Happy Birthday Leo Fender

The world has changed significantly due to the labors of these men

Leo Fender  (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991)

This man carries the revolution forward

Jimmy Page with Fender Telecaster String Bender, taped on location at Les Paul's house in Mahwah, NJ on July 18, 1985 

On This Day 10 August

Ledded, unledded - it's all good

1994 10 August On This Day Page & Plant record in Marrakech

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Manitou Beach, MI at Green's Pavilion Lakeview Park
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - San Diego, CA at San Diego Sports Arena
• 1994 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour – Marrakech Morocco at J'ma el Fna Square

1994:
It started with an invitation to do an MTV Unplugged show and ended being an album and a tour.  It wasn't supposed to be a Led Zeppelin "reunion", and John Paul Jones wasn't invited.  There were lots of Led Zeppelin songs, anyway, reinterpreted with a Middle Eastern/Moroccan flavor, and the album was called No Quarter.

MTV Unplugged was supposed to be "intimate acoustic studio performances by major artists from across the globe". Never mind that Jimmy Page's guitars were still quite plugged in, or that they were backed not only by the usual components of a rock band but also by an orchestra.  The 90 minute MTV special was the highest-rated ‘Unplugged’-era episode in the network’s history.  The DVD includes bonus footage, and was recorded on a London soundstage, in the hills of Wales and in the J'ma el Fna Market Square of Marrakech, Morocco.

In my opinion, a fine effort but not the best showcase for Jimmy Page, who had long ago demonstrated that musical influence didn't have to mean blatantly sounding like the source. Jimmy Page was perfectly capable of the sublime, of internalizing a concept and revealing an entirely new way of hearing what had been heard before. Kashmir - without the orchestra - is a clear example: It does a superb job of evoking desert sands, caravans, and the exotic simply through the use of DADGAD tuning and rhythm.

“I was well aware of a lot of ‘exotic’ music in the late ‘60s,” Jimmy Page told Michael Leonard for Gibson Guitar in 2011. “I had a sitar and got interested in modal tunings, Arabic music. .... I wasn’t just listening to blues, I was trying to find all sorts of new ways for my playing.”

But hey, No Quarter was, after all, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, together again even if they had forgotten John Paul Jones' phone number. Still good, after all those years.

Unledded promo photo

1994 Jimmy Page MTV rehearsal

♪  Gallows Pole  (Page & Plant, 1994)  YouTube
♪  Battle of Evermore (Page & Plant, 1994)  YouTube
♪  The Truth Explodes/Yallah (Page & Plant, Marrakech 1994) YouTube

On This Day 09 August

Phony lords, real rebels, and music to unite them all

1994 09 August On This Day Page & Plant Marrakech, Morocco

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Arnolds Park, IA at Roof Garden Ballroom
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Leesburg, IN at Tippy Ballroom
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Anaheim, CA at Anaheim Convention Center Arena
• 1969 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant with Screaming Lord Sutch at Experience Club 
• 1994 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Marrakesh, Morocco

1969:
David Edward Sutch (1940-1999) was not of the nobility although he was known as 3rd Earl of Harrow, and although he was the UK's longest serving party leader, he was never elected to office. In fact, Screaming Lord Such was an English musician who gave himself his own title, started his own political party, and used the money earned from concerts to pay for his political campaigning . Lord Sutch was a shock-rocker before the term was invented. His 1970 debut album Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends was produced by Jimmy Page and featured Jimmy Page and John Bonham among others. It was named as the worst album of all time in a 1998 BBC poll, which is kind of too bad since aside from Sutch's vocals the music is just fine.

1969 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Anaheim (photo RM Dechellis)

1969 David "Screaming Lord" Sutch & Jimmy Page

1994:

For all you grammar police types out there, Marrakech and Marrakesh are both acceptable spellings for the former Moroccan imperial city.

Alan Lomax (1915-2002) was an American field collector of folk music traditions from around the world.

Jimmy Page mentions the Berber women's fierceness and no wonder. Berbers are an ancient nomadic people of the deserts of Northern Africa. Before they were called Berbers, their name meant “free man“.  Berber women are no less determined than Berber men to preserve their ethnic identity and the fierce independence of their people. One of the great Berber religious and military leaders was the Berber queen, Kahina, who in the 7th century led resistance to Arab Islamic expansion in Northwest Africa. She was a believer in the scorched earth policy.

The word Gnawa has three meanings: The people, originally brought to Morocco as slaves and free farmers (some as slaves to the Berbers); a religious/spiritual order; and the deeply hypnotic trance music associated with the religious/spiritual order that is used in the magical treatment of physical and psychic ailments.  The music has a parallel with American blues, music that also has roots in slavery.  More on Gnawa music.

1994 Jimmy Page/Page & Plant Marrakech

1994 Page & Plant with Moroccan musicians

♪  Thumping Beat (Jimmy Page and Lord Sutch 1970) YouTube
♪  'Cause I Love You (Jimmy Page, John Bonham and Lord Sutch 1970) YouTube
♪  City Don't Cry (Page & Plant, Live in Marrakech 1994) YouTube
♪  Wah Wah (Page & Plant, Live in Marrakech 1994) YouTube

On This Day 08 August

Expect the unexpected.

1998 08 August On This Day Jimmy Page with Puff Daddy
♪  Come With Me/Kashmir(Godzilla soundtrack) Soundcloud

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Detroit Lakes, MN at Detroit Lakes Pavilion
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Ann Arbor, MI at The Fifth Dimension
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - San Bernardino, CA at Swing Auditorium
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Montreux, Switzerland at Montreux Casino Hall
• 1998 Jimmy Page with Puff Daddy 

1969:
Jimmy Page broke a string right off the bat at this show, and it was so hot in the southern California auditorium that his guitar wouldn't stay in tune.

1971:
The casino at Montreux was so packed that Peter Grant tried to talk Claude Nobs into piping music outside to the overflow crowd.

1971 Led Zeppelin Montreux

1998:

For some reason some people were horrified that Jimmy Page collaborated with Puff Daddy (as he was then known) on this hip-hop rap version of Kashmir, yet it is an example of the wide-ranging musical mind of Jimmy Page to have done so. In fact, the song went platinum in the US. Jimmy Page and "Daddy" (as Jimmy Page refers to him on his website) performed the song on Saturday Night Live. In the censored version of Come With Me, Godzilla's roar masks Daddy's obscenities, yet Gozilla isn't given credit as a guest artist.

Note that the date stated on the Jimmy Page website is likely not accurate.

• Jimmy Page & Puff Daddy performed the song on Saturday Night Live 09 May 1998
• The soundtrack album was released 19 May 1998
• The film was released 20 May 1998
• The single was released 9 June 1998
• The single peaked at #2 on the Billboard chart on 25 July1998
• The remix maxi-single was released 28 July 1998

♪  Full show (Led Zeppelin, San Bernardino 1969) YouTube

♪  Newsreel footage 16mm (Led Zeppelin Montreux 1971) YouTube

♪  Come With Me/Kashmir (Godzilla soundgrack, Jimmy Page with Puff Daddy, a.k.a Sean Combs, a.k.a. Diddy, a.k.a. P Diddy) YouTube

On This Day 07 August

A joy to hear anytime anyplace

1971 07 August Led Zeppelin at Montreux

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Mentor, MN at Maple Lake Pavilion
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Berkeley, CA at Berkeley Community Theatre
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Montreux, Switzerland at Montreux Casino Hall

1971 Led Zeppelin at Montreux

1971 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Montreux

1971:
With the help of Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün of Atlantic Records,  in 1967 Claude Nobs, Géo Voumard and René Langel founded the Montreux Jazz Festival. Originally a jazz festival, it opened up to other music genres in the 1970s.  Led Zeppelin played Montreux that year and the next.

In British slang, a nob is an important person, a person of social distinction.  In 1970 Eva Von Zeppelin threatened to sue the band for making money off her family name.  “Then we shall call ourselves the Nobs when we go to Copenhagen,” shrugged Page. “The whole thing is absurd.”

Did Led Zeppelin choose to call themselves The Nobs for a little while because of Claude or because of Eva? Jimmy Page hasn't explained.

I'm still out of town, so here's mostly non-On This Day related music for you.


♪  16mm film (Led Zeppelin, Montreux 1971) YouTube
♪  Jimmy Page "Domino" East Rutherford, New Jersey 1999
♪  Embryo No. 2 - Jimmy Page (It Might Get Loud)
♪  Stairway to Heaven (Jimmy Page with Jeff Beck & Eric Clapton, MSG 1983) YouTube

On This Day 06 August

Private events

1998 06 August Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at Tom Kenny wedding in Ireland
♪  Roisin Dubh by Innisfree Ceoil

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Chicago, IL at Chicago Civic Opera House
• 1969 - Led Zeppelin - Sacramento, CA at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
• 1998 - Page & Plant - County Kerry, Ireland at Tom Kenny's wedding reception

1998:

Tom Kenny, an Irish lighting designer, has worked with many bands over the years including Led Zeppelin. In 1994, Bill Curbishley, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's manager, asked Kenny to do the lighting for the Page and Plant tour.

In Tom Kenny's words:  “This was the first time Jimmy and Robert had worked together in years and both were jaded with the typical concert. ... My ever-changing live lighting approach really suited the band's emotionally inspired, fiery performances every night. We did another amazing tour in 1998 and I've worked with both Jimmy and Robert on solo projects since. 

Later that year Jimmy Page and Robert Plant performed at Tom Kenny's wedding.  

2012:

 Adidas Underground is a series of events "popping up" in varying London locations.  They combine art, music, fashion and other unique experiences.  In 2012, twelve different evenings were put on to celebrate the London 2012 Games.  One of them was held on this day, with the Stone Roses performing in front of celebrities, VIPs, competition winners and Olympic medalists - not to mention Jimmy Page. 

2012 06 August Jimmy Page at Adidas Underground for a surprise one-off Stone Roses performance

I'm out of town right now, so I've got limited time to research music for you on this and the next few days.  So here's some Robert Johnson for you because why not.

♪  Sweet Home Chicago (Robert Johnson) YouTube
♪  Crossroad (Robert Johnson) YouTube
♪  Kind Hearted Woman Blues (Robert Johnson) YouTube
♪  Travelling Riverside Blues (Robert Johnson) YouTube
♪  Travelling Riverside Blues (Led Zeppelin) YouTube

On This Day 05 August

Can you imagine Jimmy Page playing in a department store?  Those were the days...

1966 05 August Jimmy Page with Yardbirds in Minneapolis
♪  Psycho Daisies (The Yardbirds, Jimmy Page bass 1966) Soundcloud

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Minneapolis,MN at Dayton Department Store,8th Floor Auditorium 

Looks like not a lot of noteworthy stuff was going on in Jimmy Page's life on this day, so I'm taking the day off, too. The music links below are not necessarily from 05 August.

1966 Jimmy Page with Yardbirds in Minneapolis

Jimmy Page July 2015 Toronto (Moe Doiron photo for Globe and Mail)

♪  Psycho Daisies (The Yardbirds, Jimmy Page bass 1966) YouTube
♪  Baby Come On Home (Led Zeppelin  Coda) Dailymotion
♪  How Many More Times (Led Zeppelin, Royal Albert Hall 1970) YouTube

I don't remember what this one is, but I can't open it anyway.  Maybe you can.