Stairway To Heaven (43 page)

Authors: Richard Cole

BOOK: Stairway To Heaven

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In late February 2001, we left for New York for the band's appearance on
Total Request Live
on MTV. Then there were shows in Atlanta, Gettysburg, Seattle, and Canada, after which we finally escaped the snow (thank God!) for a flight to Cancun for MTV's
Spring Break
and five days in the sun. Three of the band membersâSeth, Doug, and Troubleâflew their girlfriends to Cancun, knowing they would soon be spending a lot of time on the road away from their ladies. Next we caught a plane to Europe for promotion, TV appearances, and live shows (one of which MTV taped) in five countries. In Europe, “Butterfly” was the number one record in most of the cities we visited, and we collected even more gold records. For the most part, it was all work and no play, but the band members were riding a tidal wave of excitement that kept their energy levels soaring. For me, I had not experienced anything quite like this since the days of Led Zeppelin.

We finally made our way back to L.A., regained some strength, and then the band performed at the ESPN Awards at the Universal Amphitheater, where my old pals, Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne, were also on the bill. A week later, our bus rolled out of Los Angeles at 2
A.M
. to Phoenix for the first stop of another five weeks of performances in the U.S. The Phoenix show was with Linkin Park, and then we began another headline tour with Saliva and Stereo Mud. In midtour, we flew on a private jet back to L.A. to shoot the video for the band's new single, “Revolving Door.” (So many girls had been hired to appear in the video that the set looked like Caligula's palace!) Two days later, we flew to Nashville for the first of more concert dates, eventually completing the tour in Birmingham, Myrtle Beach, and Chicagoâand then went back to Europe for another ten grueling days of promotion and shows. And the tours go onâ¦.

As for Led Zeppelin, I haven't seen much of the three surviving band members lately, although I do bump into them from time to time. Since the first edition of the book was published, they have remained active to one degree or
another. Plant and Page, of course, released
Walking into Clarksdale
in 1998, and performed in a long-awaited reunion tour. They also appeared on MTV's
Unplugged
in 1997. Jimmy toured, and performed with the Black Crowes as recently as the year 2000, although some of their dates had to be canceled because of Pagey's ongoing back problems.

John Paul has kept as busy as he's wanted to, arranging and composing classical music and motion picture scores, and producing albums for Heart and Ben E. King. He has also done arranging for artists such as R.E.M. and Peter Gabriel.

Led Zeppelin did reunite onstage when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, but the surviving members of Zeppelin have all moved on, and times change. When Page and Plant released their joint CD, Robert told
Time
magazine that although the “best place to find us is in a bar,” he admitted that they no longer partied as hard as they once did. “We control it now,” he said. “Before, it was rather amorphousâwe couldn't stop it.” I'm glad we've all grown up a little.

The Zeppelin music itself lives on. In 1997, the Recording Industry of America certified ten of Led Zeppelin's albums as multiplatinum, with cumulative certified sales totaling nearly 64 million copies. Two years later, just one of those albumsâ
Led Zeppelin IV
âhad racked up certified sales of 21 million. Each new generation of young people seems to embrace Zeppelin as their own, and thus the band's CD sales continue to soar. Only the Beatles have sold more albums than Zeppelin.

Since my days with Led Zeppelin, Crazy Town has really been the first hugely successful band I've worked with from its beginning. It's been wonderful to see this young band take off so fast and go so far, but times are certainly different now than in the Zeppelin era. I remember how Led Zeppelin worked themselves to death for almost two years, making the first album for $2,500 and financing the first tour out of the pockets of Jimmy, John Paul, and Peter. From the start, they owed nothing to anyone, including their record company, and were on their way to the bank after the first U.S. tour. Because Zeppelin never made TV appearances, the band's live shows were instant sellouts the moment they were advertised. By contrast, the cost of making videos is so high these days, and the exposure on MTV can become so saturated, it's a lot harder now for bands to get ahead financially early in their careers.

For me, it's still fun being on the road, working with a band like Crazy Town with a great management team and record company behind them, even if the rigors of touring does knock the crap out of me at times. It's a much better life than I would have had if I had not been a skillful enough liar to get my first job with Ronnie Jones and Mick Eves back in 1964. As I write this,
I've spent the last thirty-eight years working with some wonderful bands, and I've profited from the valuable advice of great managers like Peter Grant and Sharon Osbourne.

Next it's off to Europe for a three week record promotion trip, followed by Ozzfest. I'm looking forward to spending time with Sharon Osbourne and Ozzy, along with my old band, Black Sabbath, at Ozzfest, as it's always nice to see old friends with whom you have history in these days of revolving bands. Then, for me, it's back to working on my movie script about how to make rock stars, with writer Christopher Crowe and Julie Anne Park at Paramount Pictures.

What could be better than sitting on the balcony of the Embassy Suites in Myrtle Beach, watching the waves crash on the shore while I type this chapter? For a while, I can even forget that I am really fifty-five years old, not twenty-fiveâand I'm still having the time of my life.

âRichard Cole
June 2001

LED ZEPPELIN DISCOGRAPHY

Album, year of release, and contents:

Led Zeppelin
, Atlantic Records, 1969

“Good Times Bad Times,” “Babe I'm Gonna Leave You,” “You Shook Me,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Your Time Is Gonna Come,” “Black Mountain Side,” “Communication Breakdown,” “I Can't Quit You Baby,” “How Many More Times.”

Led Zeppelin II
, Atlantic Records, 1969

“Whole Lotta Love,” “What Is and What Should Never Be,” “The Lemon Song,” “Thank You,” “Heartbreaker,” “Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman),” “Ramble On,” “Moby Dick,” “Bring It On Home.”

Led Zeppelin III
, Atlantic Records, 1970

“Immigrant Song,” “Friends,” “Celebration Day,” “Since I've Been Loving You,” “Out On the Tiles,” “Gallows Pole,” “Tangerine,” “That's the Way,” “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp,” “Hats Off to (Roy) Harper.”

Untitled
, Atlantic Records, 1971

“Black Dog,” “Rock and Roll,” “The Battle of Evermore,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Misty Mountain Hop,” “Four Sticks,” “Going to California,” “When the Levee Breaks.”

Houses of the Holy
, Atlantic Records, 1973

“The Song Remains the Same,” “The Rain Song,” “Over the Hills and Far Away,” “The Crunge,” “Dancing Days,” “D'yer Mak'er,” “No Quarter,” “The Ocean.”

Physical Graffiti
, Swan Song, 1975

“Custard Pie,” “The Rover,” “In My Time of Dying,” “Houses of the Holy,” “Trampled Under Foot,” “Kashmir,” “In the Light,” “Bron-Yr-Aur,” “Down by the Seaside,” “Ten Years Gone,” “Night Flight,” “The Wanton Song,” “Boogie with Stu,” “Black Country Woman,” “Sick Again.”

Presence
, Swan Song, 1976

“Achilles Last Stand,” “For Your Life,” “Royal Orleans,” “Nobody's Fault But Mine,” “Candy Store Rock,” “Hots On for Nowhere,” “Tea For One.”

The Song Remains the Same
, Swan Song, 1976

“Rock and Roll,” “Celebration Day,” “The Song Remains the Same,” “Rain Song,” “Dazed and Confused,” “No Quarter,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Moby Dick,” “Whole Lotta Love.”

In Through the Out Door
, Swan Song, 1979

“In the Evening,” “South Bound Saurez,” “Fool In the Rain,” “Hot Dog,” “Carouselambra,” “All My Love,” “I'm Gonna Crawl.”

Coda
, Swan Song, 1982

“We're Gonna Groove,” “Poor Tom,” “I Can't Quit You Baby,” “Walter's Walk,” “Ozone Baby,” “Darlene,” “Bonzo's Montreux,” “Wearing and Tearing.”

Led Zeppelin
, Atlantic Records, 1990 (digitally remastered, boxed set)

“Whole Lotta Love,” “Heartbreaker,” “Communication Breakdown,” “Babe I'm Gonna Leave You,” “What Is and What Should Never Be,” “Thank You,” “I Can't Quit You Baby,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Your Time Is Gonna Come,” “Ramble On,” “Travelling Riverside Blues,” “Friends,” “Celebration Day,” “Hey Hey What Can I Do,” “White Summer/Black Mountain Side,” “Black Dog,” “Over the Hills and Far Away,” “Immigrant Song,” “The Battle of Evermore,” “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp,” “Tangerine,” “Going to California,” “Since I've Been Loving You,” “D'yer Mak'er,” “Gallows Pole,” “Custard Pie,” “Misty Mountain Hop,” “Rock and Roll,” “The Rain Song,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Kashmir,” “Trampled Under Foot,” “For Your Life,” “No Quarter,” “Dancing Days,” “When the Levee Breaks,” “Achilles Last Stand,” “The Song Remains the Same,” “Ten Years Gone,” “In My Time of Dying,” “In the Evening,” “Candy Store Rock,” “The Ocean,” “Ozone Baby,” “Houses of the Holy,” “Wearing and Tearing,” “Poor Tom,” “Nobody's Fault But Mine,” “Fool In the Rain,” “In the Light,” “The Wanton Song,” “Moby Dick/Bonzo's Montreux,” “I'm Gonna Crawl,” “All My Love.”

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