On this day 03 February

UNDER CONSTRUCTION - working on another (time consuming) project that takes precedence. Note that info on this page has not been updated yet and links may not work. Thank you for your patience.

I wonder if Joe Walsh ever inquires about the health and happiness of Jimmy Page's #1?

2001 03 February On This Day Jimmy Page went to Joe Walsh show in Miami FL

• 1975 Led Zeppelin - New York City at Madison Square Garden
• 1986 The Firm - Mean Business released 

1969:

Four shows in New York City were cancelled when John Bonham flew back to England because Bonham's three year old son, Jason, was ill.  The shows weren't rescheduled.  Jason, as we all know, recovered quite nicely.

1975:

Jimmy Page's smashed finger (he slammed his ring finger in a train door in England prior to leaving for the US Tour, breaking the tip) was well enough for the band to return Dazed and Confused to the set list, dropping How Many More Times.  

Madison Square Garden had the fastest sellout in their history with this show. People magazine declared: "Led Zeppelin are bigger than the Beatles".

Well yes. Yes, they were. And are.

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

1975 Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

1986:

The Firm's Mean Business didn't shake the music world, but it's a solid album. Paul Rodgers is a great singer, but if you've been reading this blog all along, you know I've never felt he was right for Jimmy Page's music. According to Jimmy Page, The Firm had never been meant to stay together forever and that was just fine with me.

2001:

There are all kinds of stories out there about how the Gibson Les Paul guitar went from Joe Walsh's possession to Jimmy Page's. I'll say this, if the two men have been friends this long, whatever the details of the exchange it is fine with both of them today.  

"I like to give people equipment and stuff,” Walsh said in a 2012 Guitar World interview. “For me, it’s a kind of payback. Anyone who is an influence or hero for me, I’m always concerned with how I can balance the karma.”

♪

♪ Led Zeppelin (New York City at Madison Square Garden, 03 Feb 1975)

♪  Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh 1973) 
♪  Tear Down The Walls (The Firm, Mean Business 1986) 

On This Day 02 April

Did those journalists really think Led Zeppelin needed to play France?

1973 02 April On This Day Led Zeppelin, Paris (day 2 of 2)

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Cardiff Wales atTop Rank Ballroom
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Charleston WV at Charleston Civic Center Coliseum
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Paris at Centre Sportif (day 2 of 2)
• 1986 The Firm- Mean Business album released

1969:

This show was a benefit in for the Biafran Relief Organisation. Led Zeppelin did their part, but in the middle of How Many More Times the revolving stage was engaged and cables suddenly were jerked out of the amps' sockets, some broken off. That was the end of that.

1973:

The band had already cancelled two shows in France because of the audiences. They came back to Paris (actually a suburb to the north of the city) to play the Palais des Sports de Saint Ouen. Roy Hollingworth of Melody Maker reported:  "Zeppelin kicked a great hole in the night..."  But it was too late for France. Led Zeppelin was done with that country.

1973 Led Zeppelin get more gold discs

1973 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Paris

1986 Mean Business, by The Firm

1986:

You're probably tired of my whining about The Firm, but tough. It's my blog and I'll whine if I want to. And here I go:

The problem with The Firm is there's too much of Paul Rodgers and not enough Jimmy Page. Hey, I'm not putting down Mr. Rodgers. He's a great singer. But, as I've described elsewhere in this blog probably too many time, Paul Rodgers isn't giving it up to the muse that Jimmy Page answers to. Unfortunate for The Firm, because Jimmy Page is the one channeling the magick.

Cadillac, from The Firm's 1986 Mean Business, is a good example of when Jimmy Page gets to open to that channel and let it flow. Paul Rodgers comes through in this one to deliver lyrics and melody that match the setting Jimmy Page has provided. But then on the same album we get Free To Live, which doesn't come up to those standards. 

Cadillac roils with Jimmy Page's dark twisty tones, gasping pauses, and shocking thrusts of high notes. Free To Live starts out with promise: Slade's thumping and the growly guitar in the intro really work nicely together to hint of... well, we never find out, because Paul Rodgers starts singing and the other members of the band just back off and support him. At 2:00 Jimmy Page comes back in and takes over and we get some good stuff working - and then the song recedes to that old band-supports-the-vocalist format, where the singer is making lyrics the music instead of letting words serve the music. That's traditional but it's also boring. And unfortunately, as good as the quartet was, traditional was too typical of The Firm's work. The band was very good, but it was not innovative. We had already heard it all before. And what a shame. It didn't have to be that way.

So I, for one, don't love The Firm as much as I might. That's why I'm hoping that Jimmy Page will soon put out new music that leaves him free of the anchor of a traditional vocalist and rather lets his guitar do the singing.

♪

♪  Dancing Days (Led Zeppelin, Paris 02 April 1973) YouTube
♪  Cadillac (The Firm, Mean Business 1986) YouTube
♪  Free To Live (The Firm, Mean Business 1986) YouTube
♫  Mean Business MTV promo 1986usiness 1986) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

NOTICE: April 11 will be the last daily On This Day post as that will be a full year's worth.  I won't post any more unless Jimmy Page's website offers some new ones. Stay tuned for new posts here on the Mage Music blog about the music and Magick of  JIMMY PAGE and previews of new Mage Music projects!

On This Day 03 February

I wonder if Joe Walsh ever inquires about the health and happiness of Jimmy Page's #1?

2001 03 February On This Day Jimmy Page went to Joe Walsh show in Miami FL

• 1975 Led Zeppelin - New York City at Madison Square Garden
• 1986 The Firm - Mean Business released 

1969:

Four shows in New York City were cancelled when John Bonham flew back to England because Bonham's three year old son, Jason, was ill.  The shows weren't rescheduled.  Jason, as we all know, recovered quite nicely.

1975:

Jimmy Page's smashed finger (he slammed his ring finger in a train door in England prior to leaving for the US Tour, breaking the tip) was well enough for the band to return Dazed and Confused to the set list, dropping How Many More Times.  

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

1975 Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

1986:

The Firm's Mean Business didn't shake the music world, but it's a solid album. Paul Rodgers is a great singer, but if you've been reading this blog all along, you know I've never felt he was right for Jimmy Page's music. According to Jimmy Page, The Firm had never been meant to stay together forever and that was just fine with me.

2001:

There are all kinds of stories out there about how the Gibson Les Paul guitar went from Joe Walsh's possession to Jimmy Page's. I'll say this, if the two men have been friends this long, whatever the details of the exchange it is fine with both of them today.  

"I like to give people equipment and stuff,” Walsh said in a 2012 Guitar World interview. “For me, it’s a kind of payback. Anyone who is an influence or hero for me, I’m always concerned with how I can balance the karma.”

2012 Joe Walsh & Jimmy Page in NYC (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

♪  Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh 1973) YouTube
♪  Tear Down The Walls (The Firm, Mean Business 1986) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube

On This Day 04 January

That party was over, but a great new one is going to start this year!

1981 04 January On This Day Jimmy Page XYZ sessions
Audio*: 

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Los Angeles at Whisky A Go Go (day 3 of 4)
• 1981 Jimmy Page with Alan White & Chris Squire   XYZ Sessions 

1969 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Whisky a Go Go

1969 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Whisky a Go Go

1981:
Called by some the "supergroup that never happened", it was more the "musicians who recorded while messing around and never released the tapes". Jimmy Page, Chris Squire and Alan White jammed at Jimmy Page's Sol Studios and recorded the demos but it went no further. Jimmy Page went on to record his soundtrack for Death Wish II in 1982 and toured in 1983 for the ARMS concert series.  The band Yes reformed itself in 1983.

Compare the demo below from the XYZ sessions to The Firm's Fortune Hunter.

1995 Jimmy Page

♪

♪  XYZ Sessions demo (Jimmy Page / Chris Squire / Alan White 1981) YouTube
♪  Fortune Hunter (The Firm, Mean Business, 1986) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube

* The audio posted above may or may not be Rock and Ruin. The MP3 was provided to me with a different name and represented as Rock and Ruin. So maybe yes, maybe no.

On This Day 29 April

Jimmy Page's The Firm was at Purdue University, Indiana on this day. in 1986.

On This Day 1986 29 April The Firm at Purdue University, Indiana

• 1985 The Firm - Madison Square Garden, New York City NY USA
• 1986 The Firm - Purdue University Elliott Hall of Music, West Lafayette IN USA
• 1995 Page & Plant - Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont IL USA

On This Day 1986 29 April The Firm tour dates

Jimmy Page has stated that The Firm was never meant to put out more than the two albums they did. The albums' names give the idea of the deliberateness of the idea:  The Firm and Mean Business. Limiting the scope of their association would free them all to go on with other projects, which is actually a good idea for musicians -- if they're good enough to know there will be other projects.

The Firm: Jimmy Page, Chris Slade, Paul Rodgers, Tony Franklin

The vocalist is usually the frontman for a band.  Even though Paul Rodgers did that job for The Firm, it's cool to see Jimmy Page at the microphone more often than in the past.

1986 03 March The Firm at Daytona

♪ Dreaming (The Firm: Mean Business) YouTube

Inner Wolf

“The caribou and the wolf are one; for the caribou feeds the wolf, but it is the wolf that keeps the caribou strong.”
― Farley Mowat

Mage Music 62

Wolves are scary. They are apex predators - meaning they are some of the most savage, ruthless killers on the planet. They are smart. They are organized. They will persevere until they've achieved their goal and they will overcome whatever they need to get there.

No wonder they're so scary. Wolves are just like us.

Humans fear and are attracted to wolves because we see ourselves in them. The power of the wolf is an irresistible lure. It calls to our souls, because while we label wolves apex predators, of course it is humanity that holds that title.

Nowadays people tend to hide from the predator and the power it represents within us – a mistake. Repression never deals with an issue; it only makes it more powerful, encourages it to seek out other avenues of release. Predators will not be caged. Wolves don’t run from things - they run towards things.

The inner wolf
Humans live with feet in two planes of reality – that of the body and that of the mind. The physical body shares aspects of all physical life. The mind shares aspects of the energy of the Universe.  The two parts need each other to be strong.

 
The power of the body and of physical reality is the power of the wolf. It appears to be a dark and dangerous thing when it is cloaked in the guise of the predator. When a person chooses to seek other realities - to connect with the energy of the Universe - the power of the wolf can be transmuted. For the artist, the flow of creativity is opened. For the Mage the energy of the wolf becomes the energy that changes reality.

We hear the song of the wolf, but it is wolf no more. We come to the call in fear or joy, but we come nevertheless.

♫

Play this song, Cadillac (The Firm/Mean Business Hammersmith Odeon, 12-09-1984) while reading this post and looking at this week’s Mage Music artwork (click on artwork to enlarge, so you will see details you might otherwise miss). If you don’t feel the wolf, I'm pretty sure you are working hard to hide from it.

♫