On this day 13 February

UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG. I'm working on another (time consuming) project that takes precedence. Note that info on this page has not been fully updated yet and links may not work properly. Thank you for your patience.

Another day, another award, more glorious music

1972 13 February On This Day Led Zeppelin tourist stopover in Bombay
Jimmy Page's VIDEO (YouTube) 

• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Uniondale, NY at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
• 1992 Jimmy Page with Harry Connick Jr. for encore at James L. Knight Center, Miami
• 1996 Page & Plant Unledded Tour – Tokyo at Nippon Budokan
• 2005 Led Zeppelin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

1975:
An exciting show with some surprises:  an epic, 42 minute length Dazed and Confused, and a bit of theremin between Whole Lotta Love and Black Dog. Ron Wood joined Led Zeppelin for an encore of Communication Breakdown and Robert Plant sang a few lines from Roll Over Beethoven while the guitars got sorted out.

1975 Jimmy Page, Ron Wood, Peter Grant, Uniondale NY
(I always first think Ron is in handcuffs when I see this photo)

1992:
It's uncertain whether Jimmy Page, who was reportedly living on Florida's exclusive Jupiter Island at this time, attended  Harry Connick Jr's gig at the James L. Knight Center in Miami on 13 or 14 February - but it was definitely one of those two days.

"I'd been listening to his music, and I was keen to see what his concert would be like," says Page, 48, who was in Miami working on a new album. "We met before the concert, and Harry said, 'You should come up and play,' and I laughed. But I was sitting in the audience, and he suddenly said, 'We've got a really good friend here.... C'mon, Jimmy, come up and play with us.' I went up, and he put a guitar in my hands and said, 'Go ahead, it's your band.' So I did an improvised blues in B flat. I was so nervous! And he went over to the brass section and started singing these licks and cued them in." Would Page consider an encore? "Oh, yes, but I'll bring my own guitar the next time."
~ Jimmy Page interview

2002:
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement is a Special Merit Award, presented by vote of The Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Zoe Bonham and Jason Bonham accepted the award for Led Zeppelin.

2005 John Paul Jones & Jimmy Page at Grammy Awards

2005 John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Zoe Bonham and Jason Bonham
accept Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award from Neil Portnow,
president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

♪

♪  Led Zeppelin (Uniondale NY at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 13 February 1975) 
♪  Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin, with Ron Wood 1975) 

♪  Page & Plant Unledded Tour (Tokyo at Nippon Budokan, 13 February 1996)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1FyxCUM7Ls&list=PLf62FjbXtD1LDupHDsQYI3arCDZ2klemr&index=22&pp=gAQBiAQB8AUB
♪  Rain Song (Page & Plant, 13 February 1996, Japan) YouTube
(Just a cute brief clip of a funny moment)

On this day 26 January

 UNDER CONSTRUCTION -  thank you for your patience.
I've got another time-consuming project going right now. 

2024 On This Day

2015 26 January On This Day Jimmy Page attends Scarlett Sabet poetry reading

2009 26 January On This Day Jimmy Page visits Myanmar

• 1967 The Yardbirds - Melbourne, Australia at Melbourne Festival Hall
• 1968 The Yardbirds - Birmingham, England at Bingley Hall for All Night Rave
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Tea Party (day 4 of 4) 

1969 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Boston Tea Party

1969:
From NME:

John Paul Jones: “As far as I’m concerned, the key Zeppelin gig, the one that put everything into focus, was one that we played on our first American tour at the Boston Tea Party. We’d played our usual one hour set, using all the material for the first album and Page’s White Summer guitar piece and by the end, the audience just wouldn’t let us offstage. It was in such a state that we had to start throwing ideas around, just thinking of songs that we might all know or that some of us knew a part of and work it out from there.

So we’d go back on and play things like “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Please Please Me”, old Beatles favorites. I mean, just anything that would come into our head and the response was quite amazing. There were kids actually bashing their heads against the stage – I’ve never seen that a gig before or since, and when we finally left the stage, we’d played for four plus hours.

Peter (Grant) was absolutely ecstatic. He was crying, if you can imagine that, and hugging us all. You know with this grizzly bear hug. I suppose it was then that we realized just what Led Zeppelin was going to become.” – (NME, Feb. 1973).

♪

♪  Led Zeppelin(Boston MA at Boston Tea Party, 26 January 1969) 

On this day 12 January

 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin inducted in the R&R Hall of Fame

• 1969 Led Zeppelin I released
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - San Francisco, at Fillmore West (day 4 of 4)
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Brussels, at Vorst Nationaal
• 1995 Led Zeppelin - inducted in Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame 

1995

Twenty-six years after Led Zeppelin I hit the world, Led Zeppelin finally got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Aerosmith's Joe Perry and Steven Tyler did the induction honors, Tyler opening with a poor imitation of Robert Plant, prompting the latter to whisper, "You wish." 

When John Paul Jones took the mic, he made the famous statement that's been quoted so often over the years: "Thank you, my friends, for finally remembering my phone number", referring to the fact that Jones had not been invited to join the Page/Plant Unledded project.

“Well, for my part of this, I must say it's a great honor to be inducted. Actually it's the second time for me, 'cause actually, earlier when I was inducted with the Yardbirds. It's almost like, inducted, induced, and this time it's the forceps. Some of you will get that. But anyway, thank you very much everybody.”
~ Jimmy Page accepting Rock and Roll Hall of Fame award

  

1995 Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Zoe Bonham, Jason Bonham, Robert Plant, Joe Perry, Steven Tyler
Led Zeppelin induction into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

1995 Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Jason Bonham

1995 Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Neil Young at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

♪

♪  Led Zeppelin (San Francisco at Fillmore West - day 4/4, 12 January 1969)
♪  Led Zeppelin (Brussels at Vorst Nationaal, 12 January 1975)
♪  Train Kept A-Rolling (Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1995) 
♪  When the Levee Breaks (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, Jason Bonham, Neil Young 1995) 
♫  Joe Perry and Steven Tyler induct Led Zeppelin into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1995) 

On this day 02 January

 The show must go on... please!!!

1963 02 January On This Day Diamonds, featuring Jimmy Page acoustic guitar, released
AUDIO: Diamonds (Jet Harris, feat. Jimmy Page acoustic guitar, John Baldwin bass guitar 1963) 

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Los Angeles at Whisky A Go Go (day 1 of 4)
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Sheffield England at Sheffield City Hall

1963

"Diamonds" was the first record that Jimmy Page played on (acoustic guitar), and also was the first time he recorded with John Paul Jones (then still John Baldwin). The song hit Number One in the U.K. just a month later, where it stayed for three weeks, and almost overnight JP became a hot item as a session guitarist.

1969:
Led Zeppelin opened for Alice Cooper, and was promoted as “featuring Jimmy Page, formerly of the Yardbirds". Jimmy Page was sick with the flu but went onstage anyway with a raging fever. The band could only perform one set and were docked in pay. Alice Cooper recalled that there were only about 100 people in the audience, since no one had heard of either him or Led Zeppelin at that point. Cooper also recalls tossing a coin to see which act would perform first.

1969 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Los Angeles at Whisky A Go Go 

1973:
According to Dave Lewis, John Bonham and Robert Plant drove together to the Sheffield gig in Bonzo’s Bentley, which broke down. The two were forced to hitchhike in the rain the rest of the way to the show. Unfortunately – and coincidentally, given the 1969 show on this day - Robert took sick from the adventure and had a rough time singing. The next two days’ shows were cancelled while he recovered.

02 January 2017 (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

♪ Diamonds (Jet Harris, feat. Jimmy Page acoustic guitar, John Baldwin [not yet John Paul Jones] bass guitar] released 02 January 1963)
♪  Led Zeppelin (Sheffield England at Sheffield City Hall, 02 January 1973)

Posted by Lif Strand at 12:30 AM 

On this day 30 December

 Dazed thinking 2023 is about over

1968 30 December On This Day Led Zeppelin at Gonzaga University, Spokane WA
AUDIO: a minute and a half of Dazed and Confused (MP3)

• 1968 Led Zeppelin - Spokane, WA at Gonzaga University 

1968

The House of Gonzaga was the ruling family of Mantua, in Northern Italy, from 1328 to 1708. The most famous son was Aloysius Gonzaga, who was canonized in 1726. In 1729 Pope Benedict declared Aloysius to be the patron saint of young students. 

Gonzaga University is a private Jesuit university located in Spokane, Washington, founded in 1887.

As noted in today's post: The audience recording of Dazed and Confused from Gonzaga (9 minutes and 42 seconds long) was training for a number that would run much, much longer in later years.  According to Jimmy Page, the song had "all the movements of a classical symphony".  Note that Led Zeppelin performed Dazed and Confused  more than 200 times over the years, with the longest being nearly 45 minutes at The Forum in LA, 27 March 1975.

Also in 1968

Not on this day but interesting: In 1964 Jimmy Page, along with Big Jim Sullivan, had worked with PJ Proby on Proby's first studio album, I Am P. J. Proby. Four years later all four members of Led Zeppelin recorded together for the very first time -- but not on a Led Zeppelin album, on PJ Proby's final album Three Week Hero. The recording sessions took place starting August 1968 and the album was released in April 1969. Read more... 

According to Proby in a 2012 interview by Corbin of Finding Zoso:

"...we recorded that album, I think it was in two days. We even undershot, we recorded it with about thirty-five minutes left over, and so Roland yelled down, “Why don’t you all busket*? We shouldn’t waste the studio time.” I told the boys, “Y’all start picking and I’ll write as you pick.” So the three last numbers on the album, It's So Hard to Be a Nigger/Jim's Blues/George Wallace is Rollin' in This Mornin’, I just made up as the boys played."

Jimmy Page - Acoustic guitar, electric guitar

John Paul Jones - Bass guitar, keyboards, arrangements

John Bonham - Drums, conga

Robert Plant - Harmonica

* Re: "busket": Roland must have said "busk it", meaning improvise.

2008 Jimmy Page (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

♪  Led Zeppelin (Spokane WA at Gonzaga University, 30 December 1968) 

♪  Jim's Blues (PJ Proby with Jimmy Page guitar recorded 1968 released 1969) 
Note: PJ's first name was Jim
♪  Mery Hopkins medley (PJ Proby with "The New Yardbirds" released 1994) 
Note: Proby calls out each member of the band, who then plays a little solo

On this day 11 December

 Oh yes, the spirit of the band was shining bright

2007 11 December On This Day O2 afterglow

2023

• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Cardiff, Wales at Capitol Theatre (day 1)

2007

A great description of the rehearsal and the concert itself by Frank Smith in the comments section of the 09 December post, Soundcheck, 

2007 Mojo Magazine cover

2007 Q Magazine cover

2007 Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, O2 concert (Ross Halfin photo)

What I love about the above photo, besides that it's a great photo by Ross Halfin, is the look on Jimmy Page's face. He so clearly loved playing together as Led Zeppelin again. 

♪

♫  BBC Breakfast Show Interview (11 December 2007) YouTube
♫  Jimmy Page Interview about after the O2 concert: A nightmare (Blabbermouth news)

On this day 02 October

 It makes me wonder... Terry Reid? Instead of Robert Plant? Hmmm.

1966 02 October On This Day The Yardbirds - Ipswich, England at Gaumont Theatre
published 2020

1966 02 October On This Day The Yardbirds - Ipswich, England at Gaumont Theatre

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Ipswich, England at Gaumont Theatre
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Tokyo, Japan at Budokan Hall
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Irvine, CA at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
• 1998 Page & Plant - Memphis, TN at Pyramid Arena 

1966:

The Jaywalkers disbanded in 1967.  Record producer Mickie Most, long-time friend of Peter Grant's (as well as business partner in RAK Management), became Terry Reid's manager.  Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones had both played sessions for Mickie Most productions before Jimmy joined up with the Yardbirds, managed by Peter Grant. There were a lot of connections between Reid and Jimmy Page, but Reid had other musical commitments and could not accept the invitation to the new venture that became Led Zeppelin.

You have to wonder just how things would have gone if... but what's done is done.

1972:

Jimmy Page was presented with a Greco guitar at the 30 September press conference in Tokyo. The Greco EG-360S, produced by the Japanese Kanda Shokai Corporation, was a replica model of Jimmy Page's Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar with a sunburst finish. 

Jimmy Page and John Bohnam don't seem to be very happy in photos from the press conference, maybe not so much about the guitar as about Greco's use of Led Zeppelin as an advertising boost with the tagline "Led Zeppelin is my brother" on the official tour programs. John Bonham demanded that Greco black out that claim before the first show. It was done.

John Paul Jones had recently obtained a Mellotron, a keyboard that can play pre-recorded music.  It was used on this tour for the premiere of The Rain Song. 

1972 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin Tokyo at Budokan Hall  (day 1)

1972 Tokyo press conference, Jimmy Page with Greco guitar (Lon Cabot photo)

1972 Tokyo press conference, Jimmy Page with Greco guitar

2007

Ross Halfin photoshoot 

2009

At a Mott the Hoople gig

2014

Harry Trifft interview of JP

♪

♪  Dean (Terry Reid, 1973) YouTube
♪  Led Zeppelin (Tokyo, 02 October 02 October 1972) 
♪  Page & Plant (Irvine CA at  Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 02 October 1995) 

♪  Page & Plant (Memphis TN at Pyramid Arena, 02 October 1998) 

On this day 25 August

  was going to let my ghostwriter take over today so I could take a break, but oops - I don't have a ghostwriter.  So I'm taking a break anyway.  Today we have just a few photos and a playlist with a few songs related to nothing in particular, because why not.

1970 25 August On This Day Led Zeppelin, Nashville, TN at Nashville Municipal Auditorium
♪  Noshville Katz - parody of Nashville Cats (Lovin' Cohens) YouTube

• 1966 The Yardbirds - San Francisco, CA at Carousel Ballroom
• 1967 The Yardbirds - New York, NY at Village Theater
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Nashville, TN at Nashville Municipal Auditorium
• 1994 Page & Plant Unledded Project - London, England at London Studios (recording and filming without orchestras in front of a select audience)

1970:
Terry Manning (then recording engineer, along with Andy Johns) delivered the Led Zeppelin III masters to Peter Grant while the band was in Nashville. The first pressings of the album included the phrases "So mote be it" and "Do what thou wilt" inscribed on the lacquer by Manning.

1967 The Yardbirds - New York, NY at Village Theater

1970 Nashville show promo

1994 Unledded - Robert Plant, Jimmy Page

♪

♪  Who's To Blame (Jimmy Page with Steve Winwood) YouTube

♪  Everything I Do Is Wrong (Jimmy Page, Albert Lee, John Paul Jones) YouTube

♪  Gonna Shoot You Right Down (Jimmy Rogers, Page, Plant, Clapton) YouTube

♪  Chuckles (Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck) YouTube