 1980's. From then on it was played as an extra encore, a treat if you will when multiple curtain calls were demanded, becoming more and more epic and bombastic along the way.

In 1971 we have recordings from LA 21 & 22/8, Orlando 31/8, Madison Square 3/9 (great version), Toronto 4/9, Boston 7/9 and Rochester 11/9 during the US Tour. There are 3 epic versions in Japan - the famous Osaka 29/9 springs to mind - and just one on the 1971 UK Tour from Manchester on November 24th. 

In 1972 it becomes even scarcer but my lord, the versions are epic!. Sydney on Feb 27th has one of Jonesy's finest solo's as it closes the epic show. The Montreal Forum performance on June 7th is also longer than before. 

But two of the most famous versions are to come. In Seattle on June 19th it's the 2nd encore, with a high spirited Jonesy leading the band into Let's Dance and Louie Louie before a Thank You that blows everything out! The next is up there too, from LA on the 25th. Sadly missing from How The West Was Won, Louie Louie and Everyday People again pepper Jonesy's showcase before a particularly powerful and muscular version. And then, in Nagoya on October 5th Jonesy brings us the traditional Japanese tune 'Sakura Sakura' ('Cherry Blossom') as a show stealer and closer.

Back home in the UK it appears three times before Xmas (Newcastle/Cardiff/Ally Pally) and only once after at Southampton University where Jonesy's Mellotron solo (he'd switched to the Mellotron since the Japanese Tour) is longer than ever, as is the fantastically recorded performance that follows. With luck, this show will be the next officially unearthed from the vaults. 

And after that Thank You only appears twice - as the closing number of the last night of each of the 'two tours' of North America in 1973. And they're both brilliant! The legendary '3 Days After' show and the grandest, most epic performance at the final Madison Square Garden show on July 29th. 

After that it was gone. Jonesy would transfer his spotlight into the ever expanding No Quarter and the set was filling up with epic numbers for Jimmy to indulge in.

Post-Zeppelin, the Unledded reunion afforded a great version during the LWT recordings, Jimmy using his b-bender to great effect and Robert rekindling the tambourine sketch. I remember the version to open the Paris 1995 show as being stunning. The LWT version was released as a promo CD, and the one 7" pressing was as the flip to Whole Lotta Love in Japan