Conversations With Rock Stars

Plumpton Place

August 12th, 1973

After finishing two more articles for the magazine, I flew to England to aid in the dream filming for the band. Joe Massot was working on the shooting for the film "The Song Remains The Same." Each member of the band was to have their own fantasy sequence in the movie. I arrived in the late afternoon at Plumpton Place and knocked on the door. Jimmy answered, looked me up and down, and pulled me inside. He had on his white velvet spacey button up shirt and jeans again. He led me to the main living area, where Joe Massot was sitting, fiddling with part of the camera. Joe finished and said, "Jimmy wants to have himself filmed playing, recording, listening, playing back, overdubbing, double-tracking, and finessing the tracks."

"Yeah, I wanted that, but I also have a hurdy gurdy that I want to have playing and filmed as well." Jimmy said, with his hands in his pockets.

"That sounds great. Let's do that first," Joe said optimistically. "Any idea where you want that filmed?" Jimmy took a breath and said,

"Outside." Joe nodded and Jimmy disappeared to retrieve his hurdy gurdy. I joined Joe outside and looked around. Plumpton Place was cozy and a ways off the beaten path. There was a lake to my right with swans and forest surrounding the other side and back of the house. It was fairly warm today and I had on jeans and a t-shirt. Jimmy came out with his hurdy gurdy and a rug rolled under one arm. I went to help him get everything set up how he wanted. I unfurled the rug and Jimmy patted the spot next to him. "Let me show you how it works." He began turning the crank on the right side and out poured the whirring song. Joe came over and Jimmy explained what he wanted. I got up and stood by a clump of trees and observed the proceedings. After two takes, I wandered over to the lake and sat down, half hidden by the tall grasses to watch the swans. The drone of the hurdy gurdy floated up and rested on the warm August air.

Around 5:30 we ended up back inside for Jimmy's main event of editing the tracks. Joe went to the truck to get more film. I followed Jimmy to his studio in the back, which was filled with recording equipment. "You can't be in the shots," he said. He looked around, then pointed. "Sit there." I obeyed and sat quietly in the corner, leaning down and resting my chin on my hand. Joe appeared, armed with his camera and more film. He started filming Jimmy overdub a track he had been messing around with. Jimmy had on his guitar and was sitting picking out notes. The camera stopped rolling and Joe said,

"That was great."

During a slight lull in the filming, I went down to grab my camera, really not wanting to miss this opportunity for pictures. I quietly came back and Jimmy glanced up from the sound booth, where he was adjusting the tone. I waited outside the door until Joe stopped filming.

"Bev, I see you got your camera. Are you dying to take pictures of me?" Jimmy asked, not looking at me, but with raised eyebrows. Joe turned to me and I said quickly,

"I don't want to interrupt this. I know you have your job to do." He sighed and said,

"I could actually use a break," with a glance at Jimmy, who nodded. Joe smiled and left the room. I got my camera set up and proceeded to take pictures. Jimmy finished his work at the sound booth, then got his guitar on again, to add a bit more texture to the song. After this, he listened to the tapes again, rewinding them over and over. He was extremely thoughtful and detailed as he went about his work. I rested my camera on top of the sound booth and watched him for a minute.

"Sorry I didn't get to meet your friend," he said suddenly.

"It's alright, you guys were pretty busy," I replied.

"You said you met him two and a half years ago?" He asked, turning around to fit on another reel.

"Yeah. During the winter of '71, when I came over to write about Leds' fourth album." He nodded, finally turning around.