Читать книгу Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 - Break & Enter - Frank Reddon - Страница 23

Led Zeppelin’s thunder was largely due to the physical playing of John “Bonzo” Bonham.

Courtesy: The Frank Reddon Collection, used with permission. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc.

As a teenager in 1968, Phil Daum was a Vanilla Fudge fan and the band was about to play a concert in his hometown. Did he ever think he would forget all about the very act he had paid his money to see, after seeing an unknown warm-up band from England that evening? Not a chance! But that’s exactly what happened when he saw Led Zeppelin on the band’s First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69 in late December 1968.

REDDON:

Hi, Phil. It’s a pleasure to meet you. It took awhile for us to link up but I’m glad we did. Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed about seeing Led Zeppelin in Vancouver, on the band’s First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69.

DAUM:

I’m really happy to talk to you about this. It brings back so many good memories. I’m going to enjoy this.

REDDON:

Excellent. Me too! We’ll start with when and where you first saw Led Zeppelin, back in December of 1968.

DAUM:

I saw Vanilla Fudge and Led Zeppelin at the Pacific National Coliseum on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1968. Do you know the exact date?

REDDON: Yeah, it would have been Saturday, December 28, 1968.

DAUM:

That’s going back some, isn’t it? I had absolutely no idea what we were in for when I went to that concert because I had bought the ticket to see Vanilla Fudge, a group that I loved. I went with a friend named John and two girls on a double-date type of deal. One of them is actually still his wife. I can’t remember who the other gal was.

But we were pretty young, maybe eighteen or so. I can’t remember if I was still in or just out of high school. It actually wasn’t the Led Zeppelin that we were going to see, as I said. It’s funny in retrospect. I look back at the poster I have from the show that has only Vanilla Fudge advertised on it. There’s no mention of Led Zeppelin at all. I can’t imagine deliberately buying the ticket to see Vanilla Fudge now! I still remember seeing Zeppelin clearly and a lot of the other bands.

Vanilla Fudge is who we were going to see though, and I loved The Fudge at that time. We had no idea what we were in store for that night, certainly. I remember it was a chilly day, the date of that concert when we went to the Coliseum. As I said, I remember seeing Led Zeppelin vividly because it just had such an impact on me. So there we were, at the Pacific Coliseum, you know, just starting to sort of float away with absolutely no idea of what the opening act was going to be. In fact, we didn’t even know if there was going to be one because it wasn’t advertised at all.

And so these guys I’d never seen before came walking out on stage. It was Led Zeppelin. I had no idea who they were. I don’t even think they were announced. There was an emcee; maybe I was just distracted or wasn’t paying attention but I don’t remember him introducing them at all. They started to play. Immediately, it was like a tidal wave hit you! It blew me away instantly. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen and heard start up. I and everybody else in the place were so amazed. Who were these guys, anyway?

REDDON: Did Zeppelin seem loud to you?

DAUM:

No, I didn’t find Zeppelin was loud at all. Mind you, the sound in the Pacific Coliseum isn’t great. Things sort of bounce around and wash, and stuff like that. Just the novelty of Zeppelin’s music, its uniqueness and the sort of power in it…just the way the guitar sounded. And, of course, Plant’s vocals. John Bonham’s drumming was quite dramatic. Most of the performance, including the way Zeppelin carried themselves on stage, and the sound they were able to produce was just…well, for a young guy like I was at the time, I had never seen anything like that up to that point.

I would go as far as to say seeing them was almost “life altering”. You know, here are four people up on the stage in this cavernous coliseum and really, in the grand scheme of things, they didn’t occupy a lot of space in that building. But you just couldn’t keep your eyes off them. It was just so phenomenal in every way; they had this power all about them. I suppose it’s a personal thing. I suppose maybe my mom or someone else would have run from the Coliseum screaming when they heard Zeppelin!

I really had no interest in seeing Vanilla Fudge at all after Zeppelin started. I forgot all about The Fudge in nothing flat! Isn’t that something? Four unknown musicians stole my interest completely away from The Fudge within seconds. I didn’t see how Vanilla Fudge could even come close, as soon as Zeppelin started. It was jaw-dropping instantly. “What is this?” we were all saying to ourselves.

REDDON:

That is a powerful experience. You know, it’s not the first time I’ve interviewed someone along that First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69 who could suddenly care less about the headlining band, after having heard Zeppelin open. The same thing happened in New York City on that February 1, 1969 tour stop when Zeppelin opened for Iron Butterfly. You can clearly hear someone angrily shout in a bootleg recording of that concert, “F#ck the Butterfly!” So Zeppelin really did do that to people, sight unseen and song unheard. That must have been something else for you to experience. How were your seats at that gig?

DAUM:

We had really good seats. We weren’t on the floor or anything. We were on the sides, not that far back from the stage. I can distinctly remember seeing the Zeppelin. I could easily see Jimmy Page. I remember him using the violin bow on his guitar at times. The whole band was just sort of all there, unleashing the most extraordinary sounds in their performance.

As I said, I was totally taken by surprise by Led Zeppelin. I had absolutely no idea. I don’t even remember Vanilla Fudge because we didn’t even stay! I have no idea what Vanilla Fudge was even like!

But it didn’t take more than a few bars to just go, “Wow, what is that?” when Zeppelin started up. From then on in their set, it was just totally captivating. From forty years ago, there’s only so much you remember. Especially Plant, because his hair was…you know, this big, bushy crop of hair. And Page just kind of stood there and played. Page wasn’t flashy at all. He was probably the least flashy of all of them. He didn’t jump around, he just seemed to be totally stationary but he sure managed to wrestle some incredible sounds out of his guitar. I’d never seen anybody drag a violin bow across a guitar before. I thought that was very cool. And he was getting some great sounds; he was playing it. It was haunting to hear that coming from the guitar he was bowing.

What else do I remember? I don’t think there was much in the way of a light show or anything. No, the lighting wasn’t anything special. It was a pretty “plain Jane” concert that way. Actually, it was very bare-bones as far as lighting went. Just more or less the house lights. I don’t even think there were any spotlights. But you know, at that time I don’t think we were expecting that.

REDDON: Did you see Zeppelin the second time they came to Vancouver, in 1970?

DAUM: No, I didn’t and I don’t know why. But I did see the first show.

REDDON: Do you remember where you got your tickets?

DAUM:

I probably would have heard about the show from a poster, the one I’ve still got. Or perhaps, but less likely, The Georgia Strait. It was the underground rag then in Vancouver. I remember The Georgia Strait was sold outside the high school, in the street. It wasn’t receiving very much advertising revenue in those days. I don’t think the concert promoters would have placed an ad in it…I’m not sure. I think it was mainly the posters put up around Vancouver and word of mouth about Vanilla Fudge coming. Maybe it was mentioned on one of the local radio stations, too. I don’t know for sure. Mostly, I always learned about that kind of concert through posters, back in those days.

REDDON:

After you saw Led Zeppelin open up for Vanilla Fudge in December 1968, did you buy the self-titled record Led Zeppelin?

DAUM: Oh, yeah!

REDDON:

So what did you think of what Led Zeppelin had done in the recording studio a couple months earlier, instead of on the stage?

DAUM:

Well, their first album was almost the concert I saw. I don’t think there was anything they played that wasn’t on that disc. They basically went through what I learned later was their whole first album. I could be wrong, but most of what they did when I saw them was on their first record, anyway. They had some extended stuff, with Page bowing the guitar.

REDDON: Did you ever see Led Zeppelin again after that?

DAUM:

You know? I don’t think I ever did. I’m not sure how many times they were in Vancouver. For whatever reason, I didn’t see them ever again. As to why? That’s a good question. I’m very happy I saw them at the very beginning, though. That Vancouver 1968 show was one of their very first in North American performances, wasn’t it?

REDDON:

Yeah, that Saturday, December 28, 1968 Vancouver date you saw them, was their third North American appearance and their first ever in Canada. They opened up that First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69 in Denver, Colorado on Boxing Day, December 26, 1968. Then Seattle on December 27, Vancouver, December 28, 1968. To me, Vancouver has always been a bit of a “hot bed” for touring bands. Just to get an overall sense of theVancouver music scene in the late 1960s, who else did you see around that time period?

DAUM:

There were lots of bands coming through. I know Vancouver was often used to start lots of these bands’ tours. For some reason, I guess these groups figured they could practise and get it right here in Vancouver or something early on in those tours! Seattle is close to Vancouver, too. I don’t think I kept that ticket stub. But I did keep others from that era, including my Hendrix ticket stub.

REDDON: Did you see Hendrix in Vancouver as well?

DAUM:

Yeah, I think that was ’69 at the Pacific National Coliseum. It was a fun, but long, day. There were four bands on the bill. It opened with Eire Apparent, an Irish band. The second band on the bill was Soft Machine. The third band was The Fudge…there’s that Vanilla Fudge again! And then The Jimi Hendrix Experience came on. So, you know, it was an eight o’clock start, from what I remember. It was around midnight when Hendrix went on. But for all of that, all four bands, it was $4.50!

I also saw Blind Faith with Clapton on guitar and Rory Gallagher’s Irish blues band, Taste. I paid about $4.50 for that ticket, as well. So I usually kept the ticket stubs, if I had them.

REDDON: Yeah, me too. One decided advantage I’ve found to being a pack-rat!

DAUM:

I know! It’s great looking back at those things, all these years later. So I guess it would have been around $4.50 for the Vanilla Fudge/Led Zeppelin show, too.

REDDON: Any other favourite groups or artists pass through Vancouver at that time?

DAUM: Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple - most of those bands came through Vancouver.

REDDON:

So those bands you just mentioned, like Fleetwood Mac, did they just play at the Pacific National Coliseum or were there other good venues to see concerts in Vancouver that were haunts of yours?

DAUM:

There were several great venues. There was an excellent auditorium on the Pacific National Exhibition Grounds called The Garden Auditorium.

REDDON:

I’m glad this came up. You mentioned at the beginning how the Pacific National Coliseum is on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds. I wasn’t sure about the listings I’ve seen for Zeppelin gigs in Vancouver in different books and websites. I never knew if they were the same place or not. The Pacific National Exhibition and the Pacific Coliseum are used almost interchangeably at times. Thanks for clearing that up.

DAUM:

Yeah, that’s right. The Pacific National Coliseum is on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds. The Garden Auditorium I just mentioned is also on the PNE grounds. It’s much smaller than the Pacific National Coliseum but it’s a great, great place for concerts. The sound was much better. I saw Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac there, among others.

Another outstanding place for music in Vancouver at that time was called The Retinal Circus. It was sort of a psychedelic thing. The Doors and a lot of those San Francisco bands of the 1960s played there. It was a great spot. Vancouver had a pretty good music scene back then. A lot of local bands plied their trade here, too. Since Vancouver is on the West Coast, we saw a fair number of West Coast bands, naturally enough.

REDDON:

Just out of curiosity, I know on that First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69, Zeppelin drove to lots of gigs on the West Coast. How far a drive would it be from Vancouver to San Francisco, for example?

DAUM: It’s a long haul. Probably about an eighteen hour drive.

REDDON: Really, it’s that far? No wonder they flew to San Francisco from your neck of the woods in the Vancouver/Seattle area when you first saw them in December 1968.

Next year (2008) will be the 40^th anniversary of Zeppelin’s formation. Does it seem like forty years ago to you, Phil?

DAUM:

I know! I was talking to my friend, John – the guy I saw Vanilla Fudge and Zeppelin with in 1968. I don’t see him too often. It’s kind of funny. Whenever I do see him, it’s usually at the transfer station where you take things to be recycled. John still lives in the same neighbourhood where he was living at the time we saw that Zeppelin gig, which is kind of mine as well. We both went to the same high school. I think he’s a few years older than I am. Anyway, I was talking to him about that concert and he was excusing himself from any further discussion, because it’s so long ago now!

REDDON:

I’ve been told that a few times by people who aren’t into Zeppelin. Hard to believe, but they really do exist!

DAUM:

I was totally captivated by the whole thing. I really could have listened to Led Zeppelin all night.

REDDON:

Thanks very much for sharing those phenomenal recollections with me. I learned a lot and enjoyed that very much.

DAUM:

My pleasure, Frank. I’m looking forward to seeing the book. That’ll be quite a read!