MAGE MUSIC: On this day 06 July

Thursday, July 6, 2023

On this day 06 July

A band like Led Zeppelin really did need a manager like Peter Grant.

1969 06 July On This Day Led Zeppelin at Newport Jazz Festival

1969 Led Zeppelin - Newport, RI at Newport Jazz Festival
1973 Led Zeppelin - Chicago, IL at Chicago Stadium
1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Barcelona, Spain at Sports Palace
2000 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Bristow, VA at Nissan Pavilion

1969:
Led Zeppelin was scheduled to close the Newport Jazz Festival but "...in the interests of public safety" the festival promoter, George Wein, attempted to knock Led Zeppelin off the bill. He had not considered Peter Grant. The band went on at 1 a.m. and as NME reported, proceeded to "completely destroy the audience".

Bill Harry created the weekly Mersey Beat in 1961, writing about the Liverpool music scene. Harry had gone to art college with John Lennon, and the Mersey Beat was the first to cover the Beatles. He was a publicist for Led Zeppelin 1969-1970.

Harry recalled, "The point was - no publicity. It was carefully managed by Peter Grant that [Led Zeppelin] wouldn't do TV. I remember doing just one show with them for TV. They wouldn't do interviews. It was part of a thing he created which was successful. While everyone else was giving interviews for every other paper, the laws of trying to get as much publicity as possible, they didn't. It was more like keeping the press off them."
~ Bill Harry, in an interview with Gary James

1969 Backstage at Newport Jazz Festival

1969 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Newport Jazz Festival (Photo P Tarnoff)

1973:
There was so much audience noise and fighting during this show that Robert Plant had to constantly ask for peace and quiet. Not that it did any good.