#led zep history

[kulturegroupie]

In November 1968, Jimmy Page travels to New York with Peter Grant, armed with master tapes of the group's first album. Ahmet Ertegun, attorney Steve Weiss meet with Page and Grant at Atlantic's office (1841 Broadway, NY - November 11th, 1968). Jeff Beck is also in attendance, who was on his North American tour. They then travel to Miami for a short trip, including a fishing expedition.

A reported $200,000 advance is soon announced - a monumental sum at the time.

Official Press Review:

ATLANTIC RECORDS SIGNS ENGLAND’S HOT NEW GROUP, LED ZEPPELIN, IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST DEALS OF THE YEAR

Atlantic Records has signed the hot new English group, Led Zeppelin, to a long term, exclusive recording contract. Although the exact terms of the deal are secret, it can be disclosed that it is one of the most substantial deals Atlantic has ever made. Agreement for the group's services was made between Jerry Wexler, Executive Vice President of Atlantic Records, Peter Grant, manager of the group.

Led Zeppelin consists of four of the most exciting musicians performing in Britain today. They are Jimmy Page, leader of the group and lead guitarist; John Paul Jones, bassist, pianist, organist, arranger; John Bonham, drums; and Robert Plant, lead vocal and harmonica.

Jimmy Page is a former member of the Yardbirds, the group that spawned the careers of two other great musicians, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Page joined the Yardbirds in 1966 and stayed with the group until it disbanded in the summer of 1968. Prior to joining the Yardbirds he was one of the busiest session men in London.

John Paul Jones is considered one of England’s finest arrangers as well as an outstanding bass player. He is the arranger of Donovan's “Mellow Yellow”, “Sunshine Superman”, and “Hurdy Gurdy Man”, and of the Rolling Stones' “She's a Rainbow”. Drummer John Bonham created a sensation with his drum solos, while accompanying Tim Rose on his British tour in early 1968. Vocalist Robert Plant is considered one of England's outstanding young blues singers, and has been involved in singing blues since he was 15. All of the members of the group are in their early 20s.

The pulsations surrounding Led Zeppelin have intensified ever since the group recorded its first (and as yet unreleased) album, which was produced by Jimmy Page, just a month ago in London. Top English and American rock musicians who have heard the tracks have called Led Zeppelin the next group to reach heights achieved by Cream and Hendrix. This Led Zeppelin LP will be released by Atlantic early in January.

Led Zeppelin is the eighth British group to be signed by Atlantic during the past 24 months. The others are Cream, Bee Gees, Julie Driscoll – Brian Auger & Trinity, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, The Marbles, The Magic Lanterns, and Jimmy James & The Vagabonds.

— November 11, 1968

(From ledzeppelin.com)

[lemongrablothbrok]

"I connect. I get people off. I look for the guy [in the audience] who isn't getting off, and I make him get off." - Jeff Bebe, personally headcanoned bisexual frontman of Stillwater, Almost Famous (my favorite fucking movie of all time)

A gorgeous instrument

“Robert Plant strutted across the stage. He swaggered, he is THE pop star, at all times totally compelling… more so to me than a Jagger, because it just doesn’t seem contrived for one moment. Plant’s voice was like a gorgeous instrument, he was physically and sensually taking the audience for his own. They wanted him to do it to them and he did.”

- From the May 7, 1973 Jacksonville concert review by Lisa Robinson (Disc magazine)

[mysticbeaver]

randomly asking cuz im curious lmao but what kind of music are you into? what are your favorite artists and songs? from what i've seen you're mostly into classic rock, right? (which btw the classic rock to eene pipeline is really funny and quite fascinating but that's another story.)

Oh I'm glad you asked!!! Boy now I can go on a rant 😁

Ok, I'm one of those folks who have a hard time explaining what kind of music I listen to... classic rock was definitely my upbringing since I was a child - like the Who, Led Zep, AC/DC (I feel slightly embarassed by that nowadays, sorry AC/DC fans 😅 good memories tho).

As a teen I started going into 70s progressive rock, especially King Crimson, which I consider my favorite band ever for the simple fact I've been able to stomach pretty much everything they ever put out, even the most self-indulgent and tough to listen stuff (the "ProjeKcts"). I also fell in love with some art-pop (Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian) and generally got more adventurous and tried to slowly discover other artists (but always unabashedly behind the times haha). I went through a Bowie phase, tbf I still don't think I truly "get" Bowie lol, but one of his most interesting albums to me is Outside, probably the weirdest thing he's ever done. I also got into some electronic stuff, Tangerine Dream, Yello (two funny looking swiss guys, you might be familiar with that meme song Oh Yeah lmao). I'm also extremely familiar with Tom Waits... (I'll mention Captain Beefheart since we're at it) I've delved into jazz here and there, Pat Metheny is the first thing that comes to mind, but I'm pathetically ignorant on the genre.

The latest artist I went through a phase and now consider one of my favorites is the band Talk Talk. Their short history is mindblowing, they went from "80s one-hit-wonder pop band" to making music completely out of its time. The Color Of Spring is the best 80s-pop-album-that-doesn't-sound-80s I've ever heard, and Spirit Of Eden is... something, lmao. That album and their last one, Laughing Stock were apparently very influential on later artists in the 90s and onwards, and are now considered masterpieces despite not selling very well at the time. The enigmatic band leader Mark Hollis eventually took the genius decision to... retire (gasp) and disappear from public view for the rest of his life (I think some "artists" out there could learn a lesson from that 🤐)

John Martyn's album One World is another recent favorite, a folk rock guitarist who got kinda trippy/experimental and recorded an album by a small lake, sometimes recording the sound of the speakers in the distance... there's a beautiful track on there called Small Hours where you can even faintly hear the geese.

Finally I want to mention two historical italian artists I'm familiar with - Franco Battiato and Lucio Battisti. I've always shunned music from my country when I was younger, but I'm trying to make up for it, and those two really captivated me (although if you grew up in Italy you can't escape hearing Battisti's more famous hit songs, also apparently Bowie was a big fan, so I've read...)

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg, what came to my head right now. Btw, I wanna know what the "classic rock to eene pipeline" is haha

[officialpenisenvy]

Do you have any recommendations for Led Zeppelin documentaries or biographies? I always liked their music, and lately I've been wanting to get more into them, thanks in part to your posting, so I'd love to hear any recs you have.

so basically the unfortunate thing about led zeppelin documentaries is that there are no really good ones out there lol. i have decently high hopes for becoming led zeppelin (which is to be released next year and which centers the rise of the band in 1968-1969), but of the existing documentaries none of them are satisfactory beyond providing the most surface-level look at their lives and stardom: id say if you know nothing at all about the band save for their names and instruments you can learn something by going on youtube and searching "led zeppelin documentary" and watching something like a to zeppelin or whole lotta rock or whatever bullshit hour-long title pops up, provided you take everything but the most biographical verifiable information with a grain of salt.

if you already have a wikipedia-skim level of knowledge and want to get deeper, biographies are your best friends! trampled under foot by barney hoskyns is an amazing oral history and one of the most reliable zeppelin books out there, and led zeppelin by bob spitz (the beatles guy) is a very detailed and flowery read, though it gets a few things wrong here and there — when giants walked the earth by mick wall is also supposedly a great read, rich in anecdotes and blending hoskyns's interview-like style with prose.

i caution you against hammer of the gods by stephen davis and stairway to heaven by richard cole, perhaps the most notorious zep biographies ever: richard cole was the band's tour manager for their entire duration and the architect of most of their trademark bacchanalian chaos, and when he needed drug money in the mid-80s he sold a truckload of stories about the band to the highest bidder (namely stephen davis) and then wrote his own book as well, but he later walked back a good amount of his sordid tales and admitted to lying and exaggerating for money. they are still very interesting books, especially if you read them as fictionalized accounts of real people's lives, and they are very insightful in terms of how the general public perceives zeppelin and their mythos, having directly helped build it — it's also interesting that richard cole is the only member of the entourage who openly fucking loathed robert plant and was loathed in return, at least in part due to cole being a homophobe and a generally unpleasant guy, so it's a curiously biased perspective you never otherwise see since robert was so universally well-liked by everyone else.

if you've read all this and still want some juicy relationship drama or some more women i can't not recommend miss pamela des barres's books: she's a former groupie queen and a long-time zeppelin friend and paramour, as well as an absolute character in her own right, and will waste no chance of recounting the softness of jimmy's lips or the coarseness of robert's chest hair or whatever the fuck — i personally recommend let's spend the night together, more focused on her own and others' groupie antics, and her autobiography im with the band, which is just an incredible cultural artifact.

[laluxea]

Ah thank you @stellastarr7, my hunch was correct 👍

[theoriginaleppieblack-blog]

Took the lads out into the stone circle in the museum’s garden for more pictures with the 1970 Barbie camper. Look at those mugs. If you aren't familiar with my dolls they are from Mattel's Creatable World line and their given names are Alex (he/him, left) and Tris (he/him, right).

The names Alex and Tris have a storied history as fanfiction code for Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.

Right down to business. The guitar is the first thing I've ever 3D printed. I did it at my local library, for free!

below: This is sort of the shot that I designed the interior remodel of the Barbie camper around - Alex laying on the futon with his hair fanning out like that.

This one is for the Zep heads (well, all of this is for the Zep heads but this one is special). You guys (gn) know what photo I was thinking of when I posed this).

Although she's no Starship the 1970 Barbie Country Camper is a fine vehicle. I have a lot more photos from this session on my ipad and I even have a stop motion sequence to edit. So stay tuned for more.

After all the props were ready but before I got good weather for taking pictures in the garden, I read an amazing Led Zeppelin fic on AO3 that may have influenced this photoshoot. It's The Road So Far by sodium_amytal, a beautiful Led Zeppelin AU.

[coldpups]

So what really pulled me into the Steddie vibe was Eddie himself unlocking my long history with classic rock so uH had to do a 70s AU with Eddie as a Led Zep-style rocker and Steve as a heartthrob singer

[lola-babylon]

If Ryan had loved Led Zep and not The Beatles, maybe we'd have the Cabin Album

Two years after the release of AFYCSO, PATD fans were crying out for new music from the boys, and curious as to what they'd been working on during their stay in a cabin in the mountains of Nevada (which actually wasn't that isolated ... Mount Charleston is less than an hour's drive from Summerlin; Brendon would pop home to have dinner with his family during this time).

The band debuted material they'd been working on at Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 7 2007, playing a then untitled song later dubbed "True Love" amongst the bandom.

And the reception was not enthusiastic. To quote Pretty Odd Fever:

"I genuinely loved the song, so its reception still makes me a little sad. It felt like the majority of fans completely hated it and were absolutely brutal. There were seriously thousands of comments online tearing the band apart. Even fans who were at Summerfest said the crowd didn’t seem too impressed with the new song.

Yes, the song was a repetitive fairy tale cliche… but who knows where it fit into the album’s storyline or what the tone actually was! Brendon said that a lot of the cabin album was satirical.

[...]

Basically, a huge amount of people were hating on the lyrics (but some people still seemed to love the melody, Brendon’s vocals, or other small parts). The band absolutely saw what so many people were saying online. There’s no way they could’ve missed that even if they didn’t lurk (which Jon did). Right after Summerfest they decided to scrap the cabin album and completely start over. The album’s release date had been pushed back before Summerfest, though, so it sounded like the band was maybe already uncertain about their new material before the overly negative response."

Had PATD already decided to scrap the songs they'd been working on at the cabin before Summerfest? Or was it the audience reaction to the debut of "True Love" that caused them to rethink their musical direction and start over? Some fans still want to know what happened in Seattle (nothing) or what happened in Cape Town (nothing to do with any relationship between Brendon and Ryan) but goddamn it, I want to know what happened in the cabin.

We do know, though, that Ryan was getting massively into the Beatles about this time. Which is fine, but the course of PATD history might have been different if he'd had a Led Zeppelin phase instead. Because Led Zeppelin know something about a band's art being disdained on first hearing, and if Ryan had known his Zep history he'd have known that Stairway to Heaven was also hated by the fans on first performance.

Stairway to Heaven starts with the sounds of recorders - recorders! - before taking the listener on an almost 8 minute long aural journey across mythology, folk rock, hard rock, and a lengthy Jimmy Page guitar solo. And for all that it was hailed as a masterpiece in subsequent years, early audiences hated it. Unsure of what exactly they were hearing, they'd whistle and boo with derision, stamping their feet until the song was done and they could get back to rocking out to Whole Lotta Love. As Led Zep bass player John Paul Jones said of the the audience response to Stairway's live debut in March 1971, "They were all bored to tears waiting to hear something they knew." It wasn't until Stairway to Heaven began to receive radio play later in 1971 that the appreciation, which would later grow into adoration and obsession over the song, began.

So maybe if Ryan had been into Led Zeppelin in 2007, he'd have noted the audience reaction to True Love and said "who cares if they don't like it now? People didn't like Stairway to Heaven when they first heard it, and look at how that went." Of course for Led Zep, audience reaction was limited to what the audience saw on the night and fan chatter after shows; there were no forums or Live Journal or YouTube videos allowing fans to be on the lnternet within minutes registering their disgust throughout the world.

Maybe PATD had already decided to scrap the cabin album anyway, and just decided to give a small slice of it a public airing when they had the chance. But it's fun to imagine the alternative timeline where Panic got into Led Zeppelin instead of the Beatles; Brendon being the one with the tambourine, shirt unbuttoned to his navel, dancing around as Ryan cranked out excruciatingly lengthy solos on a double necked Gibson, having decided to hell with what the audience thought. And John's symbol for their album cover would be a cat.

[modernmanblues]

the girl i befriended while stranded at the airport is a foreign exchange student and had no clue what classic rock was until meeting me. so of course, with all the extra time on our hands, i took the time to lecture her about the history of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Who, etc. she was like “Led Zeppelin? ohh interesting name for a rock band” and when i went to go show her pictures of the Zep boys she was like “ohhh why do they look like women?”

too wholesome.

[kulturegroupie]

Hihi! This is your secret santa speaking! I see that you have a love for the Leds! While I know their more popular songs (with Misty Mountain Hop being one of my favourites) I would love if you could recommend me some more underrated Zep songs!

hello my darling, we finally meet! 🥰 yes my blog is dedicated to vintage stuff in general, mostly (but not limited to) 60s-70s rock and my beloved favourite band, led zeppelin!

i'll give you 10 recommendations, feel free to listen to them all or choose the ones that inspire you the most:

1. the rain song (1973) - one of my favourite songs ever. the lyrics, the gently strummed guitar and the orchestra section merge together to form a little fairytale world for all of its 7 minutes. an absolute delight to the years, and very very dreamy.

2. since i've been loving you (1970) - a fan favourite, and possibly their best blues number. an aggressive and striking guitar accompanies plant's high pitched, sorrowful vocals. the band played this song regularly on tour and not two versions are the same. absolutely brilliant.

3. ten years gone (1975) - a melancholic D-tuned guitar and some beautiful lyrics by plant make a powerful yet heart-wrenching ballad. this one makes me cry every time lol.

4. in the light (1975) - hope you like progressive rock, santa, because this underrated gem has some elements of that sub genre while still being labelled hard rock. listen to this to cheer you up when you're feeling down.

5. achilles last stand (1975) - a longer one, but worth every single second. this 10 minute epic will satisfy your most adventurous desires and still leave you hanging for more. john paul jones and john bonham mimic the sound of a galloping horse in a surreal war setting.

and allow me to introduce you to some less known but absolutely tasty gems as well!

from the deluxe version of coda (1982):

6. baby come on home - a heartbreak song. one of their most beautiful ballads

7. hey, hey, what can i do - a fun and catchy folk song

8. sugar mama - “sugar mama, sugar mama, sugar mama, drive me insaaane” an upbeat number in true led zeppelin style!

from the complete BBC sessions (1997):

9. somethin' else - really captures the energy of the band in their early days

10. the girl i love she got long black wavy hair - jimmy page said they improvised this one the spot!

for a little insight on the history of the band, even rarer tracks, performances and pictures, here ! :)

this is all! to me these songs are like little pieces of art, hope you can enjoy them as much as i do. talk to you soon, have a lovely day! <3

[ourshadowstallerthanoursoul]

🎶✨️when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)🎶✨️

I've just woken up and this is a wonderful start of the day. So, thank you a lot @n0quart3r (and @lil-melody as well, I just got the notification while writing this) 💖

Ok, this is going to be a hard one because I listen to music 24/7 and I listen to a lot of songs from a lot of different artists.

This is my top 5 at the moment (but in no particular order):

And now here's a short explanation for each song:

'Bron-Y-Aur stomp' - It's my favourite Led Zep song because it doesn't matter how sad I am, it always puts me in a good mood. And I can easily sing along to it.

'Mama' - I found it by listening to a Spotify Daily Mix and it shocked me to hear Phil Collins sing like that, because I know him for 'In the Air tonight' and the Tarzan soundtracks. I really really like this song. I'm not a Genesis fan, but I'm sure one day it will click into my small brain and I'll start listening to their music as well.

'Sorrow' - I've found this song the same way and the same day as 'Mama'. I love the intro, the music is quite dark and the lyrics is so relatable. I also like their live performance from the Pulse concerts with all the lasers. Hypnotizing.

'Lettera da Berlino Est' - I love the bass line and the melody in this one. The lyrics is also very beautiful. This song always has me dancing to it.

'Il ragazzo del cielo (Lindbergh)' - Again the bass line and the lyrics are amazing imo. Also the atmosphere it creates is very surreal. It changes towards the end and it becomes more rhytmic. The guitar is also very nice and I still haven't figured out if it's steel guitar, normal or both because during live performances the guitarist uses a normal one and plays it with his fingers, and yet the sound is the same. This isn't the only song he plays it like this, there are a few others.

There are two song from the Italian band Pooh because I'm Italian and I can say for sure that they are my favourite band ever (Led Zeppelin hasn't topped them yet, and I honestly don't think that they'll ever do it, at max they can share the 1st place). They are the most important Italian band and I suggest you search their history and songs on the internet, because they've been around for almost 60 years now and they have radically transformed over the years. There are so many other songs of theirs that I could suggest.

[singemall-stayallnight]

Datalounge is the gift that keeps on giving.

The bottom photo in the series above appears in the thread linked below.

The comments discussing members of Led Zeppelin are the usual stuff for the most part like Jimmy and Lori. There are a couple of tidbits about Robert that might be new to people on here:

"[R488] Since you knew Zep PR people, have you ever heard them address anything concerning the rumor about the death of Robert Plant's son? Supposedly the boy was seen in nyc with the band right before his death, accidentally got into a bag of drugs and died. The story of him dying at home of a sudden infection being pure fiction."

by Anonymous reply 500 December 28, 2018

"[R500], think it was a rumor about Karec being in NYC the night before his death. Especially as the band were not even in the city when Plant's son died.

Karec died back home in England. Plant's home was nowhere near a hospital, which is likely the main reason he died.

Around the time of Karec's death, the band were scheduled to play a gig upstate NY, I forgot where. Weeks before, in the NY Daily News, Plant's family had been pictured in a roped off area of Madison Square Garden. The band played a full week at MSG. I attended three of those shows. I think that's how the rumor started that Karec was in NYC and died of drug overdose, because the band were coming back to NY to play that upstate NY gig. Yet Plant's family was already back home in England.

If Karec did indeed die in NYC, this has got to be one of rock history's most well-kept secrets.

The NY Daily News has the son's name wrong, he's listed as Korac." Classic Rock Review: Image classicrockreview.files.wordpress.com by Anonymous reply 501 December 28, 2018

"[R500]-[R501]: Karac Plant died in Kidderminster, where Plant had his family home. There was a local hospital there at the time, they only live a mile or so outside of town so it didn't take long to get to the hospital. Kiddy is only at most maybe 10-15 mins by ambulance to Birmingham.

He died quickly, either en route to hospital or just after arriving. Its been discussed over the years that he may have had Kawasaki syndrome, which is when the immune system has an overwhelmed abnormal reaction to an infection. Occurs in children and would explain the fast death.

LZ had just flown into NOLA when Plant got the news. It was in late July just before they were going on break, a few weeks before Elvis died and Plant himself turned 29." by Anonymous reply 518 December 28, 2018

"Plant, a few years later had a son with his ex-wife’s sister.

His oldest son, Logan, is good-looking" Blog www.beavertownbrewery.co.uk

by Anonymous reply 519 December 28, 2018

"Plant had a son, or raised a son with Maureen's sister, nearly 14 years after Karac died. There are some who don't believe he's Robert's bio child, being as he broke up with the mother several years earlier and had other intervening relationships. Nevertheless his name is on the birth cert and he's raised the boy, Jordan, who graduated from Leeds a few years ago."

by Anonymous reply 520 December 28, 2018

"His name is Jesse Lee not Jordan"

by Anonymous reply 521 December 28, 2018

"No his actual name is Jordan, that is what he's gone by for many yrs (you can google this). It's also he name on his UK birth record, which is public record.

I know he is listed as "Jesse" in some places. They may have decided to put that out as a public name, to maintain his privacy and keep nosy bodies at bay. No one really knew about him until he was well up into school."

by Anonymous reply 522 December 28, 2018

"he = his in first paragraph."

by Anonymous reply 523 December 28, 2018

"What difference does it make what his first name is, if his last name was Plant

Like being called Jordan instead of Jesse is gonna throw people off" by Anonymous reply 524 December 28, 2018

------------------------------------------------------

Don't know where one of the people commenting about Robert and Shirley got their info about the two supposedly breaking up years before Jordan/Jesse was born.

I'm sure Robert wasn't monogamous when he was with Shirley (or ever) so the presumably true part about Robert being with other women in the years leading up to their son's birth is entirely unsurprising.

If anyone's interested, there's stuff to read about a lot of other musicians of the 60s, 70s, & 80s.

Get comfy though. 600 reply thread.

Jimmy Page with Scarlet and James Patrick Page III at the exhibition launch for Scarlet Page’s ‘Resonators’ at The Royal Albert Hall, London on March 24, 2014.

[rebeleden]

Devil Music: A History of the Occult in Rock & Roll | by George A T Case | Cuepoint | Medium

CC SATANIC FOLLYWOOD

[macamadamia]

A Bet over a Game of Pool

https://archiveofourown.org/works/51611989

Ship: Soulless Sam Winchester/Sex Worker Dean Winchester

Rating: Explicit

Total Word Count: 1,759

When he went to Stanford he severed nearly all ties to his family and stopped being Sammy Winchester, brother and son, and became Samuel Wesson, Harvard graduate and junior law partner. His colleagues at the firm call him Soulless Sam behind his back. He’s come to this bar out in the boonies, slumming it and looking to blow off steam, and there’s only one man he’s interested in. Dean.

The bar is just the other side of seedy, and not the usual place Sam Wesson, youngest junior partner in the firm’s history and current star on the rise at Crowley Black and Adler, would usually choose to hang out.

The floor sticks to the soles of his loafers, and even though he’s dressed down for the night, the jeans and button up shirt he’s wearing cost more than most of the cars parked haphazardly in the badly lit lot outside.

He looks as out of place as he feels, but it’s the kind of place where you don’t pay too much attention to the people around you, so you don’t have any details to give the cops when they come asking questions.

It’s the kind of place Sam might have been at home in back before Stanford, before Harvard. Before he severed almost all ties with his past and stopped being John Winchester’s biggest disappointment, stopped being Sammy Winchester with the floppy hair and goodwill clothes, and became Samuel Wesson, top graduate in his class and most likely to end up a Justice of the Supreme Court.

In earshot, his colleagues call him the wunderkind and toast his successes, but he knows what they say about him behind his back and behind closed doors, and he knows what they actually think of him. He doesn’t spare it a thought though, he’s not out to make friends and there are worse things to be known as than Soulless Sam.

Sam weaves his way through a haze of alcohol fumes, low lighting, and the heavy thump-thump of swampy stomp music, heading towards the bar. A woman twice his age and then some stops him with a hand on his chest, long blood-red fingernails tapping to the beat of the music as she leans into his space with a smile and a husky-voiced proposition.

“You wanna go have some fun, dearie?” She’s probably aiming for seductive, but misses and hits predatory instead, pairing it with sharp eyes that sweep him from head to toe. 

Sam lifts her hand, placing it back by her side. “Not tonight, you don’t have what I’m looking for.”

Her eyes narrow for a second, then she laughs, deep and throaty. “You’ll be wanting our Dean, then, dearie. Play nice with him, he’s a good boy.” She nods towards the bar.

Towards Dean.

He’s angled towards him, sipping from a bottle and watching the crowd, and Sam takes a moment to drink in the sight from a distance.

Heavy boots and dark jeans, ripped at the knees and thigh. Ripped Led Zep t-shirt and a flannel tied around his waist, black tattoo curling up over the top of his t-shirt towards his neck and down his arm towards his hand.

When he clocks Sam watching, he lifts his bottle and toasts him from across the room.

Sam weaves through the crowd, pulled toward Dean like a compass needle to north.

He’s only a few years older than Sam and it was clear he’d been a pretty boy once upon a time, a decade and a half of hard living had left a toll on his features. There are lines on his face, a scar on his forehead, and no softness in the glint of his eyes or the hard set of mouth.

“You lookin’ for a good time, kid?” he drawls, leaning back against the bar on his elbows. Sam’s eyes are drawn to the bare strip of skin visible above the low-slung jeans as his t-shirt rides up.

“I’m always up for a good time, if I like the company.”

Dean places his empty bottle on the bar, signalling for the barman. “Buy me a beer, and we can have some fun.” He slides off the bar stool and winds his way through the middle of the dance floor, heading towards the pool tables in the back.

Sam pays the barman – cash only, on this little trip out to the boonies – and follows. His eyes on Dean, he feels a stir of anger as someone on the densely packed floor reaches out and grabs Dean’s wrist as he passes. Words are exchanged, too far away to be heard, but Dean’s laughter rings out and reaches his ears. He grinds up against the unknown dancer for a few seconds, while hands grope his ass and chest.

Another flurry of hushed words and money changes hands. He throws a wink over his shoulder as he leaves, beckoning Sam to follow.

Sam seeks out the handsy dancer on his way through the crowd but can’t make them out. It’s probably for the best, his desire to snap fingers and wrist bones is simmering beneath an oily film of jealousy.

When he finally reaches the pool tables, Dean his bent over racking the balls. He doesn’t even flinch when Sam presses against his ass, leaning over and bracketing him against the table, and licks a stripe up the side of his neck.

“I didn’t like that little performance, Dean.” He bites collarbone, hard. “I don’t want to see it again.”

“Jealous much, Sammy?”

Sam grabs a handful of Dean’s hair, pulling his head to one side in a painful grip. “It’s Sam. Don’t call me Sammy.”

Dean meets his look, an emotion flashing across his eyes that’s close enough to fear to cause Sam’s cock to stir, and nods. “Sure thing, Sam.”

Sam releases his grip and slaps Dean’s ass. “Let’s play some pool.”

Dean plays like a hustler, even when he’s playing against Sam who’s seen every trick in his book. The dollars they play for as so low that Sam barely considers them stakes, but he knows that Dean’s mind is calculating, counting every nickel and dime, and weighing it up against the cost of rent, and food, and fuel.

Sam also knows that the watch he wears, on its own, would pay a full year’s the rent on whatever shitbox apartment Dean’s living in. If he hasn’t gone back to living in his car, that is. He wouldn’t know, he doesn’t ask questions and he doesn’t care about the answer.

Dean is winning when he puts his watch on the table, and Sam thinks there’s something obscene about the five-figure watch lying on a pile of ones and fives, but Dean doesn’t seem to notice. He’s been hustling pool for as long as Sam can remember, not even the great John Winchester himself could beat Dean when he didn’t want to lose.

He’s still winning when he offers Sam offers double or nothing. He accepts, aware Dean has no way of meeting the bet.

Dean loses the very next game.

Sam takes his watch back, slips it back over his wrist, and pockets the notes and change. “You owe me just about $45,000.” He steps into Dean’s personal space. “Just how do you plan on paying me, Dean?”

His brother laughs, low and throaty. “How about I pay you back with goods and services.” He puts a hand on Sam’s cheek, drawing him into a deep kiss. Sam quickly takes control, chasing Dean’s mouth, a hand behind his head to hold him in place. It’s rough and violent, and they only break apart when Sam allows it.

“You might be a good whore, Dean, but you’re not forty-five grand worth of ass.”

Again, something shifts behind Dean’s eyes, and Sam savours it, before he covers it with a lascivious grin. “Call it an instalment plan.”

There’s a fire door leading to the alley behind the bar, and Dean shoulders his way through it without looking back, clearly confident that Sam will follow.

He does.

Dean is waiting for him on the other side and pulls him towards a darkened corner. Out here, the low thump-thump of the music from the bar rides on warm and muggy air. The alleyway stinks with the smell of garbage and piss, and other odours Sam doesn’t want to think about. 

He’ll have to send his shoes out to be cleaned when he gets home.

He drops to his knees, heedless of the dirt and filth on the ground, one hand grabbing at Sam’s belt and pulling him closer. Seeing Dean kneeling in front of him, green eyes looking up at him through his once-upon-a-time pretty boy lashes, his tongue flicking across his bow mouth, is enough to send Sam teetering towards the edge.

Dean’s hands are deft and expert on his belt buckle, the button and zip on his slacks, and Sam groans as he pulls his fully erect cock out. Dean licks a strip up the underside, his tongue lingering on the tip, teasing at the slit.

Sam leans forward, one hand against the wall, one hand digging into Dean’s hair. He gasps the words out, “No hands, Dean.” Dean obeys, hands behind his back, right wrist gripping the left.

They make eye contact and Dean offers him a wink before he takes his cock in his mouth. His tongue swirls before he swallows it down, his nose pressing against Sam’s pubic hair. His throat works for a few moments, and he never breaks eye contact as he slowly releases Sam’s cock until it pops out of his mouth, a string of saliva connecting them.

He mouths at Sam’s balls, taking each one in his mouth in turn while Sam’s cock drags against the flesh of his face, leaving a sticky trail of precum and saliva in its wake. Dean moves back to his cock, head bobbing as he draws it in and out of his mouth, drawing it deeper and deeper each time he comes up for breath.

Sam tangled a fist into Dean’s hair, and pushes his hips forward, taking control. Dean lets him set the pace. It’s rough and brutal, and leaves Dean struggling for air. 

He pulls out at the last moment, wrenching Dean’s head back and shooting strands of cum onto his face. It coats his eyelashes, the freckles across his face, his hair.

Dean is still kneeling on the ground, drawing in deep and shuddering breaths, while Sam pulls his slacks up, buttoning them and buckling his belt. He pulls a money clip out of his pocket and peels a twenty out. He drops it at the ground between Dean’s knees.

Dean snatches the $20 note up and stuffs it into his pocket, before pulling out a tissue and wiping his face. His voice is hoarse, but he manages to shout out “See you next time, Sammy!” as his brother leaves the alleyway.

[vmonteiro23a]

The Herculean LED ZEPPELIN Drummer JOHN BONHAM. 

The Herculean LED ZEPPELIN Drummer JOHN BONHAM.  Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham was one of the greatest rock drummers in history. Known to fans as “Bonzo”, his power and energy behind the kit were unmatched. Led Zep about their drummer on this short docu, and the 5 reasons why Led Zeppelin’s stick wielder was a relentless dynamo: 1. Powerful Playing 2. Unprecedented Bass Drum Work 3. Undeniable…

[olafsings]

Music History Today: May 12, 2023

May 12, 1973: Led Zeppelin started a three-week run at Number 1 on the US album chart with their fifth album, Houses Of The Holy. The LP follows the same basic pattern as Led Zeppelin IV, but the approach is looser and more relaxed. Jimmy Page's riffs rely on ringing, folky hooks as much as they do on thundering blues-rock, giving the album a lighter, more open atmosphere.

While the pseudo-reggae of "D'Yer Mak'er" and the affectionate James Brown send-up "The Crunge" suggest that the band was searching for material, they contribute to the album's musical diversity. "The Rain Song" is one of Zep's finest moments, featuring a soaring string arrangement and a gentle, aching melody.