On this day 29 January

 UNDER CONSTRUCTION - links & info may not be up to date. I've got another project going that needs my attention. Thank you for your patience.

Pretty in pink. Or any other color.

2011 29 January On This Day Jimmy Page loans guitars and costumes for Japanese exhibition

• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Greensboro, NC at Greensboro Coliseum 

1975:
Greensboro. Chris Charlesworth describes near-combat conditions on his Just Backdated blog.

"... outside the venue a shortage of tickets has caused violence to erupt. About five hundred fans have attempted to storm the rear of the building, throwing broken bottles, stones and pieces of scaffolding. Three of the five limousines, those parked outside, become severely damaged.

"...the drivers of the three limos parked outside, fearing further damage to them, have removed their cars and the other two drivers, whose cars are parked inside, want to take theirs away too. This, of course, would leave the Led Zeppelin entourage stranded when the concert is over..."

Peter Grant attempts to buy the limos. In the end, he simply commandeers two.

"The huge stadium doors open and the angry mob of fans who didn’t make it into the show surge forward into our path. Grant blasts a way through, his horn blaring, we follow, and the crowd parts like the Red Sea. Our truncated convoy reaches speeds of up to 70 mph in a heavily built-up area with Grant leading the way, driving his car through red lights and on the wrong side of the road through the town of Greensboro. Our car, crammed, follows in hot pursuit. Good grief, I think, this is far more exciting than any rock concert.

"Then, when we reach the point at the airport where the Starship is waiting, a funny thing happens. Instead of stopping as we have done, Grant drives round and round the huge aircraft, tyres screeching, faster and faster, burning rubber. When he finally skids to a stop the four members of Led Zeppelin tumble out, hysterical with laughter..."
~ Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Greensboro (Neal Preston photo)

2011:
We all know about Jimmy Page's famous Gibson doubleneck, but some folks might not be familiar with that oddly shaped white guitar pictured on this day.  It is a 12 string Vox Phantom XII that Jimmy Page first used on stage with the Yardbirds in 1967 and in the studio for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor from the Yardbirds' album Little Games.  Jimmy Page also used it for Thank You on Led Zeppelin II in 1969.  

According to advertising posters, the photos of the guitars were taken by Scarlet Page.

2011 Jimmy Page's guitars, as shown in exhibition brochure

1967 Jimmy Page / Yardbirds using Vox Phantom XII guitar

2011 Photo from the exhibition brochure (photo taken 1974 at Swan Song launch party

Jimmy Page photo from exhibition brochure

♪

♪  Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor (The Yardbirds, Little Games 1967) YouTube
♪  Thank You (Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II 1969) YouTube
♪  Thank You (Led Zeppelin, backing track 2014 remaster) YouTube
♪  Led Zeppelin (Greensboro NC at Greensboro Coliseum, 29 January 1975) 

On this day 03 August

 A great guitar is a thing of magic in the hands of a great guitarist who wields great magic.

2009 03 August On This Day Jimmy Page checks out the Gibson Les Paul "Number Two" prototype

• 1967 The Yardbirds - Racine, WI at New Sound Dance ClubYMCA
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Houston, TX at Houston Music Hall

2007 Q Magazine cover (Ross Halfin photo)

2007:
Ross Halfin on the Q cover Guitar Heroes issue and how it was done.

Edge was shot in Dublin. He was very professional, turned up a half hour late, apologised and stayed on to make up the time. He asked if I'd ever shot them early on. I told him I'd discovered America and toured with Rush, ACDC, UFO, Ozzy, Aerosmith and that ilk. I liked Edge a lot. The U2 camp is like being in the army, it's run with military precision.

Jack White was in Nashville and we shot at 9am - he's got a daughter so he's up early.

Jimmy Page was in Fulham on the hottest day of the year. I shot quite a lot that wasn't used.

Johnny Marr was in sunny Manchester (look at the sky on the inside spread). I'd never met him, he was a good bloke - as they say in ancient Rome. We talked about Rory Gallagher and how he acted towards people, always gracious.

Slash was in LA, at the bar of the Sunset Marquis Hotel. He did the interview sitting under giant prints of himself.

Matt Bellamy was at the Soho Hotel in London. Terry Hall (Matt's sexy PR) told me I had 15 minutes in a tiny bedroom, with the backdrop taking up the whole room. Steve Peck from Q stepped in and stretched it to 45 minutes while Terry chain-smoked and wouldn't stop talking inbetween blowing smoke all over the room.

Dave Grohl was in Los Angeles. Diamond Dave was so hyper. I was useless, not focused, shot in the evening while I was so jetlagged - I just wanted to go to bed.. At the end of the day I think it worked out well. The Master can still work well, even when half asleep.

Joe Perry was in London inbetween taking a nap and eating at Nobu with Jimmy Page.

~ Ross Halfin Diary August 2007

Features of Gibson's Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul

Gibson's Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul guitar

2009:

Jimmy Page has played and owns bunches of guitars, and has played and owns bunches of Gibson guitars. His Les Paul "Number One" is the guitar he got from Joe Walsh in early 1969, and it quickly became his go-to guitar, bumping his Fender Telecaster from that position. "Number One" was used to record Led Zeppelin II and was in use through to the 2007 O2 concert and the 2008 Foo Fighters concert at Wembley Stadium. 

"Number Two" was purchased to supplement "Number One", possibly to avoid damaging the first guitar any further (just think about the force on a guitar when it's slapped with a bow) or maybe to have two guitars with very similar sound but with different tuning available on stage. "Number Two" was put into action after the initial modifications in the beginning of 1975 and was in use through to the 2007 O2 concert. 

From the Gibson website:

Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul.

Every musician knows that late ’50s Sunburst Les Paul Standards are hard enough to come by as it is. Obtaining a pristine and exemplary ’59 ’Burst and modifying it for heightened performance and vastly expanded tonal options? Unheard of… unless, of course, you’re Jimmy Page. That’s exactly what the legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist, perhaps the world’s most iconic Les Paul player, did with his own ’59 Les Paul Standard, and now—thanks to the extreme efforts of Gibson’s Custom Shop and the intimate cooperation of Jimmy Page himself—the artist’s hallowed “Number Two” Les Paul is available to mere mortals, in the form of the Custom Shop Jimmy Page “Number Two” Les Paul. Produced in strictly limited numbers, with two levels of aging, this guitar captures the look, feel, sound, and versatility of one of the greatest artist-owned Les Pauls of all time, and it is likely to disappear from authorized Gibson dealers in record time.
[Mage Music note: this model is no longer available from Gibson]

Image from Gibson website for Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul guitar

♪  Rock and Roll (Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones with Foo Fighters, Wembley, 2008) YouTube
♪  Ramble On (Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones with Foo Fighters, Wembley, 2008) YouTube

On this day 25 July

 "He was such a stylist.  I don't think anybody ever managed to play the same way as Scotty."

~ Jimmy Page, at Gibson guitar party for Scotty Moore, 1999

1999 25 July On This Day Jimmy Page presents Gibson Signature guitar to Scotty Moore
♪  Mystery Train (Jimmy Page) Soundcloud

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Bath, England at Bath Pavilion
• 1967 The Yardbirds - San Francisco, CA at Fillmore Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - West Allis/Milwaukee WI at Midwest Rock Festival 
• 1995 Page & Plant  Unledded Tour - London at Wembley Arena 

Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III (1931-) is an American guitarist and recording engineer who backed Elvis Presley between 1954 and the beginning of the Hollywood years. Many of his performances are considered precedent-setting.  He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Scotty Moore used a thumbpick (a flat pick with a loop to slip your thumb into) to create his own unique finger-picking style. He also used an EchoSonic guitar amplifier with built-in tape echo.  He started out with a Gibson ES-295. Gibson created a Scotty Moore Signature guitar that was presented to Moore at a private party at North London's Air Studios.  (At about 3:19 on the video hear Jeff Beck tell Jimmy Page to shut up!)

Associated Independent Recording (AIR) was founded in 1965 by Beatles producer Sir George Martin and his partner John Burgess.  The  studio has operated in three locations: Oxford Street, London (1970-1991), Montserrat Island, West Indies (mid 1970s-1989) and AIR Lyndhurst Hall, London (1991-present).  

1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - London at Wembley Arena

♪  White Summer/Black Mountain Side (Led Zeppelin, Midwest Rock Festival Milwaukee 1969) YouTube
♪  Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin, Midwest Rock Festival Milwaukee 1969) YouTube

♪  Orchestra soundcheck (Page & Plant, Wembley 1995) YouTube
♪  Wanton Song (Page & Plant, Wembley 1995) YouTube
♪  The Song Remains the Same  (Page & Plant, Wembley 1995) YouTube
♪  Full show  (Page & Plant, Wembley 1995) YouTube

On this day 15 July

 Twang that thang!

2010 15 July On This Day Jimmy Page and Duane Eddy interview at BBC Studios
♪ Bye Bye Blues (Duane Eddy) SoundCloud
♪ Rebel Rouser (Duane Eddy) YouTube

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Cowdenbreath, Scotland at Cowenbreath Palais de Danse & Perth Scotland at Perth City Hall
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Lorain, OH at The Big Moose
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Buffalo, NY at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - St. Austell, England at Cornwall Coliseum
• 2010  BBC2 interview of Jimmy Page by Duane Eddy 

Jimmy Page (left foreground) 1967

1967:

The bill at The Big Moose Showcase included Sam the Sham and the Farrows; Tommy James and the Shondells; and then the Yardbirds. The venue was a small roller rink - such venues not uncommon back then.  The audience stood on the floor and there was no stage for the bands.  Jimmy Page, the Yardbirds -- up close and personal.

1973:

If only the people with firecrackers in the audience knew what we think of them now for messing up a Led Zeppelin show. The band seemed to get off to a slow start, but Robert Plant got into it with Heartbreaker and Jimmy Page picked up on the energy and took off. The Buffalo Evening News claimed "Led Zeppelin Kneads Crowd to Silly Putty". 

1973 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Buffalo (Photo Al Ligammari)

1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour at St. Austell, England

2010:
On this day Jimmy Page was interviewed by Duane Eddy for August 2010 broadcasts of two episodes memorializing the life of Les Paul, who had died the year before. Duane Eddy also interviewed BB King, Joe Perry, Jeff Beck, Albert Lee, Nile Rodgers and others. Portions of what may be the last full-length interview of Les Paul were also broadcast.

Duane Eddy (born in New York in 1938) was an interesting choice to perform the interviews. An American rock guitarist, Eddy developed a characteristic twangy sound created by playing melody on his bass strings. Early on he experimented with the echo chamber effect, actually recording in a 2,000 gallon water tank for Movin' n' Groovin because the Phoenix Recording studio didn't have an echo chamber. Eddy's musical genre was instrumental rock, which emphasizes musical instruments with little to no singing. Instrumental rock was most popular from mid-1950s to mid-1960s). Duane Eddy's twang and echo chamber, Link Wray's power chord, the focus on guitar: It would be safe to say that Jimmy Page paid attention.

Duane Eddy sold 12 million records by 1963 and more than 100 million over his career. He was the first rock guitarist to have a signature model guitar by Guild Guitars in 1960.  Gretsch and Gibson have also produced Duane Eddy signature model guitars. Guitar Player Magazine bestowed the first ever "Legend Award" on Les Paul, and in 2004 Duane Eddy received the second.

♪  Movin' n' Groovin' (Duane Eddy 1958) 

♪  Rebel Rouser (Duane Eddy 1958, featured in Forrest Gump)

♪  Rumble (Link Wray 1958, shown in a clip from It Might Get Loud) 
♪  Led Zeppelin (Buffalo NY, 15 July 1973)
♪ Page & Plant - Unledded Tour (St. Austell, England at Cornwall Coliseum, 15 July 1995)

On This Day 29 January

Pretty in pink. Or any other color.

2011 29 January On This Day Jimmy Page loans guitars and costumes for Japanese exhibition

• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Greensboro, NC at Greensboro Coliseum 

1975:
Greensboro. Chris Charlesworth describes near-combat conditions on his Just Backdated blog.

"... outside the venue a shortage of tickets has caused violence to erupt. About five hundred fans have attempted to storm the rear of the building, throwing broken bottles, stones and pieces of scaffolding. Three of the five limousines, those parked outside, become severely damaged.

"...the drivers of the three limos parked outside, fearing further damage to them, have removed their cars and the other two drivers, whose cars are parked inside, want to take theirs away too. This, of course, would leave the Led Zeppelin entourage stranded when the concert is over..."

Peter Grant attempts to buy the limos. In the end, he simply commandeers two.

"The huge stadium doors open and the angry mob of fans who didn’t make it into the show surge forward into our path. Grant blasts a way through, his horn blaring, we follow, and the crowd parts like the Red Sea. Our truncated convoy reaches speeds of up to 70 mph in a heavily built-up area with Grant leading the way, driving his car through red lights and on the wrong side of the road through the town of Greensboro. Our car, crammed, follows in hot pursuit. Good grief, I think, this is far more exciting than any rock concert.

"Then, when we reach the point at the airport where the Starship is waiting, a funny thing happens. Instead of stopping as we have done, Grant drives round and round the huge aircraft, tyres screeching, faster and faster, burning rubber. When he finally skids to a stop the four members of Led Zeppelin tumble out, hysterical with laughter..."
~ Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Greensboro (Neal Preston photo)

2011:
We all know about Jimmy Page's famous Gibson doubleneck, but some folks might not be familiar with that oddly shaped white guitar pictured on this day.  It is a 12 string Vox Phantom XII that Jimmy Page first used on stage with the Yardbirds in 1967 and in the studio for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor from the Yardbirds' album Little Games.  Jimmy Page also used it for Thank You on Led Zeppelin II in 1969.  

According to advertising posters, the photos of the guitars were taken by Scarlet Page.

2011 Jimmy Page's guitars, as shown in exhibition brochure

1967 Jimmy Page / Yardbirds using Vox Phantom XII guitar

2011 Photo from the exhibition brochure (photo taken 1974 at Swan Song launch party

Jimmy Page photo from exhibition brochure

♪

♪  Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor (The Yardbirds, Little Games 1967) YouTube
♪  Thank You (Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II 1969) YouTube
♪  Thank You (Led Zeppelin, backing track 2014 remaster) YouTube
♪  Trampled Underfoot (Led Zeppelin, Greensboro 1975) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube

On This Day 03 August

A great guitar is a thing of magic in the hands of a great guitarist.

2009 03 August On This Day Jimmy Page checks out the Gibson Les Paul "Number Two" prototype

• 1967 The Yardbirds - Racine, WI at New Sound Dance ClubYMCA
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Houston, TX at Houston Music Hall

2007 Q Magazine cover (Ross Halfin photo)

2007:
Ross Halfin on the Q cover Guitar Heroes issue and how it was done.

Edge was shot in Dublin. He was very professional, turned up a half hour late, apologised and stayed on to make up the time. He asked if I'd ever shot them early on. I told him I'd discovered America and toured with Rush, ACDC, UFO, Ozzy, Aerosmith and that ilk. I liked Edge a lot. The U2 camp is like being in the army, it's run with military precision.

Jack White was in Nashville and we shot at 9am - he's got a daughter so he's up early.

Jimmy Page was in Fulham on the hottest day of the year. I shot quite a lot that wasn't used.

Johnny Marr was in sunny Manchester (look at the sky on the inside spread). I'd never met him, he was a good bloke - as they say in ancient Rome. We talked about Rory Gallagher and how he acted towards people, always gracious.

Slash was in LA, at the bar of the Sunset Marquis Hotel. He did the interview sitting under giant prints of himself.

Matt Bellamy was at the Soho Hotel in London. Terry Hall (Matt's sexy PR) told me I had 15 minutes in a tiny bedroom, with the backdrop taking up the whole room. Steve Peck from Q stepped in and stretched it to 45 minutes while Terry chain-smoked and wouldn't stop talking inbetween blowing smoke all over the room.

Dave Grohl was in Los Angeles. Diamond Dave was so hyper. I was useless, not focused, shot in the evening while I was so jetlagged - I just wanted to go to bed.. At the end of the day I think it worked out well. The Master can still work well, even when half asleep.

Joe Perry was in London inbetween taking a nap and eating at Nobu with Jimmy Page.

~ Ross Halfin Diary August 2007

Features of Gibson's Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul

Gibson's Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul guitar

2009:

Jimmy Page has played and owns bunches of guitars, and has played and owns bunches of Gibson guitars. His Les Paul "Number One" is the guitar Mr. Page got from Joe Walsh in early 1969, and it quickly became his go-to guitar (bumping his Fender Telecaster from that position). "Number One" was used to record Led Zeppelin II and was in use through to the 2007 O2 concert and the 2008 Foo Fighters concert at Wembley Stadium. 

"Number Two" was purchased to supplement "Number One", possibly to avoid damaging the first guitar any further (just think about the force on a guitar when it's slapped with a bow) or maybe to have two guitars with very similar sound but with different tuning available on stage. "Number Two" was put into action after the initial modifications in the beginning of 1975 and was in use through to the 2007 O2 concert. 

I'm expecting to be seeing more of both these guitars in the future when Mr. Page puts out new music.

I'd talk about what modifications have been done to Jimmy Page's Gibson Les Paul "Number One" and "Number Two" but that's not my thing.  And of course, if you really want to know the details of the guitars and other gear, you want to buy Jeff Strawman's definitive book, Led  Zeppelin Gear: All the Gear From Led Zeppelin and the Solo Careers, which will be published in October 2015.

From the Gibson website:
Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul.

Every musician knows that late ’50s Sunburst Les Paul Standards are hard enough to come by as it is. Obtaining a pristine and exemplary ’59 ’Burst and modifying it for heightened performance and vastly expanded tonal options? Unheard of… unless, of course, you’re Jimmy Page. That’s exactly what the legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist, perhaps the world’s most iconic Les Paul player, did with his own ’59 Les Paul Standard, and now—thanks to the extreme efforts of Gibson’s Custom Shop and the intimate cooperation of Jimmy Page himself—the artist’s hallowed “Number Two” Les Paul is available to mere mortals, in the form of the Custom Shop Jimmy Page “Number Two” Les Paul. Produced in strictly limited numbers, with two levels of aging, this guitar captures the look, feel, sound, and versatility of one of the greatest artist-owned Les Pauls of all time, and it is likely to disappear from authorized Gibson dealers in record time.
[Mage Music note: this model is no longer available from Gibson]

Image from Gibson website for Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul guitar

♪  Rock and Roll (Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones with Foo Fighters, Wembley, 2008) YouTube
♪  Ramble On (Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones with Foo Fighters, Wembley, 2008) YouTube

On This Day 25 July

"He was such a stylist.  I don't think anybody ever managed to play the same way as Scotty."

~ Jimmy Page, at Gibson guitar party for Scotty Moore, 1999

1999 25 July On This Day Jimmy Page presents Gibson Signature guitar to Scotty Moore
♪  Mystery Train (Jimmy Page) Soundcloud

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Bath, England at Bath Pavilion
• 1967 The Yardbirds - San Francisco, CA at Fillmore Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - West Allis/Milwaukee WI at Midwest Rock Festival 
• 1995 Page & Plant  Unledded Tour - London at Wembley Arena 

Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III (1931-) is an American guitarist and recording engineer who backed Elvis Presley between 1954 and the beginning of the Hollywood years. Many of his performances are considered precedent-setting.  He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Scotty Moore used a thumbpick (a flat pick with a loop to slip your thumb into) to create his own unique finger-picking style. He also used an EchoSonic guitar amplifier with built-in tape echo.  He started out with a Gibson ES-295. Gibson created a Scotty Moore Signature guitar that was presented to Moore at a private party at North London's Air Studios.  (At about 3:19 on the video hear Jeff Beck tell Jimmy Page to shut up!)

Associated Independent Recording (AIR) was founded in 1965 by Beatles producer Sir George Martin and his partner John Burgess.  The  studio has operated in three locations: Oxford Street, London (1970-1991), Montserrat Island, West Indies (mid 1970s-1989) and AIR Lyndhurst Hall, London (1991-present).  

1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - London at Wembley Arena

♪  White Summer/Black Mountain Side (Led Zeppelin, Midwest Rock Festival Milwaukee 1969) YouTube
♪  Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin, Midwest Rock Festival Milwaukee 1969) YouTube

♪  Orchestra soundcheck (Page & Plant, Wembley 1995) YouTube
♪  Wanton Song (Page & Plant, Wembley 1995) YouTube
♪  The Song Remains the Same  (Page & Plant, Wembley 1995) YouTube
♪  Full show  (Page & Plant, Wembley 1995) YouTube

On This Day 15 July

2010 15 July On This Day Jimmy Page and Duane Eddy interview at BBC Studios
♪ Bye Bye Blues (Duane Eddy) SoundCloud
♪ Rebel Rouser (Duane Eddy) YouTube

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Cowdenbreath, Scotland at Cowenbreath Palais de Danse & Perth Scotland at Perth City Hall
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Lorain, OH at The Big Moose
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Buffalo, NY at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - St. Austell, England at Cornwall Coliseum
• 2010  BBC2 interview of Jimmy Page by Duane Eddy 

1967:

The bill at The Big Moose Showcase included Sam the Sham and the Farrows; Tommy James and the Shondells; and then the Yardbirds. The venue was a small roller rink - such venues not uncommon back then.  The audience stood on the floor and there was no stage for the bands.  Jimmy Page, the Yardbirds -- up close and personal.

1973:

If only the people with firecrackers in the audience knew what we think of them now for messing up a Led Zeppelin show. The band seemed to get off to a slow start, but Robert Plant got into it with Heartbreaker and Jimmy Page picked up on the energy and took off. The Buffalo Evening News claimed "Led Zeppelin Kneads Crowd to Silly Putty". 

1973 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Buffalo (Photo Al Ligammari)

1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour at St. Austell, England

2010:
On this day Jimmy Page was interviewed by Duane Eddy for August 2010 broadcasts of two episodes memorializing the life of Les Paul, who had died the year before. Duane Eddy also interviewed BB King, Joe Perry, Jeff Beck, Albert Lee, Nile Rodgers and others. Portions of what may be the last full-length interview of Les Paul were also broadcast.

Duane Eddy (born in New York in 1938) was an interesting choice to perform the interviews. An American rock guitarist, Eddy developed a characteristic twangy sound created by playing melody on his bass strings. Early on he experimented with the echo chamber effect, actually recording in a 2,000 gallon water tank for Movin' n' Groovin because the Phoenix Recording studio didn't have an echo chamber. Eddy's musical genre was instrumental rock, which emphasizes musical instruments with little to no singing. Instrumental rock was most popular from mid-1950s to mid-1960s). Duane Eddy's twang and echo chamber, Link Wray's power chord, the focus on guitar: It would be safe to say that Jimmy Page paid attention.

Duane Eddy sold 12 million records by 1963 and more than 100 million over his career. He was the first rock guitarist to have a signature model guitar by Guild Guitars in 1960.  Gretsch and Gibson have also produced Duane Eddy signature model guitars. Guitar Player Magazine bestowed the first ever "Legend Award" on Les Paul, and in 2004 Duane Eddy received the second.

♪  Movin' n' Groovin' (Duane Eddy 1958) YouTube

♪  Rebel Rouser (Duane Eddy 1958, featured in Forrest Gump) YouTube

♪  Rumble (Link Wray 1958, shown in a clip from It Might Get Loud) YouTube
♪  Full show (Led Zeppelin, Buffalo 1973) YouTube

[edited 15 July 2020]

CSI: Guitar

It "stayed with me for a long time until some thieving magpie took it to his nest."
~ Jimmy Page Interview, Guitar Magazine July, 1977


Mage Music 78 

Jimmy Page used a Gibson ‘Black Beauty’ Les Paul for most of his session work and solo singles prior to Led Zeppelin and briefly on tour with Led Zeppelin. This Gibson model is referred to in the world of musical instruments as the Fretless Wonder because of Gibson's advertising that the frets are low and smooth and give the guitar fast playing action.  The Black Beauty also has three humbuckers (electric guitar pickups that cancel out the interference - or hum - that otherwise would be heard during quiet sections of music).

Jimmy Page had his own Black Beauty modified over the years, including the addition of extra switches and a Bigsby tremolo, allowing Mr. Page to produce his own distinctive sound from it. Listen to the middle section of Bring it On Home, from Royal Albert Hall, for example.

The Black Beauty was stolen at an airport April 13-14, 1970. In spite of the reward offered for its return, it still is out there somewhere.

Or is it?

The story goes that during the 1975 tour in Vancouver Mr. Page was presented with a vintage Black Beauty that was supposedly the stolen one, and although when he checked it over and found that the serial number on the guitar was missing, Mr. Page decided it was his anyway and had it shipped to England.  So the story says.

If that's true, Jimmy Page has never played that particular guitar - one he's referred to as "precious" - again in public, nor has he referred to having possession of it in various interviews over the years.

In a Winter 1980 CREEM Magazine article, Jimmy Page said, "...it was very recognizable for all the custom work that Joe Jammer had done on it."  Joe Jammer could certainly  have identified the guitar in 1975 just by looking at the custom wiring.  Identification could also have been made in spite of the missing serial number on the guitar because the Bigsby tremolo arm has a serial number on it that is not only known but supplied in the reward ad Jimmy Page had placed in Rolling Stone.

In 2010 a person put out feelers on the internet about a guitar he wanted to put on eBay that supposedly was a gift to an uncle from Jimmy Page.  That story goes that the uncle died and left it to the guy who now wanted to sell it because he was "not a big Led Zeppelin fan".  Rather a stretch of imagination to think that Jimmy Page would give his Black Beauty to anyone and claim it was stolen.  We must presume that the 2010 guitar was not the real thing. Or... maybe the eBay guitar was the real thing - that is, the stolen guitar - and the queries about it put out in forums over the internet was a toe in the water to see how the world would react if it was offered for sale. Whatever the truth about that guitar, the subject was dropped like a hot potato and there was nothing from Mr. Page about it.

So where is Jimmy Page's Black Beauty today?

Cold Case, Hot Items

It's too late for a Crime Scene Investigation, obviously - but one has to wonder about what is now a very cold case.  What exactly would someone do if he/she had possession of that Black Beauty?  It couldn't be played in public.  It couldn't be publicly sold as Jimmy Page's guitar - not without a certificate of authenticity. And anyone who owned it would be at risk of exposure by revealing having possession of it to another person - so no bragging rights.

Highly valuable items have been stolen over the years for many reasons - and a few of these have never turned up in spite of extraordinary rewards (e.g., $5 million for information leading to the return of 13 paintings stolen from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990).  What do people do with these things?

Is some aged rock star wannabe sitting in a locked room somewhere striking power chords from the stolen guitar?  Is it hanging in a vault, unplayed, merely stashed with stolen paintings and artifacts from museums?

Or maybe it wasn't stolen, just misplaced.  Maybe the guitar is sitting in some high school musical instrument room, dented and scratched by generations of kids with dreams of fame and fortune without a clue of what they practiced on.  Maybe it ended up in a pawn shop, purchased by someone for a kid's birthday present and is now sitting in an attic somewhere, forgotten. Maybe it went to the airport's lost item room and was somehow never found by Jimmy Page's roadies - who must have looked for it, though there's no record of that.

Maybe it ended up in a landfill.  I pray that is not true!

Various works of fiction have postulated that eccentric thieves just want to have the artwork for themselves to enjoy, but they always get busted because they can't help but brag.  It's more likely the Black Beauty is being used like other objects of great value that can't be sold publicly - for black market barter.  Weapons or drugs or human slaves for that guitar?

That's just so wrong in so many ways.  Maybe it's not true.  I fear it is.

The power of numbers

Cold cases can be solved with persistence and if enough resources are thrown at them.  I think the case of the missing Black Beauty could be solved.

Here's what I'm thinking:  Jimmy Page has millions of fans.  That's millions of people who could be looking for that Black Beauty.  I don't care that it has been nearly half a century since Jimmy Page touched that guitar - I think that if millions of people became cold case investigators, we could find the Black Beauty and get it back to where it belongs.

I think that if all of us who cared would simply choose to change our own realities to one where Jimmy Page and his Black Beauty were reunited, that we could pull off a world-wide feat of Magick.

I think there is no black market or black vault or black heart that could keep the Black Beauty from being brought back to the light if we wanted her there.

What do you think?