On this day 18 September

 FIRMly under control and Satisfaction Guaranteed

1984 18 September On This Day Jimmy Page with The Firm, Sol Studios

• 1970 Page/Plant press conference New York, Savoy Hotel
• 1984 Jimmy Page recording at Sol Studio with The Firm
• 1998 Page & Plant - Laguna Hills, CA at Irving Meadows Amphitheatre

1970:

In New York for the two Madison Square Garden sets the next day, on this day Jimmy Page and Robert Plant sat down for a press conference at their hotel.  

Interviewer: How does it feel to be number one?
Plant: A shock...
Page: We knew we were appreciated by the fact that people were coming to along to see us in such great vast numbers all over the place - England and the continent and wherever... but no one expected this.

Perhaps Robert Plant was shocked, but somehow I've got a suspicion that Jimmy Page had vast numbers of appreciative audience in mind all along.

On this day in 1970 - likely unbeknownst yet to Jimmy Page or Robert Plant or anyone at the conference given all the laughter - Jimi Hendrix, the extraordinary left-handed guitarist and musician, had died. Led Zeppelin never played more than a few phrases of any of Jimi Hendrix's body of work other than The Killing Floor (below). It's extraordinary how uniquely different the two takes are. For Led Zeppelin, that song morphed into The Lemon Song. For Jimi Hendrix The Killing Floor is one of many monuments to his incredible talent.  The original, of course, was by Howlin' Wolf, in 1964.

RIP Jimi Hendrix (27 November 1942 - 18 September 1970)

1984:
One of the fun things for me in doing the Mage Music blog is the research involved with each On This Day post. I enjoy the challenge of searching the internet and my many books and magazines to find what I'm looking for. The research requires sifting out facts from all the copy/paste inaccuracies and fuzzy memories, hunting down obscure references, and learning new tidbits that I hadn't come across before, which I then share with you, my readers.

Most of all, though, this labor of love means I get to listen to lots of music every day.

In seeking out the various songs and their live performance versions I'm forced to listen to music I might otherwise pass over. That's not an onerous task mind you.  Far from it, in fact.

For instance, I tend to relegate The Firm and Mean Business to the background of my musical preferences, rarely calling them up to listen to - but that's a mistake on my part. Listening only to absolute favorites means always listening to the same stuff. As wonderful as that seems, doing so reduces contrast - the light and shade that Jimmy Page has so often referred to over the years. It means losing the perception of musical nuances.

The funny thing about listening to less-favorite music, though, is that I wind up with new appreciation for it because of the greater listening experience that I bring to it. And like Magick, what was not-so-interesting is transformed to very cool stuff after all.

So yeah, I'm hearing both of the albums and The Firm's live performances with new ears. And I'm liking it.

Why shouldn't I? After all, it's Jimmy Page: Satisfaction's guaranteed.

1986 Jimmy Page with The Firm, New Orleans (Mark Bowman photo) 

2013

Jimmy Page with a fan in Bangkok 

♪

♪  The Killing Floor (Jimi Hendrix, Stockholm 1969)  YouTube
♪  The Killing Floor (Led Zeppelin, LA 1969) YouTube
♪  Full set (The Firm, Hammersmith Odeon 1984) YouTube
♪  Satisfaction Guaranteed (The Firm, promo video 1984) YouTube
Les Paul appearing as The Bartender; May Pang (John Lennon's former girlfriend) making a 2-second cameo appearance; and Jimmy Page hamming it up for the camera.
♪  Page & Plant (Laguna Hills CA at Irving Meadows Amphitheatre, 18 September 1998)

On this day 20 August

 Happy birthday, Robert Plant.  And happy day, Jimmy Page.

1948 20 August On This Day Robert Plant was born
♪ Happy birthday!

1990 20 August On This Day Jimmy Page with Aerosmith at Marquee Club

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Oklahoma City, OK at Wedgewood Amusement Park
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Schenectady, NY at Schenectady Aerodrome
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Oklahoma City, OK at Oklahoma State Fair Arena
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Seattle, WA at Seattle Center Coliseum (unconfirmed)
• 1990 Jimmy Page with Aerosmith - London, England at Marquee Club 

1990:

Train Kept A-Rollin' has been around a while. It was first recorded in 1951 by Tiny Bradshaw as a jump blues song (up-tempo blues that became popular in the 1940s, the precursor to rhythm and blues and rock and roll). The Johnny Burnette Trio added a repeating three-note minor key guitar line with intentionally distorted guitar (achieved by loosening a tube in the guitar amp), leading the way for The Yardbirds in 1965.

With The Yardbirds the song became Stroll On, as seen in the movie Blowup, with Jimmy Page on bass. He took the song with him to Led Zeppelin, reverting to the song's original name and, of course, to the guitar. When the four who were to become Led Zeppelin rehearsed together for the first time in 1968, the first song they took on was Train Kept A Rollin'.  

John Paul Jones:  

"...we did 'Train'... It was there immediately. It was so powerful that I don't remember what we played after that. For me it was just like, 'Crikey!' I mean, I'd had moments of elation with groups before, but nothing as intense as that. It was like a thunderbolt, a lightning flash – boosh! Everyone sort of went 'Wow'."
~ Mick Wall, When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin 2009

Aerosmith adopted Train Kept A Rollin' early on for their own set lists, recording it for their second album, Get Your Wings (1974, remastered 1993).

1990 Jimmy Page with Aerosmith at Marquee Club

1990 Jimmy Page with Aerosmith at Marquee Club

 Happy Birthday Robert Plant
10 Best Robert Plant Songs (post-Led Zeppelin), by Matthew Wilkening

Happy birthday, Robert Plant!

Jimmy and Robert

♪ Train Kept A Rollin' (Johnny Burnette Trio 1956) YouTube

♪ Stroll On (The Yardbirds, from the movie Blowup, 1966) YouTube

♪ Train Kept A Rollin' (Led Zeppelin, Frankfurt 1980) YouTube

♪ Train Kept A Rollin’ (Jimmy Page with Aerosmith, Marquee Club 1990) YouTube

♪ Train Kept A Rollin (Metallica, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Joe Perry, Ronnie Wood, Flea, Jason Newsted at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2009) YouTube 

On this day 06 August

 

1998 06 August Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at Tom Kenny wedding in Ireland
♪  Roisin Dubh by Innisfree Ceoil

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Chicago, IL at Chicago Civic Opera House
• 1969 - Led Zeppelin - Sacramento, CA at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
• 1998 - Page & Plant - County Kerry, Ireland at Tom Kenny's wedding reception

1998:

Tom Kenny, an Irish lighting designer, has worked with many bands over the years including Led Zeppelin. In 1994, Bill Curbishley, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's manager, asked Kenny to do the lighting for the Page and Plant tour.

In Tom Kenny's words:  “This was the first time Jimmy and Robert had worked together in years and both were jaded with the typical concert. ... My ever-changing live lighting approach really suited the band's emotionally inspired, fiery performances every night. We did another amazing tour in 1998 and I've worked with both Jimmy and Robert on solo projects since. 

Later that year Jimmy Page and Robert Plant performed at Tom Kenny's wedding.  

2012:

Adidas Underground was a series of events "popping up" in varying London locations.  They combined art, music, fashion and other unique experiences.  In 2012, twelve different evenings were put on to celebrate the London 2012 Games.  One of them was held on this day, with the Stone Roses performing in front of celebrities, VIPs, competition winners and Olympic medalists - not to mention Jimmy Page.  And, as so often happens when JP is around, everybody had to get their photo taken with him.

2012 06 August Jimmy Page at Adidas Underground for a surprise one-off Stone Roses performance

Olympic rower Pete Reed & Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page & fashion designer Pam Hogg

Here's some Robert Johnson for you because why not.

♪  Sweet Home Chicago (Robert Johnson) YouTube
♪  Crossroad (Robert Johnson) YouTube
♪  Kind Hearted Woman Blues (Robert Johnson) YouTube
♪  Travelling Riverside Blues (Robert Johnson) YouTube
♪  Travelling Riverside Blues (Led Zeppelin) YouTube

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.

♪  8mm film (Led Zeppelin, Knebworth 1979) YouTube

♪  Led Zeppelin Knebworth 04 August 1979 

♪  Sea of Love (Robert Plant with Jimmy Page guitar, 2006 remaster) YouTube

♪  Jimmy Page with Safe Sex (Jimmy Page, Ibiza 1986) YouTube

On this day 26 July

 All our love.

1969 26 July On This Day Led Zeppelin  Vancouver, BC

• 1967 The Yardbirds-San Francisco, CA at Fillmore Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Vancouver, BC at PNE Agrodome
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - London at Wembley Arena
• 2012 Jimmy Page at Warner pre-Olympics Party at Tate Modern, London

1969 Led Zeppelin and Vanilla Fudge - Vancouver, BC

1969 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Vancouver BC

1969 28 July Vancouver Sun review of 26 July show

2012 Jimmy Page arrives at Warner pre-Olympics party at Tate Modern, London

Jimmy Page  London 2018

1977:

Robert Plant received a phone call from his wife, Maureen, as the band was checking in to their New Orleans hotel.  Plant's 5-year-old son, Karac, was seriously ill.  Two hours later the boy was dead. The next 10 performances of the US tour were cancelled. Led Zeppelin was to never play again in the US.

All My Love, from Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through the Out Door, is a tribute to Karac.

1995:

Peter Grant's final public appearance was this final night of the Page and Plant tour at Wembley Arena. Grant died four months later, on 21 November.

♪  All My Love (Led Zeppelin, Polar Studio outtake, 1978) 

♫ Dan Rather interview of Robert Plant, on Karac and grief

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 encore 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 23 July 1985 is almost certainly incorrect - let's blame it on the webmaster and not Jimmy Page (why not!).  The band was on hiatus from 22 May 1985 until 14 March 1986, leaving Page free to do sets with The Beach Boys (04 July) and with Robert Plant and John Paul Jones (Live Aid, 13 July).

However, on 04 April 1986 The Firm was at Meadowlands (Brendan Byrne Arena) in East Rutherford, NJ., where Les Paul was introduced onstage. 

Robert Plant was at Meadowlands on 23 July 1985, and Jimmy Page joined him for the encores, Mean Woman Blues and Treat Her Right.  Les Paul wasn't onstage for that one.

1985 Jimmy Page & Les Paul at Meadowlands

1985 Jimmy Page, from The Firm Tourbook

♪  Led Zeppelin (Baltimore MD at Baltimore Civic Center, 23 July 1973) 

♪  Led Zeppelin (Oakland CA at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, 23 July 1977)

♪  Led Zeppelin (Copenhagen Denmark at Falkoner Theatre, 23 July 1979)

♪ Jimmy Page & Robert Plant (encore, East Rutherford NJ at The Meadowlands, 23 July 1985)

♪  Page & Plant Unledded Tour (Birmingham England at NEC Arena day 2, 23 July 1995)

On this day 08 July

 Rude chemistry

1997 08 July On This Day Rainer Ptacek’s tribute album released with the Page/Plant track, Rude World

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland at Raith Ballroom
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at Kerrisdale Arena
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Frauenfeld, Switzerland- Out In The Green Festival
• 1997 08 July On This Day Rainer Ptacek’s tribute album released
• 1998 Page & Plant - Virginia Beach, VA at Virginia Beach Arena
• 2000 Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes - Camden, NJ at E-Center 

1997:

Rainer Ptacek (1951–1997) was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter whose work influenced many musicians. He was not widely known to the general public, but with his own distinctive approach to blues and guitar techniques he earned the reputation of "musician's musician". Ptacek impressed Robert Plant enough that Plant flew Ptacek to the UK to record the B-side tracks for the Fate of Nations singles, including Whole Lotta Love  and 21 Years.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant recorded Ptacek's Rude World for the album, The Inner Flame - A Tribute to Rainer Ptacek.  Here's the review I wrote of the track.

Look, the voice of Robert Plant of the 21st century isn't the voice of Robert Plant of the 20th. We all get that. Too bad, too sad. Here's the thing: even if there was some other vocalist to pair with the musical magic of Jimmy Page's guitar, the chemistry wouldn't be the same.

There's chemistry in Rude World. It's that alchemical mix of sound that churns the soul and makes you wonder if you're acting funny in public while listening to it. It's a song that when you've heard it for the first time you feel like it's been in you forever. And oh, that guitar...

A fitting tribute to Rainer Ptacek, who was no slouch himself in the music magic department.

2014 MOJO July #248 featuring 21 pages on Led Zeppelin

♪  Rude World (Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, 1997) SoundCloud

♪  21 Years (Robert Plant and Rainer Ptacek 1993) YouTube

♪  Whole Lotta Love (Robert Plant and Rainer Ptacek 1993) YouTube

♫  Rainer Ptacek and Robert Plant at RAK Studios, London 1993  YouTube

♪ Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes (Camden NJ at E-Center, 08 July 2000)

On This Day 22 June

They went to the land of ice and snow

1970 22 June On This Day Led Zeppelin in Reykjavik Iceland

• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Reykjavik, Iceland at Lauguardalsholl Sports Arena
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - San Bernardino ,CA at Swing Auditorium
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Inglewood, CA at The Forum
• 2004 Jimmy Page receives MOJO Maestro Award and accepts Vision Award for Led Zeppelin DVD (2003)

1970 Jimmy Page in Iceland

1970 Jimmy Page with Led Zeppelin in Iceland

1970 Bonzo calling home... or somewhere

"We weren't being pompous. We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be canceled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable and we had a great time. 'Immigrant Song' was about that trip and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different."

~ Robert Plant, in Chris Welch's book, Led Zeppelin (1994) 

1977 Jimmy Page with Led Zeppelin at LA Forum

2004 MOJO Awards - James Patrick Page III, Jimmy Page, Scarlet Page
(Photo Ross Halfin)

2004 MOJO Awards - John Frusciante presentation speech for
Jimmy Page's Maestro Award
(Photo Ross Halfin, appeared in August 2004 MOJO)

2014 MOJO Magazine (Photo Ross Halfin)

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS - Music will be added at another time.  Thank you for your patience.