Reggae Versions of Led Zeppelin Tunes Fill Fans With Dread

Every band has a gimmick. The Beatles had mop cuts. The Rolling Stones had lips.

Dread Zeppelin has a burger-loving Elvis impersonator who sings nothing but reggae versions of Led Zeppelin songs.

“People are sort of shocked when they see us,” Dread guitarist Jah Paul Jo said recently. “I like watching the stupefied looks on people’s faces.”

“They get so enthralled,” percussionist Ed Zeppelin said. “It’s like hysteria.”

Besides Zeppelin, Jo and lead singer Tortelvis (who describes himself as a milkman by day and a lounge singer at night), Dread Zeppelin, which appears tomorrow night at the Palomino in North Hollywood, features a drummer named Cheese (recently changed to Fresh Cheese), Carl Jah on guitar, Put-Mon on bass, and water and towel man Charlie Hodge (“Once in a while he sings backup,” Tortelvis said, “but really all he does is hand me my water and my scarfs”).

This month, the band released its second single, “Whole Lotta Love,” on Birdcage Records. The band’s first single included Zeppelin’s “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do?” and “Immigrant Song.” Currently, the group is working on an album, tentatively titled “Dread Zeppelin 1,” which they hope to release this spring.

But while the group’s future is relatively easy to figure, its past isn’t. Try asking group members about their professional lives before Dread Zeppelin and you get answers like, “This band has no past bands. Jah Paul Jo was born to be in Dread Zeppelin.”

That Jah Paul Jo resembles Joe Ramsey, the group’s publicity man (and self-described “major domo” of Birdcage Records) is purely coincidence, according to both Ramsey and Jo.

Even the simple question, “How did the band first get together?” is difficult for the members to agree on.

Jah Paul Jo: “Well, Tortelvis had been doing these lounge shows--sort of an Elvis-meets-Tony Bennett act. And since we’re all from Memphis--no, actually none of us are from Memphis--but we all love Led Zeppelin. Anyway, we just started talking about doing this Led Zeppelin meets Bob Marley thing and somehow Elvis got in it too.”

Ed Zeppelin: “I was in a Mervyn’s Department Store looking for the reggae section, and I ran into Tortelvis instead. . . . That’s the way it was. Of course every time Tortelvis tells the story he changes it to Sears . . . or Woolworth’s. It depends on how many hamburgers he’s had . . . or is it Eskimo Pies? Anyway, it’s a sugar thing.”

Tortelvis: “I am the legitimate son of Elvis and he was into this Led Zeppelin-Robert Plant thing. So before he went into hiding he told me to do Zeppelin songs the way they’re supposed to be done--reggae style.”

Between the schtick , you find out that when the group first got together earlier this year, they didn’t expect to make a career of Dread Zeppelin.

“We were thinking we’d just play parties and things like that for fun,” Jo said. “We even decided to use little tiny Fender amps--that way if someone spills beer, hey, no harm. But somehow we ended up playing the Club Lingerie, and we packed them in on a Tuesday at midnight.”

Now the group hopes to last long enough to re-record every Zeppelin album in the order each came out. Dread’s first album, however, will combine material from the first two Led Zeppelin albums. “The first album has so much blues on it that I think the songs would all start sounding the same,” Jo said. “No one would get the joke.”

So far, major labels have failed to be amused by Dread Zeppelin, although several large independent labels are interested in distributing the upcoming album. “I think the nature of the act is so strange that the majors shy away,” Jo said.

Also, critics have accused Dread Zeppelin of being a one-joke band. “I don’t think people would pay money to buy our records and see our shows if we were only a one-joke band,” Jo said. “I don’t think we’re any more of a novelty than Motley Crue.”

Dread Zeppelin headlines tomorrow night at The Palomino, 6907 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Apache Dancers and Root Doctor are also on the bill. Show begins at 9 p.m. Admission $8.50. Call (818) 764-4010 for more information.