MAGE MUSIC: On this day 19 August

Saturday, August 19, 2023

On this day 19 August

I'm not sayin' the magick had anything to do with anything. No wait. I am.

1965 19 August On This Day singles by Nico released on Immediate Records label
♪ The Last Mile (Nico) Soundcloud

1965 19 August On This Day singles by Nico, produced by Jimmy Page, released
1966 The Yardbirds - Oklahoma City, OK at Wedgewood Amusement Park
1970 Led Zeppelin - Kansas City, MO at Kansas City Municipal Auditorium Arena
1971 Led Zeppelin - Vancouver, Canada at Pacific Coliseum

1965:

Nico's singles were released on this day in 1965 to launch the short-lived British label, Immediate Records, begun by Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham, with Jimmy Page hired on as guitar player, writer, and in-house producer. According to Gibson Guitar, "Page worked with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (which then featured Clapton), future Velvet Underground singer Nico (for whom Page and Oldham wrote songs, hoping to turn her into the next Marianne Faithfull), and R&B singer Chris Farlowe. Page also recorded a single of his own, "She Just Satisfies," on which he sang lead vocals."

Immediate Records released albums and singles in the US with MGM Records. The group The Fifth Dimension and Nico's singles were early single releases under that US deal.

To "routine" (referred to in the On This Day posting) according to the Oxford English Dictionary is to "link or unite (aspects of a performance) into a routine". The rest is up to your imagination.

1965 The Last Mile, by Nico, produced, arranged & conducted by Jimmy Page

1965 single by Nico, produced by Jimmy Page

1970:

"...an abundance of hair was not the only change in Led Zeppelin, fast-rising British group. Without losing force and volume, they have added a mellowness which benefits their talents as well.... the group in the past always seemed to be coming on strong. Now they have developed a change of pace. Without sacrificing energy, they have added more style."

~ Steve Weber, Music in America newspaper review, Aug. 1970

It is interesting how reviewers were noticing and commenting on the evolution of the band in such a short time.

1971:

By this time not yet three years from its first performance, even more than 17,000 seats in a venue for Led Zeppelin wasn't enough. Over 3,000 fans without tickets threatened to trash Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum before the venue opened the doors to them to prevent damage to the building. The show was stopped twice to move equipment back from the edge of the stage because the audience at the front was ripping the stage apart.

Robert Plant: "Yeah, sometimes it gets a bit scary when we see half the stage disappearing..."

Jimmy Page: "It was a bit rough."

~ Rick McGrath, The Straight newspaper review, August 20 1971