Led Zeppelin News

Legendary drummer Carmine Appice was recently interviewed by antiMusic.com’s Morley Seaver. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

antiMusic: Vanilla Fudge was the prototype for heavy bands, with your drumming setting the course for a generation to come. What was your mindset when starting this band in terms of how you approach the rhythm to these songs?

Carmine: Well, in those days, it was different from today. There were no p.a. systems, and my style evolved from necessity because I had to flip the sticks backwards. I had to bang on the drums hard which eventually led me to get bigger drums. It’s like anything: bigger amp, bigger louder sound. Bigger drums, louder sound. So I ended up getting oversized drums, which ended up becoming a fad. And then I ended up getting John Bonham the drum set that he wanted which was the same as my drum set. It became the Led Zeppelin drum set. So indirectly I was involved in creating that Led Zeppelin drum set which indirectly helped get the Led Zeppelin drum sound. Then I look at even Spinal Tap, they have the drummer on a riser with two Chinese cymbals and a gong. Those are the two things that I brought. One of the things that I brought was the gong. The other thing was the two Chinas on the boom stand. And the other thing was just the big drum set, the big oversized drum set which became sort of the epitome of what the rock drummer was and with all the twirls and everything, it’s probably a combination of me and Keith Moon on that one. So I did it out of necessity. And then looking back, and people going “wow, you created a whole new genre of rock playing that’s still going on today.” And I go, “Yeah, I guess you’re right, but I didn’t sit down and go, hmmm, I need to create a new genre of rock playing. Let me see how I can do that.” You know? And that’s usually how things happen. When Led Zeppelin first opened for Vanilla Fudge, John Bonham and Robert Plant were brand new kids. They were green. Nobody knew how big this group was going to be. And that’s the way things happen. The Beatles when they got together, they never thought they were going to change the world. They just wanted to play music and have fun, you know. But they ended up changing the world.”

You can read the whole interview at antiMusic.com.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=105799

Singer Robert Plant has ruled out reports that he will embark on a Led Zeppelin reunion tour next year.

A statement posted on his web site says: “Contrary to a spate of recent reports, Robert Plant will not be touring or recording with Led Zeppelin. Anyone buying tickets online to any such event will be buying bogus tickets.”

Plant said, “It’s both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move forward. I wish Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham nothing but success with any future projects.”

Last week, The Sun published a report claiming that Plant had finally decided to join the other members — Jason Bonham, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page — on a full-fledged reunion tour.

In an August 2008 interview with Jim Johnson and Lynne Woodison of the Detroit rock station 94.7 WCSX, Jason Bonham revealed that he had been meeting up with Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones in recent months and that they’d been “trying to do some new material and writing.”

“I’ve been over [to England] a couple of times,” Bonham said. “I’ve been working with Jimmy and John Paul and trying to do … some new material and some writing. I don’t know what it will be, but it will be something. At the moment, all I know is I have the great pleasure to go and jam with the two guys and start work on some material. When I get there, I never ask any questions. If I get a phone call to go and play, I enjoy every moment of it. Whatever it ends up as, to ever get a chance to jam with two people like that, it is a phenomenal thing for me. It’s my life. It’s what I’ve dreamed about doing.”

He added that was still too early to tell what will become of these “jam” sessions, but admitted that the “possibility of doing something is in the cards. I really felt it was in the cards from the moment we walked offstage at the [Led Zeppelin reunion concert at] O2 [in London in December 2007].”

Robert Plant and bluegrass superstar Alison Krauss are currently touring the USA on the last leg of their “Raising Sand” tour. They played a benefit concert in Oklahoma City for victims of Hurricane Ike last Friday; Austin, Texas last Saturday and tomorrow they play Portland, Oregon before finishing the tour in Saratoga, California on October 5.

After those dates, Robert has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years, according to a statement posted on his web site.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=105779

Led Zeppelin drummer Jason Bonham put his £1.4million country house up for sale yesterday - amid rumours the band are preparing for a world tour.

Guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones, and Jason have been planning gigs for next summer.

Now a source says Robert Plant, reluctant to tour after the O2 reunion in 2007, could also join them after hearing they were considering going ahead with a stand-in lead singer.

Jason, 42, son of the late John Bonham, the original drummer, put his 5,700 sq ft pad on the market ready for a move to Florida.

The seven-bed house, with three acres, in Burlingham, Worcs, is up for £1.35m. His estate agent said: “He loves it and doesn’t want to sell, but it’s impractical with spending time overseas.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/09/27/zep-s-jason-sells-up-for-world-tour-115875-20755279/