Golden Nugget
How Much is it Worth?
Collectors feature:
The High Numbers/ The Who & Strawberry Alarm Clock

The Rolling Stones 
Live At Madison Square Gardens!
Stones Keep Rolling in New York

Duane Allman plays
with Derek & the Dominos

Picture This . . .
Led Zep Dresses In Drag!

Classic Album Review
Led Zeppelin (IV)

O

Full Discography available on request

Orange Bicycle...Ever heard of 'em?

Original Line-Up:
John Bachini - Kevin Curry - Bernie Lee  - Wilson Malone - RJ Scales

The High Numbers

UK release single 1964
Before name change to The Who

Fontana Records

US release 1968 - third album

NEW YORK - It was more than smoke that hung over the maximum capacity crowd at Madison Square Gardens last night awaiting the Rolling Stones to perform their first of two sold out shows. Anticipation bordering on mass tension felt as thick as the visible smoke overhanging the arena. Things are always somewhat tense before a concert, but the wait before a Stones show always appears to be a kettle boiling under full heat. This anxiety often leads to edginess and sometimes hostility. Last night, fights amongst fellow spectators erupted before the band hit the stage.

Fantastically sweaty performances were delivered by the tour's support acts, both BB King and Ike and Tina Turner all doing a splendid job of getting the crowd primed for the main act (like they needed it!). Ike and Tina were seen mingling with both Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix backstage, the two young rockers taking in the show between touring and recording commitments.

As the house lights were switched off an immediate, thunderous roar rocked the pitch-black arena as the band members made their way onstage. The group wasted no time and with deafening volume and blinding spotlights, The Stones hurtled full speed into "Jumping Jack Flash". A cacophony of cheers accompanied guitars, drums and vocals throughout the opening number. The crowd was ready, and so were The Stones.

This tour is their first since the departure of founder/guitarist Brian Jones this past June. The previous 17 dates seem not to have had any ill effect on the band as Jagger, resplendent in a stars and stripes top hat, preened and pranced, strutted and jumped with all the fervor of a teen. Keith was as cool as ever, with his lazy yet somehow elegant stage motions and signature-dangling cigarette.

New Stone, twenty-one year old Mick Taylor, this being his introduction tour, is laid back, preferring to, as bassist Bill Wyman does, let the instrument do the talking. Charlie Watts, their stone-faced (not always!) drummer extraordinaire, provided funky drumming and, along with Wyman, gave the band a solid rhythm base. Taylor has fit in quickly and seems comfortable as he traded solos with Richards on, one of many of the evening's highlights, the haunting and hypnotic "Sympathy For The Devil". "Midnight Rambler" was especially notable last night as it was extended to a work out, lasting over eight minutes and was full of tempo and rhythm changes that built the crowd up to fever pitch. Other highlights of the evening included "Stray Cat Blues", the teen groupies becoming 13 years old last night and not 15 as the recorded version sings. "Love In Vain" was another high point of the evening along with a searing cover of Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie"

The Stones were in electrifying form throughout the 90-minute show, their energy seemingly overflowing and energizing all in attendance as many fans danced in the aisles and yelled for more. Were the boys extra pumped knowing both shows are being recorded for a possible live album due out sometime next year? Who knows, and quite frankly I don't think anyone cared last night. Nor will the sold out crowd for tonight's show care either. What was witnessed by all yesterday was one of the best rock and roll bands of all time at perhaps the zenith of their career. The Rolling Stones remain ready, willing and very capable among few others to deliver the proverbial goods again and again, whether in concert or on vinyl. Do I have to say it was a five star show? Didn't think so.

MIAMI - Despite published reports to the contrary, guitar virtuoso Duane Allman will not be joining Eric Clapton's new group, Derek and the Dominoes. Allman reportedly contributed significant guitar parts, including his acclaimed slide, to the forthcoming double album that was recorded in Miami. Clapton will take his new ensemble on a seven-week tour of the eastern U.S., which kicks off October 15^th at Rider College in Trenton, New Jersey. While Allman will play with the band on whatever dates possible, his allegiance remains with his blues-rock group the Allman Brothers who have just released their second album.

When asked to comment on what the sessions were like, Allman said "I went down to listen and Eric knew me, man, greeted me like an old friend! The cat is really a prince, he said, 'Come on you get to play', so I did. We'd sit down and plan it out, work out our different parts, and try it one time. Then we'd say, 'Well let's try some more of this here, and some of that there.' Everybody contributed, just sorting it out, Memphis style. Most of it was cut live, not much overdubbing, and it was all done in ten days."

Picture this... It's spring of 1975 and the mighty caravan of Led Zeppelin's mammoth tour in support of "Physical Graffiti" is wrapping up on the U.S. West Coast. A 44 man tour party, a 700,000 watt P.A. system along with a 310,000 watt lighting rig with lasers all added to the monolithic proportions of what had become a Led Zeppelin tour.

Critical acclaim for the album was in abundance as many premier rock critics of the times lauded the album as one of the best (today, it is still regarded as one of the best hard rock albums ever). Commercially, Led Zeppelin was raking in the cash as never before, as advance sales of "Physical Graffiti" alone totaled well over 1,000,000 copies. All 700,000 tickets for the first leg of the tour were sold within 24 hours. Twenty-six cities and three months later, Led Zeppelin rolled into Los Angeles for its final shows, a three-night stint (March 24, 25 & 27) at the L.A. Forum. The tour was a success on every front, Robert Plant saying at the time, "I found myself having a great time apart from the fact that it's been our most successful tour ever . . . everyone loved Physical Graffiti and that's meant a lot". Spirits were high but the boys were a little tired, maybe even delirious as this story demonstrates. The West Coast, and L.A. in particular, was always a favorite spot for Zeppelin to perform and shenanigans were never too far away.

The lads loved L.A. as it offered decadence by the truckload, something the band had come to enjoy and expect ever increasingly over the years. They found the assortment and abundance of extra curricular activities to be unrivalled as groupies, chemicals and fast cars were all enjoyed, ingested and acquired ravenously by the various members of the band. Celebrities and rock stars alike would convene and mingle backstage to watch the phenomena that had become a Led Zeppelin show.

Now, the boys of Zep never objected to frequenting gay bars while on tour, especially in the latter days of their immense fame, as they were allowed to drink and party without the near riots caused by their presence at "straight bars". They also loved the French Quarter in New Orleans and always made time when performing there to visit the jazz clubs and other infamous "establishments" of the area, thoroughly enjoying the "freaks" that they often encountered along the way. In fact, "Royal Orleans" was allegedly written with Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones in mind as a tongue in cheek response to a near dalliance the bassist had with a "woman with whiskers"(listen to the lyrics!). Pictures have also circulated of drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham dressed in drag while onstage!

Still, with all the goings on in L.A., and a night off before their last show, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Bonham along with three female fans found themselves bored in their hotel rooms of the Hyatt (riot) House in Hollywood. Well, tour manager Richard Cole, himself often the ringmaster in many of Zep's offstage antics, suddenly gets a brilliant idea to help relieve the boredom. Three lovely young ladies. Three of the world's biggest rock stars. Why not swap clothes?! With time to kill before an evening dinner date with George Harrison and Stevie Wonder, they decide to give it a go. Off come tight mini skirts and nylons! Off come bulging tight blue jeans and satin pants! Page, Plant and Bonham then gingerly squeeze their way into the girls' skirts, seams bursting and buttons popping the whole time! Presto! Three of the most testosterone charged rock stars of the time stand there all dolled up in women's clothing, nylons and all! A little lipstick and rouge definitely seem to be in order and one of the young ladies goes about applying a little of each to the boys, who don't seem to mind at all.

So preoccupied with playing dress up that their evening dinner date has almost gone forgotten. Then comes a knock on the door. George Harrison with Stevie Wonder in tow. As the hotel door swings open to reveal the trans gender transformation taking place inside, Harrison takes one look at the circus and literally falls to the floor in hysterics! The laughter continues unabated for minutes, of course, poor Stevie has no idea what's going on!

After a quick wash up and clothes exchange, the girls are ushered out and off to dinner goes Led Zeppelin.

Just another day at the office!

It might seem a bit incongruous to say that Led Zeppelin ­ a band never particularly known for its tendency to understate matters ­ has produced an album which is remarkable for its low-keyed and tasteful subtly, but that's just the case here. The march of the dinosaurs that broke the ground for their first epic release has apparently vanished, taking along with it the splattering electronics of their second effort and the leaden acoustic moves that seemed to weigh down their third. What's been saved is the pumping adrenaline drive that held the key to such classics as "Communication Breakdown" and "Whole Lotta

Love," the incredibly sharp and precise vocal dynamism of Robert Plant, and some of the tightest arranging and producing Jimmy Page has yet seen his way toward doing. If this thing with the semi-metaphysical title isn't quite their best to date, since the very chances that the others took meant they would visit some outrageous highs as well as some overbearing lows, it certainly comes off as their most consistently good.

One of the ways in which this is demonstrated is the sheer variety of the album: out of the eight cuts, there isn't one that steps on another's toes, that tries to do too much all at once. There are Olde English ballads ("The Ballad of Evermore" with a lovely performance by Sandy Denny), a kind of pseudo-blues just to keep in touch ("Four Sticks"), a pair of authentic Zeppelinania ("Black Dog" and "Misty Mountain Hop"), some stuff that I might actually call shy and poetic if it didn't carry itself off so well ("Stairway to Heaven" and "Going To California") . . . and a couple of songs that when all is said and done, will probably be right up there in the gold-starred hierarchy of put 'em on and play 'em agains. The first, coyly titled "Rock And Roll," is the Zeppelin's slightly late attempt at tribute to the mother of us all, but here it's definitely a case of better late than never. This sonuvabitch moves, with Plant musing vocally on how "It's been a long, lonely lonely time" since last he rock & rolled, the rhythm section soaring underneath. Page strides up to take a nice lead during the break, one of the all-too-few times he flashes his guitar prowess during the record, and its note-for-note simplicity says a lot for the ways in which he's come of age over the past couple of years.

The end of the album is saved for "When The Levee Breaks," strangely credited to all the members of the band plus Memphis Minnie, and it's a dazzler. Basing themselves around one honey of a chord progression, the group constructs an air of tunnel-long depth, full of stunning resolves and a majesty that sets up as a perfect climax. Led Zep have had a lot of imitators over the past few years, but it takes cuts like this to show that most of them have only picked up the style, lacking any real knowledge of the meat underneath.

Uh huh, they got it down all right. And since the latest issue of Cashbox noted that this'un was a gold disc on its first day of release, I guess they're about to nicely keep it up. Not bad for a pack of Limey lemon squeezers.

- Lenny Kaye, Rolling Stone Magazine, December 23, 1971

As the tape begins to roll, the courtroom is filled with the din of the 10,000 strong crowd before Morrison is heard yelling, "You are all a bunch of fucking idiots. Your faces are being pressed into the shit of the world. Take your fucking friend and love him. Do you want to see my cock?" The jury sits expressionless while Morrison listens intently and continues scrawling notes.

Morrison attorney Max Fink sites freedom of expression as defense. He states that four letter words are common at rock concerts and goes on to quote the now infamous Country Joe and the Fish chant at Woodstock, "Give me a F-U-C-K…this is what they say and do at rock concerts…you'll also hear on the tape the crowd yelling at Mr. Morrison,'Fuck-you, you're a fairy'"

The trial continues tomorrow.

NEXT MONTH… IN DECEMBER'S ISSUE OF THE PSYCHEDELIC NEWS…THE TRIAL CONTINUES…as the state of Florida calls witnesses including concert goers and police officers on duty that night . . . see ya next month!