On This Day 14 March

Break and make

1969 14 March On This Day Led Zeppelin ham it up on Swedish TV
VIDEO

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Stockholm at Sveriges Radio TV Studios & at Stockholm Konserthuset; Uppsala, Sweden at Uppsala University
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Henley, England at Trentham Gardens Ballroom
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Nuremberg, Germany at Nuremberg Messehalle
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - San Diego, CA at San Diego Sports Arena
• 1985 The Firm - Inglewood, CA at The Forum
• 1986 The Firm - Tampa, FL at USF Sun Dome
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Houston, TX at The Summit 

1969:
A marathon of three performances in one day. The first was at the Swedish TV studio, to be filmed miming Communication Breakdown, and this was the first of a number of TV and radio appearances over the next few weeks. The boys appeared to have a good time hamming it up for the camera.

Jimmy Page broke a string at the second gig at the Stockholm Konserthuset, and while it was being replaced the others performed I Got To Move, attributed by Robert Plant to Otis Rush. They sound pretty nice as a trio, though it lacks a certain something. Oh yeah. Guitar.

The second and third gigs' billings were shared with Country Joe and the Fish. Led Zeppelin hit the stage at 11 PM. They were probably tired puppies by the time they were done.

1969 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Stockholm Konserthuset 

1973 Led Zeppelin, Nuremberg

1985 Jimmy Page / The Firm Inglewood, CA at The Forum

1986:
"...if it's a good band, I think very musician is bound to be a strong person in their own right. But it's the way they come together on stage..."
~ Jimmy Page, WYNF Tampa radio interview

I'm not sure why Jimmy Page picked Spirit of Love as his favorite from Mean Business.  He sounded tired and bored and almost seemed to pick the song at random. It does have a great guitar solo in it, though.

1986 Jimmy Page with staff of WYNF Tampa Radio

♪

♪  Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin, Sveriges Radio TV Studios, Sweden 1969) YouTube
♪  I Gotta Move (Led Zeppelin, Stockholm Konserthuset 1969) YouTube
♪  The Rain Song (Led Zeppelin, Nuremberg 1973) YouTube
♪  Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin, San Diego 1975) YouTube
♪  No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, San Diego 1975) YouTube
♪  Make or Break (The Firm, Inglewood 1985) YouTube
♪  Spirit of Love (The Firm, Mean Business 1986) YouTube
♫  WYNF Tampa radio spot recordings & interview 1986

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

On This Day 13 March

1995 13 March On This Day Page & Plant, Austin TX

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Leicester, England at De Montfort Hall
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Bath, England at Bath Pavilion
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Austin, TX at Frank Erwin Center

1969:

Led Zeppelin was still on double billing at this time. The band shared the bill with two other bands. There was a small crowd, and after the show our boys mingled with the crowd and signed autographs. Oh, those were the days!

1971:
Constructed in 1910 as a roller skating rink, Bath Pavilion (not to be confused with the Royal Bath and West Showgrounds at Shepton Mallet) was used during World War II to build airplane parts.

1971 John Paul Jones & Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Bath Pavilion

1971 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Bath Pavilion

 

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

On This Day 12 March

1963 12 March On This  Day Micky Finn's This Sporting Life/Night Comes Down
feat. Jimmy Page guitar

• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Dusseldorf ,Germany at Dusseldorf Rheinhalle
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Long Beach, CA at Long Beach Arena
• 1985 The Firm - Tempe, AZ at Arizona State University Activities Center

1963:

The British guitarist Micky Waller (1947-2013) went under the stage name of Mickey Finn so as to not be confused with the drummer of the same name (percussionist later for T Rex). Jimmy Page was a session guitarist for Finn for a while, and years later Waller himself became a session man in France.

1970:
"We're Gonna Groove was the usual set opener the first half of 1970 but Communication Breakdown is the opener here. It sounds like Page wanted to loosen his fingers and somehow wandered into the Communication Breakdown riff and the band just followed along. It rocks!"
~ Argenteum Astrum 

1970 12 March Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Dusseldorf

1970 12 March Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Dusseldorf

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♪  Night Comes Down (Mickey Finn, feat Jimmy Page 1963) YouTube
♪  Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin, Dusseldorf 1970) YouTube
♪  Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin, Dusseldorf 1970) YouTube
♪  Full Set (Led Zeppelin, Long Beach 12 March 1975) YouTube

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

On This Day 11 March

Whole lotta love for Led Zeppelin means gigantic venues

1971 11 March On This Day Led Zeppelin at Southampton University, England

• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Hamburg, Germany at Hamburg Musikhalle (day 2)
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Southampton, England at University of Southampton, West Refectory
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - Long Beach, CA at Long Beach Arena (day 1)
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - New Orleans, LA at U.N.O. Lakefront Arena (day 2)

1971:

The "Back to the Clubs Tour" was less than a month (05 March - 01 April), but it wasn't an easy month for the band. The reasons were noble but the experience was less than so.

Before:
"The audiences were becoming bigger and bigger but moving further and further away. They became specks on the horizon and we were losing contact with people - those people who were responsible for lifting us off the ground in the early days. We are playing those clubs like the London Marquee for exactly the same amount as we did in the old days, as a 'thank you' to those promoters and the audiences alike. By doing this we will be able to tour the entire of Britain and not just those cities who are fortunate enough to contain large venues. We will establish contact with tour audience and re-energise on their reaction while they have a chance to see a group which the accepted tradition would be appearing only at high prices in large auditoriums."
~ Jimmy Page, Record Mirror, Feb. 1971

During:
In his book, Stairway to Heaven, Richard Cole quotes Jimmy Page as feeling less noble as they waited to go on stage at the Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle, "Once you have played in the big places, these small clubs are murder. It's nice to be near the audiences, but you forget how small the dressing rooms are. At this point in our careers, I think we're entitled to more luxury than this."

Additionally, Led Zeppelin was just too famous by this time for a small club tour. Thousands of fans flocked to the venues but were shut out of the shows because there just was no room for them.

1971 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Southampton, England

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Long Beach CA

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♪  Full set (Led Zeppelin, Long Beach 11 March 1975) YouTube
♪  In The Evening (Page & Plant, New Orleans 11 March 1995) YouTube

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

On This Day 10 March

Please Mr. Page: let it be instrumental, let it be all you!

1967 10 March On This Day Jeff Beck released Hi Ho Silver Lining & Beck's Bolero
AUDIO: Beck's Bolero

• 1968 The Yardbirds - Paris at L'Olympia Music Hall and at a private party for the head of Barclay Records, Eddie Barclay
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Hamburg, Germany at Hamburg Musikhalle
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Canterbury, England at Rutherford College
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - San Diego, CA at San Diego Sports Arena
• 1981 Jimmy Page with Jeff Beck - London, at Hammersmith Odeon, encore
• 1985 The Firm - Denver, CO at McNichols Sports Arena
• 1995 Page & Plant - New Orleans, LA at U.N.O. Lakefront Arena

1967:

I've always wanted to hear a version of Beck's Bolero that was Jimmy Page solely. I think he could put even more majesty into a work that is already majestic. Jimmy Page wrote the piece for Jeff Beck's first solo release and no doubt Mr. Page meant it to showcase what Jeff Beck could do, but we know who could do better because we've heard Mr. Page play snippets of it here and there over the years. The 1967 recording includes John Paul Jones on bass.

Read more about Beck's Bolero in a Mage Music post from 2012. 

1971 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Canterbury

1975 John Paul Jones & Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, San Diego
(Gary Morgan photo)

1981:

On this day Jimmy Page stepped onstage with a guitar for the first time since John Bonham's death to join his friend, Jeff Beck, in an encore number at Beck's show at the Hammersmith Odeon. If there is a recording of the song he played, I'm Going Down, I haven't come across it, but someone must have recorded it and I wanna hear it!

1985 Jimmy Page / The Firm, Denver

1995 Jimmy Page / Page & Plant, New Orleans

2005 Jimmy Page at Jeff Buckley photo exhibit, Proud Gallery, London

♪

♪ Becks Bolero (Jeff Beck Group 1967) YouTube
♪ How Many More Times medley (Led Zeppelin, Hamburg 10 March 1970) YouTube
♪ Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin, San Diego 1975) YouTube
♪ Full Set (Page & Plant, New Orleans 10 March 1995) YouTube

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

On This Day 09 March

Days of the dragon

1968 09 March On This Day The Yardbirds  Paris, France at Baton Rouge TV show and Faculte D'Assas

• 1968 The Yardbirds - Paris, France at Baton Rouge TV show and Faculte D'Assas
• 1970 Led Zeppelin -Vienna, Austria at Konzerthaus
• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Leeds, UK at Leeds University 

1968 Yardbirds, Paris at Faculte D'Assas

1968 Jimmy Page / Yardbirds Paris

1968 Dragon Tele

2009 Jimmy Page (Ross Halfin photo)

2011 Royston Ellis and Jimmy Page, London

♪

♪  Train Kept A Rollin', Dazed and Confused, Goodnight Sweet Josephine (The Yardbirds, Paris Baton Rouge TV show 1968) YouTube
♪  How Many More Times medley (Led Zeppelin, Vienna 1970) YouTube

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

On This Day 08 March

Jimmy gimmee the music!

1968 08 March On This Day The Yardbirds in Birmingham UK

• 1968 The Yardbirds - Birminham UK at Aston University
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Munich, Germany at Circus Krone Bau
• 1985 Jimmy Page The Firm - Omaha, NE at Civic Center

1970 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Munich

1985 Tony Franklin, Paul Rodgers, Jimmy Page (Chris Slade not shown) of The Firm

1984-1986:
You know by now how I feel about The Firm.  Often referred to as a supergroup, this particular combination of musicians was very, very good and yet never lived up to expectations.

Part of the problem was that allof the musicians came to The Firm as already accomplished and experienced performers. The more set in their ways - and perhaps the more successful they've been - the tougher it is for them to give it up to a new musical effort that isn't who they already are. This is true about almost any area of performance requiring great skill, of course.  For rock bassists and drummers - and for a guitarist like Jimmy Page who spent years as a session man and who can play any which way the music requires - giving it up might not be as tough as it might otherwise be since blending in and supporting is part of what they are expected to do.

Still, the effort was crippled from the beginning when they didn't (or couldn't) offer their souls to the cause that was the band. Um... honestly?  The better way to put it is that Paul Rodgers didn't sell his soul to the devil that was Mr. Page.

But then, I think that Jimmy Page probably didn't expect that from his vocalist. Rodgers was already set firmly on his own musical path. A vocalist has to have a strong ego since the singer/frontman usually sets the tone for the band as the focus of the music. The rest of the band supports that focus.

That's not how Jimmy Page does music.  That's why The Firm never was greater than its parts. And that's why Jimmy Page has taken so long to create new music. He needs musicians who will sell their souls to his vision. And they have to be good enough to meet Jimmy Page standards. Unfortunately, if they're good enough to perform with Jimmy Page, they're probably never going to give it up as much as Jimmy Page really needs. Catch 22.

My opinion, of course.  But seriously, dear reader, just listen to the versions of Live in Peace (below), written by Paul Rodgers. Great song. Powerful if a bit ponderous. But it's Paul Rodgers and The Firm, isn't it? I mean, it's not The Firm undivided and greater than the sum of its parts. It's the traditional "singer sings and the band supports the singer" format. It's okay but it lacks that extra something that makes musical greatness.

That is, of course, until Jimmy Page takes over and finally, finally, the song takes off. Then there's magic.

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♪  Live In Peace (The Firm, Mean Business 1986) YouTube
♪  Live In Peace (The  Firm, Detroit 1986) YouTube

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