In the early/mid-‘90s, the tribute band concept was starting to solidify. Tribute bands were popping up all over the place and packing in clubs all over the US. With varying degrees of success (and talent), the tribute band phenomenon was about to sweep the nation.
We had Battery, one of the first (if not the first) Metallica tribute bands. We had the Back Doors with their uncanny and impressive tribute to The Doors. We had Strutter, the “PREMIER KISS TRIBUTE BAND.” But then there was one that stood supreme, high, and mighty above them all.
Do you remember Dread Zeppelin? No, not Led Zeppelin. I said it right the first time. Formed in 1989 in California, Dread Zeppelin did something nobody else did then, which would later be called a “mashup.” Dread Zeppelin was a band that took the music of Led Zeppelin and Elvis Presley, threw it in a blender, tossed in a couple of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh albums, and then turned that fucker on high. Then, you have it presented to an audience by a 300-pound Elvis Presley impersonator named Tortelvis, and voila. Dread Zeppelin.
Dread Zeppelin would go on to tour the world, earning themselves a rabid fan base a three record deal with IRS Records. Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant recognized the genius of it all.
“My favorite band right now is Dread Zeppelin. They’ve got two singers. One sings after the reggae style, and the other guy thinks he’s Elvis. I think it’s fantastic.” With an endorsement like that, who wouldn’t deserve to have a movie made about them?
The music satire/parody website Chibson USA announced that on December 21, it will be premiering the documentary you never knew you needed until now: Dread Zeppelin: A Song of Hope on their official YouTube channel.
PREMIER LINK: https://tinyurl.com/34vb3jry
Chibson USA had this to say about the film:
Dread Zeppelin: A Song of Hope captures the band’s extraordinary story using hours of unreleased archival show footage, personal tape recordings, and hundreds of unpublished photographs. It also delves into the band’s history, personnel changes, and Tortelvis’s complex relationship with fame and fortune.
Featuring exclusive never-before-seen footage, the film includes cameos and special appearances from Kyra Phillips and is narrated by Michael Starr from Steel Panther.
Directed by Sharif Nakhleh and produced by Jason USA, the film will be released for free on YouTube due to the complexities of music rights, despite interest from major distributors.
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