On this day 12 September

 Oh, oh, O2!

♪ Bonzo's Montreux (Soundcloud)

• 1968 Led Zeppelin - Stockholm, Sweden at Tivoli Grona Lund,Stora Scenen
• 1976 Jimmy Page and John Bonham recording in Montreux Casino Studios
• 1998 Page & Plant - Mountain View, CA at Shoreline Amphitheatre
• 2007 O2 show announcement 

1968

Still performing as The Yardbirds, but not for long.

1968 Led Zeppelin - Stockholm, Sweden at Tivoli Grona Lund,Stora Scenen

1968 Billed as Yardbirds - not even the new ones

1976:
Bonzo's Montreux is one of my favorite pieces of music ever. Of course, I say that about so many of Led Zeppelin's and Jimmy Page's music, but this is different. Bonzo's Montreux is music at it's most basic, what humans have heard in the plink of raindrops and the slap of windshield wipers, the thing that makes toes tap and bodies sway.  This one song is music stripped to a fundamental component of human life, "the spatial representation of time as rhythm" (Ursula Leguin, The Dispossessed).  It is truly, as Jimmy Page puts it, John Bonham's drum orchestra.

Keyboard mentioned in Jimmy Page's On This Day post

1998 Page & Plant - Poster for Mountain View, CA show

2007 Led Zeppelin announces O2 show

2007:
"O2" of course, refers to the one-off "Led Zeppelin Reunion" (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham).  The official name of the show was the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert.  It was a benefit to help raise money for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund for university scholarships in the UK, US and Turkey.

The 12 September announcements for the event mentioned a lineup that included Pete Townshend, Foreigner, Paolo Nutini, and Bill Wyman And The Rhythm Kings, with rumors of Mick Jagger playing the gig. Tickets for the show were £125 each, limited to two per person, distributed by ballot via online registration. Registration was supposed to close on Monday, 17 September, but in fact the website exceeded its bandwidth and crashed almost immediately upon the announcement.  According to Guinness World Records 2009, a world record was set for the "Highest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concert". Depending on the source you believe, there were no fewer than one million or as many as 20 million requests for tickets.

Pete Townshend declined to perform, reportedly saying, "They really don't need me."  It didn't matter whether he or anyone else showed up. For most of the world there was only one band that was going to play that night anyway: Led Zeppelin.

2009 5 March, Jimmy Page/Ross Halfin studio photoshoot

2009:
I posted this photo today because I like it. Is there any other reason necessary?

♪

♪  Bonzo's Montreux (Led Zeppelin, Coda 1976) YouTube
♪  Bonzo's Montreux (mix construction in progress) (Led Zeppelin, Coda 2015 remaster) 

♪  Page & Plant (Mountain View CA at Shoreline Amphitheatre, 12 September 1998)

♪  Ramble On (Led Zeppelin, O2 rehearsal Shepperton Studios 2007) YouTube
♪  For Your Life (Led Zeppelin, O2 rehearsal Shepperton Studios 2007) YouTube

On this day 11 September

Catching up with past events

♪ Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin, BBC 1971) Soundcloud

• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Rochester, NY at Rochester Community War Memorial
• 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Houston, TX at The Summit
• 1998 Page & Plant - Concord, CA at Concord Pavilion

1969:

Jimmy Page may well have discussed the Led Zeppelin BBC sessions with Shaun Keaveny of BBC Radio in 2010, but the original Keaveny interview about the Sessions took place on 10 December 2009, and the show was broadcast in two episodes on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (25 and 26 December 2009), and has been rebroadcast several times since then. 

The BBC interview was billed as "the inside story of Led Zeppelin's BBC sessions, told exclusively by Jimmy Page....Jimmy Page chooses his personal highlights from the music, and shares his memories of an extraordinary time in Led Zeppelin's history."

While the British Broadcasting Company might be the first and largest broadcasting company in the world, as a publicly funded entity its existence is never certain. In early 2010 BBC management recommended that Music 6 be shut down. The BBC trust overruled the recommendation later that year, partly due to an aggressive public and media campaign as well as intervention from David Bowie.

The documents presented on Jimmy Page's website On This Day were from the BBC’s written archive and were published for the show, which also aired BBC Session music that hadn't been commercially released. One of the songs was a Whole Lotta Love medley (1971).

"For those who were hearing it for the first time, there was a certain guitarist who was really wincing at the out of tune part, because the string had dropped and it was out of tune," he said.

"I was gyrating on the chair here wishing I could tune it up.

"Anyway it got tuned and it got back in, but I could hear then it was putting my playing off. It’s interesting." 

As to the cheque made out to Jimmy Page for six pounds:  It bounced.

"It just so happened that quite a number of years ago I was going through some old papers and things in a tea chest, and I found this cheque that said, 'Ordered not to pay'," he explained. "It’s from the Zeppelin era, so one of these sessions. 

"I’ve actually got it on the wall at home and I should have looked at the date before I came here. It was probably for that out of tune guitar on that medley, and that’s fair do's."

~ Jimmy Page, Shaun Keaveny BBC Radio interview 2009

BBC reissued the check and presented it to Jimmy Page during the interview.

1969 Led Zeppelin Top Gear audition report

1969 cheque from BBC

Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions chronology

1971

The band got carried away during Black Dog and almost had to stop performing to try to get back on track. However, Jimmy Page saved the day (or at least the song) by improvising his way into his solo, after which the band picked the song properly. One wonders what the talk was like backstage afterwards.

1988

Houston

2013:

Jimmy Page has been supporting Thailand's Care for Kids Gala Party Night for some time now. The fundraiser is organized by the Jester's Motorcycle Club of Pattaya.

In 2013 Jimmy Page donated a guitar to the cause that he signed and played a riff from Kashmir on. It was auctioned at the 21 September 2013 Gala amidst fierce bidding. Jimmy Page was there that year and a couple others, and on those days I'll post more photos.

2013 Jimmy Page with the guitar he autographed and donated to the Jesters for their auction in Thailand

♪

♪  Led Zeppelin (Rochester at Rochester Community War Memorial, 11 September 1971) 

♪  Jimmy Page Outrider Tour (Houston TX at The Summit, 11 September 1988)

♪  Page & Plant (Concord CA at Concord Pavilion, 11 September 1998) 

 

On this day 10 September

 The show must go on.

1966 10 September On This Day The Yardirds - Baltimore, MD at Baltimore Civic Center

• 1966 The Yardirds - Baltimore, MD at Baltimore Civic Center
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Syracuse, NY at Onondaga War Memorial

1966:

You can never predict what the consequences of an action might be. Whether Jeff Beck was recovering from surgery or was, as Jimmy Page hints at On This Day, playing hooky, the result was that it would not be long before our Mr. Page was sole lead guitarist for The Yardbirds. And of course, the next step after that was a big one.

1966 Yardbirds Baltimore

1971

"...Led Zeppelin came to Syracuse Friday night, and their performance before an entranced mass of young people, proved that they will be with us for some time to come. Their music is haunting and different, and they were a big hit with those in attendance."
   - Andrew Reschke (Sept. 1971, Syracuse Journal)

1988:

A bit of trivia about the beginning of the Outrider Tour, though not so trivial at the time: Jimmy Page had abdominal surgery during the week of 21 August 1988. The opening night of the tour was to have been at the Sun Dome in Tampa on 31 August, only ten days post-surgery, so that gig was cancelled and the Miami Arena date was changed from 2 September to the 8th.  He flew from London to Atlanta on 31 August and, after three days of rehearsal at The Omni, the tour opened.

A far cry from Jeff Beck's tonsillitis - know what I mean?

2009 Fall Guitar Aficionado Magazine (Ross Halfin Photo)

2015 September special Led Zeppelin collectors edition published by Bob Guccione

♪

♪  No Excess Baggage (The Yardbirds feat. Jimmy Page guitar 1967) You Tube
♪  Sick Again (Led Zeppelin, MSG 1975) YouTube
♪  One Hit To The Body (Rolling Stones feat. solo by Jimmy Page 1986) YouTube
♪  For Your Life (Page/Plant/Jones/Jason Bonham, O2 2007) YouTube

On this day 09 September

Outrider!

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Alexandria, VA at Alexandria Roller Rink
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Hampton, VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum
• 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Tampa, FL at USF Sun Dome 

1970
Unusually, the Boston Garden gig didn't sell out. It's hard to imagine, but there it is. 

1970 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden

1970 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden

1971

Plant sang a bit from "Hi-Heel Sneakers" (written by Tommy Tucker and covered by a whole bunch of people including Elvis): "Put on your red dress, baby, Lord, we goin' out tonight" as an intro to "What Is and What Should Never Be".

1971 Led Zeppelin - Hampton, VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum (photo M Mitchell)

1971 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin - Hampton, VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum (photo M Mitchell)

1988:
A solo tour is one in which one musician is the focus, rather than the band. Outrider was Jimmy Page's first solo venture, one that many of us felt was long overdue. Although he used a variety of musicians on his solo album, it was John Miles, Durban Laverde and Jason Bonham who supported Jimmy Page on the brief (September - November) 1988 Outrider Tour.

British vocalist John Miles had a hit in the U.K. with Music in 1976.  Miles sang on just two of Outrider's tracks, Wasting My Time and Wanna Make Love. A vocalist, keyboardist and guitarist, Miles has toured
with Tina Turner both as a musician and a tour director, with Joe Cocker and others over the years. He has released ten studio albums as well as live and compilation albums and singles.

Venezuelan Durban Laverde is a bass guitarist, keyboardist, session musician, and producer. He has performed with a variety of artists over the years. David Gilmour used Laverde to session for Pink Floyd in early 1987, during which time he met Phil Carlo who was working for Gilmour and for Jimmy Page at that time. Carlo gets the credit for introducing Laverde to Jimmy Page.

Jimmy Page had known Jason Bonham since before Jason got his first drum kit at 4 years old. The son of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, Jason was drummer for the band, Virginia Wolf, that toured with The Firm in 1985. Jason drummed for Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones at the 1988 Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert in New York City and the 2007 Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at The O2 Arena in London in 2007. Jason has released or appeared on approximately twenty albums, and currently tours as Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience.

1988 Outrider promo photo - Durban Laverde, Jason Bonham, Jimmy Page, John Miles

Jimmy Page has has performed with a lot of good musicians over the years. Outrider is awesome - but it's the guitar work that is awesome, not the vocals, not the drumming, not the bass. For those of us who revere the guitar work of Jimmy Page, he's always been the only one on the stage.

♪

♪  Led Zeppelin (Boston at Boston Gardens, 09 September 1970) 
♪  Led Zeppelin (Hampton VA at Hampton Roads Coliseum, 09 September 1971) 
♪  Jimmy Page - Outrider Tour (Tampa FL at USF Sun Dome, 09 September 1988) 


 

On this day 08 September

 Check out the guy covering his eyes.  He's peeping between his fingers.

Led Zeppelin on this day in 1968

• 1968 Led Zeppelin - Lolland-Falstar, Denmark at Reventlow-Parken
• 1968 Led Zeppelin - Roskilde, Denmark at Fjordvilla Club
• 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Miami, FL at James L. Knight Center
• 1998 Page & Plant - Portland, OR at Rose Garden, Theatre of The Clouds

1966

Andy Warhol got to go to all the great parties back in the day.

Keith Relf, Andy Warhol, Jimmy Page 1966 (Michael Ochs photo)

1968
The "Yard Birds" performed at a harvest festival first, later at the Fjordvilla club where they were supported by The Lady Birds, four topless go-go dancers. Although the band got onstage early (7:00 PM) the audience was already drunk and rowdy. 

1988

Jimmy Page's performance of  “In My Time of Dying” featured some awesome slide guitar work. The outrider tour consisted of Jimmy Page, John Miles on vocals and keyboard, Durban Laverde on bass, and Jason Bonham on drums. The show ended with an instrumental version of "Stairway to Heaven" with the audience supplying the vocals.

♪

♪ Jimmy Page Outrider Tour (Miami FL at James L Knight Center, 08 September 1988) 
♫ Jimmy Page Outrider interview by Mick Wall YouTube

♪ Page & Plant (Portland OR at Rose Garden Theatre of the Clouds, 08 September 1998)

On this day 07 September

 Under construction, sorry for the inconvenience

On this day 06 September

 Grabber

1988 06 September On This Day Jimmy Page's Outrider Tour starts with Atlanta
♪  Wasting My Time (Jimmy Page, Outrider 1988) Soundcloud

• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Honolulu,HI at International Center Arena
• 1977 Jimmy Page with Carl Simmons, Phil Carson, Bill Kinsley, Brighton, England at Metropole Hotel for WEA Records Convention
• 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Atlanta,GA at The Omni
• 1998 Page & Plant - George,WA at The Gorge Amphitheatre

1977
Led Zeppelin's scheduled shows in the US had been cancelled after Karac Plant's death.in late July. On this day Jimmy Page went with Phil Carson (London-based Senior Vice President of Atlantic Records UK) to WEA Records' annual convention, held that year at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton, England, not far from Jimmy Page's Plumpton Place home and studio. WEA is an acronym for Warner-Elektra-Atlantic. It was renamed Warner Music in 1991. No doubt someone recorded the jam session, but I haven't found any recordings that explicitly say that it's that jam session, identifying who was playing.

♪ Led Zeppelin (Honolulu HI at International Center Arena, 06 September 1970)

♪ Jimmy Page Outrider Tour (Atlanta GA at The Omni, 06 September 1988)