Deborah Bonham has signed a new deal with Rhino Records/Warner Music Group.
Her new album Duchess and the Shufflemeister will be released world wide in September.
Congratulations Deborah from your friends at led-zeppelin.org.
Thanks to Adam Vickery
The sixth annual BBC Radio 3 Awards For World Music were held this past weekend at London’s Barbican (May 27, 2007). Robert Plant was on hand to present an award to one of his musical idols, Mahmoud Ahmed.
Mahmoud Ahmed is both a living legend and something of a mystery in the West. Undeniably Ethiopia’s most famous singer of its “golden era”, the three albums reissued of his recordings by French label Buda Musique as part of their Ethiopiques series have captured Western listeners in the same way that, say, the reissues of Robert Johnson’s Delta blues did a previous generation.
Plant: “From the Atlantic shores: the music, sometimes primeval, often contemporary, all engaging, lyrical and vibrant, but music from another world songs of the corruption, of the city despair, hunger, changing landscapes, hope, loyalty and love.”
“Tonight we celebrate Mahmoud, an unusual singer. His music, his musicians, his style.. sultry, city, low-light imply a very different African groove-zone. His recordings for us, like Robert Johnson’s, obscured for many years and arriving from nowhere pre-Ethiopic. They become small amulets for me, a treasure to carry on my journeys and I’m very proud to present this award to Mahmoud Ahmed.”
(Click on “Watch his performance”. This segment begins at approx 3min)
John Bonham will be featured the the July issue of Traps Magazine, an affiliate of Drum! magazine. More details to come.
John Paul Jones appeared alongside Robyn Hitchcock and Ruby Wright at last night’s tribute concert to Syd Barrett at the Barbican in London. John joined Robyn and Ruby for a version of the Barrett number Gigolo Aunt and was also part of the finale performance of Syd’s classic Bike. The evening’s highlights included performances by the remaining Pink Floyd members, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright - though not together.
Waters performed his number Flickering Flame and the other three members performed the 1967 Barrett era Floyd hit Arnold Layne. Profits from the concert were donated to the mental health charity SANE, nominated by the Barrett family. Full details of the show can be found here at the Brain Damage website.
Over the weekend of April 26 - 29, John Paul Jones made several appearances at the Merlefest 2007 in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. John appeared with Uncle Earl, The Duhks, The Sam Bush Band and took part in many festival jam sessions. The Duhks and JPJ’s mandolin driven version of Whole Lotta Love can be found on YouTube and full audio downloads from the festival can be found on the Merlefest2007 website. John Paul last played at the festival in 2005 with The Mutual Admiration Society.
The German LZ 129 Hindenburg was, along with its sister ship, LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II, the largest aircraft ever built. It was named after Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934), president of Germany from 1925 until his death.
During the Hindenburg’s second year of service, its tail caught fire on landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, N.J., on May 6, 1937. Within seconds, the ship’s 6 million cubic feet of hydrogen was ablaze. The airship was destroyed, and 36 passengers and crewmen were killed.
Many theories and hypotheses — ranging from lightning to sabotage — have been floated over the years, but a definitive cause is still not known.
The Hindenburg fire is widely remembered as one of the most dramatic incidents ever.
Heavy publicity about the zeppelin’s first passenger flight of the year to the United States had drawn an extraordinary array of journalists to the landing site. Best remembered is Herbert Morrison’s on-the-scene radio report.
What surprises today’s audiences is that Morrison’s report was recorded and not actually broadcast until the next day. Parts of it were later dubbed onto the newsreel footage, giving a false impression that the words and film were recorded together.
Nevertheless, Morrison’s spontaneous exclamation “Oh, the humanity!” resonates with the impact of the disaster.
According to The Times-Picayune, former LED ZEPPELIN frontman Robert Plant flew into New Orleans late last month to work on a Fats Domino tribute album.
He joined a roster of marquee names, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Tom Petty, Tim McGraw, Norah Jones, Lenny Kravitz, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Randy Newman, who have either recorded, or committed to record, Domino songs.
Proceeds from the tribute album, scheduled for a fall release on Vanguard Records, will benefit the Tipitina’s Foundation.
Established in 2004, the nonprofit foundation has greatly expanded its mission since Hurricane Katrina. More than $1 million has been raised to assist New Orleans musicians and train the next generation. Recently, the foundation donated $100,000 to rebuild Domino’s flooded home in the Lower 9th Ward. The Domino tribute CD is the foundation’s most ambitious undertaking to date.
According to The Daily Advertiser, Plant jumped on stage at Tipitina’s in New Orleans on April 21 to perform three impromptu songs with the Soweto Gospel Choir, the South African group that performed April 22 at the Heymann Performing Arts Center.
Steve Lynn of Glenwood Springs, Colorado’s Post Independent reports that a former local club owner reached a $40,000 settlement Wednesday with several famous musicians, including Van Halen Music Company and LED ZEPPELIN’s Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Patricia Bonham, who sued him for allowing cover bands to play their songs at 8150.
Steven Kovacik, former owner of 8150, called the settlement unfair.
“I don’t think it’s fair for one show, are you crazy?” Kovacik said.
Van Halen Music Company and the ZEPPELIN members were all named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Feb. 16 that contended Kovacik allowed public performances of their songs at 8150. The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado, named Kovacik as a defendant.
Read more at Post Independent