On This Day 21 January

Wanton music.  More, please.

1967 21 January Yardbirds at Sydney Stadium

1973 Led Zeppelin, Southampton England

1975 Robert Plant & Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Chicago Stadium

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Chicago Stadium

♪

♪  The Wanton Song ((Led Zeppelin, Chicago 21 January 1975) YouTube
♪   No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, Chicago 21 January 1975) YouTube

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

On This Day 26 August

Musical mischief

1994 26 August On This Day Final recording session for Unledded Project for MTV

• 1966 The Yardbirds - San Leandro, CA at Rollarena
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Huntsville, Ontario, Canada at Hidden Valley Ski Resort
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Cleveland, OH at Cleveland Public Auditorium
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Houston, TX at Sam Houston Coliseum
• 1994 Page & Plant - Unledded -  London, England at London Studios, Studio 2
• 1998 Page & Plant - Dublin, Ireland at The Point Theatre

1994:

And then it was done. The practicing, the recording and filming outdoors in Wales and Morocco, and indoors with orchestras in front of an audience at the London Television Centre, was completed for the MTV Unledded telecast. The notion of "unplugged" had been given up in favor of "Unledded" and all that the name implied. 

And it was good.

1994 Jimmy Page, London, Final recording session for Unledded Project 

1994 Jimmy Page, London, Final recording session for Unledded Project 

1994 Jimmy Page, London, Final recording session for Unledded Project 

1994 Jimmy Page, London, Final recording session for Unledded Project,
 Ovation double neck guitar

1994 Jimmy Page, London, Final recording session for Unledded Project
Hand crafted tripleneck made by Andy Manson for Jimmy Page:
bottom neck standard six-string guitar,
middle neck twelve-string guitar,
top neck eight-string mandolin

♪

♪  What Is and What Should Never Be (Page & Plant, Unledded 1994) YouTube 

♪  Gallows Pole (Page & Plant, Unledded 1994) YouTube 

♪  That's The Way (Page & Plant, Unledded 1994) YouTube 

♪  Wonderful One (Page & Plant, Unledded 1994) YouTube 

♪  Nobody's Fault But Mine (Page & Plant, Unledded 1994) YouTube 

♪  No Quarter (Page & Plant, Unledded 1994) YouTube 

♪  Yallah/The Truth Explodes (Page & Plant, Unledded 1994) YouTube 

On This Day 23 August

All in a day's work

1966 23 August On This Day The Yardbirds - Avalon, CA at Catalina Casino Ballroom

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Avalon, CA at Catalina Casino Ballroom
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Dania, Fl at Pirates' World
• 1970 Led Zeppelin – San Antonio, TX at HemisFair Arena
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Fort Worth, TX at Tarrant County Convention Center 
• 1994 Page & Plant – London, England at London Television Centre for band rehearsals with cameras in studio
• 1998 Page & Plant -  Cologne, Germany- Bizarre Festival
• 2008 Jimmy Page with Leona Lewis - Beijing, China National Stadium, Olympic rehearsal

Jimmy Page's experience as a session man made him ready and able to perform under all kinds of circumstances: using borrowed equipment, dodging firecrackers, playing on a rotating stage or one that was being demolished by fans or while standing on a rising industrial scissors lift. Somehow I doubt he gave much thought to these sorts of things when he first laid hands on a guitar.

1966 Yardbirds at Catalena (Chuck Boyd photo)

1966 Jimmy Page/Yardbirds at Catalena (Chuck Boyd photo)

1966 Jimmy Page/Yardbirds at Catalena (Chuck Boyd photo)

1966 Jimmy Page/Yardbirds at Catalena (Chuck Boyd photo)

2008 Jimmy Page at Beijing Olympics rehearsal (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

♪  Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin, Fort Worth 1971) YouTube
♪  Whole Lotta Love Medley (Led Zeppelin, Fort Worth 1971) YouTube
♪  No Quarter (Page & Plant, Bizarre Festival 1998) YouTube
♪  Spoonful/Whole Lotta Love (Page & Plant, Bizarre Festival 1998) YouTube
♪  Most High (Page & Plant, Bizarre Festival 1998) YouTube

On This Day 16 August

Take no prisoners

2015 16 August On This Day Madonna/Led Zeppelin mashup
Justify a Whole Lotta Love (Madonna/Max Audio) Vimeo

I'm not a Madonna fan, and I'm not a fan of mashups, especially when I could be listening to the real deal. So okay, happy birthday and let's move right along.

1969 16 August On This Day Led Zeppelin - Asbury Park, NJ 

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Denver, CO at Hal-Baby's
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Pittsburgh, PA at Hunt Armory, Teen Fair
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Asbury Park, NJ at Asbury Park Convention Hall
• 1994 Page & Plant - Dolgoch Falls, Wales to record for No Quarter: Unledded 

1969 Led Zeppelin - Asbury Park, NJ (Paul Chiarello photo)

1994:
The live album, No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, was recorded outdoors at three locations: Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakesh, Morocco; a slate quarry near Corris in Wales; and at Dolgoch Falls, Wales. Additional recording took place on a sound stage in London with the Egyptian Ensemble and the London Metropolitan Orchestra.

On this day in 1994 the Dolgoch Falls recordings were made. The Dongoch Falls are a series of three waterfalls near Tywyn in the southwestern corner of the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. Bron-yr-Aur cottage is on the edge of the park.

The Unledded project was for MTV's Unplugged series. Started in 1989 as an acoustic music venue, Page and Plant used a lot of electricity and amplification -- hence the name change. Unledded is supposed to indicate that this music, which combines blues and Middle East sound, is not a Led Zeppelin reunion, and although there are Led Zeppelin songs on the album they're meant to be a new treatment of music that, in my opinion, doesn't improve on them at all.

Of course, any opportunity to listen to Jimmy Page play the guitar is a good thing, no matter what. Even if Madonna's involved.

1994 Page & Plant - Dolgoch Falls, Wales to record for No Quarter: Unledded

1994 Jimmy Page - Dolgoch Falls, Wales to record for No Quarter: Unledded

♪  No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, New York 1973) YouTube
♪  No Quarter/Thank You (Page & Plant 1994) YouTube
♪  No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, O2 2007) YouTube
♪  No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy, 2015 remaster companion disc) YouTube

On This Day 23 July

Things don't always go the way you think they should.

1985 23 July On This Day - but these events didn't actually happen on this day

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Buxton, England at Buxton Pavilion Gardens Ballroom 
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Baltimore, MD at Baltimore Civic Centre
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Oakland, CA at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
• 1979 Led Zeppelin - Copenhagen, Denmark at Falkoner Theatre
• 1985 Robert Plant with Jimmy Page appearance - East Rutherford, NJ 
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Birmingham, England at NEC Arena (day 2)

1973:

The famous scene in The Song Remains The Same, with Peter Grant venting his rage at the venue's promoter, was taken at the Baltimore Civic Center concert on this date. 

1977:

Led Zeppelin's huge Stonehenge backdrop for the Oakland 23-24 concerts was the basis for some funny stuff later on. Black Sabbath had commissioned a Stonehenge stage set for their 1983 Born Again tour (Stonehenge is the second track on the Born  Again album).  That band couldn't use the stage set because it had been mistakenly constructed too big to haul around.  Coincidentally, at the same time the writers of This Is Spinal Tap created a scene with a Stonehenge set that turns out to be way too small to use. The two didn't copy each other (a 20-minute cut of the movie with that scene dates from before the Black Sabbath tour).  Thus, we might conclude that both were inspired by Led Zeppelin at Oakland.

 

1977 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Oakland

1977 Led Zeppelin's Stonehenge backdrop at Oakland

1979:

This was Led Zeppelin's first concert in almost two years.  It was kept low-key -- tickets were actually available to purchase at the door -- because it was a warm-up for Knebworth.  

1985:

The On This  Day post for July 23 is incorrect - let's blame it on the webmaster and not Jimmy Page (why not!).  The Firm played Meadowlands (Brendan Byrne Arena) in East Rutherford, NJ on May 9th.  Les Paul was introduced onstage.  The video for The Firm's Satisfaction Guaranteed (in which Les Paul played the bartender), was filmed in New York City on May 11, 1985.  The band returned to England shortly after. 

Jimmy Page did join Robert Plant onstage in Meadowlands, E Rutherford, NJ for the encores, Mean Woman Blues and Treat Her Right.

1985 Jimmy Page & Les Paul at Meadowlands

1985 Jimmy Page, from The Firm Tourbook

♪  Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin, Baltimore 1973) YouTube

♪  The Song Remains The Same 8MM excerpt (Led Zeppelin Oakland 1977) YouTube

♪  No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, Copenhagen 1979) YouTube

♪  In The Evening (Led Zeppelin, Copenhagen 1979) YouTube

On This Day 18 July

IN PERSON!

1970 18 July On This Day Led Zeppelin in Frankfurt
♪ Frankfurt Special (SoundCloud)

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Chicago, IL at Kinetic Playground 
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Frankfurt, Germany at Festhalle Frankfurt 
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Vancouver, British Columbia at Pacific Coliseum 
• 1998 Page & Plant - East Rutherford, NJ at Continental Airlines Arena

1970 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Frankfurt

1970 review of Led Zeppelin at Frankfurt

1970 Led Zeppelin in Frankfurt

1985 Guitar Pulp Magazine - John Paul Jones, Les Paul, Jimmy Page

♪  No Quarter part 1 (Led Zeppelin Vancouver 1973) YouTube
♪  No Quarter part 2 (Led Zeppelin Vancouver 1973) YouTube
♪  Over The Hills and Far Away (Led Zeppelin Vancouver 1973) YouTube
♪  Since I've Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin Vancouver 1973) YouTube

On This Day 23 June

The man's got a lot of moves.

2010 23 June On This Day Jimmy Page at Rio De Janeiro Ivo  Meirelles Samba Drum School

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Ashton-under-Tyne, Manchester, England at Mecca Palais
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - San Diego, CA at San Diego Sports Arena
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Inglewood, CA at The Forum
• 1980 Led Zeppelin - Bremen, Germany at Bremen Stadthalle
• 2010 23 June On This Day Jimmy Page at Rio De Janeiro Ivo  Meirelles Samba Drum School

1972 23 June Led Zeppelin at San Diego (Photo = ?)

1972 23 June Led Zeppelin at San Diego (Photo = ?)

1972 23 June Led Zeppelin at San Diego (Photo Richard Brown)

1977 23 June LA Forum - Raymond fixes the guitar strap

The LA Forum shows are considered some of the best of Led Zeppelin's performances. The 23 June show is referred to the Badge Holders show as Robert Plant made several dedications to the badge holder people. One of the high quality bootlegs of this show is entitled For Badgeholders Only..

The boys were so hot that night that no one faults the show for some fumbles.  The whole band stopped to wait after the first song when Jimmy's strap on double-neck broke and Raymond fixed it. Keith Moon of The Who showed up on stage during Over The Top (Moby Dick) and appeared on and off thereafter.  The band got lost after John Paul Jones missed a change during Kashmir, a song that sounds deceptively simple to play but isn't.  Mr. Jones has been quoted as saying he stuck a piece of a paper on his keyboards to help him remember.

1977 23 June Keith Moon crashes Led Zeppelin show at LA Forum

2010 23 June Jimmy Page at Rio De Janeiro Ivo Meirelles Samba Drum School

♪  LA Forum highlights (Jimmy Page, plus Keith Moon on stage, 23 June 1977) YouTube

♪  Since I've Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin LA Fourm 23 June 1977) YouTube

♪  Kashmir (Led Zeppelin, LA Forum 23 June 1977) YouTube

♪  No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, LA Forum 23 June 1977) YouTube

♪  Since I've Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin Bremen 1980) YouTube

On This Day 25 May

Three and a half hours of show this last night at Earls Court in 1975.

1975 25 May On This Day Led Zeppelin final performance at Earls Court Exhibition Hall

Dave Lewis says in his book, Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, "..there was no holding Jimmy back tonight. He soloed as if his life depended on it." More from Dave Lewis' TBL on this last night at Earls Court

• 1968 The Yardbirds - San Francisco,CA at Fillmore Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin – (opens for a Who concert) Columbia,MD at Merriweather Post Pavillion
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Denver,CO at Denver Coliseum
• 1975 25 May On This Day Led Zeppelin final performance at Earls Court Exhibition Hall
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Landover, MD at Capital Centre
• 1986 The Firm - Concord,CA at Concord Pavilion
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Tacoma,WA at Tacoma Dome

1975 after the final Earls Court performance, Page & Plant left for Morocco (posted 25 May On This Day)

1975 a few days after the final Earls Court performance, Page & Plant left for Morocco (posted 25 May On This Day)

1975 Dave Lewis' tickets for Earls Court

1975 Earls Court stage - such a small thing for such a big event (Photo Steve Selwood)

1975 Jimmy Page at Earls Court (photo H. Mylett)

1975 Earls Court - The final bows (photo source Dave Lewis)

1975  Jimmy Page takes last bows at Earls Court (photo Chris Walter)

♪  No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, Earls Court 05/25/1975) YouTube
♪  The Song Remains The Same (Led Zeppelin, Landover 05/25/1977) YouTube
♪  Yallah (Page & Plant, Unledded 1995) YouTube

On This Day 23 May

Day three of the Earls Court concerts in 1975 and, in 1969, two concerts half a continent apart in one day. Let no one say it's all fun and games and Riot Houses in the life of rock stars.

1968 23 May On This Day The Yardbirds - San Francisco,CA at Fillmore Auditorium

In 1969 Led Zeppelin performed two shows, one in San Jose CA and one in Chicago, thanks to a Lear jet provided by the promoters of the Santa Clara Pop Festival to fly the band to Chicago after their festival performance.  

Even though Led Zeppelin only had one album out at this time, they appeared with some big names.  The three-day festival lineup included: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jefferson Airplane, The Chambers Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon, Spirit, Canned Heat, Buffy Sainte-Marie, The Youngbloods, Steve Miller, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal, Noel Redding, Lee Michaels, Blues Image, Santana, Aum, Elvin Bishop, Poco, People!, Lynn County, The Loading Zone, Sweet Linda Divine, Cat Mother, Doc Watson & New Lost City Ramblers.  Eric Burdon wound up not appearing.

• 1967 The Yardbirds - Bristol,England at The Corn Exchange
• 1968 23 May On This Day The Yardbirds - San Francisco,CA at Fillmore Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - (show 1 of 2 this day) San Jose, CA at Santa Clara Pop Festival
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - (show 2 of 2 this day) Chicago,IL at Kinetic Playground
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Albequerque,NM at University Arena
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - London,England at Earls Court Exhibition Hall
• 1976 Page and Plant jam with Bad Company at the LA Forum
• 1986 The Firm - Costa Mesa,CA at Pacific Amphitheatre
• 1995 Page & Plant (Unledded Tour ) Portland,OR at Portland Memorial Coliseum
• 1998 Page & Plant (North America Tour) at Jacksonville,FL at Coliseum
• 2012 Page at Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee party

 ♪ No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, Albuquerque 1973) YouTube

1975 Led Zeppelin - London,England at Earls Court Exhibition Hall - Melody Maker front page 24 May

1975 Led Zeppelin - London,England at Earls Court Exhibition Hall - NME front page 24 May

1976 Page and Plant jam with Bad Company at the LA Forum

1976 Page and Plant jam with Bad Company at the LA Forum

2012 Jimmy Page at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee party at the Royal Academy