The Led Zeppelin News Email - 06/07/25
Mothership is getting a repressing and we celebrate our 400th newsletter
Hello! Welcome to the 400th Led Zeppelin News email. We email out regular summaries of Led Zeppelin news so that you don't miss anything.
Led Zeppelin
Mothership is being repressed on vinyl
A vinyl repress of Led Zeppelin’s compilation album Mothership will be released later this month, multiple record shops have announced.
The box set appears to be exactly the same as the version released in 2015 which used the latest remasters of Led Zeppelin’s music.
Weirdly, the repressing hasn’t been announced by Led Zeppelin or its record label.
A ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ update
Sony Pictures Germany has published three behind the scenes photographs that show Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones being interviewed for “Becoming Led Zeppelin”.
In other news, TV Zone UK is reporting that “Becoming Led Zeppelin” will be shown on Sky in August.
It’s our 400th email newsletter!
This email is our 400th newsletter! We’ve been sending out these news roundups since our very first email on March 15, 2015.
In that debut email, we brought news of the remastered edition of Physical Graffiti, Jimmy Page’s Sound Tracks box set and Robert Plant’s More Roar Record Store Day release.
To celebrate this 400th issue, we decided to ask some Led Zeppelin fans what’s on their wishlists for Led Zeppelin to release in the future:
Dave Lewis, Tight But Loose editor:
Bath Festival June 28, 1970 complete soundboard on 2 CDs / 4 LPs plus footage on 2 DVDs/Blu-ray
Earls Court May 24 and 25, 1975 complete soundboards on 6 CDs / 10 LPs plus footage on 4 DVDs/Blu-ray
Knebworth August 4 and August 11, 1979 complete soundboard on 4 CDs / 8 LPs and footage on 3 DVDs/Blu-ray
‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ soundtrack recordings from the film plus interview clips on 3 CD / 5 LP set
Nech Tytla, For Badgeholder’s Only co-webmaster:
I would love for Jimmy and or the band [to] release that forever-promised chronological live album. The groundwork has practically been completed but to see the same thing but using their tapes and videos that they might possibly have in their archives would be incredible.
‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ was wonderful so naturally I would love to see a continuation of that: ‘Being Led Zeppelin’. Of course it would require a great deal of effort to keep the ‘Hammer of the Gods’ element out, but if you just stick to the music, the history of the albums and the way they revolutionized the rock music industry, it would make for a fantastic film.
Look at how exciting it was to see Jimmy visit Headley Grange in ‘It Might Get Loud’. Think of something along those lines but do it for all the albums with input from JPJ and Robert and bash! What a great biographical movie to completely seal the legacy of Led Zeppelin. I know Jimmy’s said that there will be a posthumous autobiography released. Do one now with the rest of the members while they all still can.
And lastly, while the super deluxe remasters were great, a release of any further studio outtakes would make any hardcore fan happy. Listening to the snippets of Jimmy playing parts of ‘Ten Years Gone’ has given me such an appreciation of what went into the final product, I just can’t imagine how much fans would enjoy the same for the development of other songs.
Eric Levy AKA LedZepFilm:
The one realistic item at the top of my list I believe the Led Zeppelin camp should release are the multitracks from the Tokyo and Osaka 1971 shows. These are four shows with the band at the top of their game, and it's legit baffling to me that Page & co haven't already made a quick buck out of releasing them. I'd also like a re-edit of the Madison Square Garden 1973 concerts as I'm convinced something far more historical and proper can be made with what they filmed and recorded.
Jimmy Page
Dave Davies spoke about Jimmy Page in a new interview
The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies has spoken about Jimmy Page in a new interview with Guitar Player, seemingly criticising Page for starting the rumour that it was Page, not Davies, who performed the guitar solos on early Kinks songs such as “You Really Got Me”.
“I suppose when he became successful himself, all credit due to him, his ego was so inflated he probably thought he invented the bloody instrument anyway, being carried along on that crystal and glamour,” Davies said of Page.
“It’s all an illusion, building your ego up, and eventually something’s going to pop it like a balloon and you’re back flat down on your ass again,” Davies added. “Which is what happened, didn’t it?”
Davies has a history of reacting angrily to claims that Page performed on Kinks recordings. When Guitar World reported last year that Eddie Kramer had said Page recorded overdubs for Kinks songs, Davies responded by demanding an “immediate retraction” of the story, sharing a text message from Kramer and even sharing a statement from his brother Ray Davies.
Guitar World then published the audio of its interview with Kramer which included this quote: “I think on that song, You Really Got Me – either You Really Got Me or one of the others – I remember seeing Jimmy Page come in and doing an overdub.”
Davies has been sensitive about this topic for years. In 2022 he published a video denying Page recorded any part of “You Really Got Me”. In 2015, he seemed to admit that Page hadn’t spread the rumour that he performed on any Kinks songs.
Back in 2014, Davies responded to a BBC documentary that claimed Page played on “You Really Got Me” with a Facebook post that began: “BBC TELLS LIES ABOUT DAVE DAVIES AND THE KINKS IN THEIR NEW DOCUMENTARY.” He then edited the post the next day to remove the quoted all-caps section.
Robert Plant
Paul Weller released his new song with Robert Plant
Paul Weller has released his new song “Clive’s Song” which features Robert Plant. The song was debuted on BBC Radio 6 Music on July 3 and was released on streaming services shortly afterwards.
Weller’s new album Find El Dorado, which features the track, will be released on July 25.
Robert Plant had a phone call from Tony Iommi
Robert Plant received a phone call from Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi on July 4, the day before the band’s final performance in Birmingham. That’s according to Instagram user w1nona4ever who ran into Plant at the Black Country Living Museum and apparently discussed the phone call with him there.
John Paul Jones
Auction watch: A letter from John Paul Jones sold on eBay today
A letter to a fan seemingly sent by John Paul Jones sold on eBay for £260.20 earlier today.
The letter seems to have been a response by Jones to a school project asking what famous people eat before live performances.
“Thank you for your interesting request,” Jones wrote. “To answer: I have a banana before the show and dark chocolate after”.
Upcoming events:
July 10 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at Festival de Poupet in Saint-Malô-du-Bois, France.
July 13 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at the Lucca Summer Festival in Lucca, Italy.
July 15 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at the Jazz à Juan music festival in Juan-les-Pins, France.
July 17 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Vienne, France.
July 19 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Salon-de-Provence, France.
July 21 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at the Jazz in Marciac festival in Marciac, France.
July 23 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at Festival de Carcassonne in Carcassonne, France.
July 25 - Paul Weller’s new album Find El Dorado, which features Robert Plant on the track “Clive’s Song”, will be released. Patty Griffin’s new album Crown of Rosses, which features Plant on the song “Long Time”, will also be released.
July 26 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at the 1001 Músicas festival in Granada, Spain.
July 28 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Valencia, Spain.
July 30 - Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Barcelona, Spain.
September 11 - The book “Valhalla!: The A to Z of Led Zeppelin” by Paul Brannigan will be published.
September 26 - ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ will be released in Japan.
October - John Paul Jones’ song cycle for Dame Sarah Connolly will premiere in London.
October 28 - Cameron Crowe’s memoir ‘The Uncool’ will be published and an updated edition of Denny Somach’s book ‘Get the Led Out: How Led Zeppelin Became the Biggest Band in the World’ will also be published.
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