On This Day 19 May

Page and Plant in Pensicola on this day in 1998 and a few days' break in 1975 for Led Zeppelin before the next three Earls Court shows.

1998 19 May On This Day Page & Plant - Pensacola, Florida at Pensacola Civic Center

There were two days of soundchecks and rehearsals at the venue prior to opening night in Pensicola.  The year-long tour took Page & Plant back and forth across the Atlantic several times.

• 1967 Yardbirds - Elizabethville (Paris) France at L'Hermitage
• 1968 Yardbirds - Santa Barbara, CA at Francisco Torres
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Fort Worth, TX at Tarrant County Convention Center
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Baton Rouge, LA at LSU Assembly Center
• 1986 The Firm Mean Business Tour- Houston TX at The Summit
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded North American Tour - Oakland CA at Oakland Coliseum 
• 1998 Page & Plant North American Tour - Pensacola FL at Pensacola Civic Center 
• 2011 Jimmy Page at Ivor Novello Awards where Paul Rodgers receives award for songwriting 

1986 The Firm (Mean Business Tour) Houston, Texas at The Summit

1998 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant promo photo for US Tour.  Mick Hutson photo

  

2011 19 May Jimmy Page, Cynthia Rodgers, Paul Rodgers - Ivor Novello Songwriting Award

2011 May Les Inrocks Magazine

2014 Jimmy Page and Jack White backstage of the Jimmy Fallon Show (episode aired May 21) - Photo Ross Halfin 

♪

♪  Dazed and Confused  (Led Zeppelin, Ft. Worth 1973) YouTube  
♪  Concert clips + arrival at airport (Led Zeppelin, Baton Rouge 1977) YouTube
♪  Full set (Page & Plant, Oakland 1995) YouTube
♪  Full set (Page & Plant, Pensacola 1998) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

On This Day 18 May

In 1977 on this day Led Zeppelin played in Birmingham and in 1985 The Firm played in Birmingham - different countries on different continents, though. And of course, on this day in 1975 Led Zeppelin played the second of five sold-out nights to 17,000 fans at Earls Court Arena, London England.

In 1977 On This Day Jimmy Page was in one Birmingham or another

• 1967 Yardbirds- Versailles, France
• 1968 Yardbirds - Lewiston ID at Casey's
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Minneapolis MN at Tyrone Guthrie Theatre
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Dallas TX at Dallas Memorial Auditorium
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - London at Earls Court Exhibition Centre
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Birmingham AL at Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Arena
• 1985 The Firm - Birmingham England at NEC Arena 
• 2006 Scarlet Page photo exhibition opening, "Your Child", at the Proud Gallery in Camden

1975:
Earl's Court, day 2. Robert Plant's voice not what it once was, but the boys were hot, hot, HOT.  It's worth hunting for one of this day's bootlegs to hear the whole set. YouTube's been pretty well stripped of videos from this day's show. 

Jimmy Page - 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

John Paul Jones & Jimmy Page 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

Robert Plant & Jimmy Page - 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

Jimmy Page 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

Jimmy Page on Theremin - 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

Jimmy Page 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

♪

♪  Rock And Roll (Led Zeppelin, Earls Court 1975) YouTube
♪  Since I've Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin Birmingham 1977) YouTube
♪  Cadillac (The Firm, Birmingham UK 1985) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

On This Day 17 May

"Robert Plant... a jester at the wheel of some fearsome juggernaut, offering sly asides and poetic ruminations between moments of terrible power."

~ Chris Welch

1975 17 May On This Day Earls Court Day One

• 1968 Yardbirds - Tacoma WA at University of Puget Sound
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Athens OH at O. U. Convocation Center
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - London, Day 1 of 5 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre
• 1986 The Firm - Dallas TX at Reunion Arena
• 1995 Page & Plant - Inglewood CA at The Forum
• 2003 the double DVD set ‘Led Zeppelin’ was released with six tracks from Earls Court May 24 and 25 shows.

1975:
Interestingly, the photo for the On This Day image for Earls Court (above) is from Knebworth, not Earls Court. The band had transported their whole 40-ton stage and light show from the US and a huge screen was installed above the stage for Earls Court. While there were laser effects it wasn't until 1977 that the pyramid effect was used and 1979 that the the bow itself had a laser as in this photo [read more on Led Zeppelin use of lasers].   

Earl's Court, 1975: Three shows sold out in just a few hours (May 23, 24 and 25) before two additional shows were added (May 17 and 18).

1975 19 April NME announcement of two additional shows

Five nights of Led Zeppelin, with each show clocking in at over three hours. Talk about endurance. Many still consider these shows to be Led Zeppelin's best ever performances.

1975 May Earls Court stage set

1975 May Earls Court stage set

1975 May Earls Court - Jimmy Page playing Black Dog

1975 May Earls Court Jimmy Page acoustical set

1975 Earls Court

1975 May Earls Court "...moments of terrible power" (Chris Welch quote)

♪

♪  Bron-Y-Aur Stomp (Led Zeppelin, Earls Court 1975) YouTube
♪  Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin, Earls Court 17 May 1975) YouTube
♪  Soundcheck / Kashmir - no guitar (Page & Plant, Inglewood Forum 1995) YouTube
♪  Full set (Page & Plant, Inglewood Forum 1995) YouTube playlist

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

On This Day 16 May

Page & Plant at LA Forum just a few months into their world tour.

1995 16 May On This Day Page - Plant at LA Forum day 1 of 2

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Detroit MI at The Grande Ballroom
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Houston TX at Sam Houston Coliseum
• 1986 The Firm - Oklahoma City OK at Oklahoma City Fairgrounds
• 1995 Page & Plant - Inglewood CA at The Forum

1986:
A thunderstorm was raging outside and Jimmy Page's guitar was raging inside in Oklahoma City on this day. The power went out in the middle of a cover of You've Lost That Loving Feeling and the audience finished singing the melody under the emergency lighting.

1995 16 May Page - Plant at LA Forum day 1 of 2 setlist

1995 16 May Page - Plant at LA Forum day 1 of 2 ticket

1995 16 May Page - Plant at LA Forum day 1 of 2 tour book

1995 16 May Page - Plant at LA Forum day 1 of 2 review

♪

♪  Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin, Houston 1973) YouTube
♪  Medley (The Firm, Oklahoma City 1986) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

On This Day 15 May

Session man on this day in 1964.

1964 15 May On This Day PJ Proby releases 'Hold Me" (Jimmy Page rhythm guitar, Big Jim Sullivan lead)

• 1964 PJ Proby releases Hold Me
• 1986 The Firm -  St. Paul MN at St. Paul Civic Center Arena
• 1988 Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary (continued). 

1964:

PJ Proby was one of a couple dozen who did a version of Hold Me, a 1933 song by Jack Little, David Oppenheim, and Ira Schuster. 

Proby began writing songs and recording demos for artists such as Elvis Presley and Bobby Vee in 1962. It was inevitable that Jimmy Page and Proby would meet, since Proby knew Jackie DeShannon. In 1964 Proby went to the UK on DeShannon's advice, appearing on The Beatles' television special and putting out top 20 hits over two years' time, including Hold Me (featuring session players Jimmy Page on rhythm guitar and Big Jim Sullivan lead).

1988:

The Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary show featured artists from the recording label’s early years to the latest pop stars. It was planned as a 12 hour event, beginning at 1:30 PM on Saturday May 14 and ending at 1:30 a.m. Sunday May 15 so technically it was two days. Scheduled to start at midnight, in fact, Page, Plant, Jones and Jason Bonham didn’t hit the stage till 1:30 on Sunday morning. This was not the most shining performance of the veteran musicians, though Jason came out looking good. Robert Plant later said, “The crazy thing is, at the soundcheck, it was spectacular… and the gig was foul.”

1988 15 May Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Celebration at MSG

1988 15 May Atlantic Records 40th anniversary celebration MSG.  (AP Photo/Mario Suriani)

1988 15 May Atlantic Records 40th anniversary celebration MSG.  (Photo Rita Barrows)

2014 15 May Jimmy Page in NYC for remaster interviews  Photo David Krieger

2014 15 May Jimmy Page in NYC for remaster interviews  Photo David Krieger

♪

♪ Hold Me (PJ Proby feat. Jimmy Page 1964) YouTube
♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

On This Day 14 May

Who ever said it was easy being a rock god?

1991 On This Day Jimmy Page & David Coverdale,
jam with Poison, fall through stage floor

• 1967 The Yardbirds - London England
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - New Orleans LA at Municiple Auditorium
• 1986 The Firm - Kansas City MO at Kemper Arena
• 1988 Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham - New York City at Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary, Madison Square Garden 
• 1991 Jimmy Page, David Coverdale, with Poison - Reno NV at Lawlor Events Center 
• 2014 Interviews in NYC for Remasters releases

1973:

"Before Moby Dick Plant said: “I once heard a song called The Witch Queen of New Orleans. Well, tonight, I’m pleased to announce that John Bonham is The Drag Queen Of New Orleans!" Page laughs so much that he enters the piece late…"
~ From Dave Lewis’s Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, describing the 1973 show in New Orleans

After this show the band members attended a party at Cosimo Recording Studios (note that this event has been posted elsewhere as occurring in 1972, but in May 1972 the band was recording at Stargroves, Mick Jagger's country home, and subsequently at Olympic Studios in England).

1973 Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Ernie K-Doe, after-show party at Cosimo Recording Studios, New Orleans 

1988 Jimmy Page, Jason Bonham & Robert Plant, Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary, NYC at Madison Square Garden [not in photo: John Paul Jones]

1988 Jimmy Page& Robert Plant, Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary, NYC at Madison Square Garden

1991:
Jimmy Page and David Coverdale jammed with Poison during the American band's encore at their show in Reno.  Despite Jimmy Page's falling into the stage pit, he rallied to join in with Rock And Roll, The Rover and Stairway To Heaven.

On This Day text:
During the early part of May 1991, I had been writing with David Coverdale at his house in Nevada, in preparation for a joint project album. On May 14th, another act with his management, Poison, were playing at Reno. We took the evening off to go and see them. I wasn’t that keen, but was encouraged to come up and play someone else’s guitar on a version of 'Rock and Roll' with David on vocals. We were introduced stage centre and as the number began I started moving and playing to stage left out of the spotlight. I found myself falling through a pryo pit that was cut into the stage and nobody had warned me about it. I emerged with a few cracked ribs and a broken guitar but I still managed to carry on until the end of the song! Apart from a few twinges, this didn’t affect the ongoing writing process with David.

2014 Jimmy Page interview in New York City. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

2014 14 May “I knew what I was doing, and I didn’t want anybody getting in the way of it.” ~ Jimmy Page
Credit: Damon Winter/The New York Times 

♪

♪ Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin New Orleans 1973)  YouTube
♪  Full set (Page, Plant, Jones & Jason Bonham, Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary 1988) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

Train, zircons that just can't pass for diamonds

Here is Train's note for note copy of Led Zeppelin's The Lemon Song. Obviously Train has worked very hard to sound exactly like our boys. Which somehow is OK to do in today's crazy world.

So anyway, after I'm done scratching my head about the above, let me say that while Train have nailed every single note (well, maybe almost every single one) I'm still not going to run out and buy the music. Maybe it's just me, but even though it sounds so very close... it just doesn't have the magic that the real Led Zeppelin delivers. It sounds kind of like Led Zeppelin practicing, when their hearts really weren't into it and they'd just played the thing a hundred times in a row.  Perfect... but dead inside.

I can't quite pinpoint why I feel that, but there's just something off about it. Kind of like a very, very good impersonator that just, well, just isn't the real thing. Like maybe a vampire who enters the room, a vampire that used to be your spouse.  A vampire that looks just like your beloved.... but isn't.  You might not necessarily be able to pinpoint how you know it's not your beloved... but you know it right away.  

And that is creepy.

That's how I feel about listening to this Train version of The Lemon Song.  I'm creeped out because though my brain can't define why, my heart still knows the soul is missing.