Showing posts with label John Miles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Miles. Show all posts

Saturday, September 9, 2023

On this day 09 September

Outrider!



  • 1966 The Yardbirds - Alexandria, VA at Alexandria Roller Rink
  • 1970 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden
  • 1971 Led Zeppelin - Hampton, VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum
  • 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Tampa, FL at USF Sun Dome 

1970
Unusually, the Boston Garden gig didn't sell out. It's hard to imagine, but there it is. 
1970 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden

1970 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden

1971
Plant sang a bit from "Hi-Heel Sneakers" (written by Tommy Tucker and covered by a whole bunch of people including Elvis): "Put on your red dress, baby, Lord, we goin' out tonight" as an intro to "What Is and What Should Never Be".

1971 Led Zeppelin - Hampton, VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum (photo M Mitchell)

1971 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin - Hampton, VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum (photo M Mitchell)
1988:
A solo tour is one in which one musician is the focus, rather than the band. Outrider was Jimmy Page's first solo venture, one that many of us felt was long overdue. Although he used a variety of musicians on his solo album, it was John Miles, Durban Laverde and Jason Bonham who supported Jimmy Page on the brief (September - November) 1988 Outrider Tour.

British vocalist John Miles had a hit in the U.K. with Music in 1976.  Miles sang on just two of Outrider's tracks, Wasting My Time and Wanna Make Love. A vocalist, keyboardist and guitarist, Miles has toured
with Tina Turner both as a musician and a tour director, with Joe Cocker and others over the years. He has released ten studio albums as well as live and compilation albums and singles.

Venezuelan Durban Laverde is a bass guitarist, keyboardist, session musician, and producer. He has performed with a variety of artists over the years. David Gilmour used Laverde to session for Pink Floyd in early 1987, during which time he met Phil Carlo who was working for Gilmour and for Jimmy Page at that time. Carlo gets the credit for introducing Laverde to Jimmy Page.

Jimmy Page had known Jason Bonham since before Jason got his first drum kit at 4 years old. The son of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, Jason was drummer for the band, Virginia Wolf, that toured with The Firm in 1985. Jason drummed for Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones at the 1988 Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert in New York City and the 2007 Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at The O2 Arena in London in 2007. Jason has released or appeared on approximately twenty albums, and currently tours as Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience.

1988 Outrider promo photo - Durban Laverde, Jason Bonham, Jimmy Page, John Miles

Jimmy Page has has performed with a lot of good musicians over the years. Outrider is awesome - but it's the guitar work that is awesome, not the vocals, not the drumming, not the bass. For those of us who revere the guitar work of Jimmy Page, he's always been the only one on the stage.


♪  Led Zeppelin (Boston at Boston Gardens, 09 September 1970) 
♪  Led Zeppelin (Hampton VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum, 09 September 1971) 
♪  Jimmy Page - Outrider Tour (Tampa FL at USF Sun Dome, 09 September 1988) 


 

Sunday, July 2, 2023

On this day 02 July

 The guitar is the primary event, at least when it's Jimmy Page's guitar.

1988 02 July On This Day Outrider hits the Billboard charts
  • 1966 The Yardbirds - Brixton, London, at Ram Jam Club
  • 1980 Led Zeppelin - Mannheim, Germany at Eisstadion am Friedrichspark
  • 1988 02 July On This Day Outrider hits the Billboard charts
  • 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Munich, Germany at Munich Festival
  • 2000 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Mansfield, MA at Tweeter Center
1980 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Mannheim (Photo Affendaddy)

1980 Led Zeppelin Mannheim






1988:
Released on 19 June 1988, within two weeks Outrider reached #26 on Billboard's Billboard 200 chart and #27 on the UK Album Chart. This album is highly underrated, even by Jimmy Page himself, who said, "Outrider's all right. It's demo-like compared with those overproduced albums that came out at the time. It didn't do very well - doesn't matter..." (Uncut Magazine, January 2009, p. 47).  

But there's more to the story, of course.

It's no surprise that Rolling Stone didn't like the album much. Reviewer David Fricke apparently didn't do any homework at all. The album was recorded at Jimmy Page's personal studio The Sol so there was no need for demo tracks. What was recorded could be used directly for the album. Fricke didn't bother mentioning that the tracks that appear on Outrider were all that was left after the theft of tapes from Jimmy Page's home. 

In a Guitar World interview in 1988, Jimmy Page said that the stolen tracks were very different from what ended up on the Outrider album.  He also talks about the recording process.

Interviewer: One of the more unorthodox aspects of your process was the fact that -- on the rock tracks, at least -- the vocals are part of the overlay rather than part of the nucleus of the song. In your work, the guitar is the primary element, and everything else is subordinate to it. 
"John Miles was the first vocalist to come in, and I had the tracks actually done when he came in. So it was quite easy, really, to hear it, to gauge the feel of what everything was about. And then we just discussed the lyrical content and such. And away we went. 'Cause I don't sing, so I think if a guy's doing the lyrics, he's gonna sing them with more conviction than if he's doing yours, so to speak. That was the concept there, anyway, with two rock 'n' roll tracks and rock 'n' roll lyrics. Whereas you 've got the other end of the scale, where Chris Farlow just made up the lyrics as he went along on the blues, just as I'll make it up when I'm playing, at the same time. That's totally spontaneous, and it's great."
~ Jimmy Page, Guitar World 1988

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

On This Day 9 September

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

1988 09 September On This Day Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Tampa, FL at USF Sun Dome
♪ I Just Want To Make Love To You Soundcloud 
  • 1966 The Yardbirds - Alexandria, VA at Alexandria Roller Rink
  • 1970 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden
  • 1971 Led Zeppelin - Hampton, VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum
  • 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Tampa, FL at USF Sun Dome 

1970 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden

1970 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden

1971 Led Zeppelin - Hampton, VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum (photo M Mitchell)

1971 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin - Hampton, VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum (photo M Mitchell)
1988:
A solo tour is one in which one musician is the focus, rather than the band. Outrider was Jimmy Page's first solo venture, one that many of us felt was long overdue. Although he used a variety of musicians on his solo album, it was John Miles, Durban Laverde and Jason Bonham who supported Jimmy Page on the brief (September - November) 1988 Outrider Tour.

British vocalist John Miles had a hit in the U.K. with Music in 1976.  Miles sang on just two of Outrider's tracks, Wasting My Time and Wanna Make Love. A vocalist, keyboardist and guitarist, Miles has toured
with Tina Turner both as a musician and a tour director, with Joe Cocker and others over the years. He has released ten studio albums as well as live and compilation albums and singles.

Venezuelan Durban Laverde is a bass guitarist, keyboardist, session musician, and producer. He has performed with a variety of artists over the years. David Gilmour used Laverde to session for Pink Floyd in early 1987, during which time he met Phil Carlo who was working for Gilmour and for Jimmy Page at that time. Carlo gets the credit for introducing Laverde to Jimmy Page.

Jimmy Page had known Jason Bonham since before Jason got his first drum kit at 4 years old. The son of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, Jason was drummer for the band, Virginia Wolf, that toured with The Firm in 1985. Jason drummed for Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones at the 1988 Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert in New York City and the 2007 Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at The O2 Arena in London in 2007. Jason has released or appeared on approximately twenty albums, and currently tours as Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience.

1988 Outrider promo photo - Durban Laverde, Jason Bonham, Jimmy Page, John Miles

Jimmy Page has has performed with a lot of good musicians over the years. Outrider is awesome - but it's the guitar work that is awesome, not the vocals, not the drumming, not the bass. For those of us who revere the guitar work of Jimmy Page, he's always been the only one on the stage.


♪  Bron-Yr-Aur (Led Zeppelin, Boston 1970) YouTube
♪  Since I've Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin Hampton VA 1971) YouTube
♪  Partial set (Led Zeppelin Hampton VA 1971) YouTube
♪  Wanna Make Love (Outrider 1988) YouTube


 

Thursday, July 2, 2015

On This Day 02 July

1988 02 July On This Day Outrider hits the Billboard charts
  • 1966 The Yardbirds - Brixton, London, at Ram Jam Club
  • 1980 Led Zeppelin - Mannheim, Germany at Eisstadion am Friedrichspark
  • 1988 02 July On This Day Outrider hits the Billboard charts
  • 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Munich, Germany at Munich Festival
  • 2000 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Mansfield, MA at Tweeter Center
1980 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Mannheim (Photo Affendaddy)

1980 Led Zeppelin Mannheim
1988:
Released on 19 June 1988, within two weeks Outrider reached #26 on Billboard's Billboard 200 chart and #27 on the UK Album Chart. This album is highly underrated, even by Jimmy Page himself, who said, "Outrider's all right. It's demo-like compared with those overproduced albums that came out at the time. It didn't do very well - doesn't matter..." (Uncut Magazine, January 2009, p. 47).  

But there's more to the story, of course.

It's no surprise that Rolling Stone didn't like the album much. Reviewer David Fricke apparently didn't do any homework at all. The album was recorded at Jimmy Page's personal studio The Sol so there was no need for demo tracks. What was recorded could be used directly for the album. Fricke didn't bother mentioning that the tracks that appear on Outrider were all that was left after the theft of tapes from Jimmy Page's home. 

In a Guitar World interview in 1988, Jimmy Page said that the stolen tracks were very different from what ended up on the Outrider album.  He also talks about the recording process.

Interviewer: One of the more unorthodox aspects of your process was the fact that -- on the rock tracks, at least -- the vocals are part of the overlay rather than part of the nucleus of the song. In your work, the guitar is the primary element, and everything else is subordinate to it. 
"John Miles was the first vocalist to come in, and I had the tracks actually done when he came in. So it was quite easy, really, to hear it, to gauge the feel of what everything was about. And then we just discussed the lyrical content and such. And away we went. 'Cause I don't sing, so I think if a guy's doing the lyrics, he's gonna sing them with more conviction than if he's doing yours, so to speak. That was the concept there, anyway, with two rock 'n' roll tracks and rock 'n' roll lyrics. Whereas you 've got the other end of the scale, where Chris Farlow just made up the lyrics as he went along on the blues, just as I'll make it up when I'm playing, at the same time. That's totally spontaneous, and it's great."
~ Jimmy Page, Guitar World 1988