The Song Remains the Same (film)

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For the album, see The Song Remains the Same (album).

For the song, see The Song Remains the Same (song).

The Song Remains the Same
Directed by	Peter Clifton Joe Massot
Produced by	Peter Grant
Starring	John Bonham John Paul Jones Jimmy Page Robert Plant
Music by	Led Zeppelin
Cinematography	Ernest Day
Editing by	Humphrey Dixon
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	October 20, 1976 (UK)
Running time	137 min.
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Song Remains the Same is a concert film by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. The recording of the film took place during three nights of concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1973, during the band's Houses of the Holy tour. The film premiered on October 21, 1976 at Cinema I in New York and in London two weeks later. The video of the film was released on October 25, 1990, and the DVD was released on December 31, 1999.

Promotional materials stated that the film was "the band's special way of giving their millions of friends what they had been clamouring for - a personal and private tour of Led Zeppelin. For the first time the world has a front row seat on Led Zeppelin."

"The Song Remains the Same" is also a Led Zeppelin song from their 1973 album Houses of the Holy. It is the first track on the album, and is performed by the band in the film.

[edit] Background and filming

Since late 1969, Led Zeppelin had been planning on filming one of their live performances for a projected movie documentary of the band. The group's manager, Peter Grant, believed that they would be better served by the big screen than by television, because he regarded the sound quality of the latter as inadequate. The first attempt was the filming (by Peter Whitehead and Stanley Dorfman) of Led Zeppelin's Royal Albert Hall performance on January 9, 1970, but the lighting was judged to be mediocre, and the film was shelved (this footage was later remastered and featured on the 2003 release Led Zeppelin DVD). Another attempt was organised for the outdoor Bath Festival on June 28, 1970, but only limited footage was filmed, and was similarly deemed unsatisfactory.

On the morning of July 20, 1973, Jimmy Page and Peter Grant made contact with Joe Massot, who had previously directed Wonderwall. Massot was already known to Grant as he and his wife had moved into a house in Berkshire in 1970, where they made friends with their neighbour Page and his girlfriend Charlotte. Grant had previously turned down offers by Massot to make a film of the band, but with the huge success of Led Zeppelin's 1973 concert tour of the United States, Grant changed his mind and offered him the job of director. Massot agreed and hurriedly assembled a crew in time for Led Zeppelin's last leg of the tour starting on July 23, 1973 in Baltimore. He subsequently filmed the group's three concert performances at Madison Square Garden on the nights of July 27, 28, and 29, 1973. The film was entirely financed by the band and shot on 35mm with a 24-track quadraphonic sound recording. The live footage in the US alone cost $85,000.

The plans to film the shows at Madison Square Garden were threatened when the local trades union tried to block the British film crew from working. The band's attorneys negotiated with the union and the crew was eventually allowed to film the concerts.

The footage of the band arriving at the airport in their private jet airliner, The Starship, and travelling in the motor cavalcade to the concert was filmed in Pittsburgh, before their show at Three Rivers Stadium on July 24, 1973.

For their three New York performances, the band members wore exactly the same clothes to facilitate seamless editing of the film, except for John Paul Jones who wore three different sets of attire on each of these nights, which created continuity problems. In an interview from 1997 Jones said that the reason he didn't wear the same stage clothes was that he asked the crew if they would be filming on those nights and was told no. "I'd think 'not to worry, I'll save the shirt I wore the previous night for the next filming'. Then what would happen is that I'd get onstage and see the cameras ready to roll."

Peter Grant (right) berating a concert promoter backstage at the Baltimore Civic Center

As Led Zeppelin's popularity soared throughout the 1970's, Peter Grant became increasingly notorious for being brutally protective of his band and their finances. The Song Remains the Same infamously captures one such exchange. In the scene, Grant uses the words 'fuck' and 'cunt' eighteen times combined. When Warner Bros. approved the film they did so on the proviso that these words be 'bleeped' out. Clifton took the optical print and bleeped the words, meaning the words were inaudible and the film was given an appropriate rating. However, on every other print the words were retained and were fully audible. The promoter is believed to be Larry Vaughan.

In the scene where Peter Grant is driven to the police station to be questioned about the theft from the safe deposit box at the Drake Hotel, he has his arm outside the police car. According to an interview conducted in 1989, he explained the reason he wasn't handcuffed was that the policeman driving the car used to be a drummer in a semi-professional band which had supported The Yardbirds on one of its US college tours in the late-1960s. Grant had at the time been manager of The Yardbirds. The money stolen from the safe deposit box at the Drake Hotel was never recovered and no one has ever been charged.

The scenes of police chasing a half-naked intruder and of Grant berating the promoter for receiving kickbacks were both shot at the Baltimore Civic Center on July 23, 1973. Grant purportedly recommended the "Dazed and Confused" sequence wherein the camera zooms into Jimmy's eyes and cuts to the scene.

Some unused backstage shots filmed at Baltimore and at Pittsburgh later found their way into the promotional video for "Travelling Riverside Blues", released in 1990.

Led Zeppelin's motor cavalcade arriving at Three Rivers Stadium. The footage was not included in The Song Remains The Same, but found its way into the 1990 promotional clip for "Travelling Riverside Blues"

Unhappy with the progress of the film, Grant had Massot removed from the project and Australian director Peter Clifton was hired in his place in early 1974. Massot was offered a few thousand pounds in compensation. Peter Grant later sent someone to Massot's house to collect the film. However, Massot had hidden the film elsewhere and so instead an expensive editing machine owned by Massot was taken as collatoral. Massot served a writ, leading to a period of stalemate which was finally broken when Grant and Led Zeppelin's lawyer Steve Weiss agreed to pay Massot the money he was owed, after which he delivered to film to the band. Massot was not invited to attend the premiere of the film at New York but he attended anyway, buying a ticket from a scalper outside the theatre.

Clifton, in recognising that there were crucial holes in the concert footage, suggested that the entire show be recreated at Shepperton Studios in August 1974, on a mock-up of the Madison Square Garden stage. Close-ups and distance footage of the band members could then be slipped into the live sequences, which made up the bulk of the concert footage seen in the film. A plan to shoot additional footage on the band's Autumn 1975 U.S. tour was abandoned due to Plant's car crash in Rhodes, Greece.

The band later experienced a major falling out with Peter Clifton after the completion of the film. Suspecting that he had 'stolen' negatives of the film, Peter Grant ordered that his house be searched. They did find some footage, but this turned out to be a collection of the best 'home movie' footage which Clifton had intended to give to the band members as a gift. Clifton was also annoyed at the decision to remove from the film's credits the names of all the people who had worked on editing, make up and effects. Unlike Massot, however, Clifton was invited to both the New York and London premieres of the film.

For both the film and accompanying soundtrack album, the songs were heavily edited, and in some cases the version appearing in the film is different from the one heard on the album. A comprehensive study of how the audio sources for each song were edited is available at The Garden Tapes.

The film was finally completed by early 1976, 18 months behind schedule and over-budget. Peter Grant later quipped "It was the most expensive home movie ever made". It grossed $200,000 in its first week at the box office.

[edit] Fantasy sequences

With an intention to give an insight into the individual personalities in the band, several out-of-concert 'fantasy sequences' were shot by Massot for each of the band members, in addition to Peter Grant and tour manager Richard Cole. The sequences are as follows:

Peter Grant (left) and Richard Cole as gangsters

• Massot originally shot Grant walking a cameraman around a collection of antique cars, but this footage was quickly abandoned. Instead, Grant and Cole were filmed as hitmen driving towards Hammerwood Park estate in Sussex in a 1928 Pierce-Arrow car. Roy Harper also makes an uncredited guest appearance as one of the 'greedy millionaires' portrayed at a business meeting of multi-national corporations. Massot envisioned Grant and Cole in the hitman roles, as it symbolised the tough business decisions they made on behalf of the band.

• John Paul Jones was filmed first at home with his wife Mo, and reading Jack and the Beanstalk to his two daughters, Tamara and Jacinda, before receiving a call to join the band on their American concert. For his fantasy sequence, Jones initially wished to use footage from the original Doctor Syn film, but was prevented from doing so as this film was owned by Disney. Instead, his fantasy sequence involved a reinterpretation the film. Jones portrays a masked gentleman known as "The Scarecrow," who travels at night on horseback with three others and returns home to Sussex, an ordinary family man. The three other horsemen with him are a reference to the other band members. Filmed in October 1973. Thematic music: "No Quarter".

Robert Plant in his fantasy sequence

• Robert Plant was captured relaxing on his Welsh country farm, known as Jennings farm, with his wife Maureen, and children Karac and Carmen. His fantasy sequence involves him being a knight rescuing a fair maiden (played by Virginia Parker), who is a symbolic representation for his vision of the ideal - his personal search for the Holy Grail. Scenes from the sword fight were filmed at Raglan Castle in Wales while the sailing, horseback riding and beach scenes were shot at Aberdovey then Merionethshire and now Gwynedd, in October 1973. Thematic music: "The Song Remains the Same" and "The Rain Song".

• Jimmy Page is filmed sitting by a lake next to his 18th century manor at Plumpton, Sussex, playing a hurdy gurdy. The tune played is called "Autumn Lake" and the scene was filmed in October 1973. Page's fantasy role involved climbing up the face of a snow capped mountain near Boleskine House, Loch Ness during the nights of a full moon on December 10 and 11, 1973. The act was meant to show man fighting his way to the top, only to be greeted by The Hermit on the untitled fourth album. Thematic music: "Dazed and Confused".

• John Bonham was shot with his wife Pat and son Jason Bonham on their country estate, The Old Hyde farm in Worcestershire. It is interesting to note that part of his fantasy includes him spending time at home with his family. Bonham was known for falling into deep depressions while on tour away from his family. His heavy drinking, which ultimately resulted in his death, is usually attributed to his homesickness. The game of pool was shot at The Old Hyde Hotel and the Harley-Davidson riding near Blackpool. His fantasy sequence is the most straightforward of all the members, with Bonham drag racing an AA Fueler at 260mph at Santa Pod Speedway Wellingborough, Northants, UK, in October 1973. Thematic music: "Moby Dick".

[edit] Critical reaction and popularity

The original 1976 movie poster for The Song Remains the Same

For its New York premiere, Cinema I was equipped with a quadrophonic sound system hired from Showco in Dallas. For the West Coast premieres, no such audio boosting was employed. These premieres, along with the London premiere, were attended by the members of the band.

Despite its good performance at the box office, the film was almost universally panned by critics for its perceived amateurish production and self-indulgent content, with the fantasy sequences in particular coming in for some of the harshest criticism.

However, amongst fans the film has retained its popularity, and indeed has attained something of a cult following^{[citation needed]}. For many years this popularity was in large measure a result of the fact that, until the release of the Led Zeppelin DVD in 2003, The Song Remains the Same was the only official live visual document that followers of the band were able to access. It was a common feature at many late-night movie houses, and its subsequent release on video and then DVD has ensured a growing base of fans.

Many of these fans, and some members of the band itself, regard the performances filmed at Madison Square Garden as merely average for the time, coming as they did at the end of a long and exhausting tour, but nonetheless representative of the generally high standard of the band's live performances during this era. In an interview he gave with New Musical Express in November 1976, Page stated that:

"The Song Remains The Same is not a great film, but there's no point in making excuses. It's just a reasonably honest statement of where we were at that particular time. It's very difficult for me to watch it now, but I'd like to see it in a year's time just to see how it stands up."

Page made good on his promise. When reviewing material for the How the West was Won DVD in 2003, he decided to include footage from this same series of concerts. Some 1977 footage was considered, but Page was unable to locate multi-track sound recordings from any '77 shows; it is unknown if any exist.

For all of its technical faults, many today view the film as an interesting historical document that captured the band at a particular point in time when its popularity was about to peak, and, on a more general level, as an accurate representation of the excesses of the music and show-business industries in the 1970s.

[edit] Trivia

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant during Led Zeppelin's performance of "Dazed and Confused" at Madison Square Garden

• Among blogging and forum-attending Led Zeppelin fans, the song, soundtrack, and film have all gained the acronym TSRTS.
• The female passenger wearing a scarf with Peter Grant driving on a country road is his wife, Gloria.
• When it was agreed that the band would meet at Shepparton Studios in 1974 for filming, Jones had recently had his hair cut short, so he had to wear a wig.
• The woman seen in close-up during "Since I've Been Loving You" is rumored to be Maureen Plant's younger sister, though this has not been verified.
• In 1976 a midnight screening of the film was organised by Atlantic Records prior to its release, at which label president Ahmet Ertegun reportedly fell asleep.
• Songs performed by the group at the three Madison Square Garden concerts but not included in the film include "Celebration Day", "The Ocean", "Misty Mountain Hop", "Over the Hills and Far Away" and "Thank You". Some of these songs were included on the soundtrack album of the film and, later, on the Led Zeppelin DVD.

[edit] DVD scene listing

1. Mob Rubout
2. Mob Town Credits
3. Country Life ("Autumn Lake")
4. "Bron-Yr-Aur"
5. "Rock and Roll"
6. "Black Dog"
7. "Since I've Been Loving You"
8. "No Quarter"
9. Who's Responsible?
10. "The Song Remains the Same"
11. "The Rain Song"
12. Fire and Sword
13. Capturing the Castle
14. Not Quite Backstage Pass
15. "Dazed and Confused"
16. Strung Out
17. Magic in the Night
18. Gate Crasher
19. No Comment
20. "Stairway to Heaven"
21. "Moby Dick"
22. Country Squire Bonham
23. "Heartbreaker"
24. Grand Theft
25. "Whole Lotta Love"
26. End Credits (w/ '"Stairway to Heaven")

[edit] Cast

• Peter Grant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, Richard Cole, Derek Skilton, Colin Rigdon

[edit] Personnel

• Jimmy Page - Guitars, producer, sound editor, sound mixer
• Robert Plant - Vocals
• John Paul Jones - Bass guitar, keyboards
• John Bonham - Drums, percussion
• Peter Grant - Executive producer
• Joe Massot - Director
• Peter Clifton - Director
• Ernie Day - Camera operator
• Robert Freeman - Camera operator
• David Gladwell - Editor
• Eddie Kramer - Sound engineer
• Shelly - Special effects
• Ian Knight - Visual effects and lighting
• Kirby Wyatt - Visual effects and lighting
• Brian Condliffe - Technician
• Mick Hinton - Technician
• Benji Le Fevre - Technician
• Ray Thomas - Technician
• Steven Weiss - Shoot trouble
• Cameron Crowe - Liner notes

[edit] See also

The Song Remains the Same (album)

[edit] External links

• The Garden Tapes - a study of sources of the live material and the edits for release on this film.
• The Song Remains the Same at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] Sources

• Welch, Chris (2002), Peter Grant: The Man Who Led Zeppelin, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9195-2.
• Lewis, Dave (2003), Led Zeppelin: Celebration II: The 'Tight But Loose' Files, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-056-4.