Showing posts with label Knebworth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knebworth. Show all posts

Friday, August 11, 2023

On this day 11 August

 he more things change...

1979 11 August On This Day Led Zeppelin at Knebworth
  • 1967 The Yardbirds - Salem, NH at Canobie Lake Park Ballroom
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Las Vegas, NV at Ice Palace 
  • 1979 Led Zeppelin -  Knebworth  
1969:
While on tour, Jimmy Page flew cross country to New York City for work on Led Zeppelin II at A&R Recording, a studio recording company founded in 1958 by Jack Arnold and Phil Ramone.

1979:
"The sustained roar that greeted Led Zeppelin as they trooped onto the massive Knebworth stage at twenty to ten last Saturday said it all."
~ Hugh Fielder, Sounds

The release of In Through the Out Door was to have occurred at this point but that didn't happen till 15 August 1979, and Robert Plant groused about it during the Knebworth show.

According to Dave Lewis, in Led Zeppelin: Celebration II: The 'Tight But Loose' Files, the album was named to describe its recent struggles amidst the death of Robert Plant's son Karac in 1977, and the taxation exile the band took from the UK. The exile resulted in the band being unable to tour on British soil for over two years, and trying to get back into the public mind was therefore like "trying to get in through the 'out' door."

Recorded at Polar Studios, the album was mixed at Jimmy Page's Plumpton Place studio.  The album went to No. 1 on Billboard's chart in its second week on the chart and stayed there for seven weeks. The remaster that was released in 2015 was again in the Billboard top ten.

1979 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Knebworth

1979 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Knebworth



1979 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Knebworth



♪  Audience footage 8mm (Led Zeppelin, Knebworth 11 August 1979) YouTube
♪  Led Zeppelin (Knebworth 11 August 1979) 

Friday, August 4, 2023

On this day 04 August

 Always a good idea to play it safe when you're sexing.


1986 04 August On This Day Jimmy Page - San Antonio,Ibiza at Heartbreak Hotel
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Dallas, TX at Texas State Fair Arena
  • 1979 Led Zeppelin - Knebworth House 
  • 1986 Jimmy Page - San Antonio,Ibiza at Heartbreak Hotel 
  • 2009 Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck & friends at pre-Hall of Fame session

1975:
Robert Plant was seriously injured in a car accident while on vacation in Greece on this day in 1975 and all concerts for the rest of the year were cancelled.
..my kind of vision, or the carefree element I had, disappeared instantly when I had my automobile accident in 1975. That kind of ramshackled "I'll take the world now" attitude was completely gone.
~ Robert Plant - In His Own Words 
1979:
Dave Lewis has written a whole book about Knebworth, so there’s not much more I can add except even after all these years the Knebworth concerts are still emotional events. 

1979 04 August Jimmy Page laser music magic at Knebworth (photo Alan Perry)

1979 04 August Jimmy Page at Knebworth (Photo Alan Perry)

1979 04 August Led Zeppelin backstage
1986:
The Spanish island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea is known for its nightclubs and white sand beaches. Ulysses was lured there by the song of sirens and Nostradamus predicted it would be the final refuge of humanity at the end of the world.

In 1986 it wasn't the celebrity party hot-spot it is today, but it was already a destination for those in the know.  In 1985 Robert Plant filmed the video for his single “Sea of Love” (Jimmy Page guitar) on Ibiza, and Jimmy Page was back the following year to play with the jam band, Safe Sex, at the Heartbreak Hotel in San Antonio.
1986 Jimmy Page with Safe Sex at Ibiza
[Note this bootleg cover photo for Safe Sex is actually from the Les Paul birthday party]
2009
Jimmy Page & friends practicing safe sex - no, sorry!  On this day they were practicing for Jeff Beck's Hall of Fame induction.











Tuesday, August 1, 2023

On this day 01 August

Building a legend

1969 Santa Barbara


1979 02 August On This Day Led Zeppelin stage setup at Knebworth
  • 1967 Yardbirds - Vancouver, British Columbia  at Pacific National Exhibition Grounds
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Santa Barbara, CA at Earl Warren Showgrounds
  • 1979 Led Zeppelin - Knebworth stage construction

1969
The band hadn't performed a full year's worth of shows yet, but Led Zeppelin already headlined the show with another English band, Jethro Tull (Aqualung), and the California band, Fraternity of Man (Don't Bogart That Joint)

1979
Building a stage set for a band like Led Zeppelin was a HUGE endeavor. 

1979 Knebworth amp stacks (Photo John Harrison, stage crew)

(Photo John Harrison, stage crew)



This is Rock, August 2008 (Ross Halfin photo)



Guitar Aficionado Magazine, August 2009 (Ross Halfin photo)



Guitar Aficionado Magazine, August 2009 (Ross Halfin photo)

Friday, June 30, 2023

On this day June 30

 "Please give us a chance..." 

 
Plant & Page, Nordoff Robins Silver Clef concert 1990


  • 1967 The Yardbirds - Shrewsbury, Shrops, England at Shrewsbury Music Hall
  • 1979 Led  Zeppelin visit Knebworth House 
  • 1980 Led Zeppelin - Frankfurt, Germany at Festhalle Frankfurt
  • 1990 Page & Plant - Knebworth for Nordoff  Robbins Silver Clef Winners Charity Concert 
  • 2000 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Holmdel, NJ at PNC Bank Arts Center

1979:
"Led Zeppelin, arguably the world's most popular hard rock band, came down before the (1979) festival to meet us and look around Knebworth House. Guitarist Jimmy Page was a fan of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, who lived in the House in the early 1800's. They shared an interest in the occult, and Jimmy wanted to see all our Bulwer Lytton memorabilia. He used to have a resident medium living at Knebworth and we have his crystal ball and books on magic and witchcraft. It is his ghost that roams the passages at night!
"Drummer John Bonham was more interested in the gardens and singer Robert Plant nearly took a swim in our pool but decided his hairdresser wouldn't be happy about it if he did."
--Chryssie Lytton Cobbold, Knebworth Rock Festivals
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (1803 – 1873) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician. He wrote a number of bestselling novels that were very popular in his day. If you've come across any of the following phrases, you've read some of his words: "the great unwashed", "pursuit of the almighty dollar", "the pen is mightier than the sword", "dweller on the threshold", and yes, "It was a dark and stormy night".

Zanoni is a story of love and occult aspiration.
A Strange Story, with its supernatural theme, was an influence on Bram Stoker's Dracula 

1980:
The Frankfurt audience was so loud that Jimmy Page had to stop playing White Summer when he couldn't hear himself and had to ask the audience to please give them a chance. Those were the days before in-ear monitors.

Phil Carson, then senior vice president at Atlantic Records, joined Led Zeppelin for an encore version of Money.  Carson started out his musical career with Dusty Springfield.

1980 John Paul Jones & Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Frankfurt (Photo Hans P Kirsch)

1980 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Frankfurt
1990:
The Knebworth Festival is held on the grounds of the Knebworth House in England. The Nordoff Robbins Silver Clef Award Winners Concert was held there in 1990. The awards recognize outstanding talent across the music industry. Nordoff Robbins is a music therapy charity dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable children and adults.  

Robert Plant, who was awarded a Silver Clef that year (Jimmy Page received it in 2014), did a set for that show and Jimmy Page joined him on stage for three songs. As one person said who was there, when Jimmy walked on the stage the volume of the audience went up 1000%. The concert is available on DVD Live at Knebworth.

 
1990 Jimmy Page with Robert Plant at Knebworth

1990 Robert Plant, Jimmy Page at Knebworth

Knebworth House


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

On This Day 11 August

The more things change...
1979 11 August On This Day Led Zeppelin at Knebworth
  • 1967 The Yardbirds - Salem, NH at Canobie Lake Park Ballroom
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Las Vegas, NV at Ice Palace 
  • 1979 Led Zeppelin -  Knebworth  
1969:
While on tour, Jimmy Page flew cross country to New York City for work on Led Zeppelin II at A&R Recording, a studio recording company founded in 1958 by Jack Arnold and Phil Ramone.

1979:
"The sustained roar that greeted Led Zeppelin as they trooped onto the massive Knebworth stage at twenty to ten last Saturday said it all."
~ Hugh Fielder, Sounds

The release of In Through the Out Door was to have occurred at this point but that didn't happen till 15 August 1979, and Robert Plant groused about it during the Knebworth show.

According to Dave Lewis, in Led Zeppelin: Celebration II: The 'Tight But Loose' Files, the album was named to describe its recent struggles amidst the death of Robert Plant's son Karac in 1977, and the taxation exile the band took from the UK. The exile resulted in the band being unable to tour on British soil for over two years, and trying to get back into the public mind was therefore like "trying to get in through the 'out' door."

Recorded at Polar Studios, the album was mixed at Jimmy Page's Plumpton Placestudio.  The album went to No. 1 on Billboard's chart in its second week on the chart and stayed there for seven weeks. The remaster that was released not quite two weeks ago is in the Billboard top ten again.

1979 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Knebworth

1979 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Knebworth

1979 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Knebworth

♪  Audience footage 8mm (Led Zeppelin, Knebworth 11 August 1979) YouTube
♪  Full show (Led Zeppelin, Knebworth 11 August 1979) YouTube





Tuesday, August 4, 2015

On This Day 04 August

Safe sex, huh?  Nowadays I guess that would mean wearing a mask.

1986 04 August On This Day Jimmy Page - San Antonio,Ibiza at Heartbreak Hotel
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Dallas, TX at Texas State Fair Arena
  • 1979 Led Zeppelin - Knebworth House 
  • 1986 Jimmy Page - San Antonio,Ibiza at Heartbreak Hotel 
1975:
Robert Plant was seriously injured in a car accident while on vacation in Greece on this day and all concerts for the rest of the year were cancelled.
..my kind of vision, or the carefree element I had, disappeared instantly when I had my automobile accident in 1975. That kind of ramshackled "I'll take the world now" attitude was completely gone.
~ Robert Plant - In His Own Words 
1979:
Dave Lewis has written a whole book about Knebworth, so there’s not much more I can add except even after all these years the Knebworth concerts are still emotional events. 

1979 04 August Jimmy Page laser music magic at Knebworth (photo Alan Perry)

1979 04 August Jimmy Page at Knebworth (Photo Alan Perry)

1979 04 August Led Zeppelin backstage
1986:
The Spanish island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea is known for its nightclubs and white sand beaches. Ulysses was lured there by the song of sirens and Nostradamus predicted it would be the final refuge of humanity at the end of the world.

In 1986 it wasn't the celebrity party hot-spot it is today, but it was already a destination for those in the know.  In 1985 Robert Plant filmed the video for his single “Sea of Love” (Jimmy Page guitar) on Ibiza, and Jimmy Page was back the following year to play with the jam band, Safe Sex, at the Heartbreak Hotel in San Antonio.
1986 Jimmy Page with Safe Sex at Ibiza
[Note this bootleg cover photo for Safe Sex is actually from the Les Paul birthday party]




Saturday, August 1, 2015

On This Day 01 August

On This day posted in 2020

SOUNDCHECK at Knebworth erroneously posted here for this day but actually happened  August 2  

1979 02 August On This Day Led Zeppelin soundcheck at Knebworth
  • 1967 Yardbirds - Vancouver, British Columbia  at Pacific National Exhibition Grounds
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Santa Barbara, CA at Earl Warren Showgrounds
  • 1979 Led Zeppelin - soundcheck at Knebworth [actually 02 August. The photos of the stage being constructed are from 01 August]
1979 Knebworth amp stacks (Photo John Harrison, stage crew)

(Photo John Harrison, stage crew)


Photos below are from 02 August
1979 Knebworth soundcheck Robert Plant singing, Jason Bonham standing in for dad on drums
(photo John Harrison, stage crew)

1979 Robert Plant at Led Zeppelin's Knebworth soundcheck
12 y.o. Jason on drums (photo John Harrison, stage crew)

Two accounts from stage crew

Mark Bancroft, Knebworth 1979 stage crew
The Wednesday sound check, lunch time . Owing to sound restrictions there were small windows to tune the PA. Until then the sound guys were playing a heart beat loop,du dum du, dum. In Stevenage someone told me it must be a pile driver! So Wed was the only permited PA test. Zep arrived , ignoring the helicopter pad they flew into the arena and circled the stage,the chopper wash tested the stage, 11 stories at the centre, 5 from the stage to the proscenium arch.

It stood up to this.

The Zep families turned up in Daimler limos and the kids went into the chopper for a spin round the home counties. Chopper cost 750 pounds an hour. Robert Plant was the first on stage, there were about 50-60 crew and liggers in the arena. He sang acapella "Take good care of my Baby" , the Bobby Vinton song, we were all stunned, knowing of the sadness his family had suffered. Many tough roadies were sniffing, not good for the image.

The rest of Zep appeared. They played "Trampled Underfoot" , I noticed then Bonzo was watching the band. I looked at the drums and could not see who was playing, but he knew his stuff. All you could see was a hand coming over the top to hit the cymbals, later I found out it was his son. So I got to see the current line up in 79!

As for Peter Grant, I was in the same room a few times with him and others, I just kept very quiet. Not the type to suffer fools and so on top of his game. Was he tough? yes, very. Was he ruthless to those who tried to rob him, ask them, they may have healed by now.

I have worked a lot of gigs before and since,but none like Zep.When they left the stage, I went on to strike fire extinguishers before the road crew stole them.The crowd was still calling for more. The energy hit you physically, I felt like if I walked off stage into the crowd, it would carry me over their heads.


John Harrison,Knebworth 1979 stage crew

... I think it was around 2pm the band started arriving, first was John Paul Jones in a BMW 6 series with his wife, second Plant, who I think was on his own, third John Bonham with Jason who must have been around 12 at the time. Last but by no means least Pagey and Peter Grant arrived in a helicopter. Needless to say I had stopped work by then. I grabbed a page of the Sounds music paper from someone and a felt tip pen and went round getting all their autographs, well all except Grants – he was terrifying, and I didn't ask Jason for his either.

Whilst he was waiting Plant had a play on the piano and on the keyboards with JPJ. So eventually they all got sorted and Bonham started hitting the drums – noisy bastard I was right in front of a bank of speakers it nearly took my head off.





Tuesday, June 30, 2015

On This Day 30 June

 "Please give us a chance..." 
 
1990 30 June On This Day Jimmy Page with Robert Plant at Silver Clef Awards concert at Knebworth

  • 1967 The Yardbirds - Shrewsbury, Shrops, England at Shrewsbury Music Hall
  • 1979 Led  Zeppelin visit Knebworth House 
  • 1980 Led Zeppelin - Frankfurt, Germany at Festhalle Frankfurt
  • 1990 Page & Plant - Knebworth for Nordoff  Robbins Silver Clef Winners Charity Concert 
  • 2000 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Holmdel, NJ at PNC Bank Arts Center

1979:
"Led Zeppelin, arguably the world's most popular hard rock band, came down before the (1979) festival to meet us and look around Knebworth House. Guitarist Jimmy Page was a fan of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, who lived in the House in the early 1800's. They shared an interest in the occult, and Jimmy wanted to see all our Bulwer Lytton memorabilia. He used to have a resident medium living at Knebworth and we have his crystal ball and books on magic and witchcraft. It is his ghost that roams the passages at night!
"Drummer John Bonham was more interested in the gardens and singer Robert Plant nearly took a swim in our pool but decided his hairdresser wouldn't be happy about it if he did."
--Chryssie Lytton Cobbold, Knebworth Rock Festivals
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (1803 – 1873) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician. He wrote a number of bestselling novels that were very popular in his day. If you've come across any of the following phrases, you've read some of his words: "the great unwashed", "pursuit of the almighty dollar", "the pen is mightier than the sword", "dweller on the threshold", and yes, "It was a dark and stormy night".

Zanoni is a story of love and occult aspiration.
A Strange Story, with its supernatural theme, was an influence on Bram Stoker's Dracula 

1980:
The Frankfurt audience was so loud that Jimmy Page had to stop playing White Summer when he couldn't hear himself and had to ask the audience to please give them a chance. Those were the days before in-ear monitors.

Phil Carson, then senior vice president at Atlantic Records, joined Led Zeppelin for an encore version of Money.  Carson started out his musical career with Dusty Springfield.

1980 John Paul Jones & Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Frankfurt (Photo Hans P Kirsch)

1980 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Frankfurt
1990:
The Knebworth Festival is held on the grounds of the Knebworth House in England. The Nordoff Robbins Silver Clef Award Winners Concert was held there in 1990. The awards recognize outstanding talent across the music industry. Nordoff Robbins is a music therapy charity dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable children and adults.  

Robert Plant, who was awarded a Silver Clef that year (Jimmy Page received it in 2014), did a set for that show and Jimmy Page joined him on stage for three songs. As one person said who was there, when Jimmy walked on the stage the volume of the audience went up 1000%. The concert is available on DVD Live at Knebworth.

 
1990 Jimmy Page with Robert Plant at Knebworth

1990 Robert Plant, Jimmy Page at Knebworth

Knebworth House