On This Day 10 February

Memphis yes or Memphis no?

1969 10 February On This Day Led Zeppelin Memphis (maybe)

• 1968 The Yardbirds - London, England at Barlong Hall
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Memphis, TN at Memphis State University
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Landover, MD at Capital Centre
• 2002 Jimmy Page receives an award from Traffic Musique (French TV) 

1969: 

There seems to be some disagreement as to whether Led Zeppelin did actually do a show at Memphis State University on this day. David Stanley, Elvis Presley's step-brother, reported on having attended the concert, as did several others. However, the key to the city was definitely something that happened in 1970 (referenced in various newspapers), when Led Zeppelin performed on 17 April. At the 1970 show Robert Plant stated: "We've waited for a long time to come to Memphis, in fact ever since we were born I think!" which makes it sound a lot like the band hadn't been there the year before.

Dave Lewis reported that Jimmy Page attempted to get some time for the band in the Sun Studio (shown in the On This Day photo) but that the studio was already booked.

1970:
On 31 January 1970 Robert Plant was in a car accident, a head-on collision while he was driving his Jaguar. He suffered from broken teeth and various severe cuts that no doubt needed stitches.The 07 and 17 February shows in Scotland were cancelled.

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin Landover MD

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin Landover MD

2002 Jimmy Page, Paris (Ross Halfin photo)

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♪  Heartbreaker/Audience footage (Led Zeppelin, Landover 1975) YouTube

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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)

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♪  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

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On This Day 08 February

Please listen to the song. And I don't mean the "popular" version.

2009 08 February On This Day a Grammy for Please Read The Letter
AUDIO: Please Read The Letter (Soundcloud)

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Chicago at Kinetic Playground
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Philadelphia at The Spectrum
• 1996 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Tokyo at Nippon Budokan 

1969 Led Zeppelin at Kinetic Playground, Chicago

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at The Spectrum, Philadelphia

1996:

Jimmy Page kind of bumbled his way into the two songs I've linked to below from the Tokyo show on this day. As Robert Plant said, though, about Tea for One it wasn't a song that Led Zeppelin had every played live in its entirety, and it was the first time that Robert Plant had performed it with Jimmy Page on guitar. 

Back in 1976 when Tea for One was recorded for Presence, Robert Plant's leg was still in a cast. Two versions were recorded at that session, one with a guitar solo and one without. I'm soooo glad that the one with the solo is the one that ended up on the album.  

2009:
I've provided links below to two versions of Please Read the Letter.  I fail to see why the Plant/Krauss version was the one that got the acclaim, but then, I am into rock music not syrupy folk love songs. No accounting for taste.

2010 January Ross Halfin and Jimmy Page

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♪  Rain Song (Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy 1973/2014) YouTube
♪  Rain Song (Page & Plant, Tokyo 08 February 1996) YouTube
♪  Tea For One (Led Zeppelin, Presence 1976)  YouTube
♪  Tea For One  (Page & Plant, Tokyo 08 February 1996) YouTube
♪  Please Read the Letter (Page & Plant, Walking into Clarksdale 1998) YouTube
♪  Please Read the Letter (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss) YouTube

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

On This Day 07 February

Best in any show anytime anyplace!

1975 07 February Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Chicago at Kinetic Playground (day 1 of 2)
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - New York City at Madison Square Garden (day 2 of 3) 

1969 Led Zeppelin at Kinetic Playground, Chicago

1975:
The three MSG shows were not on consecutive days but involved some traveling back and forth from other venues. Robert Plant was still fighting the flu.

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

1975 Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

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♪  Rock and  Roll / Sick Again (Led Zeppelin MSG 07 February 1975) YouTube

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♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube

On This Day 06 February

1996 06 February On This Day Page & Plant at Budokan Hall, Tokyo

• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Montreal, Canada at Montreal Forum
• 1996 Page & Plant Unledded Tour –Tokyo at Budokan Hall 

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, at Montreal Forum

Note: Another day of a brief Mage Music post because I'm doing other stuff. Regular posting will resume in a day or two.

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♪  Kashmir (Led Zeppelin, Montreal Forum 1975) YouTube
♪  Full set (Led Zeppelin, Montreal Forum 1975) YouTube
♪  Gallows Pole (Page & Plant, Tokyo 1996) YouTube
♪  Since I've Been Loving You (Page & Plant, Tokyo 1996) YouTube

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

On This Day 05 February

1965 05 February On This Day Marianne Faithfull's Come and Stay With Me, feat. Jimmy Page
AUDIO: Come and Stay With Me (Soundcloud)

• 1996 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Tokyo, Japan at Nippon Budokan 

2002 Jimmy Page (Ross Halfin photo)

2016:
Mage Music posts will be brief for the next few days.  I've got some things I gotta do.

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♪ Gallows Pole (Page & Plant, Tokyo 1996) YouTube

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

On This Day 04 February

Away to Bombay

1967 04 February On This Day Jimmy Page visits Bombay
AUDIO: White Summer with sitar edits (Soundcloud) 

• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Uniondale, NY at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
• 1995 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Paris, France at LeZenith de Paris 

1967:

Bringing home large, awkward items picked up while visiting foreign countries seems to be something that Jimmy Page enjoys doing. On this day in 1967 he talks about a tanpura and some tablas (drums) that he brought home from India. At some point he also obtained a sitar, which he is shown playing in the photo below, and which is featured in the audio White Summer with sitar edits. A tanpura is a 4 stringed drone instrument used to back up vocalists, whereas a sitar is a multi-stringed, fretted instrument meant for carrying melody. 

ca. 1967, Jimmy Page with sitar

Tanpura, sitar and tablas

1975:
Led Zeppelin had been scheduled to play at the Boston Garden on this day, but as has already been described on this blog, the show was cancelled and the band was banned in Boston.  Those who had purchased tickets for the Boston show were mailed tickets to the 04 February Uniondale show, which had been scheduled as a replacement.  That was a good thing for the Boston fans because tickets for all the New York venues in February (including MSG) sold out immediately (and not without some arrests of over-enthusiastic fans).

Led Zeppelin would return to Uniondale for the previously scheduled 13 and 14 February shows after this added-on 04 February date.

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Uniondale NY

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Uniondale NY

1995:

According to Dave Lewis in his Led Zeppelin: The 'Tight But Loose' Files,  Robert Plant was the one to introduce Jimmy Page to The Black Crowes at the band's show at Royal Albert Hall in January 1995. Apparently Jimmy Page was impressed enough to join the Black Crowes in Paris for a couple of songs. The Page & Plant Unledded Tour continued in the US at the end of February, but Jimmy Page was to hook up again with The Black Crowes to begin a US tour in the fall of 1999.

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♪  Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin, Uniondale 04 February 1975) YouTube
♪  In My Time of Dying (Led Zeppelin, Uniondale 04 February 1975) YouTube
♪  Shake Your Money Maker (Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes, Paris 1995) YouTube
♪  Mellow Down Easy (Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes, Paris 1995) YouTube

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