On this day 22 October

Whole lotta lotta.

1969 22 October On This Day Led Zeppelin II released
♪ Whole Lotta Love (SoundCloud)

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Westport, CT at Staples High School Auditorium
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Wichita, KS at Cotillion Club
• 1969 Led Zeppelin II released
• 1976 Led Zeppelin - Los Angeles at Fox Wilshire, premier of The Song Remains The Same 
• 1988 Jimmy Page - Outrider Tour - Detroit, MI at Joe Louis Arena
• 1997 Led Zeppelin releases Whole Lotta Love as a single in the UK 
• 2014 Jimmy Page - London at Paul Smith Led Zeppelin Limited Edition Scarves launch 

1976:

There is conflicting information about the exact dates of the Led Zeppelin premieres in New York and Los Angeles. Some say October 19 and 21, respectively, and others - including Dave Lewis - say October 20 and 22. I'm going with Dave.

1976 The Song Remains The Same movie premiere, LA

1976 LA premiere of The Song Remains The Same

1988:
Jimmy Page just got better and better at interpreting Chopin's Prelude. It's the first song on the full set video for the Detroit show (playlist below).

1988 Jimmy Page, Outrider Tour, Detroit (Ben Roberts photo)

1997:

Whole Lotta Love was released as a single in the UK on this day - the first ever single released there. The occasion was the 30th anniversary of the band. The video is hot, hot, hot. 

If you'd never heard one Led Zeppelin song and this was your first, it would knock your socks off. For those of us who've been listening since day one, it was a reminder that every single Led Zeppelin song is a masterpiece in its own right.

2014:
Having met with fashion designer Paul Smith in Tokyo earlier this month in 2014, on this day Jimmy Page attended the launch of the Paul Smith Led Zeppelin scarf line in London.

2014 Paul Smith & Jimmy Page in London

2015:
Lots of movies are licensing Led Zeppelin songs in their trailers and as part of their soundtracks.
Mostly it's Kashmir or Immigrant Song, but the trailer for The Big Short (2015) uses When The Levee Breaks. I've got a blog entry with the start of a list of songs and the movies, trailers, and other uses that you can check out.

♪

♪  Whole Lotta Love / promo (Led Zeppelin, 1969/1997) 
♪  Jimmy Page Outrider Tour (Detroit MI at Joe Lewis Arena, 22 October 1988) 

♪  The Big Short (movie trailer 2015) 

Labels: 

On This Day 22 October

Whole lotta lotta.

1969 22 October On This Day Led Zeppelin II released
♪ Whole Lotta Love (SoundCloud)

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Westport, CT at Staples High School Auditorium
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Wichita, KS at Cotillion Club
• 1969 Led Zeppelin II released
• 1976 Led Zeppelin - Los Angeles at Fox Wilshire, premier of The Song Remains The Same 
• 1988 Jimmy Page - Outrider Tour - Detroit, MI at Joe Louis Arena
• 1997 Led Zeppelin releases Whole Lotta Love as a single in the UK 
• 2014 Jimmy Page - London at Paul Smith Led Zeppelin Limited Edition Scarves launch 

1976:

There is conflicting information about the exact dates of the Led Zeppelin premieres in New York and Los Angeles. Some say October 19 and 21, respectively, and others - including Dave Lewis - say October 20 and 22. I'm going with Dave.

1976 The Song Remains The Same movie premiere, LA

1976 LA premiere of The Song Remains The Same

1988:
Jimmy Page just got better and better at interpreting Chopin's Prelude. It's the first song on the full set video for the Detroit show (playlist below).

1988 Jimmy Page, Outrider Tour, Detroit (Ben Roberts photo)

1997:

Whole Lotta Love was released as a single in the UK on this day - the first ever single released there. The occasion was the 30th anniversary of the band. The video is hot, hot, hot. 

If you'd never heard one Led Zeppelin song and this was your first, it would knock your socks off. For those of us who've been listening since day one, it was a reminder that every single Led Zeppelin song is a masterpiece in its own right.

2014:
Having met with fashion designer Paul Smith in Tokyo earlier this month in 2014, on this day Jimmy Page attended the launch of the Paul Smith Led Zeppelin scarf line in London.

2014 Paul Smith & Jimmy Page in London

2015:
More and more movies are using Led Zeppelin songs in their trailers and as part of their soundtracks. I've included a trailer for The Big Short, to be released this December.  When The Levee Breaks is the music for the trailer.

♪

♪  Whole Lotta Love / promo (Led Zeppelin, 1969/1997) YouTube

♪  Full Set (Jimmy Page Outrider Tour, Detroit 1988) YouTube

♪  The Big Short (movie trailer 2015) YouTube

On This Day 19 April

On April 19, 1969 the incredible Led Zeppelin II was recorded at Olympic Studios.

• 1967 Jimmy Page - A Degree of Murder Soundtrack released 
• 1968 Yardbirds - Blue Village Teen Club, Westmont Illinois
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Olympic Studios, begins recording Led Zeppelin II
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH
• 1985 The Firm - Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center, Louisville, Kentucky

1967
The soundtrack for A Degree of Murder was composed, produced, arranged, and played by Brian Jones, and features Jimmy Page on guitar.

Jimmy Page in Rolling Stone issue #1171:  "Brian knew what he was doing. It was quite beautiful. Some of it was made up at the time; some of it was stuff I was augmenting with him. I was definitely playing with the violin bow. Brian had this guitar that had a volume pedal-he could get gunshots with it. There was a Mellotron there. He was moving forward with ideas."


1969
Needless to say, this was and is an album beyond belief, after Led Zeppelin's first album, itself beyond belief. For a band to have put out two albums of such high quality, with such a variety of approaches to music, one right after the other, was an obvious indicator that this was no ordinary group of musicians but a creative force the likes of which the world had never seen before.
On this day also for Jimmy Page:


1977
"Jimmy Page, the guiding genius behind the Zep, composer, collaborator, creator, leader and lead guitarist, is perhaps the best in the business. His range on the lead guitar can go from classical to acoustical to extraterrestrial."  [K.Williams/April 1977/News Journal]

♪  

Mage Music on Facebook @MageMusicTheMusicOfJimmyPage

Remasters 2014 Report: Led Zeppelin II Companion Disc

So many people are talking about the remasters. That’s a cool thing. It’s too bad, though, that what so many people are talking about is the packaging, the technical details of the digital downloads, the shipping/delivery dates, the songs that should have been included or will be included on the companion discs.

Where’s the music in all that?

Led Zeppelin II Companion Disc

"The material on the companion discs presents a portal to the time of the recording of Led Zeppelin. It is a selection of work in progress with rough mixes, backing tracks, alternate versions, and new material recorded at the time."

Even before I put the disc in the player, I’m reminding myself of the above statement by Jimmy Page. The track listing is almost the same as Led Zeppelin II but not quite. Mr. Page’s choices of songs alone will reveal much about his musical intentions for us. I look forward to the new insights. 

♫

RP’s voice is surprisingly more melodic than I recall. Am I hearing things that weren't there before or is it because of quality?

Oh this is fun, this is different! Hearing the parts without the whole! And my brain is supplying the parts that aren't there!

Insights into song construction. Wow. How music gets put together to make a whole is a mystery to me so this is awesome.

Oh what fun it all will be – prophetic! All these years of enjoyment have been fun and it doesn't end!

What a remarkable gift this is - no band has to share rough mixes with the world. Led Zeppelin's rough mixes are better than most bands' finished music!

This is truly an instructional disc, isn't it.

No lyrics! Thank You! I love this (lyrics aren't my thing). But I can also see how much this song was meant for RP's vocals. It doesn't stand as an instrumental as much as other LZ songs do.

Gotta admit JPJ’s keyboards are the best part of TY as an instrumental.

How often do we ever get to hear of bass and guitar in harmony? Makes it special to hear it now.

Yeah, then I get the solo – PLAY it man! And he does play with the guitar. Goofing around a bit there.

That tone. I’d like to interview JP and ask him how he chose different tones. The when/where/why of the different voices of his guitar.

He’s like a ventriloquist

Lyrics-free music! Again it’s really so clear when the instruments are supposed to be accompaniment to the vocals rather than standing alone as instrumental. That's never been so obvious to me before. This is amazing. I’d like to hear every LZ song without vocals to understand the interplay.

Oh oh oh. Ramble On – one of my most favorite. But this version missing the lovely voice of that guitar.

OMG – I’m realizing that this whole disc shows in such a damn dramatic way just how much JP’s guitar voice made a difference to the music. Duh! All of these tracks lack the Magick I seek in the sound! This is definitely an instructional disc for me!

I always love hearing Bonzo sing out his counts.

La La is just so damn much fun. It is so not LZ and yet Zep at the same time. I could see JP, JPJ and Bonzo deciding to have fun while waiting for Robert to get back from lunch.

Remasters 2014 Report: Led Zeppelin II

I gotta tell you, this reporting on the remasters is hardly a chore.  I can call it "reporting" but we know what it really is - indulging. 

I've been waking up in the morning with the music in my head. It’s become the soundtrack to my life.

As before, this report is a first impression, written while I listened to the remaster for the first time.

Led Zeppelin II

I’m struck anew with the immediacy of the remasters. 

The original genius pulls out of the archives the sound that he hears in his own mind.  How amazing is that?

Whole Lotta space cadet! Haha – I remember now what I was doing when I first listened to this album back in the day. [censored censored censored]

Geez – if anyone walked in the room and saw me now they’d think I was nuts with this big, silly grin on my face. That's probably just what I looked like back then, too.

I don’t want to listen to the music I want to be IN the music.  A good recording lets you do that.

Each one of them had such a tremendous ability to put expression into the music. Bass, drums, vocal, guitar – all of it individually and then expressing it together.

The change of phrase. Another way of saying something musically with the slippery slide of the guitar - it is what is and could never be otherwise.

I listen to the voice without trying to understanding the meaning of what Robert's singing. Heck, half the time it seems he's just making up words anyway. But that makes the voice an instrument, not a song.

I so get into the music that it seems the songs are over before they're hardly started. That’s why I love the live stuff – the long, long, long delivery.  

The weight of the words isn't greater than the weight of the other instruments – that’s one extraordinary difference between LZ and others

That tone of guitar in The Lemon Song solo. Somehow it is Jimmy the sound is coming directly from, not his guitar. 

I get those fingers on the strings as if I was right there. What is it about the sound that makes it seem that way?

And then the little guitar comments on Robert’s vocals. Just little asides.

The juice – baby baby baby

And that little squeakiness tone to the guitar. Sly humor there.

Happiness no more be sad. This music.

Love the organ ending, JPJ with just the quiet chords, the fade out, then coming back. What crazy mind comes up with that?

There in the middle of Heartbreaker my heart breaks not with grief but just sheer pleasure

Then back to business.

Not for the first time I wonder if anyone has ever counted up how many different tones JP gets out of his guitars

Sometimes the guitar comes in and I don’t realize for a second that it’s not a human voice.

Ramble On – no doubt some kind of masterpiece. No ordinary music, just loaded to the top with Magick. One of my absolute favorite LZ works. Great light and shade. The different guitar phrases just knock me over. I like that little tappy tappy stuff Bonzo does sometimes. Thing is… even though Dave Grohl kind of sucks cause he shouts the lyrics, I like the Foo Fighters version at Wembley better, but then maybe it was JP who was better for that song then.  I'm not discounting that.

The bass balance on this album seems pretty high to me (I haven’t changed any settings from the first two remasters). I like it just fine.

This studio album is a good contrast with LZ live. It’s much more constrained. Of course, maybe it's because I still haven’t replaced my speakers and can’t turn UP THE VOLUME.

I love Robert on harmonica. He gets the same expression as he does with voice. And the weird voice on Bring It On Home gets me every time. I forget who he's emulating, doesn't matter. Nice echoey sound on this and you get sucked in and then they get BIG. Light and dark, baby! And then tweet!

WHAT??? It’s over already????

I’m definitely hearing stuff on the remasters I wasn't hearing before.