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Foreign I can only drink so much coffee. I get to the middle of the afternoon and I need to start powering through ad reads like this or responding to emails or jumping on a zoom and not falling asleep. And I don't want coffee. Coffee reminds me of the morning. I want that afternoon energy and I get it from five Hour Energy. They've got a ton of tasty caffeine flavors. Seventeen flavors in fact. Sour Apple five Hour Energy is like a shot of old school New England to wake me up on a sleepy afternoon. It's a little bit sour, just a tad bit sweet and super tasty. And the best part about my 5 hour energy shot is that I'm getting all the caffeine that I'd find in a 12 ounce premium cup of coffee without any sugar and without the sugar. Crash. These two ounce shots are portable and they're ready for me whenever I'm ready. Ready for you as well because I'm not trying to fall asleep on the zooms guys and I don't want you crashing out mid afternoon either. So find your flavor at five Hour Energy. Watermelon, Strawberry Banana, the Sour Apple five Hour Energy. My go to whatever you're looking for. Five Hour Energy. They've got a ton to choose from. Give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5 hour energy shots. Get yours in store and online at www.5hourenergy.com or Amazon. Today you guys feel that that's the summer. It's starting to fade away. It's the fall creeping in with those cooler temps. And Quince my go to brand for great fitting, great looking quality clothing. They got me covered with fall staples that are going to freshen up my wardrobe. I'm rocking the European linen chore jacket right now. It's lightweight enough to layer over a flannel, but heavy enough to keep you warm if you're just wearing a T shirt under it. And it looks awesome. The color is cool. It's this martini olive color and you know who doesn't like olives or martinis? Also, I bragged about Quince's Mongolian cashmere crewneck sweater before for a reason because it looks awesome and it's super comfortable. I've already got one in heather gray, but I'm going to nab the black one from Quince very shortly. Perfect for the fall. Quince is my go to guys. I've been talking about them for months now. They're my go to for durable classic clothing without the elevated price tag. What makes quints different? Well, they partner directly with ethical factories and skip the middlemen so you get top tier fabrics and great craftsmanship at half the price of similar brands. So if you want to look like one of those icons we feature here in Disgraceland and not spend a fortune doing so, then keep it classic and cool this fall with long lasting staples from quince. Go to quince.com disgraceland for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I-N C E.com disgraceland free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com disgraceland if you feel like modern music culture doesn't reflect what you care about, then you're not alone. Disgraceland listeners realize that Chasm, a corporate algorithmic studio storytelling machine, keeps trying to sanitize music history, stripping out the true crime. Disgraceland exists to take these stories back and now you can wear that rebellion by sporting some of our new merch. Long and short sleeved, Just say no to Chasm T shirts, Disgraceland hoodies, and our Zombie Elvis Johnny Paycheck approved black trucker hat. Our merch, like our content, is built for the musically obsessed, the self proclaimed discos who know that real music history is dangerous and far cooler than whatever the hell mainstream music culture is serving us up right now. This merch is way cool. I would wear every item in the shop. It's an exclusive and limited run. It's only available until September 30th, so order yours now at shop disgraceland.com Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. The stories about the mighty Led Zeppelin are insane. They were supposed supposed followers of Satan and Aleister Crowley's dark arts. They traveled with a goon squad of ultra violent hooligans. They raided and robbed drugstores to satiate their habits and divided and conquered both sides of the pond. They held groupies captive, literally. They defiled young women with we'll get to that later. Led Zeppelin was led by the extremely talented and driven English guitar player Jimmy Page, an artist captivated by the occult and the potential dark power it unlocked. His vision for the band was simple. Be bigger and more powerful than any other group. Pummel audience members and all comers with your music. Take no shit and take no prisoners. Leave the world rattling in your wake. Achieve a level of success previously unimaginable for anyone in the music industry and do it all with a brand of glamour and mystique that'll live on long after you're done making music. Led Zeppelin did all of this and more. Making of course Great music along the way. And that music you heard at the top of the show, that wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from my Melo Tron called choir falling down, BK2. I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights for My Love by Paul McCartney and Wings. And why would I play that specific slice of puppy mullet cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was the number one song in America on June 2, 1973. And that was the day Led Zeppelin embarked on a massive attendance shattering American tour in their newly hired, decadent and powerful Boeing 720 aircraft known as the Starship, signaling that a new chapter in rockstar excess and mile high debauchery had begun. On this episode, Stumbling Choirs, Mullet Cheese, Dark Power, Rockstar Xs and Led Zeppelin. I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Charles Manson was in prison, so Squeaky Fromm was in the market for a new old man. She sent countless letters to her new crush, another powerful dark prince, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Along with the death threats from the murderous, there was the matter of the stolen 200 grand, probably gambled away by some Genovese family member by now. And there were serpentine promoters hacked journalists, crooked cops, and a crush of fans wherever they went, as well as an endless parade of beautiful young girls. So with all of this, Peter Grant, led Zeppelin's intimidating 300 pound manager, imported a gang of goons, football hooligans and street toughs from London to handle the dirty details of the road. This meant making sure members of the press, the Manson family, or any other family involved in a more organized crime didn't seep into the inner circle. And keeping an extra eye on the band's unruly drummer, John Bonham, who at the moment was about to tear apart an innocent stagehand for no good reason. Bill Graham, the man who did as much to revolutionize the live music industry as Peter Grant, had had a problem. And John Bonham wasn't in a problem solving kind of mood. Graham's stagehand, Jim Metzorkis, had reprimanded Peter Grant's son backstage at the Oakland Coliseum, where Zeppelin was set to perform for a stadium that Bill Graham had packed 60,000 into. Bonham was fuming. It wasn't even soundcheck and he was already blitzed on vodka and pills. He stared daggers at Jim, who stood in the doorway of one of the backstage trailers. Behind him, Peter Grant was shouting, who do you think you are roughing up this kid, Jim? That's not how it went down, I promise you. All I did was take back the stolen signs. Bonham screamed in Jim's face. Don't you know who he is? You don't talk to that kid like this. Otherwise. For a moment there was just silence, as if John Bonham were searching for words. Forget about words. Bonham kicked Jim straight into the crotch, knocking him ass over tea kettle. Jim scrambled to feet and through the pain bolted out the back. The race was on. Through the maze of backstage Winnebagos, Grant and one of his Zeppelin goons caught Jim in another trailer. Out of breath, trapped, they locked the door and the screams could be heard throughout the entire backstage area. Grant knocked Jim about with his ham sized fists clad with massive rings that slashed at Jim's face. The trailer rocked back and forth and the screams got louder. More savage. Stagehands, road crew groupies took notice. A second Zeppelin goon stood guard, blocking Bill Graham's arriving security inside. Zeppelin goon number one stepped on Jim's throat. Grant kicked him repeatedly in his gut. The goon gouged at Jim's eyes and this sent Jim's adrenaline into overdrive. He threw both men off and escaped bloodied and spilled out before the shocked gaggle of backstage stage onlookers outside. Bonham had finally made the scene. He threw Bill Graham a look that said, I don't care who you are, I'm the drummer in Led Zeppelin. Off, then pent up and pissed, waltzed on stage and laid a savage beating of his own on his LudWigs for 60,000 adoring fans. Within two days, the most powerful drummer on the planet, John Bonham, and his band's powerful manager, Peter Grant, were arrested at the behest of the most powerful concert promoter in America, Bill Graham. Led Zeppelin made bale, flew home to England and never performed in America again. The irony was that Bonham liked Bill Graham. They both came from the streets. But canceling the American tour was no sweat off Bonham's back. He loved being home with family. He used the time to work on his cars, his Ferrari, his rolls, his rare AC Cobra 427. He'd tinker and think about Graham and other guys like him. Like the car thief he knew back in the council flats of Redditch where he'd come up, the thief ran a genius scam. He strictly stole old jalopies, then updated them with big American V8s that roared for maximum speed. He'd trick out the interiors with plush seats, eight track players, custom steering wheels and deck out the exterior with flashy paint and pinstripes, he'd turn something old and respected into something new, exciting and dangerous. And sell it back to unsuspecting working stiffs in other neighborhoods. Just like the one he'd originally nicked the car from. Clever, bold, brazen. John Bonham loved it. It's why he'd bought his tricked out Model T, the one he can be seen racing through the English countryside in. In Led Zeppelin's concert film, the Song Remains the Same. The car was absurdly over the top, a far cry from its humble origins. Exactly like his band, Led Zeppelin, Zeppelin's chief visionary, guitarist Jimmy Page had the same approach. Take something built on sturdy bones, something you love, and supercharge it. Add your own personality, create something original despite its derivative nature, and sell it back to the land that produced it for a mint. But Jimmy Page wasn't messing with Model T's. He was messing with the blues, a musical tradition more sacred than anything Henry Ford, Enzo Ferrari or any of their ilk could ever produce. As seasoned a session man as anyone in London by the age of 21, Page did not defer to the greats. He did not tiptoe, respectively, around tradition. That was for his former Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, too self conscious to be truly blue, and Eric Clapton, with his Beta Boy purist aspirations. They could have London. Jimmy Page wanted America. He turned the blues up louder than anyone before. Louder than Hendrix, louder than Cream. Jimmy had his own V8, John Bonham behind the kit. He had his own tricked out exterior and one tall, cool hippie from the Midlands, kid singer Robert Plant. And he had his sturdy bones in John Paul Jones, a freak of a musician on bass who had been slinging it alongside Jimmy in studio sessions as far back as he could remember. The band kicked into gear at full throttle and blew the doors off of audiences. Once they got off the starting line, there was hardly any time to write songs. So Page borrowed Robert Johnson, Howlin Wolf, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Jake Holmes, Joan Baez and more had riffs, lyrics, melodies, sometimes even song titles completely nicked or reworked in Page's new powerhouse Zeppelin style. Rarely with credit. Babe, I'm gonna leave you Whole lotta Love, Rock and Roll, Dazed and Confused, even Stairway to Heaven, all derived from dubious origin. Sometimes their authors sued or settled, and to this day there are cases pending. But what Zeppelin did to these songs was so unique, it was impossible to label them mere copycats. When their debut, Led Zeppelin 1, was released in the States, the band pummeled audiences at live shows, creating an impossible act to follow. They stopped sharing bills with other bands. Turned down Woodstock, a festival that paid shit. Should they make less so other bands could make more? The demand for Led Zeppelin tickets was so intense that Peter Grant was able to flip the concert industry on its head. No way in hell his band is going to take 10% of the gate. As was music industry custom, the kids were lined up down the street to see Led Zeppelin, not the promoter. From now on, Zeppelin would take 90%. Fuck you very much, Bill Graham. And fans loved them. Their record went top 10, and their first shows on those early tours were the stuff of legend. Kids could not get enough. For a teenager in the 70s, liking Zeppelin meant you were in on something dangerous. And this mystique only drove record and ticket sales further. Despite, or perhaps because all of this, critics hated them. Rolling Stone in the Boston Phoenix's John Landau, who would later go on to manage Bruce Springsteen, among many others, loudly slammed the band. Charges of thievery, cultural appropriation and the dreaded tag of derivative linger even today. Ask any quote unquote serious music journalist what they think of Led Zeppelin and they will no doubt find their way to the word derivative, a signal to other serious minded people that they're in on the joke that is Led Zeppelin. Give me a break. All rock and roll is on some level derivative. The Beatles and Stones stole from Chuck Berry and Willie Dixon, liberally asked Dave Van Rock about Bob Dylan's five fingered discount and asked Dylan about those early Springsteen records. But more than any of these artists on their first release, Led Zeppelin took borrowed elements and crafted something unique. Babe, I'm gonna leave you, you Shook Me and Dazed and Confused go well beyond the imaginations of Joan Baez, Willie Dixon and Jake Holmes, their respective originators and one of the album's three original tunes. The opener, Good Times, Bad Times, sounds unlike anything released in 1969 or before, despite the fact that John Bonham ripped off that little kick drum stutter step from Vanilla Fudge's Carmine Apice. So stealth was Bonham's swipe that Carmine didn't realize he'd been nicked until he asked Bonham where he'd gotten the idea. And Bonham responded, you. You wank. I stole it from you. It all added up to a bridge too far for critics. Even as Zeppelin knocked the Beatles off the charts and sold more tickets than the Stones, some critics were more prescient than others. In his 1970 review of Led Zeppelin 3, Lester Bangs noted the band's pat visceral impact while warning of their insensitive Grossness the kind of insensitive grossness that grows with unchecked power. Dark Power the only kind of power Jimmy Page was interested in.
