Welcome to the TBL Market Place – this is a forum I’ll be using to offer one off items from the DL Led Zep and related collection. Bill Cromwell on ROBERT PLANT SAVING GRACE UK TOUR FIRST NIGHT REVIEW/DEBORAH BONHAM NEWS/LZ NEWS/REMASTERS – IT WAS 33 YEARS AGO /PRIORY OF BRION1999/BEATLES AT STOWE & NOW AND THEN /DL DIARY BLOG UPDATE On his 28th birthday June 18 1970, I went to see The Beatles Let It Be film at our local Granada cinema. It was a poignant experience and I vowed that whatever solo projects they embarked on I would be right there with them. Over the next couple of years I was enthralled by the likes of George’s All Things Must Pass and The Concert For Bangla Desh ,John’s Imagine, Ringo’s run of singles that began with It Don’t Come Easy and Paul’s Another Day single and the Ram album.

Oh for the zest to do all that again as here I am some 46 years later somewhat wearier but feeling very thankful and blessed to have reached this milestone… There’s no such constriction for the final song The Rain Song – a full blown epic again greatly benefiting from Rob Cavello and David Campbell’s expansive input and Beth bringing the required light and shade sensitivity to the lyrics. Here, we had health issues both mental and physical – Janet’s hip surgery earlier in the year rendering her on crutches again for another six months but thankfully she has come through all that very well and we feel much gratitude for the NHS care Janet received.Female inspiration is a constant theme throughout the book. There’s much discussion of his mother and her early passing, his first big love Jane Asher ( And I Love Her and Here there And Everywhere were two of the songs he wrote about her), Yoko’s effect on John, Linda’s crucial post Beatle and Wings influence and much warmth for his current wife Nancy. However, ex-wife, Heather Mills is conspicuous by her absence – clearly that is one episode he does not want to dwell on. Both Session CDs are full of surprises that brings every listener closer to the creative process that these songs underwent to achieve such greatness. Robert Plant is on tour in the UK with Saving Grace this month, continuing to perform Led Zeppelin covers and to play bass during their shows. Saving Grace has four shows remaining on the tour next week, including a final performance on November 25 in Wolverhampton.

Plant showing renewed confidence to throw in the echoed vocal nuances that became such an Earls Court trademark. Listening to this delivery re emphasis my opinion that the best live versions of Kashmir were all played in the year it was released on record. That is a mere sample of what is on offer online to access – it takes in many a post Zep interview and broadcast right up to last year.Christmas came and went as it does and we had a truly lovely family time particularly with our beautiful grandson Ollie here on Christmas Day.

The songs that were at the centre of this fixation included a dramatic take on Low’s Monkey and a truly fragile performance of Moby Grape’s It’s a Beautiful Day today. This was sung with breathtaking sensitivity in that breathy style he first perfected on the cover of Little Hands on the Skip Spense More Oar tribute album. What a moment that was… The set list is notable for the inclusion of Since I’ve Been Loving played live for the first time since the 1973 US tour. Plant: “Who knows what it’s gonna sound like, but it’s something we really used to dig playing”. There’s a masterful ad-lib during the song where he sings the ‘I’m about to lose my worried mind” refrian and adds ”I seem to remember I used to say for five minutes” Of course, the stars all need to align for that status to be awarded and here in the wonderful setting of the Spiegelfestival they all did. The Quay side surroundings were all a bit surreal and as Dec pointed out, you could here the slight rumble of the Dublin to Wexford train very slowly passing by about 10-15 yards away with the lights from the moving carriages in the Spiegeltent’s windows.April 17– Ross Halfin’s book “Led Zeppelin Vinyl: The Essential Collection” will be released by Reel Art Press. In the light of all that here’s the DL Valentines playlist – some of the most romantic and deeply touching love songs ever written in the view of your TBL editor: