Zeppelin was truly a whole greater than the sum of the parts, but they did have some seriously good parts. Bonham was totally original and iconic. JPJ as Rick said, was an unsung hero covering a lot of sonic ground. And Page was a great riff creator. He wasn't a technically accomplished soloist, but he was a brilliant arranger and knew how to get sounds and textures out of the instrument.

You're not giving credit where credit is due. You're not listening to the advice here. You don't have to like MK's playing or the songs to know the man is good.

In fact, I didn't have the appreciation I do now until I saw that PBS special awhile back. Indeed, I lost a bit of liking of Atkins.

Hey Rick, same here. Right down to the bow. I cant tell you how many times I saw Song Remains the Same in a cinema through a bad PA at a million dB, and loved it. For years that movie fuelled my impression of Zep and Page as a live player. I saw Page on the TV do one of the LIve Aid gigs and it was awful, when Page and Plant reformed in the mid 90's to do No Quarter, I saw them do a live TV thing and Page was actually dribbling.

When Page and Plant toured No Quarter, I had to be dragged there. I knew Zeppelin was about to be crushed for me.

They were fanatastic. There was nothing sloppy about Page, he was right on it, he was, in fact, everything I had hoped "Jimmy Page" would be as a live player. That No Quarter album has IMO the best version of Since Ive been Loving You that they ever recorded.

And do check out the recent DVD- it sort of puts TSRTS to bed as a document of Led Zeppelin.

One more thing- tell me what you think of this. This is is about the best, most sympathetic and full on Zep cover Ive ever seen, and this kid (Justin Derricot) surely can play the banjo. (note the filmic nods to TSRTS) From a very unlikely source.....

YouTube - Pink - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - Live in Australia 2009 DVD - Funhouse Tour

Thanks for that link. I've watched Pink's Funhouse tour broadcast version (doesn't have that track) a few times. Incredibly talented performer who puts on a great show - total "larger than life" production stuff. But unlike a lot of pop performers, she has serious musical chops and her band kicks arse.

i love marks playing, perhaps its because im a guitar player. i like their first 2 albums alot, but would agree with you that overall, i think dire straits is blah.

I like mark's recent solo stuff much better than dire straits

listen to all of JJ Cale's records, especially those from the 1970's and you will hear where mark got his groove and his sound. as far as i know, he admits this. JJ Cale to me us the ultimate record maker and yet most have never heard of the man and dont even know he wrote after midnight, cocaine, they call me the breeze etc...those songs are just the tip of the iceberg for JJ.

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Speaking of JJ Cale -

I think I've told this story on this forum before;

I was going to college at Boise State, early eighties. I was really into JJ Cale at the time, wore out all his vinyl, Shades, Naturally, Really, all the early stuff. He came and played at the college, turned out to be an afternoon show, in a hall with the acoustics of a gymnasium, folding chairs, hardwood floors, natural light, (afternoon light, if you can believe it, like someone playing a gig at a rest home).

He played on the floor, no stage. PA with one stack. Voice and acoustic guitar miked.
He was NOT HAPPY, Showed up, looked around, played his set, left without saying a word; You know what? He was still great. Just great.
Had that soft voice with great timber that just filled the room;
as many have noted, his guitar work was sublime, otherworldly, like Knopfler (never put the two together till now!)

I'm sure he needed cash bad, I can't imagine why he agreed to play such a funky gig.

Great stuff for me, not so much for him.

wow cool. i would love to see him but he never comes around here. his records are among the finest ever recorded. he is a master, and as even clapton says, nobody can sound like him

though, every time i play JJ for someone that is not familiar, they go - wow this is awsome, is this dire straits? every time.

tom petty does a pretty decent JJ Cale cover

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fantastic clapton and JJ cale tune...great album

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and a killer recent JJ tune

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One of my musical regrets has been never seeing Knopfler live. I will need to see to that someday.

I have, however, had the great good fortune of seeing Zeppelin live, back in their heyday. Not once, but twice in the early to mid '70's. First time was a smaller venue here in Seattle (Seattle Center Coliseum? Somewhere in the Seattle Center anyway, maybe the Opera House... memories are a bit sketchy). Second time was in the old Kingdome, and I was too far back for the stage to avoid the echos in that massive concrete bubble. That show really sucked for me because of that. I have no idea how well they played, because I was hearing it overlapping three or four times.

The first time, though - magic. Everything about it. I don't think anyone missed a note all night, and much of it seemed very improvisational. Every song was played far differently, and far longer than, the studio version on my LP's. Pretty impressive to a young lad who was used to hearing lesser bands struggle through a three or four minute rendition of their latest top 40 hit, all the while sounding nothing like the band I had heard on the radio. Zeppelin was only my second exposure to an accomplished, top flight, professional band (Tull was the first) at the height of their career. As far as I'm concerned, all of the accolades were very much deserved.

Naw, that just sounded like Petty.

Which is a good thing.

i think thats why JJ is so unknown among the general public. when other bands do his tunes, it sounds like they wrote it...after midnight, cocaine, call me the breeze, travellin light, ill make love to you anytime, the sensitive kind ... the dude makes the perfect summer time sittin on the porch with a cold beer records

led zep I proves just how awsome they were at blasting out electric blues with power and soul. page was my first real influence on guitar. over the years ive come to dwell more on his messy playing than his greatness. the recent It Might Get Loud film shows just how sloppy and lousy he can play and sound.

perhaps he now has arthritis or his broken finger bothers him..but his tone too, was annoying in that film, almost as if he has lost his hearing and passion to play with subtle expressiveness....like he did on Zep I. i still love the guy. ive watched It Might Get loud at least 10 times just to listen to him talk. i find him very intelligent and thoughtful, as always

Led Zeppelin=

Greatest rock and roll front man of all time
Greatest guitarist of all time
Greatest drummer of all time

Of course anytime we talk about "Greatest" it is always subjective, but I think you would find that very few people, fans and peers combined, would agree with that assessment.

No black and white with "greatest" imho. One could argue that Elvis was the greatest frontman of all time. Ask a dozen different people, you'll likely get a number of different answers for "greatest" guitarist, drummer, frontman, etc.

Something about this thread made me google 'Don Ho ukelele' (I know . . . wtf???) & I ran into this video. Taimane. She was 16 years old when the video was shot.

Ian

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Definitely the quiet elder statesman of the era. Which is good, he could have ended up the creepy uncle with the weird appetites...

Great movie. Love watching Jack White fashion an electric guitar. Coke bottle slide. Awesome.

Listen to the following several times on a good system:

Once upon a time in the west
Down to the waterline
Where do you think you're going
Wild west end
Six blade knife
Lions
In the gallery
Tunnel of love
Brothers in arms

I think i would find the EXACT opposite.

Round these parts Mr. Page is rightfully worshipped as a god.

I'll check em out bro, thanks for the recommendations.