What if Jimmy Page Had Kept Led Zeppelin Going?

[Zzzptm]

JtS started this idea, so I'm going to keep it going in a thread.

Assuming legal issues like name ownership, publishing, recording contracts, fulfilling outstanding tour dates, and so forth were all resolved to allow Page to be to Led Zeppelin as Tony Iommi is to Black Sabbath, what could have been?

Reunions would still be just as possible and likely as with Sabbath - given that Bill Ward isn't really part of the most recent rounds of reunion tours, the absence of Bonham is paralleled there.

But what about the post-1980 band? Plant was already moving in a pop direction. Page's later work, though, shows a bluesy edge and a willingness to keep exploring music he liked without deep concerns about marketability. His work with The Firm may be seen as commercial, but it had some great moments on the first album. His solo album and work with Roy Harper show that he was comfortable both in heavy blues and experimental/art rock through the 80s. Page's work with David Coverdale, again, shows how he was essentially true to the Zeppelin sound: warmed-up blues numbers with heavy, heavy instrumentation.

So who would the sidemen be in a post-Plant/Jones/Bonham version of Led Zeppelin?

[Zzzptm]

For vocals, Page has always favored bluesy belters. Plant is solo, Paul Rodgers is still in Bad Company, David Coverdale is enjoying a DP mini-reunion in Whitesnake, Gillan is still trying to have a go of big name success in Gillan, so who's left?

Chris Farlowe.

Farlowe is one of the most underrated singers in rock, and he was available in 1980. He sang on three tracks on Page's Outrider album, and his vocal strength makes me forget that it's a Page solo album, not a Farlowe vehicle. Try out "Hummingbird", if you haven't heard it, or haven't heard it in a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihTBfdC0kc4

Also worth checking out would be "Prison Blues" and "Blues Anthem". Farlowe can deliver the goods, and his history as a solo artist, with Colosseum, and with Atomic Rooster makes him a reasonable kind of "why didn't *I* think of that?" kind of candidate for vocals.

[Zzzptm]

For bass... well, Page would need a steady, bluesy hand. Not necessarily Tony Franklin, who sounds too jazzy for a hard blues effort. ELP had just broken up, but would Page have worked well with Greg Lake, particularly if vocal duties were predominantly Farlowe's area? I'll work out the drummer while I think some more on the bassist...

No, wait, I figured them both out at the same time!

For bassist, Overend Watts. On drums, his Mott bandmate Dale "Buffin" Griffin. Two of the most solid rhythm men in rock, and British Lions was well on its way to foundering in 1980. If Page had given them the call, they would have shown up and done amazing work.

[Jack the Stripper]

No doubt the singer would've been the biggest make or break decision in the whole scenario. As much as Bonham and John Paul Jones were vital cogs in the Zeppelin machine the drummer and bassist are always seen as the most replaceable, especially in this day and age and particularly drummers.

I think David Coverdale would've been the most logical and best chance for it to work and he probably would've dropped Whitesnake in a heart beat for a chance to be in one of the biggest and most successful rock bands of all time. He dropped Whitesnake just after their peak(popularity wise) for a chance to work with Page so I have no doubt he would've dropped them back in 1980.

Plant had such an iconic and distinguishable voice it's hard to fathom anyone else that didn't have a likeness to Plants singing actually working unless it was an established superstar like Freddie Mercury who could also pull off those songs with his vocal range. Whether a Plant clone like Coverdale would've been accepted back then is another thing though, unlike today where it seems getting a singer that sounds like the original or most recognised singer seems to be all the rage and the best way forward for bands to continue on without the original or band defining singer.

I wonder how Ronnie would've turned out?

[Zzzptm]

I wonder how Ronnie would've turned out?

Interesting... and would Cozy Powell have gone over to Zeppelin, as opposed to a Dio solo effort?

[Jack the Stripper]

Yeah Cozy would've been a great choice of coarse and ended up joining Whitesnake too.

What if Glenn Hughes had've joined and Zeppelin became just a threesome? 

[Zzzptm]

Yeah Cozy would've been a great choice of coarse and ended up joining Whitesnake too.

What if Glenn Hughes had've joined and Zeppelin became just a threesome? 

Hughes has a strong voice. But in 1980... I think him and Page would have been really bad for each other, as far as drugs go. Too much coke and too much smoke, as Lynyrd Skynyrd once said...

[Jack the Stripper]

^^True, but given the ultimatum, drugs or sing for Zeppelin?

Here's a little snippet of what it might have been like if Freddie had've teamed up with Jimmy

As I said earlier Freddie had the range and ability to pull it off no doubt and would've added real star power to make it more credible and accepting. But not so sure it would've worked with the writing though. Jimmy could've handled most of the music as usual but how would've Freddie's writing style gelled with Page?

[Jack the Stripper]

I wonder how Ronnie would've turned out?

While it's not downright terrible(the band sounds quite good) Ronnie just doesn't work for me, even moreso than singing Ozzy era Sabbath.

[Zzzptm]

Yeah, Dio Zeppelin not automatically a good thing. Dio's got a great voice, but it doesn't fit for songs like that. He does better when he can stretch out the vowels. "Black Dog" has a clipped style, and it's not lyrical enough for Dio. Something like "Mistreated", though has Dio at his bluesy best.

[Zzzptm]

Mercury sounds great, and he's got the chops to pull off tunes like "Black Dog", but would he have left Queen when it was still around the top of the charts, to go with something that fans might react violently against?

Here's Hughes doing Zeppelin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6DVJngrCc0

And I bet that version doesn't make any new Hughes fans.

[Thelemech]

I think it would have amounted to the same degeneracy that occurred in Sabbath once Ozzy left. Do not get me wrong I love Dio and Gillan in Sabbath and I have a soft spot for Martin but there was a continued drop in quality after the original band fell apart IMHO. 

[Charger]

Honestly Zep was never in par with Sabbath...or Purple...or Rainbow or even Blue Öyster Cult.

So what ever degeneration might have happened to Sabbath was still better than Zep in their best.

Also I think as long as Page would have had bands to rip off from they probably would have been going on...

And as far as Ronnie goes...I doubt he would have never EVER joined Page in Zeppelin. Sabbath was a perfect fit for him...zep...not so much.

Glenn Hughes on the other hand...atleast his singing talent wouldn't have been wasted there any more than anywhere else.

[Jack the Stripper]

I'm more inclined to think that if Jimmy hadve decided to carry on the Zep name it would've been short lived regardless if he got an established superstar, a Plant clone or a nobody cheese ball like Tony Martin.  Majority of fans just wouldn't have accepted it and treated it like a Page solo band. History has said that a band can replace an iconic or band defining singer and continue to be successful but you also have to have the rest of the original band intact to give it a chance to make it work.

[Charger]

History has said that a band can replace an iconic or band defining singer and continue to be successful but you also have to have the rest of the original band intact to give it a chance to make it work.

Well this is utter bull now isn't it...?

The Mob Rules, Dehumanizer and The Devil You Know alone prove this to be utter bollocks...

Deep Purple made some of their best stuff with a single original member.

Iron Maiden proved the original lineup was nothing compared to things to come.

But ofcourse there are always those people that refuse to accept change and to them there is this:



But there are real fans out there that are willing to see beyond one person.


Sorry about the rant but the mindless and utterly pointless and foundless dissing of Tony Martin always puts me in rant mode.