Speaker 1: Taking a walk. When you know you've got something, go
Speaker 1: for it.
Speaker 2: Keep going because we all worry about what other people think.
Speaker 2: But if you know in your heart there's something great,
Speaker 2: you keep going moving forward. And that was a great
Speaker 2: lesson to me.
Speaker 3: Well, welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast and we
Speaker 3: have Adam reed Or, the Professor of Rock. We are
Speaker 3: going to break down the amazing led Zeppelin documentary. But
Speaker 3: before we get started at him, you know, since the
Speaker 3: podcast is called taking a Walk, I do want to
Speaker 3: ask you, could you tell me if there was someone
Speaker 3: you could take.
Speaker 4: A walk with, living or dead, who would you like
Speaker 4: to take a walk with?
Speaker 3: And where might you want to walk with them?
Speaker 2: You know, thinking about it, there's three names that come up,
Speaker 2: and I'll choose one of the three.
Speaker 1: But the three of them meily come to mind are
Speaker 1: Dan Fogelberg, Prince, and Elvis Presley.
Speaker 2: Then Frank Sinatra just came into my head. But you know,
Speaker 2: I love Dan Fogelberg and that's a dream interview. Prince
Speaker 2: is just so interesting. But I think I think I
Speaker 2: would have to go with Elvis.
Speaker 1: I'd have to go with the King.
Speaker 2: Because and I think I would take a walk with
Speaker 2: him honestly on the grounds of Graceland. I've been there
Speaker 2: many times, and I've interviewed Mark Cohane about walking to
Speaker 2: Memphis and so, I you know, I just think that
Speaker 2: it's a special place, a sacred place. When I went
Speaker 2: actually spent a few months in Memphis, Tennessee a long
Speaker 2: time ago, when I was doing totally different things.
Speaker 1: I was traveling for.
Speaker 2: Business and I was opening up a business center there,
Speaker 2: and so spent a few months there, and I mean
Speaker 2: every week I was at Graceland and Bill Street. But
Speaker 2: you know, it was It's an incredible place. But I
Speaker 2: just think Elvis is so fascinating. I would love to
Speaker 2: just pick his brain and hear his his take on
Speaker 2: It's interesting. We're very blessed to be able to do
Speaker 2: what we do buzz, you know, to be able to
Speaker 2: talk about music and talk to some of these heroes
Speaker 2: of ours people have written some of the great songs
Speaker 2: of all time. Elvis. I always find when I'm interviewing
Speaker 2: somebody like like a Lamont Dozer from Hollandozer Holland or somebody,
Speaker 2: you know, Henry Dilts, the great photographer.
Speaker 1: I interviewed him a few weeks ago. He was an.
Speaker 2: Official photographer of Woodstock and took so many great photos
Speaker 2: at Laurel Canyon. Sometimes you feel like you're interviewing somebody
Speaker 2: and it's like you know, or like Brian Wilson the
Speaker 2: Washington Monument, you're like sitting down with the Washington Monument.
Speaker 2: There's so much history there. And to me, I'm fascinated
Speaker 2: by the early early rock and roll fifties and sixties,
Speaker 2: when when it was barely registering with people and they said, oh,
Speaker 2: it's a flash in the pan, it'll never last. And
Speaker 2: Elvis was right there. I mean, he's the one that
Speaker 2: started that fire, along with you know, Chuck Berry and
Speaker 2: Little Richard and so to me that would be, uh,
Speaker 2: that would be a treat to be able to really
Speaker 2: the magic of his voice and and.
Speaker 1: And just what he created.
Speaker 3: And as we're going to talk about led Zeppelin and
Speaker 3: Becoming led Zeppelin, the Great documentary, you know, there's no
Speaker 3: doubt for so many of the Brits, you know, the
Speaker 3: road started with people like Elvis, right that really it
Speaker 3: really just began there, and uh, it still is a
Speaker 3: great starting point to you know, talking about Elvis.
Speaker 2: So Robert Plant talked about Little Richard, you know, on
Speaker 2: the documentary, and of course in the interview with David Letterman.
Speaker 1: He talked about the King. Of course, the King, you know,
Speaker 1: he threw that out there, so you.
Speaker 4: Know, yeah, that's that's that's a good one.
Speaker 3: So what stood out to you most about the approach
Speaker 3: that they took for becoming led Zeppelin compared to other
Speaker 3: documentaries you know that you've seen, whether about Zeppelin or
Speaker 3: just in general documentaries.
Speaker 2: I I loved the origin story. I mean I start
Speaker 2: off every interview I've ever done with that an origin
Speaker 2: question about you know, what was the moment that kicked
Speaker 2: open the door to your mind and made you want
Speaker 2: to pursue music like that moment, like where everything changed
Speaker 2: for you? And I love to know about people's history
Speaker 2: because I mean, the origin story is so important. I mean,
Speaker 2: if comic book movies are any indication.
Speaker 1: I mean they're hitting.
Speaker 2: You know, they were ruled the box office for for
Speaker 2: a decade, and it's always the origin story.
Speaker 1: Why did spider Man? How did Spider Man become Spider Man?
Speaker 2: And and what what motivated that Batman? That kind of thing,
Speaker 2: And I think the same thing with artists, you know,
Speaker 2: what what was it? And I love how Robert Plant,
Speaker 2: John Paul Jones, and Jimmy Page.
Speaker 1: It was just so cool to feel like.
Speaker 2: You had him in your living room there and then
Speaker 2: telling about what started out, you know, and Jimmy Jimmy
Speaker 2: Page talk about he always had a guitar in his hand,
Speaker 2: and you know, he took it to school and they'd
Speaker 2: take it away from him. And when he would go
Speaker 2: into school and his dad kind of said, okay, well
Speaker 2: I'll support you, but you make sure you keep your
Speaker 2: grades up, you know. And it was just great to
Speaker 2: to I was fascinated by that. And then of course
Speaker 2: to get you know, John Bonham, to get Bonzo, to
Speaker 2: get that that interview that had never been.
Speaker 1: Shared, and it was really a treat to watch Robert.
Speaker 2: Plant and well all of them, you know, just listening
Speaker 2: to John Bonham and smiling, and I thought that was
Speaker 2: a really cool approach. And the origin story just took
Speaker 2: him from there and then how they all met and
Speaker 2: and you got to see that, you know, Robert Plant talked.
Speaker 2: You could see the pain in his face. He went
Speaker 2: through some hard times. He was homeless, you know, he
Speaker 2: was he had a little suitcase he'd carry around, and
Speaker 2: he had some tough times.
Speaker 1: Trying to figure out what he was going to do,
Speaker 1: who he was.
Speaker 2: And we all look at these guys as rock gods
Speaker 2: and we don't see them as human, and when we
Speaker 2: see them in human it makes them even more precious touffs.
Speaker 2: At least it does to me, because they come.
Speaker 1: Down to that level.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I know we shouldn't worship that
Speaker 2: type of thing, but you know, as a little kid,
Speaker 2: when you see led Zeppelin, the golden gods of rock,
Speaker 2: up there on the stage, you hear those records, it's mystical,
Speaker 2: it's magical, it's like a it's almost indescribable, you know.
Speaker 2: And then you see them and then they come down
Speaker 2: in their mere mortals. You would think that that would
Speaker 2: take something away, but it doesn't. For me, it strengthens
Speaker 2: that bond.
Speaker 3: I think I loved how there really was no external commentary.
Speaker 4: It was really just the band members themselves.
Speaker 3: How do you think that choice that they made in
Speaker 3: creating the documentary impacts us as viewers and our connection
Speaker 3: to the story.
Speaker 2: Because I think that they're holding us by the hand
Speaker 2: and tanking gets along for the ride.
Speaker 1: And I love that too. I love that aspect. There
Speaker 1: was no voice over.
Speaker 2: There was no Okay, now we're going to give you
Speaker 2: some exposition here, and we're going to take you to
Speaker 2: the next here, you know, here's this year.
Speaker 1: And I loved how they let the music also.
Speaker 2: Breathe life into it, where you'd see a live performance,
Speaker 2: and they'd let the live performance go on, where you'd
Speaker 2: see the full performance, and then you also see what
Speaker 2: was going on in those years, which was impacting Zeppelins music,
Speaker 2: and Zeppelin was impacting what was going on. And I
Speaker 2: love that too, with that aspect of it, you know,
Speaker 2: And I would have given it a perfect ten.
Speaker 1: The only thing that.
Speaker 2: I didn't like about it is I feel like there
Speaker 2: was a huge missed opportunity at the end. And we
Speaker 2: learned this from a Star Wars trilogy. How could you
Speaker 2: not bring the characters together at the end, you know,
Speaker 2: and let them be in the room. It would have
Speaker 2: been so perfect to end with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones,
Speaker 2: Robert Plant sitting together in that room where you know,
Speaker 2: it looked like even they were being interviewed in the
Speaker 2: same room, some of them, but at least that John
Speaker 2: Paul Jones or Robert Plant looked like the same room
Speaker 2: to me. Maybe I'm mistaken, but it would have been
Speaker 2: great to have them sitting in that like kind of
Speaker 2: den together, listening to John Bonham and them kind of together,
Speaker 2: the four of them one last time and and give
Speaker 2: give the last word.
Speaker 1: Uh. You know.
Speaker 2: I like how Jimmy Page had the last word because
Speaker 2: it was his band, he started it. But it would
Speaker 2: have been cool to see that that's my only that's
Speaker 2: my only hiccup.
Speaker 3: I wondered the same thing, and I wondered whether it
Speaker 3: was too painful in a way for them to go
Speaker 3: through that in terms of the ride that would have
Speaker 3: taken them on emotionally. But I definitely had that same feeling,
Speaker 3: and I wish it went you know, I wish the
Speaker 3: whole thing went on further further down the road, you know,
Speaker 3: like a good tease of an interview, which you're so
Speaker 3: great at, Uh, you leave people wanting more.
Speaker 4: I think they left us wanting more.
Speaker 2: Definitely, I would love to see you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: who doesn't want to hear their take on Steroid to Heaven,
Speaker 2: even though Robert Plan doesn't want to talk about it
Speaker 2: really from other interviews, but it would have been great
Speaker 2: to see, you know, for example, my I mean, my
Speaker 2: favorite song of all time by Zeppelin is ten years gone,
Speaker 2: and I would love to have heard their take on
Speaker 2: that immigrant song and so on and so forth. And
Speaker 2: I loved how you got little stories behind the songs.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it seemed like Zeppel one and two and
Speaker 2: they left us. But maybe there'll be a sequel. We
Speaker 2: can only hope.
Speaker 3: I love how Jimmy Page talked about his specific decision
Speaker 3: to steer Zeppelin away from mainstream singles, you know, toward
Speaker 3: these more ambitious albums. How in your mind, how pivotal
Speaker 3: do you think that the vision was in shaping the
Speaker 3: band's legacy.
Speaker 1: Oh, it was monumental because.
Speaker 2: I remember there was a part where Jimmy Page talked
Speaker 2: about that he saw the future in America. They were
Speaker 2: playing full sides of albums, you know, they were trying
Speaker 2: to push him for a cut for AM radio Pop radio,
Speaker 2: and he could see where the future was going with
Speaker 2: with FM and with them playing entire sides of albums,
Speaker 2: and that's where.
Speaker 1: He wanted to be.
Speaker 2: And I think that they influenced everybody came after, I mean,
Speaker 2: Pink Floyd and you know, the great albums.
Speaker 1: I always say that the sixties to me are the greatest,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: I've been doing this project for like the last six months,
Speaker 2: where every Saturday I camped down the top ten, or
Speaker 2: in my case, I've been doing eleven songs because it's
Speaker 2: so difficult for every year in music from so far,
Speaker 2: I've done nineteen sixty four to about nineteen eighty nine,
Speaker 2: and I planned to probably do a few few years
Speaker 2: from the nineties in the fifties, but it is so
Speaker 2: hard because in the sixties is impossible, because you go
Speaker 2: from sixty five to sixty nine and there's fifty songs
Speaker 2: that could be in the top ten easy. So to me,
Speaker 2: the sixties are the greatest, and nothing comes close as
Speaker 2: far as singles go, you know, their own individual songs.
Speaker 2: But when you get in the seventies, I think the
Speaker 2: seventies are the greatest decade by far for albums, for
Speaker 2: a full picture and thematically, you know, and Zeppelin certainly
Speaker 2: had that, and Eagles followed that, and a lot of
Speaker 2: bands in the seventies who were trying to create full albums,
Speaker 2: full experiences. We're missing that, you know.
Speaker 1: In the New Age. That's a bit of a lost art.
Speaker 2: The album is going away in some ways, it is
Speaker 2: coming back in some ways with vinyl being so exciting
Speaker 2: for younger people. So there's no question that Zeppelin had
Speaker 2: a massive impact on that. And they were writing, they
Speaker 2: were looking at as a as a full album. They
Speaker 2: were They're never a band that was sitting down and saying,
Speaker 2: all right, what's going to be the leadoff single?
Speaker 1: What's going to be the second single?
Speaker 2: And and that's the mentality that we all have, I
Speaker 2: mean that the record executives have, and that that most
Speaker 2: artists have is how were we going to I mean
Speaker 2: today it's about grabbing them that first five seconds. That
Speaker 2: was never on their mind. They were it was art
Speaker 2: first and commerce came a distant second.
Speaker 3: The filmmakers mentioned that there's a bit of a message
Speaker 3: in the doc about following your passion and not listening
Speaker 3: to naysayers. How do you think that theme resonates with
Speaker 3: musicians and the general broad audience.
Speaker 1: We we live in a time where.
Speaker 2: Social media has taken over and a lot of these
Speaker 2: younger kids are.
Speaker 1: In some ways are there's there. Their value of.
Speaker 2: Themselves is tied to likes and comments. And I can
Speaker 2: understand that as a having a YouTube channel. You know,
Speaker 2: if I'm having a bad day, on YouTube where it's
Speaker 2: not resonating. You know, I'm beating myself up, like maybe
Speaker 2: I shouldn't this or whatever. You can't worry about what
Speaker 2: others think of you if you know you've got something.
Speaker 2: There was an artist that taught me something really incredible.
Speaker 2: Kenny Loggins. Actually, Kenny Loggins was telling a story about
Speaker 2: how he and Michael McDonald had just written what a
Speaker 2: Fool Beliefs, huge hit for the Dewbie Brothers. Of course,
Speaker 2: you know, one record of the year, and it was
Speaker 2: a number one hit and massive, and so they really
Speaker 2: had a great connection as writers. So Kenny wrote Whenever
Speaker 2: I Call You Friend, and he thought this is man,
Speaker 2: I think this is a great song. And he took
Speaker 2: it to Michael McDonald. Is their next song to do together?
Speaker 2: And he said, man, I think we should do this
Speaker 2: next one together. And Michael McDonald listened to it and
Speaker 2: he said, nah, I don't hear it. I don't care
Speaker 2: for it. I don't think it's a great song. Kenny's
Speaker 2: like what And so Kenny Stevie Nix at the time
Speaker 2: he used tour with her. She said let's do adet together,
Speaker 2: and he said, let's do this song and she loved it,
Speaker 2: and they recorded and it became his first massive solo hit,
Speaker 2: and he said, you know, my lesson from that is
Speaker 2: when you know you've got something, go for it. Keep
Speaker 2: going because we all worry about what other people think.
Speaker 2: But if you know in your heart does something great,
Speaker 2: you keep going moving forward. And that was a great
Speaker 2: lesson to me that you know we got to do.
Speaker 2: And I think Zeppelin's a great example of that. I mean,
Speaker 2: they have their struggles, you know, it shows that. That's
Speaker 2: what I love about this documentary is that shows all
Speaker 2: of their ups and downs getting to the point where
Speaker 2: they were the greatest man of all time.
Speaker 3: After watching Becoming Led Zeppelin, did you come away with
Speaker 3: any new insights or questions that you would like to
Speaker 3: explore further in your own work.
Speaker 2: Gosh, I probably haven't had enough time to reflect on
Speaker 2: it because I just barely watched it last night.
Speaker 1: I've been so crazy busy the last few months.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I think I love their example of they
Speaker 2: were creating without worrying about what an audience wanted. And
Speaker 2: I think sometimes as a podcaster, as an interviewer, as
Speaker 2: content creators, I guess is what they call it now,
Speaker 2: Sometimes we're worried about really tying it into your last
Speaker 2: question what others are thinking, or maybe I should cover
Speaker 2: this because it's the popular thing and forego our own
Speaker 2: ideas of what our heart is telling us a direction
Speaker 2: to go. And I think that Zeppelin's a great example
Speaker 2: of you follow your heart and your passions. And a
Speaker 2: couple of days ago, you know, my son, I've got
Speaker 2: a seventeen year old and he had a bunch of
Speaker 2: friends over here.
Speaker 1: We're putting together a puzzle of.
Speaker 2: Rock albums, and we were talking about music, and I
Speaker 2: was showing them different songs that they weren't aware of.
Speaker 2: Either are like, what's this album? And they said, oh,
Speaker 2: it's you know, it's General Tall And I showed them
Speaker 2: or Jefferson Airplane, and I was showing them different things
Speaker 2: and they never heard it, and their mine was being
Speaker 2: blown and I thought, this is so fun, so to
Speaker 2: share something new with these kids that they've never heard
Speaker 2: that they're like, wow, how did they how did what.
Speaker 1: Instrument is that? And how did they do this?
Speaker 2: And and I thought, I need to get back to
Speaker 2: that a little bit more of I'm not worrying so
Speaker 2: much about I got to do a video that's gonna
Speaker 2: get you know, that's gonna get clicks or views. It's
Speaker 2: about creating something that that resonates and and I think
Speaker 2: for the most part I do that. But it is
Speaker 2: a good reminder that we need to follow our heart.
Speaker 2: We need to follow where the mus is taking as
Speaker 2: as opposed to what you know, the marketing plan is.
Speaker 3: It's great advice for all of us, great advice for me.
Speaker 3: I couldn't agree more. Highly recommend Becoming led Zeppelin a
Speaker 3: great documentary, and I highly recommend you check out The
Speaker 3: Professor of Rock because it's chock full of behind the
Speaker 3: scenes stories with some of the greats from the music business.
Speaker 3: So Adam, thank you for being on Taking a Walk Buzz,
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, love it.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Speaker 2: Walk Podcast.
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