#ahmet ertegun tribute concert

[not-your-pussikat]

Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (Live from Celebration Day) (Official Video)

#youtube #led zeppelin #robert plant #jimmy page #john paul jones #jason bonham #kashmir #faves #favorite songs #ahmet ertegun tribute concert

[paginate54]

Dave Lewis, LZ chronicler, on Robert's performance of Stairway. From Led Zeppelin Celebration Days FB page:

Some personal thoughts on this performance of Stairway To Heaven...

There was something profoundly moving watching the YouTube footage of Robert Plant performing Stairway To Heaven at the Andy Taylor concert.

This was the first live public airing of the song since the Led Zeppelin 02 Reunion on December 10 2007.

Before I delve in to this subject, Robert’s entire appearance was captivating. Thank you delivered with much emotion, Black Dog hammed up brilliantly and the version of Season of the Witch segueing into a reprise of Black Dog lyrics and Buffalo Springfield’s For What it’s Worth – as in the LA Forum 1970 Blueberry Hill bootleg.

Incidentally, bassist on the night Guy Pratt noted that he has now performed Black Dog with both Robert and Jimmy Page – he was part of the touring band on the Coverdale Page Japan visit in late 1993. The band line up on the night consisted of the aforementioned Guy, former Reef guitarist Kenwyn House (wearing a dragon patterned shirt shades of Jimmy perhaps), Rod Stewart’s drummer David Palmer, Andy Taylor plus Andy Taylor’s son Andy J Taylor on guitar, singer Anne Rani and musician Dino Jelusick on keyboard and backing vocals.

So back to Stairway To Heaven...

We have all had a journey with this song over the years. Mine commenced on April 4 1971 when I heard it on my radio listening to Led Zeppelin’s BBC In Concert performance on Radio One’s John Peel show. I’d heard Jimmy in an interview describing how it had come together in various sections building to a climax. Sure enough this tentative version did just that.

I first saw it performed live on Sunday November 21 1971 at the Empire Pool Wembley – an extraordinary night. It was of course one of the stand out tracks on their just released fourth album.

It went to attain legendary status – the most played record on American radio and from 1975 the rightful finale to every Led Zeppelin live performance.

Like many of their songs the arrangement was often toyed with, not least by the singer who over time added many an ad - lib to the lyrics. As it was performed on every Led Zep show, this enabled the song to retain a freshness.

The first ad-lib I recall was when he inserted the line ''you are the children of the sun'' during the version to be heard on the classic bootleg Going To California from their performance in Berkeley on September 14 1971. From 1973 onwards 'Does anybody remember laughter?‘’ was an expected insert after the line ‘’and the forest will echo with laughter.’’

By 1975, Robert had changed the line ‘’your stairway’’ to ‘’our stairway’’ adding the line ‘’that’s all we got.’’ As I witnessed in awe from the side of the stage during their 1980 Over Europe performances , Robert added ‘’I keep chopin’ and changin'’’ as they led into the climax.

Post Zep, Robert has sang Stairway To Heaven’’ it a mere four times – at Live Aid in 1985, the Atlantic 40th anniversary show in 1988, a sweet truncated version with Jimmy Page in a TV studio in Japan in 1994 and at the Led Zeppelin O2 tribute concert for Ahmet Ertegun where he proclaimed after the song ‘’Ahmet we did it!’’

Well now he has done it again….

The obvious question is why now and why on this occasion?

There’s no doubt it was a special occasion being a concert staged by the ex - Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor. Andy has had serious cancer health issues and staged this concert in aid of Cancer Awareness Trust.

As well as performing on the night, Robert donated his personal gold disc of Led Zeppelin IV for the auction –as he put it ''our not so difficult fourth album.'' A part of this was featured on the video stream and it had clocked an initial £50,000 bid.“I love this music and I still love it now very much although I get a bit coy and shy when I have to go near it because it was such a long time ago,” he said.

In an interview with Led Zep News guitarist Kenwyn House revealed that Robert Plant chose to perform Stairway To Heaven after a wealthy donor agreed to donate a six-figure sum to charity if he did so.

So, a special occasion deems a special song for a very worthy cause.

It says everything for Robert’s ease with the Zep legacy, that he could perform this once millstone around his neck with such dignity.

As we know Stairway To Heaven became much maligned and a victim of much parody – and let’s not mention that farcical version by a disgraced not so all round entertainer.

Although he was quick to decry it in the immediate post Zep years, I happen to think Robert is rightly proud of the song, as he is the whole Zep legacy.

Who can forget his tearful reaction to the Wilson sisters and Jason’s performance at the Kennedy Honours in 2012?

So, with none of the pressure of performing it on a big stage and at a pressurised Zep related occasion, he was able to slot it in at this charity event with little fuss.

It worked majestically….

With an ad- hoc line up with few rehearsals, the arrangement was always going to be more loose than tight. That mattered little, as his vocal phrasing was absolutely spot on and what a joy it was to hear him sing this song with a calm control. Some subtle backing vocals aided the tranquil mood.

Here’s the thing – Robert Plant sang it as though he really meant it – confident in his skin at revisiting a major part of his past. Looking good with the mic off held in that familiar pose we know so well.

I wonder what was going through his mind? I know for me it prompted so many precious memories.

There were no ad-libs this time in what was out a fairly straight rendering – the guitar solo was neat and compact and they were back in for the grand finale. Here, Robert slowed things down and the key with it avoiding any strained vocals and he even sang the last section ‘’To be a rock and not to roll’’ for a second time – making it a unique arrangement. He did retain the ''our Stairway'' sentiment.

It was also unique for being the only time he has performed Stairway To Heaven without Jimmy Page...

The final ‘’and she’s buying’’ line was delivered with a delicate finesse – watching it prompted some instant flashbacks.

Momentarily I was back at Earls Court as the mirrorballs spun above them, back in that field just outside Stevenage when they came back to reclaim their crown (''so many people who've helped us over the years - no more people more important than yourselves who who came here on a blind date -this is for you all of yer'') and at home in 1985 watching the TV as the camera panned out to 90,00 watching them re group in Philadelphia for Live Aid.

I also thought about all the much missed friends and Zep comrades who are no longer around to enjoy this special moment...

All that was enough to prompt a huge lump in my throat and a tear in my eye.

Then Robert really sealed it.

Firstly he dedicated the performance to Andy:

“I know that in this contemporary age of digital stuff there’s every likelihood that other people will see that,” he said, facing Taylor. “So if they do, I offer it up to you and your success and to the whole deal that has happened here today and the future of it all.

And also so it’s not just that, I offer it up to Led Zeppelin, wherever they are”

Andy Taylor replied ‘’God bless ‘em there’s a lot of drummers in the sky we love.’’

Let's ponder on that statement...

''I offer this up to Led Zeppelin wherever they are''

It felt like he was giving the song back to his former bandmates and back to his audience – To the privileged few who were lucky enough to witness this special occasion and beyond that to countless fans like me and you.

Deep in the heart of the Cotswold's on an October Saturday evening Robert reclaimed a major part of his history and ours.

It’s likely he may never ever sing Stairway To Heaven this song again and if he doesn’t, it’s had a suitably poignant send off.

There was none of the pressure of the previous post Led Zep performances. It happened for a great cause and for a great fellow Midlands based musician.

I am aiming to be up in the Midlands in a few days’ time for the Saving Grace featuring Suzi Dian gig at the Birmingham Symphony Hall.

I am eagerly looking forward to it, not least after witnessing the YouTube video of this Andy Taylor tribute. For at 75 he is singing so brilliantly and his enjoyment as to where he is at in these advancing years is both inspiring and infectious.

Knowing that Robert Plant is at one with Led Zeppelin’s most famous song makes it all just a little bit more comforting.

As the song states ‘’If you listen very hard the tune will come to you at last’’

I’m still listening to Robert Plant intensely – as are countless others…

Dave Lewis - October 27 2023

#Stairway to Heaven 2023 #Robert Plant Stairway to Heaven #Led Zeppelin #I've changed my opinion a bit but still seems some personal connection may have ended #Youtube

[thegroovywitch]

December 5, 2007: Led Zeppelin rehearse at Shepperton Studios, London, five days before their Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert at the O2 Arena.

#the sound is crystal clear i'm in: LOVE #spinning records with dee dee 🎶 #led zeppelin #jimmy page #robert plant #jason bonham #john paul jones #classic rock #rock

[serpentinesheldonserpentine]

Report Card: Class of 1977

The Sex Pistols.

British rock historians opinions aside, I doubt the guys read a bunch of Guy Debord Situationist agitprop. More likely when he wasn’t hanging at Malcom and Vivian’s Sex store Steve Jones was busy stealing guitars from the Stones, among others.

So, how does the music stack up? The Pistols played Iike the bastard sons of Eddie Cochran, hard, tight, and badass. Lydon/Rotten provided extra attitude, not that they needed it. Their one record is extraordinary and belongs in your collection. I think Robert Mitchum would have enjoyed Matlock, Jones, and Cook’s playing. He woulda punched Lydon.

Blondie.

Smart, hip, and essential. Whether they were mining old Girl Group sounds, playing tight pop numbers like Look Good In Blue, or hipping the squares to rap, they were the among the coolest cats around. Tell the truth, Call Me made you look in your mirror before you went clubbing, didn’t it?

The Heartbreakers.

Like the Beatles never happened. The best dressed, coolest band around. The music? LAMF (like a mother fucker), when all their vices lined up on the same night the Heartbreakers played like the last gang in town. Baddest of the bad asses, like their compatriots in Blondie, the Heartbreakers were older and cooler than any of the “kids”. They’d have been Dion’s ideal backing band. If you could bottle attitude, the Heartbreakers were 150 Proof. Hell was briefly a member which is better for his cred than theirs.

Television.

Upon hearing the Television demo tapes, Ahmet Ertegun turned the band down saying “this is not earth music.” They coulda been contenders had they played more melodically instead of like a punkish Phish. The second album reveals the limitations of the plan and the rhythm section was, to be kind, inept. Hell was briefly a member which is better for his cred than theirs. Think of Talking Heads with shittier songs and lots of guitar solos.

Talking Heads.

A great band from jump, Talking Heads improved each year. RISD grads welcome a former Modern Lover to create a band that was unique among the leather jacket three chord crowd. Concise songwriting, memorable melodies,and a sense that while you could never be friends with any of them you could easily lie and say you prepped with their drummer. They sound better with each listen. Hell was never a member, a boost in cred for both parties.

Ramones.

The sonic equivalent of a White Castle burger consumed with a warm Pabst at a Russ Meyer film festival, Ramones sounded like a return to AM top 40 radio of the sixties was just around the corner. It wasn’t, but that didn’t bother Da Brudders. I listen to the first three records to this day.

Suicide.

Brit synth pop bands like Heaven 17, Human League, D’ran-D’ran and others owe their careers to Alan and Marty of Suicide. If that’s good or bad is your call, but even Springsteen appreciated the duo. The first two releases ( both called Suicide) are far more disturbing and intense than any British MTV oriented followers and are well worth your time. Springsteen’s State Trooper is his loving tribute to the duo’s sound.

The Cramps.

Buncha weirdos who played primal rockabilly like their lives depended on it. Attending Cramps concert in the 70’s allowed and encouraged more personal freedom than most people can handle. Stick with the earlier recordings while Lux and Ivy were still unearthing obscure early rock and roll songs to cover. I loved this band as much as I loved the Heartbreakers. Which is a lot.

Richard Hell and the Voidoids.

Hell was briefly a member of this band which helped his cred quite a bit. Hell’s herky-jerky songs are brought to life by a band that featured the playing of two extraordinary guitarists, Ivan Julian and Robert Quine. Worth your time and money.

The Clash.

There were a couple of years when you were tempted to believe all the righteous propaganda that emanated from Clash HQ. They really were an amazing band, at least until Topper Headon departed. London Calling is Exile on Main Street for the late 70’s and I guarantee you find worthy songs in the rambling Sandinista. I loved this band.

#Punk Rock

[jimmypage7]

Led Zeppelin

ledzeppelinarchives

Led Zeppelin never played "For Your Life" live until the Led Zeppelin Tribute To Ahmet Ertegun benefit concert, held in London on December 10, 2007. Jason Bonham, the son of John Bonham, sat in on drums with Page, Plant and John Paul Jones.

Among the celebrities who attended the show were Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, David Gilmour, Dave Grohl, Marilyn Manson, Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, Michael J. Fox, Pink, Juliette Lewis, Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher and Steve Winwood...

[brn1029]

On this date in music history…

September 12th

2013 - Ray Dolby

Ray Dolby, the US engineer who founded Dolby Laboratories and pioneered noise reduction in audio recordings, died of leukemia at the age of 80. The analog Dolby noise-reduction system works by increasing the volume of low-level high-frequency sounds during recording and correspondingly reducing them during playback.

2007 - Led Zeppelin

The surviving members of Led Zeppelin announced they would reform for a star-studded tribute concert in London. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones would play at a show to remember the late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. The place of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980, would be taken by his son Jason. The one-off concert, the trio's first performance for 19 years, would take place at the O2 arena in London on 26th November.

2003 - Johnny Cash

US singer songwriter Johnny Cash died of respiratory failure aged 71. One of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, known as "The Man in Black." He traditionally started his concerts by saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." Had the 1969 US No.2 & UK No.4 single 'A Boy Named Sue', plus 11 other US Top 40 singles. Cash also had his own US TV show in late 60s early 70s.

1990 - Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac announced they were leaving the band at the end of their current tour. At the time, some believed that Nicks’ and McVie’s departures were hastened by bad blood in the wake of Fleetwood’s memoir, Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac.

1989 - Aerosmith

Aerosmith released 'Pump' their tenth studio album which featured the hit singles: 'Love In An Elevator', 'The Other Side' and 'Janie's Got a Gun'. Aerosmith found themselves in law school textbooks after a small rock band named Pump sued Aerosmith's management company for service mark infringement. Aerosmith won the case.

1970 - Creedance Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival scored their first UK No.1 album with Cosmo's Factory. It enjoyed a nine-week run at No.1 in the US where it sold over three million copies.

1967 - The Beatles

Filming continued for The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. The bus headed for Widecombe on the Moor, where a local fair was being held but the bus driver (Alf Manders) took a shortcut to bypass heavy traffic and ended up stuck on a bridge, the coach ended up having to drive in reverse for a half-mile before it could turn around. They then head for Plymouth, followed by a 20-car convoy of journalists and photographers.

1964 - Marvin Gaye

The Supremes, The Shangri-La's, Marvin Gaye, Dusty Springfield, The Ronettes, Millie Small, The Temptations, The Miracles and Little Anthony and the Imperials all appeared at The Fox Theatre, Brooklyn, New York.

1954 - Frank Sinatra

The first 'teen idol', Frank Sinatra was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Three Coins In The Fountain,' the singer's first UK No.1. The song was The Academy Award winning Best Original Song of 1954.

[dan6085]

Here are 20 of the most successful stadium concerts of all time, along with details on their attendance, venue, and significance:

1. Rod Stewart - Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1994 - This free concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 3.5 million people, making it the largest concert in history.

2. Jean Michel Jarre - Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, 1997 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 3.5 million people, making it one of the largest concerts in history.

3. AC/DC - Circus Krone Building, Munich, Germany, 2003 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 200,000 people, making it one of the largest indoor concerts in history.

4. Led Zeppelin - Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert, O2 Arena, London, UK, 2007 - This concert, held in honor of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 20 million people trying to purchase tickets online, making it one of the most in-demand concerts in history.

5. The Rolling Stones - Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2006 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 1.5 million people, making it one of the largest concerts in history.

6. U2 - Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California, USA, 2009 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 97,014 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in history.

7. Pink Floyd - The Wall Live, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany, 1990 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 350,000 people, making it one of the largest concerts in history.

8. Paul McCartney - Shea Stadium, New York City, USA, 1965 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 55,000 people, setting a record for the largest concert attendance at the time.

9. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain, 2016 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 65,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in history.

10. Madonna - Sticky & Sweet Tour, Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2008 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 74,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in history.

11. Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion Tour, Estadio River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1993 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 80,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in history.

12. The Who - Live Aid, Wembley Stadium, London, UK, 1985 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of over 72,000 people, and was broadcast to over a billion viewers worldwide.

13. Queen - Live Aid, Wembley Stadium, London, UK, 1985 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of over 72,000 people, and was broadcast to over a billion viewers worldwide.

14. Michael Jackson - Dangerous World Tour, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico, 1993 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 130,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in history.

15. David Bowie - Glass Spider Tour, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada, 1987 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of over 80,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in history.

16. Beyoncé - Formation World Tour, Formation Stadium, Miami, Florida, USA, 2016 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 47,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in recent years.

17. Ed Sheeran - Divide Tour, Stade de France, Paris, France, 2019 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 94,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in recent years.

18. Taylor Swift - Reputation Stadium Tour, Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Australia, 2018 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 53,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in recent years.

19. Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams Tour, Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile, 2017 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 67,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts in recent years.

20. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Born in the U.S.A. Tour, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, USA, 1985 - This concert is estimated to have drawn a crowd of 93,000 people, making it one of the largest stadium concerts of the 1980s.

These stadium concerts have had a significant impact on the music industry and on popular culture more broadly. They have provided opportunities for artists to showcase their talents and connect with fans on a massive scale, and they have helped to shape the direction of musical trends and styles. Many of these concerts have also had a significant economic impact on their host cities and regions, generating millions of dollars in revenue and supporting local businesses and tourism.

[radiomax]

Friday, April 6, 2023 1amET: Feature Live LP: Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day (2007)

Celebration Day is a concert film by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, recorded at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert on December 10, 2007, in The O2 Arena, London. The film was given a limited theatrical release starting on October 17, 2012, and was released on several home audio and video formats on November 19, 2012. The performance, the film, and album releases have been widely…

View On WordPress

#Feature LP #Led Zeppelin #RadioMax #Wikipedia

[starlightmay]

Roger, Rufus and Sarina @ the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert taking place at the O2 Arena in London.

Ahmet Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records and Led Zeppelin headlined this concert. Paul Rodgers was also on the lineup.

Here's Mr. Ertegun pictured with the band.

– December 10, 2007

©️ Jon Furniss, Brian Rasic, Yui Mok

#roger taylor #queen #2000s #thumbs up/pointed finger check: ☑

[inplaynodelay]

This Day In Music: 10 Dec 2007

Led Zeppelin make a comeback.

Led Zeppelin performed their first concert in 19 years as part of the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at London's 02 Arena. Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham, joined Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones on stage. More than a million people voted in a ballot for the 20,000 tickets available for the show, with all proceeds benefiting Ahmet's own charity. Zeppelin played 16 songs, with two encores. Dave Grohl, Jeff Beck, Brian May, David Gilmour, The Edge, Peter Gabriel, Mick Jagger, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Jerry Hall, Priscilla Presley, and Paris Hilton were among those who attended the show.

In 1968, Led Zeppelin formed in London. The members of the band were vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. They are regarded as one of the forefathers of hard rock and heavy metal, with a heavy, guitar-driven sound, despite drawing influences from a wide range of genres, including blues and folk music. Led Zeppelin are credited with having had a significant impact on the nature of the music industry, particularly in the development of album-oriented rock and stadium rock.

Page wrote most of Led Zeppelin's music, particularly early in their career, while Plant wrote most of the lyrics. Jones's keyboard-based compositions later became central to their music, which featured increasing experimentation. The latter half of their career saw a series of record-breaking tours that earned the group a reputation for excess and debauchery.

Led Zeppelin is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with total worldwide record sales estimated to be between 200 and 300 million units. They had eight consecutive UK number-one albums and six consecutive US Billboard 200 number-one albums, with five of their albums certified Diamond in the US. They were dubbed "the heaviest band of all time," "the biggest band of the Seventies," and "unquestionably one of the most enduring bands in rock history" by Rolling Stone magazine. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995; according to the museum's biography of the band, they were "as influential" in the 1970s as the Beatles were in the 1960s.

On June 27 1980, during a concert in Nuremberg, Germany, John Bonham collapsed onstage and was rushed to hospital in the middle of the third song. The press speculated that his collapse was caused by excessive alcohol and drug use, but the band claimed that he had simply overeaten.

The band's first North American tour since 1977 was set to begin on October 17, 1980. Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King on September 24th to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios. During the trip, Bonham requested a breakfast stop, where he drank four quadruple vodkas with a ham roll. He said to his assistant, "breakfast," after taking a bite of the ham roll. After arriving at the studio, he continued to drink heavily. Late that evening, the rehearsals were called off, and the band retired to Page's home, the Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor.

Bonham, who had fallen asleep, was taken to bed and placed on his side shortly after midnight. The next day, at 1:45 p.m., Benji LeFevre (Led Zeppelin's new tour manager) and John Paul Jones discovered Bonham dead. The cause of death was asphyxiation from vomit, and the death was determined to be accidental.

The planned North American tour was cancelled and apart from an ill fated Live Aid performance, as well as some private gigs for band members birthdays Led Zeppelin didn't play together until the benefit concert in 2007. Despite almost annual rumours to reform, the band haven't played again in public since.

#music #music history #music news #today in music history

[canaryrecords]

Ideas of the Near East in the general American popular imagination in the first half of the 20th century were mostly limited to Bible stories or the cigarette pack camel and pyramids. Then a handful of popular books appeared by Armenian and Syrian immigrant writers in the 1940s and nightly news broadcasts of the Second Arab-Israeli war in the 1950s superimposed a new set of images. In the early ’60s, the movies Never on Sunday (1960), America America (1963), and Zorba the Greek (1964) crystalized a growing interest in the Eastern Mediterranean. The B-movie Dark Odyssey (1961), depicting a Greek sailor on shore leave in Manhattan, included a scene shot in Port Said, one of the small “Oriental” nightclubs along 8th Ave. with nightly live music during the ’40s and ’50s catering to a primarily Greek and Armenian immigrant clientele where Turkish was a lingua franca.

The film that most people saw, though, was the gaudiest and most fantastically Orientalist of them — Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, released June 1963. That’s the one that the housewife, the salaryman, and the dumb kid alike were all most likely to have seen. For Chevrolet-driving, Crest-toothpaste America, that’s the one that solidified the notion of a world of gauze-covered women shielded from a bright desert sun by palm fronds. And that’s the one that a small independent record label of schlockmeisters who produced generic music sold directly through supermarkets and dime stores latched on to as their marketing strategy — for a tape of about a half hour of material recorded around 1962 by a group of wedding band musicians.

The recording session was arranged and paid for by a trumpet player whose name no one now recalls. He brought in a band of creative and intellectual no-name, down-at-the-heels Brooklyn-based players who eked out a living by playing ethnic weddings for Jews, Armenians, and Greeks. He added a bongo drummer and a blind oudist from Turkey who didn’t speak English, and the group blasted out a Middle Eastern-jazz hybrid record in an afternoon.

The group met in a bar before the session, where the trumpet player showed them tunes scrawled on a stained cocktail napkin. They recorded songs drawn from repertoires of Armenian, Greek, and Jewish material that they knew, along with a tango in the style of “Miserlou,” a pop standard composed by the Greek-American Nick Roubanis and popularized by singer and music publisher Tetos Demetriades. The session’s leader got too loaded during the recording and split three quarters of the way through the studio time. The last couple songs were done without him or the bongo guy.

Somehow that tape wound up in the hands of the cheapo record label, who issued it with no artist credits, “exotica” titles for the songs, a drawing of Elizabeth Taylor on the cover, and the word CLEOPATRA in big letters on the front — a deceptive cash-grab on the popularity of the movie. Poorly pressed, sloppily packaged, hastily recorded, it was made to be disposable. And disposed of, it was. One for the junk heap.

Among the jobbing musicians who banged out this porto-World Music flotsam were two extraordinarily gifted players whose esteem and notoriety have grown over the decades that followed. They were 25 years apart in age and from different worlds. But one day in 1962, they both needed the fifty bucks and took the gig. One was the Sicilian-American clarinetist and composer Joe Maneri. The other was Hrant Kenklulian.

Udi Hrant, as he is usually called, was an Armenian, born blind in northwestern Turkey in 1901. He and his family survived the Armenian genocide in Konya, where he began studying oud as a teenager. Though the 1920s and ’30s, he lived in poverty, supporting himself playing in nightclubs and earning a reputation as a performer of exceptional depth and soulfulness. Many of the recordings that he made in Istanbul during that period were released in the U.S. for the immigrant population. When a wealthy Greek paid his fare to the U.S. in 1950 to have a procedure that might give him eyesight, there was already a waiting public of Armenians who knew his music. He spent more than a decade touring the Armenian communities of the U.S. — Boston, Fresno, Los Angeles, Detroit, Washington, DC, and New York — performing in concert halls and house parties, teaching a budding generation of Armenian oudists, and recording for small, independent labels — Aris, Smyrnaphone, Oriental Moods, and Near East. The latter of those labels was a short-lived subsidiary of Orrin Keepnews’s Prestige Records, and the resulting LP, originally issued as Eastern Standard Time in 1962 and subsequently reissued as Turkish Delights, included several tracks with jazz saxophonist Johnny Griffin. Prestige had been dabbling in Near Eastern music, issuing several LPs of Greek clarinetist Spero Spyros, and in 1963 released the third Arab-jazz hybrid LP by the Brooklyn-born bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik. Griffin had played on the first two Abdul Malik LPs along with Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, and the Syrian-born Brooklyn violinist Naim Karacand. Hrant was in his early 60s when he gamely attended the session that resulted in the Cleopatra LP. That same year, he went back on tour overseas. He died in 1978 and is buried in Istanbul. His recordings have mostly been anthologized, notably by Harold Hagopian (son of one of Hrant’s primary disciples, Richard Hagopian) on his Traditional Crossroads label.

Joe Maneri was born in Brooklyn in 1927, the only child of a second-generation Sicilian-American carpenter and immigrant mother. Raised in Williamsburg in the Depression, he learned clarinet from an Italian neighbor. A lifelong devotee of Lester Young, he played in ad hoc jazz groups in neighborhood bars in the ’40s. A dreamer, he struggled to find work through the ’50s but hooked up with a cadre of “far out” musicians who introduced him to the German composer and conductor Joseph Schmid, a former student of Alban Berg’s and an exponent of the Second Viennese School of serial twelve-tone composition. Maneri plodded devotedly through a course of study of serialism with Schmid while pursuing musicians’ union jobs. He played a lot of Greek and Jewish weddings, where drinking was part of the gig. In 1963, his band recorded seven original songs that incorporated elements of all of his experiences — modernist atonalism, ethnic Brooklyn, and a freedom-loving style of improvised jazz not far removed from the parallel post-bop innovations of Ornette Coleman — in hopes that Atlantic Records (run by Istanbul-born Turk Ahmet Ertegun) would be interested in making an album. Atlantic declined. The composer Gunther Schuller, meanwhile, supported Maneri with periodic gigs and commissions through the 1960s. Schuller ultimately hired him to teach at the New England Conservatory, where he spent the 1970s and ’80s theorizing and teaching microtonal music, ultimately co-authoring a book on the subject in 1986. His knowledge of klezmer repertoire and technique influenced a generation of younger performers that sprouted up in the 1980s, and his improvising synthesized his complex composition, his down-home working-class musical life, and his personal spiritual journey. Like Hrant, his music spoke plainly and from the heart, with an outrageously sophisticated vocabulary and technique. From the late 1980s until his death in 2009, he performed and recorded prolifically. Among his recordings was one he called “Gardenias for Gardenis,” in tribute to the Greek clarinetist Costas Gadenis, who performed and recorded prolifically in the 1940s and was billed as “the Greek Benny Goodman.”

This group of recordings seems to represent the earliest recording session of Joe Maneri’s and among the last of Udi Hrant’s, a coincidence organized by an as-yet anonymous performer. The drummer, pianist, and bassist on the session were Joe’s band at the time, the same group on the 1964 demo session for Atlantic (issued on CD in Japan in 1998 under the title Paniots 9).

The session’s drummer, Pete Dolger, appears to have been a second leader of the band. Apart from appearances on at least one early 60s LP on MGM under the leadership of trumpet player Michael Hartophilis (b. ca. 1920; d. 1993), this album appears to be the sum total of his entire discography released in his lifetime, and no further biographical information has come to light. The fact that both bassist John Beal, pianist Don Burns, and Udi Hrant also make appearances on the Hartophilis MGM records tempts us to name Hartophilis as this session's horn player and musical director, but that remains conjecture.

The Atlantic demo session and a 24-minute free improv live duo performance with Maneri recorded in front of an audience of about eight people (ca. 1963-64, issued on CD in 2008 as the Peace Concert) are the only other recordings of Dolger. The two parted ways shortly thereafter when Maneri stopped playing wedding gigs. “We were wedding players, full time,” Maneri told Stu Vandermark in 2006; “That was our Real Job, so to speak. […] We weren’t in the ‘jazz scene.’ We respected jazz for jazz. We knew about Coltrane. […] I wasn’t really ‘knowing’ Coltrane’s music. Cause I was the type that didn’t buy records. and never listened to anything. Early on, when I was 18, 19, 20, 21, I started to get the feeling that there was no chance that in a lifetime I would ever be in a jazz circle. So, I just turned it off, so to speak, and didn’t listen to anything. Just like that.”

Once record collectors noticed the Cleopatra record, it seemed so peculiar that the rumor circulated that it was a Sun Ra session. That was the only explanation anyone could make for its existence. Maneri himself heard of its release through a friend who happened across it in 1963, bought a copy for himself, gave it away to a student years later, and then forgot about it. It wasn’t until the ’90s when a guy in a record store noticed that the clarinet sound like Joe and played it to him that it came back to him. Some of it. When he listened, he remarked, “if I knew it was going to be listened to 40 years later, I would have played better!”

In 2018, the UK Trunk label issued a raw transfer of a stereo copy of the Cleopatra LP in less-than-ideal condition digitally through the big download channels. Their blurb about it perpetuates the Sun Ra-connection rumor. So, we present here the best quality mono restoration that we have been able to produce, in a better running order with as much detail as we have so far been able to gather. We offer it to you at no cost and as a gift to the memory of the musicians involved. Corrections and additions will be gratefully received.

#weddingband #klezmer #armenian #Greek #Tukish #jazz

[not-quite-normal-but-lovable]

Hey Listen to these old Guys. :)

[johnbonhammasterdrummer]

Celebration Day is a concert film by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, recorded at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert on 10 December 2007, in London's O2 Arena.

The film was given a limited theatrical run starting on 17 October 2012, and was released on several home audio and video formats on 19 November 2012. The performance, the film, and album releases have been widely praised.

In 2007, a benefit concert to commemorate the life of music executive Ahmet Ertegunwas staged with a reunited Led Zeppelin as the main act.

They played several of their most famous songs to an enthusiastic crowd and coordinated a professional recording of the show with 16 cameras, with the prospect of a home video release.

Rumours immediately circulated that the recording would become available, but the following year, band member Jimmy Page said that release wasn't certain and that it required mixing and would be a "massive job to embark on." Bassist John Paul Jones agreed that he would like to see it released commercially, but that there was no timeline.

Even through 2010, Page was uncertain of the status of the album.

On 9 September 2012, the band updated its Facebook page, which led to widespread speculation that the release was finally ready. Details leaked over the following days, with a source telling The Sun on 11 September that the album was due for release later that year and theatre web sites announcing airings of the film slated for the following month.

On 13 September, the band revealed that the film would hit theatres on 17 October, with premieres in Berlin, London, Los Angeles, New York City, and Tokyo and that the home video was scheduled for 19 November.

The surviving members of the band appeared at a press event on 21 September to promote the release. They debuted the film at the Odeon West End and answered questions afterward; when queried about more reunion performances, the trio were coy.

Like the 2007 greatest hits album Mothership, the cover and promotional art were designed by Shepard Fairey. 

Alan Moulder worked with Jimmy Page on mixing the album but used only a minimal amount of overdubs and corrections, as both the performance itself and the recording were of high quality.

#john bonham #peter grant #drums #led zeppelin #john paul jones #jimmy page #robert plant #drummer #led zep #o2 arena #2007 #jason bonham #reunion

[themfacts124]

This Day In Music: 10 Dec 2007

Led Zeppelin make a comeback.

Led Zeppelin performed their first concert in 19 years as part of the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at London's 02 Arena. Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham, joined Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones on stage. More than a million people voted in a ballot for the 20,000 tickets available for the show, with all proceeds benefiting Ahmet's own charity. Zeppelin played 16 songs, with two encores. Dave Grohl, Jeff Beck, Brian May, David Gilmour, The Edge, Peter Gabriel, Mick Jagger, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Jerry Hall, Priscilla Presley, and Paris Hilton were among those who attended the show.

In 1968, Led Zeppelin formed in London. The members of the band were vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. They are regarded as one of the forefathers of hard rock and heavy metal, with a heavy, guitar-driven sound, despite drawing influences from a wide range of genres, including blues and folk music. Led Zeppelin are credited with having had a significant impact on the nature of the music industry, particularly in the development of album-oriented rock and stadium rock.

Page wrote most of Led Zeppelin's music, particularly early in their career, while Plant wrote most of the lyrics. Jones's keyboard-based compositions later became central to their music, which featured increasing experimentation. The latter half of their career saw a series of record-breaking tours that earned the group a reputation for excess and debauchery.

Led Zeppelin is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with total worldwide record sales estimated to be between 200 and 300 million units. They had eight consecutive UK number-one albums and six consecutive US Billboard 200 number-one albums, with five of their albums certified Diamond in the US. They were dubbed "the heaviest band of all time," "the biggest band of the Seventies," and "unquestionably one of the most enduring bands in rock history" by Rolling Stone magazine. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995; according to the museum's biography of the band, they were "as influential" in the 1970s as the Beatles were in the 1960s.

On June 27 1980, during a concert in Nuremberg, Germany, John Bonham collapsed onstage and was rushed to hospital in the middle of the third song. The press speculated that his collapse was caused by excessive alcohol and drug use, but the band claimed that he had simply overeaten.

The band's first North American tour since 1977 was set to begin on October 17, 1980. Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King on September 24th to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios. During the trip, Bonham requested a breakfast stop, where he drank four quadruple vodkas with a ham roll. He said to his assistant, "breakfast," after taking a bite of the ham roll. After arriving at the studio, he continued to drink heavily. Late that evening, the rehearsals were called off, and the band retired to Page's home, the Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor.

Bonham, who had fallen asleep, was taken to bed and placed on his side shortly after midnight. The next day, at 1:45 p.m., Benji LeFevre (Led Zeppelin's new tour manager) and John Paul Jones discovered Bonham dead. The cause of death was asphyxiation from vomit, and the death was determined to be accidental.

The planned North American tour was cancelled and apart from an ill fated Live Aid performance, as well as some private gigs for band members birthdays Led Zeppelin didn't play together until the benefit concert in 2007. Despite almost annual rumours to reform, the band haven't played again in public since.

#today in history #historical facts #history #on this day in history #music history #music

[brn1029]

On this day in music history…man I do like that Acker Bilk song….

November 2nd

2021 - Declan Mulligan

Irish-born American rock musician, singer and songwriter Declan Mulligan died age 83. He was best known as a guitarist of rock band The Beau Brummels that formed in San Francisco in 1964 and broke into the mainstream with their debut single, ‘Laugh, Laugh'.

2018 - Chris Cornell

The widow of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell was suing his doctor, accusing him of overprescribing drugs that ultimately led to his death in 2017. Vicki Cornell alleged that Dr Robert Koblin 'negligently and repeatedly' prescribed the singer 'dangerous mind-altering controlled substances'. Cornell was found in a Detroit hotel room and his death was ruled a suicide.

2014 - Acker Bilk…attention Keith

Acker Bilk, the clarinet player passed away at the age of 85. Bilk's 1962 instrumental tune 'Stranger on the Shore' became the UK's biggest selling single of 1962: it was in the UK charts for more than 50 weeks, peaked at No.2, and was the first No.1 single in the United States by a British artist in the era of the modern Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.

2007 - Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin's eagerly-awaited reunion concert in London was postponed for two weeks after guitarist Jimmy Page broke a finger. The tribute concert in honour of late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun scheduled for 26 November would now take place on 10 December. More than a million fans applied for the 20,000 tickets available, which cost £125 each. Profits from the show would go towards scholarships in Ertegun's name in the UK, USA and the country of his birth Turkey.

2007 - Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne claimed his reputation had been tarnished after a party supposedly involving him was organised by US police officers to round up missing criminal suspects. Over 500 people in North Dakota with outstanding arrest warrants were sent invitations and more than 30 suspects turned up. Osbourne said it was "insulting" that his name had been used but police argued it was a "creative" way to fight crime. Ozzy had been selected because he was due to play a gig in a nearby arena, which was used to explain why he would supposedly have attending the party.

1984 - Marvin Gaye

The Rev Marvin Gaye Sr. was sentenced to a suspended six-year sentence and probation for the manslaughter of his son, Marvin Gaye. He later died at a nursing home in 1998.

1979 - AC/DC

AC/DC played the second of three sold out nights at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, with Def Leppard supporting.

1978 - Police

The Police released their debut album, Outlandos d'Amour. The working title, 'Police Brutality,' was changed to make is sound more romantic. The title loosely translates as 'Outlaws of Love' but the term 'Outlandos' is actually a mix of the words for 'Outlaws' and 'Commandos.' Elevated by the success of its lead single, 'Roxanne', Outlandos d'Amour peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 23 in the United States. The album spawned two additional hit singles: 'Can't Stand Losing You' and 'So Lonely'.

1974 - George Harrison

George Harrison became the first Beatle to undertake a solo world tour when he played the first show of a 30-night tour in Vancouver, Canada.

1969 - Archies

Sugar Sugar by The Archies was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. The single became the longest running One Hit Wonder in the UK with eight week's at the top of the charts.

1969 - Creedance Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival released Willy and the Poor Boys, the third studio album that the band released in this year. The album features the songs 'Down on the Corner', from which the album got its name, and 'Fortunate Son', which is a well known protest song and their version of the Lead Belly song 'Cotton Fields'.

1967 - Cream

Cream released their second studio album Disraeli Gears which became the group's American breakthrough, becoming a massive seller in 1968, and reaching No.4 on the American charts. The album features the two singles 'Strange Brew' and 'Sunshine of Your Love'.

1967 - The Beatles

The Beatles completed recording their next single ‘Hello Goodbye’ at Abbey Road studios London with a second Paul McCartney bass line. The McCartney song had been selected for the A-side for The Beatles next single, the flip side to be Lennon’s ‘I Am The Walrus’.

1963 - David Bowie

The Konrads, featuring David Bowie appeared at Shirley Parish Hall, Shirley, Croydon, England.

1958 - Tommy Edwards

Tommy Edwards was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'It's All In The Game.' Written by Charles Dawes, later Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge. It is the only No.1 pop single to have been co-written by a US Vice President!

[megarockradio]

Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (Live from Celebration Day) (Official Video)

Led Zeppelin – Kashmir (Live from Celebration Day) (Official Video)

10 Dec 2007, Led Zeppelin played their first concert in 19 years, at London’s 02 Arena as part of the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were joined on stage by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham. More than one million people had taken part in a ballot for the 20,000 tickets available for the show with all proceeds going to Ahmet’s own…

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#Celebration #day #Kashmir #Led #live #official #video #Zeppelin