Farewell to the King

When it comes to naming the Kings of the 1970s, it's a short, awesome, elite list.

But we can start with Led Zeppelin, Elvis, Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee, George Clinton -- and the Master of Disaster, Evel Knievel.

Today comes word Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel has crossed over to the Great Beyond.

I interviewed Evel after his liver transplant and talking to him was the closest you could ever get to an in-person encounter with somebody like Elvis or John Wayne.

For that matter, the King and the Duke were sterling entertainers, but they weren't crazy -- they used stunt doubles, which puts Evel in a class all by himself.

He was a mythic figure -- Icarus and Bellerophon rolled up into one.

Evel believed in the Afterlife. When he tempted death, he expected to conquer the challenge or migrate to the stars. If anyone ever earned his rest and his reward it was him.

He was a rock star, a rebel, a patriot, a man of action and my hero.

Godspeed to the King of the Daredevils. Another fellow who, like Elvis, Led Zep and George Clinton, merely wanted to launch himself into space to make people happy.

http://www.hollywoodfiveo.com/exclusive/evel/evel_phone.shtml

http://www.hollywoodfiveo.com/archive/issue1/home.html

http://www.hollywoodfiveo.com/archive/issue1/exclusive/evelleanyears.html

Whole Lotta Jonesy

Status Report:

T-Minus 10 Days to Lift Off
Led Zeppelin at O2 Arena, London

Led Zep: Locked in Rehearsals for the R&B Druid Orgy Dec. 10th
Los Angeles: Rain Showers for the 2nd Time in 10 Months

While the drizzle falls on Sunset Blvd, let us raise a toast to the Saint of the Rain Song, the great

John Paul Jones.

Sure, Page & Plant famously "lost his phone number," as he jabbed during the band's induction to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

That's the year the two front men toured together on the "Unledded" album, with JPJ nowhere to be found, and Plant's son-in-law Charlie Jones on bass.

The good news is this time is we can feed our Zeppelin jones with all-natural flavor and no artificial in-laws (sorry Charlie).

Personally I would be ecstatic to hear the bass and keyboard genius hold court on any of these:
"Your Time Is Gonna Come"
"Misty Mountain Hop"
"No Quarter"
"The Rain Song"
"Trampled Underfoot"
"Night Flight"
"Down by the Seaside"
"In The Light"
"South Bound Suarez"
"Fool in the Rain"
"All My Love"

"Darlene"

And how about the sit-down section of the show with Jimmy, Jonesy and Percy acoustic?

"Going to California"
"Bron-Y-Aur Stomp"
"That's the Way"

Sweet, sweet anticipation... all those thousands of hours of Heavy Zepping in the USA (see the motion picture "Dazed & Confused" for lifestyle specifics) prepping us for a Monday night appointment on the Thames.

I saw Page & Plant rock the Meadowlands in '95 and the Hollywood Bowl in '98.

Now I'm psyched to witness something I always wanted to but never have:

John Paul Jones performing the music of Led Zeppelin.

A Tale of Two Motherships

Status Report:

T-Minus 12 Days to Lift Off

Led Zep -- locked in rehearsals for the Dec. 10th Close Encounter.

Fran & Nate -- trying to find rain gear for London.

Meanwhile:
Nate Deciphers the Mothership Connection for You

Zep's new compilation is titled "Mothership."

However, the Mothership is already world famous as an alias of the Parliament-Funkadelic mob, piloted by George Clinton, as celebrated in the 1976 classic "The Mothership Connection".

Which means the Motherships are multiplying.

Of course, for disciples of both rock and funk, the more Motherships the merrier.

So what is the Mothership/Led Zep Connection?

The answer is "Bootsy, Catfish & Kash."

Check out "The Crunge" on "Houses of the Holy."

You'll hear Page, Jones and Bonham doing their best imitation/tribute to James Brown's amazing sex machine back-up band, then consisting of Bootsy Collins, Catfish Collins and Frankie "Kash" Waddy, a Cincinnati trio of upstarts hired by JB when his ace touring vets went on strike.

A couple years later when Bootsy and Kash quit James Brown, who did they join up with in the Motor City for their next level of Funk?

George Clinton is the answer, going Funkadelic, and adding the warp drive to the original Mothership.

When Plant, doing the Crunge, asks the musical question, "I'm trying to find the bridge -- has anybody seen the bridge?" -- the bridge is the boogie of Bootsy, Catfish and Kash -- and Kash is George's drummer to this very day.

Check out my 2003 interview with Kash laying the story out right here:

http://www.hollywoodfiveo.com/exclusive/funk/kash_waddy.shtml

I've witnessed George and the P-Funk many times in the last 20 years (but never landing the Mothership onstage like they did in '76!) -- next Monday 12/10 will be our first time landing the Mothership von Zeppelin.

Another thing both have in common? Righteous '50s Rock Medleys -- Zeppelin used to do them for encores on their first US Tours, and George was throwing down concoctions of "Whole Lotta Shakin'," Little Richard tunes and "At the Hop" last year during his 50th anniversary-in-music victory lap with P-Funk.

All respect to great musicians everywhere -- and let's give it up for The Godfather, a One Man Mothership if ever there was one.

Bad Finger

We learned about being selected for Zep tickets on Oct. 23.

"Can this be real? Is it a scam?"

We researched. It was legit. It was real. It was some kind of blessing from the ghost of Ahmet Ertegun.

So we did the only sane thing. We went for it.

But once we bought our Zeppelin tickets online, I made a mistake.

I said, "Remember, baby, we have to be cool. Anything could happen -- we could get to London and there could be no show. Jimmy Page could break his hand or something."

A week later, Nov. 1st, Fran calls me at work.

"Are you sitting down?"

It was being announced Page had fractured his finger in a fall.

The concert was pushed two weeks, to Dec. 10.

I thought two things.

1) I'm psychic. No wait -- I'm telekinetic!

2) It's the freaking Zeppelin jinx!

So now, as a soothsayer of the Zeppelin mysteries, I offer a two new pronouncements.

1) The "Zeppelin Curse" is abolished.

2) Playing hurt is bad ass. Playing hurt is heroic. Jimmy Page is going to play hurt.
Long live Jimmy Page.

Countdown to Lift Off

It's Destiny.

Led Zeppelin reunites -- we had to be there.

This is the journal of an L.A. Zeppelin freak born and schooled in the town of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The weekend of Hash Bash #18 in 1989, he and his fellow U of M disciples of fine vinyl inaugurated The Zep Out, legendary April 1st all-night march through the studio output of the greatest rock band known to mortal man.

At the crossroads of Jefferson & S. 5th an annual ritual was born which has been celebrated ever since.

At 7:00 pm sharp it hits you -- the awe-inspiring double pulse of "Good Times Bad Times," and the music doesn't stop until 3:30 am, when anyone still standing partakes of the final groans of "Wearing and Tearing."

But in the victory lap of the Zep Out is also a contradiction. It's a pagan celebration of life, but also a commemoration of loss.

Indulging like college vikings in a mead hall, we also mourn what has been denied.

Because the class of '89 were born too late to see the band in concert.

Hundreds of times I've heard from older brothers (my wife's for one), cousins, passers-by on Main Street -- "Yeah, I saw them in '73 -- it was awesome, I was deaf for three weeks."

"I remember them doing 'In the Light' on the Physical Graffiti tour, they ruled" etc. etc.

Which always triggered the reflex -- "Wait a minute! Where's OUR Zeppelin gigs at the Forum? Where's OUR Garden shows? Where's OUR 'Immigrant Song' live in concert??"

Now thanks to Atlantic Records' late, great Ahmet Ertegun, the band is going to serve up two hours of thunder in London on December 10, 2007 -- and we are there to taste the fine wine of the rock n roll communion.

Inward bound from Los Angeles to London.

The "Little Bro" generation of Zep Heads finally gets our shot at glory, to enter the Sanctum Sanctorum of a bona fide Zeppelin show starring Bonham, Jones, Page & Plant.

And it's all thanks to Fran, the girl crazy enough to marry me, and crazy enough to enter a ticket lottery with odds 10,000 to 1 against winning.

But fortune was sweet -- we were elected to the O2 Arena, we got our ticket confirmations and our air travel, and for the next 15 days, we will be climbing the Stairway to Zeppelin.

All I can say is: Jonesy & Jason, cheers -- I can't wait to see you guys working together; Pagey, mend that fractured pinky on your chord hand, maestro, and Robert, drink plenty of green tea and take your vitamins -- because Valhalla, we are coming.

Monday December 10, 2007 -- Led Zep Live in Concert

London O2 Arena
Nate & Fran, Your Faithful Witnesses