Zeppelin’s first record, Led Zeppelin, in Studio # 1 and other artists’ projects was fantastic. It was a real “Olympic Studios Home Brew”! It was just so easy to work with and very versatile. When that console was finally replaced years later, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to shed a tear over it. That console helped preserve the music of so many great artists who recorded at Olympic through the years; among them, Led Zeppelin.
REDDON:
You mentioned that you didn’t work on Led Zeppelin but you were around when they were doing it. What were your impressions of what Led Zeppelin was trying to achieve at Olympic Studios with the band’s recording of the Led Zeppelin LP?
CHKIANTZ:
Yes, that’s correct. I didn’t work on the first Zeppelin LP but I do remember being around when they did it. I’d stick my head in the studio while they were working on it every now and again. What impressed me most about Page and this new band of his -- and I remember thinking this to myself, as I walked down the hall one day – was that what they were attempting to do was very, very harsh.
The sound of the guitar was cruel and metallic. I didn’t particularly care for it, initially. I’d never really heard that degree of all-out guitar attack before, even though I was in the business. I knew the musicianship in this band was excellent but I wasn’t sure what they were striving to achieve with such an aggressive sound. The way things worked out, Page certainly knew exactly what direction he wanted to go, with that first album.
REDDON:
One of the objectives of my research is to illustrate Led Zeppelin’s musical evolution over the first six months of the band’s existence. Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 3 – The Tape Kept A-Rollin’ examines exclusively the bootleg releases that surfaced from material recorded at Olympic Studios in September/October of 1968.
These bootleg releases are: the Olympic Gold CD, the Babe I’m Gonna Leave You session CD. As well, the Strange Tales From The Road boxed CD set, which includes some sessions that Led Zeppelin did with American singer, PJ Proby, are examined. These recordings surfaced in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They have served as a benchmark to study the start of Led Zeppelin’s musical evolution. Were you aware that the CDs I just mentioned, which contain material recorded in September/October 1968 somehow escaped from Olympic Studios and were bootlegged?
CHKIANTZ:
As for the bootleg CDs you mentioned that surfaced in the early 1990s, containing some of Led Zeppelin’s studio sessions for the first album in 1968? I’m completely surprised! At the time those sessions were being recorded, we were all just doing our jobs, working with artists like Led Zeppelin at Olympic. Who would have thought these rough takes would be of such interest, so many years later?
I suppose it’s possible that, when Olympic Studios was sold to Virgin Records in the early 1990s, these recordings may have been somehow lost or stolen in the transitional shuffle. There was a time period during reconstruction when someone could have happened upon these Zeppelin rehearsal takes because they were likely still in storage in the archives.
When an artist recorded reels of tape, the procedure at Olympic Studios was generally as follows. A slew of takes was recorded and then the best ones were selected to make the master. The “multiple take tapes” used for compiling the master tape were then put back in storage downstairs, in the studio archives. We were constantly bringing reels of tape up and downstairs for this purpose. After we re-recorded the desired takes for the masters upstairs, we returned the multiple take reels of tape to the archives again, downstairs. That was that.
I’m completely amazed that someone got their hands on this stuff and put it out on the bootleg market in 1992. It seems very odd to me that the routine work we did at Olympic in 1968, would be of such intrigue to so many people, so many years later. Back in those days, we never dreamed such a thing would ever happen!
REDDON: Thanks very much, Mr. Chkiantz, for your interesting insights.
CHKIANTZ: All the best to you, Frank.
ED CASSIDY
REMEMBERS DENVER – LED ZEPPELIN’S VERY FIRST CONCERT IN THE UNITED STATES
Led Zeppelin takes the stage in early ’69. Note that John Paul Jones is using his 1961 Fender jazz bass. In another picture of the same performance, he’s playing a Rickenbacker.
Courtesy: Howard Mylett Collection, used with permission. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc.
Ed Cassidy, iconic percussionist for his band, Spirit, provided this interview in May 1998. Ed recalls having Led Zeppelin open for Spirit at the McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, December 26, 1968. This was Led Zeppelin’s first-ever performance on U.S. soil during the group’s First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69.
Cassidy also provides a lucid backdrop for his perspective of Led Zeppelin, brilliantly recalling the popular music scene and some of its performers in the 1960s.
Ed has been performing for over 55 years and is still going strong. He has played everything from jazz and rock’n’roll to classical music. He is an educator and a professional musician of the highest order who continues to contribute to popular music.
REDDON: Hello, Ed. Thank you very much for agreeing to be interviewed.
CASSIDY: I’m happy to help you out if I’m able. What would you like to know?
REDDON:
Well, I’m very interested to hear any recollections you may have about Led Zeppelin’s debut performance in the United States. This brand-new group opened for your band, Spirit, at the McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, December 26, 1968. I’d love to hear whatever you can tell me.
CASSIDY: All right. That was a long time ago now but I’ll do my best!
REDDON: That’s fine, I’m anxious to hear whatever you have to say, Ed.
CASSIDY:
In the era of the 1960s, I found each group had its own sound and personalities that stood out. During that time, when you heard groups such as The Doors, Hour Glass [aka Allman Brothers Band], Led Zeppelin, Spirit, Vanilla Fudge, they all had distinctive personalities and sounds. I think The Beatles more or less set the stage for everybody else in the 1960s, creating and performing a genre of music that would be of lasting quality.
Other bands followed as pop music advanced. Ours, for one. Led Zeppelin, along with The Doors, Traffic, Hendrix and others set the stage for music that also had the quality of longevity, due to the tangible factors of distinctive personalities and sounds. There were also the British Invasion bands such as The Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin. Each had its own blend of special musical magic.
Admittedly, much of these artists’ distinctiveness had to do with the fact that technological advances in musical equipment were being made during the mid to late 1960s. As well, rock’n’roll as a musical form still had a great deal to be discovered at this point. It was definitely an era of discovery - artistically, socially and technologically. All these factors worked together in some way and gave us many distinctive artists with the innovative, memorable music
