On this day 06 January

 Band banned in Boston

1975 06 January On This Day Led Zeppelin caused a riot and they weren't even there

1975:
"Banned in Boston" describes works of art (painting and sculpture, literature, music, theater, etc.) that were prohibited from distribution or exhibition in Boston because of , "objectionable content", including but not limited to works with sexual content or foul language. Remember, Boston was founded by Puritans, and artwork was banned in Boston as early as 1651. The city was still banning art in the twentieth century.

On this day in 1975, events in Boston led to the band's being banned there for five years. Led Zeppelin wasn't even in the USA at that time, but it didn't matter. 

It all started when Led Zeppelin was booked to play a show at Boston Garden on 04 February 1975.  The announcement of the concert, the “first monster rock show of the new year”, was made on December 31, 1974, and stated that tickets would go on sale the following Tuesday (07 January, 1975), with the show expected to be sold out immediately.

By that time in the USA fans often would line up the night before concert tickets went on sale. That wasn't uncommon. But on the night of 06 January, Boston police (including a few from Boston's Tactical Patrol Force) were sent to Boston Garden to deal with a reported 3000 fans who had arrived in advance for the box office to open at 10 a.m. the next day - and who were trashing the place.  Because of the cold, the doors had been opened to allow freezing fans to wait inside.  Somehow that act of mercy resulted in the fans running amok, vandalizing the building to the tune of about $30,000.  Police confiscated knives and martial arts implements from some of the rioters. The estimated average age of fans was reported to be 14, but since no one was actually arrested it's hard to know how accurate that was.

And then, in spite of the fact that Led Zeppelin had been booked for the show, somehow the concert had not actually been licensed by the Boston Licensing Board. That was all the excuse that Mayor Kevin White, reportedly a Stones fan, needed to refuse the permit for Led Zeppelin's show, and on top of it the band was banned in Boston for five years. 

1972 busted in Rhode Island but saved by Boston's mayor

Fair? Hardly. Mayor White didn't make a fuss when fans who were waiting at Boston Garden rioted in 1972 when the band didn't show up on time. No, instead White personally got Keith Richards and Mick Jagger out of assault busts in Rhode Island so they could get back to Boston for the gig. No banned in Boston for them.

Meanwhile in 1975 Led Zeppelin fans in Boston who never got the tickets for Led Zeppelin because now the band was banned there were offered tickets by mail for a newly scheduled show in Uniondale NY on 04 February. Those who showed up with an envelope bearing a Massachusetts postmark  got preferential seating.

2012 January Classic Rock Magazine (Ross Halfin cover photo)

By the way, Boston seems to be a bit proud of their place in Led Zeppelin history. On their "Celebrate Boston" website (albeit in the Crime folder) there's a more detailed account of the Led Zeppelin Riot.

Another article on iHeart Radio's website claims that JP didn't know why the show was cancelled in Boston or why they didn't play Boston in 1977 until he did some research for his own website more than thirty years later.

♪

On this day 15 October

Jimmy and friends fooling around

1994 15 October On This Day Page & Plant press conference, Paris

• 1974 Jimmy Page records Scarlet at Island Records (released 2020)
• 1994 Page & Plant – press conference, Paris at Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour – Detroit at Palace of Auburn Hills
• 2012 Jimmy Page – Tokyo, Celebration Day movie premiere

1974:
The elusive Scarlet. Led Zeppelin was on a 18 month sabbatical, so Jimmy Page, Keith Richards (yes, the same Keith Richards who claimed for many years that he didn't love Jimmy Page's music), Ian Stewart (the "Stu" of Boogie With Stu), Rick Grech and Bruce Rowland recorded a song on this day in 1974..

Rick Grech (1946-1991), a bassist and violinist, had been wit Eric Clapton's one-shot band, Blind Faith, in 1969 (with Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker). He was later with Traffic and then performed with various groups that did or did not put out albums but that were the movers and shakers of the music world at that time.

Drummer and songwriter Bruce Rowland (1971-2015), was best known for his work with The Grease Band (Joe Cocker's backing band) and Fairport Convention. He also drummed for Ronnie Lane.

In Cameron Crowe's famous interview of 1975 for Rolling Stone, Jimmy Page said about Scarlet, "It was Rick Grech, Keith and me doing a number called "Scarlet." I can't remember the drummer. It sounded very similar in style and mood to those Blonde on Blonde tracks. It was great, really good. We stayed up all night and went down to Island Studios where Keith put some reggae guitars over one section. I just put some solos on it, but it was eight in the morning of the next day before I did that."

The "staying up all night" took place at Ron Wood's house, The Wick, which Wood sold to Pete Townshend in 1996. Island Studios (now called Basing Street Studios) is where Led Zeppelin IV was recorded in 1970. Jimmy Page would know the place well.  An Ian Stewart blogger says the recording took place at Olympic Studios, but every other source supports Island Studios. I do wonder, though, why they didn't just record it at The Wick, since Ron Wood had built a studio in the basement where he recorded his two solo albums, and where the Stones' single version of It's Only Rock 'n Roll was originally recorded. A fascinating point of Jimmy Page's history that we likely will never know the actual facts of.

But the recording studio isn't what we really want to know about. What we want to know is why it was called Scarlet ("our" Scarlet was just three years old back then), how Jimmy Page ended up hanging out with the other boys all night long, why it's a Rolling Stones song, and why it took so long to eventually be released in 2020 on the Stones' Goats Head Soup album..


1994

1994 Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Paris press conference

1994 Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Paris press conference

2012

2012 "Mr. Jimmy" Sakurai and the Original

2012 Jimmy Page, Tokyo, for Celebration Day movie premiere (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

♪ Scarlet (Rolling Stones feat. Jimmy Page, Goats Head Soup, recorded October 1974)
♫ Page & Plant press conference, Paris at Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione, 15 October 1994
♪  Page & Plant Unledded Tour (Detroit at Palace of Auburn Hills, 15 October 1995)

On This Day 17 June

 There's always time for the music of Jimmy Page!

1966 17 June Jimmy Page with Chris Farlowe on Out of Time

• 1966 17 June On This Day - Jimmy Page and Chris Farlowe Out of Time
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Lincs, England at Raven Club,RAF Waddington
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Portland, OR at Portland Memorial Coliseum
• 1980 Led Zeppelin - Dortmund, Germany at Westfalenhalle
• 2015 BBC's Sarah Montague interviews Jimmy Page on his first experiments with sitar

1972 Led Zeppelin at Portland

1980

2015

2015

♪  Out Of Time. (Jimmy Page, Chris Farlowe 1966) SoundCloud

♪ Led Zeppelin (Portland, OR at Portland Memorial Coliseum, 17 June 1972)

♪  Led Zeppelin, (Dortmund Germany 1980) 

♫  Jimmy Page on a 'tricky' musical experiment with sitar (BBC interview 2015)

Updated 2023

On This Day 21 May

Session man 1965

1965 21 May On This Day Jimmy Page session for Vashti Bunyan

1965 - Other tracks Jimmy Page played on during the week of May 21

Vashti Bunyan is a British singer-songwriter who in 1965 was under contract to Andrew Oldham (manager and producer of The Rolling Stones at that time).  Even having Jimmy Page on guitar didn't help her gain popularity back then.  Over thirty years later her debut 1970 album (which didn't include the song with Jimmy Page) garnered a cult following and Bunyan was able to renew her musical career.

Bunyan talks about recording  'Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind’ in a March 2001 interview 

"I was in heaven during the recording. This was especially so during the recording of my own song, hearing it arranged by David Whittaker and played by 'real' musicians. Nicky Hopkins and Big Jim Sullivan. Jimmy Page was a session musician then and was in there too."

• 1965 Jimmy Page session for Vashti Bunyan
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Houston, TX at The Summit
• 1984 The Firm - St. Annes-on-Sea, England at St. Ives Hotel Ballroom
• 2014 Jimmy Fallon show interview airs (filmed 05/19/14)
• 2014 On stage at the Olympia Paris for remasters promo

Record Mirror article published 21 May1977.  Award ceremony was 12 May 1977

2014 Jimmy Fallon show interview aired on NBC (filmed 05/19/14)

2014 Jimmy Fallon show interview aired on NBC (filmed 05/19/14) showing off the remasters

2014 On stage at the Olympia Paris for remasters promo.  Photo Guino Patrice

2014 Poster for Jimmy Page's appearance at the Olympia Paris for remasters promo.

2014 On stage at the Olympia Paris for remasters promo.  Photo Guino Patrice

♪

♪ Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind (Vashti Bunyan, Jimmy Page guitar 1965) YouTube
♪  Guitar & theremin solo (Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin, Houston 1977) YouTube

♪  Partial set (Led Zeppelin, Houston "Dragon Snake bootleg" 1977) YouTube
♫ Jimmy Page interviewed by Jimmy Fallon 2014 YouTube

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

On This Day 06 January

Banned in Boston

1975 06 January On This Day Led Zeppelin caused a riot and they weren't even there

1975:
"Banned in Boston" is a phrase used to describe works of art (literature, music, movies or plays) that were prohibited from distribution or exhibition in Boston because of , "objectionable content", including but not limited to works with sexual content or foul language.  Remember, Boston was founded by Puritans, and artwork was banned in Boston as early as 1651.

On this day in Boston, events led to the band's being banned in Boston for five years, but it was Led Zeppelin shows rather than the music that was banned. 

It all started when Led Zeppelin was booked to play at Boston Garden on 04 February 1975.  The announcement of the concert, the “first monster rock show of the new year”, was made on December 31, 1974, and stated that tickets would go on sale the following Tuesday (07 January, 1975), with the show expected to be sold out immediately.

On the night of 06 January, Boston police (including a few from Boston's Tactical Patrol Force) were sent to Boston Garden to deal with a reported 3000 fans who had arrived in advance for the box office to open at 10 a.m. the next day and who were trashing the place.  Because of the cold, the doors had been opened to allow freezing fans to wait inside.  Somehow that act of mercy resulted in the fans running amok, vandalizing the building to the tune of about $30,000.  Police confiscated knives and martial arts implements from some of the rioters. 

In spite of the fact that Led Zeppelin had been booked for the show the concert had not actually been licensed by the Boston Licensing Board. Mayor Kevin White, reportedly a Stones fan, refused the permit for Led Zeppelin's show and they were banned in Boston for five years. 

1972 busted in Rhode Island but saved by Boston's mayor

Mayor White had personally got Keith Richards and Mick Jagger out of assault busts in Rhode Island in 1972 because fans who were waiting at Boston Garden would riot if the band didn't show up. Yet in June 1975 The Stones were booked for the Garden and they got their permit just fine. Talk about politics.

2012 January Classic Rock Magazine (Ross Halfin cover photo)

♪

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

On This Day 15 October

Hey hey what can I do? I didn't have time to finish this post.  But it will get done.
Note: Updated noonish, 10/15/15

1994 15 October On This Day Page & Plant press conference, Paris

• 1974 Jimmy Page records Scarlet at Island Records (unreleased song)
• 1994 Page & Plant – press conference, Paris at Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour – Detroit at Palace of Auburn Hills
• 2012 Jimmy Page – Tokyo, Celebration Day movie premiere

1974:
The elusive Scarlet. There's some confusion about the origins of this never-released song and perhaps who's song it is: Jimmy Page's or the Rolling Stones'?

What we do know is that Jimmy Page, Keith Richards (yes, the same Keith Richards who doesn't love Jimmy Page's music these days), Ian Stewart (the "Stu" of Boogie With Stu), Rick Grech and Bruce
Rowland recorded a song on this day in 1974 that is called Scarlet.

Rick Grech (1946-1991), a bassist and violinist, had been wit Eric Clapton's one-shot band, Blind Faith, in 1969 (with Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker). He was later with Traffic and then performed with various groups that did or did not put out albums but that were the movers and shakers of the music world at that time.

Drummer and songwriter Bruce Rowland (1971-2015), was best known for his work with The Grease Band (Joe Cocker's backing band) and Fairport Convention, and drummed for Ronnie Lane.

In Cameron Crowe's famous interview of 1975 for Rolling Stone, Jimmy Page said about Scarlet, "It was Rick Grech, Keith and me doing a number called "Scarlet." I can't remember the drummer. It sounded very similar in style and mood to those Blonde on Blonde tracks. It was great, really good. We stayed up all night and went down to Island Studios where Keith put some reggae guitars over one section. I just put some solos on it, but it was eight in the morning of the next day before I did that."

The "staying up all night" took place at Ron Wood's house, The Wick (the house is currently owned by Pete Townshend). Island Studios is where Led Zeppelin IV was recorded in 1970. Jimmy Page would know the place well.  An Ian Stewart blogger says the recording took place at Olympic Studios, but every other source supports Island Studios. I do wonder, though, why they didn't just record it at The Wick, since Ron Wood had built a studio in the basement where he recorded his two solo albums, and where the Stones' single version of It's Only Rock 'n Roll was originally recorded. A fascinating point of Jimmy Page's history that we likely will never know the actual facts of.

But the recording studio isn't what we really want to know about. What we want to know is where, oh where, is Scarlet today? Who's got the tape, who's got the rights? Has Jimmy Page's daughter, for whom the song was named, ever gotten to listen to it?

Will we ever get to hear it?

1994 Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Paris press conference

1994 Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Paris press conference

2012 "Mr. Jimmy" Sakurai and the Original

2012 Jimmy Page, Tokyo, for Celebration Day movie premiere (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

Sorry, no playlist today.

On This Day 17 June

There's always time for the music of Jimmy Page
[2020 update]

1966 17 June Jimmy Page with Chris Farlowe on Out of Time

• 1966 17 June On This Day - Jimmy Page and Chris Farlowe Out of Time
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Lincs, England at Raven Club,RAF Waddington
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Portland, OR at Portland Memorial Coliseum
• 1980 Led Zeppelin - Dortmund, Germany at Westfalenhalle
• 2015 BBC's Sarah Montague interviews Jimmy Page on his first experiments with sitar

1972 Led Zeppelin at Portland

1980

2015

2015

♪  Out Of Time. (Jimmy Page, Chris Farlowe 1966) SoundCloud

♪  Led Zeppelin, (Dortmund Germany 1980) You Tube

♫  Jimmy Page on a 'tricky' musical experiment with sitar (BBC interview 2015)

On This Day 05 June

The musicians who play at tribute concerts generally have a connection with the person being honored. Here's the Jimmy Page - Alexis Korner connection.

1984 05 June On This Day Alexis Korner Tribute Concert, Nottingham,England at Nottingham Palais Ballroom.
Note incorrect year in text of this On This Day post - 1984, not 1988

Alexis Korner Tribute Concert setlist

London was a hotbed of music in the 1960s. Today's biggest names in music experienced an artistic cross-pollination the likes of which begs comparison to that of Italy in the 1400s. British (and American) musicians intermingled, sampled, absorbed and reconfigured each others' music, forming the backbone of what we have listened to and loved ever since.

Alexis Korner (1928 – 1984) was one of these core artists of the times. He was a blues musician and a radio broadcaster, and was one of the founders of Blues Incorporated, a loose-knit group of electric blues and R&B musicians. The members of Blues Incorporated changed over time, but you'll recognize Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, for instance.

Blues Incorporated had drop-in musicians who occasionally performed , including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Rod Stewart, John Mayall and yes, our very own Jimmy Page, not to mention Robert Plant. In fact, Robert Plant and Alexis Korner were in the process of recording a full album with Plant on vocals when Jimmy Page asked him to join in Page's own new musical project, the one that would become Led Zeppelin.

In 1981, Korner joined another supergroup, Rocket 88, a project led by Ian Stewart (the Stu of Led Zeppelin's Boogie With Stu) that featured a rhythm section including Jack Bruce and Charlie Watts. The name of the band came from Rocket 88, a song first recorded in Memphis in 1951. Rocket 88 was credited to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, which was actually Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm (the band of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue).

A 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88

The Alexis Light Orchestra was put together by Ian Stewart for the two tribute concerts for Alexis Korner. The ALO included Charlie Watts, Ian Stewart, Jack Bruce, Jimmy Page, Paul Jones, Ruby Turner.  The  two concerts raised funds to benefit cancer research, one on this date in June in 1984 and the second in July 1984 at the Pistoia Blues Festival in Italy.

• 1968 The Yardbirds - Montgomery, AL at International Speedway Fairgrounds
• 1970 Led Zeppelin records Poor Tom at Olympic Studios, Barnes, England
• 1984 05 June On This Day Jimmy Page - Alexis Korner Tribute Concert, Nottingham,England at Nottingham Palais Ballroom

1968 Yardbirds at Montgomery Speedway, 4-5 June Photo Carolyn May Jordan Wright

1968 Yardbirds at Montgomery Speedway, 4-5 June Photo Carolyn May Jordan Wright

♪  Poor Tom (Led Zeppelin 1970) YouTube
♪  Sweet Home Chicago (Alexis Korner Tribute Concert, 1984) SoundCloud

♪  Hoochie Coochie Man  (Alexis Korner Tribute Concert, 1984) YouTube

♪  Jimmy Page Instrumental (Alexis Korner Tribute Concert, 1984) YouTube

On This Day 21 May

Session man 1965

1965 21 May On This Day Jimmy Page session for Vashti Bunyan

1965 - Other tracks Jimmy Page played on during the week of May 21

Vashti Bunyan is a British singer-songwriter who in 1965 was under contract to Andrew Oldham (manager and producer of The Rolling Stones at that time).  Even having Jimmy Page on guitar didn't help her gain popularity back then.  Over thirty years later her debut 1970 album (which didn't include the song with Jimmy Page) garnered a cult following and Bunyan was able to renew her musical career.

Bunyan talks about recording  'Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind’ in a March 2001 interview 

"I was in heaven during the recording. This was especially so during the recording of my own song, hearing it arranged by David Whittaker and played by 'real' musicians. Nicky Hopkins and Big Jim Sullivan. Jimmy Page was a session musician then and was in there too."

• 1965 21 May On This Day Jimmy Page session for Vashti Bunyan
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Houston, Texas at The Summit
• 1984 The Firm- St. Annes-on-Sea, Lancashire, England at St. Ives Hotel Ballroom
• 2014 Jimmy Fallon show interview airs (filmed 05/19/14)
• 2014 On stage at the Olympia Paris for remasters promo

♪  Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind (Vashti Bunyan, Jimmy Page guitar 1965) YouTube

♪  No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, Houston 21 May 1977)  YouTube

Record Mirror article published 21 May1977.  Award ceremony was 12 May 1977

2014 Jimmy Fallon show interview aired on NBC (filmed 05/19/14)

2014 Jimmy Fallon show interview aired on NBC (filmed 05/19/14) showing off the remasters

2014 On stage at the Olympia Paris for remasters promo.  Photo Guino Patrice

2014 Poster for Jimmy Page's appearance at the Olympia Paris for remasters promo.

2014 On stage at the Olympia Paris for remasters promo.  Photo Guino Patrice