Becoming Led Zeppelin

I said, "What's that?" 608 00:35:13,789 --> 00:35:16,458 He said, "Well, the drummer is playing with Tim Rose, 609 00:35:16,541 --> 00:35:18,418 and he's getting 40 quid a week. 610 00:35:18,502 --> 00:35:19,711 Can we best it?" 611 00:35:20,670 --> 00:35:21,922 [chuckles] 612 00:35:22,005 --> 00:35:24,174 So we decided, yeah, we probably could. 613 00:35:24,257 --> 00:35:26,009 [muscular guitar line playing] 614 00:35:26,093 --> 00:35:29,513 [Page] Peter Grant managed to get a two-hour rehearsal space 615 00:35:29,596 --> 00:35:30,889 {\an8}in Gerrard Street. 616 00:35:31,515 --> 00:35:35,519 {\an8}So we all get there, and I've got my equipment set up. 617 00:35:35,602 --> 00:35:38,396 {\an8}John Paul Jones is there with his session equipment. 618 00:35:38,897 --> 00:35:40,524 And John's got his drums. 619 00:35:40,607 --> 00:35:43,276 [Jones] It literally was just wall-to-wall amplifiers, 620 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:45,403 and we just picked one of them... 621 00:35:45,487 --> 00:35:47,823 "Hello. How are you?" "Right." You know? 622 00:35:47,906 --> 00:35:50,158 "I'm so-and-so. He's so-and-so else." 623 00:35:50,242 --> 00:35:53,161 {\an8}[Bonham on recording] <i>It was strange, really, meeting John Paul and Jimmy.</i> 624 00:35:53,245 --> 00:35:55,247 {\an8}<i>You know, coming from where I'd come from, you know,</i> 625 00:35:55,330 --> 00:35:56,998 {\an8}<i>I'd sort of thought it was a bit of a joke,</i> 626 00:35:57,082 --> 00:35:59,251 {\an8}<i>getting telegrams and things, you know.</i> 627 00:35:59,334 --> 00:36:01,545 <i>That there's a chance of becoming one of the Yardbirds.</i> 628 00:36:01,628 --> 00:36:03,588 <i>It was like a gift from heaven, wasn't it?</i> 629 00:36:04,131 --> 00:36:06,424 I said the first number that I want to do 630 00:36:07,050 --> 00:36:08,385 is "Train Kept A-Rollin'." 631 00:36:08,468 --> 00:36:11,888 "'Train Kept A-Rollin'.' Do you know it?" I went, "Mm, nope." 632 00:36:11,972 --> 00:36:14,516 He said, "Well, it's a 12-bar, and it's..." [scats] 633 00:36:14,599 --> 00:36:16,893 "It's got this riff." "Okay. Count it in." 634 00:36:16,977 --> 00:36:18,228 And that was it. 635 00:36:18,895 --> 00:36:20,522 And the room just exploded. 636 00:36:20,605 --> 00:36:23,233 We just kept playing it and doing, like, solo breaks 637 00:36:23,316 --> 00:36:26,111 and all the rest of it, and Robert's improvising. 638 00:36:26,194 --> 00:36:27,904 I'd never heard anything like it. 639 00:36:27,988 --> 00:36:32,409 I was expecting some cool soul singer, and there's this screaming maniac 640 00:36:33,368 --> 00:36:35,912 with this fantastic voice and a fantastic range. 641 00:36:35,996 --> 00:36:39,666 I was like, "What are you doing up there? "You'll hurt yourself, man." 642 00:36:39,749 --> 00:36:42,879 It was devastating because it seemed like 643 00:36:43,921 --> 00:36:45,965 that had been what I'd been waiting for. 644 00:36:46,048 --> 00:36:47,383 [Bonham] I was pretty shy. 645 00:36:47,466 --> 00:36:49,635 The best thing to do when you're in a situation like that 646 00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:52,430 is not to say much and just sort of soldier along 647 00:36:52,513 --> 00:36:54,348 and suss it all out, sort of thing. 648 00:36:54,432 --> 00:36:55,975 Well, being a bass player, 649 00:36:56,058 --> 00:36:58,019 and he was probably thinking the same thing, 650 00:36:58,102 --> 00:37:02,398 you know, because rhythm sections are very sensitive creatures, really... 651 00:37:05,109 --> 00:37:08,738 I just needed to know that we could work together. 652 00:37:08,821 --> 00:37:10,990 [Bonham] The first time we played together, you know, 653 00:37:11,073 --> 00:37:12,825 you could tell it was gonna be a good group. 654 00:37:12,909 --> 00:37:15,203 You know, not being sort of flashy about it. 655 00:37:15,286 --> 00:37:16,454 [Bonham laughs on recording] 656 00:37:16,537 --> 00:37:18,247 <i>- But I am.</i> [laughing] - [chuckles] 657 00:37:18,331 --> 00:37:20,625 [chuckles] Marvelous. 658 00:37:20,708 --> 00:37:25,254 When it finally came to a halt, I'm absolutely convinced 659 00:37:25,338 --> 00:37:28,925 that everyone knew that that was a life-changing experience. 660 00:37:29,008 --> 00:37:30,927 And I think there was so much kinetic energy, 661 00:37:31,010 --> 00:37:34,096 so much energy that needed to come out for everybody. 662 00:37:34,180 --> 00:37:37,058 "Let's take it to the next stage and let's take it to Pangbourne." 663 00:37:37,141 --> 00:37:39,143 [upbeat rock music playing] 664 00:37:48,527 --> 00:37:50,905 [Page] Pangbourne is on the River Thames. 665 00:37:50,988 --> 00:37:54,075 I remember when I first came across this boathouse, 666 00:37:54,158 --> 00:37:56,702 I just thought, "This is absolute magic." 667 00:37:56,786 --> 00:37:58,496 It had a good energy to