On this day 02 January

 The show must go on... please!!!

1963 02 January On This Day Diamonds, featuring Jimmy Page acoustic guitar, released
AUDIO: Diamonds (Jet Harris, feat. Jimmy Page acoustic guitar, John Baldwin bass guitar 1963) 

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Los Angeles at Whisky A Go Go (day 1 of 4)
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Sheffield England at Sheffield City Hall

1963

"Diamonds" was the first record that Jimmy Page played on (acoustic guitar), and also was the first time he recorded with John Paul Jones (then still John Baldwin). The song hit Number One in the U.K. just a month later, where it stayed for three weeks, and almost overnight JP became a hot item as a session guitarist.

1969:
Led Zeppelin opened for Alice Cooper, and was promoted as “featuring Jimmy Page, formerly of the Yardbirds". Jimmy Page was sick with the flu but went onstage anyway with a raging fever. The band could only perform one set and were docked in pay. Alice Cooper recalled that there were only about 100 people in the audience, since no one had heard of either him or Led Zeppelin at that point. Cooper also recalls tossing a coin to see which act would perform first.

1969 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Los Angeles at Whisky A Go Go 

1973:
According to Dave Lewis, John Bonham and Robert Plant drove together to the Sheffield gig in Bonzo’s Bentley, which broke down. The two were forced to hitchhike in the rain the rest of the way to the show. Unfortunately – and coincidentally, given the 1969 show on this day - Robert took sick from the adventure and had a rough time singing. The next two days’ shows were cancelled while he recovered.

02 January 2017 (Ross Halfin photo)

♪

♪ Diamonds (Jet Harris, feat. Jimmy Page acoustic guitar, John Baldwin [not yet John Paul Jones] bass guitar] released 02 January 1963)
♪  Led Zeppelin (Sheffield England at Sheffield City Hall, 02 January 1973)

Posted by Lif Strand at 12:30 AM 

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

On this day 29 December

 Getting ready for a new year

2005 29 December Jimmy Page vacationing in Goa

• 1968 Led Zeppelin - Portland, OR at Portland Civic Auditorium

2007 Jimmy Page (Ross Halfin photo)

Here's a link to a few of Ross Halfin's photos of Jimmy Page.

♪

On this day 05 December

 

1984 05 December On This Day Jimmy Page with The Firm at Hamburg

• 1983 Jimmy Page ARMS Charity Concert - Inglewood, CA at The Forum 
• 1984 Jimmy Page The Firm - Hamburg, Germany at Audiomax
• 2007 Led Zeppelin + Jason Bonham, Shepperton rehearsal

2007

Ross Halfin photos of Shepperton rehearsal 

♪

♪  Jimmy Page ARMS Charity Concert (Inglewood, CA at The Forum, 05 December 1983) 
♪  Jimmy Page The Firm (Hamburg, Germany at Audiomax, 05 December 1984)
♪  Led Zeppelin + Jason Bonham, Shepperton rehearsal, 05 December 2007)

On this day 07 November

 Just add one part Jimmy to any recipe to save the dish

2001 07 November On This Day, Jimmy Page with Durst & Scantlin at MTV Awards, Germany

• 1966 The Yardbirds Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour - Chanute, KS at Chanute Auditorium 
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - San Francisco, CA at Winterland Ballroom (day 2)
• 1969 Whole Lotta Love/Living Loving Maid released as single
• 2001 Jimmy Page with Fred Durst & Wes Scantlin - MTV Europe Music Awards, Frankfurt, Germany at Festhalle 

2001

Sorry, but even Jimmy Page couldn't repair what the Durst/Scantlin combo inflicted on Thank You.

Jimmy Page, Thank You

2014

07 November 2014

2016

Jimmy Page was in Tokyo with Ross Halfin for the Classic Rock Awards in November 2016. He often visits Lighthouse Records while in Japan, and this visit he discovered a CD of the Coverdale/Page show if 20 December 1993 and hung around watching it. 

♪

♪  Led Zeppelin (San Francisco CA at Winterland Ballroom, 07 November 1969) 
♪  Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin, Rough Mix With Vocal 1969/2014) 
♪  Thank You (Jimmy Page with Durst & Scanlin, Frankfurt MTV Awards 2001) 

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 08 October

 Jimmy Page never goes out of fashion

1999 08 October On This Day Jimmy Page – NetAid sound check at Giants Stadium, NJ

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Cardiff, Wales at Capitol Theater
• 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - San Diego, CA at SDSU Open Air Amphitheatre
• 1999 Jimmy Page – NetAid sound check at Giants Stadium, NJ
• 2012 Jimmy Page photo shoot with Ross Halfin, also attending Joe Walsh show at the Iridium Club in NYC 

1999:

Jimmy Page worked with Chris Robinson (vocals), Rich Robinson (guitar), Guy Pratt (bass) and Michael Lee (drums) for the NetAid concert. (More on NetAid tomorrow).

Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson were the founding members of The Black Crowes, an American band formed 10 years before NetAid, with five albums already released at that point. Jimmy Page joined up with the Black Crowes shortly after the NetAid concert for a tour, from which came the album Live at the Greek. The Black Crowes have broken up a few times over the years, most recently in January of 2015. They are currently together and on tour.

Guy Pratt is an English session bassist, who has worked with Pink Floyd, Gary Moore, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Robbie Robertson and others, and who had already worked with Jimmy Page on the Coverdale-Page album and tour.

Michael Lee (1969 – 2008) was an English drummer, who, like John Bonham, used large drum sizes, from which he, like Bonzo, got big sound. Lee was Robert Plant's drummer for the 1993 Fate of Nations album and tour and stayed on for the Unledded and Walking Into Clarksdale Page & Plant collaborations and tours.

2012:

Jimmy Page and Ross Halfin had flown to New York on 05 October 2012 for promotion of the Celebration Day concert movie.  On this day Ross did a photo shoot with Jimmy Page at the Armani Store in New York City and later on the building's roof - the only place they could be outdoors where people would not mob them.  

Later that Monday evening the two went to see Joe Walsh at the  Iridium Club where from 1996-2009 Les Paul was a regular performer. The club now puts on Les Paul Mondays, reserved for guest guitarists to honor Les and perform on the same stage.  A portion of the clubs sales go to The Les Paul Foundation. 

2012 Jimmy Page at Armani Store in NYC (Ross Halfin photo)

2012 Jimmy Page in NYC (Ross Halfin photo)

2012 Joe Walsh & Jimmy Page after Walsh's show at Iridium Club (Ross Halfin photo)

2018

It had been 50 years since Led Zeppelin had formed. Jimmy Page was busy working on Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin, and promoting the book.

♪

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 30 July

 We're here, right by you Jimmy!

1984 30 July On This Day Steven Stills' Right By You released, with Jimmy Page on tracks 1, 3 and 10
 ♪  Right By You (Stephen Stills with Jimmy Page guitar) Soundcloud

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Windsor, England at Royal Windsor Racecourse
• 1967 The Yardbirds - Seattle, WA at Eagles Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Salt Lake City, UT at Terrace Ballroom (2 shows one night)
• 1984 Stephen Stills' Right By You released with three tracks recorded by Jimmy Page at The Sol 

1969:
Led Zeppelin was the opening act to veteran performers, Vanilla Fudge. According to a press review, Vanilla Fudge appeared as musical impostors when compared to a group like Zeppelin. The bass player for the Fudge even apologetically acknowledged this as he mounted the stage and said, “There’s no way we can follow that.”
~Summer Chronicle, by S. Poulsen, August 1, 1969

1969 Led Zeppelin in Salt Lake City, UT

1984:

The Mill Studios (also known as The Mill or The Sol), located in Berkshire, England, was a recording studio built by Gus Dudgeon, who purchased the property in 1975 to develop a studio for recording/producing a number of Elton John's albums. The property itself is an old watermill on the Thames River system, with a recording studio and control room connected to the old watermill and residential wheelhouse via a bridge over the millpond dam.

Jimmy Page purchased the studio complex in 1980 when he also bought a home, the Old Mill House, a few minutes away.

The Led Zeppelin songs Poor Tom and We're Gonna Groove, originally recorded in 1970, were produced by Mr. Page at Sol Studios for release for the album Coda. The soundtrack for the film Death Wish II, The Firm’s two albums, and Outrider were also recorded at The Sol.

The Mill Studio (a.k.a. The Sol) view from control room

Control room of The Mill Studio (a.k.a. The Sol

2015

Jimmy Page visited Japan with Ross Halfin. While he was there they visited the Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward, Hiroshima, where Page left flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. The last time he was there was with Led Zeppelin, in 1971, when the band held a “Love and Peace” charity concert in the former Hiroshima Prefectural gymnasium in Naka Ward. Proceeds from that concert, amounting to some seven million yen, were donated to the City of Hiroshima to aid atomic bomb survivors.