INTERVIEW WITH RON NEVISON - (PHYSICAL GRAFFITI RECORDING ENGINEER) 

00:00 Introducing Ron Nevison 00:46 Musical background & Philadelphia 05:30 Road life to studio life in the late '60s 08:00 *1969* Move to London ( _Basing_ _Street_ _Studios_ ) 10:24 Live recording & live sound mixing trending in studios 11:33 _LMS_ / Air Stream mobile studio 12:54 _Quadrophenia_ album project (Tommy/Jimmy) 14:35 London, Battersea _Ramport_ studios 16:13 Recording Bonham for _Physical_ _Graffiti_ 17:16 *1974* _Led_ _Zeppelin_ _Headley_ _Grange_ sessions 20:24 _Bad_ _Company_ 1974 1st album recorded at _Headley_ _Grange_ (Nov. 1973) 21:21 _Physical_ _Graffiti_ - recording 8-9 songs 22:51 _Led_ _Zeppelin_ studio approach & preparation 23:20 Bonham using a _Ludwig_ drum kit in studio 25:00 Playbacks in _Led_ _Zeppelin_ studio process 26:03 _Led_ _Zeppelin_ live recording in studio 27:25 Stereo paired _Neumann_ U87 FET to record Bonham 30:00 "Bonham played the riff." 32:16 Bonham listening to playbacks 34:26 Richard Cole visited while _Led_ _Zeppelin_ recorded 35:00 _Headley_ _Grange - _Led_ _Zeppelin_ Swan Song in the works 36:47 _Physical_ _Graffiti_ epics: "In the Light & Kashmir" 37:53 _Eventide_ phaser applied on the Kashmir right drum track 42:16 No Bonham drum muffling 42:45 Keith Moon recording to a click 45:35 Bonham wearing headphones in studio 46:03 _Stargroves_ studio (drum kit photos) 48:00 _LMS_ / Air Stream mobile studio still in use 49:42 *1975* Moving to Los Angeles 51:41 Pete Buckland connections (working on the road for the _Faces_ & Diana Krall) 54:53 Ron Nevison work on _Physical_ _Graffiti_ ends for work on _Tommy_ w/ _The_ _Who_ 56:44 Conclusion & book to be published 58:37 Outro & thanks

This feller is absolutely my biggest influence when it comes to recording drums. By FAR. IMHO, he did the best job recording Bonham of all the guys that worked with Zep. The most real sounding drum sounds of all time. Sure, Andy Johns made that cool effected Levee Breaks thing, but I'm talking just PURE drum sound. Those tracks he did on Graffiti are the best engineered rock drums around....still sound fresh today. He's also a swell guy. I sent him a message a couple of years about what mics he used for a certain British folkie (that wasn't Zep related....maybe Bert Jansch) and he wrote me back within minutes to answer my question and gave me some extra info that I didn't even ask for but was happy to learn. Pretty swell of him to do that. George, great job. You're an excellent interviewer. This is the best Nevison interview I've seen. Thanks man!

AMAIZING , george get a copy of his takes he has , we can hear those takes unmixed Holy Grail for us Bonhamites .

WHAT AN ALBUM! "In the Light" and "In My Time of Dying" have pulled me out of the pit so many times---

Was always curious about the alternate take of In the Light. Really liked the creepy keyboard.

Major coup, George, thank you! The first time I ever saw Nevison's name was on the credits of Physical Graffiti when I bought it in 1975. EDIT: I saw a Mad Dog & Englishmen concert in March or April 1970, recall the two drumsets and Leon Russell leading the band.

You should contact Eddie Kramer for an interview. He’s a super nice guy and guarantee he would agree to it. It would be amazing to see you not only interviewing him but talking shop since you are such an unusually brilliant drummer & musician.

Great interview. Probably one of the most important topics discussed was the fact that Bonham played the riff. In addition to his comment regarding "complicated stuff ". Sets them apart from everyone else which is why we are still talking about them decades later.

Thanks Ron and George for such an interesting discussion of the evolution of music engineering. Great backstory!

Wow awesome interview George. Ron Nevison is a awesome producer / engineer with his experience he could write many books and has jokes the only person to quit Led Zeppelin 😂. Cool to learn the song was titled Driving to Kashmir anyway good job George. Hey to Terry✌

Wow, what a catch for you George! Great stuff especially when you think back to how crap (often non-existent) stage PA/monitor provision was (and front-of-house too) and here was Ron, right there at the start of it. Early-mid '60s you had your backline and that was it - ask the Beatles! No wonder bands couldn't hear themselves above the screaming crowds.🙂 Ronnie's mobile studio was famous along with the Rolling Stones' for recording albums and live gigs in the '70s - from what I've heard Mick Jagger was a tightwad, so charged too much. And Jimmy Page, being an equal tightwad went with Ronnie (i.e. cheaper)

His stories about Physical Graffiti were amazing. Phenomenal interview!

Great interview, George! I wish he could have recalled the drum kit at Headly Grange!😩

Thanks for sharing your talents and what a wonderful experience that the both of you have but I know this that uguys have OPENED UP OUR MINDS AND EARS AND SOULS!!! YOU SURE HAVE A HECK OF WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE!!!

Great video George ! Love that music room as a back drop.

Good interview Geo! If only these folks had an inkling how important, what was to them quite oridinary and trivial, these details are to us maybe they would have been more cognizant to record them for posterity's sake... But then again, maybe if they were too distracted with those details they wouldn't have captured that elusive 'lightning in a jar.'

Ron is a legend! Great interview!

That was an incredible interview George. You ask all the right questions. Eventually we will find some lost Bonham footage if we look hard enough. We will also fine some undiscovered Bonham pics. We have to be relentless. They have to be out there in someones attic. You are the guy that will find it.

Thanks for sharing this interview, George!

Enjoyed listening to you play three different sets today. I can tell a difference in them but I wouldn’t really say I could pick a favorite. I know they all sound amazing with you playing them. This evening I enjoyed the interview. Thanks so much for sharing your talent !! Best, Brian

Man, this was an amazing interview. Your research and knowledge of the the situations and the personalities at the time contribute to the intricacy of the interview, and bringing out information that wasn't previously known.

More like this please. Thank you! 😉

Thanks again 👍

Amazing interview, and great job Sir.. when you asked him about the kit the first time and he said "I dont remember" I can imagine everyone watching this video cried out NO, damnitman, like when a football team on TV fumbles or misses a touchdown. I know I did.. lol. It blows me away that certain things he remembered but not that. It almost felt like he was sworn to secrecy. Maybe not but how can you not remember the color of the kit.. lmao.. Great interview anyway and great job in trying to spark his memory. Unfortunately we may never know 😕.. God bless brother.

Thank you George!

Cool interview, George, with one of the guys that was there helping get the music made! What a résumé Ron has, amazing. Unfortunately controversial in the Zep camp with him leaving and the liner notes for The Rover on PG reading "Guitar lost courtesy of Nevison. Salvaged by the grace of Harwood.” Ouch! He says he wasn't even around when that song happened though. Made sense that he had a prior commitment with The Who, he had to go. I wonder if this was the period of time when Jonesey wasn't there for awhile due to the rumor of him thinking about leaving the band? Also, amazing to hear just two room mics on his Bonham's whole kit. Bonzo totally mixed himself! I know it was 50+ years ago and it probably wasn't a big deal to Ron, however, thanks for asking what kit was used in the recording. Bummer he couldn't remember if it was the green sparkle or something else. The great mystery continues! Hopefully, you can get more interviews with some of these guys, in addition to your drumming videos. Who knows, maybe the Holy Grail of the rest of the Zep boys and Jason! ✌️❤️🥁

That was amazing! Thanks for the new rabbit hole, George!

OH HELL YES!!!! WoW!!!! Thank You George & Ron!

Thanks Ron and George for doing this. Interview and posting it. I found it fascinating.

was hoping to hear his take on the "guitar lost courtesy of Nevison..." liner note

👏👏 thanks for working so hard to get this out to us George

wow unreal info..Thank you so much G

This is truly priceless George. Just to clarify (being a non native I'm not sure I got it right), what we hear from Bonzo in Physical Graffiti was recorded by just two mics? Such a great interview - looking forward to the next ones!

Dude, great interview

Absolutely great interview! Thanks George and (of course) Ron. It’s a pleasure to hear such insightful stories of an incredible musical career.

What a scoop! Thank you George.

Nice job with the interview!

Excellent interview George. Great job. Much appreciated!

Wonderful ! Thanks

Excellent interview!

Awesome!

Excellent content

Brilliant! More interviews please!

Yes George! This is amazing. Next interview........Jimmy page? 😁😉

Thank you for this interview George! Your interview style was great. I look forward to any future interviews you may conduct! My favorite part: Ron's take on Bonzo self-mixing. Reminds me of stories about the jazz greats of yore, sounding so balanced with minimal mic'ing.

Great interview

Excellent interview!!. Lots of insights into the era and all the relationships. ❤👍🏼👍🏼

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD

nice one George

U87 FETs !!!!!

Ron mentions the band running through "Elvis type stuff". Do you think this would include the supposed Chicago 73 soundcheck (which oddly has them practicing tracks from PG)? I've always thought that recording was done much later.

I actually met Charlie a couple of times in the 90's. We never became close friends. Our personalities just didn't mix well.

Is it Ron's voice saying "I'm trying to get this airplane off" at the beginning of Black Country Woman?

Did Bonham wear shoes when he played? And if he did what type of shoes did he wear? I’ve always wondered lmao. Great vid btw🤘

The Rover to me sounds close miked, pretty sure that was tracked at Stargroves.

£15 a week works out as £316 in today's money🙂