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Monschau, Germany (by Robin van Holst)

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Here we have the magical Mr James Patrick Page

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Florence - Italy (by Heidi Kaden)

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Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany (by lewek Gnos)

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Led Zeppelin performing in San Diego, 23 June 1972. | Photos taken by Laurance Ratner

Did you ever meet the band?

Many times. Beginning in ’73, at the beginning of that tour and again later on in the tour. Along the way, you develop relationships with others that are hanging out with the band. The whole scene was, for lack of a better word, competitive. Everybody wanted their ‘moment’. For instance, with some ladies that I was friends with, ‘that moment’ came, where a band member, maybe Robert, would put his arm around the girl and say “See you later, mate!” My best calling card was having a stack of great photos to share.

How did you keep managing to get such great access over the years?

Sometimes it was a temporary relationship of sorts, for example one that I had with Peter Grant (the band’s manager). He actually gave me total access to one show in ’73, to be on the stage while they were playing, as long as I didn’t get in the way. Even though earlier in the year, and he had forgotten, that I was the one who, in front of 50,000 people, walked out in front of Bonzo during the drum solo. At the beginning of the ’75 tour, I left no stone unturned. I made sure that the Tour Manager allowed me to supply them with 25 cases of Dom Perignon champagne, much of it delivered to their private jet. I brought an attractive lady around to meet Robert and he and Bonzo spent much time looking through my photos. To totally cover myself, I even made sure that through the Chicago Stadium, I garnered first row-dead center tickets for all three shows.

Is Zeppelin your favorite band? What’s your favorite album, today?

Of course! Which album? I would have to say the live ‘How the West Was Won’ set. The studio stuff was always done to the greatest level of perfection possible and they always took a long time in doing that. But, they were certainly an amazing live band, and the live shows were very different. Besides being such an incredibly synergistic unit live, they were different every night. You could have three nights in a row, even with the same set list, and they wouldn’t be even closely similar, as opposed to many other bands. They just felt their way through, and sometimes some absolutely magnificent things happened. Those ’72 California shows were stellar.

Interview with Laurance Ratner, by Matthew Wilkening, Ultimate Classic Rock, 21 September 2011 | Full interview here

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Hb Mertz

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FINAL DESTINATION 2 (2003) dir. David R. Ellis

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Epic - Author: Spicy-Mango882

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Autumn in Austria - Adlerweg, Tirol, Austria, October 2022

photo by: nature-hiking

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A train ride in Kyoto