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The Starship
104/365. 28/12/08.
The Starship was a Boeing 720 passenger jet owned by Bobby Sherman who then leased it out to various touring bands.
From Wikipedia:
"Led Zeppelin used the plane for their 1973 and 1975 North American concert tours. During the 1972 tour and in the early part of the 1973 tour the band had hired a small private Falcon Jet to transport its members from city to city, but these aircraft are comparatively light and susceptible to air turbulence. After performing a show at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco in 1973 Led Zeppelin encountered bad turbulence on a flight back to Los Angeles. As a result, the band's manager Peter Grant resolved to hire The Starship for the remainder of the tour, at a cost of $30,000.
The plane was the same type as used by commercial airlines, but its owners allowed it to be specifically modified to suit the whim of their clients. Sherman and Sylvester invested $200,000 to reduce its seating capacity to forty and to install into the main cabin a bar, seats and tables, revolving armchairs, a 30 foot long couch (running along the right hand side of the plane, opposite the bar), a television set and a video cassette player, complete with a well-stocked video library. An electronic organ was built into the bar, and at the rear of the craft were two back rooms, one with a low couch and pillows on the floor, and the other, a bedroom, complete with a white fur bedspread and shower room. The exterior of the plane was re-sprayed with Led Zeppelin emblazoned down the side of the fuselage and the band's famous Swan Song Apollo logo was painted on the tail.
Flying on The Starship, Led Zeppelin were no longer required to change hotels so often. They could base themselves in large cities such as Chicago, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles and travel to and from concerts within flying distance. After each show, the band members would be transported direct by limousine from the concert venue to the airport, as depicted in the Led Zeppelin concert film, The Song Remains the Same. The Starship was again used throughout Led Zeppelin's 1975 US concert tour, this time featuring a different red and blue paint scheme with white stars similar to the United States flag, and with a smaller "Led Zeppelin" logo on the fuselage. According to Peter Grant, at one point during this tour Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham sat in the co-pilot's seat and flew the plane all the way from New York to Los Angeles." He didn't have a licence though.
They'd certainly come a long way from the first tour in 1969 when they travelled economy class or, even worse, crammed into one car with their gear in a 3-ton van.
To listen to, here is Jimmy's fantasy sequence from The Song Remains The Same film, set to his violin bow solo during Dazed and Confused.
The Starship
104/365. 28/12/08.
The Starship was a Boeing 720 passenger jet owned by Bobby Sherman who then leased it out to various touring bands.
From Wikipedia:
"Led Zeppelin used the plane for their 1973 and 1975 North American concert tours. During the 1972 tour and in the early part of the 1973 tour the band had hired a small private Falcon Jet to transport its members from city to city, but these aircraft are comparatively light and susceptible to air turbulence. After performing a show at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco in 1973 Led Zeppelin encountered bad turbulence on a flight back to Los Angeles. As a result, the band's manager Peter Grant resolved to hire The Starship for the remainder of the tour, at a cost of $30,000.
The plane was the same type as used by commercial airlines, but its owners allowed it to be specifically modified to suit the whim of their clients. Sherman and Sylvester invested $200,000 to reduce its seating capacity to forty and to install into the main cabin a bar, seats and tables, revolving armchairs, a 30 foot long couch (running along the right hand side of the plane, opposite the bar), a television set and a video cassette player, complete with a well-stocked video library. An electronic organ was built into the bar, and at the rear of the craft were two back rooms, one with a low couch and pillows on the floor, and the other, a bedroom, complete with a white fur bedspread and shower room. The exterior of the plane was re-sprayed with Led Zeppelin emblazoned down the side of the fuselage and the band's famous Swan Song Apollo logo was painted on the tail.
Flying on The Starship, Led Zeppelin were no longer required to change hotels so often. They could base themselves in large cities such as Chicago, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles and travel to and from concerts within flying distance. After each show, the band members would be transported direct by limousine from the concert venue to the airport, as depicted in the Led Zeppelin concert film, The Song Remains the Same. The Starship was again used throughout Led Zeppelin's 1975 US concert tour, this time featuring a different red and blue paint scheme with white stars similar to the United States flag, and with a smaller "Led Zeppelin" logo on the fuselage. According to Peter Grant, at one point during this tour Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham sat in the co-pilot's seat and flew the plane all the way from New York to Los Angeles." He didn't have a licence though.
They'd certainly come a long way from the first tour in 1969 when they travelled economy class or, even worse, crammed into one car with their gear in a 3-ton van.
To listen to, here is Jimmy's fantasy sequence from The Song Remains The Same film, set to his violin bow solo during Dazed and Confused.