MAGE MUSIC: On This Day 18 February

Thursday, February 18, 2016

On This Day 18 February

The traveler takes another trip

1975 18 February On This Day Jimmy Page in Dominica

1967 The Yardbirds - Barnsley, England/ at Barnsley Civic Hall

1975:

The nineteenth century French nickname for absinthe, a botanically derived spirit based on wormwood, anise, and fennel, was “green fairy”. It was bitter, so traditionally, a sugar cube was placed on top of a specially designed slotted spoon, the spoon place across the top of a glass of absinthe, and iced water was dripped over the sugar cube to dissolve it.

Absinthe has been said to have psychedelic effects - hence the phrase "dancing with the green fairy" - and was thus popular with bohemians and other creative types such as Ernest Hemingway, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Mata Hari, and Marilyn Manson (who has his own label, Mansinthe).

On this day Jimmy Page met up with poet Royston Ellis in Dominica. Their friendship began back in 1961 when Jimmy Page provided guitar backing for Ellis at a poetry reading. Ellis has published over 60 books, including the 2013 retrospective book of poetry, Gone Man Squared, with a forward written by Jimmy Page.