August 4, 2015 by JP - 7 Comments

ROBERT PLANT’S POOCH & TOLKIEN | THE INSPIRATION BEHIND LED ZEPPELIN’S LYRICS

Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin and his beloved ‘Strider’, named after J. R. R. Tolkien’s character ‘Aragorn’ from ‘The Lord of the Rings.’

Bron-Y-Aur Stomp was penned by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page back in 1970, and named after the tiny cottage in Gwynedd, Wales where the band holed-up after coming off their North American tour. The rustic, old home (with no power or running water) was a welcome escape to refresh the road-worn band and inspired several epic songs for Led Zeppelin III, including Bron-Y-Aur Stomp. “There ain’t no companion like a blue-eyed Merle,” was Robert Plant’s tender, lyrical nod to his sweet lil’ pooch, Strider in this song. Tolkien references can also be heard in a few other Led Zeppelin songs– Ramble On, The Battle of Evermore, and Misty Mountain Hop.

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September 4, 2013 by JP - 14 Comments

ELVIS AND HIS GOOD OL’ MEMPHIS MAFIA MEET THEM LONG HAIRED BOYS FROM LED ZEPPELIN

Sept. 7th, 1976 — Joe Esposito (Elvis Presley’s Memphis Mafia buddy) wearing a Led Zeppelin 1975 Tour T-shirt at the Holiday Inn hotel with Elvis in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

I Was There. And more… as told by Elvis Presley’s step-brother

“I was 14 years old when Led Zeppelin came to Memphis in 1969. As the youngest step-brother to Elvis Presley, I was living at the Graceland Mansion. My divorced mother Dee Stanley married Elvis’s widowed father Vernon Presley on July 3, 1960. Anyway, I went to the concert with a friend and was blown away. John Bonham playing his solo on Moby Dick, Jimmy Page stroking his Les Paul with a fiddle bow, John Paul Jones laying down heavy bass, and of course the driving voice of Robert Plant. While growing up as Presley’s step-brother I was no stranger to great music. But it was Led Zeppelin that became MY MUSIC while growing up the King.

I started touring with Presley in 1972 when I was 16. I always had Zeppelin’s music with me. In 1974 while at the LA Forum Led Zeppelin came to see Elvis. Later that night after the show Robert, Jimmy and John Paul came to Elvis’s suite at the hotel across the street from the Forum. I met them as they came off the elevator and walked with them to Elvis’s room. I introduced myself, shook their hands and got their autograph. Of all the people I met during my life with Elvis, it was only Led Zeppelin’s autograph that I asked for.

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January 13, 2010 by JP - 26 Comments

HAMMER OF THE GODS | JIMMY PAGE’S EPIC DOUBLE NECK GIBSON GUITAR

Jimmy Page playing the epic Gibson EDS-1275 Double Neck guitar that he made famous the world over. In fact, the two are so intimately connected in the annals of Rock ‘n Roll history– it would take more balls than I could ever muster to even think of picking one up.

From the desk of Contributing Editor, Eli M. Getson–

I had a history teacher back in high school that was kind of a crazy cross between Fred Rogers and Gandhi– Gene Beringer. Gene’s probably the most mild-mannered cat I have ever come across. I mean nothing– not even smart-ass 15 year olds who constantly screwed around in class (yep, yours truly), could get this guy riled up. I had the dubious distinction of spending many a detention with Gene mano y mano. Like I said, Gene was pretty laid back, and so he’d often let me read and listen to my Walkman to pass the time, while he caught-up on grading papers. One day Gene casually asked, “So what are you listening to?” My answer forever changed our relationship– Led Zeppelin. He went deep into a 1,000 yard stare, and then finally uttered– “Ya know, I saw Zeppelin about 30 times between ’74 and ‘78”, as a smile slowly warmed his stoic face.