Customer Reviews

Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored

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Another beach read, I picked this one up because I had left the book I had planned to take at home, and pickings were slim on the island where we stayed. In retrospect, I feel pretty bad about lining Richard Cole's pockets, but at the time it seemed like an entertaining enough subject. Within a few pages I had it pegged for what it was; a cash grab by someone who had pissed away the fortune that they'd made in their glory days. While I'd recommend "Hammer Of The Gods" for those interested in the Zeppelin story, I'd have to say this one should be avoided.

I very quickly came to the conclusion, reading this book, that I didn't like Richard Cole at all. Nor did I like the members of Led Zeppelin, with the possible exception of John Paul Jones, for having the sense to stay clear of the rest of the band between gigs.

But this is an interesting book about what stardom can do to people. I'm not expressing any sympathy, here; the Roger Waters/Billy Corgan school of "life's awful for rich and famous rock stars" whining is beneath contempt, basically. If they have a problem with being rich and famous, they can cure beng rich with a five-minute phone call to any charity, while fame takes, oh, six months to cure. By "what stardom can do to people" I am talking about turning people who are initially no worse than most of us into brutalised, narcissistic morons, too drugged and too stupid to know how ugly they are becoming.

Cole's book is from the inside of that culture in every sense; he actually expects us to laugh along with the band and their hangers-on, when "losers" get beaten up, when people who aren't rich have their property smashed and Bonzo laughs at the promise to pay for the damage, making it clear that the payment won't happen.

The treatment of young women is one of the least of the band's appallingnesses; mostly groupies got more or less the experience they came for, and where there is informed consent there is no abuse. This goes even for Page's interest in underage girls and whips, usually the focus of most moral condemnation of this band; but Page emerges as a relatively gentle soul, and at least one of the girls as a rather stronger personality than him.

On the other hand, Cole expects us to share his amusement about kidnapping a group of underage girls and flying them interstate without their consent, or their parents' knowledge or consent, leaving them to find their own ways home. The point was to have a joke on Plant. Cole warned the girls not to talk to Plant, and then watched Plant fail to seduce the terrified girls, and wonder what had happened to his charms. (Plant didn't wonder long; in no time he'd concluded they were all lesbians.) What a laugh, Cole expects us to think: but this is creepy, skin-crawling stuff.

But it's still a compelling book. The waste of Led Zeppelin's astonishing talent was a tragedy. Sure, the talent that produced the first five albums, bits of _Physical Graffiti_ and most of _In Through the Out Door_ was not entirely wasted; that's a respectable body of work that is still exciting to hear 30-odd years later. But the potential that was thrown away in smack, booze and ego-driven excess is far greater than the achievements. Anyone who was wondering how come _Presence_ and much of _Physical Graffiti_ is so uninspired, and how come such a bountiful well ran dry so fast, need only read this book.

It is, of course, abysmally badly written, but that's part of its authenticity, if you like.

Cheers!

Laon

There is little reason for this book to exist except for Richard Cole to make money. Sure he was Led Zeppelin's trusty road manager for many years, but this is little justification for him to spend the next several decades rehashing the band's sordid past for his own gain. He did this previously by being the key contributor to Stephen Davis' inferior Zep biography "Hammer of the Gods." Cole should be grateful to Zep for employing him for so many years, and should value their friendship enough to let the past stay in the past. The surviving members of the band are now mature older men, and while they surely have fond memories of their glory days, they probably know it's time to lead respectable middle-aged lives. Why can't Cole do the same? The guy is pushing sixty. Should he still be going on and on about his wild days with his crazy pals three decades ago?

Yes, Zep was the wildest party band ever. Yes they consumed gigantic amounts of illicit substances. Yes they trashed hotel rooms. Yes they degraded women. Yawn. This is all common knowledge. The amount of time Zep was on tour was probably less than 25% of their overall working time as a band. The time they spent writing and recording their incredible music was much greater, and that's what matters now. Their music is timeless and is their true legacy, while their touring exploits are vaguely funny stories at best. Granted, Cole shows some empathy in his treatment of John Bonham's exploits, gaining some insight into the inner weaknesses that drove the drummer to an early grave. On the other hand, his treatment of John Paul Jones is sheer vindictiveness, trying to cut Jones' image as the levelheaded member of the band down to size. Cole's coverage of Page and Plant is merely elaboration on what is already known, purely for profit.

Do not buy this book. If you do, you're encouraging Cole to make more money by living in the distant past, using his fortunate connection with famous people for his own gain. In this book Cole has embarrassed himself by stabbing his old friends in the back for some easy money. He has embarrassed the reader by assuming that this sordid material is useful or funny to the faithful Zep fan. Worst of all, he has embarrassed Led Zeppelin. Fortunately, the music will remain long after this useless book is forgotten.

P.S. The use of Led Zeppelin's most famous and brilliant song for the title of this atrocious book is a travesty.

All you need to know about this book -> "Led Zeppelin did this gig, and holy-crap did they get STONED, they drank this much booze, did this much dope, oh-boy ... then they did this gig, Bonzo drank THIS much booze and did this crazy-crap: yeah, he showed 'em who's boss, heh-heh. Then they did this gig, and man-oh-man did they close down the bar after the show, Jimmy guzzled this much J.D. ".

Rife with total adolecent machismo; completely devoid of any real information worth trusting ... I'm sure half of the stuff is either completely made up, or embellished to hold the interest of your average adolescent yob while trying to look tough having one of his parents stolen cigarettes.

Guys, this band didn't happen by accident, there's 4 bloody genius' in the group! I'm sure there's a real interesting story there - extreme non-liquid refreshments aside - but I've yet to find anything that speaks to it, and my god, this book certainly ain't it!

What you must first know before reading this book is that it is written from a very limited perspective, something that the author himself, who practically considers himself the Led Zeppelin version of the fifth Beatle, rarely admits. Richard Cole knew Led Zeppelin for 12 years as their road manager. From the accounts of the book, he spent much more time observing/fostering their boyish antics than actually conversing with them intimately. The quotations he gives are highly dubious at best; many of them are second-hand hearsay. It is highly unlikely that he could remember much of what was actually said twenty-something years before the book was written since he spent most of the time with them either high or drunk. The dialogue has the flavor of trite situational comedy. On top of this, Richard Cole provides very (very) little insight into Led Zeppelin's music, or music at all, for that matter. Either he did not to care to talk with them about the thoughts and experiences behind their music, or he just thought one more anecdote about John Bonham throwing something out a hotel window or defecating on/in something was too juicy to pass up. One gets the impression that Bonham may have been the only member of Led Zeppelin to talk with Cole at length about anything. The others don't really seem to know that he existed as anything more than the guy who counted their money and was high or drunk all the time, even though he suspiciously plays a central role in all of his stories about them.
All of that said, if you'd like to read dozens of accounts of how Led Zeppelin lived a life as decadent as a Caligula or a Nero, then perhaps you could do no better than hearing from their number one parasite, who shared in all of their dinner tables, women, and alcohol, and in the end exaggerated his importance to the group in much the same way that a slave or a parasite from Roman Comedy does. Richard Cole helped Led Zeppelin out of many a tight jam, but his attempts to get behind their their music or their personnae, even John Bonham's (with whom he was closest) are a failure. In the end you know nothing more about the members of Led Zeppelin than these generalities: Plant (somewhat haughty, tempermental, and doesn't like going second with a fellatrix), Page (an insecure perfectionist fascinated with the occult), Jones (quiet, not indulgent in excess), Bonham (liked to vandalize things and offend people for no reason). None of this is a revelation.

The "insider" aspect is covered far better and more thoughtfully in other books on Zeppelin. Throughout the book, you get the feeling that Richard Cole is trying to elevate his status as an "insider" by telling every disgusting tidbit he can remember.

Yes, they were young men in their 20's whose hormones were flowing in overdrive. Yes, they had the means to do whatever they wanted to. Yes, like most of us, they did things in their 20's that were callous, reckless and unconscionable. Yet do we really want to hear about another orgy 2/3's of the way through the book?

The book falls into a boring repititve cycle. As a music fan, there are less than three pages devoted to any of their albums. Isn't that the main part about Zeppelin? The touring is an integral part of the story, but the music was the main part and anyone expecting to learn about that aspect of the Zeppelin mystique will be short-thrifted here.

If you enjoy the detaildness of Led Zeppelin's adventures, that's one thing. But if you can't put down sleazey writing for the life of you, this book is for you. Richard Cole did a good job of describing the band's escapades, but it wasn't really anything new to anyone who knows anything about Led Zeppelin. It was a typical description of a rock and roll band. But it highlights Robert as a pompous wild child, Pagey as a mysterious, stubborn, yet charming man, John Paul as composed and unwilling and Bonzo as a destructive maniac. It is what one would typically expect of each member, and I expected more.

I was happy to learn of the things I didn't know about the band members. I don't really give a hoot about Richard Cole. I was entertained during a part in the book when they were at a big star's birthday party, and Bonzo got into a brawl someone and they fell into the pool. Soon enough everyone was pushing everybody in the pool. I laughed out loud as it explained that Jimmy Page could not swim and with a drink in his hand wearing a $300 or $400 suit, he stepped into the pool himself.

At times I waited for the book to be over, and there were snippets of time when I actually became intrigued. I find it disappointing that such glorious musicians could be so unharmonious at times and that they could even be scum bags. But they ARE Led Zeppelin and you don't want to believe it. All in all, is was good, just because it was truly shocking to find out the truth about Karac's death and Robert's take on it along with some other well-known events. My biggest complaint is that John Paul is left out too much and I would say that a mere 3 or 4 pages can take up what was written about him.

I read a lot of bad reviews of this book, but it all comes down to this: Richard Cole WAS the "right hand man" for Zeppelin. If they needed drugs, girls, anything- they talked to him. I'm sure there are some exxagerations, but the bottom line is it is an entertaining book. He has every right to say "We" when talking about Zeppelin. If I talk about my company, I use "we". That's all he means. He takes no credit for any creative aspect of Zeppelin, and he shouldn't. But this guy was with Zeppelin for 650 shows, so how bad of job could he have done? I think you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. He loved Zeppelin.He has many kind words for each member in the band. He had a lot to be proud of.Jimmy may say its garbage, but Jimmy (nor Robert) has not been the most outspoken member to enlighten the fans either. Even if this book is 50% accurate, it is 50% more than anyone inside Zeppelin has ever written about. The remaining members may deny much of it, but there's not much to be proud about- other than the concerts and the music. I'm as big as fan of Zep as there is. I thought it was a great book. But who am I, or who is the guy from Arizona that slammed the book? Only Jimmy, Robert and John Paul can one-up this author... How many books have they written? Until then you decide. 11 bucks?? Worth every penny.

Most everyone trashes this book but I think it is a great read. I am a HUGE Zeppelin fan and have read and listened to nearly everything that I have gotten my hands on. It is really fun because it tells VERY sordid and explicit details of what happened from the perspective of Richard Cole. If you are looking for details of the live shows and studio happenings I would suggest "Heaven and Hell"...this book is about the parties and craziness that have become legend. Cole was at the epicenter of the madness, the stories are both funny and somewhat disheartning. Very detailed and lots of fun, you should have been there!

Some readers don't seem to understand that this is not a typical biography book on a music group written by some journalist, but a compilation of memories from someone very close to them: their tour manager. Whether this book is full of lies or not is something that can only be said by Page, Plant, Jones and Grant, but let's face it: Cole spent with the boys almost 24 hours of every day on the road for eleven years. One can think that he's actually talking about something he lived and saw and not something he heard from someone. Honestly, I can believe the 90% of the stories in this book because, after all, this is the story of four young musicians who suddenly become worldwide famous and have anything they need and want at their feet and don't always know how to handle the situation. It's the same old story in rock n' roll world.