Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index

The Song Remains the Same

The Song Remains the Same is a concert film by the British blues/rock band Led Zeppelin. The recording of the film took place during a 3-night concert stand at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1973 during the band's Houses of the Holy tour. The film premiered on October 21, 1976 at Cinema I in New York. The video of the film was released on October 25, 1990 and the DVD was released on December 31, 1999.

Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers

Since late 1969, Led Zeppelin had been planning on filming one of their live performances for a projected movie documenting the band. Peter Grant believed Led Zeppelin would be better served on the big screen rather than television because the sound quality of television he regarded as inadequate. The first attempt was the filming of Led Zeppelin's Royal Albert Hall performance on January 9, 1970. Film-makers Peter Whitehead and Stanley Dorfman were commissioned, however the resultant film was shot using indifferent lighting so it was canned (This footage later turning up on the 2003 release Led Zeppelin. Another attempt was organised for the outdoor Bath Festival on June 28, 1970, but again what little footage that was filmed was deemed unsatisfactory.

On the morning of July 20 1973, Jimmy Page and Peter Grant made contact with Joe Massot, who had previously directed George Harrison's Wonderwall. Massot agreed to film the band on the last leg of 1973 summer tour of the United States. A crew was finally assembled in time for Led Zeppelin's last leg of the tour starting on July 23, 1973 in Baltimore. Massot decided however to film the concert performances at Madison Square Garden on the nights of July 27, 28, and 29 1973. Both the fans and the band regard these nights of the tour as "average". In an effort to show the individual personalities in the band, footage of each band member in their own real world and fantasy world would also be included backed with a favoured song. The film would be 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.

Some sequences are as follows:

Unhappy with the progress of the film, Peter Grant had Joe Massot removed from the project and Australian director Peter Clifton was hired in his place. Clifton, in an effort to complete some close-ups and distance footage of the band members, assembled Led Zeppelin at Shepperton Studios in August 1974, with a mock-up of the Madison Square Garden stage. The bulk of the live sequence seen in the film however was from the 1973 concerts. A plan to shoot additional footage on the band's U.S. tour was abandoned due to Plant's car crash in Rhodes. 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.

Table of contents
1 Scenes
2 Cast
3 Personnel
4 Additional notes
5 External link

Scenes

  1. Mob Rubout
  2. Big Apple Credits
  3. Country Life ("Autumn Lake")
  4. New York ("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

Cast

Uncredited: Family members; the female passenger wearing a scarf, with Peter Grant driving on a country road is Grant's wife, Gloria; Roy Harper as one of the slain corporate goons; the white-shirted man Grant berates is believed to be promoter Larry Vaughan; the blonde maiden at Raglan Castle (unknown); the close-up of an Indian woman during the song "Since I've Been Loving You" is Maureen Plant's younger sister.

Personnel

Additional notes

Film length: 137 minutes, DVD length: 132 minutes plus extras including menu

Catalogue: Warner Reprise Video WHV 11389, (DVD) Warner 11389

External link