Monday, March 25, 2013

Revolution Name-Checks Led Zeppelin Song Titles

The J.J. Abrams produced NBC Television series Revolution, borrowing from other series in the past, ie. That 70's Show, Newsradio*, and Covert Affairs, has named some episodes of the show after Led Zeppelin songs: Oct. 01, 2012 "No Quarter"; Nov. 12, 2012 "Kashmir"; Nov. 19, 2012 "Nobody's Fault But Mine"; and upcoming on Apr. 08, 2013 "The Song Remains the Same". We shall see if this trend continues. Meanwhile, we Led Zeppelin fans greatly appreciate such titling as it is indicative of the influence the band continues to yield, and for that we are grateful.
(I mention such titling in my book, Back to Schoolin': What Led Zeppelin Taught Me About Music, now also available on Kindle through Amazon.)
*Note that Newsradio named many episodes after Led Zeppelin albums.
 http://www.amazon.com/Back-Schoolin-Zeppelin-Taught-About/dp/1615790454/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364235432&sr=1-1&keywords=Kevin+Courtright

Monday, March 11, 2013

Led Zeppelin and The Art of Improvisation


Excerpt from Back to Schoolin': What Led Zeppelin Taught Me About Music, now also available on Kindle:

It is etched into my memory: A time, long, long ago in perhaps late ’77 or early ’78, I am leafing through the LP bin in a drug store in Concord, California. I begin looking at the Zeppelin albums. I pull out the at-that-time relatively recently released Soundtrack Recordings for The Song Remains the Same. Turning the album over to view the back of the jacket, I am startled by what I see. (I am aware that this is a live recording.) My eyes are drawn to the track listing with its attendant song lengths inscribed. After glancing at Side One with the four tracks and average song lengths, suddenly Side Two leaps out at me. There is only one song? (“Dazed and Confused”) And it’s 26:53? I know that this song closes Side One of the debut album, running at approximately six and a half minutes. How and why has this song increased by over twenty minutes in its live incarnation? Thus am I introduced, unknowingly, to the art of improvisation.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Back-Schoolin-Kevin-Courtright/dp/1615790454/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255621625&sr=1-1

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Back to Schoolin': What Led Zeppelin Taught Me About Music by Kevin Courtright Now Available on Kindle


I'm proud to announce that my Led Zeppelin book, Back to Schoolin', is now available on Kindle. The following is an excerpt from the book:

"Enjoying an excellent creative partnership from the very beginning, Page and Plant see eye to eye musically right away. “’One day when Jimmy was out’ recalls Plant, ‘I looked through his records
and pulled out a pile to play and somehow or other they happened to be the same ones that Jimmy had put aside to play for me when he returned – just to see whether I liked them. When he saw that
I’d picked them out too, we just giggled at each other for a bit. We found that we had exactly the same tastes in music.’”

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BOASUP2