Читать книгу Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 - Break & Enter - Frank Reddon - Страница 12

Jimmy Page in a typical pose of supreme concentration, during his tenure with The Yardbirds.

Courtesy: Howard Mylett Collection, used with permission. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc.

In the late 1960s, Gord Cottrill was in his mid-teens. He played lead guitar in a high school band in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, called The Rembrandts. The band became so popular throughout Southern Ontario that the group was eventually invited to play on the prestigious Canadian Bandstand television program in 1967.

Gord (Gordie) went on to become one of the finer professional guitarists in Canada, enjoying a successful career as a live performer as well as a studio musician.

Here he recollects the music that inspired him as a teenager as well as the musical influences that helped him get where he is today. They include two of the most significant British bands in popular music history: The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin.

REDDON:

Hi, Gord! Thanks very much for speaking with me. I really appreciate it.

COTTRILL:

Hi, Frank! It sounds like quite a project you’ve undertaken.

REDDON:

It has been a while in the making but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the research I’ve conducted over the past eleven years. To get things underway, I’d like to get some biographical information from you. How did you first get involved with music?

COTTRILL:

I started in what you’d call “rural” or “old time country music” by playing fiddle and banjo as a young child. My family were farm people. We baled hay, cut wood and picked tobacco. Because money was sometimes scarce, our entertainment was the music we made ourselves. I guess I've been a musician for my entire life. I've had the privilege of being in the company of great musicians, doing innumerable concerts, television shows and dances over all this time. Today I've cut back somewhat, doing mostly recording sessions.

REDDON: Your main instrument is electric guitar, is that correct?

COTTRILL:

It was then. My main instrument now is pedal steel guitar. In 2006, I did a cross-Canada national tour with Canadian legend Stompin’ Tom Connors. I played pedal steel guitar and harmonicas as a member of his stage band. We were on tour for eight weeks doing shows in all the major Canadian cities. The other band members were great musicians. We played many big shows, including the Calgary Stampede and many others that were upwards of 35,000 people. Most of my music today is pedal steel although I also still do lead guitar, Dobro®, fiddle, harmonica, etc. as required.

REDDON: It must have been an incredible rush to play in front of that many people.

COTTRILL: Oh, I’ll say! The whole tour was a sensational experience from start to finish.

REDDON:

Getting back to your beginnings as a musician…you and your band from Owen Sound, The Rembrandts, were one of the first acts ever to play on the television show Canadian Bandstand. If I understand it correctly, this program was modelled after its U.S. counterpart, American Bandstand with Dick Clark. How did all that come about for you and The Rembrandts, who were essentially a bunch of sixteen and seventeen year olds from Northern Ontario? That was quite an accomplishment!

COTTRILL:

Yes, we were all very happy about appearing on Canadian Bandstand. I was from outside Paisley, a town about thirty miles away from Owen Sound. A friend of mine from school, Bob Becker, an amazing keyboards player then and now, hooked up with these guys from Owen Sound. It’s kind of funny how we wound up with kids from another town - it was like we went for an audition, actually. We started playing and we all kind of fed off each other.

REDDON: What kind of music were you playing when you first got together?

COTTRILL:

We all liked the same kind of music -- the British bands, as well as the American rhythm & blues stuff. I was especially interested by The Yardbirds. I’ll never forget what sold me on The Yardbirds the first time I heard them. It was their song Shapes of Things. I heard it on the radio and it was probably from one of the larger stations because where I was from was quite rural and that kind of music wouldn’t likely be played. When I heard Jeff Beck’s solo on that song, I thought to myself instantly, “What the hell is this, what’s going on here? I have to be a part of this kind of music somehow.” I was that overwhelmed with The Yardbirds immediately. This was around 1966 or so, when Jeff Beck was with them before Jimmy Page.

At that time, we were used to “The San Francisco Sounds” of groups like The Mamas and The Papas, The Byrds with their 12 string guitar “softer” work, that kind of music. But The Yardbirds were completely revolutionary to my ears. I know you want to know about Jimmy Page, but it was actually Jeff Beck when he was with The Yardbirds before Page, who first made such a profound impression on me. The Yardbirds were also less known and more obscure than other British bands. Jeff Beck put such an amazing lead guitar solo on Shapes of Things, I even remember where I was when I first heard it!

REDDON: Oh really? Where?

COTTRILL:

Bob and I were going down the highway. That song came on the radio, three miles outside of Walkerton, Ontario. Bob showed me the first Stratocaster I ever held. I still think of that when I go down that road.

REDDON: What a great memory that must be. Your memory certainly serves you well.

COTTRILL:

I don’t know about that, but those were such significant times in my life and were likely part of growing up.

Getting back to your original question on how The Rembrandts were booked to play Canadian Bandstand…our band became somewhat of a regional success. We played lots of high schools in the area around Owen Sound and throughout Ontario. We were doing the British material and American rhythm and blues. We weren’t doing much Beatles stuff or the softer love songs that other high school bands were covering; that wasn’t our interest at all. As it happened, many other people were interested in the type of music we were playing, as well. We had a great deal of work. I must say we were intrigued by the harder-edged British bands, most especially TheYardbirds.

The American rhythm and blues numbers consisted of material such as Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and B.B. King. The Yardbirds’ songs were actually a perfect fit for what our band was doing musically. We kept getting bigger and better gigs and dances. We did the winter carnivals, the Owen Sound Coliseum dances and many other summer lakeside resorts such as the pavilions at Sauble, Kincardine and Wasaga Beach. Of course, this was in the ’60s when communication and travel were difficult. We were very happy to be getting jobs that were usually given to the bigger, better known Toronto bands.

As the ’60s went on, the British bands became more and more well known and the kids who were at our performances increasingly wanted to hear this kind of music. At this point, it was 1966 or 1967. When we did Canadian Bandstand, it was actually quite remarkable. Nobody had really heard of us a year earlier, other than regionally, and here we were doing a national show! When we were on the program, there were other bands on the season’s roster including from Toronto: David Clayton Thomas, who would go on to form Blood, Sweat & Tears, Gordon Lightfoot and Ronnie Hawkins, all Canadian stars. It was a “once- only” live taping, but we did it!

REDDON: Do you recall what songs you did for Canadian Bandstand?

COTTRILL:

We did a few American rhythm and blues numbers, which I don't remember, as well as a few Yardbirds’ numbers, which I do remember! There was only so much time. We had to select our better material and go with that. We did two sets for Canadian Bandstand. The Yardbirds songs we did? Heart Full of Soul, Mister You’re a Better Man Than I, The Nazz are Blue, I'm Not Talkin’. I recall the sound guys worrying about the overdriven amps and trying the get the levels right. Ha ha! The performance on Canadian Bandstand went well and we were all pleased. I really should name the band members at that time. Pat Haley, lead vocals; Ray Hewitt, bass; Warren “Cuban” Carr drums, Bob “Bo” Becker, keys and rhythm guitar and me, Gord Cottrill, lead guitar.

REDDON:

Did you and the other members of The Rembrandts get to see yourselves on Canadian Bandstand, which was filmed and recorded in Waterloo, Ontario?

COTTRILL:

Yes, we did, but with some difficulty. You have to remember we were from rural communities and we could only get Channel 8 on our televisions. Canadian Bandstand was on Channel 2, so we had to travel to where we could pick up that station…out of town! We did manage to do it and I’m glad we did. It was a great experience to see and hear ourselves on what was the highlight of our career at that time as a band.

The picture quality was pretty grainy, but it was something to see ourselves like that. Come to think of it, television hadn’t been around all that long at that point so it was more than adequate the way we saw the program. It’s something I know all of us will always treasure. Too bad there is no tape.

REDDON:

I also interviewed your bass player with The Rembrandts, Ray Hewitt. He told me you were able to figure out the sounds that Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and a host of other musicians were using, without even having all the proper gear. That’s quite an accomplishment! How did you manage that?

COTTRILL:

My friend, Bob, and I spent a great deal of time and effort trying to figure out and attain the sounds that were on The Yardbirds’ records. We envisioned (imagined or fantasized) Beck going into the studio and coming up with all these ideas; i.e., using feedback, overdriving amps, etc. Page and Eric Clapton were also capable of similar solutions; Page especially so, due to his production knowledge.

As for me, most of the time I managed to copy the guitar sounds I heard from The Yardbirds’ recordings and work them into my guitar playing. Again, Bob Becker was a significant influence at that time; he and I would experiment wiring amps together. “Let's just see what happens!” I remember we took the speaker line off the little Princeton amp he had, sending it at full volume into a large amp and were amazed by the results: unbelievable high-end distortion, sustain and tone. (Note: Bob's brother Larry, a great electrician and guitarist himself, was in on this, too!). “Jeff Beck’s sound!” we exclaimed. I used this as my stage set-up. Another thing that contributed to the overall sound was my 1959 Gibson “Melody Maker”. This was probably a student model guitar, but it had the best neck action and tone ever. My brother, Dean, who’s a professional musician, has taken it around the world.

REDDON:

That’s wild! I’m amazed at how you were able to do that. I can see how Jeff Beck and The Yardbirds, and later Jimmy Page as well, had a huge impact on your musical development as an aspiring, young guitarist. Could you please elaborate on that?

COTTRILL:

The early Yardbirds albums with Jeff Beck playing on them were vastly experimental. The Shapes of Things is one example I gave you. But there were many others, too. Beck was the first one to my knowledge to explore the whole realm of musical possibilities associated with distortion, feedback and creatively harness and control such sounds for artistic expression through the use of the electric guitar. Jimmy Page was on the same level, in my opinion.

REDDON:

Your observation that Jeff Beck was the first guitarist to fundamentally pioneer the use of distortion and incorporate it into his guitar style is something I hadn’t really thought about. I just naturally assumed it was Jimi Hendrix who did all of those innovative things first.

COTTRILL:

No, no, no! Beck was the original for a lot of the guitar wizardry, turning his mastery and use of huge volumes and distortion into a meaningful mode of musical expression. I remember people saying when Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced? came out, “Wow, isn’t that something!” like it was the first time all those amazing distortion sounds had ever been done. And I would think, “No, actually Jeff Beck had already been doing that quite some time before Hendrix did.”

REDDON:

Really? That’s fascinating because I always thought Hendrix came up with almost all of the truly astounding sounds of the electric guitar. How do you think the common perception evolved, of Hendrix being first to pull off all those innovative guitar sounds?

COTTRILL:

There’s no doubt that Hendrix was a brilliantly talented musician. I think it’s because Hendrix had a much wider audience and much greater exposure than Jeff Beck and The Yardbirds did. As I mentioned earlier, The Yardbirds have always been a relatively obscure band. They didn’t receive the publicity or achieve the notoriety that Hendrix did. Hendrix was a great showman and would set his guitar on fire, leaving a profound impression on the audience. He also popularized that great sweeping technique of the tremolo (whammy) bar on the Strat.

The notion of Hendrix single-handedly developing almost all of the innovations of the electric guitar, well, I don’t believe that to be the case. Without a doubt in my mind, it was Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page who pioneered those guitar sounds we have become familiar with today. Since Beck, Page and Eric Clapton were all friends and acquaintances, it’s nearly impossible to say who did what in some ways I suppose, because they were all influencing one another in the early days when they were jamming.

REDDON: Yes, it’s like the chicken or the egg argument, isn’t it?

COTTRILL: Yes, you could say that.

REDDON:

I’ve never heard anyone put forth that school of thought on Hendrix, Beck and Page, and it’s a fascinating one for anyone interested in popular music to consider. Thanks for bringing up that unique perspective!

If we could, I’d like to ask you a few questions about seeing TheYardbirds in a rather unlikely venue in Northern Ontario: the Hidden Valley Ski Resort. What do you recall about seeing The Yardbirds there?

COTTRILL:

Yes, I did see them at the Hidden Valley Resort in Northern Ontario. My friend, Ray, who was the bass player in our band had his driver’s licence and was driving us around. (Thanks Ray!)

I remember The Yardbirds went on about two hours late. Lead vocalist, Keith Relf, said that The Yardbirds had been delayed at the border, coming through customs. Hidden Valley was a very unlikely place to see them! They should have been at a place like Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, a much bigger venue. But there they were, at this rather small resort. Why they played at Hidden Valley, I have no idea.

There were probably fewer than two thousand people there. There was an upper balcony-like area, with a space between the balcony and the stage. We were in the balcony for that show and we could look straight across at the stage and TheYardbirds. It was something else to see them like that!

REDDON:

What did you think of The Yardbirds as they performed? Did you find them to be any louder than any of the other British groups you had ever heard?

COTTRILL:

I was very impressed with them and they were fantastic! As far as volume goes? The Yardbirds were ultra-loud. I had never heard a group that loud before and it went right through you. I was used to the 1965-66, “San Francisco sound” as I mentioned earlier and that kind of music isn’t all about huge volumes.

REDDON:

As a musician, I’m sure you picked up on this. What kind of equipment was Page using the night you saw him with The Yardbirds at Hidden Valley?

COTTRILL:

I was amazed with what he was using! He had three Fender Dual Showman amplifiers! Usually, one would be more than adequate for most musicians. I expect they were wired in series to get that sound. Each amp was 100watts RMS. Quite often, when groups played near Toronto, which is such a large city, they would rent amps from a big music equipment store like Long & McQuade. Maybe that’s what TheYardbirds did in this case, but I was stunned at the power he had on that stage with those amps. Add the Telecaster Page was using, with the light gauge strings and, therefore, outrageous vibrato and what a sound he had! Page to me was beyond belief! He looked tired and stressed out, as did the others, no doubt from touring, yet Page pulled it all off. I will always remember Heart Full of Soul. Jimmy did the first four bars as regular, then did the second four in harmony (five above). The crowd went nuts. Myself included!

REDDON:

Yes, because most of The Yardbirds and early Led Zeppelin photos I’ve seen show Page using Rickenbacker Transonic 200 amplifiers. He purportedly used his leftover equipment from The Yardbirds days and the Rickenbackers were part of what he took with him into Led Zeppelin. I’ve spoken with people who saw Led Zeppelin on the First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69 and they also said some of their equipment was rented at the time they saw the group. I guess it only makes sense…and dollars, really, when you’re a touring rock’n’roll band!

COTTRILL:

That’s right. When you’re on tour, depending upon how the tour is set up and where you’re going and so forth, it’s probably best in most circumstances just to rent the equipment you need so you’re not hauling it all over the place unnecessarily. It saves time and money and that’s what it’s all about when you’re touring. That’s probably what The Yardbirds did in that case. They may have had most of their equipment shipped to another location that was more metropolitan. Hidden Valley wasn’t a big gig for them by any stretch.

REDDON: What did you think when you saw Page play his guitar with the violin bow?

COTTRILL:

I thought it was more for show than anything else, versus actual musical substance. He created some unusual sounds all right. But since the strings are strung flat on the guitar, especially on a Telecaster, and there’s no raised contoured bridge as on a violin or a cello, you can only effectively bow the inside and outside strings. That’s very limiting, musically, but nobody had seen it done before. And you would say, “What’s he doing?” It all looked so strange as he dragged the bow across his psychedelic guitar. It was very showy, first and foremost, with some interesting sounds mixed in. I actually did this sometimes, much to the amusement of my band mates!

REDDON:

What do you conclude when you compare the musical styles of Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page?

COTTRILL:

I feel Page’s style while he was with TheYardbirds (and into Led Zeppelin) was very proficient, technically. Mind you, he was a great showman and all. But Page was also unbelievably focused as he played; he was right on it and you could tell how deeply he was concentrating. He had a very professional air about everything he did. One thing Page did was use very light gauge strings, especially the third “G” string, allowing that over-the top vibrato he had. I used it, too, and got that from Jimmy. (Thank you, Jimmy!) Think Over, Under, Sideways, Down.

I’d have to say that both Beck and Page are unquestionably two of the greatest guitar players of all time. The fact that Page was also an accomplished session player helped his musical career and what he was able to do with it, a great deal.

REDDON: What do you think TheYardbirds contributed to popular music?

COTTRILL:

The Yardbirds invented lots of things. They experimented with everything from unorthodox instrumentation, feedback and Eastern-influenced riffs. Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck were the innovators. The Yardbirds was a very creative and innovative band all around that unfortunately never was able to realize its full creative and live performance potential. They were too far ahead of their time.

Both Page and Beck had that aggressive attitude and cutting edge sensibility to their playing that was very distinctive in The Yardbirds. Entire generations have been inspired by those two guys and will continue to be. Their work is timeless.

REDDON:

Just out of curiosity, in one of our email exchanges, you mentioned that you liked The Rolling Stones a great deal. How does Keith Richards compare as a guitarist to Page and Beck?

COTTRILL:

Keith Richards is really, really good at what he does, creating and playing rock’n’roll songs that you can often trace back to his roots in American R&B. That Chuck Berry type of influence. Actually, Keith Richards is in a different league than Page and Beck. Technically, I mean. (Keith, I do love you!!) Don’t get me wrong -- Richards is excellent and unique at what he does. He has that choppy rhythm guitar thing going and the trademark stage antics, presence and show we only wish we all had. Without Keith, there would be no Stones. He’s the real deal and stands alone.

The Rolling Stones started out doing rhythm & blues cover songs. They weren’t really all that original from a musician’s standpoint, although The Stones introduced America to American music and revved us all up. Did their music sound good? It definitely did and continues to. To me, Honky Tonk Woman is the definitive Stones song. (Keith, thanks for the pedal steel riffs you have done from time to time). This is in contrast to the musical explorations of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and several others, who have always been at their own cutting edge with their guitar playing. Interestingly, Jeff Beck played the pedal steel guitar on some early Yardbirds tracks.

REDDON:

That brings us up to the point of Led Zeppelin’s formation. What did you think when you first heard of Led Zeppelin on the popular music scene in 1969?

COTTRILL:

After The Yardbirds, and when Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin, I thought Page had brought that hard-edged, bluesy guitar style, to the masses as no one else had ever done, for the first time in history. Page’s guitar style became an accepted art form, which was a gigantic accomplishment when you consider it. He did this with his initial work of getting Led Zeppelin together in 1968 and with the recording of Led Zeppelin. I thought The Yardbirds probably would have covered much of the ground that Led Zeppelin did but The Yardbirds disbanded too soon and never had the chance. I thought that was a real tragedy.

As I’ve said, The Yardbirds were always somewhat obscure and didn’t receive the notoriety for whatever reason. Often such exposure - or lack of it - comes down to how effectively a specific artist is marketed.

REDDON: True, that makes sense. What did you think of the debut album, Led Zeppelin?

COTTRILL:

I thought Page’s new band, Led Zeppelin, picked up exactly where The Yardbirds left off. I was excited when I heard Led Zeppelin was formed by Jimmy Page because he was re-emerging with Led Zeppelin. I thought, “This should be good, if it’s Page’s new band.”

I was very happy that the art form that The Yardbirds had developed wasn’t going to be lost and swept under the carpet. Led Zeppelin would continue the next chapter. The Led Zeppelin LP was what I expected, with limited use of echo and “vocal leaking” that would later become a trademark on Led Zeppelin II. If you listen to Whole Lotta Love on Led Zeppelin II, for example, near the end of the song there’s an amazing example of “vocal leaking” which was foreshadowed on the first album in a couple of songs and which became more prevalent on Led Zeppelin II.

REDDON:

Many of the innovations you mentioned earlier that were incorporated into the rock’n’roll genre of the 1960s, such as high volume, distortion, feedback, etc., as well as exceedingly fast guitar work, eventually evolved into the separate genre of “heavy metal”, in the late sixties.

While doing this research, I’ve uncovered a lively debate on exactly who invented heavy metal. Some say it was Blue Cheer, others say The Yardbirds, still others say Led Zeppelin. Do you have a perspective on who you feel invented heavy metal?

COTTRILL:

I’ve heard Blue Cheer and the extreme volumes they played at. Personally, I think the volume was their main claim to fame. Their biggest success, as I understand it, was built around a cover song by Eddie Cochran, Summertime Blues. I think in order to be crowned the inventors of anything, let alone heavy metal, a much wider exposure is required. Once you become a household name and people who may not even really be into music know what you’ve done, then that’s a good measure of the impact you’ve had on your particular vocation or profession.

In my opinion, I don’t think Blue Cheer accomplished that. I don’t think The Yardbirds invented heavy metal, either. At least, not on their own. I think TheYardbirds together with Led Zeppelin laid the groundwork for heavy metal as we have come to know it.

Even though The Yardbirds’ notoriety was a fraction of what Led Zeppelin’s was, they still obtained a great deal of exposure. The Yardbirds toured heavily and put out a lot of music, with an abundance of new and exciting techniques and innovations ingrained into their recorded works. The high volume, speed playing, distortion, etc. is all there on The Yardbirds’ recordings and they did it in concert, too. I saw and heard it myself at Hidden Valley! If The Yardbirds put down the musical foundation of heavy metal, Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin extended the inventiveness that eventually became associated with the genre, as we know it today. That’s my take on it, anyway.

REDDON:

A very interesting one, at that. I’d love to get some of the interview subjects together for a debate on this issue sometime after this book is published. It would be an incredible assemblage of diversely rich, musical perspectives and knowledge.

On the occasion of Led Zeppelin’s 40^th Anniversary in 2008, what do you think about Led Zeppelin’s contribution to popular music?

COTTRILL:

Led Zeppelin is the group that made this type of rock’n’roll music appealing to the masses. As I said, I think Zeppelin continued where The Yardbirds finished off, no doubt due to Jimmy Page and his musical vision. The Yardbirds weren’t able to do this. If they’d had more time, they probably would have but we’ll never know.

Zeppelin, spearheaded by Jimmy Page, was the next logical progression of what The Yardbirds started. And we can’t forget that Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck both helped shaped what TheYardbirds were, so there was a great deal of musical influence that Page picked up through them, even during his short time with The Yardbirds. Zeppelin’s legacy of recordings speaks for itself and they’ve made a staggering contribution to popular music over the past forty years.

I know Led Zeppelin was a big influence on our ’60s band and groups everywhere like ours. The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin were as much a musical education as they were a listening experience, not having to accept the status quo. That’s one of the reasons they will always remain so popular and so studied. I know they were for us and countless others. Above all, in my case as a musician, they influenced us to continually be creative, to this day, no matter what style of music we might be asked to play. Thank you, Jeff and Jimmy (and Keith and Eric)!

REDDON:

All right, that’s about it. Thanks very much for your time and extremely valuable perspectives.

COTTRILL:

You’re welcome, Frank. If there’s anything further, please let me know. I wish you the best of luck with the book.

REDDON: Thanks and good-bye, Gord. I’ll be in touch!

COTTRILL: Any time. Good night!