John Bonham (May 31, 1948 – September 25, 1980)

Tomorrow will mark 30 years since the passing of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, clearly one of the greatest rock drummers ever. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones called it quits after Bonham's death. The three reunited for Live Aid (with Tony Tompson and Phil Collins on drums) and a benefit in London three years ago with John's son Jason on drums. Rumors persist that there will be future one-offs or even a reunion tour, but in all likelihood it seems doubtful.

Pete Townshend's Best Solo Albums

Gibson.com recently wrote about Pete Townshend's greatest solo albums, while naming the type of Gibson guitar Pete used on each one. For me, White City: A Novel is probably my favorite - that is if you are excluding The Scoop albums. "Give Blood," "Face the Face" and "Secondhand Love" received the most play on popular radio, however, my favorites off of the album are "Brilliant Blues," "Night School" and "White City Fighting." The album features David Gilmour playing guitar on many of the tracks, Mark Brzezicki (drums), John Bundrick (keyboards), and bass players Pino Palladino, the venerable Chucho Merchan and Phil Chen.

I saw Chen play with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger over the summer. He's really good and he's really loud. In many ways I prefer Chen over Palladino, but Pete and Roger wanted to go with a quieter bass player after John Entwistle died, so I get why they chose Pino.

Roger Daltrey and Jimmy Page Teaming Up?

Roger Daltrey told TheWho.com in an exclusive interview - just posted on the Website - that he would love to work with Jimmy Page. Daltrey said here in February that he would like to work with the legendary guitarist, possibly on a blues album. Last I read, Page was working on an album with "guests," but he didn't elaborate any further. Page, Robert Plant and The Who all shared the same manager, Bil Curbishley and Trinifold Management, up until this past June when Jimmy Page told reporters he had signed with IE Management. In the interview, Daltrey also mentioned Pete Townshend is working on some new material and that they will be on the road next year, possibly with a re-worked Quadrophenia and/or some of Pete's new stuff, if that materializes.

Robert Plant and Band of Joy - Cindy

At the beginning of the month Robert Plant and Band of Joy played a couple of songs at the Americana Awards and Honors Showcase in Nashville. One of the songs was an old American folk song, "Cindy," or "Cindy, I'll Marry You Someday," which is what it is called on the Band of Joy album. The second YouTube video contains the album version.

Incidentally, Band of Joy is (according to Wikipedia):
Patty Griffin – vocals and guitar
Buddy Miller – guitar and vocals
Darrell Scott – vocals, mandolin, guitar, accordion, pedal, lap steel and banjo
Byron House – bass
Marco Giovino – percussion

Robert Plant and Band of Joy in New York

Robert Plant and Band of Joy played a special show at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City on September 12. Apparently the concert was announced a week before and was done to promote the Band of Joy CD released on September 13. The setlist is below. Click here to listen to the concert which aired on NPR. By the way, I am really enjoying the new CD and Patty Griffin is fast becoming one of my favorite female vocalists.

Setlist
Monkey
House of Cards
Please Read the Letter
Misty Mountain Hop
Rich Woman
Trouble
12 Gates to the City
Kings Horses
Satisfied Mind
Move Up
Satan
Central Two O Nine
Angel Dance
Houses of the Holy
Down to the Sea
Tall Cool One
Gallows Pole
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Harms Swift Way
Rock and Roll
Goodnight

Keith Richards On Led Zeppelin

Although I consider myself a fan of the Rolling Stones, I disagree strongly with Keith Richards' sentiments here that "Led Zeppelin is Jimmy Page." I'm not sure why, but Zeppelin has been criticized heavily by rock critics and some of their contemporaries throughout their career. Pete Townshend didn't like their music, although he did say he liked them as people. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, etc. all seemed to have issues with the mighty Zeppelin.

Another example of the disdain for LZ is when the band's manager Peter Grant met Bob Dylan and introduced himself:

"I'm Peter Grant, manger of Led Zeppelin," said Grant.
"I don't come to you with my problems," replied Dylan.

The Who - "Amazing Journey/Sparks" London Coliseum

I haven't posted a version of "Sparks" lately so here we go. The above performance is of The Who at the London Coliseum in 1969. The band released a two-disc DVD a couple of years ago called The Who: Live At Kilburn (1977), which contains the Coliseum show as well. Many think that Pete's guitar work is at its finest during the Coliseum show. Regardless of whether it is his best or not, this performance of "Sparks" is definitely right up at the top with performances at Woodstock, Leeds and Isle of Wight. This concert takes place during Pete's boiler suit days, when he decided it was too much trouble to dress like the hippies so he went with the simple boiler suit.