LED ZEPPELIN - CELEBRATION DAY

 

'My my, I'm so happy, I'm gonna join the Band. 
We're gonna sing and dance in celebration,

We're in the promised land'

A song about New York, to quote Robert. A joyous track, put together in the early summer of 1970 and recorded in Island Studios 1 on June 3rd, the same day as Out On the Tiles. Robert is in upbeat mood, lifting the whole thing. From Jimmy's jangling blues intro the band kicks in thanks to a swooping backward echo fade, a traditionally jarring Bonzo kick start and the next level of the burgeoning Jimmy Page Guitar Army.

I've always been fascinated by the separation and juxtaposition of completely different guitar tones and sounds, each equally important and unique, coming together to create a fantastically textured whole. The instrumental outtakes that have surfaced highlight Jimmy's vision and arrangement prowess - the song is the focal point, not the musicianship or any solo. His solo is lyrical and concise, and is one of only 3 to be found on III.

It's a flexing of musical muscles too, the strident riff combining with that unique Jones-Bonham rhythm section. Jonesy's understated and underrated bass figures perfectly underpin the weaving and sonic dexterity of what's going on above and beyond. Magic stuff.

And there's the legend of an engineer wiping part of the intro as Jimmy was preparing to mix, hence the slightly menacing descending synth figure linking it with the happy positivity of the delighful Friends.

The earliest live sighting we have is during the first encore of the Copenhagen May 3rd '71 show where Robert teases some lyrics during the jammed coda of  'Communication Breakdown'. From that point on it joins the set usually after 'Stairway To Heaven' - probably because Jimmy played it on the 6 string neck of the Gibson Twin Neck - before the acoustic set. In the pre-US Tour warm up in Montreux it appears after the acoustic set.

Played throughout the 7th US Tour, we have 9 bootlegged versions to choose from. In Japan it featured every night, the last show in Osaka September 29th being a particularly great version, Page jamming and jousting with Bonzo, who halves and flips the beat, double guessing Jimmy as they trade licks and riffs. Dig it out and wonder...

Back in the UK it featured sporadically, and we only have recordings of Auckland and Brisbane on the Antipodean shows. Played in Charlotte on June 9th, it was absent thereafter on the 8th US Tour before being promoted to 2nd place for the 9th US Tour. 

I've always had a soft spot for the Movie/Soundtrack version, and was always dismayed at it being on the soundtrack and missing from the film. Now, thanks to the outtakes dusted down a decade ago we get to finally see it, even if a reconstructed show would have been the perfect way to present it.

After that we didn't see it again until a remarkable resurrection for the 4 1979 Knebworth and warm-up gigs. I remember it as nervous and hurried, the muscular and trickier Sick Again pushed back into the heart of the set.

Always a personal favourite, it grew from a great Page-Bonham duel to a early set rocker to get things going (mainly Jimmy's fingers) and kick things along.

Not really a single, it was released in South Africa on TEAL MR10 with Immigrant Song on the flip, and as part of the rare Brazilian 3 track EP that came initially with a magazine and also featured Friends and Since I've Been Loving You on the 'Rock Spectacular' label. 

There are copies in picture sleeves, but how real/valid they are.....

In 1992 Dave Lewis and I were planning the 1st UK Led Zeppelin Fan Convention and almost immediately came up with the title 'Celebration Days', which we both thought perfectly fitting. And celebrate we certainly did! Here's Alan 'Fluff' Freeman's wonderful notes for our Programme from the weekend....

The fact the title was used for the ultimate tribute show at the O2 gives an idea as to their feelings about a largely forgotten track. It would have been good and proper if they'd played it, but maybe that's a little churlish!