29 December

 

when the magic takes the musician

Of all the songs Led Zeppelin (meaning with Bonzo, not after his death) played live or only played bits and pieces of, Ramble On is my favorite. I especially love the solid bass line through it, but mostly it's Jimmy Page's guitar work that gets me. So many different tones, volumes, emotions.

The studio version is a great start, but I love the O2 version maybe more. The fuzzy, at times harsh and brash guitar is so much more powerful than the sweet innocent one of the studio version. I love when that O2 guitar sings and fades, causing the crowd to roar.

But the next year, in 2008, the two JPs showed up at the Foo Fighter's gig at Wembley. Jimmy Page's Ramble On guitar sound was more laid back, not as harsh as at O2, but when his guitar sings, the magic is there.

Check out the ten seconds beginning at 2:50 for the most stab-in-the-heart guitar sequence ever. Watch JP's face, too, as that intense musical magic blows right through him!

2008

On this day 06 November

 Don't go - I can't quit you!

1964  06 November - Baby Please Don't Go released

• 1964 Baby Please Don't Go, by Them with Van Morrison feat. Jimmy Page  released
• 1966 The Yardbirds - Bartlesville, OK at Bartlesville Civic Center
• 1966 The Yardbirds - Tulsa, OK at Tulsa Assembly Center Arena
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - San Francisco, CA at Winterland Ballroom (day 1 of 3)
• 1998 Page & Plant -  London, England at Wembley Arena 

1964:

The band Them was a Northern Irish group formed in 1964 with founding member, Van Morrison.  They released a number of songs you've no doubt rocked to over the years, including Gloria and Here Comes the Night.

1969

Jimmy Page..."understands the role of accompanist  (to vocalist or instrumentalist) and yet can turn on a tough, biting solo in old style blues or electronic head music with no apparent change of pace." [P.Elwood/Examiner/Nov. 1969]

A double encore at the Winterland Ballroom: Eddie Cochran's C'mon Everybody and Something Else.

1969 Winterland

1998

The second song of the first of Page & Plant's two encores was Ramble On, which Led Zeppelin had never played live in its entirety.

1998

♪

♪  Baby Please Don't Go (Them with Van Morrison, feat. Jimmy Page guitar 1964) 
♪  Led Zeppelin (San Francisco at Winterland,Ballroom 06 November 1969) 
♪  Page & Plant (London, England at Wembley Arena day 2, 06 November 1998)

On this day 12 September

 Oh, oh, O2!

♪ Bonzo's Montreux (Soundcloud)

• 1968 Led Zeppelin - Stockholm, Sweden at Tivoli Grona Lund,Stora Scenen
• 1976 Jimmy Page and John Bonham recording in Montreux Casino Studios
• 1998 Page & Plant - Mountain View, CA at Shoreline Amphitheatre
• 2007 O2 show announcement 

1968

Still performing as The Yardbirds, but not for long.

1968 Led Zeppelin - Stockholm, Sweden at Tivoli Grona Lund,Stora Scenen

1968 Billed as Yardbirds - not even the new ones

1976:
Bonzo's Montreux is one of my favorite pieces of music ever. Of course, I say that about so many of Led Zeppelin's and Jimmy Page's music, but this is different. Bonzo's Montreux is music at it's most basic, what humans have heard in the plink of raindrops and the slap of windshield wipers, the thing that makes toes tap and bodies sway.  This one song is music stripped to a fundamental component of human life, "the spatial representation of time as rhythm" (Ursula Leguin, The Dispossessed).  It is truly, as Jimmy Page puts it, John Bonham's drum orchestra.

Keyboard mentioned in Jimmy Page's On This Day post

1998 Page & Plant - Poster for Mountain View, CA show

2007 Led Zeppelin announces O2 show

2007:
"O2" of course, refers to the one-off "Led Zeppelin Reunion" (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham).  The official name of the show was the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert.  It was a benefit to help raise money for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund for university scholarships in the UK, US and Turkey.

The 12 September announcements for the event mentioned a lineup that included Pete Townshend, Foreigner, Paolo Nutini, and Bill Wyman And The Rhythm Kings, with rumors of Mick Jagger playing the gig. Tickets for the show were £125 each, limited to two per person, distributed by ballot via online registration. Registration was supposed to close on Monday, 17 September, but in fact the website exceeded its bandwidth and crashed almost immediately upon the announcement.  According to Guinness World Records 2009, a world record was set for the "Highest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concert". Depending on the source you believe, there were no fewer than one million or as many as 20 million requests for tickets.

Pete Townshend declined to perform, reportedly saying, "They really don't need me."  It didn't matter whether he or anyone else showed up. For most of the world there was only one band that was going to play that night anyway: Led Zeppelin.

2009 5 March, Jimmy Page/Ross Halfin studio photoshoot

2009:
I posted this photo today because I like it. Is there any other reason necessary?

♪

♪  Bonzo's Montreux (Led Zeppelin, Coda 1976) YouTube
♪  Bonzo's Montreux (mix construction in progress) (Led Zeppelin, Coda 2015 remaster) 

♪  Page & Plant (Mountain View CA at Shoreline Amphitheatre, 12 September 1998)

♪  Ramble On (Led Zeppelin, O2 rehearsal Shepperton Studios 2007) YouTube
♪  For Your Life (Led Zeppelin, O2 rehearsal Shepperton Studios 2007) YouTube

On this day 03 August

 A great guitar is a thing of magic in the hands of a great guitarist who wields great magic.

2009 03 August On This Day Jimmy Page checks out the Gibson Les Paul "Number Two" prototype

• 1967 The Yardbirds - Racine, WI at New Sound Dance ClubYMCA
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Houston, TX at Houston Music Hall

2007 Q Magazine cover (Ross Halfin photo)

2007:
Ross Halfin on the Q cover Guitar Heroes issue and how it was done.

Edge was shot in Dublin. He was very professional, turned up a half hour late, apologised and stayed on to make up the time. He asked if I'd ever shot them early on. I told him I'd discovered America and toured with Rush, ACDC, UFO, Ozzy, Aerosmith and that ilk. I liked Edge a lot. The U2 camp is like being in the army, it's run with military precision.

Jack White was in Nashville and we shot at 9am - he's got a daughter so he's up early.

Jimmy Page was in Fulham on the hottest day of the year. I shot quite a lot that wasn't used.

Johnny Marr was in sunny Manchester (look at the sky on the inside spread). I'd never met him, he was a good bloke - as they say in ancient Rome. We talked about Rory Gallagher and how he acted towards people, always gracious.

Slash was in LA, at the bar of the Sunset Marquis Hotel. He did the interview sitting under giant prints of himself.

Matt Bellamy was at the Soho Hotel in London. Terry Hall (Matt's sexy PR) told me I had 15 minutes in a tiny bedroom, with the backdrop taking up the whole room. Steve Peck from Q stepped in and stretched it to 45 minutes while Terry chain-smoked and wouldn't stop talking inbetween blowing smoke all over the room.

Dave Grohl was in Los Angeles. Diamond Dave was so hyper. I was useless, not focused, shot in the evening while I was so jetlagged - I just wanted to go to bed.. At the end of the day I think it worked out well. The Master can still work well, even when half asleep.

Joe Perry was in London inbetween taking a nap and eating at Nobu with Jimmy Page.

~ Ross Halfin Diary August 2007

Features of Gibson's Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul

Gibson's Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul guitar

2009:

Jimmy Page has played and owns bunches of guitars, and has played and owns bunches of Gibson guitars. His Les Paul "Number One" is the guitar he got from Joe Walsh in early 1969, and it quickly became his go-to guitar, bumping his Fender Telecaster from that position. "Number One" was used to record Led Zeppelin II and was in use through to the 2007 O2 concert and the 2008 Foo Fighters concert at Wembley Stadium. 

"Number Two" was purchased to supplement "Number One", possibly to avoid damaging the first guitar any further (just think about the force on a guitar when it's slapped with a bow) or maybe to have two guitars with very similar sound but with different tuning available on stage. "Number Two" was put into action after the initial modifications in the beginning of 1975 and was in use through to the 2007 O2 concert. 

From the Gibson website:

Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul.

Every musician knows that late ’50s Sunburst Les Paul Standards are hard enough to come by as it is. Obtaining a pristine and exemplary ’59 ’Burst and modifying it for heightened performance and vastly expanded tonal options? Unheard of… unless, of course, you’re Jimmy Page. That’s exactly what the legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist, perhaps the world’s most iconic Les Paul player, did with his own ’59 Les Paul Standard, and now—thanks to the extreme efforts of Gibson’s Custom Shop and the intimate cooperation of Jimmy Page himself—the artist’s hallowed “Number Two” Les Paul is available to mere mortals, in the form of the Custom Shop Jimmy Page “Number Two” Les Paul. Produced in strictly limited numbers, with two levels of aging, this guitar captures the look, feel, sound, and versatility of one of the greatest artist-owned Les Pauls of all time, and it is likely to disappear from authorized Gibson dealers in record time.
[Mage Music note: this model is no longer available from Gibson]

Image from Gibson website for Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul guitar

♪  Rock and Roll (Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones with Foo Fighters, Wembley, 2008) YouTube
♪  Ramble On (Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones with Foo Fighters, Wembley, 2008) YouTube

On this day 22 July

"There was Keith Richards on electric guitar, myself on electric guitar ... Keith kicked it off and I began to mould a riff around his guitar part to augment the arrangement."

Scarlet, recorded in 1974 by the Rolling Stones & feat. Jimmy Page guitar released 2020

1967 22 July On This Day Jimmy Page with The Yardbirds at Santa Monica

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Gravesend, Kent England at Co-op Hall
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Santa Monica, CA at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Birmingham, England at NEC Arena
• 2020 The Rolling Stones release "Scarlet", recorded in 1974 with Jimmy Page

In late 1967 the Dragon was hatched.

1967 March Jimmy Page's Telecaster before the Dragon

Jimmy Page's famous Dragon Telecaster started out as a generic white.  Page inherited it when Jeff Beck left the Yardbirds in 1966, and by spring 1967 the Tele sported eight reflective circle patches.

"... Jimmy Page stripped the Fender Blond paint off and handpainted a green, red and orange psychadelic dragon on the front of the ash body and replaced the pickguard with a pickguard made of clear acrylic with a sheet of diffraction grating film underneath."
~Achilles Last Stand

1995 Page & Plant at Birmingham UK

2008 July Jimmy Page backstage with The Mars Volta at the Roundhouse, London (Ross Halfin photo)

1974 - 2020
One of the three bonus cuts on the Rolling Stone's remaster of Goats Head Soup, released 04 September, 2020, was 'Scarlet', recorded in October 1974 with Jimmy Page on guitar Read about it at Ultimate Classic Rock's article, How Jimmy Page Ended Up Jamming With Keith Richards on 'Scarlet' 

♪  Over Under Sideways Down (The Yardbirds, 15 March 1967)  
♪  Scarlet (Rolling Stones feat Jimmy Page guitar 1974)  
♪ Page & Plant (Birmingham England Birmingham, England at NEC Arena, 22 July 1995)

On this day 19 July

 Bring it...

1998 19 July On This Day Page & Plant at Jones Beach

• 1967 The Yardbirds-Colorado Springs, CO at Colorado Springs City Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Chicago, IL at Kinetic Playgound
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Berlin, Germany at Deutschlandhalle
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Dublin, Ireland at The Point Theatre
• 1998 Page & Plant - Wantagh, NY at Jones Beach Amphitheatre

1998 Ray Gun Magazine interview (L-R: unknown, possibly Steve Albini), Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Dave Grohl)

1998:

Robert Plant on Michael Lee: "Michael's ...got a contemporary vision on how to present the drums in a non-hard-rock fashion. The way that he approaches the drums in the studio is different to on stage. Where I'm convinced he's building a small shed."
~ Robert Plant interview by Dave Grohl for Ray Gun Magazine

Michael Lee (1969-2008) was an English drummer who some thought might work out for a reincarnation of Led Zeppelin.  A tall man, Lee used large drum sizes like John Bonham did, and had an aggressive and dynamic drumming style. He once hit himself on his own head with a drumstick during a drum solo at the end of Rock and Roll.

Lee started out with the British band, Little Angels, toured with The Cult and a later version of Thin Lizzy. He drummed for Robert Plant starting with the 1993 album Fate of Nations.  When Page and Plant began their collaboration Lee was hired on to record and tour, and received writing credits on Walking into Clarksdale.

Lee stayed with Jimmy Page for a few additional projects, including Net Aid in October 1999 when Domino was performed for the first time.

Lee died on 24 November 2008 from an epileptic seizure.

♪ Led Zeppelin (Berlin Germany at Deutschlandhalle, 19 July 1970) 
♫  Chris Welsh footage of Led Zeppelin in  Berlin, 19 July 1970 
♪  Bring It On Home/Ramble On (Page & Plant, Dublin 1995) 
♪ Page & Plant (Wantagh NY at Jones Beach Amphitheatre, 19 July 1998)  
♫  Dave Grohl interview of Page & Plant for Ray Gun Magazine 1998 

On This Day 20 May

1967 On This Day 20 May - Yardbirds - Jouy,France at HEC Business School. 

• 1967 The Yardbirds - Jouy France at HEC Business School.  
• 1984 Jimmy Page with Roy Harper- Norwich, England at Kenley Fayre
• 1985 The Firm - Edinburgh, Scotland at Playhouse Theatre
• 1995 Page & Plant (Unledded North American Tour) San Jose, CA at San Jose Arena
• 1998 Page & Plant (North American Tour) Tampa FL at Tampa Ice Palace

1967 Yardbirds Paris

1984:
Jimmy Page appeared at a number of folk festivals with Roy Harper in 1984. Harper had been touring with a band that at that time included bassist Tony Franklin, who was to join Jimmy Page in The Firm. In 1985 Harper and Page put out the album, Whatever Happened to Jugula, the fifth album of Harper's that Jimmy Page had contributed to.

1995 Page & Plant  San Jose, CA 

2014 Metal XS interview

♪

♪  Satisfaction Guaranteed (The Firm Edinburgh 1985) YouTube
♪  Thank You/Bring It On Home (Page & Plant San Jose 1995) YouTube
♪  Ramble On (Page & Plant San Jose 1995) YouTube
♪  Full set (Page & Plant Tampa 1998) YouTube

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

On This Day 11 April

The never ending Magick...

2010 11 April On This Day Jimmy Page went to a Bad Company concert at Wembley

2010 Paul Rodgers & Jimmy Page, Bad Company at Wembley (Ross Halfin photo)

• 1968 The Yardbirds-Boston,MA  at Boston Tea Party
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - St. Louis MO at Kiel Auditorium

Today is Mage Music's last daily On This Day post!  Last year I committed to providing a full year's worth, and now that it's done I won't post any more unless Jimmy Page's website offers some new ones. You can view each of them by clicking on the date in the right-hand navigation column.

Stay tuned for new posts here on the Mage Music blog about the music and Magick of Jimmy Page, as well as previews of new Mage Music projects. In the meantime, enjoy a few magazine covers featuring Jimmy Page over the years plus more of the best music in the world.

♪

♪  Baby Who's Driving Your Car (Jimmy Page, John Williams 1970) YouTube
♪  Asylum (Box of Frogs feat. Jimmy Page 1986) YouTube
♪  Writes of Winter (Jimmy Page, Outrider 1988) YouTube
♪  Absolution Blues (Coverdale/Page 1993) YouTube
♪  Depot Studio Session/Domino (Soundcloud)
♪  Domino (Jimmy Page, Net Aid East Rutherford NJ 1999) YouTube
♪  Kashmir (Page/Plant/Jones/Jason Bonham, O2 2007) YouTube
♪  Ramble On (Jimmy Page, It Might Get Loud 2008) YouTube
♪  Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin, Sunset Sound Mix/Remaster 2014) YouTube

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