On This Day 18 June

 Fans of Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin are still willing to travel to other countries to hear the music.  

1965 18 June On This Day Jimmy Page attends John Mayall and Bluesbreakers concert,
jams with Eric Clapton at home

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a British blues band, was founded by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall.  In its on-again-off-again history, there have been more than 100 different combinations of musicians performing under that name. Mayall started the band in 1963 and that iteration, which lasted until 1967, included Eric Clapton from April to August 1965 and November 1965 to July 1966.  

In a 2013  interview John Mayall was asked about recording the single I’m Your Witchdoctor, produced by Jimmy Page: 

Q:  Do you have any memories from this time of Jimmy?
Mayall: Not really, I mean I had known him before we did that because he used to play at The Marquee Club in a trio situation so I ended up seeing him quite a few times but he was just one of the guys really.

If I had been the interviewer I'd have wanted to know if Mayall had any regrets about not working more with Jimmy Page.  Of course, Jimmy Page shot into the musical stratosphere so quickly after then that everyone who wasn't with him was left far, far behind.

• 1965 18 June On This Day Jimmy Page attends John Mayall and Bluesbreakers concert, jams with Eric Clapton at home
• 1967 The Yardbirds - London, England at Saville Theatre
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Seattle, WA at Seattle Center Coliseum
• 1980 Led Zeppelin - Cologne (Köln), Germany at Köln Sporthalle
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Luneburg, Germany at New Music Festival

The 1972 Seattle Led Zeppelin concert was the concert that wasn't supposed to happen.  It wasn't the band's fault. Originally scheduled for Vancouver BC, Canadian authorities decided to not grant Led Zeppelin a license to perform before the band even got a chance, due to previous troublemakers at other bands' shows.

Led Zeppelin fans ended up being bused down to Seattle for the show.

1972 Led Zeppelin show is moved from one country
to another and fans show up anyway

1980 Jimmy Page & Dave Lewis

2005 Jimmy Page meets Chris Cornell for the first time.
Good things have already resulted from this introduction.
We all wonder of there is more to come. (Photo Ross Halfin)

2005 Tommy Iommi and Jimmy Page on the way to Holland (Photo Ross Halfin)

A WORK IN PROGRESS - Music will be added on another day. Thank you for your patience.

On This Day 18 June

Fans of Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin are still willing to travel to other countries to hear the music.  

1965 18 June On This Day Jimmy Page attends John Mayall and Bluesbreakers concert,
jams with Eric Clapton at home

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a British blues band, was founded by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall.  In its on-again-off-again history, there have been more than 100 different combinations of musicians performing under that name. Mayall started the band in 1963 and that iteration, which lasted until 1967, included Eric Clapton from April to August 1965 and November 1965 to July 1966.  

In a 2013  interview John Mayall was asked about recording the single I’m Your Witchdoctor, produced by Jimmy Page: 

Q:  Do you have any memories from this time of Jimmy?
Mayall: Not really, I mean I had known him before we did that because he used to play at The Marquee Club in a trio situation so I ended up seeing him quite a few times but he was just one of the guys really.

If I had been the interviewer I'd have wanted to know if Mayall had any regrets about not working more with Jimmy Page.  Of course, Jimmy Page shot into the musical stratosphere so quickly after then that everyone who wasn't with him was left far, far behind.

• 1965 18 June On This Day Jimmy Page attends John Mayall and Bluesbreakers concert, jams with Eric Clapton at home
• 1967 The Yardbirds - London, England at Saville Theatre
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Seattle, WA at Seattle Center Coliseum
• 1980 Led Zeppelin - Cologne (Köln), Germany at Köln Sporthalle
• 1995 Page & Plant - Unledded Tour - Luneburg, Germany at New Music Festival

The 1972 Seattle Led Zeppelin concert was the concert that wasn't supposed to happen.  It wasn't the band's fault. Originally scheduled for Vancouver BC, Canadian authorities decided to not grant Led Zeppelin a license to perform before the band even got a chance, due to previous troublemakers at other bands' shows.

Led Zeppelin fans ended up being bused down to Seattle for the show.

1972 Led Zeppelin show is moved from one country
to another and fans show up anyway

2005 Jimmy Page meets Chris Cornell for the first time.
Good things have already resulted from this introduction.
We all wonder of there is more to come. (Photo Ross Halfin)

2005 Tommy Iommi and Jimmy Page on the way to Holland (Photo Ross Halfin)

♪  Miles Road (Jimmy Page Eric Clapton 1965) Soundcloud
♪ I'm Your Witchdoctor (John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, prod. by Jimmy Page 1965) YouTube
♪  Intro announcement & LA Drone (Led Zeppelin, Seattle, 1972) YouTube
♪  LA Drone YouTube
♪  Since I've Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin, Seattle, 1972) YouTube
♪  In The Evening (Led Zeppelin, Cologne (Köln) Germany, 1980) YouTube
♪  In The Evening (Page & Plant, Luneburg Germany, 1995) YouTube

On This Day 18 May

In 1977 on this day Led Zeppelin played in Birmingham and in 1985 The Firm played in Birmingham - different countries on different continents, though. And of course, on this day in 1975 Led Zeppelin played the second of five sold-out nights to 17,000 fans at Earls Court Arena, London England.

In 1977 On This Day Jimmy Page was in one Birmingham or another

• 1967 Yardbirds- Versailles, France
• 1968 Yardbirds - Lewiston, Idaho at Casey's
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Minneapolis, Minnesota at Tyrone Guthrie Theatre
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Dallas, Texas at Dallas Memorial Auditorium
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - London, England at Earls Court Exhibition Centre
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Birmingham, Alabama at Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Arena
• 1985 The Firm - Birmingham, West Midlands, England at NEC Arena 
• 2006 Scarlet Page photo exhibition opening, "Your Child", at the Proud Gallery in Camden

♪  Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zeppelin 1977, Birmingham AL  YouTube

Jimmy Page - 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

John Paul Jones & Jimmy Page 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

Robert Plant & Jimmy Page - 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

Jimmy Page 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

Jimmy Page on Theremin - 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

Jimmy Page 1975 May Led Zeppelin at Earls Court

Construction Zone

If the Universe doesn't listen, chances are it doesn't know what you're saying.

Mage Music 53

This post begins my second year of Mage Music. Those of you who have been following it probably realize by now that what I've been writing about is not just the music of Jimmy Page, nor even just the Magick of the music of Jimmy Page. I've been mostly writing about Magick itself - how it works, why it works. How it's not an exclusive, mysterious thing but rather a force of the Universe that can be mastered with sufficient desire, will and skill.

I’m using music because it’s such a perfect vehicle for Magick, and Jimmy Page’s music because it is so lushly Magickal. Plus it’s just great music to listen to.

I plan to continue writing about the how and why of it all this year, too. Note that the past posts here on Mage Music are the foundation for what’s next, so if you don’t understand what you are reading, please go back through the archive. Of course, if you don’t understand, it could just be that I’m not explaining well, in which case just ask for clarification!

Constructing ritual

Ritual is the skill part of Magick. It is the "what you see" part (or "what you hear" in the case of music). Driven by desire and will, ritual opens the channel to the energy of the Universe - the Magick. Even though the desire and will are no more and no less important, because ritual is that part that can be most readily perceived, it is what most people consider Magick to be all about. That is a mistake, of course, and one that a Mage can't afford to make. 

That's why Mages aren't a dime a dozen, because with Magick everything counts. And there's a lot of everything to be counted.

Be specific

The biggest cause for Magickal failure is when a Mage is not specific or comprehensive. This means that not only do desire and will have to be powerful and steady, but the ritual has to be perfect.

In nature all component parts of a system work together. Evolution is harsh and anything that doesn't contribute to successful survival won't continue to exist. Anything that is successful - meaning anything that thrives rather than merely survives - is a thing that is comprised of the components most suited for the environmental slot it is in.

So too with Magick. There is not much point in a Mage working with a ritual to create a change in reality that can't survive. The Universe doesn't second-guess what a Mage wants, so not only every aspect of ritual has to be perfect but the change that the Mage wants to manifest must be realistic within the environment it is meant for. A Mage can't manifest a fish without manifesting water and a container for the water - unless the fish is meant for sushi. 

Part of the job of perfect desire is envisioning a specific goal. Even Captain Picard couldn't just say "make it so" without there having been perfect preparation already in place. Thus a Mage must be extraordinarily clear about what he wishes to manifest. The desired change that is the Mage's goal cannot be what isn't or only approximately what is - it must be exactly and fully what is to be.

That's hard enough, but there's more.

Be complete

Magick is tapping into the energy of the Universe, channeling power to create change in the world, shaping a new reality. Specificity of desire and will together are like the starter motor for the engine of Magick, which is ritual. And if ritual is what makes Magick go, then the ritual had better be put together right or it won't get the Mage where he wants to be.

Kirk: Spock, where the hell’s the power you promised?
Spock: One damn minute, Admiral.
   -Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Like an engine out of timing, a tire out of balance or a gear shaft that wobbles, if any one component of Magick is out of whack, the whole thing will eventually fall apart and leave the Mage no closer to manifesting change than if he had done nothing at all. The real world isn't like the Enterprise, that can nearly shake itself to destruction yet still achieve warp speed.  Desire and will plus the physical objects and actions used in a ritual all have to be in tune with each other and be in tune with the end result.

This means that every object and action of ritual must be not only be present but meaningful. There is no extra credit for extra, useless parts because they'll just clog up the works. In fact, the more stuff of a ritual, the more likely the Mage is not going to manifest anything but a mundane mess. In Magick, less is definitely more.

Clarity of purpose, completeness and...

Neatness counts

Just kidding.

♫

YouTube Playlist:  Since I've Been Loving You 
Ten videos, 1970 through 2007.

♫

Next time (or the near future):  Designing a ritual