On this day 21 July

Jimmy Page, a man of many talents and interests

1961 21 July On This Day Jimmy Page accompanies Royston Ellis

• 1961 Jimmy Page guitar fusion with poet Royston Ellis at The Mermaid Festival
• 1966 The Yardbirds - Worthing, England at Worthing Assembly Rooms 
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Santa Rosa, CA at Santa Rosa Fairgrounds 
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - New York NY at Central Park Schaefer Music Festival
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Providence, RI at Providence Civic Center
• 2011 Jimmy Page presents MOJO Maverick Award to Donovan

1961:

Royston Ellis was born in England in 1941 and now lives in Sri Lanka.  He is a novelist, travel writer and beat poet. As a young man seeking a name for himself he performed his poetry on stage and TV to backing by a number of Liverpool musicians, including Jimmy Page and by John Lennon's skiffle band (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Stuart Sutcliff - no drummer at that point).  Ellis has published over 60 books; in 2013 he published a retrospective book of poetry, Gone Man Squared, with a forward by Jimmy Page. 

1969:
The Schaefer Music Festival was a recurring music festival held in summer between 1968 and 1976 at the Wollman Skating Rink in New York City's Central Park. The series was sponsored by F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company, brewer of Schaefer Beer.  It began as a one day event but quickly expanded to an annual summer-long exposition.  B.B. King and Led Zeppelin performed two shows on July 21, 1969.

1969 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Schaeffer Music Festival, Central Park NY

1969 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Schaeffer Music Festival, Central Park NY (N Fields photo)

2011:
MOJO awards are voted for by readers of the monthly MOJO Magazine and MOJO's website as well as by music critics.  The awards celebrate the musical achievements of the last 12 months as well as career-long accomplishments.  Donovan was presented with the 2011 MOJO Maverick Award from Jimmy Page.

In 2004 Jimmy Page received the MOJO Maestro Award and in 2010 he was inducted into the MOJO Hall of Fame.

2011 Roy Harper, Jimmy Page and Donovan at MOJO Honors, London (Ross Halfin photo)

♪ Led Zeppelin (New York NY at Central Park Schaefer Music Festival, 21 July 1969) 
♪ Led Zeppelin (Providence RI at Providence Civic Center, 21 July 1973) 

On this day 20 July

 Once upon a time, a long time ago, Jimmy Page first discovered that Robert Plant could sing

1966 20 July The Yardbirds Stourbridge, England at Town Hall
♪ Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (Yardbirds) Soundcloud

2010 20 July On This Day Jimmy Page interview for Guitar Aficionado Magazine

• 1966 The Yardbirds-Stourbridge, England at Town Hall
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Denver, CO at Lakeside Amusement Park
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Warrensville Heights, OH at MusiCarnival
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Tempe, AZ at A.S.U. Activities Center Arena
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Dublin, Ireland at The Point Theatre
• 2010 Guitar Afficionado Magazine interview with Brad Tolinski

1969 Led Zeppelin, Warrensville Heights (Cleveland) at MusiCarnival (Photo K Katzan)

1968:

Jimmy Page and Peter Grant checked out Robert Plant performing with a band called Hobstweedle (a.k.a. Obs-tweedle) at a teachers training college near Birmingham.  Chris Dreja was with Page and Grant.

1973:
The Boston Garden was one of the venues for Led Zeppelin's North American Tour after the release of Houses of the Holy. The crowd was rowdy and Plant's voice was strained. He tried to quiet things down several times but nothing helped so several songs were cut from the setlist and there were no encores. Again.

1977:
"Shambolic" is a word I learned from Jimmy Page, and it is a word that applies to the Tempe show, which also had several songs cut from the setlist.

1977 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin, Tempe, AZ

♪  Led Zeppelin (Warrensville Heights/Cleveland OH at MusiCarnival, 20 July 1969) 

♪  Led Zeppelin(Boston MA at Boston Garden, 20 July 1973) 
♪ Led Zeppelin (Tempe AZ at A.S.U. Activities Center Arena, 20 July 1977) 
♫  Jimmy Page interview in Guitar Aficionado Magazine by Brad Tolinski

On this day 19 July

 Bring it...

1998 19 July On This Day Page & Plant at Jones Beach

• 1967 The Yardbirds-Colorado Springs, CO at Colorado Springs City Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Chicago, IL at Kinetic Playgound
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Berlin, Germany at Deutschlandhalle
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Dublin, Ireland at The Point Theatre
• 1998 Page & Plant - Wantagh, NY at Jones Beach Amphitheatre

1998 Ray Gun Magazine interview (L-R: unknown, possibly Steve Albini), Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Dave Grohl)

1998:

Robert Plant on Michael Lee: "Michael's ...got a contemporary vision on how to present the drums in a non-hard-rock fashion. The way that he approaches the drums in the studio is different to on stage. Where I'm convinced he's building a small shed."
~ Robert Plant interview by Dave Grohl for Ray Gun Magazine

Michael Lee (1969-2008) was an English drummer who some thought might work out for a reincarnation of Led Zeppelin.  A tall man, Lee used large drum sizes like John Bonham did, and had an aggressive and dynamic drumming style. He once hit himself on his own head with a drumstick during a drum solo at the end of Rock and Roll.

Lee started out with the British band, Little Angels, toured with The Cult and a later version of Thin Lizzy. He drummed for Robert Plant starting with the 1993 album Fate of Nations.  When Page and Plant began their collaboration Lee was hired on to record and tour, and received writing credits on Walking into Clarksdale.

Lee stayed with Jimmy Page for a few additional projects, including Net Aid in October 1999 when Domino was performed for the first time.

Lee died on 24 November 2008 from an epileptic seizure.

♪ Led Zeppelin (Berlin Germany at Deutschlandhalle, 19 July 1970) 
♫  Chris Welsh footage of Led Zeppelin in  Berlin, 19 July 1970 
♪  Bring It On Home/Ramble On (Page & Plant, Dublin 1995) 
♪ Page & Plant (Wantagh NY at Jones Beach Amphitheatre, 19 July 1998)  
♫  Dave Grohl interview of Page & Plant for Ray Gun Magazine 1998 

On this day 18 July

 IN PERSON!

1970 18 July On This Day Led Zeppelin in Frankfurt
♪ Frankfurt Special (SoundCloud)

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Chicago, IL at Kinetic Playground (day 1/2)
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Frankfurt, Germany at Festhalle Frankfurt 
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Vancouver, British Columbia at Pacific Coliseum 
• 1998 Page & Plant - East Rutherford, NJ at Continental Airlines Arena

1970

Chris Welsh onstage playing timbales for "Whole Lotta Love". Bonham said of that show that the audience was great - they were quiet and they listened hard.

1970 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Frankfurt

1970 review of Led Zeppelin at Frankfurt

1970 Led Zeppelin in Frankfurt

1973 

No encores in Vancouver BC because Robert Plant was ill and was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for exhaustion. He was cleared to continue the North American tour, though.

1985 Guitar Pulp Magazine - John Paul Jones, Les Paul, Jimmy Page

♪ Led Zeppelin (Vancouver British Columbia at Pacific Coliseum, 18 July 1973)

♪ Page & Plant (East Rutherford NJ at Continental Airlines Arena, 18 July 1998)

On this day 17 July

 The challenges of the live gig

1977 17 July On This Day Led Zeppelin at Seattle Kingdome
♪  Theremin Solo (Led Zeppelin at the Seattle Kingdome 1977) YouTube

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Dunbar, Scotland at Victoria Ballroom
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Essen, Germany at Grugahalle
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Seattle, WA at Seattle Center Coliseum
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Seattle, WA at The Kingdome

1970:
Author Chris Welch said of the show in Essen that Jimmy Page gave up trying to play the acoustic set because of all the noise. Robert Plant flat out told the audience to shut up.

Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin    Essen, Germany   17 July 1970 

1973:
The show began with an announcement: "Led Zeppelin has asked if we can get a few things straight here tonight. Nobody around here digs any fireworks - please cool the fireworks!"  

1977:
Four years later to the day, Plant was still asking for people to cool it with the firecrackers.  There was also monitor difficulties during the acoustic set, Jimmy Page broke a string, and paramedics were hauling people off for treatment. Fun times.

Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Seattle Kingdome 1977

Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Seattle Kingdome 1977

On this day 16 July

 It's been a long time since he rock and rolled...

1984 16 July On This Day Jimmy Page at Alexis Korner Tribute, Pistoia
♪  Bring It On Home To Me (SoundCloud)

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Ayr, Scotland at Ayr Ice Rink 
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Koln, Germany at Koln Sporthalle 
• 1984 Jimmy Page - Pistoia, Italy at Pistoia Blues Festival, Alexis Korner Blues Tribute 
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Poole, England at Poole Arts Center 
• 1998 Page & Plant -  New York, NY at Madison Square Garden 

1984:
Jimmy Page performed at the second Alexis Korner tribute concert.  Read more about Alexis Korner.

1984 Jimmy Page at Pistoia Blues Festival

1998 Jimmy Page at MSG (image capture from video posted by aprl20)

♪  Jimmy Page (Alexis Korner Blues Tribute  Pistoia, Italy at Pistoia Blues Festival, 16 July 1984)  
♪ Page & Plant Unledded Tour (Poole England at Poole Arts Center, 16 July 1995) 
♪ Page & Plant (New York NY at Madison Square Garden, 16 July 1998) 
♪  CODA unboxing with music clips (Led Zeppelin remaster) 

On this day 15 July

 Twang that thang!

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 

Jimmy Page (left foreground) 1967

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.

♪  Movin' n' Groovin' (Duane Eddy 1958) 

♪  Rebel Rouser (Duane Eddy 1958, featured in Forrest Gump)

♪  Rumble (Link Wray 1958, shown in a clip from It Might Get Loud) 
♪  Led Zeppelin (Buffalo NY, 15 July 1973)
♪ Page & Plant - Unledded Tour (St. Austell, England at Cornwall Coliseum, 15 July 1995)