Black Sabbath celebrate ‘shock year’ at Classic Rock Awards
Black Sabbath won three awards at last night’s Classic Rock Roll Of Honour, sponsored by Orange Amplification in association with Currencies.co.uk.
They took home Album Of The Year for comeback title 13, Event Of The Year for reaching number one after 43 years, and the previously announced Living Legends award. Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were present at London’s Roundhouse venue to celebrate what the frontman called a “shock year.”
The gala event, presented to an invited audience by prog musician Fish, also celebrated the work of Led Zeppelin, John Mayall, Wilko Johnson, Zakk Wylde and others.
Osbourne said: “I never thought I’d be standing here, what, 45 years later? It’s an incredible event for us all. We’re still in shock. It’s been an incredible year, after I spent all those earlier ones trying to kill myself.”
Bandmate Iommi, who’s continued to tour with the band despite receiving cancer treatment, said: “Thanks for everything – it’s great to see all these old and new faces.”
Classic Rock Awards as it happened
Jimmy Page accepted the FIlm Of The Year award for Led Zeppelin concert movie Celebration Day, saying: “It was a great concert and we got the energy into the video – well, the DVD… and the Blu-ray. I’m here on behalf of the band and I thank you on their behalf.”
Page returned to the stage to present Wilko Johnson with the Inspiration award. The former Dr Feelgood guitarist, who’s suffering from terminal cancer, laughed: “They told me I had ten months to live and ten months have gone by. How long can this go on? We don’t know. But it’s particularly gratifying to receive this recognition of my efforts.”
John Mayall was given the Classic Album gong for 1966 release Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, recalling: “We had a lot of fun with it – we just did what we did on stage and had no designs other than making an honest album. The label never did understand how it sold so well.”
Other awards went to Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, Rory Gallagher, Mott The Hoople, and rising stars The Temperance Movement and The Virginmarys.
Classic Rock Roll Of Honour 2013
Best New Band, sponsored by Kraken: The Temperance Movement
Reissue Of The Year, sponsored by Alchemy: Fleetwood Mac, Rumours 35th Anniversary Edition
Film Of The Year: Led Zeppelin, Celebration Day
Album Of The Year, sponsored by Live Nation: Black Sabbath, 13
Band Of The Year, sponsored by Investec: The Rolling Stones
Breakthrough, sponsored by Fuji: The Virginmarys
Spirit Of Prog, sponsored by USM/UMC: Alex Lifeson of Rush
Event Of The Year, sponsored by Roadrunner Records: Black Sabbath hits No1 after 43 years
Innovator, sponsored by Rocksmith: Wilko Johnson
Musicians’ Union Maestro: James Dean Bradfield, Manic Street Preachers
Classic Album, sponsored by Eagle Rock: Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton by John Mayall
Showman, sponsored by Butlins: The Darkness
Outstanding Contribution, sponsored by Monitor Audio: Mott The Hoople
Metal Guru, sponsored by Mascot Label Group: Zakk Wylde
VIP, sponsored by Currencies.co.uk: Shep Gordon
Tommy Vance Inspiration, sponsored by Spinefarm Records: Rory Gallagher
Living Legends, sponsored by Orange Amplification: Black Sabbath
source: classicrockmagazine.com
Blues rock pioneer Bobby Parker dies at 76
Blues rock guitarist Bobby Parker, best known for his 1961 track Watch Your Step and credited as “the only musician the Beatles admitted to stealing from” has died at the age of 76, it’s been reported.
Bassist Anthony B Rucker, who often collaborated often with the pioneering artist, confirmed the news, saying: “It is with a heavy heart I thank you, Bobby, for all that you have done for me. I’m so glad I had one last chance to play with you a couple of weeks ago. See ya on the other side.”
Born in Louisiana and raised in Los Angeles, Robert Lee Parker’s first professional gig was with Otis Williams and the Charms in the 1950s, followed by stints with Bo Diddley, Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
Watch Your Step inspired the Beatles’ song I Feel Fine, with John Lennon once saying they’d used the riff “in various forms” throughout their career. Led Zeppelin made use of it in Moby Dick. The track was also covered by the Spencer Davis Group, Dr Feelgood and Carlos Santana, who once said: “Bobby inspired me to play guitar – he’s one of the few remaining guitarists who can pierce your heart and soothe your soul.”
In 2008 Parker reflected: “Watch Your Step was a culmination of blues rock guitar that nobody else had ever thought of. Mine was First. The United States was engulfed by Motown, but the whole world knew when I recorded Watch Your Step that I broke the brick wall of the sameness of Motown.
“I sent music in another direction worldwide, especially for guitarists like Jimmy Page, Santana, Eric Clapton and millions of others. Everybody who was anybody knew Bobby Parker alone penned the lick that created what’s known as the British revolution.
“I heard 600 or more blatant copycat recordings – everybody was playing my lick and trying to claim it, the Beatles included. Even now I hear copycat riffs in TV commercials.” He laughed: “I wish they’d come up with a different riff and leave mine alone…”
The track’s success led to international touring and an offer of a record deal from Jimmy Page, which didn’t work out. Parker spent the 1970s and 1980s based in Washington DC and out of international acclaim, but returned to the spotlight with his first solo album Bent Out Of Shape in 1993, followed by Shine Me Up in 1995. He remained active until his death, having played a series of blues festivals during the summer. Recently he said: “I keep doing it for the music and the people – I love the people.”
Parker has songwriting credits for a total of 55 tracks including his two other singles, Blues Get Off My Shoulder from 1958 and It’s Hard To be Fair from 1968.
source: classicrockmagazine.com
Maiden, Queen, Led Zep men guest on Sunflower Superjam DVD
Two years of Sunflower Jam shows will be released on DVD next month, featuring members of Iron Maiden, Queen and Led Zeppelin – plus late Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord’s final live performance.
Main feature is the 2012 Sunflower Jam, held at London’s Royal Albert Hall, which saw the the stage shared by Bruce Dickinson, Brian May, John Paul Jones, Alice Cooper, Ian Paice, Mark King, Alfie Boe and others.
A bonus disc carries the previous year’s show in the same location, at which Lord made his last public musical appearance ahead of his passing from cancer. Performances also came from Deep Purple, Rick Wakeman, Joe Bonamassa and others.
Both events raised funds for the Sunflower Jam charity, which provides complementary treatment to young victims of cancer. The Sunflower Superjam DVD goes on sale on September 16. Find out more.
Next year’s event will be a tribute to Lord, who co-founded the charity in 2005. Dickinson, Wakeman and members of Purple are set to perform on April 4, with full details to be announced in due course.
Tracklist
DVD1Ain’t No Telling: The Temperance Movement
Behind Blue Eyes: Bruce Dickinson
Black Night: Bruce Dickinson
Elected: Alice Cooper
Emerald: Bruce Dickinson
I Want To Know What Love Is: Alfie Boe
Lessons In Love: Mark King
Pictured Within: Steve Balsamo
Rock’n'Roll: Alfie Boe
Sails of Charon: Uli Jon Roth
School’s Out: Alice Cooper
Since You’ve Been Gone: Brian May & Kerry Ellis
Smoke On The Water: Ensemble
Something About You: Mark King
This Wheel’s On Fire: Sandi Thom
DVD 2
2011 footage
Bohemian Rhapsody: Newton Faulkner
Born To Run: Danny Bowes
Bourée: Jon Lord
Eleanor Rigby: Rick Wakeman
Good Golly Miss Molly: Gary Brooker
I Just Want To Make Love To You: Margo Buchanan
It’s Not As Big As It Was: Jon Lord & Rick Wakeman
Life on Mars: Newton Faulkner
Midnight Blues: Joe Bonamassa
Pictured Within: Steve Balsamo
Smoke on the Water: Deep Purple feat. Bill Bailey
The Ballad of John Henry: Joe Bonamassa
The Thrill Is Gone: Joe Bonamassa
Whiter Shade of Pale: Gary Brooker
2012 footage
Freedom Jazz Dance: Brian Auger
Born Free: Brian May & Kerry Ellis
I Loved A Butterfly: Brian May & Kerry Ellis
Substitute: Margo Buchanan
Help Me: Sandi Thom
November Rain: Sandi Thom
Only Friend: The Temperance Movement
source: classicrockmagazine.com
Robert Plant Joins Patty Griffin on ‘Ohio,’ First Single From ‘American Kid’ Album
The first single from Patty Griffin’s new album ‘American Kid’ features Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant on harmonies. ‘Ohio,’ is much more than a vocal collaboration between the two however. Griffin credits her longtime partner with bringing the track to its final resting place.
“I had the song in an odd shape and couldn’t really figure out how to use it,” Griffin told USA Today, who is premiering the single. “He came in and arranged it so that it became what it is. He came up with the tempo and the mood on it.”
Previously, Plant and Griffin worked together on the first Band of Joy album. They’re also thought to be in a personal relationship.
‘Ohio’ is about the Underground Railroad, and Griffin says it was inspired by a Toni Morrison novel. The Americana track is a textured blend of strings and percussion, but despite a complex arrangement it never loses a sense of organic.
“Meet me in the evening where the river is low / Meet me on the waters of the Ohio,” Griffin and Plant sing to begin the rooty cut.
‘American Kid’ is Griffin’s first album of entirely new music since 2007. Plant is expected to lend his vocals to at least two other songs on the album. A new Band of Joy album is expected for later in 2013.
source: ultimateclassicrock.com
Led Zeppelin to Visit 'Letterman'
John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin will visit the Late Show With David Letterman when the show broadcasts from Washington D.C. on December 3rd. The rockers, along with Letterman, are among the recipients of this year's Kennedy Center Honors, which take place December 2nd. There's no word on if the band will play on the show.
The 35th Annual Kennedy Center Honors will air December 26th.
source: rollingstone.com
Robert Plant Records 'Rockin'' New Material With Buddy Miller
Although Jimmy Page says the prospects for a Led Zeppelin reunion aren't looking good, fans may well have the considerable consolation of a rocking new Robert Plant solo record to look forward to in 2013.
Band of Joy guitarist and producer Buddy Miller tells Rolling Stone that the Led Zeppelin singer visited his home studio in Nashville last year for a casual joint songwriting session that proved fertile, yielding an inspired batch of songs that the pair quickly recorded with Band of Joy drummer Marco Giovino.
"We didn't mean to, but we sort of wrote a record's worth [of material] and I said, 'While we're doing this, why don't I put up some mics and document it,' because that's better than just trying to remember it or record it on your phone," Miller explains. "And it sounded so good I think we, you know, accidentally made a record."
It's not finished yet, and there's no indication whether Plant will actually release it when it is, so Miller chooses his words carefully. "I don't know how much [Robert] would want me talkin' about it," he says, though he does allow that the songs they recorded would make for a raw counterpart to Plant's 2010 LP Band of Joy. "If the last record might be pastoral, parts of it, [this one's] much more tribal; it's much more urgent and tribal and, dare I say, rockin'!"
Plant has plenty to keep him busy for now, between the new Celebration Day concert film and news that Jimmy Page is working on remastered box sets for each of Zeppelin's albums, which means it may take a while for the new songs to surface. "He's Robert Plant and he can do whatever he wants to," Miller says. "He's got some Zeppelin stuff coming up now, so it's going to be next year before [the record] sees the light of day, that's what we're talking about."
Plant wasn't the only English singer to stop by Miller's place. Richard Thompson also found himself cutting tracks there, after the producer persuaded him during a visit to Nashville earlier this year. "I said, ‘Hey, you're in Nashville, how can you not [utilize] a few of these amazing players we have here?'"
As a result, Miller, Thompson and Thompson's rhythm section worked up an album in just a couple of weeks. "I played along on the record, playing rhythm guitar for him, and I got a two-week guitar lesson while he camped out in my house," Miller said of the sessions, which featured contributions from famed bluegrass fiddler Stuart Duncan and Alison Krauss, who sings on a song.
Thompson has yet to settle on a title for the album, which is due next year on New West Records. "We're going back and forth on the title," Miller says, joking. "So I wouldn't want to say, because what I'd have to say now, I'm hoping will change."
Miller also recently teamed with singer-songwriter and Americana architect Jim Lauderdale for Buddy & Jim, a duets record due December 10th on New West. "We made it in three days, but it's so good it sounds like it took four," Miller jokes. In August the pair also launched the Buddy & Jim Show on Sirius XM's Outlaw Country channel.
Jimmy Page remastering Led Zeppelin catalogue
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has nearly finished remastering the band’s entire back-catalogue.
His manager Peter Mench told the Sunday Times that Page is currently holed up in a west London recording studio creating 21st-century versions of Led Zep’s nine-album body of work.
No further details are available – but given the furore surrounding the band’s recent activities, a re-release campaign is likely to be extremely high profile.
More than 20 million people signed up for the lottery to grab the 18,000 tickets available for their 2007 reunion show. The band’s Facebook page has gained 6.8 million likes – up by nearly 75% since they announced and later released their Celebration Day movie.
It’s possible the Led Zeppelin remasters could be released in a format similar to Pink Floyd’s Immersion series, which coupled the official album with demos, unfinished material and alternative takes. Floyd aimed to underline just why they deserve their high status – and Led Zep are well capable of making the same claim.
It’s thought the re-release campaign will take place next year.
source: classicrockmagazine.com
App offers iWitness reports
An iPhone and iPad app offers first-hand accounts of some of rock’n'roll’s formative moments by the people who took part.
The release, entitled iWitness, is compiled by renowned music writer Johnny Black, and includes material covering the Clash to Eric Clapton and the Beatles to Nirvana.
Entries include Elvis Presley recording his first record, Pink Floyd’s Venice concert, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours sessions, Kate Bush’s early career and the formation of Crosby, Stills and Nash.
Kurt Cobain talks about putting Nirvana together, The Clash recall their first US tour, Eric Clapton discusses Cream, Deep Purple reflect on recording Smoke on the Water and Sir George Martin reveals details of recording the Beatles.
iWitness also includes features on Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Band Aid and much more. Each event is located on Google Maps and every report links to iTunes so readers can further explore artists’ histories.
The app is on sale now via the Apple App Store, costing $2.99 / £1.99.
source: classicrockmagazine.com
jimmy page on another led zeppelin reunion 'i don't see It'
At one point in Celebration Day, the new film of Led Zeppelin's 2007 reunion concert in London, the camera stays long and tight on Jimmy Page's hands as they execute the introduction to "Stairway to Heaven" on the six-string neck of his double-neck Gibson guitar. It is one of rock's most iconic riffs, played in full and close-up by the composer, at one of his band's greatest and most important shows.
"With Led Zeppelin, it has always been that mystique of how the music is done – how it works, why it works," Page says on the phone from London a couple of weeks before Celebration Day's worldwide theatrical premiere on October 17th. "The closer you can get in on that and the more lingering it is, the better."
Celebration Day, which will be commercially released in various audio and visual formats on November 19th, is nothing more or less than Zeppelin's entire two-hour performance on December 10th, 2007, at London's O2 Arena. The concert, a benefit and tribute to the late Atlantic Records chief Ahmet Ertegun, was the first full Zeppelin show by Page, singer Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones since the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. Bonham's son, Jason, took his father's place for the night, which is shown without backstage footage and includes minimal shots of the ecstatic audience. Instead, director Dick Carruthers – who shot the concert with more than a dozen cameras – provides extended close-ups of the band members in action: Plant in bluestrance moan during "Since I've Been Loving You"; Jones threading the folk-rock gallop of "Ramble On" with low-end countermelodies; everyone turning to Jason in admiration during his volcanic solo at the end of "Rock and Roll."
Celebration Day is "almost like being onstage with us," Jones says. "We always had that interaction," he adds, referring to Zeppelin's legendary concert prowess in the Seventies. "But nobody could see it, because the lighting wasn't there." Before the O2 show, Jones notes, "I remember Dick saying in one of the early meetings, 'I'm going to need 14 cameras.' Everybody went, 'What?' It paid off."
Page recalls walking off stage after the reunion concert feeling "really high. That's the truth. It was a serious test, and we passed it, all of us. And we had an extraordinary communion on the stage. That's alive and well when you see it." But it was quite a while – Page can't remember how long – before he saw a rough cut of Carruthers' footage ("We didn't rush into the editing suite to have it out for Christmas").
In fact, Plant and Jones viewed that cut first. "We came away raving," Jones says. "It was very fitting to the experience. We called Jimmy and said, 'You've gotta see this.'"
"The thing about Led Zeppelin was that it was always four musicians at the top of their game, but they could play like a band," Page says. "Even in the first couple of rehearsal days, running up to the O2, we were playing pretty good. But we really wanted to shine as a band." He cites the set list's opening sequence – from the surprise opener, "Good Times Bad Times," from 1969's Led Zeppelin, into "Ramble On" and the tortuous crunch of "Black Dog." "I wanted people to feel, 'They're taking this seriously.'
"And I have to tell you, the rehearsals were all quite different," Page says, "so much in that Zeppelin spirit and character." To prove it, a deluxe edition of the DVD will include footage from the band's only full-scale production rehearsal before the O2 concert. "You get the urgency of that night, but also the determination that was in rehearsal."
Inevitably, Celebration Day has set off more reunion talk. At a London press conference announcing the film, Plant raved about the O2 performance: "To get back in the middle of that music was a spectacular experience." But he and Page evaded questions about additional shows. When asked if the movie marks the end of Zeppelin, once and for all, Jones – who is busy writing an opera and collaborating with Robyn Hitchcock and the Norwegian group Supersilent – responds, "When I move house, I never look back at the house and go, 'Oh, that's the last moment I'll see there.' I always move forward."
"That's a good answer," Page says, laughing. But he is more direct. "I think if there had been any more concerts to be done, we'd already be talking about them. So I don't see it." Celebration Day, he adds, "is a testament to what we did in 2007. There it is."
Led Zeppelin Dodge Reunion Questions
Led Zeppelin dodged questions about possible reunion shows when surviving members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones gathered for a press conference to launch Celebration Day, the film of their one-off concert at London's O2 Arena in 2007, The Guardian reports.
"Let me ask you a question," responded Page when first asked about a reunion. "Have you seen the film? Did you enjoy it? Then we've done our job, haven't we?"
Plant kept up the evading, rather than flat out denying: When another reporter asked if Zeppelin would "do it again," the singer replied, "With you?"
The band also spoke about the concert film itself, which features all 16 cuts played at the 2007 concert, a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the iconic Atlantic Records head who first signed Zeppelin in 1968. The film will be released to theaters October 17th and will be available on multi-format home release on November 19th.
When asked whether any of the live tracks were overdubbed, Page noted that they were kept to a minimum while Plant admitted some of the lyrics at the end of "Kashmir" were edited "because I was running out of steam."
Filling in for late drummer John Bonham at that concert was his son, Jason. His performance was "absolutely monumental," Page said. "Nobody else could have done it."
It wasn't the first time the younger Bonham had drummed with the group, as Plant noted: "We played with him before, at his wedding," said the frontman. "But sadly he decided to go to bed at his wedding reception. Because I was a friend of the family from way back, I was the one who had to go to his room and get him out of bed."
source: rollingstone.com
Flashback: Led Zeppelin Jams With Neil Young

Led Zeppelin's 1995 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame came at a very awkward time for the band. The previous year Jimmy Page and Robert Plant reunited for a tour, but they failed to invite bassist John Paul Jones. He first learned about their plans when he read about them in a newspaper. At the podium to accept the award, Jones couldn't resist a dig at his bandmates. "Thank you, my friends," he said. "For finally remembering my phone number."
Despite the tension, the group agreed to perform a three-song set that featured John Bonham's son Jason Bonham on drums. They brought out Steven Tyler and Joe Perry for their opening number of "Bring It On Home," and at the end Neil Young joined them for a sloppy, eight-minute rendition of "When the Levee Breaks." Toward the end of the song Plant sings a bit of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" as a tribute to Young. It was the last time that Zeppelin performed together until their 2007 reunion concert in London.
According to Jimmy McDonough's Neil Young biography Shakey, the experience was so thrilling for Young that he briefly thought about recording a whole album with Zeppelin. Needless to say, that never happened. Page and Plant did agree to one more album and tour in 1998. John Paul Jones wasn't invited to be a part of that, either.
DVD Review: Robert Plant and the Band of Joy

Bands take time to find themselves. At first, they’re strangers in search of a sound — a signature that says more about them together than any individual player’s style could alone. If they don’t find it, they’ll end up as just hired hands, punching the clock for the pushiest player’s vision.
Band of Joy learned that the hard way. In 2010, leader Robert Plant gathered some well-seasoned musicians in Nashville for a project meant to follow up a wildly successful band he’d formed with Alison Krauss. Raising expectations even higher, Plant named his new fivesome after the band he played in with drummer John Bonham, just before the two got tapped for some group named Led Zeppelin.
Unfortunately, the studio CD Band of Joy concocted ended up sounding like a pale and constipated sequel to the Krauss project. Only after they went on tour did the tentative new group find itself as a band — in the most stirring sense of the term, no less.
Proof lies in a new DVD, “Live From the Artists Den,” which captures Band of Joy’s date in Nashville (where they recorded their stodgy studio work). The DVD mirrors my memory of the Beacon show from the same tour in January 2011, a performance which ranks among the most electrifying I’ve seen Plant give. And, yes, that includes the Zeppelin dates I saw in the ’70s.
Only on the road did Band of Joy learn to play in intimate synch. The rhythm section of bassist Byron House and drummer Marco Giovino lay down a deep and warming foundation for the rest to play away on. Giovino sits way back in the beat, leaving lots of room for the high-flying solos of pedal steel player Darrell Scott and ax-man Buddy Miller. Miller emerges as a full-fledged guitar hero in the flamboyant ’60s fashion.
If Miller adds the strongest rock influence, the others bring in tricked-out elements of country, folk and blues.
Zeppelin touchstones like “Black Dog” hew closer to swamp blues, oozing with voodoo beats that come straight from the bayou. Zep’s “Tangerine” exaggerates its original country twang, while “Houses of the Holy” moves from psychedelia to a roots-rock swing.
Besides the six Zeppelin songs, Band of Joy offer cuts from their studio album, but with far more grease, along with a Plant solo song (“In the Mood”) and some gospel and folk pieces. The latter cuts allow the other singers to show their mettle, including the churchy shouts of Patty Griffin on “Move Up,” and the caring moans of Darrell Scott and Miller on their leads.
Plant himself pares down his vocals from his Golden God role to become a credible country raconteur. Perhaps the only letdown is the take on Zep’s “Rock ’n’ Roll,” which returns it to rote rockabilly — exactly what the 1971 original subverted.
Luckily, in the rest, Joy wind up idealizing the very notion of a live band — one that seems both ruthlessly tight and utterly free all at once.
Led Zeppelin vs. The Who Who'd You Rather?
Question is ...
Source: TMZ
The Most Influential Band
Even pop artists of recent generation idolize and get their inspiration from Led Zeppelin. The tremendous charisma the band has is because their music has a mix of everything. Their songs were a blend of blues, pop, folk, reggae and many more. That is the main reason why most people relate to their music. It has no specific genre. If you want to compare their style of music, it's like America in a sense that it is the melting pot of different playing styles. Sharing those unique music captured the people's hearts.
If you still do not believe me then you are clearly not watching the news lately. Their reunion concert was the talk of the entertainment industry. Not only that, it was attended by numerous artists from RnB and hip hop icons, to pop and Rock artists. It means that the band is really and will still remain influential to them.
For more information about Led Zeppelin, and a complete listing of their lyrics, visit Led Zeppelin Lyrics.
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