Eddie Kramer Archives Collection

OPEN AIR
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant recording outside with the Stones Mobile at Stargroves (Mick Jagger's house), England 1972.
"In 1972 I was asked by Jimmy Page to come over to England and record some tracks for a new album. Zeppelin had rented "Stargroves" (Mick Jagger's country estate) along with the Stone's mobile. The tracks that I recorded appeared on two albums, "Physical Graffiti" and "Houses of the Holy". During the sessions we experimented with recording outside on the lawn to try to get a completely neutral acoustic environment devoid of any reverberations. On the song "Black Country Woman" we tracked Jimmy and John Paul Jones playing acoustic guitar. You can hear birds tweeting in the background if you listen carefully…This photo of Jimmy and Robert rehearsing the song was typical of the bands adventurous spirit." ~ Eddie Kramer
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THE ENGLISH SCHOOL BOY
Jimmy Page recording outside with the Stones Mobile at Stargroves (Mick Jagger's house), England 1972.
"Jimmy Page wearing a V-necked Cardigan looking like the quintessential English schoolboy, playing his Martin 6 string outside on the lawn at Stargroves for the basic track of "Black Country Woman". Page is a master of British folk music and American Blues and his acoustic playing reflects that in this track." ~ Eddie Kramer
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DEATH LOOK
John Bonham recording in the dedicated drum room at Stargroves, England 1972.
"John Bonham recording in the conservatory drum room at Stargroves (Mick Jagger's estate). The recording set up for Bonham was simple - one could almost put any kind of mic on his drums and it would sound like "Bonzo". He hit the drums so damn hard he was to my mind the finest hard rock drummer of all time. Judging by his expression he was probably thinking: 'Get outta here with your f***ing camera Kramer' " ~ Eddie Kramer
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THE SESSION GUY
Jimmy Page at Olympic Studios, London 1967.
"Even though Page was in the Yardbirds, he was still the hot young session player on the London scene in '67 prior to the formation of Led Zeppelin. On this particular session we were recording the solo for "Hurdy Gurdy Man" which became a huge hit for Donovan." ~ Eddie Kramer
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MASTER ARRANGER
John Paul Jones at Olympic Studios, London 1967.
"John Paul Jones (John Baldwin) was a busy session musician and arranger before the formation of Led Zeppelin. He would often show up to a session at Olympic Studios wheeling in an Ampeg B15 bass amp, the charts under his arm and the bass slung over his shoulder. He would step over to the conductors rostrum, plug the bass in, open the charts and proceed to conduct a full orchestra with the bass in his hands..!!! Here he is playing a Fender bass with a pick, while the string bassist doubled his parts." ~ Eddie Kramer
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RESULTANT BLUR
Jimmy Page performing at the Filmore East, NYC 1969.
"Page wearing a string vest at the Fillmore East, 1969. This was taken from my favorite vantage point (the lowest balcony) with a 200mm lens using Kodachrome 25 ASA color film. The resultant blur in the image gives Page's use of the bow an almost electric effect. I loved going to the Fillmore as so many of the bands I was fortunate to work with played there. I also managed to record a good many concerts from under the stage where there was a primitive but effective recording facility." ~ Eddie Kramer
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JIMMY ON FIRE
Jimmy Page performing at the Filmore East, NYC 1969.
"This was also taken from my favorite vantage point (the lowest balcony) where I could rest the telephoto lens on the railing for support. Because of the short distance from the balcony, it felt sometimes that I could just reach out and touch the musicians on stage. Once again the slow film (ASA 25) yielded some nice blur on Pages hair and the bow." ~ Eddie Kramer
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TEXAS HAT
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant performing at Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, NYC 1969.
"During 1969 Zeppelin was constantly touring and we were also working on 'Zeppelin 2' recording tracks, overdubbing and mixing. I used to go out to some of the concerts if they were in NYC and this one was in Queens at the site of the old Worlds Fair. Someone must have thrown up a hat from the audience and Page adopted it as his own!!" ~ Eddie Kramer
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DRIVING FORCE
John Bonham performing at the Filmore East, NYC 1969.
"This photo shows the brewing intensity and focus and just how hard Bonham hit the drums. He never ceased to amaze me with his energy level on stage and in the studio. He was after all, an ex-brick layer who weighed about 250 lbs. and was about 6´2˝!!" ~ Eddie Kramer
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NAH, LEAVE IT…
Robert Plant recording "Black Country Woman" with the Stones Mobile at Stargroves (Mick Jagger's house), England 1972.
"During the recording of "Black Country Woman", Robert sang his lead vocal outside so that we could get the effect of no acoustical interference. However just as he was about to sing, an airplane droned overhead. On the final mix both my comment, 'Er, what about that Airplane then…?' and his terse reply 'Nah, leave it …' are preserved for posterity on the album."
~ Eddie Kramer
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DANCING DAYS
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant dancing at Stargroves (Mick Jagger's house), England 1972.
"Jimmy and Robert dancing to the song "Dancing Days". The recording truck doors are open and I'm playing back the take that had just been recorded. So, the lads decided to get into it and have a dance about to this great track." ~ Eddie Kramer
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can one say but to revel in the sounds and overwhelming power of the greatest drummer Rock n' Roll has ever produced!! Robert's stratospheric voice and interpretive prowess never ceases to amaze me. Robert has a great sense of feel and poetry in his music and lyrics....having been influenced by Elvis, Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Donovan, Tim Rose and Jimi Hendrix. He continues to stretch his musical boundaries with each successive album and has made the Zeppelin heritage an important part of his career.

John Paul Jones is the consummate musician, arranger and the glue that held the band together. His sense of rhythm and love of R&B and funk made for a supremely tight sound with Bonhams magical bass drum pedal!! His keyboard playing is masterful and had a strong classical influence (I found out later one of his and my favorite composers is Rachmaninoff ). The band as a whole had this strong English folk influence which was a thread that ran through much of their music.

Since each member of Zep was such a perfect compliment to each other, one cannot imagine their music being played by anything less than the original.

Shaping the Sound of a Generation

In 1963 I was on a session at PYE studios in London assisting Bob Auger in recording a tough new rock band called the Kinks. This was my first exposure to really loud amps and they really blew me away!! When it came time for the lead guitar parts Shel Talmy (their American producer) wanted the best rock guitarist on the scene, which happened to be Jimmy Page. My next encounter with Mr. Page was at Olympic Studios in 1967 when he was still with the Yardbirds, but for hire as one of the top session guys in town. I was recording a track for Donovan and Micky Most, the producer, had hired the top gun, Jimmy Page for the gig. The song we were recording was "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and Page's distinct fuzz tone and wailing guitar can be heard all over the record. I was also fortunate to meet and befriend John Baldwin (later John Paul Jones) who was the session bass player and pop arranger during the time I was at Olympic. He used to arrive at the session wheeling in his Ampeg B15 bass amp, with the charts under one arm and his Fender bass over the other, plug in, stand up on the conductors rostrum and proceed to conduct the entire 60 piece orchestra with the bass in his hand.!! I remember going over to Jones's flat one day just before the release of Zeps 1st album in early '68. I thought the album stunning and incredibly heavy. I asked Jonesy what was the name of the band and he said "Led Zeppelin". My reply was ... "That's the dumbest name I have ever heard of"… boy was I ever wrong..!!

In 1969 Zeppelin was on a major tour of the US and I was asked to record some new tracks, do some overdubs and mix the whole of the Zeppelin II album, which we did in two days at A&R Studios in NYC. Subsequently I recorded 5 more of their albums including: "Houses of the Holy", "Physical Graffiti", "The Song Remains the Same", "Coda", "How the West Was Won".

I have always been a huge admirer of Led Zeppelin, their music, the way they played with a ferocious attack in one moment and the next could be the complete dynamic opposite. Jimmy Page was an enjoyable challenge to work with in the studio..very demanding and particular with a specific vision in mind for the end goal. He reminded me of Jimi Hendrix in many ways with his amazing concentration and vast knowledge of his musical roots. As for "Bonzo" what else

Eddie Kramer Archives Gallery Exhibitions
San Francisco Art Exchange 458 Geary Street San Francisco, CA 94102 415-441-8840	Morrison Hotel Gallery Soho 124 Prince Street New York, NY 10012 212-941-8770	Proud Gallery 161 King's Road, Chelsea London, SW3 5XP 44 (0) 20 7349 0822	Celebrity Vault 345 North Canon Drive Beverly Hills, CA 90210 310-858-7875

The Led Zeppelin Collection

Shaping the Sound of a Generation

Eddie Kramer Archives Gallery Exhibitions