Showing posts with label Immigrant Song. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immigrant Song. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

On This Day 23 September

JIMMY PAGE - the new boy of the group.
1966 23 September On This DayYardbirds at Royal Albert Hall

  • 1966 Yardbirds - City of Westminster, London, England at Royal Albert Hall
  • 1971 Led Zeppelin - Tokyo, Japan at Budokan Hall (day 1 of 2)
  • 1988 Jimmy Page/Outrider - Dallas, Texas at Starplex Amphitheatre
  • 1995 Page & Plant - Mexico City, Mexico at City El Palacio de Los Deportes Arena (day 1 of 2)
  • 1998 Page & Plant - Las Vegas, Nevada at MGM Grand Garden Arena 

1966 Yardbirds at Royal Albert Hall

1966 Yardbirds promo photo
1971:
The Japanese idolized Led Zeppelin and seemed to be a refreshing change from the loud and disruptive US audiences the band had been experiencing. Robert Plant was probably pretty sick and tired of having to ask the crowds to quiet down, to stop throwing firecrackers and other objects, and to back away from the stage so people wouldn't get crushed. Not that Japanese audiences didn't want a piece of the boys - the band had to stop during Communication Breakdown because fans were crawling onto the stage.
1971 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin - Tokyo, Japan at Budokan Hall (day 1 of 2)

1971 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin - Tokyo, Japan at Budokan Hall (day 1 of 2)

1998 Page & Plant - Las Vegas, Nevada at MGM Grand Garden Arena

2012 Jimmy Page Artwork for Anthony Nolan 2013 charity auction


2012:
Anthony Nolan is a charity dedicated to saving the lives of people with blood cancer and blood disorders. The organization maintains a registry to match individuals willing to donate their blood stem cells or bone marrow to people with blood cancer and blood disorders who need transplants. In February 2013 Anthony Nolan held the "Bone Idol" auction of celebrities' drawings of bones on eBay to raise funds. Jimmy Page's drawing is in black ink on a blank postcard. It was autographed and dated on the front and came with a note from Jimmy Page's accountant. It sold for £205.00 ($315 today in US dollars).

♪


♪  Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin, Tokyo 23 September 1971) YouTube
♪  Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin, Tokyo 23 September 1971) YouTube
♪  8mm footage of Led Zeppelin, Tokyo 23 September 1971) YouTube
♪  Heartbreaker (Page & Plant, Mexico City, 23 September 1995) YouTube
♪  Heartbreaker (Page & Plant, Las Vegas 1998) YouTube


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Sunday, September 13, 2015

On This Day 13 September

What's in a name?
~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
1971 13 September On This Day Led Zeppelin at Berkeley Community Theater
  • 1968 Led Zeppelin - Stockholm, Sweden at Inside Club
  • 1971 Led Zeppelin - Berkeley, CA at Berkeley Community Theatre

1968 Led Zeppelin at Inside Club, Stockholm (as Yardbirds - not even "new")
1968:
   “It has been up and down for the Yardbirds. A couple of years ago, they were on top. For a while, a lot of people thought that the Yardbirds would lead the developing English pop but their efforts led nowhere.
   The members changed and the Yardbirds currently touring Sweden have very little in common with the original line-up. It is not only the line-up that has changed. The style of music is different, as is the quality - only the name is the same.
   Friday night they played the Inside. They were so loud it almost hurt. Sometimes playing loud has an important role in pop, but here it was just superficial effect”.
~ Stockholm Daily News Press Review:  9.14.1968 (transcription:LZ The Press Reports, 1997)
The question is, would the review have been the same if the band billed as Yardbirds was already known by their proper name, Led Zeppelin, or even The New Yardbirds? Would the volume have been the only thing the reviewer managed to comment on?

1971:
"...loud, boisterous and very deafening..."  (Oakland Tribune)  Perhaps the problem was that Led Zeppelin was always meant to play humongous venues - to play to the world, not to a small crowd in a high school theater. Perhaps Berkeley was too cool for Led Zeppelin, too much in love with what they considered their own house band, the Grateful Dead. Whatever the reason, today it seems incredible that the audience was so unresponsive.

1971 Led Zeppelin, Berkeley (G Smith photo)

1971 Review of Led Zeppelin's Berkeley show

♪

♪  Immigrant Song  (Led Zeppelin, Berkeley 13 September 1971) YouTube
♪  Dazed and Confused  (Led Zeppelin, Berkeley 13 September 1971) YouTube
♪  Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin, Berkeley 13 September 1971) YouTube
♪  Celebration Day  (Led Zeppelin, Berkeley 13 September 1971) YouTube

 
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Monday, August 31, 2015

On This Day 31 August

"A substantial bill of performing artists..."
1969 31 August On This Day Led Zeppelin at Texas International Pop Festival
♪ Watch video (YouTube)
♪ Audio: Janis Joplin (Soundcloud)

  • 1966 The Yardbirds - Pismo Beach, CA at Rose Garden Ballroom
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Lewisville, TX at Dallas International Motor Speedway
  • 1970 Led Zeppelin - Milwaukee, WI at Milwaukee Arena
  • 1971 Led Zeppelin - Orlando, FL at Orlando Sports Stadium 
“The tours took a lot ... well, did it take a lot out of me? I don’t know whether it did. It gave as much to me as it took out. It was like being on a permanent adrenalin drip, do you know what I mean? [Playing live was] to be right on the edge of the moment.”
~ The Times 2010 (possibly the London Times, 22 August 2010)

1969 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Texas International Pop Festival (Carl Dunn photo)

1969 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Texas International Pop Festival (Carl Dunn photo)

1969 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Texas International Pop Festival (Jay Dickman photo)


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Friday, August 28, 2015

On This Day 28 August

Where's Jimmy?
1964 28 August On This Day Jimmy Page Session Man (Brenda Lee, PJ Proby, Lulu)
♪  Is It True (Brenda Lee, feat. Jimmy Page guitar 1964) Soundcloud

  • 1966 The Yardbirds - San Diego, CA at San Diego Convention Hall
  • 1970 Led Zeppelin - Detroit, MI at Olympia Stadium
  • 1971 Led Zeppelin - St. Louis, MO at St. Louis Arena (no info available)
  • 1985 Jimmy Page, Jason Bonham, Chris Squire & Mick Thompson jam with Opus at Ibiza Sun Power Festival 
  • 1998 Page & Plant - Reading, Berkshire, England at Reading Festival 
1985:
There seems to be some confusion about what Jimmy Page was doing on this day in 1985.  The website reports his having performed at the Sun Power Festival in Ibiza with Chris Squire, Jason Bonham and Mick Thompson, however Jason Bonham has said that it was 1986 when he was with Jimmy Page in Ibiza. On the other hand, the band, Virginia Wolf (Jason Bonham, drums) apparently recorded their eponymous first album in Ibiza the summer of 1985.  

Note the sign behind Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham in the photo below. Opus is an Austrian band that was formed in 1973 and is still active today. The are best known for their single, Live is Life, released in 1984. The song was a European hit in the summer of 1985 and the band's fan page mentions performing in Ibiza around then. The Opus news clipping does confirm the Jimmy Page connection, the location (Ibiza) and puts it in late August. Perhaps someone can check through the page the clipping was from [PDF] and let us know if there is anything more specific about this show there.

1985 Jimmy Page, Jason Bonham, Ibiza

1985 Jimmy Page, Ibiza

1985 Opus news clipping

1998, Page & Plant, Reading Festival

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Monday, June 22, 2015

On This Day 22 June

They went to the land of ice and snow
1970 22 June On This Day Led Zeppelin in Reykjavik Iceland
  • 1970 Led Zeppelin - Reykjavik, Iceland at Lauguardalsholl Sports Arena
  • 1972 Led Zeppelin - San Bernardino ,CA at Swing Auditorium
  • 1977 Led Zeppelin - Inglewood, CA at The Forum
  • 2004 Jimmy Page receives MOJO Maestro Award and accepts Vision Award for Led Zeppelin DVD (2003)
1970 Jimmy Page in Iceland

1970 Jimmy Page with Led Zeppelin in Iceland

1970 Bonzo calling home... or somewhere
"We weren't being pompous. We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be canceled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable and we had a great time. 'Immigrant Song' was about that trip and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different."
~ Robert Plant, in Chris Welch's book, Led Zeppelin (1994) 

1977 Jimmy Page with Led Zeppelin at LA Forum

2004 MOJO Awards - James Patrick Page III, Jimmy Page, Scarlet Page
(Photo Ross Halfin)

2004 MOJO Awards - John Frusciante presentation speech for
Jimmy Page's Maestro Award
(Photo Ross Halfin, appeared in August 2004 MOJO)

2014 MOJO Magazine (Photo Ross Halfin)



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Thursday, June 11, 2015

On This Day 11 June

How The West Was Won (Japan), day 4 of MSG and Jimmy Page receives OBE
2003 11 June On This Day Japanese version of How The West Was Won was released

  • 1972 Led Zeppelin - Baltimore, MD at Baltimore Civic Center
  • 1977 Led Zeppelin - New York, NY at Madison Square Garden (3rd night)
  • 2003 11 June On This Day Japanese version of How The West Was Won was released
  • 2005 Jimmy Page awarded OBE for charity work with children of Brazil
1977 Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden 

1977 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant/Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden 

1977 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden 

1977 Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden 

1977 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden 

2005  Jimmy Page awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II of the UK

2005  Jimmy Page and Brian May with Queen Elizabeth II of the UK





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Saturday, November 9, 2013

News, Contest & Blather

I'm taking a Mage Music hiatus while I work on another writing project, just for the month of November. That would mean four weeks, including this one, of no Mage Music, and I feel kinda bad about that.

So I decided to offer you a contest.  I haven't figured out all the details, but the grand prize (and maybe only prize) will be a TBL Gift Pack - thank you Dave Lewis for working this out with me!  I am considering - only thinking about it, mind you - of a second prize, but we'll see. It's going to be a Mage Music Trivia contest - all answers will be found here on this blog.  That's all I'm going to tell you right now.

So check Mage Music occasionally during the month for contest rules - yes, there will be rules!  Meanwhile, I'll keep posting on (Mostly) Daily Mage for those of you who've got to have their Magick talk fix.

Blather

Oh yeah, I wanted to remind those of you who are of pagan, Wiccan and the like persuasion (or those who would like to be, or the curious) that we are in that time of year when the Winter God is prime. This is a time of year for withdrawal and inwardness, of darkness and meeting with the bare bones of death and rebirth. This is a time for contemplation and renewal of power.

It's not all Santa and shopping.

Seek out the commonality of all Yule celebrations, rather than dismissing the festivities as fluff, and you will find the way.

♫


I like this version of Immigrant Song because of the long drone introduction.  It's the Universe holding its breath before the Winter God appears.  It's the pulling in of power.

Magick.  You gotta love it.


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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Hammer of the Gods

“…it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different”.
                                                                    ~ Robert Plant,  in Led Zeppelin by Chris Welch, p 55

Mage Music 14 

Immigrant Song is pretty interesting. Musically, it’s not one of my personal favorites, although it is compelling – it’s one of those “almost” songs for me, not quite carrying the Magick it seems to promise - and I have to wonder about that.  I find the studio version to be flat, leaving me unsatisfied, although the live versions – particularly the 1971 Paris Theatre performance that appears on BBC Sessions or the 1972 LA Forum performance that appears on How The West Was Won - are much more compelling.

Magick or no, the constant pounding pulse that drives this song very well supports the lyrics. You can’t help but feel the energy and want to shove a horned helmet on your head, pick up a hammer and go off with your friends for some good old raping and pillaging. When prefaced by the drone the anticipation builds to almost intolerable levels until the opening onslaught of guitar, drums and bass - and then we’re hit with Robert Plant’s cosmic war cry. We grab our weapons and our torches and off we go. Take no prisoners!


Subtle humor

Some sources claim that Immigrant Song was intended to be a bit humorous. I can sort of see the tongue in cheek aspect of it – after all, the soft acoustical side of Led Zeppelin is introduced in this album and yet the first song is about war and conquest and is anything but soft. Hindsight speculation is risky, but if this was intentional humor it seems that it might also be a joke at the band’s own expense, perhaps even a parody of their musical conquest of the US and their legendary on-the-road excesses.

Subtle humor, indeed, that offers a mighty war anthem album-opener that begs comparison of the mighty Led Zeppelin to the thunderbolt-throwing, mead drinking gods of old – and that then moves on to songs that, in the tradition of the bards of old, tell us stories - tales that were conceived at the primitive 18th century cottage, Bron-Yr-Aur. In an October 1977 interview in Trouser Press Magazine by Dave Schulps, Jimmy Page commented, "It was the tranquility of the place that set the tone of the album." This, about an album that opens with a paean to war, conquest and death.

Led Zeppelin III is a forging into new territory for the band. Perhaps what was being captured with Immigrant Song was the violence of breaking with the past and pushing into an unfamiliar future, with the song’s title an outright reference to a people moving into in new places. It takes strength of will, belief in self and considerable skill to conquer the unknown. We know that Jimmy Page has never had any fear of doing what it takes to push the envelope.  It could be that the Magick really is there after all, just delivered with an unaccustomed blunt force that serves all the better to bring out the contrast with all that follows.  A hammer blow of the gods, if you will, saying PAY ATTENTION.


Imitation (and cover), the sincerest form of flattery

In spite of, or maybe more because of the dynamic, aggressive tone of Immigrant Song, it seems to be highly desirable for use elsewhere, either in the original or covered by other musicians. We hope that Led Zeppelin receives plenty of royalties for this use.

Notable appearances of Immigrant Song (I’m sure there are many more examples):

  • 1973 Opening credits of the martial arts film, Young Tiger, starring Fei Meng and a young Jackie Chan
  • Professional wrestler Bruiser Brody (1946-1988), as entrance music to the ring
  • 1993 Jack Black filmed himself in front of a screaming audience begging Led Zeppelin for the use of Immigrant Song in his movie, School of Rock.
  • 1993 Denis Leary, MTV Unplugged special 
  • 1999 documentary about the 1972 Munich Olympic Games massacre, One Day in September
  • 1999 Vanilla Ice, the basis for "Power", a rap metal song
  • 2003 That ‘70s Show Season 5, Episode 24
  • Nirvana With The Lights Out box set (CD + DVD)
  • 2006-07 Trailers for the BBC1 drama series Life on Mars
  • 2007 Minnesota Vikings, during team introductions and before kickoffs. 
  • 2007 Shrek the Third: A schizophrenic Snow White begins her attack on the city gates with Robert Plant’s famous opening cry
  • 2010 Christmas episode of Doctor Who Confidential
  • 2011 Karen O, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • 2011 Loud Music by Michelle Branch (a reference to “Zeppelin” and a very tame version of Robert Plant’s opening cry)
  • Late Night With Conan O'Brien, along with Kashmir
  • Winnipeg Jets opening song before play
  • Viking Kittens (see link below for the horrible video)
  • During credits for the French TV show 50 Minutes Inside.



♪


Trivia: On the first vinyl pressing of the album 'Led Zeppelin III' in 1970, Jimmy Page paid homage to Alastair Crowley by placing a quote in the dead wax (where the groove runs out in the middle of the disc).  On side A you can read, "Do What Thou Wilt..." and on side B, "So Mote Be It"

Further note:  Not much about Magick in this post, but I'll be getting back on topic next time.

♫


Immigrant Song

YouTube Playlist (Led  Zeppelin + Jeff Beck/Jimmy Page only)

Individual song links:

Bonus links:



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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Mage Music 15 Playlist for 08/12/12


Mage Music 15:  Hammer of the Gods

YouTube Playlist

♪

Individual song links:

Bonus links on 08/12/12!
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