Wednesday, July 15, 2015

On This Day 15 July

2010 15 July On This Day Jimmy Page and Duane Eddy interview at BBC Studios
♪ Bye Bye Blues (Duane Eddy) SoundCloud
♪ Rebel Rouser (Duane Eddy) YouTube

  • 1966 The Yardbirds - Cowdenbreath, Scotland at Cowenbreath Palais de Danse & Perth Scotland at Perth City Hall
  • 1967 The Yardbirds - Lorain, OH at The Big Moose
  • 1973 Led Zeppelin - Buffalo, NY at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
  • 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - St. Austell, England at Cornwall Coliseum
  • 2010  BBC2 interview of Jimmy Page by Duane Eddy 

1967:
The bill at The Big Moose Showcase included Sam the Sham and the Farrows; Tommy James and the Shondells; and then the Yardbirds. The venue was a small roller rink - such venues not uncommon back then.  The audience stood on the floor and there was no stage for the bands.  Jimmy Page, the Yardbirds -- up close and personal.

1973:
If only the people with firecrackers in the audience knew what we think of them now for messing up a Led Zeppelin show. The band seemed to get off to a slow start, but Robert Plant got into it with Heartbreaker and Jimmy Page picked up on the energy and took off. The Buffalo Evening News claimed "Led Zeppelin Kneads Crowd to Silly Putty". 

1973 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Buffalo (Photo Al Ligammari)

1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour at St. Austell, England
2010:
On this day Jimmy Page was interviewed by Duane Eddy for August 2010 broadcasts of two episodes memorializing the life of Les Paul, who had died the year before. Duane Eddy also interviewed BB King, Joe Perry, Jeff Beck, Albert Lee, Nile Rodgers and others. Portions of what may be the last full-length interview of Les Paul were also broadcast.

Duane Eddy (born in New York in 1938) was an interesting choice to perform the interviews. An American rock guitarist, Eddy developed a characteristic twangy sound created by playing melody on his bass strings. Early on he experimented with the echo chamber effect, actually recording in a 2,000 gallon water tank for Movin' n' Groovin because the Phoenix Recording studio didn't have an echo chamber. Eddy's musical genre was instrumental rock, which emphasizes musical instruments with little to no singing. Instrumental rock was most popular from mid-1950s to mid-1960s). Duane Eddy's twang and echo chamber, Link Wray's power chord, the focus on guitar: It would be safe to say that Jimmy Page paid attention.

Duane Eddy sold 12 million records by 1963 and more than 100 million over his career. He was the first rock guitarist to have a signature model guitar by Guild Guitars in 1960.  Gretsch and Gibson have also produced Duane Eddy signature model guitars. Guitar Player Magazine bestowed the first ever "Legend Award" on Les Paul, and in 2004 Duane Eddy received the second.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

On This Day 14 July

Jimmy Page Live at the Greek re-release in 2017


Happy birthday to jimmypage.com!

First ever On This Day 14 July 2011

 2014 On This Day post
2015 07 July On This Day Zoso tee-shirt

  • 1966 The Yardbirds - Kidderminster, England at Kidderminster Town Hall
  • 1998 Page & Plant - Mansfield, MA at Great Woods Center For The Performing Arts
  • 2011 14 July On This Day Jimmy Page’s website launched 

2011:
"A lot of my studio work had been done with that guitar. I didn't want to take it out of the house. Funny that once I did take it out, it got nicked!"
~ Jimmy Page, Guitar World interview 1991

Interesting musical choice that Jimmy Page used for his website's launch and each subsequent year's anniversary post: The One That Got Away.  It could refer to his 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom, a.k.a."The Black Beauty" (more on the guitar & theft), or maybe it refers to how his own website doesn't publicly archive each On This Day post, so they get away unless you nick them yourself.

From 2011 through 2014 the 'website was born" image was posted on the website with the appropriate wording (three years ago... two years ago... one year ago...). In 2015 there was a Zoso tee-shirt advertised, with no music. For those of you into Magick, give a moment's thought to the notion of how many places Jimmy Page's sigil (sign or symbol considered to have magical power) now appears. We spread the word willingly, though we will never know what it truly means.


2014 July Ciao Magazine

2014 July Australian Guitar Magazine

[edited 14 July 2020]

Monday, July 13, 2015

On This Day 13 July

Some things must end for other things to begin.
2011 13 July On This Day Jimmy Page jams with The Black Crowes

  • 1969 Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Bonham jam with Jeff Beck Group and others at Flushing Meadows, Queens, NY Singer Bowl 
  • 1973 Led Zeppelin - Detroit, MI at Cobo Hall (day 2)
  • 1985 Led Zeppelin - Philadelphia, PA at John F. Kennedy Stadium -Live Aid – Jimmy Page with John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, Tony Franklin & Phil Collins
  • 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Sheffield, England at Sheffield Arena
  • 1998 Page & Plant - Boston, MA at Fleet Centre
  • 2011 Jimmy Page  jams with The Black Crowes at Shepherd's Bush Empire

1969 Backstage at Singer Bowl with Jeff Beck group (L-R: Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, unknown, Jimmy Page, Richard Cole)
1969:
Press Review – "Sunday’s (13th) Jeff Beck, Vanilla Fudge, 10 Years After, Edwin Hawkins Singers concert at Singer Bowl resulted in an unexpected jam amongst members of The Jeff Beck Group, Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull. The music excited Zeppelin drummer John Bonham to the point where he started tearing his clothes off. He was carried offstage by friends before he could get past his underwear."

John Paul Jones was the only one of Led Zeppelin who didn't join Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Glenn Cornick (Jethro Tull) and Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) on stage at the Singer Bowl for what turned out to be a rowdy encore for the Jeff Group, Jailhouse Rock.

To be fair, Bonzo wasn't simply tearing off his clothes, he was also drumming The Stripper while acting it out.

"It was one of those riotous sorts of day, everyone's energy level was 100 percent ... It was just one of those animal things. Three English groups at the same place has to add up to trouble!"
~ Jeff Beck 

1985:
"It's twelve noon in London, seven AM in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for Live Aid ...."
~ Richard Skinner opening the Live Aid concerts.
The Live Aid concerts (two venues on the same day) were organized to raise funds for the ongoing famine in Ethiopia. The venues were Wembley Stadium in London, England and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, USA. It was broadcast via satellite and had an estimated audience of nearly 2 billion. The combined concerts lasted 16 hours, although with some performances occurring simultaneously, the actual number of hours of performance was longer than that. 

Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones' performance was referred to as a Led Zeppelin reunion. Tony Thompson and Phil Collins took John Bonham's place at the drums. The set list was Rock and Roll, Whole Lotta Love and Stairway to Heaven.

It was not a great show for the boys. Robert Plant was hoarse, Jimmy Page's guitar was out of tune, neither drummer had rehearsed with Plant, Page and Jones, and the monitors were malfunctioning. (Phil Collins' performed at both venues.  He did a solo set at Wembley, then took a Concorde supersonic jet to JFK Airport and a helicopter to JFK Stadium, where he joined the Led Zeppelin reunion).

Led Zeppelin's wasn't the only reunion - prompting some to refer to the shows as "geezer events" - and theirs wasn't the only problematic performance. There was further criticism of the Live Aid effort as it appeared that a good amount of the funds raised ended up being siphoned off by corrupt Ethiopian government. The official four-disc Live Aid DVD set, released in 2004, contains only 10-hours of the concert. Led Zeppelin and Santana requested to be not included on the DVD set because they felt their performances were sub-standard. Because of the immense audience there are, of course, many recordings out there.

1985 Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Live Aid Philadelphia JFK Stadium
 2011:
Although the 2011 Farewell to England tour was billed as the end of The Black Crowes, in fact they toured again in 2013. The band's guitarist, Rich Robinson, announced in January 2015 that the band had broken up. Chris Robinson, in an interview two weeks later, said the breakup was due to an unwillingness to write new songs.
2011 Jimmy Page & Chris Robinson backstage at Shepherds Bush Empire (Photo Ross Halfin)

2011 Jimmy Page jamming with The Black Crowes at Shepherds Bush



Sunday, July 12, 2015

On This Day 12 July

Happy birthday Wilko Johnson
1947_07-12_OnThisDay_WilkoJohnsonBirthday_published2019-2020
Wilko Johnson birthday  On This Day 2019, 2020


1967 12 July On This Day Yardbirds in Illinois

  • 1967 The Yardbirds - Aurora, IL at Crimson Couger Club
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Philadelphia, PA at The Spectrum - Summer Pop Festival
  • 1973 Led Zeppelin - Detroit, MI at Cobo Hall
  • 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour, Glasgow, Scotland at Scottish Exhibition Centre  
1969:
Led Zeppelin - follow the rules? Wasn't Jimmy Page always about pushing the musical envelope? At the three day Summer Pop Festival there was a thirty minute performance limit and a no-encore rule. But no rules apply to Led Zeppelin. The fans went crazy and Led Zeppelin came back onstage for an encore.

1973:
More firecrackers. I've said it before and I'll say it again and again: It's not easy being a rock star.

1969 Led Zeppelin in Philadelphia (Photo: Simeone)

1973 Led Zeppelin in Detroit



[edited 07/12/20]

Saturday, July 11, 2015

On This Day 11 July


2000 11 July On This Day Jimmy Page with Black Crowes on Conan O'Brien

  • 1967 The Yardbirds - Algonquin, IL at New Place
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Laurel, MD at Laurel Park Racecourse - Laurel Pop Festival
  • 1998 Page & Plant - Albany, NY at Pepsi Arena
  • 2000 11 July On This Day Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes -Late Night With Conan O'Brien Show 

1969 Led Zeppelin Laurel Pop Festival, MD (Photo Tom B.)
1969:
The 2-day Laurel Pop Festival was a one-time event.  Led Zeppelin was the closing act on the first day, with Buddy Guy, Al Kooper, Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter and Edwin Hawkins Singers (Oh, Happy Day) having performed before them. The next day's lineup was Jeff Beck, Ten Years After, Sly and the Family Stone, The Mothers of Invention, Savoy Brown and Guess Who. 

Led Zeppelin was in the middle of their first US tour, and were considered the headliner act for the first night of the festival.  According to one report, the power was cut off during Led Zeppelin's performance and Robert Plant just kept singing until the power came back on.  More photos of this festival.

Friday, July 10, 2015

On This Day 10 July

Like guitar heaven.
2000 10 July On This Day Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes, Wantagh, NY at Jones Beach Amphitheater video

  • 1966 The Yardbirds - Hastings, East Sussex, England - Pavilion Ballroom
  • 1967 The Yardbirds - Theinville, WI at Teensville
  • 1973 Led Zeppelin - Milwaukee, WI at Milwaukee Arena
  • 1998 Page & Plant - Philadelphia, PA at Core States Arena
  • 2000 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Wantagh, NY at Jones Beach Amphitheater 

 "The Crowes are really known for jamming and ad-libbing. And that's what I've been doing ever since I've been playing. So it's complementary. And I know people respect the fact that there are musicians trying every night to put themselves right on the edge."
~ Jimmy Page, Guitar World July 2000 
The Black Crowes provided a springboard for Jimmy Page's magic, but it wouldn't have come about if Mr. Page hadn't been asked to be music director for the 1999 benefit concert for the charities SCREAM (Supporting Children through Re-Education and Music) and ABC (Action for Brazil's Children) Trust (see previous Mage Music post).   

Jimmy Page was looking for a band to back his guitar for that concert and his buddy, Ross Halfin, suggested The Black Crowes.  Jimmy Page was familiar with the band because he had jammed with them in February of 1995.

The SCREAM performance of 10 songs was successful enough that Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes put together a tour that allowed Page to get back to his hard rock and blues guitar work and leave the Egyptian orchestra behind. 
"When we did 'Ten Years Gone' it was the first time I'd ever heard all the guitar parts from the record played live. It was like being in guitar heaven."
~ Jimmy Page, Guitar World July 2000
July 2000 Guitar World

♪  Celebration Day (Led Zeppelin, Milwaukee 1973) YouTube
♪  Celebration Day (Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes, 10 July 2000) YouTube
♪  Shape of Things  (Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes, 10 July 2000) YouTube
♪  Heartbreaker (Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes, 10 July 2000) YouTube
♪  Whole Lotta Love (Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes, 10 July 2000) YouTube


Thursday, July 9, 2015

On This Day 09 July

Taking a day off now and then is a good thing.  I think I'll do the same.
2000 09 July On This Day Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes chilled out


  • 1966 Yardbirds - Derby, East Midlands, England at Bass Recreation Grounds
  • 1973 Led Zeppelin - St. Paul, MN at St. Paul Civic Center Arena
  • 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Belfort, France at Eurokeennes Festival

Here's some stuff I like.  You might, too.
Take Me For A Little While, Coverdale/Page YouTube
As Long As I Have You, Led Zeppelin 1969  YouTube
Drone Orchestra - quite strange but compelling  YouTube
Laura Marling, Short Movie YouTube
Happy Drum Drum Monkey Girl, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussein  YouTube