|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Click on the panels to download artwork 
Led
Zeppelin In India Only $ingaporeans would pay good money to watch a mockery of Elvis-already-dead performing "live" in $ingapore. Truly, this horror show is coming. Common sense would tell you that it's better to invite them while they are still alive and better still, while in their prime. So just imagine 1972, $ingapore. Lee Kuan Yew was Prime Minister then. His government had no patience for youth culture. Closing down the pubs and clubs that automatically destroyed the livelihoods of $ingapore musicians. The government also would not put up with youthful fashion. That meant "long-haired males would be served last" at all government offices. Led Zeppelin called off their visit to $ingapore. They went to Bombay instead. Our Led Zeppelin story begins: "After a busy and extremely successful touring schedule in 1971, Led Zeppelin would continue their love affair with the East. Their first tour of Japan in September 1971 yielded some of their finest shows to date, after which the band finished the year in style with some UK dates. These included the infamous Electric Magic shows at Wembley's freezing Empire Pool. "Destined for warmer climes, Richard Cole was sent on a reconnaissance mission to prepare for a planned tour of Australia in early 1972. A show in $ingapore was also proposed for mid-February 1972. However, Led Zeppelin's long, flowing locks didn't go down too well with the authorities in there and the date was permanently shelved. Instead, the band decided to jump off their Air India flight and complement their trip down under with a visit to Bombay, enroute to Perth… "Having established an instant love-affair with Bombay, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were to return again after playing their final Australian date at the Festival Hall in Brisbane. They decided to book some time at EMI's local Indian studios, enlisting the talents of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra to help them rework two of Zeppelin's classic tracks [Friends and Four Sticks]. They didn't realise it at this point, but it was perhaps this session that would conceive the embryo of a project which would eventually come to fruition some 22 years later [Note: In 1994, Page-Plant released No Quarter, a remake of Led Zeppelin songs with assistance from musicians in Egypt and Marrakech]. The recordings they made in Bombay would never see the light of day officially but thanks to an excellent tape copy, we can enjoy a little of the Bombay magic they weaved in March 1972." Empress Valley in Japan has put out a first generation copy of this recording in excellent quality. You can hear Jimmy Page directing the Bombay orchestra. Tablas vie with sitars to offer an Eastern atmosphere on Led Zeppelin's Black Country rock. Robert Plant offers some spectacular singing on Friends. This was years before his voice gave way into an aged growl,15 years before "world music" and Womad. Just imagine if Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had arrived at Paya Lebar airport instead and had toured Chinatown. The Eastern flavour could have been the erhu. - Michael Cheah The Bombay Sessions were recorded
at EMI Studios March 1972 in India.
Click here to order Led Zeppelin albums.
This 1994 album included
reworkings of Friends and Four Sticks first started in Bombay in 1972.  For more... email singbigo@singnet.com.sg with the message, "Put me on your mailing list."
|
|
|
