On This Day 31 May

John Bonham was born on this day in 1948.

1969 31 May On This Day Led Zeppelin - New York, NY at Fillmore East

• 1948 John “Bonzo” Bonham born
• 1968 The Yardbirds - Los Angeles, CA at Shrine Auditorium
• 1969 31 May On This Day Led Zeppelin - New York, NY at Fillmore East
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Inglewood, CA at The Forum
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Greensboro, NC at Greensboro Coliseum

John Bonham

Led Zeppelin played the LA Forum on John Bonham's 25th birthday. When George Harrison and wife Patti dropped by to help celebrate at the hotel afterwards, Bonham threw both of them, fully clothed, into the swimming pool. (as reported by Newswire, June 1973)

John "Bonzo" Bonham, arguably the world's best rock drummer, was a core part of Led Zeppelin's success.

Around the same time in 1968 that Jimmy Page asked Bonham to join the new band that would become Led Zeppelin, "John had also been receiving other tempting offers from esteemed artists such as Joe Cocker and Chris Farlowe who were in positions to offer John more financially lucrative prospects. Plant and Grant bombarded Bonham with telegrams of persuasion (eight from Plant and fourty from Grant) sent to John at his favourite local pub: 'Three Men in a Boat' in Walsall. Bonham finally decided to accept Grant's offer, joining the band in early September 1968. Bonham said: "I decided I liked their music better than Cocker's or Farlowe's." Quote from http://www.johnbonham.co.uk/

1967 A young John Bonham and Robert Plant with Band of Joy

Bonzo at tea time

1971 Bonham & Page in Japan

1973 31 May John Bonham takes a bow on his birthday at LA Forum

1974 14 Feb Bonham presenting Keith Moon with a fake award
on stage during a concert featuring Roy Harper and Friends
at the Rainbow Theatre, London

1975 Bonham Earls Court

The essential John Bonham

John Bonham portrait by Jan Perssons

♪

♪ Happy Birthday Bonzo (Led Zeppelin, LA Forum 1973) YouTube
♪ Bonzo's Montreux (Led Zeppelin, CODA, recorded 1976 released 1982) YouTube

♫ John Bonham, Traps Magazine article by Chris Welch PDF 25 page download

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

On This Day 30 May

Page & Plant & Presley & Ellis and Jones & Bonham too!

1998 30 May On This Day Page & Plant - Tupelo, MS at Tupelo Coliseum

1998 30 May On This Day Page & Plant - tour book

• 1968 The Yardbirds - Riverside, CA at The Purple Haze
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - New York, NY at Fillmore East (2 sets)
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Landover MD at Capital Centre
• 1998 30 May On This Day Page & Plant - Tupelo, MS at Tupelo Coliseum

1969 Jimmy Page backstage, Fillmore East

1977:
From Dave Lewis' The Concert File (p291):

Peter grant recalled: "I was invited to dinner at the Russian Embassy and all the guests came to the gig. I think it was Landover... they all want to sit on the side of the stage. Jonesy then plays variations from Rachmaninov during No Quarter and the Russian guests are just blown away.

1977 Jimmy Page at Landover  Photo credit: L Hensley

1977 John Bonham at Landover - just because it's a great shot  Photo credit: L Hensley

1998:
Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo MS, where the Elvis Presley Birthplace & Museum is now located.  . Jimmy Page and Robert Plant visited the museum after their Tupelo show.

Elvis Presley as a young boy in Tupelo

2015 Jimmy Page and Royston Ellis

♪

♪ Tupelo (John Lee Hooker, 1960) SoundCloud
♪ I Can't Quit You (Led Zeppelin, Fillmore East 1969) YouTube
♪ Home movie (Vince Cavo and friends document their road trip from Utica, NY to Landover, with brief cuts from the 30 May 1977 concert)
♪ Full set (Led Zeppelin, Landover 30 May 1977) YouTube playlist

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

On This Day 29 May

Jimmy jams, plus two versions of On This Day iincluding a Jimmy Page selfie.  

1970 29 May On This Day more Led Zeppelin III recorded at Olympic Studios Two
(one of two versions posted on Jimmy Page's website)

Click here for the above image without text.

1970 29 May On This Day more Led Zeppelin III recorded at Olympic Studios Two 
(one of two versions posted on Jimmy Page's website)

• 1967 The Yardbirds - Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England at Cambridge City Football Club Stadium
• 1968 The Yardbirds - Concord, CA at Concord Coliseum
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Tea Party
• 1970 Led Zeppelin III recorded at Olympic Studios Two 
• 1991 Jimmy Page - Reno, NV at Crystal Bay Club - jam with local band Solid Ground
• 1998 Page & Plant - Atlanta, GA at Lakewood Amphitheater

1968 The Yardbirds in London. Possibly Chris Dreja's mini

1991 Jimmy Page - Reno, NV at Crystal Bay Club - jam with local band Solid Ground

Jimmy Page probably played just 14 performances from 1989 to 1992.  The jam at the Crystal Bay Club in Nevada with local band, Solid Ground, is one of them.  The club is not far from Incline Village where Jimmy & David Coverdale were writing material for a new album.  An 80 minute audio bootleg recording is titled Up In Smoke.

Setlist:

01 Spider In Your Web

02 Steamroller

03 Johnny B. Good

04 Hound Dog/Blues Suede Shoes

05 Smokin' Again

06 Slow Down

07 Old Time Rock And Roll

08 Kansas City

09 Louie Louie/Wild Thing/Hang On Sloopy

♪  Hey Hey What Can I Do (Led Zeppelin 1971) SoundCloud

♪ ♫  Jimmy Page with Solid Ground + text 1991 webpage

On This Day 28 May

Jimmy Page:  Always has meant business.  Always has known what he wanted to do and did it.

1986  28 May On This Day The Firm - Seattle,WA at Seattle Center Coliseum

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Boston,MA at Boston Tea Party
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Brussels,Belgium at Vorst Nationaal
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - San Diego,CA at San Diego Sports Arena
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Landover,MD at Capital Centre
• 1986  28 May On This Day The Firm - Seattle,WA at Seattle Center Coliseum

1971 John Paul Jones at Association of Professional Recording Studios exhibition, London

1972  Led Zeppelin Brussels

1973 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin, San Diego

1977 Led Zeppelin, Landover MD

Jimmy Page & Tony Franklin exit The Firm jet

The Firm promo photo

♪

♪  Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin, Brussels 1972) YouTube

♫  Guitar International Jimmy Page Interview: The Firm

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

On This Day 27 May

Official live performances! Official videos! The west was won... and the north and south and east, too..

2003 27 May On This Day How The West Was Won released

'HOW THE WEST WAS WON' WAS RELEASED

On this day in 2003, the CD ‘How The West Was Won’ had its release. The content was comprised of a selection of 1972 performances from The Los Angeles Forum and The Long Beach Arena on the West Coast of America. My idea was to accompany the chronological content of the Led Zeppelin DVD with some killer CD audio of a performance where the band had been firing on all cylinders - and 'How The West Was Won' was it. There was eager anticipation of a Led Zeppelin tour in the press around this point in time. As the band was not about to tour, the DVD and CD had to suffice!

• 1967 The Yardbirds-Ramsgate, England at Supreme Ballroom
• 1969 Led Zeppelin-Boston MA US at Boston Tea Party
• 1972 Led Zeppelin-Amsterdam, The Netherlands at Oude Rai
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - George, Washington at The Gorge Ampitheatre
• 1998 Page & Plant - Charleston, SC at North Charleston Coliseum
• 2003 27 May On This Day How The West Was Won released
• 2003 26 & 27 Led Zeppelin DVD released in UK and US
• 2003 Led Zeppelin DVD premiere at Loews Theater NYC

1969 Led Zeppelin-Boston MA US/ Boston Tea Party

1972 Led Zeppelin-Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Oude Rai

2003:
How the West Was Won is a triple live album released by Atlantic Records on CD in 2003. Tracks of original performances are from the L.A. Forum on 25 June 1972 and Long Beach Arena on 27 June 1972.

The Led Zeppelin double DVD set was released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2003, and the United States on 27 May 2003. It was the first official archival video release to contain footage of the band playing live, from 1969 to 1979. The DVD includes performances from the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, Madison Square Garden in 1973, Earls Court in 1975, and Knebworth in 1979, plus other footage.

Led Zeppelin DVD (2003) cover

  The Led Zeppelin DVD cover image is of West and East Mitten Buttes, photographed from the visitor centre at the Navajo Tribal Park located at Monument Valley, Arizona.  Below is an actual photo.

Photo of "the thumbs" at Monument Valley in AZ

2003 Led Zeppelin DVD premiere at Loews Theater NYC

2014 Paris, Next Musique remasters interview (photo Richard Dumas)

♪ Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin Amsterdam CCTV Footage Noir 1972) YouTube
♪ Travelling Riverside Blues (Led Zeppelin promo video produced in 1990 and as seen on the official Led Zeppelin DVD 2003) YouTube

♫ How The West Was Won CD track listings Wikipedia
♫ Led Zeppelin DVD track listings Wikipedia

On This Day 26 May

On This Day Page & Plant performed Wanton Song and were interviewed on Later With Jools Holland.

1998 26 May On This Day Page & Plant on Later With Jools Holland

• 1967 Yardbirds - London, England at Tiles Club
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Salt Lake City, Utah at Salt Palace
• 1977 Led Zeppelin – Landover, MD at Capital Centre (day 2 of 4)
• 1986 The Firm - Concord,CA at Concord Pavilion
• 1995 Page & Plant (Unledded Tour) - Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada at Pacific Coliseum
• 1998 Page & Plant (North American Tour) - Charlotte, NC at Charlotte Coliseum
• 1998 26 May On This Day Page & Plant perform Wanton Song and are interviewed on Later With Jools Holland

1977 Led Zeppelin – Landover, MD at Capital Centre

1998 Jimmy Page and Robert Plant perform The Wanton Song on Later With Jools Holland

1998 Jimmy Page and Robert Plant perform The Wanton Song on Later With Jools Holland

♪  Ten Years Gone (Led Zeppelin, Landover 05/56/77) YouTube
♪  Wanton Song + later interview (Page & Plant, Later With Jools Holland 1998) YouTube

On This Day 25 May

Three and a half hours of show this last night at Earls Court in 1975. 

1975 25 May On This Day Led Zeppelin final performance at Earls Court Exhibition Hall

Dave Lewis says in his book, Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, "..there was no holding Jimmy back tonight. He soloed as if his life depended on it." More from Dave Lewis' TBL on this last night at Earls Court

• 1968 The Yardbirds - San Francisco,CA at Fillmore Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin – (opens for a Who concert) Columbia,MD at Merriweather Post Pavillion
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Denver,CO at Denver Coliseum
• 1975 25 May On This Day Led Zeppelin final performance at Earls Court Exhibition Hall
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Landover, MD at Capital Centre
• 1986 The Firm - Concord,CA at Concord Pavilion
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Tacoma,WA at Tacoma Dome

1975 after the final Earls Court performance, Page & Plant left for Morocco (posted 25 May On This Day)

1975 a few days after the final Earls Court performance, Page & Plant left for Morocco (posted 25 May On This Day)

1975 Dave Lewis' tickets for Earls Court

1975 Earls Court stage - such a small thing for such a big event (Photo Steve Selwood)

1975 Jimmy Page at Earls Court (photo H. Mylett)

1975 Earls Court - The final bows (photo source Dave Lewis)

1975  Jimmy Page takes last bows at Earls Court (photo Chris Walter)

1986 The Firm, Concord CA

♪  No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, Earls Court 05/25/1975) YouTube
♪  The Song Remains The Same (Led Zeppelin, Landover 05/25/1977) YouTube
♪  Yallah (Page & Plant, Unledded 1995) YouTube