MAGE MUSIC

Friday, February 12, 2016

On This Day 12 February

"Ladies and gentlemen of New York ... you're too much ... and we ain't so bad ourselves!"
~ Robert Plant, MSG 12 February 1975

1965 12 February On This Day Heinz and the Wild Boys release Digging My Potatoes
AUDIO: Digging My Potatoes (Soundcloud)

1975 Led Zeppelin - New York, Madison Square Garden
1996 Page & Plant Unledded Tour – Tokyo at Nippon Budokan

1965:

Heinz Burt, a protégé of record producer and song writer Joe Meek, was the bassist for The Tornados, the band that released the multi-million dollar instrumental, Telstar, in 1962. With Meek's encouragement, Heinz Burt launched on a solo career, touring with Jerry Lee Lewis, but never quite successful on his own.

1975:
This was Led Zeppelin's third show at Madison Square Garden in February. Robert Plant told the crowd that the band had to come four blocks through the snow to get there. It might have been cold outside but the music was hot in MSG that night. Check out the awesome work when Jimmy Page takes off around 3:58 of Sick Again (below).

1975 12 February Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

2005:
American record producer Clive Davis hosted a pre-Grammy Awards party in Beverly Hills on this day. Led Zeppelin would be awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award the next night at the Staples Center ceremony.

2005 Jimmy Page & Ahmut Ertegun at pre-Grammy party (Ross Halfin photo)

2005 Jimmy Page at pre-Grammy party

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♪ Diggin' My Potatoes (Heinz and the Wild Boys feat Jimmy Page 1965) YouTube
♪ Sick Again (Led Zeppelin, MSG 12 February 1975) YouTube
♪ Full set (Led Zeppelin, MSG 12 February 1975) YouTube
♫ 2005 Jimmy Page interview at pre-Grammy Awards party

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

Thursday, February 11, 2016

On This Day 11 February

A firm step back to music

1985 11 February On This Day The Firm released
AUDIO: Closer rehearsal track (Soundcloud)

1967 The Yardbirds - Paris at La Locomotive
1967 The Yardbirds - Aulney-sous-Bois, Paris at Le Tube
1985 The Firm album released

1985:

Jimmy Page seemed to have lost his musical way after John Bonham's death, but his work with The Firm was a step back to his creative life. The members of what was referred to as a supergroup were seasoned musicians that Jimmy Page could count on, but unlike with Led Zeppelin the combination wasn't an alchemical mix of talent that created a new and separate entity greater than the sum of its parts.

I have no doubt that Jimmy Page was aware of what he had. He has said that the short lifespan of the band was planned, and for that I am grateful. The music is good but for Jimmy Page The Firm was a way to jump-start his career rather than a venue for musical magic.

Jimmy Page - The Firm years

1985 Jimmy Page

♪

♪ Make or Break (The Firm, 1985) YouTube

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

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

On This Day 10 February

Memphis yes or Memphis no?

1969 10 February On This Day Led Zeppelin Memphis (maybe)

1968 The Yardbirds - London, England at Barlong Hall
1969 Led Zeppelin - Memphis, TN at Memphis State University
1975 Led Zeppelin - Landover, MD at Capital Centre
2002 Jimmy Page receives an award from Traffic Musique (French TV)

1969:

There seems to be some disagreement as to whether Led Zeppelin did actually do a show at Memphis State University on this day. David Stanley, Elvis Presley's step-brother, reported on having attended the concert, as did several others. However, the key to the city was definitely something that happened in 1970 (referenced in various newspapers), when Led Zeppelin performed on 17 April. At the 1970 show Robert Plant stated: "We've waited for a long time to come to Memphis, in fact ever since we were born I think!" which makes it sound a lot like the band hadn't been there the year before.

Dave Lewis reported that Jimmy Page attempted to get some time for the band in the Sun Studio (shown in the On This Day photo) but that the studio was already booked.

1970:
On 31 January 1970 Robert Plant was in a car accident, a head-on collision while he was driving his Jaguar. He suffered from broken teeth and various severe cuts that no doubt needed stitches.The 07 and 17 February shows in Scotland were cancelled.

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin Landover MD

2002 Jimmy Page, Paris (Ross Halfin photo)

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♪ Heartbreaker/Audience footage (Led Zeppelin, Landover 1975) YouTube

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

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

On This Day 09 February

Jimmy Page walks onstage and the place erupts. As it should.

2002 09 February On This Day Jimmy Page
with Paul Weller's band at Teenage Cancer Trust, Royal Albert Hall
AUDIO: Wild Wood - Paul Weller (Soundcloud)

1968 The Yardbirds - Cardiff, Wales at Top Rank Ballroom
1996 Page & Plant Unledded Tour – Tokyo at Nippon Budokan
2002 Jimmy Page with Paul Weller's Band - Teenage Cancer Trust at Royal Albert Hall

2002:
On this day Jimmy Page and Robert Plant appeared separately at the Teenage Cancer benefit at Royal Albert Hall. The event was billed as "The Paul Weller Band with guests Jimmy Page, Gary Moore, plus Robert Plant & Strange Sensation".

This was Robert Plant’s first London appearance in over three years and Jimmy Page’s first for over two. Furthermore, while it had been seventeen years since Jimmy Page had last performed at RAH for the ARMS shows in September 1983, Robert Plant had not performed there since the Led Zeppelin days: 09 January 1970.

Dave Lewis' take on Jimmy Page at the 2002 show:

"[it was] as if someone had picked up the remote and switched the TV over everything changes.
"You can see the Gibson…Weller goes off, his band mates mill around, lights flash down…and there on stage is Jimmy Page.
"Cherubic smile, well cut shirt, slimmer than in very long time, low slung Gibson Les Paul and sure enough it’s Dazed And Confused the instrumental…
"The place erupts and throughout the eight minute performance there is no doubt that we are in the presence of a living legend..."
~ Dave Lewis, TBL

2002 Jimmy Page, Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at Royal Albert Hall (Freda Hyatt photos)

2002 Jimmy Page, Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at Royal Albert Hall (Freda Hyatt photo)

♪

♪ Dazed And Confused (Jimmy Page with Paul Weller band, RAH 2002) YouTube

I forgot to post this the other day
♫ NBC News report with a brief comment by Peter Grant 07 February 1975

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

Monday, February 8, 2016

On This Day 08 February

Please listen to the song. And I don't mean the "popular" version.

2009 08 February On This Day a Grammy for Please Read The Letter
AUDIO: Please Read The Letter (Soundcloud)

1969 Led Zeppelin - Chicago at Kinetic Playground
1975 Led Zeppelin - Philadelphia at The Spectrum
1996 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Tokyo at Nippon Budokan

1969 Led Zeppelin at Kinetic Playground, Chicago

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin at The Spectrum, Philadelphia

1996:

Jimmy Page kind of bumbled his way into the two songs I've linked to below from the Tokyo show on this day. As Robert Plant said, though, about Tea for One it wasn't a song that Led Zeppelin had every played live in its entirety, and it was the first time that Robert Plant had performed it with Jimmy Page on guitar.

Back in 1976 when Tea for One was recorded for Presence, Robert Plant's leg was still in a cast. Two versions were recorded at that session, one with a guitar solo and one without. I'm soooo glad that the one with the solo is the one that ended up on the album.

2009:
I've provided links below to two versions of Please Read the Letter. I fail to see why the Plant/Krauss version was the one that got the acclaim, but then, I am into rock music not syrupy folk love songs. No accounting for taste.

2010 January Ross Halfin and Jimmy Page

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♪ Rain Song (Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy 1973/2014) YouTube
♪ Rain Song (Page & Plant, Tokyo 08 February 1996) YouTube
♪ Tea For One (Led Zeppelin, Presence 1976) YouTube
♪ Tea For One (Page & Plant, Tokyo 08 February 1996) YouTube
♪ Please Read the Letter (Page & Plant, Walking into Clarksdale 1998) YouTube
♪ Please Read the Letter (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss) YouTube

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

Sunday, February 7, 2016

On This Day 07 February

Best in any show anytime anyplace!

1975 07 February Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden

1969 Led Zeppelin - Chicago at Kinetic Playground (day 1 of 2)
1975 Led Zeppelin - New York City at Madison Square Garden (day 2 of 3)

1969 Led Zeppelin at Kinetic Playground, Chicago

1975:
The three MSG shows were not on consecutive days but involved some traveling back and forth from other venues. Robert Plant was still fighting the flu.