Except during my most dogmatic punk years (circa age 13), I've always respected Led Zeppelin. So, when I saw the two-disc 30th anniversary reissue of the legendary blues-rock band's live disc, "The Song Remains the Same," I couldn't help myself.
Some background: I got my first job at 9, watching for shoplifters in a tiny Brooklyn record shop called Backstreet. For that occasional, post-school and weekend work, I earned two LPs a week. Since I was hanging out there all the time anyway, it was probably just a way for the employees to give me records without stealing.
One of my first paychecks was "The Song Remains the Same" and around the same time, my mom -- who has always nurtured my interests, no matter how odd they've seemed to her -- took me to the Bay movie theater on Bay Parkway to see the film. As I recall, she brought a book, perhaps thinking she'd read it in the lobby, but she sat beside me throughout the film.
So, "The Song Remains the Same" was my intro to Led Zeppelin, my intro in some ways to the world of work and one of my first memories of my mom encouraging my interest in music.
The new version of the disc -- there is also a new DVD of the film and a box set of god knows what for twice the price -- has six tunes not on the original set, recorded in 1973 at New York's Madison Square Garden. A booklet has the photos from the original release along with an essay by Cameron Crowe.
At least one of the new tunes, "Since I've Been Loving You," is as good as anything that originally made the cut. It's a heavy blues reminiscent of Albert King and shows that Led Zeppelin really did have some blues skills.
There is that nearly half-hour version of "Dazed and Confused" and a great, previously-unreleased version of "The Ocean," from "Houses of the Holy," which was the band's latest studio disc when this concert was recorded.
What I like most about "The Song Remains the Same," apart from nostalgia, is that it's at times sloppy as hell, reminding us that hype and myth aside, this was a band like any other, with good nights, bad nights, often ace skills, but still a group of humans, not gods. That, and the fact that it reminds me of being 10 and excited every day by music that was new and interesting to me.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
