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The Song Remains the Same (film)

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For the album, see The Song Remains the Same (album).
The Song Remains the Same
File:TheSongRemainstheSameDVDcover.jpg
Directed byPeter Clifton
Joe Massot
Produced byPeter Grant
StarringJohn Bonham
John Paul Jones
Jimmy Page
Robert Plant
CinematographyErnest Day
Edited byHumphrey Dixon
Music byLed Zeppelin
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release dates
October 20, 1976 (UK)
Running time
137 min.
LanguageEnglish

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 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.

Template:Spoiler

Since late 1969, Led Zeppelin had been planning on filming one of their live performances for a projected movie documenting the band. Peter Grant, Zeppelin's manager, believed that Led Zeppelin would be better served by the big screen than by television, because he regarded the sound quality of television 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 later featured on the 2003 release Led Zeppelin DVD). Another attempt was organised for the outdoor Bath Festival on June 28, 1970, but only a little footage was filmed, and 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:

  • Peter Grant and Richard 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 hitmen roles, having to deal with the tough business decisions they had to make on behalf of the band. Grant's berating of concert staff over pirated merchandise and the gate crasher scene was filmed backstage at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena on July 24. The black limousines and skyscraper scene was also recorded during their journey to the Civic Arena. At 7:15pm on July 29, 1973, it was noticed $203,000 in cash from ticket receipts, was missing from a safe deposit box at the Drake Hotel, New York. Scenes from a television press conference interviewing Grant on the missing cash was included. The money was never recovered and no-one was charged.
  • John Paul Jones was filmed first at home with his wife Maureen, 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. His fantasy sequence involved a reinterpretation of the film Doctor Syn, 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 is a reference to the other band members. Filmed in October 1973. Thematic music: "No Quarter".
  • Robert Plant 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, 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 Cardigan Bay near Aberystwyth, in October 1973. Thematic music: "The Song Remains the Same" and "The Rain Song".
  • Jimmy Page 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 concept being a man fighting his way to the top, only to be greeted by Father Time, a cinematic representation of the hermit on the untitled fourth album. Thematic music: "Dazed and Confused".
  • John Bonham with his wife Pat and son Jason Bonham on their country estate, The Old Hyde farm in Worcestershire. 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".

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 Autumn 1975 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.

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 (w/ '"Stairway to Heaven")

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 woman seen in close-up of during "Since I've Been Loving You" is Maureen Plant's younger sister.

Personnel

"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.

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