Monday, December 25, 2023

Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues

AUDIO: Yule Zeppelin I 2011 (YouTube)

Sunday, December 24, 2023

On this day 24 December

Wishing you a joyful holiday season

with all good things:

Health and Prosperity

Happiness and Peace

and

the music of Jimmy Page

2015 Jimmy Page, London (Ross Halfin photo)

Saturday, December 23, 2023

On this day 23 December

1968 23 December On This Day Led Zeppelin arrives in the USA

1966 The Yardbirds – London at Wembley Studios
1972 Led Zeppelin – London at Alexandra Palace (day 2)
2015 Boleskine House fire

1968 Jimmy Page passport stamp

Led Zeppelin at Chateau Marmont 1969 (Jay Thompson photo)

1969

Led Zeppelin were hardly the wildest of those who stayed - and still stay - at the Chateau Marmont

1972 Led Zeppelin Alexandra Palace, London

Boleskine House restoration (Photo from 2022)

♪

♪ Led Zeppelin (London at Alexandra Palace - day 2, 23 December 1972)

Friday, December 22, 2023

On this day 22 December

Mortals have trembled... and mortals will tremble again.

22 December On This Day published 2020
Artist's impression video

Confused about the winter solstice and why some of us celebrate the solstice on one day and others the next? This crazy planet of ours is tilted! It's all good, though, and what it means is that we can celebrate it two days in a row if we want to.

2009 22 December On This Day It Might Get Loud DVD released in USA

1972 Led Zeppelin - London at Alexandra Palace
1993 Jimmy Page Coverdale-Page Tour - Nagoya Japan at Nagoya Gym
2009 Jimmy Page - It Might Get Loud DVD Released in USA

2009

As with any major event in one's life, there are always things that stand out. For me, it was me feeling so impatient with Jack White's and The Edge's scenes in It Might Get Loud. Yeah, yeah, they're great. Now let's see Jimmy Page. Because to me, it's a movie about him.

I suppose there are Jack White and The Edge fans who think the movie's about them. Bwahahaha! No way!

2009 22 December On This Day text
(click on image to enlarge)

2009 Jimmy Page plays air guitar in It Might Get Loud

2009 Jimmy Page in his equipment storage room in It Might Get Loud

May get loud again

♪

♪ Led Zeppelin (London at Alexandra Palace, 22 December 1972)

♪ Coverdale-Page (Nagoya Japan at Nagoya Gym, 22 December 1993)

♪ It Might Get Loud movie
♪ Movie trailer (Jimmy Page, It Might Get Loud 2009) YouTube
♪ Whole Lotta Love (Jimmy Page, It Might Get Loud 2009) YouTube
♪ Embryo No. 1 (Jimmy Page, It Might Get Loud 2009) YouTube
♪ Domino a.k.a. Embryo No. 2 (Jimmy Page, Net Aid at East Rutherford 1999) YouTube
♪ Embryo No. 2 a.k.a. Domino (Jimmy Page, It Might Get Loud 2009) YouTube
♪ Embryo No. 3 (Jimmy Page, It Might Get Loud 2009) YouTube

Thursday, December 21, 2023

On this day 21 December

Lucifer is the bringer of light to humankind, for which he has been vilified since day one.

December On This Day Winter Solstice
AUDIO Lucifer Rising

1971 Led Zeppelin - Salisbury, England at Salisbury City Hall
1993 Jimmy Page, Coverdale Page Tour - Osaka, Japan at Osaka Castle Hall
2012 Page and Plant interview on Charlie Rose CBS This Morning Show

Winter solstice 2023
A henge is a type of earthwork of the Neolithic period, generally consisting of a roughly circular bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area that may or may not contain ritual structures of various kinds. About 8 miles north of Salisbury, England, where Led Zeppelin played on this day in 1971, Stonehenge is aligned to the winter solstice. Although it is one of the most well-known henges, Stonehenge in fact atypical in that the ditch is outside the main earthworks.

Just like Jimmy Page: He's a guitarist but atypical. Outside the norm. But you knew that.

The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year when the planet's polar cap is pointed farthest from the sun (December in the northern hemisphere, June in the southern). Festivals, religious ceremonies and rituals mark and celebrate the next morning's "rebirth" of the sun, or of deities, or simply of the hope for survival till warm weather arrives again.

In 2023, the exact winter solstice is Friday, 22 December 2023 at 03:27 UTC (21 December EST at 10:27 EST in the US). At Stonehenge that is the wee hours of the morning on the 22nd, but the celebration begins when the sun rises after the long, chilly night and lights the standing stones of the henge. Pass the time by listening to appropriate music.

Remember, it wasn't Lucifer who kept humans in the dark, it has always been Lucifer's detractors who shrink from the light.

Welcome to the winter solstice!

2012 21 December Jones, Plant, Page on CBS Charlie Rose Morning Show

Stonehenge solstice (stonehengetours.com photo)

♪

♪ In The Light (Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti) YouTube

♪ It Might Get Loud movie

♪ Coverdale/Page (Osaka Japan at Osaka Castle Hall, 21 December 1993)
♫ Page/Plant/Jones interview on CBS TV 2012

Monday, December 11, 2023

On this day 11 December

Oh yes, the spirit of the band was shining bright

2007 11 December On This Day O2 afterglow

2023

1972 Led Zeppelin - Cardiff, Wales at Capitol Theatre (day 1)

2007

A great description of the rehearsal and the concert itself by Frank Smith in the comments section of the 09 December post, Soundcheck,

2007 Mojo Magazine cover

2007 Q Magazine cover

2007 Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, O2 concert (Ross Halfin photo)

What I love about the above photo, besides that it's a great photo by Ross Halfin, is the look on Jimmy Page's face. He so clearly loved playing together as Led Zeppelin again.

♪

♫ BBC Breakfast Show Interview (11 December 2007) YouTube
♫ Jimmy Page Interview about after the O2 concert: A nightmare (Blabbermouth news)

Sunday, December 10, 2023

On this day 10 December

Beyond amazing and into the realm of Magick.

2007, the Concert of the Century

It's rock and roll, baby. It's Jimmy Page. It's Magick.

10 December Jimmy Page's On This Day (published 2020)

1998 and 2007 - 10 December On This Day, Page & Plant at Amnesty International Show
and Led Zeppelin/Jason Bonham at Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert, O2
Videos: Black Dog Gallows Pole

On this day 2023

1966 The Yardbirds - Bristol, England at Student Union, Bristol University
1968 Led Zeppelin - London, England at Marquee Club
1975 Led Zeppelin - St. Helier, UK at Behan's Park West (guest appearance with pianist Norman Hale)
1998 Page & Plant, Amnesty International Concert - Paris, France at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
2007 Led Zeppelin Ahmet Ertegun Tribute - London,England at O2 Arena

1975

Robert Plant was still recovering from his August car accident, and the four members of Led Zeppelin were in Jersey for a few weeks. John Paul Jones and John Bonham were at a club where the resident pianist, Norman Hale, invited the two onstage to jam. Instead the full band showed up a week later for a 45 minute set with Hale at the piano and Plant seated on a stool, performing to an audience of a few hundred lucky souls.

1975 Led Zeppelin - St. Helier, UK at Behan's Park West
(guest appearance with pianist Norman Hale)

1998
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant performed When the World Was Young, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Gallows Pole, and Rock and Roll at the last Human Rights Concert to benefit Amnesty International. The full 1998 performance with Page & Plant, among others, is available on Amazon.

1998 Page & Plant, Amnesty International Show, Paris

2007
Ahmet Ertegun (1923-2006) was a powerful figure in Led Zeppelin's career. He was founder and president of Atlantic Records and was a chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After hearing Led Zeppelin's demo recording, Ertegun immediately signed the then unknown band to his label.

At age 83 Ertegun was backstage at a Rolling Stones' concert at the Beacon Theater in New York when he tripped and fell, hitting his head on the cement. During the Led Zeppelin induction to the UK Music Hall of Fame on 14 November, 2006, Jimmy Page announced that Ertegun had gone into a coma. Ahmet Ertegun died on December 14, 2006 and was buried in his native Turkey.

The remaining members of Led Zeppelin organized an Ahmet Tribute Concert to raise money for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund for university scholarships in the UK, US and Turkey. Although other performers were to share the stage, it was the reunion of Led Zeppelin, with Jason Bonham taking his father's place, that stole the headlines.

Over 20 million people tried for tickets.

2007 February, Led Zeppelin statement on passing of Ahmet Ertegun

2007 10 December, Led Zeppelin reunion, with Jason Bonham,
at Ahmut Ertegun Tribute concert, O2 Arena, London

2007 O2 ticket

2007 Dave Grohl with Scarlet Page and the "secret" setlist, before the show
(Ross Halfin photo)

Setlist:
Good Times, Bad Times
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time of Dying
For Your Life
Trampled Under Foot
Nobody's Fault But Mine
No Quarter
Since I've Been Lovin' You
Dazed and Confused
Stairway To Heaven
The Song Remains the Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir

Encore:

Whole Lotta Love

Rock and Roll