The 12 days of Zeppelin: Atlantic Records 'Time Capsule' contains two Zep songs, one from Plant solo

On the fifth day of Zeppelin, my true love gave to me:

Atlantic Records 'Time Capsule' box set

Here's an important compilation for music historians and a unique artifact for collectors. The Time Capsule is a box set that, between a sensible assemblage of essential music and a new 140-page book, tells a near complete story of the Atlantic Records label from 1947 through today.

A 45 rpm single included with the box set shows where it all begins. It's a reissue of "Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" by Stick McGhee & His Buddies. Aided by the promotion of Atlantic Records, this A-side went to No. 3 on the Billboard R&B chart during the fledgling record company's first year. It has tons of edge. Here was a controlled voice singing about his predilection for the heavy consumption of wine and tendency toward the after-effects, namely dancing, being unabashedly sloppy and carelessly ruining property. In one sense, McGhee's version released on the Atlantic label was sanitized from earlier versions. "Spo-dee-o-dee" was four syllables of nonsense intended only to replace one choice four-syllable obscenity that nowadays does make it onto records with a parental advisory sticker. Another singer's "Mah-mah" is a two-syllable substitution for a profanity of the same length. These terms may have simply been nonsense to Atlantic's mass audience in 1947, but those in the know realized what they were getting away with.

The song kicked off a tradition for Atlantic, that no matter what kinds of artists were going to be signed, or what genres their music would fall into, Atlantic would always be breaking new ground. And the label would refuse to go unnoticed. With names like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin passing through Atlantic's artists ranks in the '50s and '60s, those tradition carried on. It was 22 whole years from Atlantic's founding before a young virtuoso guitarist by the name of Jimmy Page was forming a new band. When word reached Jerry Wexler, remarkably, that Page's new group was not going to settle for a contract with the Yardbirds' record label, Wexler jumped at the opportunity to sign Page without hearing a single note of material. The conditions of his agreement with manager Peter Grant allowed the group to retain all rights to its own image, recordings, releases -- everything. Wexler, having negotiated the deal and landed the band an immense deposit, passed on the duties of corresponding with this new group, Led Zeppelin, to Ahmet Ertegun.

Perhaps the least dispensable name in Atlantic's history, Ertegun was crucial to Led Zeppelin's success in that he could be a friend and a professional coach while also possessing the restraint to respect off-the-wall decisions being made by band members who might have been under questionable influence from time to time. Included as part of The Time Capsule is the DVD titled Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built, released in 2007 as a tribute to him shortly after his death. Many portions were filmed with Ertegun participating while artists owe up to their debts to his professional judgment. For Led Zeppelin fans, two such moments in particular stand out from the DVD. One shows Jimmy Page facing Ertegun, telling him:

"Good for you to have, for sort of, letting us get away with certain things, and I'll give you a good example with the fourth album. Because, by that time, we were getting so much bad press over here and, you know, they were saying it's a hype and it's this and it's that because they didn't understand, for one moment, what we were doing. And so the reviews were crap, and so by the time it came to the fourth album, we said, 'Right. OK. This is what's gonna happen here. We'll put out an album with no name of the band on it, no nothing,' and just say, 'Here you are, take it or leave it.' Well, of course, it was the biggest album we ever had up to that point. But, you know, it could have been one of those things that was drawn out, 'No, the name's got to be on there, no.' But in the end, you did. 'OK, let's give it a shot.' And it was brilliant, you know. Thank you for that. It was good."

In another scene, Ertegun does some of the talking with Robert Plant, discussing the blues influence on Led Zeppelin. While Plant interjects a "yeah" several times, Ertegun tells him, "When you heard the black music on the radio, it got you. It not only got you, but you went into more depth of study. And it wasn't a study for you. That was fun." Plant adds, "It's an obsession for me. I love it so much, yeah." Ertegun says, "That's right. So, when you heard it, you became part of it, and it became part of you." Then Plant takes over: "We all were basing most of our skills on American musicians, and I was listening to your man, Ray Charles."

There are 168 tracks spread across nine CDs, and just like the label itself there is no one genre associated with this box set. Basically, if Atlantic released it, it's on here. There are recordings from all of the artists you would expect to see.

1. Ruth Brown features twice on the first disc, as does Ray Charles. Jazz men John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus are included along with the Coasters, Professor Longhair and Big Joe Turner. And that's just disc one!
2. The second disc goes on to feature Ben E. King, Booker T. & the MGs, the Drifters, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, Sam & Dave, Albert King and Aretha Franklin, but in the same breath begins to bring in white artists such as Sonny & Cher, the Young Rascals, Buffalo Springfield, the Bee Gees and the Vanilla Fudge.
3. The full force of the British invasion on Atlantic Records is felt with the opening notes of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" as Disc 3 begins. Then it's back to a still-vibrant Otis Redding before, a few songs later, tracks by the Iron Butterfly and the Crazy World of Arthur Brown display Atlantic's acceptance of psychedelic music as an art form. Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man" is the final track before, finally, the entrance of Led Zeppelin takes place. This is represented by no better than album one, side one, track one, "Good Times Bad Times." Now, the bar is set awfully high, but classic tracks by Blind Faith, Thunderclap Newman, Crosby Stills & Nash, the Allman Brothers Band, and jazz men Les McCann & Eddie Harris follow it up rather nicely.
4. There are more discoveries to come on the fourth disc, including the addition of Neil Young to the Crosby-Stills-Nash lineup for "Ohio," the Velvet Underground on the heavily layered "Sweet Jane," yet another Eric Clapton band, ELP, Yes, the Stones, Genesis, Bette Midler ...
5. What's this? Another Led Zeppelin song? "Kashmir" becomes the second Led Zeppelin track selected for The Time Capsule. There are also tracks from Abba, the Trammps and Foreigner.
6. After the era of disco has passed, tangentially mentioned here by the inclusion of the Rolling Stones' "Miss You" and Chic's "Le Freak," the Blues Brothers show up with their recording of "Soul Man." After this, the era of former group members going solo is ushered in, big-time. One minute, it's Pete Townshend with "Let My Love Open the Door," next it's "In the Air Tonight" with Phil Collins and "Edge of Seventeen" with Stevie Nicks. Then, before you know it, a post-Zeppelin Robert Plant is in with "Big Log."
7. Disc 7 has "Rockin' at Midnight" by the Honeydrippers, which features Plant on vocals and Jimmy Page on guitar. The disc closes with a track that once drove Robert Plant wild, "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles.

And so end the tracks of special interest to Led Zeppelin fans, although the chronological story continues with big hits by En Vogue, Marc Cohn, Mr. Big, Hootie & the Blowfish, Jewel, Brandy & Monica, Gnarls Barkley, T.I., Estelle featuring Kanye West, and Jason Mraz. The story hasn't ended either, which prompts curiosity as to why arbitrarily make this compilation after 62 years. But why wonder? Just experience it. Atlantic has given plenty of examples over the years of music worth hearing and enjoying, and this box set is the best and most complete testament to it yet to emerge.

Official: Led Zeppelin to reunite, Nov. 26 concert confirmed

The three surviving members of Led Zeppelin will reunite this November for a single show in London, according to an official announcement made today.

As promoter Harvey Goldsmith stated at a London press conference in their absence, the group's performance Nov. 26 at the city's O2 arena will be at a concert that will also include Pete Townshend of the Who and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones.

There was no mention of whether Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones would consider playing another gig together after the tribute concert to Ahmet Ertegün, the Atlantic Records cofounder and close personal friend to Led Zeppelin.

"During the Zeppelin years, Ahmet Ertegün was a major foundation of solidarity and accord," Plant said in a press release. "For us, he was Atlantic Records and remained a close friend and conspirator. this performance stands aloneas our tribute to the work and the life of our long standing friend."

The reunited Led Zeppelin will also include drummer Jason Bonham sitting in to fill the seat left by his father, John Bonham, whose death on Sept. 25, 1980, caused the band to announce its retirement later that year.

The younger Bonham has been drumming in recent months for classic rock group Foreigner, which has also been booked to perform at the Nov. 26 concert.

Concert proceeds are to benefit the Ahmet Ertegün Education Fund, set up to "provide students with annual scholarships to universities in the UK, USA and Turkey," according to an official press release. "In addition, a music scholarship open to all will beestablished at Ravensbourne College in the UK."

Tickets to the event, priced at 125 British pounds ($254), are available exclusively from a random drawing at http://www.ahmettribute.com/.

Aside from three one-off performances in 1985, 1988 and 1995, and two jams at family members' weddings, Led Zeppelin has not reunited for a tour.

While the Led Zeppelin members are rumored to have been rehearsing together over the past month, the concert in November would be their first public appearance together since May 22, 2006, when they were awarded the Polar Music Prize at a ceremony in Stockholm.

The most recent performance by all three former members coincided with their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, on Jan. 12, 1995. At the time, Page and Plant were toward the start of a mini-reunion of their own that, by the end of 1998, had resulted in two full-length albums as well as a home video and television special heralding their work together.

Led Zeppelin's much-anticipated performance is set to take place during a rare month of new releases from the band showcasing live and studio material recorded mostly during the band's 1970s heyday. A plethora of new releases are to hit stores on two consecutive Mondays, with the performance taking place on the Monday of the following week.

Rhino Records, in conjunction with Atlantic, will release a new greatest-hits collection called Mothership with a U.K. release date of Nov. 12, followed one week later with Atlantic's upgraded reissue of the soundtrack to Zep's 1976 film, The Song Remains the Same, as well as Warner's reissue of the film on DVD and Blu-Ray with additional footage.

Ertegün's surviving wife, Mica Ertegün, stated in a press release that her late husband "would be very proud that Led Zeppelin have chosen to reunite and headline a benefit concert in his name featuring so many of his friends. I would like to thank all of the artists for their generous contribution to help make Ahmet’s vision a reality."

Singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini will also appear at the concert on Nov. 26, and Wyman will perform with the Rhythm Kings.

Initial reports from the press conference:

• New Musical Express
• Rolling Stone
• Billboard
• Uncut

TBL in the mail

Issue 18 of the fan magazine Tight But Loose (tblweb.com) has arrived in my mail hot off the presses in the United Kingdom. There's a whole slew of news on Robert Plant activity in 2007, including discussion of some recent and upcoming concert appearances (a new Strange Sensation song is said to have debuted live!), some previously reported info on his album with Alison Krauss to be released in October (pre-orders onsale now), and something that was new to me.

Namely, Plant contributed two tracks that will be included on a compilation to be out in September that will benefit Fats Domino's foundation, established to help rebuild some portions of New Orleans that are still in poor shape from Hurricane Katrina two years ago. TBL details the track names plus where and when they were recorded and with whom. Also, Plant performed a set including both songs and some Elvis Presley songs as well as some Zep material onstage just after recording the album. I'll leave it to Dave Lewis to provide those details rather than repeating them here.

The Plant-Krauss coverage in TBL, while mostly stuff I'd seen elsewhere and even reported myself in the Aug. 20 edition of my newsletter, does reveal one detail that was new to me, although precise details are still pretty sketchy. There is talk of a single to be released from the Raising Sand album, probably prior to its release. Again, I won't reveal here which track Dave Lewis cites as most likely. TBL promises the next issue will go behind the scenes with the making of Raising Sand, and personally, I can't wait!

I did get some song samples from rounder.com and also on the album listing at amazon.com. From what I've heard, I'm particularly excited about the Everly Brothers track, "Gone, Gone, Gone."

Something Plant said in an interview for Rounder's electronic press kit struck me as particularly cool: that it was with this project that he was first paired with a singer of equal talent who could follow him. Look back through his history: Who all else has dared to sing harmony with Robert Plant? It's a short list. But probably nobody has done it as well as Alison Krauss did. Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself here. I haven't heard the full album yet! Thirty-second song clips and testaments from those who have heard the album, however, tend to support this statement.

Somebody just politely prodded on John Paul Jones' official discussion group that he's overdue for another update. They are pretty infrequent at that site; the last was in December 2006. Jonesy told me in December 2001, in a four-hour interview conducted in Philadelphia during the "budget tour" with King Crimson that preceded the release of his album The Thunderthief, that he wanted to interact with fans much more often than he was doing at the time. Jonesy soon handed off his Web design and maintenance to Canadian fan Sam Rapallo, the guy behind the Electric Magic site at led-zeppelin.com (yes, I was jealous, but he had a better résumé, and I still no nothing about making Web sites). They launched a new site, and JPJ's resolve to post more often quickly waned. Granted, maybe it's partially because he updates readers almost entirely on his solo activities, like progress on a new studio album that's been in the works for a long time but keeps getting shelved for other projects.

Jonesy has had his hands full, though, no doubt. There was producing Uncle Earl's album, there are bluegrass festivals, there's improving his skills on a mandolin and other assorted string instruments. But he did show up at Bonnaroo, the jam band festival in Tennessee earlier this year. A former coworker of mine texted me from Bonnaroo and told me he was watching JPJ play "Dazed and Confused" onstage. I thought my buddy was just messing with me! But I checked it out, and it's all over Youtube (in two parts). JPJ looked young -- way younger than he should, by comparison to Page and Plant anyway -- and he really appeared to be enjoying himself while revisiting this song he might not have played in front of a crowd since 1975 (verification/corrections, anybody?). Full coverage of this and his other Bonnaroo onstage guest spots in TBL.

The magazine also has a nice rundown of what to expect from the Mothership and TSRTS releases in November. As far as Mothership, I will go out on a limb and agree with Dave Lewis that the real prizes will be on the limited edition versions, especially the collector's edition. I might just happen to have a little inside information on this project myself. Stay tuned to my newsletter for anything I can reveal about that.

While there was nothing particular in this TBL about the ever-elusive Page other than a brief at-press-time mention of his role in testifying in trial against a man in Scotland who subsequently pled guilty to a charge of profiting from the sale of unauthorized live recordings of Led Zeppelin and other bands, TBL promises the next issue will have an interview with Page and info on a biography. Very ambiguous. Do they mean autobiography? It would be very interesting to read Page's own words on himself.

Finally, Dave Lewis discusses those Led Zeppelin reunion rumors and even points to the seemingly errant one-off rumor of a reunited Beck/Page Yardbirds. As for Zep, Lewis feels -- as do I -- that getting together for a once-only tribute show for Atlantic Records' Ahmet Ertegün is not far-fetched; anything further than that, on the other hand, is unlikely. For one thing, Plant will be touring with Alison Krauss to support Raising Sand! This much is sure.

A tribute to Ahmet Ertegun

This news originally appeared in an edition of the newsletter "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History."

Ahmet Ertegun, cofounder of Atlantic Records and close personal friend to the members of Led Zeppelin, died Dec. 14 at the age of 83. A fan of music until the very end, he had been in a coma since Oct. 29, when he slipped backstage at a Rolling Stones concert. The Turkish-born legend died at a hospital in New York with his family by his side.

It has often been said that Ertegun was more than just a label boss. He was also a companion and guide to the many musical artists he signed and whose careers he helped to nurture over his six decades in the industry. Ertegun's sustained influence on the members of Led Zeppelin was particularly evident in a number of ways, most clearly with the mutual support they fostered during the band's dozen years of existence and extending into the ensuing 26 years afterward.

Led Zeppelin's relationship with Ertegun began in 1968, when band manager Peter Grant closed a monumental record deal that November with Ertegun and his partner, Jerry Wexler, then vice president of Atlantic Records. With a simple handshake, the band was signed -- sight unseen -- to a generous five-album contract of previously unheard proportions.

Grant reflected on this time during a two-day interview in 1993 with Tight But Loose editor Dave Lewis. "The good thing was," said Grant, "in those days you weren't dealing with giant corporate companies like now. The Ertegun brothers [Ahmet and Neshui, who preceded his brother in death in 1989] owned the company and we shook on a deal. That's how it was back then."

One stipulation in the Atlantic deal gave the band complete creative control over its musical releases. This provision was tested in 1969, when Phil Carson, the head of Atlantic in the United Kingdom, wanted to issue "Whole Lotta Love" as a single in the country. The band objected. Grant told Dave Lewis in 1993 that it was Ahmet Ertegun who came to the rescue, asserting that the label had no right to issue anything without the band's approval.

Ertegun often traveled with Led Zeppelin, and in May 1973, while the band was soaring high across America on the strength of four Platinum LPs and a new one called Houses of the Holy, Ertegun threw a party for the album-oriented rockers in New Orleans. This grand reception was held at a place in the French Quarter, and many local musical attractions performed, including Ernie K-Doe, the Meters, and Roosevelt Sykes, also known as Honeydripper.

Led Zeppelin returned the favor to Ertegun the following year by inviting him to the launch party for the Swan Song record label on Halloween 1974. The band had formed Swan Song under a new contract with Atlantic, under which Ertegun's company would continue to distribute records by Led Zeppelin -- and all others on the start-up label. "Ahmet was the finest record man of all time," Grant said, "and every time we negotiated and he said, 'Peter, shake on it,' you knew it was done."

While Led Zeppelin toured Europe in 1980, the group would soon be due to sign another contract with Atlantic. Ertegun met up with Grant along the way, during a stop in Frankfurt, West Germany, and the two made a verbal agreement for renewing their contract. "We did many a deal with Ahmet on trust," Grant said in 1993, "and the paperwork would follow many months later." That plan in the summer of 1980 had been for Led Zeppelin to hash out a new deal with Atlantic within a year, but that plan had obviously fallen through by the end of 1980, after John Bonham died and the group disbanded.

The promise was not forgotten, however. In fact, Led Zeppelin still had one more album to deliver under its existing contract, and so a new plan was developed in 1982 to release a posthumous album. "Ahmet was great and paid an advance," said Grant, "even knowing that it was substandard and [if] we couldn't find enough material for a decent set, then the advance would be refunded." The surviving members got to work and assembled Coda. This album of eight tracks, representing all eras of its existence, placated Ertegun and offered what would be the final record from Led Zeppelin for the rest of the decade.

Grant went through what he called a "period of darkness" in the 1980s, which by some estimates lasted about four years after Bonham's death. In 1993, he credited Ertegun as being the sole person who wanted to lure the former Led Zeppelin manager out of his self-imposed withdrawal. Grant said, "It's interesting that Ahmet was the only one who has ever said to me that I mourned too long over John. Maybe he was right."

In 1988, the year after Ertegun was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a celebration was organized in New York to recognize the 40th anniversary of Atlantic Records. The former members of Led Zeppelin took to the stage at the May 14 event with Jason Bonham on drums, in only the second reunion of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones.

This year, a special tribute show just for Ertegun took place on June 30 in Montreux, Switzerland, and Plant was again in attendance; Page's planned appearance had been sidetracked by surgery.

During this tribute, which ended up being one of Ertegun's final public appearances, he was photographed onstage with a scruffy-looking Plant and guitarist Nile Rodgers. It was a reunion of sorts for the three; in 1984, they had co-produced an EP of rhythm and blues covers from the 1950s and 1960s. It was Volume One, the only studio set ever released by Plant's big-band side project, the Honeydrippers (yes, named after Roosevelt Sykes, good memory). Two of the EP's five tracks, each with Plant's golden voice, earned a fair amount of success on radio and television.

Ertegun's Honeydrippers production credit is marked by the backwards spelling of his last name -- Nugetre, the same pseudonym with which he is elsewhere credited in writing some songs. He had always longed for a sequel to Volume One, but it never surfaced, despite rumors of other existing studio tracks -- namely Roy Head's "Treat Her Right" and Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell on You." Newly released live Honeydrippers material is now available on Plant's new box set, Nine Lives, which also includes footage of a recent interview in which Ertegun comments on Plant's solo career.