On This Day 09 February

Jimmy Page walks onstage and the place erupts.  As it should.

2002 09 February On This Day Jimmy Page
with Paul Weller's band at Teenage Cancer Trust, Royal Albert Hall
AUDIO: Wild Wood - Paul Weller (Soundcloud)

• 1968 The Yardbirds - Cardiff, Wales at Top Rank Ballroom
• 1996 Page & Plant Unledded Tour – Tokyo at Nippon Budokan
• 2002 Jimmy Page with Paul Weller's Band - Teenage Cancer Trust at Royal Albert Hall  

2002:
On this day Jimmy Page and Robert Plant appeared separately at the Teenage Cancer benefit at Royal Albert Hall. The event was billed as "The Paul Weller Band with guests Jimmy Page, Gary Moore, plus Robert Plant & Strange Sensation".

This was Robert Plant’s first London appearance in over three years and Jimmy Page’s first for over two. Furthermore, while it had been seventeen years since Jimmy Page had last performed at RAH for the ARMS shows in September 1983, Robert Plant had not performed there since the Led Zeppelin days: 09 January 1970.

Dave Lewis' take on Jimmy Page at the 2002 show:

"[it was] as if someone had picked up the remote and switched the TV over everything changes.
"You can see the Gibson…Weller goes off, his band mates mill around, lights flash down…and there on stage is Jimmy Page.
"Cherubic smile, well cut shirt, slimmer than in very long time, low slung Gibson Les Paul and sure enough it’s Dazed And Confused the instrumental…
"The place erupts and throughout the eight minute performance there is no doubt that we are in the presence of a living legend..."
~ Dave Lewis, TBL

2002 Jimmy Page, Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at Royal Albert Hall (Freda Hyatt photos)

2002 Jimmy Page, Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at Royal Albert Hall (Freda Hyatt photo)

♪

♪  Dazed And Confused (Jimmy Page with Paul Weller band, RAH 2002) YouTube

I forgot to post this the other day
♫   NBC News report with a brief comment by Peter Grant 07 February 1975

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

On This Day 20 December

Train stopped a rollin'

1972 20 December On This Day Led Zeppelin at Brighton Dome

• 1968 Led Zeppelin - London at Fishmongers Hall
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Brighton, England at Brighton Dome 
• 1993 Jimmy Page - Coverdale Page - Osaka, Japan at Osaka Castle Hall

1972:

The video featured in today's on this day is of the final run of the Brighton Belle train from Victoria Station to Brighton.  Peter Grant, the "someone" Jimmy Page mentions in the text, was one of the people featured in the newsreel footage, although Grant was not named.

1972 20 April - Peter Grant, from Brighton Belle video

1972 Brighton Dome

1972  Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin Brighton Dome

1993 Coverdale-Page, Osaka

♪

♪  Partial set (first songs missing) (Led Zeppelin, Brighton 1972) YouTube
♪  Full set (Coverdale/Page Osaka, Japan 20 December 1993)  YouTube
♫  1972 newsreel depicting the final run of the Brighton Belle all-Pullman electric service YouTube

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

On This Day 15 December

You never know where music will take you

2010 15 December On This Day Jimmy Page attends Gogol Bordello concert

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Kingston upon Hull, England at Hull University
• 1981 Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Peter Grant at the Golden Lion in Fulham for the Roadies Charity for Children raffle presentation.
• 1993 Jimmy Page and David Coverdale - Tokyo, Japan at Nippon Budokan (day 2) 

1981

Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Peter Grant were at the Golden Lion Pub to give out prizes for the the Roadies Charity for Children Raffle. Dave Lewis was asked to help, and he provides his memories of the event at Tight But Loose.

1981 Roadies Charity for Children Raffle Prize night at Golden Lion Pub

1981 invitation to Golden Lion Roadies Charity event

2010
Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from New York City.  The Artists Statement on their website says, "Gogol Bordello's task is to provoke audience out of post-modern aesthetic swamp onto a neo-optimistic communal movement toward new sources of authentic energy.  With acts of music, theatre, chaos, and sorcery..."

The band's lead singer, Eugene Hütz, co-starred with Elijah Wood in the 2005 film, Everything Is Illuminated, with the whole band appearing in one scene.  The band and various members have appeared in other movies as well, including an indie film directed by Madonna.  Elizabeth Sun, mentioned by Jimmy Page on this day, provides backing vocals, percussion, dance and general performance with Gogol Bordello.

2010 Jimmy Page with Eugene Hütz and Elizabeth Sun of Gogol Bordello

♪

♪  My Gypsy Auto Pilot (Gogol Bordello 2003) YouTube
♪  Coverdale Page Live in Japan 12.15.1993(Audio) YouTube
♪  Coverdale - Page playlist YouTube

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

RIP Peter Grant (1935-1995)

RIP Peter Grant (5 April 1935 - 21 November 1995), a manager with a vision and the weight to pull it off.

Peter Grant (1935-1995)

 

Peter Grant (1935-1995)

On This Day 16 October

Awards, guest guitarists, a toast, and a request

1999 16 October On This Day Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes, Worcester MA at The Centrum

1999 16 October, with Joe Perry for encores

1999 16 October setlist

• 1970 Led Zeppelin receive Gold and Platinum disc awards at London’s Savoy Hotel
• 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Bloomington, MN at Metroplitan Sports Center
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Cleveland, OH at Gund Arena
• 1999 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Worcester, MA at The Centrum 

1970:
For the second time in less than 12 months, Led Zeppelin received awards for record sales. On this day, Peter Grant, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant received Gold and Platinum disc awards from Anthony Grant (no relation to Peter Grant), the British Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade. The awards were for U.S. sales in excess of one million copies of Whole Lotta Love and for European sales of Led Zeppelin II, released in December 1969.

The previous year the boys had been awarded gold discs by a different parliamentary secretary, Gwyneth Dunwoody, who quipped, "you seem to be gas rockets rather than Led Zeppelins".

She was wrong. They were in a space ship, already having achieved warp speed.

1970 Led Zeppelin receive gold, platinum discs

1970 Led Zeppelin receive gold, platinum discs from Anthony Grant, UK parliamentary secretary for Board of Trade

1999:
In the video of Chris Robinson talking about working with Jimmy Page, Robinson says:  "Jimmy had done his thing with Robert and the Egyptian orchestra and stuff, but I don't think he maybe was fully satisfied with that..."

See?  I'm not the only one who thinks so.

On this day in 1999, Joe Perry showed up on stage to join in with the encore numbers, You Shook Me and Oh Well.  Videos of those two songs have been removed from the web.

2012 Jimmy Page with Ian Hunter at Mott the Hoople film premiere (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

Request:

If you have links to music relevant to any On This Day post, please share it in the comments so we can all enjoy more music of Jimmy Page.  Thanks!

♫  Chris Robinson on playing with Jimmy Page
♪  Page & Plant (Cleveland, 16 October 1995) YouTube

♪  Jimmy Page/The Black Crowes (Worcester 16 October 1999) YouTube

[edited 10/16/20]

On This Day 2 October

It makes me wonder... Terry Reid

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 appear 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 back 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

♪

♪  Dean (Terry Reid, 1973) YouTube
♪  The Rain Song (Led Zeppelin, Tokyo 02 October 1972) YouTube
♪  Full set (Led Zeppelin, Tokyo 02 October 1972) YouTube
♪  Full set (Page & Plant, Irvine 1995) YouTube
♪  Full set (Page & Plant, Memphis 1998) YouTube


[edited 02 October 2020]

On This Day 25 August

I 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.

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

On This Day 20 July

1966 20 July The Yardbirds Stourbridge, England at Town Hall
♪ Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (Yardbirds) Soundcloud

2010 20 July On This Day Jimmy Page interview for Guitar Aficionado Magazine

• 1966 The Yardbirds-Stourbridge, England at Town Hall
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Denver, CO at Lakeside Amusement Park
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Warrensville Heights, OH at MusiCarnival
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Tempe, AZ at A.S.U. Activities Center Arena
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Dublin,Ireland at The Point Theatre
• 2010 Guitar Afficionado Magazine interview with Brad Tolinski

1969 Led Zeppelin, Warrensville Heights (Cleveland) at MusiCarnival (Photo K Katzan)

1968:

Jimmy Page and Peter Grant checked out Robert Plant performing with a band called Hobstweedle (a.k.a. Obs-tweedle) at a teachers training college near Birmingham.  Chris Dreja was with Page and Grant.

1973:
The Boston Garden was one of the venues for Led Zeppelin's North American Tour after the release of Houses of the Holy. The crowd was rowdy and Plant's voice was strained. He tried to quiet things down several times but nothing helped so several songs were cut from the setlist and there were no encores.

1977:
"Shambolic" is a word I learned from Jimmy Page, and it is a word that applies to the Tempe show, which also had several songs cut from the setlist.

1977 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin, Tempe, AZ

♪  Full show (Led Zeppelin, Cleveland 1969) YouTube
♪  Over The Hills and Far Away (Led Zeppelin, Boston Garden 1973) YouTube
♪ Bron-Y-Aur Stomp (Led Zeppelin, Tempe 1977) YouTube

♫  Jimmy Page interview in Guitar Aficionado Magazine by Brad Tolinski

On This Day 06 July

A band like Led Zeppelin really did need a manager like Peter Grant.

1969 06 July On This Day Led Zeppelin at Newport Jazz Festival

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Newport, RI at Newport Jazz Festival
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Chicago, IL at Chicago Stadium
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Barcelona, Spain at Sports Palace
• 2000 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Bristow, VA at Nissan Pavilion 

1969:
Led Zeppelin was scheduled to close the Newport Jazz Festival but "...in the interests of public safety" the festival promoter, George Wein, attempted to knock Led Zeppelin off the bill. He had not considered Peter Grant. The band went on at 1 a.m. and as NME reported, proceeded to "completely destroy the audience".

Bill Harry created the weekly Mersey Beat in 1961, writing about the Liverpool music scene. Harry had gone to art college with John Lennon, and the Mersey Beat was the first to cover the Beatles. He was a publicist for Led Zeppelin 1969-1970. 

Harry recalled, "The point was - no publicity. It was carefully managed by Peter Grant that [Led Zeppelin] wouldn't do TV. I remember doing just one show with them for TV. They wouldn't do interviews. It was part of a thing he created which was successful. While everyone else was giving interviews for every other paper, the laws of trying to get as much publicity as possible, they didn't. It was more like keeping the press off them."
~ Bill Harry, in an interview with Gary James

1969 Backstage at Newport Jazz Festival

1969 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Newport Jazz Festival (Photo P Tarnoff)

1973:
There was so much audience noise and fighting during this show that Robert Plant had to constantly ask for peace and quiet. Not that it did any good.

1973 Led Zeppelin at Chicago Stadium

♪  You Shook Me (Led Zeppelin, Newport Jazz Festival 1969) YouTube

♪  Show (Led Zeppelin, Newport Jazz Festival 1969) YouTube

♪  Around and Around (Led Zeppelin cover Chuck Berry, soundcheck Chicago Stadium 1973) YouTube

♪  The Rover (Led Zeppelin, soundcheck Chicago Stadium 1973) YouTube