Led Zeppelin & Elvis - Robert Plant Talks about Elvis Presley

By: Elvis Australia
Source: EP Music
January 28, 2008
Elvis Articles, Elvis Interviews, Video and Audio

Listen to an Interview with Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin who talks about meeting Elvis at his hotel after attending Elvis' concert at the Los Angeles Forum on May 11, 1974. During the concert, Elvis stopped a song and said: 'Wait a minute... If we can start together fellas, because we've got Led Zeppelin out there... let's try to look like we know what we're doing, whether we do or not'. This concert was recently released on the Elvis Live In L.A Book & CD set.

Elvis meeting one of rock's greatest guitar players, Eric Clapton

 

Jerry Schilling: That happened through my friend, Richard Cole, who was Led Zeppelin's road manager. After Zeppelin met Elvis, I became pretty good friends with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and Richard Cole. I hung out a lot with all of them. I hadn't seen Richard in a year or so, and he called me and said he was doing the 'I Shot The Sheriff' tour with Eric Clapton.

Richard said, 'We're doing this big show at the Mid-South Coliseum, and we're supposed to fly in and fly out, but Eric will come in the night before if he can meet Elvis'. I said, 'Richard, Elvis doesn't really meet many people'. I really felt bad because when I went to a Led Zeppelin concert I'd sit on the side of the stage with Peter Grant bringing me Dom Perignon champagne. I said, 'We go to movies quite a bit, so let me see if it's okay with Elvis if he comes to one of the movies'. I said to Elvis, 'You remember Richard Cole?' And he said, 'Crazy Richard'. I told him he was the tour manager for this tour and that Eric Clapton was this great guitar player. Is it okay if we go to the movies that I bring him by and introduce him?' He said, 'Yeah, that would be okay'. We were down at the Circle G Ranch in cowboy boots and cowboy hats driving our trucks. As we're going to the movie theater, I reminded Elvis that Eric Clapton was gonna be there. We drove up, and there's two limousines, and there's Elvis in a truck wearing a cowboy hat. He goes, 'Who in the fuck is Eric Clapton? Goddamn limousines! Why does he have to bring a fuckin' limousine to a movie theater?' I said, 'Oh my God, what am I gonna do?' Then, to top it, Elvis always sits in a certain place in the theater, and Eric's sitting there (laughs). It's like rubbing salt in the injury.
I made the introductions, and Eric was just his wonderful self, and he said everything right. Elvis liked him immediately. We stood and talked for about 15 minutes, and then it was time to start the movie. Elvis invited him and his wife, Pattie, to stay and watch the film. Then he went out to the bathroom, and someone would always go with him. When we go out there, he said, 'Hey, you know that Eric is a pretty nice guy' (laughs). I told Eric that story years later when Scotty Moore was being inducted at The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. I went up to him and introduced myself, and he said, 'I know you, Jerry. You introduced me to Elvis'. I said, 'Well, could I introduce you to Scotty Moore?' and he said, 'Where is he?' So I got to make that introduction.
 

 

 

The two most popular and successful live acts of the 1970s were Elvis Presley and Led Zeppelin, who played to capacity crowds night after night. Coincidentally, both were handled by Concerts West, one of the biggest tour promoters in America. In May 1974, the company offered complimentary tickets to Zeppelin for Elvis' gig at the LA Inglewood Forum, with the possibility of meeting him afterwards. The group were huge Elvis admirers and three members (Plant, Page and Bonham) gladly accepted along with their infamous manager, Peter Grant. Although not a big fan of hard rock, Elvis knew who Zeppelin were and was amused that his young step-brother, Ricky, was so excited to hear that they'd be in the audience. The 1970s Elvis was far removed from the rock 'n' roll rebel who had first inspired them, but the group enjoyed the concert and were thrilled at the thought of finally meeting their idol. Many years later, Zeppelin front man, Robert Plant, looked back on that night with great fondness and much good humour ... www.georgesmithpublications.com www.facebook.com/WalkALonelyStreet https://twitter.com/GeorgeSmithPub * There were no photographs taken of the meeting and no film exists of Elvis' LA gig, nor was it professionally recorded. The photographs, film and music in this video are all taken from other dates in 1974 to give an accurate impression of events. The short audio extract of Elvis mentioning Zeppelin on stage, however, is authentic and comes from a lo-fi source.