Description
The idea for this project was Dan’s. He loved what I did with the Stones and the Doors and thought that Led Zeppelin would be a great next project. For myself, I had no familiarity with the catalog until Dan sent me their entire set of releases which I listened to only once for reference, after which we went after the reinventions.
Deconstructing and reconstructing the tunes in the manner of the CD’s All Wood and Stones and All Wood and Doors. This is the fourth recording in the series.
We sincerely hope you enjoy listening to this recording as much as we did creating it.
– James
Who Dunnit?
James Lee Stanley – Guitar & Vocals
Dan Navarro – Guitar & Vocals
Chad Watson – Bass
Washington “Smowdown” Tahr
– Drums & Percussion
cello by Phantom Airman
Tool Box
Guitars:
2001 Taylor 810 CE
1996 Martin D28H
1995 Collings D2H (Brasilian Rosewood / Adirondack Spruce)
1974 David Russell Young Dreadnaught
1941 Gibson J-50
1999 Martin Backpacker
1964 Guild Classical Mahogany
Ibanez Bass
Fender Jazz Bass
Various percussion thingies and drums
Plug-ins:
Universal Audio
Cockos
Sonic Foundry
Native
TC Electronics
Microphones:
AKG 414 EB ULS (Stephen Paul Mod) Beachwood
AKG 451 condenser
CS15E Cardiod Condenser
Octava MK 219
Espresso Machine:
Solis Crema SL90 / Switzerland
Recorded at Beachwood Recording using Reaper DAW with a Dayner mixing console from D&R of Holland – 48 input, floating subgroups, 8 sends
Track Notes:
- We wanted to start the recording really simply so that folks would know that this wasn’t going to be just covers of raucous rock and roll, but acoustic reinventions of the tunes. Love when the harmonies kick in. And Dan is singing great.
- This was the first one we did. Dan came over and we sat in the studio and put this together and then just recorded it into my phone. Then two years went by and I found the recording but didn’t know who it was at first.
- The ethereal stinging guitar in the background is actually the guitar from our session at Dan’s home which I recorded on my fon. We recorded each tune on the fon as we figured out what we were doing to it. Upon recording the tune, I missed the way that one guitar sounded, so I recorded it right off my phone and that made it even more other worldly. And then I wove it into the song here and there.
- Took the title from the notes that Dan made and couldn’t read his writing. Did the best I could with it and we sent it off to mfg. When we got it back we saw the error. So the first run has the typo, but subsequent runs will be correct. Our reggae ganja moment.
- Somehow in the studio, after I had done my lead vocal, Dan said, how about if I put an astenato underneath. So that’s Dan doing his best digeridoo, on the bottom, occasionally aided by a real cello.
- We decided right off that we were not going to do this one, but somewhere along the line we did, and I went crazy on the guitars. It might be my favorite cut. It seems to have it’s own atmosphere.
- The Willie Dixon tune re done as a samba. This was the first thing I ever heard by Led Zepplin. Didn’t ponder it for a second. Just started playing it as if it were written by Antonio Carolo Jobim.
- I remember when we were coming up with this arrangement, we just kept playing that guitar figure for hours and singing over it. Really a pocket full of gold. Romantic piece.
- Dan had written Hey Hey Luck on the top of the lyric sheet and that’s what I thought it was until he corrected me. Lots of harmonies, which I love doing.
- Loved the melody on this so much. Tried to invoke something that I hadn’t ever done on a vocal. And Dan and I did all the harmonies, on the whole CD of course, but something special happened here.
- Love the way Dan sings this. Great voice. I put that major guitar figure in the intro and then thought that it might be fun to change it to a minor figure on the tag. Love the drums too.
- I remember putting down that first guitar lick and really digging it, and then I remembered a really surprizing figure in a Michale Jackson hit and thought I would try something funky to go along with the Travis picking. We didn’t want to stop playing this puppy, it was such fun.
George W. Harris –
WAY DOWN INSIDE (THE CUMBERLAND GAP) … James Lee Stanley & Dan Navarro: All Wood and Led
Over the years, acoustic guitarist James Lee Stanley has released McCabes-styled acoustic tributes to Baby Boomer rock bands like The Rolling Stones and The Doors, all to rich success. He goes for the hat trick here, delving into heavy metal territory with the Led Zeppelin songbook with fellow guitarist/vocalist Dan Navarro along with Chad Watson/b, Washington Tahr/pec, and The Phantom Airman/cel.
The fun here is not only in the song selection but the attitude of essentially, “What if Led Zeppelin lived in Laurel Canyon instead of England?” The question is duly answered with a Jim Croce-mooded “Dazed and Confused” as well as a James Taylor mellow “Over The Hills and Far Away”. Watson gives a cool bass line under the Jimmy Buffet-styled read of “Whole Lotta Love”-what a HOOT!, while “D’jer Mak’er” is a bluegrass beauty. You’re gonna two step to the two step boogie of “ Good Times Bad Times” and sit on the back porch to the swampy “Ramble On”. I won’t spoil it for you, but just wait until you hear “Rock and Roll” and the bluesy “Stairway to Heaven”. They didn’t rip of Spirit for this one! Essential for Zep fans looking for something fresh, and for acoustic fans seeking inspiration.
Suzanne Cadgène –
James Lee Stanley has found another rock group to re-invent, and a new partner, Dan Navarro, to help. Stanley certainly has chops in many Americana areas, but one that he—and I as a listener—keep coming back to, is the reconstruction of definitive electric rock into memorable acoustic music. The Doors, the Stones and now Led Zeppelin, have all benefitted from his serious re-thinking.
It’s not like this hasn’t been done before: MTV’s Unplugged series has run for 32 years and counting, and Jose Feliciano had a mega-hit with the Doors’ “Light My Fire,” to name just two obvious examples. Here, Stanley and Navarro have delved deep into a deep catalogue and essentially changed the genre of one of rock’s biggest and more successful groups.
The duo made bold choices, including the oft-reviled “D’jer Mak’er” and the already-acoustic “The Battle of Evermore,” but rest assured the hits are there, too, including “Stairway to Heaven,” “Whole Lotta Love” and “Ramble On.” Neither Stanley nor Navarro has Robert Plant’s ethereal voice, but they make an effective tradeoff with earworm harmonies.
Fifteen years ago, Elmore Managing Editor Ali Green told me, “There are two kind of covers: ones that make a song new, and ones that make you wish you were hearing the original.” Dead on, Ali. Here’s an entire album of the best kind of covers.
Paul Holmicz –
British pop bands have been mining American blues and R&B since the late fifties. The music of black Americans served as the backbone of the style and repertoire for the Animals, the Rolling Stones, and scores of other groups.
Led Zeppelin took British blues based music and supercharged it. The amps were bigger, the drumming louder, and singer Robert Plant stretched his vocal range into the stratosphere to compete with the triple digit decibels. It was a winning formula, making Zep one of the most popular bands of the seventies.
Although the band harpooned themselves by appropriating music without crediting the original writers and musicians (Zeppelin and its members are one of the most sued bands for copyright infringement and have been forced repeatedly to give songwriting credit to others on later issues of their recordings.). Led Zeppelin could be one of the most creative bands of the era. They left dancers a kilter by slipping in two measures of 5/4 into the ballsy rocker “Black Dog.” And to this day, I can think of no other pop song as strange as “Kashmir.” The guitar and bass are in 3/4, while the drumming and singing are in 4/4. Mind remains blown even after all these years.
James Lee Stanley and Dan Navarro now give us All Wood and Led, a dozen renditions of Led Zeppelin tunes, the premise being, “What if Led Zeppelin had lived in Laurel Canyon instead of England?” In other words, Navarro and Stanley give a Byrds and Buffalo Springfield interpretation to the Zep crew. They replace the electric guitars with regular guitars and replace the drums with a cajon. Led Zeppelin unplugged.
Stanley has recorded other disks in which he interprets the songs of the Rolling Stones and Doors, and folks have reinterpreted the music of yesteryear for a long time. Rock and rollers have given Gershwin and Hoagie Carmichael a heavier beat, and young folks swooned when the Mamas and Papas or Donnie and Marie sang hits that had been popular in their parents’ day.
Reinterpreting old songs has become vogue in recent years. Scary Pockets, a truly remarkable musical project, funkify everyone from John Lennon to Coldplay. Post Modern Jukebox mixes everything up, performing swing, doo-wop, or Latin versions of old hits and sometimes very old hits. The PMJ folks can sometimes be a little cute or precious with what they do. I did not get that impression with All Wood and Led. It never seemed that Stanley and Navarro were ever calling attention to themselves or giving me the idea that they were thinking, “Aren’t we being clever?”
The interpretations are loose, and a lot of liberties are taken, harmonically as well as melodically. The steamrolling “Rock and Roll” is freed from its 12-bar blues base and given a pensive vibe. The lyrics wind up being less libido driven and become yearning, almost wistful. A hint of the original guitar riff is retained for “Whole Lotta Love,” helping to make this tune one of my favorites on the disk. Of course, Stanley and Navarro sing “Stairway to Heaven,” but I don’t know if I like it as much as when Brave Combo recorded the chestnut with Tiny Tim.
Veteran songsters, Stanley and Navarro sing well. The recording and engineering for this disk are exceptional.
Randy Rice –
Releasing a cover CD of well-known classics is risky business. It can be disastrous. (Just google William Shatner’s version of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds). And even when they are first-rate renditions like Hall and Oates cover of You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, you are still left asking “nice, but so what?” But in those rare instances when it is done right, it can peel away a layer, open a door, to reveal a new perspective that provides you with a fresh appreciation for an artist you were so sure you had completely understood.
Such is the case with All Wood and Led, a new release from Beachwood Records of Led Zeppelin songs arranged for, and performed on, acoustic guitar by James Lee Stanley and Dan Navarro.
When we think of Led Zeppelin, we tend to dwell on the searing vocals, virtuosic guitar solos and powerhouse rhythm section. But this CD reminds us that the band’s justifiable legendary status was built on a foundation of really, really, great songs.
No doubt James Lee and Dan, like us, had the original versions of these Led Zeppelin classics embedded in their psyches when they sat down to do this. Nonetheless, they were able to come up acoustic arrangements that are completely unique and innovative. Who would have thought that these hard driving, heavy metal standards would make such an appealing collection of acoustic coffeehouse treasures?
I’ve been a fan of James Lee ever since I first saw him perform in a small college setting years ago. In his songs, his humor and his onstage persona, he has always demonstrated the awesome power of the understatement. That power of the understatement is on full display, and is the driving force, behind this marvelous compilation. Navarro’s gritty vocals are a perfect compliment to James solid, soulful voice. Their acoustic guitar arrangements are deft and inspiring. And tasteful performances by Washington Tahr on drums/percussion and Chad Watson on bass help round off this formidable recording.
If you are like me, as each song winds down to an end, you will be looking at the next title wondering “what in the world are these guys going to do with this one?” And every time you will be surprised and delighted when you find out.
Randy Rice