any Led Zep projects in the works?

What exactly is it that they need to "get"?

Is it money? They don't need it. Is it accolades? They don't need it.

Eddie

 

You completely misunderstood my post..

By "get" I mean understand. As in the fans want more releases; live shows, deluxe editions of albums, etc..

The band broke up 29 years ago and we have what ONE live release?? (two I guess if you count the BBC stuff) Thats a joke.

 

Three: TSRTS, HTWWW, and BBC.

And actually, if you recorded the audio from the Led Zeppelin DVD, there's some more for you.

 

Not to mention the original The Song Remains The same soundtrack,And make sure your Physical Graffitti cd has the cough!

 

I think Jimmy is fully aware the fans want more.

Two live things? On cd you got the BBC sessions, TSRTS and HTWWW.

You also have the TSRTS on DVD and the 2 DVD set.

Between the cd and DVD releases they cover most live years.

How many live releases do you think they have in the can?

What is a joke, IMO, is that fans seem to have this attitude that they deserve access to a bands vault for more live releases and outtakes and what have you.

Keep in mind that whatever Jimmy works on he has to ensure Plant, Jones and Bohnam's family are happy with it. And I mean everything...the sound, the packaging, the liner notes. Everything. All aspects of any release have to be agreed. From the rumour, conjecture and innuendo out there on the net so far it appears that this process alone is enough to halt any project from even starting.

I'm sure we will get a release at some point but I think there is a limit to what there actually is in the vault. I don't believe that there is a treasure trove of multi track recordings piled up ready to be heard.

Eddie

 

Yes, that's exactly what's at play here. While they were still active, Peter Grant live by the philosophy of less is more, that holding back would build up demand and feed the mystique. After the death of Bonham, there were various reasons why this continued, lack of agreement among the surviving members and the Bonham estate, etc., but several times both Page and Plant have made statements that indicate they still held this belief. Even last year Page said something in an interview about being "very aware that less is more."

I don't know if we'll ever sever 5.1 releases for audio only. that market seems to have pretty much collapsed before it ever caught on. Eddie Kramer was quoted a few years back as saying that someone from the record company contacted him about doing a 5.1 remix of Led Zeppelin II but then he never heard from them again. Page has gone on record as being very pro 5.1 but also said there'd be a lot of work involved.

This leads to the main determinant of any future Led Zeppelin projects, the time and effort required from Page, as well as the agreement from Plant, Jones and the Bonham estate. Jones is off on his new, promising adventure with Them Crooked Vultures, so I doubt he has any interest in LZ issues. He might well tell Jimmy to go ahead and have fun with the catalog, but then again maybe not. Plant, well, we don't know what he's doing now. The whole thing with Alison Krauss is at best on hold until 2011 and possibly over. If he decides to pursue music any further, it might be in some solo capacity so he might not be keen on anything that would put LZ in the spotlight. On the other hand, he's entirely unpredictable. In 2005-6 he was dismissing Led Zeppelin as a "boy band" he was in years ago, yet in 2007, he was apparently the one pushing the most for the reunion. All we do know is that Plant is scheduled for a 1 or 2-song performance on Sept. 11 (I can't recall the occasion but it's some sort of benefit show).

Most importantly, there's Page. He said late last spring that he's going to take a few months off for family stuff (his daughter just had a big London wedding) and then he plans to do something with music around December or so and hopes to be "out there and be seen" in 2010. Whether this will be a solo album or not, I'm not sure. The usual sources who seem to know people who know and have been accurate in the past, seem to indicate that we will in fact be hearing new music from JP in the next 12 months or so. Of course, things change. If Page is involved with a new project, it's doubtful he'll want to spend any time on Led Zeppelin reissues.

On the other hand, someone on the Ice forum wrote recently that once the hoopla over the Beatles remasters has settled down, we may well see new Led Zeppelin remasters after all. It may have been idle speculation, but it was worded as if the author had some sort of source. Of course, that's quite easy to fake. I judge such folks on track record.

Or, maybe we'll just have to settle for what we've got.

 

Stefan, I'm probably wrong, but it seems like Page always has something "ready" or we will be "hearing something soon" but it doesn't seem to come to fruition.

I just wish he would do something "new" and put Zeppelin on the shelf for at least a little while.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. Short answer is that it's probably a combination of being psyched out by expectations and then clinging to hopes of restarting Led Zeppelin. Let's face it, every few years, there've been near-reunions we didn't know about until they didn't work out: 1986, 1991, 1994 (Page always claimed his intent with Page-Plant was to bring in Jones but Plant kept refusing), 2003, 2007 (well it worked out then but Page clearly wanted to continue).

I think basically, Page has a bunch of material written, but nearly every time he actually starts to do something with it, the prospect of another LZ reunion comes along. We saw this in 1988 with the Outrider album where some of the material probably would have developed into the music the 1986 Led Zeppelin with Tony Thompson on drums would have done. In 1991 the planned reunion tour with Mike Bordin on drums didn't work out so the material he'd stocked up went into the Coverdale-Page project (a lot of fans liked the guitar work on that a lot). Since the Page-Plant thing, we haven't heard anything much from him other than the "Domino" instrumental he played at Net Aid, but T-Bone Burnett while on tour with Plant and Alison Krauss confirmed that Page had a lot of new material written and Plant at that time was supposedly deciding whether to work with him again or not. Even T-Bone seemed to hope it worked out, but I guess it didn't. Then he tried to put together a new band with Jones and Jason Bonham but the press persisted in the false notion that they were trying to continue Zep without Plant, and finally Page apparently decided he wouldn't work with those guys unless Plant was involved, so Jones moved on and so did Bonham. So now, it'll be interesting to see what Jimmy does. I just hope he rounds up some quality musicians and goes for it. Actually having heard the various Them Crooked Vulture Youtube tracks, the first thing that comes into mind is how well his riffing would fit in there. I truly wish he'd worked with Jones on that project. Josh Homme seems a competent guitarist but nothing extraordinary. JP would have been a great "fit" for that band. Too bad.

 

I'm sure Page has (in his mind) ideas of what he'd like to do with Zeppelin's music, as far as releasing more of it. But like a lot of things that busy people have going, time for doing it needs to made.

 

Agreed, those soundboards are dry and unflattering and many have balance problems. Although they're soundboards, because of these things, these recordings are bootleg quality.

 

I think a big problem is that he might think that he cannnot do anything worthwhile (or he think's would be worthwhile) on his own.
His solo career if you can call it that, has been basically non existant. Ringo has had a more sucessful solo career than Page. Jeff Beck doesn't let the fact that he's just a guitar player direct what he should do next. Jones seems to be quite active. Plant is obviously active.
Outrider was a bust. He joins a Plant wannabe in Cloverdale. The Firm was a bust. Let's not forget his joining P Diddy. I guess he tried to recapture the past by joining with Plant for 2 albums in the 90's even though I'm sure Plant told him which direction that was going to go and it wasn't going in a Zeppelin direction.
It's got to be tough for him. He's secure enough where he could take chances
and do something that doesn't include Zeppelin.

All of the Beatles didn't do Beatle songs until years later. I saw Macca in 76 and he did only 5 Beatle songs knowing very well what the people wanted to hear. He finally gave them what they wanted in 89.

Plant doesn't give 2 s***s what the audience wants and has absolutely no regard for audience requirements. And when he gives them what they want to hear, he radically changes it. I must admit that I'm no fan of these rearrangements but I give the guy a lot of credit.

 

Why do all live releases have to be required to be boards and professionally mixed? Led Zeppelin is a big enough band where they could run a specific series for audience or imperfect board sound recordings. They could make it a part of a series where it says so on the packaging. Why should the bootleggers get all of the glory? Steal it back from them. I'd rather pay Jimmy than them.

 

I don't know why you pay the bootleggers I surely do not. Me thinks you do not know Mr Page very well in regards to sound quality. The amount of patching Page did to TSRTS and HTWWW should tell you that he would never ever release an audience recording or an imperfect soundboard. I don't think those words exist in Page's world.

 

Jimmy is perfectionist, so no audience tapes or raw soundboards will officially come out. Although 1 audience song from LA 1977 is on the 2003 DVD menu.

How come Page didn't join TCV with JPJ?

 

and his tour with The Black Crowes also...

 

I quit paying bootleggers about 5 years ago. So, now nobody is getting my money except legit record companies. Jimmy needs to rethink his philosophy. I do realize the patchwork he did and his reputation for perfection. There are also powers of pursuasion that can get an artist to change their mind. I sometimes feel that people like, say, record company executives get too starry eyed over their clients and don't get down to just talking to them like regular people at times when it comes to matters like this.

 

Page cannot be persuaded he is in many ways just like Peter Grant.

 

IMO with new TSRTS release audiophile Zep-heads were ***** on.

One of the best live Zeppelin CD is The Black Crowes with Jimmy Page, it is breath taking. Its ashame the Shirely sold out.

As far as the posts about live LZ bludders and imperfections, one thing to keep in mind is that live LZ was all about the greatest drummer in history. With the drums recorded correctly Plants voice and Page's herion induced slips become less obvious.

I have yet to hear any official live release do Bonham justice the way Shirely did with Gorman on the BC+JP live album.

That release gives you a taste of what is possible with live LZ multitracks. There is also a stage mic taped boot from 69 that captured bonhams drums (forget the date). I guess you had to have heard Bonham live to understand what I am saying.

I secretly hope the don't release any new material until the Loudnes War fad dies out. The new Beatles release should give us all some hope.

 

Anything from Page,solo or archive would be an eternity away,if ever.

 

I agree with a lot of this. Not sure about Bonham being able to cover up for Page a lot of the time (75 and on) but I get your point.
The tape you refer to from '69 with the "in your living room" Bonham drum sound is 4/24/69. It is an amazing recording for hearing the full force of Bonzo's fury and power.

 

Bonham sounds damn good on the "DVD" audio.

 

I strongly agree with that statement