Showing posts with label PJ Proby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PJ Proby. Show all posts

Saturday, December 30, 2023

On this day 30 December

 Dazed thinking 2023 is about over

1968 30 December On This Day Led Zeppelin at Gonzaga University, Spokane WA
AUDIO: a minute and a half of Dazed and Confused (MP3)
  • 1968 Led Zeppelin - Spokane, WA at Gonzaga University 
1968
The House of Gonzaga was the ruling family of Mantua, in Northern Italy, from 1328 to 1708. The most famous son was Aloysius Gonzaga, who was canonized in 1726. In 1729 Pope Benedict declared Aloysius to be the patron saint of young students. 

Gonzaga University is a private Jesuit university located in Spokane, Washington, founded in 1887.

As noted in today's post: The audience recording of Dazed and Confused from Gonzaga (9 minutes and 42 seconds long) was training for a number that would run much, much longer in later years.  According to Jimmy Page, the song had "all the movements of a classical symphony".  Note that Led Zeppelin performed Dazed and Confused  more than 200 times over the years, with the longest being nearly 45 minutes at The Forum in LA, 27 March 1975.





Also in 1968
Not on this day but interesting: In 1964 Jimmy Page, along with Big Jim Sullivan, had worked with PJ Proby on Proby's first studio album, I Am P. J. Proby. Four years later all four members of Led Zeppelin recorded together for the very first time -- but not on a Led Zeppelin album, on PJ Proby's final album Three Week Hero. The recording sessions took place starting August 1968 and the album was released in April 1969. Read more... 

According to Proby in a 2012 interview by Corbin of Finding Zoso:
"...we recorded that album, I think it was in two days. We even undershot, we recorded it with about thirty-five minutes left over, and so Roland yelled down, “Why don’t you all busket*? We shouldn’t waste the studio time.” I told the boys, “Y’all start picking and I’ll write as you pick.” So the three last numbers on the album, It's So Hard to Be a Nigger/Jim's Blues/George Wallace is Rollin' in This Mornin’, I just made up as the boys played."

Jimmy Page - Acoustic guitar, electric guitar
John Paul Jones - Bass guitar, keyboards, arrangements
John Bonham - Drums, conga
Robert Plant - Harmonica

* Re: "busket": Roland must have said "busk it", meaning improvise.

2008 Jimmy Page (Ross Halfin photo)





♪  Led Zeppelin (Spokane WA at Gonzaga University, 30 December 1968) 
♪  Jim's Blues (PJ Proby with Jimmy Page guitar recorded 1968 released 1969) 
Note: PJ's first name was Jim
♪  Mery Hopkins medley (PJ Proby with "The New Yardbirds" released 1994) 
Note: Proby calls out each member of the band, who then plays a little solo



Monday, August 28, 2023

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

Sunday, May 15, 2016

On This Day 15 May

Session man on this day in 1964.

1964 15 May On This Day PJ Proby releases 'Hold Me" (Jimmy Page rhythm guitar, Big Jim Sullivan lead)
  • 1964 PJ Proby releases Hold Me
  • 1986 The Firm -  St. Paul MN at St. Paul Civic Center Arena
  • 1988 Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary (continued). 
1964:
PJ Proby was one of a couple dozen who did a version of Hold Me, a 1933 song by Jack Little, David Oppenheim, and Ira Schuster. 

Proby began writing songs and recording demos for artists such as Elvis Presley and Bobby Vee in 1962. It was inevitable that Jimmy Page and Proby would meet, since Proby knew Jackie DeShannon. In 1964 Proby went to the UK on DeShannon's advice, appearing on The Beatles' television special and putting out top 20 hits over two years' time, including Hold Me (featuring session players Jimmy Page on rhythm guitar and Big Jim Sullivan lead).


1988:
The Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary show featured artists from the recording label’s early years to the latest pop stars. It was planned as a 12 hour event, beginning at 1:30 PM on Saturday May 14 and ending at 1:30 a.m. Sunday May 15 so technically it was two days. Scheduled to start at midnight, in fact, Page, Plant, Jones and Jason Bonham didn’t hit the stage till 1:30 on Sunday morning. This was not the most shining performance of the veteran musicians, though Jason came out looking good. Robert Plant later said, “The crazy thing is, at the soundcheck, it was spectacular… and the gig was foul.”

1988 15 May Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Celebration at MSG

1988 15 May Atlantic Records 40th anniversary celebration MSG.  (AP Photo/Mario Suriani)

1988 15 May Atlantic Records 40th anniversary celebration MSG.  (Photo Rita Barrows)

2014 15 May Jimmy Page in NYC for remaster interviews  Photo David Krieger

2014 15 May Jimmy Page in NYC for remaster interviews  Photo David Krieger



♪ Hold Me (PJ Proby feat. Jimmy Page 1964) YouTube
♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

On This Day 30 December

Dazed thinking of the music to come in 2016
1968 30 December On This Day Led Zeppelin at Gonzaga University, Spokane WA
AUDIO: a minute and a half of Dazed and Confused (MP3)
  • 1968 Led Zeppelin - Spokane, WA at Gonzaga University 
1968
The House of Gonzaga was the ruling family of Mantua, in Northern Italy, from 1328 to 1708. The most famous son was Aloysius Gonzaga, who was canonized in 1726. In 1729 Pope Benedict declared Aloysius to be the patron saint of young students. 


Gonzaga University is a private Jesuit university located in Spokane, Washington, founded in 1887.

As noted in today's post: The audience recording of Dazed and Confused from Gonzaga (9 minutes and 42 seconds long) was training for a number that would run much, much longer in later years.  According to Jimmy Page, the song had "all the movements of a classical symphony".  Note that Led Zeppelin performed Dazed and Confused  more than 200 times over the years, with the longest being nearly 45 minutes at The Forum in LA, 27 March 1975.

Also in 1968
Not on this day but interesting: In 1964 Jimmy Page, along with Big Jim Sullivan, had worked with PJ Proby on Proby's first studio album, I Am P. J. Proby. Four years later all four members of Led Zeppelin recorded together for the very first time, but not on a Led Zeppelin album but on PJ Proby's final album, Three Week Hero. The recording sessions took place starting August 1968 and the album was released in April 1969. Read more... 

According to Proby in a 2012 interview by Corbin of Finding Zoso:
"...we recorded that album, I think it was in two days. We even undershot, we recorded it with about thirty-five minutes left over, and so Roland yelled down, “Why don’t you all busket*? We shouldn’t waste the studio time.” I told the boys, “Y’all start picking and I’ll write as you pick.” So the three last numbers on the album, It's So Hard to Be a Nigger/Jim's Blues/George Wallace is Rollin' in This Mornin’, I just made up as the boys played."

Jimmy Page - Acoustic guitar, electric guitar
John Paul Jones - Bass guitar, keyboards, arrangements
John Bonham - Drums, conga
Robert Plant - Harmonica

* Re: "busket": Roland must have said "busk it", meaning improvise.

2008 Jimmy Page (Ross Halfin photo)




♪  White Summer (Led Zeppelin, Spokane 1968) YouTube
♪  Full set (Led Zeppelin, Spokane 1968) YouTube
♪  Jim's Blues (PJ Proby with Jimmy Page guitar recorded 1968 released 1969) YouTube
Note: PJ's first name was Jim
♪  Mery Hopkins medley (PJ Proby with "The New Yardbirds" released 1994) YouTube
Note: Proby calls out each member of the band, who then plays a little solo

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

Friday, August 28, 2015

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 
1985:
There seems to be some confusion about what Jimmy Page was doing on this day in 1985.  The website reports his having performed at the 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

Friday, May 15, 2015

On This Day 15 May

Session man on this day in 1964.

1964 15 May On This Day PJ Proby releases 'Hold Me" (Jimmy Page rhythm guitar, Big Jim Sullivan lead)

PJ Proby was one of a couple dozen who did a version of Hold Me, a 1933 song by Jack Little, David Oppenheim, and Ira Schuster. 

Proby began writing songs and recording demos for artists such as Elvis Presley and Bobby Vee in 1962. It was inevitable that Jimmy Page and Proby would meet, since Proby knew Jackie DeShannon. In 1964 Proby went to the UK on DeShannon's advice, appearing on The Beatles' television special and putting out top 20 hits over two years' time, including Hold Me (featuring session players Jimmy Page on rhythm guitar and Big Jim Sullivan lead).

♪ Hold Me (PJ Proby) YouTube
  • 1964 PJ Proby releases Hold Me
  • 1986 The Firm St. Paul, Minnesota @ St. Paul Civic Center Arena
  • 1988 Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary (continued). This show featured artists from the recording label’s early years to the latest pop stars.  It was planned as a 12 hour event, beginning at 1:30 PM on Saturday May 14 and ending at 1:30 a.m. Sunday May 15. Scheduled to start at midnight, in fact, Page, Plant, Jones and Jason Bonham didn’t hit the stage till 1:30 on Sunday morning. This was not the most shining performance of the veteran musicians, though Jason came out looking good. Robert Plant later said, “The crazy thing is, at the soundcheck, it was spectacular… and the gig was foul.”
1988 15 May Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Celebration at MSG

1988 15 May Atlantic Records 40th anniversary celebration MSG.  (AP Photo/Mario Suriani)

1988 15 May Atlantic Records 40th anniversary celebration MSG.  (Photo Rita Barrows)

2014 15 May Jimmy Page in NYC for remaster interviews  Photo David Krieger

2014 15 May Jimmy Page in NYC for remaster interviews  Photo David Krieger