Friday, May 13, 2016

Train, zircons that just can't pass for diamonds

Here is Train's note for note copy of Led Zeppelin's The Lemon Song. Obviously Train has worked very hard to sound exactly like our boys. Which somehow is OK to do in today's crazy world.

So anyway, after I'm done scratching my head about the above, let me say that while Train have nailed every single note (well, maybe almost every single one) I'm still not going to run out and buy the music. Maybe it's just me, but even though it sounds so very close... it just doesn't have the magic that the real Led Zeppelin delivers. It sounds kind of like Led Zeppelin practicing, when their hearts really weren't into it and they'd just played the thing a hundred times in a row.  Perfect... but dead inside.

I can't quite pinpoint why I feel that, but there's just something off about it. Kind of like a very, very good impersonator that just, well, just isn't the real thing. Like maybe a vampire who enters the room, a vampire that used to be your spouse.  A vampire that looks just like your beloved.... but isn't.  You might not necessarily be able to pinpoint how you know it's not your beloved... but you know it right away.  

And that is creepy.

That's how I feel about listening to this Train version of The Lemon Song.  I'm creeped out because though my brain can't define why, my heart still knows the soul is missing.  





On This Day 13 May

"Jimmy Page blew everybody out with his unbelievable guitar work. He is definitely one of the greats."
~ Ken Rosene, Headlines
1969 May 13 On This Day Led Zeppelin in Hawaii
  • 1969  Led Zeppelin - Honolulu HI at Civic Auditorium
  • 1973  Led Zeppelin - Mobile AL at Municipal Auditorium
  • 1986  The Firm - St. Louis MO at St. Louis Arena
  • 1995  Page & Plant - San Diego CA at San Diego Sports Arena
  • 2014 Carol Miller WAXQ-FM New York, 104.3 interviews Jimmy Page
1969:
Led Zeppelin had arrived in Hawaii the day before clutching reels for Led Zeppelin II, a work in progress at that time. They performed just one show in Hawaii on May 13, and spent the rest of the time relaxing. They would have needed it after that show - there were lighting problems and the heat in the auditorium was terrible (note that the venue was torn down just five years later).

Ken Rosene, who died at 56 years old in 2002, was a concert promoter in Hawaii from the 1970s into the 1990s. He would have likely been the person who provided for the leis at the airport. Rosene started out reviewing concerts, writing the column Headlines for the Honolulu Advertiser in the 1960s and freelancing for other local and national periodicals, including Rolling Stone, before he turned to promotion. He was the co-founder and executive producer of the Diamond Head Crater Festival (also known as the Sunshine Festival).

2014 13 May Jimmy Page interviewed by Carol Miller

2014 13 May Jimmy Page and Carol Miller of 'Get The Led Out' radio show, Q104.3 New York


♪ Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin, Honolulu 1969) YouTube
♪ Full Set (Led Zeppelin, Mobile 1973) YouTube
♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube


Thursday, May 12, 2016

MAGE MUSIC: On This Day 12 May

MAGE MUSIC: On This Day 12 May: "Six thousand fans gasp in disbelief and then scream for some action as Plant and Page amble out of the backstage shadows."

I'd be gasping and screaming, too.  MAGE MUSIC: On This Day 12 May

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

On This Day May 10

1968 10 May On This Day Yardbirds at Santa Barbara, California 
  • 1968 The Yardbirds - Santa Barbara, California at Earl Warren Showgrounds
  • 1969 Led Zeppelin - Vancouver Canada at PNE Agrodome
  • 1971 Led Zeppelin - Liverpool UK at Liverpool University
  • 1973 Led Zeppelin - Tuscaloosa AL at University of Alabama
  • 1974 Swan Song launch party Los Angeles at Hotel Bel-Air
  • 1995 Page & Plant Phoenix, Arizona at America West Arena
  • 2014 Jimmy Page awarded honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music

1973 Led Zeppelin, Tuscaloosa AL at University of Alabama
1974 Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Paul Rodgers at Swan Song launch party


1974:
484 King's Road was the headquarters of Swan Song Records, owned by Led Zeppelin and opened for business May 10,1974.  Swan Song ceased active operations in 1983.



2014 10 May Jimmy Page receives honorary degree from Berklee College of Music, Boston MA

2014 Jimmy Page gives Berklee College of Music commencement address

♪ Full set (Page & Plant, Phoenix 1995) YouTube
♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube



Sunday, May 8, 2016

On This Day 08 May

Jimmy Page attended Cannes Film Festival for premiere of Blow Up on this day in 1967 and with Robert Plant was on the Jools Holland show in 1998..
Screen shot showing incorrect Jools Holland date


1967 08 May On This Day Jimmy Page at Cannes Film Festival


  • 1968  Yardbirds, Aurora CO at Hal Baby's
  • 1985  The Firm, Worcester MA at The Centrum
  • 1995  Page & Plant, Denver CO at McNichols Sports Arena
  • 1998  Page & Plant, Jools Holland Show


1967 (text from the website):
Michelangelo Antonioni’s film 'Blow Up' was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on this day in 1967 - featuring David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Birkin, Veruschka and The Yardbirds. We weren’t invited to this premiere but queued up with everyone else outside a theatre in New York at a later date... though there was the added bonus that Veruschka was queuing in the same line!

The music used is from the soundtrack album. View film poster

1998
Also on this day in 1998 (not 1996 as it shows on jimmypage.com), "Page and Plant was promoting Walking into Clarksdale and I played the Jools 'The Stools' Holland Show. We played 'Wanton Song', 'Shining in the Light' and 'Burning Up'."

Note that Walking Into Clarksdale was released by Atlantic Records on 21 April 1998.

1995 08 May Page-Plant Denver 'Calling To You' medley



♪  Page & Plant (Jools Holland Show 1998) YouTube
♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

Saturday, May 7, 2016

On This Day 07 May

1974 07 May On This Day Swan Song launch party in NYC
  • 1973 Led Zeppelin Jacksonville, FL at Jacksonville Coliseum
  • 1974 Swan Song launch party in New York City

From Jimmy Page's website:
On this day in 1974, I attended the Swan Song launch party at the Four Seasons hotel in New York. Peter Grant had formed Swan Song as the band's record label and we had a launch in London, New York and L.A. Here in New York was some of the cast: Led Zeppelin members, Maggie Bell, Peter Grant and, of course, Ahmet Ertegun. Besides Led Zeppelin releases on the label were Bad Company, Detective, Pretty Things, Maggie Bell, Dave Edmunds, Sad Café and Death Wish II, by yours truly.

The music featured is Grim Reaper and Recognition, both from the debut album by Detective. I think that this and Recognition are interesting tracks. Featuring Michael Des Barres on vocals, John Hyde on drums and ex-Steppenwolf Michael Monarch on guitar. This album was released in 1977.

1973 07 May Led Zeppelin at Jacksonville

1974 07 May  Swan Song Label launch party NYC

1974 07 May  Swan Song Label launch party NYC
1974 Jimmy Page at Swan Song Label launch party, NYC

THE SWAN SONG LABEL DISCOGRAPHY

1974
Bad Company, ‘Bad Company’
Pretty Things, ‘Silk Torpedo’

1975
Led Zeppelin, ‘Physical Graffiti’
Maggie Bell, ‘Suicide Sal’
Bad Company, ‘Straight Shooter’
Pretty Things, ‘Savage Eye’

1976
Bad Company, ‘Run With the Pack’
Led Zeppelin, ‘Presence’
Led Zeppelin, ‘The Song Remains the Same’

1977
Bad Company, ‘Burnin’ Sky’
Detective, ‘Detective’
Dave Edmunds, ‘Get It’

1978
Detective, ‘It Takes One to Know One’
Dave Edmunds, ‘Tracks on Wax 4′

1979
Bad Company, ‘Desolation Angels’
Dave Edmunds, ‘Repeat When Necessary’
Led Zeppelin, ‘In Through the Out Door’

1981
Midnight Flyer, ‘Midnight Flyer’
Dave Edmunds, ‘Twangin”
Sad Cafe, ‘Sad Cafe’
Dave Edmunds, ‘Best of Dave Edmunds’

1982
Midnight Flyer, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Party’
Jimmy Page, ‘Death Wish II’
Robert Plant, ‘Pictures at Eleven’
Bad Company, ‘Rough Diamonds’
Led Zeppelin, ‘Coda’

1983
Wildlife, ‘Wildlife’


Read More: The History of Swan Song Records

Friday, May 6, 2016

On This Day 06 May

Mashups. Why spoil perfection?
2016 06 May On This Day Whole Lotta Helter Skelter, by Soundhog

1984 06 May On This Day Jimmy Page with Roy Harper

  • 1967 Yardbirds Chippenham, England at Royal Agricultural College
  • 1984 The Firm Thetford, Norfolk, England at Maytree Farm
  • 1986 The Firm Rosemont, Illinois at Rosemont Horizon
  • 1995 Page & Plant St. Louis, Missouri at Kiel Center


"Olympic Studios in 1967 was at the cutting edge. We were very innovative and of course we had, I think, the best console in England and possibly the world at the time. We were ahead in terms of design."
~ Eddie Kramer
Jimmy Page & Eddie Kramer at Olympic Studio
I'm not that fond of Roy Harper's music.  I'll listen when Jimmy Page joins him, but really - just give me Jimmy Page straight up, thank you very much.

I'm not fond of mashups either. They're sometimes interesting curiosities but the music is never better than the sum of the parts. Still, if you haven't heard this one, give it a listen.

Whole Lotta Helter Skelter (Soundhog mashup 2012) YouTube