On This Day 22 April

In 1960 (or was it 1961?) Jimmy Page persuaded Chris Farlowe and The Thunderbirds to record at RG Jones - a demo Studio in Putney.

In 2019 On This Day says the Farlowe studio session was in 1961

1960 Jimmy Page at RG Jones Studio with Chris Farlowe

• 1961 Jimmy Page - produces Chris Farlowe's Money
• 1985 The Firm, Market Square Arena, Indianapolis IN

1961

R.G. Jones is one of the longest running studios in Britain.  The facility was located at Morden Manor when Jimmy Page was there with Chris Farlowe (it was moved to Wimbledon in 1969 where it operated until 2001). The studio produced demo records for the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, Springfields, Englebert Humperdink, Tom Jones, the Bee Gees and others.

Jimmy Page's On This Day says the studio session happened in 1960 and in 1961, depending on which On This Day you are looking at.  However, let's go with 1961.  Page, at that point 17 years old, would go on to work for Immediate Records for several years as the label's in-house producer.

Chris Farlowe sang on three tracks from Jimmy Page's Death Wish II soundtrack (1982), as well as Hummingbird, Prison Blues and Blues Anthem on Page's album Outrider (1988).

Farlowe is considered by some to be one of the most underrated British soul & blues influenced singers ever.  I consider Outrider to be one of the most underrated albums ever.  


♪ Money (Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds 1960 or 1961) YouTube
♪ Hypnotizing Ways (Oh Mamma) (Death Wish II 1982 YouTube 
♪ Prison Blues (Outrider 1988 YouTube 

On This Day 21 April

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant released Walking into Clarksdale on this day in 1998.

1988 21 April - Page/Plant Walking into Clarksdale released

• 1968 Yardbirds - Le Scene, Indianapolis IN
• 1973 Musical Express Interview  Jimmy Page: The Mild Barbarian [TEXT]
• 1985 The Firm - Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH
• 1998 Page & Plant - Walking Into Clarksdale release

1998
Clarksdale is a town in the Mississippi Delta, one of the seats of Delta blues music.Walking into Clarksdale took 35 days to record. The album was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini. Most High was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1999.

Japanese bonus track Whiskey from the Glass - Jimmy Page referred to this as "most atmospheric". I have to agree!

♪ YouTube 

♪ Soundcloud 

Most High and Shining in the Light were released as singles, with a music video for the former. Most High was also featured as a CD single with the b-sides Upon a Golden Horse and The Window.

♪ Most High YouTube

♪ Shining in the Light YouTube

1973 21 April Musical Express cover

1973 21 April Musical Express article

1973 21 April Musical Express interview photo

1973 21 April Musical Express interview photo

On This Day 20 April

On this day in 1977 Led Zeppelin played the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, and on this day in 1985 The Firm played the same venue.

20 April On This Day published on jimmypage.com 2019

20 April On This Day published on jimmypage.com 2014

20 April On This Day published on jimmypage.com 2013 

I'm not as fond of The Firm as I am of other of Jimmy Page's work.  I have never felt that Paul Rodgers, excellent singer that he is, ever let go of himself enough to fall into the magic.  Not that I don't listen to The Firm anyway!

On This Day 20 April:

• 1968 - The Yardbirds- Arlington Heights,IL/The Cellar
• 1977 - Led Zeppelin - Cincinnati,OH/Riverfront Coliseum
• 1985 - The Firm - Cincinnati,OH/Riverfront Coliseum

1968 20 April Yardbirds in Arlington Heights IL

♪  Led Zeppelin (Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati OH 20 April 1977) YouTube
 ♪  Whole Lotta Helter Skelter (Led Zeppelin/Beatles mashup 2012) YouTube

On This Day 19 April

On April 19, 1969 the incredible Led Zeppelin II was recorded at Olympic Studios.

• 1967 Jimmy Page - A Degree of Murder Soundtrack released 
• 1968 Yardbirds - Blue Village Teen Club, Westmont Illinois
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Olympic Studios, begins recording Led Zeppelin II
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH
• 1985 The Firm - Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center, Louisville, Kentucky

1967
The soundtrack for A Degree of Murder was composed, produced, arranged, and played by Brian Jones, and features Jimmy Page on guitar.

Jimmy Page in Rolling Stone issue #1171:  "Brian knew what he was doing. It was quite beautiful. Some of it was made up at the time; some of it was stuff I was augmenting with him. I was definitely playing with the violin bow. Brian had this guitar that had a volume pedal-he could get gunshots with it. There was a Mellotron there. He was moving forward with ideas."


1969
Needless to say, this was and is an album beyond belief, after Led Zeppelin's first album, itself beyond belief. For a band to have put out two albums of such high quality, with such a variety of approaches to music, one right after the other, was an obvious indicator that this was no ordinary group of musicians but a creative force the likes of which the world had never seen before.
On this day also for Jimmy Page:


1977
"Jimmy Page, the guiding genius behind the Zep, composer, collaborator, creator, leader and lead guitarist, is perhaps the best in the business. His range on the lead guitar can go from classical to acoustical to extraterrestrial."  [K.Williams/April 1977/News Journal]

♪  

Mage Music on Facebook @MageMusicTheMusicOfJimmyPage

On This Day 18 April

On April 18 1993 Jimmy Page and David Coverdale were interviewed on Enëmmän tätä, Fin-TV, as part of the press junket for EMI promoting the Coverdale Page album.

1993 18 April - Coverdale-Page interviewed on Finnish TV

• 1968 Yardbirds - Winona State College, Winona Minnesota 
• 1985 The Firm - The Omni, Atlanta
• 1993 Coverdale/Page - Enëmmän tätä, Fin-TV interview

1993

I have to say, the 1993 Coverdale-Page is a fantastic album, totally underrated by those who can't get over that Jimmy Page could do something musically exciting without Robert Plant (no offense to Mr. Plant). David Coverdale brings the kind of gutsy, ballsy full commitment to the music of a song, not just to lyrics, that brings out the best in Jimmy Page and this album reflects it.

I love every song on this album. This the work of musicians who've got some miles behind them, and hard living has tempered their souls. You can hear it in the music. This is what blues is about. Coverdale-Page has an authenticity that can't be denied.

Yeah, yeah, I know that Mr. Coverdale might have let being on the stage with Jimmy Page get to his head, but forget that and listen to the music. The magic is there, people.

2019 addendum:  The album has only gotten better over the years. 

♪ Absolution Blues (Coverdale/Page 1993) Soundcloud  (one of my favorites on a whole album of favorites)

♫   Coverdale/Page - Enëmmän tätä, Fin-TV interview

On This Day 17 April

Jimmy Page moonlights from art school, plays harmonica!

1964 17 April -  'Hush Your Mouth' by Mickey Finn and the Blue Men was released

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Club Lafayette, Wolverhampton England
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis TN
• 1977 Led Zeppelin - Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, IN
• 1988 Jimmy Page with Robert Plant - Hammersmith Odeon, London
• 1994 Jimmy Page - Alexis Korner Memorial Concert, Buxton Opera House, Derbyshire, England

1964
Mickey Waller (1947 – 2013), a.k.a. Mickey Finn, was an English guitarist, founder of Mickey Finn & The Blue Men (not to be confused with the Blue Man group).  While Jimmy Page didn't get credit as a session man or a full-time member of the band, he did play on a few of their records.

This is one of the sessions I did whilst I was still at art school and on this I played harmonica. Mickey Finn and the Blue Men had applied a blue beat rhythm to the Jimmy Reid song 'Hush Your Mouth'. I had done other recordings with this band: the guys were cool and were always good to play with.

On this day in 1960, Eddie Cochran died in a road traffic accident in Chippenham, Wiltshire. RIP.

Soundcloud  Hush Your Mouth

On This Day 16 April

In 1965 Jimmy Page played guitar for Lulu and the Luvvers' cover of the Rolling Stones' song, Surprise, Surprise, released on April 16 of that year.  Lulu Kennedy-Cairns,  a Scottish singer, is known for To Sir with Love from the film of the same name and for the title song to the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.

1965 16 April Jimmy Page guitar on Lulu's cover of Surprise, Surprise

• 1965 Lulu and the Luvvers - Surprise, Surprise released (feat. Jimmy Page, guitar)
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Toby Jug, Tolworth England
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Roberts Stadium, Evansville IN

1965

LULU RELEASED 'SATISFIED' / 'SURPRISE SURPRISE'
Today sees the release of 'Surprise Surprise' / 'Satisfied'. I played guitar on 'Surprise Surprise', a Rolling Stones song recorded by Lulu. It would have been done at Decca Number 2 Studios in West Hampstead, London.

♪ Surprise, Surprise (Lulu, feat. Jimmy Page guitar) YouTube