On Dec. 26, 1968, Led Zeppelin made their American debut opening for Vanilla Fudge and Spirit in Denver. But they almost didnt get to be on the bill. Denver music promoter Barry Fey, had sold out a Vanilla Fudge and Spirit concert in the Denver Auditorium Arena. Barry Fey has said: About 10 days before the show, I got a call from the Ron Terry (Vanilla Fudges agent) saying, Barry, I want to add an act to our show. I said, Ron, all the tickets are sold. He said, Youve got to do this for me, Barry, this is a big, big act. Their name is Led Zeppelin. I thought it was a joke. Fey turned Terry down. Ten minutes later Ron called back and said Vanilla Fudge is going to give you $750, and if you give $750 of your own money, we still can put Led Zeppelin on the show. Fey caved in and Zeppelin had their first show in the US. The concert crowd had no idea that this new heavy-metal band from Britain was added to the show. Fey recalled the show in his 2011 autobiography, Backstage Past: The night of the concert, I get on stage to make the announcement to open the show. “Ladies and gentleman, please welcome, direct from England for their North America debut, Led Zeppelin! There was a smattering of polite applause. Then, Robert Plant let it rip and everybody in the audience was stunned. Frankly, I don’t know how Spirit went on after that. You didn’t have to be a genius to know Zeppelin was going to be a smash. Oh, my God. People were going crazy! The next morning, I get a call from Max Floyd, the program director at the Denver FM rock station, KLZ. “Who did you have on last night? Our phone lines are jammed!” The band had given me a white copy of their album, one that hadn’t been released yet. I took the album to the radio station and they played it continuously, all day. The picture we have posted is a copy of the press review from the show that appeared in the Denver Post on Dec. 29 of 68 . Heres what the part about LZ says: The concert was cranked off by another heavy, the Led Zeppelin, a British group making its first U.S. tour. Blues oriented (although not a blues band), hyped electric, the full routine in mainstream rock – done powerfully, gutsily, unifiedly, inventively and swingingly by the end of their set. Singer Robert Plant – a cut above average in style, but no special appeal in sound. Guitarist Jimmy Page of Yardbirds fame – exceptionally fine. Used a violin bow on the guitar strings in a couple of tunes with resultant interesting, well integrated effects. Bassist John Paul Jones – solid, involved, contributing. John Bonham – a very effective drummer, but uninventive, unsubtle and unclimactic, just an uneventful solo.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 17:47:46 +0000
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