On this day 10 February

 UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG. I'm working on another (time consuming) project that takes precedence. Note that info on this page has not been fully updated yet and links may not work properly. Thank you for your patience.

Memphis yes or Memphis no?

1969 10 February On This Day Led Zeppelin Memphis (maybe)

• 1968 The Yardbirds - London, England at Barlong Hall
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Memphis, TN at Memphis State University
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Landover, MD at Capital Centre
• 2002 Jimmy Page receives an award from Traffic Musique (French TV) 

1969: 

There seems to be some disagreement as to whether Led Zeppelin did actually do a show at Memphis State University on this day. David Stanley, Elvis Presley's step-brother, reported on having attended the concert, as did several others. However, the key to the city was definitely something that happened in 1970 (referenced in various newspapers), when Led Zeppelin performed on 17 April. At the 1970 show Robert Plant stated: "We've waited for a long time to come to Memphis, in fact ever since we were born I think!" which makes it sound a lot like the band hadn't been there the year before.

Dave Lewis reported that Jimmy Page attempted to get some time for the band in the Sun Studio (shown in the On This Day photo) but that the studio was already booked.

1970:
On 31 January 1970 Robert Plant was in a car accident, a head-on collision while he was driving his Jaguar. He suffered from broken teeth and various severe cuts that no doubt needed stitches.The 07 and 17 February shows in Scotland were cancelled.

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin Landover MD

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin Landover MD

2002 Jimmy Page, Paris (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

♪  Heartbreaker/Audience footage (Led Zeppelin, Landover 1975) 

♪  Led Zeppelin (Landover MD at  Capital Centre, 10 February 1975)

On this day 28 August

 Where's Jimmy?

1964 28 August On This Day Jimmy Page Session Man (Brenda Lee, PJ Proby, Lulu)
♪  Is It True (Brenda Lee, feat. Jimmy Page guitar 1964) Soundcloud

• 1966 The Yardbirds - San Diego, CA at San Diego Convention Hall
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Detroit, MI at Olympia Stadium
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - St. Louis, MO at St. Louis Arena (no info available)
• 1985 Jimmy Page, Jason Bonham, Chris Squire & Mick Thompson jam with Opus at Ibiza Sun Power Festival 
• 1998 Page & Plant - Reading, Berkshire, England at Reading Festival 

1970

When Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones broke out their acoustical instruments the audience was unhappy. The PA system couldn't pick up the subtle sounds and nobody beyond the first rows could hear a thing. JP eventually "bounced a mike over to show his displeasure", according to one reviewer. 

The recording is poor, with a lot of cutting out. Only the first third of the show got recorded.

1985:

There seems to be some confusion about what Jimmy Page was doing on this day in the 1980s. JP's  website reports his having performed at the 1985 Sun Power Festival in Ibiza with Chris Squire, Jason Bonham and Mick Thompson, however Jason Bonham has said that it was 1986 when he was with Jimmy Page in Ibiza. On the other hand, the band, Virginia Wolf (Jason Bonham, drums) apparently recorded their eponymous first album in Ibiza the summer of 1985.  

Note the sign behind Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham in the photo below. Opus is an Austrian band that was formed in 1973 and is still active today. The are best known for their single, Live is Life, released in 1984. The song was a European hit in the summer of 1985 and the band's fan page mentions performing in Ibiza around then. The Opus news clipping does confirm the Jimmy Page connection, the location (Ibiza) and puts it in late August. Perhaps someone can check through the page the clipping was from [PDF] and let us know if there is anything more specific about this show there.

1985 Jimmy Page, Jason Bonham, Ibiza

1985 Jimmy Page, Ibiza

1985 Opus news clipping

1998, Page & Plant, Reading Festival

♪

♪  Is It True (Brenda Lee, feat. Jimmy Page guitar 1964) 

♪  Sweet and Tender Romance (PJ Proby, feat. Jimmy Page guitar 1964) 

♪  Can't Hear You No More (Lulu, feat. Jimmy Page guitar 1964) 

♪  Led Zeppelin (Detroit MI at Olympia Stadium, 28 August 1970) 

♪  Page & Plant (Reading Festival, 28 August 1998) 

On this day 29 July

 Dum de dum dum...

1973 29 July On This Day Led Zeppelin - New York, NY at Madison Square Garden
♪ Drake Hotel (Dragnet radio & TV theme song) (Soundcloud)

• 1967 The Yardbirds - Danville, CA at San Ramon High School
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Edmonton, Alberta, at Kinsmen Field House
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - New York, NY at Madison Square Garden
• 1984 Jimmy Page with Roy Harper at Battersea Park, London

1973:
This was the third performance in a row at Madison Square Garden. At the end of Whole Lotta Love, East Indian fire-eater Mike Quashie came dancing out on the stage with a couple of torches. He lit John Bonham's gong and one drumstick, but Bonzo just kept on playing.

This is the show where the robbery occurred of MSG receipts from the safety deposit box at the Drake Hotel. Originally reported as $203,000, the amount was $180,000 and no one was ever arrested for the theft. The band later sued the hotel and received a settlement.

After the show, the band went to a party held by Ahmet Ertegun to present gold records for Houses of the Holy.

This final night was also the final performance in this 1973 North American tour.

1973 29 July Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin - New York, NY at Madison Square Garden

1973 Led Zeppelin at MSG - Mike Quashie lights Bonzo's fire

Led Zeppelin - New York  1973 - Houses of the Holy Gold Album Award.

1984:
GLC Free Festival Battersea Park in London was put on by the Greater London Council, the city's local authority from 1964 to 1986.  It was one of two music festivals used to highlight what the GLC was doing to fight unemployment, boost the London economy and help create and fund new jobs. 

1984 Jimmy Page at Battersea with Roy Harper

♪ Led Zeppelin (New York NY at Madison Square Garden day 3/3, 29 July 1973)

♪  Short & Sweet (Roy Harper feat Jimmy Page, Battersea Park London, 29 July 1984)

On this day 02 July

 The guitar is the primary event, at least when it's Jimmy Page's guitar.

1988 02 July On This Day Outrider hits the Billboard charts

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Brixton, London, at Ram Jam Club
• 1980 Led Zeppelin - Mannheim, Germany at Eisstadion am Friedrichspark
• 1988 02 July On This Day Outrider hits the Billboard charts
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Munich, Germany at Munich Festival
• 2000 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Mansfield, MA at Tweeter Center

1980 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Mannheim (Photo Affendaddy)

1980 Led Zeppelin Mannheim

1988:
Released on 19 June 1988, within two weeks Outrider reached #26 on Billboard's Billboard 200 chart and #27 on the UK Album Chart. This album is highly underrated, even by Jimmy Page himself, who said, "Outrider's all right. It's demo-like compared with those overproduced albums that came out at the time. It didn't do very well - doesn't matter..." (Uncut Magazine, January 2009, p. 47).  

But there's more to the story, of course.

It's no surprise that Rolling Stone didn't like the album much. Reviewer David Fricke apparently didn't do any homework at all. The album was recorded at Jimmy Page's personal studio The Sol so there was no need for demo tracks. What was recorded could be used directly for the album. Fricke didn't bother mentioning that the tracks that appear on Outrider were all that was left after the theft of tapes from Jimmy Page's home. 

In a Guitar World interview in 1988, Jimmy Page said that the stolen tracks were very different from what ended up on the Outrider album.  He also talks about the recording process.

Interviewer: One of the more unorthodox aspects of your process was the fact that -- on the rock tracks, at least -- the vocals are part of the overlay rather than part of the nucleus of the song. In your work, the guitar is the primary element, and everything else is subordinate to it. 

"John Miles was the first vocalist to come in, and I had the tracks actually done when he came in. So it was quite easy, really, to hear it, to gauge the feel of what everything was about. And then we just discussed the lyrical content and such. And away we went. 'Cause I don't sing, so I think if a guy's doing the lyrics, he's gonna sing them with more conviction than if he's doing yours, so to speak. That was the concept there, anyway, with two rock 'n' roll tracks and rock 'n' roll lyrics. Whereas you 've got the other end of the scale, where Chris Farlow just made up the lyrics as he went along on the blues, just as I'll make it up when I'm playing, at the same time. That's totally spontaneous, and it's great."
~ Jimmy Page, Guitar World 1988

1988 Jimmy Page; Outrider promo photo shoot

1988 Lid Magazine #11 cover (Photo Peter Ashworth)

♪  Led Zeppelin (Mannheim Germany at Eisstadion am Friedrichspark, 02 July 1980) 

♪  Outrider (Jimmy Page, release date 02 July 1988) playlist

♪ Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes (Mansfield MA at Tweter Center for the Performing Arts, 02 July 2000)

On This Day 02 June

Kezar!

1998 On This Day Page & Plant - Nashville TN at Nashville Arena

2014 On This Day First of the Led Zeppelin remasters released

Remasters promo graffiti

• 1973 Led Zeppelin - San Francisco, CA at Kezar Stadium 
• 1998 On This Day Page & Plant - Nashville TN at Nashville Arena
• 2014 On This Day First of the Led Zeppelin remasters released

Kezar:  Not only a great show, but some great photographers were there to capture the moments.  There were mixed reviews, with Rolling Stone continuing its vendetta against the band, stating "Led Zeppelin - a limp blimp" and wasting too much good paper and ink reporting on the volume of the music and the amount of money taken in rather than the concert itself.  On the other hand, Charles Shaar Murray of New Musical Express (NME) said "...one of the finest musical events I've ever had the privilege to attend."

You had to be there.

1973 Led Zeppelin - San Francisco, CA at Kezar Stadium 

1973 Jimmy Page- San Francisco, CA at Kezar Stadium 

Led Zeppelin. They really were quite extraordinary, weren't they? 

Wait wait - were??? They still are!

♪

♪ Kezar 2 minutes of 8MM footage (Led Zeppelin 1973) YouTube
♪ Heartbreaker (Led Zeppelin, San Francisco 1973) YouTube
♪ The Ocean (Led Zeppelin, San Francisco 1973) YouTube

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

On This Day 24 March

Everybody needs Jimmy Page

1986 24 March On This Day One Hit To The Body released, feat. Jimmy Page

• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Offenburg Germany at Ortenauhalle
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Inglewood CA at The Forum (day 1 of 3)
• 1985 The Firm - New Orleans, LA at U.N.O. Lakefront Arena
• 1986 The Firm - Springfield MA at Springfield Civic Center

1973 Led Zeppelin, Offenburg Germany

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, LA Forum

2014 Jimmy Page at Scarlet Page's Resonators opening

♪

♪  Heartbreaker (Led Zeppelin, Offenburg Germany 1973) YouTube
♪  Dazed and Confused Part 1 (Led Zeppelin, Offenburg Germany 1973) YouTube
♪  Dazed and Confused Part 2 (Led Zeppelin, Offenburg Germany 1973) YouTube
♪  Dazed and Confused Part 3 (Led Zeppelin, Offenburg Germany 1973) YouTube
♪  Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin, LA Forum 24 March 1975) YouTube
♪  No Quarter  (Led Zeppelin, LA Forum 24 March 1975) YouTube
♪  One Hit To The Body (Rolling Stones feat Jimmy Page 1986) YouTube

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

On This Day 29 February

Australia has been a popular place to be on Leap Year Day

1996 29 February On This Day Jimmy Page watched Jeff Buckley in Melbourne
AUDIO Eternal Life (Jeff Buckley)

• 1972 Led Zeppelin, Brisbane at Festival Hall
• 1996 Page & Plant, Melbourne at Tennis Centre 

1972 Led Zeppelin, Brisbane

1988:
On this day Robert Plant’s Now and Zen album was released with two tracks featuring Jimmy Page on guitar: Heaven Knows and Tall Cool One. Jimmy Page's contribution to the songs is noted with a Zoso symbol in the liner notes, but he's not shown in the videos. No matter, I never look at the visuals anyway. Music is something perceived with ears, not eyes. And listening, seems to me that Tall Cool One reflects a bit of the late David Bowie. 

1996 Page & Plant, Melbourne

♪

♪  Full set (Led Zeppelin, Brisbane 1972) YouTube
♪  Heaven Knows (Robert Plant, Now and Zen feat Jimmy Page guitar 1988) YouTube
♪  Tall Cool One (Robert Plant, Now and Zen feat Jimmy Page guitar 1988) YouTube
♪  Heartbreaker (Page & Plant, Melbourne 29 February 1996) YouTube

♫  Led Zeppelin interview, Sydney 1972 YouTube
♫  Jimmy Page interview about Jeff Buckley 2014  YouTube

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

On This Day 21 February

There has been an extended intermission.

1998 21 February On This Day Page & Plant in Croatia

• 1993 Jimmy Page - New Orleans, Louisiana at The Howlin' Wolf
• 1998 Page & Plant - Zagreb, Croatia at Dom Sportova 

1993:
Jimmy Page has said he doesn't remember jamming with Mason Ruffner (American blues and rock singer, guitarist and songwriter) in New Orleans, but various people place him there on this day. Jimmy Page had jammed with him in 1985 as well. In the photo from that occasion, Ruffner was playing Jimmy's Les Paul and Jimmy Page was playing Ruffner's Strat. One source identifies the photo as having been taken by Patricia Page, a.k.a. Patricia Ecker.  Ecker and Page married in 1986 and had a son, James Patrick Page III, in 1988.

1998:
This was the first stop of the nine shows of the Page & Plant Mystic East Tour, including an appearance at the Festival di Sanremo in San Remo, Italy.

1998 Page & Plant in Croatia

♪

♪  Wanton Song/Bring It On Home/Heartbreaker (Page & Plant, Zagreb Croatia 1998) YouTube

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

On This Day 17 February

Travelin' man.

2004 17 February On This Day Jimmy Page visited Kathmandu

• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Edinburgh, Scotland at Usher Hall 
• 1996 Page & Plant - Nagoya, Japan at Century Hall 

1970:

Rescheduled from the 07 February date, since Robert Plant had recovered from his head-on auto collision, when he had gotten cut up and suffered broken teeth.

1996:

Listen to the crowd when Jimmy Page takes off with his riffs (link below). The medley includes one of my favorite of Jimmy Page's work: Ramble On. There is a magic to that music that just grabs me every time.

2004:

Jimmy Page was traveling with Ross Halfin, who wasn't seeming to have nearly as good a time as Mr. Page was. 

2004 Kathmandu (Jimmy Page photo)

2004 Kathmandu (Jimmy Page photo)

2004 Kathmandu (Jimmy Page photo)

2004 Kathmandu (Jimmy Page photo)

2004 Kathmandu (Jimmy Page photo)

2004 Kathmandu (Jimmy Page photo)

♪

♪ Heartbreaker Medley (Page & Plant, Nagoya 17 February 1996) YouTube

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

On This Day 10 February

Memphis yes or Memphis no?

1969 10 February On This Day Led Zeppelin Memphis (maybe)

• 1968 The Yardbirds - London, England at Barlong Hall
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Memphis, TN at Memphis State University
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Landover, MD at Capital Centre
• 2002 Jimmy Page receives an award from Traffic Musique (French TV) 

1969: 

There seems to be some disagreement as to whether Led Zeppelin did actually do a show at Memphis State University on this day. David Stanley, Elvis Presley's step-brother, reported on having attended the concert, as did several others. However, the key to the city was definitely something that happened in 1970 (referenced in various newspapers), when Led Zeppelin performed on 17 April. At the 1970 show Robert Plant stated: "We've waited for a long time to come to Memphis, in fact ever since we were born I think!" which makes it sound a lot like the band hadn't been there the year before.

Dave Lewis reported that Jimmy Page attempted to get some time for the band in the Sun Studio (shown in the On This Day photo) but that the studio was already booked.

1970:
On 31 January 1970 Robert Plant was in a car accident, a head-on collision while he was driving his Jaguar. He suffered from broken teeth and various severe cuts that no doubt needed stitches.The 07 and 17 February shows in Scotland were cancelled.

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin Landover MD

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin Landover MD

2002 Jimmy Page, Paris (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

♪  Heartbreaker/Audience footage (Led Zeppelin, Landover 1975) YouTube

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

On This Day 16 December

Where's Jimmy?

1968 16 December On This Day Led Zeppelin at Bath

• 1968 Led Zeppelin - Bath, England at Bath Pavilion
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Birmingham, England at Birmingham Odeon Theatre 

1968
This is one of those times when you have to read carefully. Led Zeppelin didn't play Bath three years in a row on this day, but at three different times in those three years. But that's OK.

Dave Lewis reports in his excellent reference, Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, that Robert and Jimmy learned about what roadies were able to do at the 1968 venue at Bath while they were watching the support band, Yellow Brick Road (not to be confused with the more recent band of that name).  As reported by Dave, that band's roadie ran onto the stage to replace a busted drum.  Prophetically, perhaps, Robert commented, "Jimmy, we must remember that."

It's hard to remember there was ever a time when the boys of Led Zeppelin were still new at their game.

1972 Led Zeppelin at Birmingham Odeon

2007
Yeah, I know that the O2 was over by this point, but the celebration goes on. Nobody minds looking at more photos, right?

2007 09 December Jimmy Page at O2 rehearsal (Ross Halfin photo)

2007 09 December O2 rehearsal (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

I've included links today to a few songs from BBC Sessions in addition to a couple from the 1972 show.  Just because.


♪  Heartbreaker (Led Zeppelin Birmingham 1972) YouTube
♪  Over the Hills and Far Away (Led Zeppelin Birmingham 1972) YouTube
♪  How Many More Times (Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions 1997 release) YouTube
♪  Whole Lotta Love / Medley (Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions 1997 release) YouTube
♪  Thank You (Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions 1997 release) YouTube

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