Tidbits on Led Zeppelin, Eddie Vedder, U2, The Who

Led Zeppelin’s reunion will take place Monday night at The o2 in London. Of course, many folks know that it will be Jason Bonham on drums along with the surviving members of Led Zeppelin. I’m sure most of us also know that the death of Jason’s dad, John, was the reason for the breakup of Led Zep in 1980.

It’s a big shindig that will take place. The band will reunite in aid of the Ahmet Ertegun education fund. Ertegun, a Turkish-American, was a co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records and chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. He also co-founded the New York Cosmos soccer team. Ertegun died last April.

Bonham will be a busy man that night because not only will he drum for Zeppelin, but also for his regular band, Foreigner. Others on the bill will be Pete Townshend, Paul Rodgers, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Paolo Nutini, and Foreigner as supporting acts. Page has suggested the band may start work on new material and has also recently stated that a world tour may be in the works for 2008 in America. Although usually these reports get refuted almost as quickly as they are put out.

I saw Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at the Meadowlands back in 1998 and quite frankly I was disappointed. They were also supposed to tour with The Who back in 2000, but Page injured his leg. When I heard the news that the two legendary bands would be touring together and making a stop at Madison Square Garden no less, I was one of the first on line to get tickets at Tower Records in Yonkers. If there ever was a reunion of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham in the U.S., I can assure you that I would absolutely do my darnedest to get tickets.

Incidentally, it’s always been rumored that Jimmy Page played with The Who on "I Can’t Explain." Don’t know where that came from, but it’s not true. He did play lead guitar on the single’s B-Side, “Bald Headed Woman.” I decided to throw up the video of “I Can’t Explain,” being performed at Woodstock. The song is a staple for The Who at their concerts and one of my favorites...but aren't they all!

Here’s an interesting article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times about Eddie Vedder in which he talks about the influence the album, Who’s Next had over his latest work on the soundtrack, Into The Wild. If you are so inclined, click here.

I also have a link to an interesting interview with U2 in 1987, where they talk about the Joshua Tree, The Beatles, and being influenced by The Who. For more click me.