Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes "Live At Jones Beach" EP (2017 Record Store Day release)
On Record Store Day 2017, a live EP from Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes was issued. Limited to 4,000 numbered copies and pressed in white-and-black-marbled vinyl, Live At Jones Beach contained three live cuts performed together by the Led Zeppelin guitarist and the Southern rock band at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY on July 10, 2000. (Thus, these recordings are drawn from a later show than the 1999 concert documented on the 2000 double-album Live At The Greek). All three of this EP's selected songs were Led Zeppelin songs.
Page and the Crowes were a good musical match, as the Crowes' penchant for retro-'70's rock made them better equipped than most bands to help Page recreate the Led Zeppelin sound. One common criticism of this teaming was that Crowes drummer Steve Gorman was less impressive than Led Zep's legendary John Bonham -- but what living drummer isn't? Gorman is a fine drummer on his own smaller scale, and the band’s chemistry with Page resulted in about as good a Zeppelin substitute as one could have hoped for on an instrumental level. However, Crowes singer Chris Robinson is clearly no Robert Plant, and his weak vocal on "Misty Mountain Hop" drags that song down, despite good instrumentation. Fortunately, Robinson's vocals are less of a drawback on the other two tracks. In fact, "Bring It On Home" can be seen as a Black Crowes cover of the Willie Dixon-penned blues tune that just happens to sound a lot like Zeppelin's version, and just happens to feature Zeppelin's guitarist as well; it’s a satisfying blues rock jam, and Robinson adds a decent harmonica part. The second side of the EP really delivers the goods with a bravura performance of "In The Light", the long prog opus from Physical Graffiti. Among other things, it’s a good showcase for the late Eddie Harsch on keyboards; Chris and Rich Robinson harmonize well together to duplicate the multi-track vocal effects of the Zeppelin studio version. (Maybe they should have tried that approach for "Misty Mountain Hop"...).
Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes "Live At Jones Beach" EP (The Orchard TV-2144-1) 2017
Track Listing:
1. Misty Mountain Hop (5:04)
2. Bring It On Home (5:27)
3. In The Light (9:06)
Page and the Crowes were a good musical match, as the Crowes' penchant for retro-'70's rock made them better equipped than most bands to help Page recreate the Led Zeppelin sound. One common criticism of this teaming was that Crowes drummer Steve Gorman was less impressive than Led Zep's legendary John Bonham -- but what living drummer isn't? Gorman is a fine drummer on his own smaller scale, and the band’s chemistry with Page resulted in about as good a Zeppelin substitute as one could have hoped for on an instrumental level. However, Crowes singer Chris Robinson is clearly no Robert Plant, and his weak vocal on "Misty Mountain Hop" drags that song down, despite good instrumentation. Fortunately, Robinson's vocals are less of a drawback on the other two tracks. In fact, "Bring It On Home" can be seen as a Black Crowes cover of the Willie Dixon-penned blues tune that just happens to sound a lot like Zeppelin's version, and just happens to feature Zeppelin's guitarist as well; it’s a satisfying blues rock jam, and Robinson adds a decent harmonica part. The second side of the EP really delivers the goods with a bravura performance of "In The Light", the long prog opus from Physical Graffiti. Among other things, it’s a good showcase for the late Eddie Harsch on keyboards; Chris and Rich Robinson harmonize well together to duplicate the multi-track vocal effects of the Zeppelin studio version. (Maybe they should have tried that approach for "Misty Mountain Hop"...).
Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes "Live At Jones Beach" EP (The Orchard TV-2144-1) 2017
Track Listing:
1. Misty Mountain Hop (5:04)
2. Bring It On Home (5:27)
3. In The Light (9:06)
Comments