Kerrang! U.K November 13 1999 ~ Thanks to Chrissie for the transcription The Southern Harmony and Musical Companions When Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page asked The Black Crowes to be his backing band, they leapt at the chance. Little did they know theyd end up bonding over rock star tantrums, bouts of physical violence and the best way of pulling chicks... It was a marriage made in Heaven. When former Ked Zeppelin guitar god Jimmy Page asked The Black Crowes to be his backing band on a brief six-date US tuor, he couldnt have choseen a more capable and respective group of dyed-in-the-wool Zep fans. Performing sets of much loved Zeppelinn classics, a handful of crowes tunes and one or two traditional gold nuggets, a rejuvenated Page played and acted like a man half his age. Seeing him strut and peel off those famous licks was like time travelling back to 1972. For their part the crowes hhave never appeared tighter or stronger. Singer Chris Robinson belted out the Zeppelin ssongs as if he was born for the job, while younger brother rich complemented his idols prowess with some fleet fingered riffing of his own. Which is why, on the eve of their final night of the tour- the second of two sold out shows at Los Angeles Greek theatre- Chris and Rich have taken the time to chat with rocks elder statesman poolside at the Sunset Marquis hotel. Dressed in tight fitting leather, the ebullent Chris dotes on Pages every word, and although rich attempts to reain his serious demeanour hes clearly honoured to be in the guitarists presence. Jimmy himself is clad casually in jeans and loose fitting shirt. He smiles frequently, pausing before answering most questions and generally commands respect from all around him without so much as lifting a finger or cocking an eyebrow. This is what we have to say... Kerrang!: Where did you first cross each others paths? Rich Robinson: "We met Jimmy in London, at the Royal Albert hall. He came down with Robert (Plant, former Led Zeppelin vocalist) in '95." Chris Robinson: "It was on the Amorica tour. Jimmy ended up coming to Paris, and he sat in with us one night and played some blues with us. We palyed with Jimmy and Robert in South America and that very next summer in Europe." Kerrang!: Jimmy, what did you think of the Crowes music? Jimmy page: "i really liked it, because its real The way I see it is that its real purist music." Chris: "I think that as much as we resppect Jimmy music, both from the past and where hes going noe, its still a thrill to work with him. Even though were a little bit younger, i think that the music that influenced jimmy is the kind of music that influenced us too." Kerrang!: What were your earliest memorys of Led Zeppelin? Chris (laughing): "I was scared to death by 'Whole lotta Love'! I would go back and forth, putting it on and taking it off again. It would always freak me out, but I'd love it. I used to hate loud noises actually, but of course now we all make really loud noises every day." Rich: "I have tons of memories. I remember all the girls I new loved Led Zeppelin, so I used to hook up with them and drive around. I remember that of the five girls I used to date, every one of them said 'Ramble On' was their favourite song." Jimmy: "Yeah? Sounds like the equivolent of the book 'The Hobbit'. Back in 1971, we would use that book as the opening gambit on all the chicks back then. At least, it worked for Robert..." Kerrang!: Who was the first musician to inspire you? Jimmy: "It was probably Elvis Presley. I'd heard Little Richard from the very early days, but i really got into listening to records like 'The Sun Sessions'. After that, it suddenly came like as avalanche. there were so many after him. There was stuff like Gene Vincent, and from there I got into accessing the blues and finding out about that whole wonderful world of music that was out there." Chris: "For me , it was Sly And The Family Stone." Rich: "Me too. When I was growing up, I remember my dad listening to those records all the time." Jimmy: "Your dad played him?" Chris: "Yeah, he loved them. Our dad was a bebop rock 'n' roll type singer when he was a teenager. And my mum is from Nashville, so she grew up with alot of traditional music. Booth oof us grew up with folk music and the blues." Kerrang!: Did your parents ever try to dissuade you from playing music? Chris: "Our dad did." Jimmy: "Well, at the time I was doing it nobody new what was gojng on in the music business. I mean, when I was in school- this really ages me now- there was 500 or whatever kids there and there was only one other person in the whols school who played the guitar. These dayd, everyone knows someone who plays the guitar, or theyre playing it themselves." Rich: "Dad wanted us to go to college." Jimmy: "I think that my parents were just pleased that I was doing something to keep me off the streets: 'Hes quiet, hes playing- leave him to it!'." Kerrang!: Whats the best rock star tantrum youve ever thrown? Chris(stunned): "Wow." Rich: "Theres too many for Chris to count, i think." Chris: "Im the singer, so thats the wrong question to ask a guy like me! I lost my mind at a benefit concert that we did with Jimmy when this guy took the mike off Rich's amp. 'Wheres the fucking cunt, Im gonna have his fucking ass!'." Jimmy: "Um... Ive had some with record company people. It seems thats a common denominator here with us. i think most of mine have been with those types, but nothing that I want to commit here in Black-and-white." Chris: "We wont get into exwives and girlfriends, but those are 'man' tantrums and they have nothing to do with us being rock stars." Kerrang!: Who was the last person you punched otu? Chris: "WWell, I got in a fight here at this very hotel about a year and a half ago. There were a couple of guys listening as I was having a heated discussion with a girl I was with. One of them put his hand on me and told me to take it easy, and I gt into it with him and his buddy. Im not really happy with things like that, but thats how we grew up. I dont think violence is really cool, but at the end of the day, if people arent listening..." Kerrang!: Did Led Zeppelin have people fighting their battles for them? Jimmy: "Well, I didnt ever get anyone hit for me, but unfortuantly there were some people around us who got so wrapped up in the whole power of the group that maybe they got physical and ugly- which is a drag to be honest. I didnt enjoy that." Kerrang!: What are your biggest faults? Chris: "Easy. My lack of patience." Jimmy: "You dont suffer fools gladly, do you? And why should you?" Chris: "Its something that I can admit to and id like to work at it, bit its not going to change that in one day." Kerrang!: Are you patient with bandmates and studio lackys? Chris: "How about that guy that erased the beginning of 'Celebration Day', Jimmy?" Jimmy: "Well, that want too clever! It was when we were doing Led Zeppelin III. There was a giutar overdub being done, and all of a sudden i couldnt hear anything when i was playing it. I shouted out, 'Turn the bloody thing up', and he replied, 'Its going!'. And in fact what he was doing was wiping the whole thing. Thats why to salvage the song, we worked in that backwords echo, because hed wiped it up to that point. Otherwise wed have had to record the whole thing over again, which would have been a bit of a drag because it had a good vibe about it. You can learn from these things. other people would have been tearing out thier hair and beating the guy up against the wall, but instead, i just thought, 'Well, how am I going to deal with this?'. You try to make a positive thing out of it." Kerrang!: Is it exciting for the crowes to hear Led Zeppelin stories like that? Chris: "Totally. This whole experience... Jimmy already knows that we try to be cool and not let him in on how jazzed we are. we look really cool onstage with him, but inside were beaming from ear to ear. We actually try not to bother Jimmy too much about things. We let him hand down his wisdom to us when he wants to do so." Kerrang!: Jimmy and Rich, what are your thoughts on the nature of the singer? Jimmy: "Well, I can remember when I was working with David Coverdale and he said, 'I know all about lead vocalist syndrome, but in my experience ive found all guitarists to be miserable!'." Rich: "I have it as a double whammy, because Chris is also my brother. hes a pain in the ass on several levels, and I am to him. I dont think we can realistically judge what is normal." Chris: "Ill tell you this though- you never see a table full of lead singers having dinner in a restaurant." Rich: "Guitar players tend to fit a certain mould and so do singers, but there are subtle differences that change. I think that Chris always wanted to be a guiar player." Jimmy: "I dint know any vocalists who dont, to be honest with you." Kerrang!: What about Chris' opinion of guitarists? Chris: "I love the whole outlaw guitar hero thing. When you have your guitar on your hip, its like you have another implement there. A lead singer cam]n get upp there and act and feel a certain way, but with that guitar you can lick it, you can throw it around or whatever." Kerrang!: Whats next for the three of you? Are there any plans to work together again? Rich: "We havent talked about it, bit id love to." Jimmy: "Seeing how youve brought it up now, why not?" Chris: "Were being very aloof when people ask us about it though." Jimmy: "Its been like a party. Its been great playing this stuff with them." Rich: "Its been amazing. I think that weve had more fun than weve ever had before. Who doesnt want to stand in front of an arena and play Led Zeppelin songs?"