Jump to content

Jimmy's Session Work


Recommended Posts

Has any British music exec, producer, recording engineer, etc. - or Jimmy himself - ever documented all of the songs he played during his session career? I have read what all of the Zep bio's talk about, but if he truly played on as many recordings as legend says, there are hundreds of tunes I am unaware of. If anyone knows of the list, I'd like to see it so I can add the songs to my music collection. If no list exists, maybe the fans here can built it. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has any British music exec, producer, recording engineer, etc. - or Jimmy himself - ever documented all of the songs he played during his session career? I have read what all of the Zep bio's talk about, but if he truly played on as many recordings as legend says, there are hundreds of tunes I am unaware of. If anyone knows of the list, I'd like to see it so I can add the songs to my music collection. If no list exists, maybe the fans here can built it. Thanks.

No one within the music industry, nor Jimmy himself, has ever documented ALL the songs he played on during the session era of his career. To document them ALL is arguably impossible, given that in many instances it is pure conjecture as to if a recording features him or not. I would agree his body of work as a session guitarist

(releases) has been inflated by some sources, but is nonetheless substantial.

There have been several comprehensive overviews of his session material authored through the years, at least one of which was published in the UK magazine Record Collector. The best booklet I've seen (and own) on this topic is Adrian T Vell's 'Mangled Mind Archive', which examines dozens if not hundreds of pre-Zeppelin Page

recordings. The search function for this forum would undoubtedly yield numerous threads devoted to this field

of interest. I of course have my own reference notes derived from independent research.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The world will never, ever know the extent of Jimmy's session career in the '60s. That's just an unfortunate fact of life. The record company did not keep records (they didn't want there to be any evidence that their prized artists didn't actually perform on the records). And Jimmy didn't keep track either (because it was just a job to him).

One of these days I'm going to create a website and post my own collection of Jimmy's session rarities. I've got quite a few tracks that don't seem to be very well known publicly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This from Nech at FBO:

Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:34:56 -0400

Subject: Some JP trivia to brighten your day...

http://forgottenhits...k-comments.html

Hey Kent,

About 10 years ago, I was in a local piano shop here in Portland, OR. I got to talking with a fellow behind the counter and mentioned my record collection and my 15 years in radio back in the 60's and 70's. He then said that maybe I'd heard of his dad, Voyle Gilmore. Of course I had. Cueing up all those Capitol hits back then, Voyle was a name that I had seen often. As V.P. of A&R for Capitol, he'd produced Frank Sinatra's hits from 1953-1958, the Kingston Trio's

early successes, and even The Beatles Hollywood Bowl concert.

John plays 'lounge piano' around the area, and I drop in to see him about once a week. He is a fantastic source of background info about the good days and shares stories with me all the time. One that he really is fond of is that Jimmy Page of 'Led Zepplin' fame was actually the session guitar lead for most of Herman's Hermits hits. In fact, that guitar intro for "Silhouettes" is a riff that Jimmy used as a warm up exercise, and when Mickey Most heard it, he built his arrangement for the recording around it.

Thanks again for all your work, keep on truckin'!

Jim Pritchard (aka) Jim Southern

Gladstone, OR

Would love to have John share some of his stories with our readers. One correction I HAVE to point out, however, is the Jimmy Page / "Silhouettes" story. That story has been circulating for YEARS ... and we FINALLY put an end to it a couple of years back when we interviewed Peter Noone for Forgotten Hits. (You can find the entire interview here:

Click here: Forgotten Hits - Forgotten Hits Interviews Peter Noone

http://forgottenhits...ews_peter_noone

It turns out that while John Paul Jones (Page's bandmate in Led Zeppelin) arranged a number of Herman's Hermits records over the years, Jimmy Page only played on about four tracks ... and the riff on "Silhouettes" is NOT one of them. (Rumors abound on this issue ... in fact, we have had a couple of people state on the record that Page could

not nail the riff properly so session guitar virtuoso Vic Flick was brought in for the session ... and that later he even taught Page how to play it!!! Can anyone even IMAGINE a time like this when a guitarist of Jimmy Page's caliber

would need to be SHOWN a repetitive riff like this?!?!?)

After much discussion back and forth between both Peter Noone and Vic Flick (both of whom are on our Forgotten Hits List ... and who even picked this topic up again when both musical legends were in Las Vegas), all parties concerned acknowledged FOR THE RECORD that it was Vic who played this famous lick, and NOT Jimmy Page as has been widely

reported for years. (After our piece first ran, we issued a special "amendment" to the story which you'll see below.) In fact, if you do a bit of web searching now, you'll find Forgotten Hits credited on a number of sites as putting out the final word on this subject.

From the interview:

FORGOTTEN HITS: It's no secret that THE HERMITS did not play on most of their studio recordings but rather "reproduced" these sounds on the road. Your "studio band" consisted of the EARLIEST stages of half of future headbanger rock and rollers LED ZEPPELIN. What do you remember about working with JIMMY PAGE? (This guy was playing on virtually EVERYTHING as a studio musician at the time!) When I tell people that the classic guitar riff that runs throughout SILHOUETTES was probably played by the legendary JIMMY PAGE, they cannot believe it!!! Also,

what was the connection between FOR YOUR LOVE, HERMAN'S HERMITS and THE YARDBIRDS? (If I'm not mistaken, ERIC CLAPTON was THE YARDBIRDS' guitarist at the time of FOR YOUR LOVE ... and, reportedly, even quit the band over their trying "too pop" a tune at the time!)

PETER NOONE: The Hermits played on the songs that they played well on. Sometimes (sometimes) other musicians played on tracks, mostly because the band's weakness was our drummer (the nicest guy in the band and therefore irreplaceable) because he had pretty unusual time and was therefore un-overdubbable (my word) so we started using Clem Cattini (Tornadoes) and Jim Page (Yardbirds), John Paul Jones, Herbie Flowers and whoever was around at the time. Lek is the guitarist on For Your Love so you can see he was very good. Eric, I think, quit the Yardbirds because they had no work. You guys really need to understand the financial side of being a rock star in the '60s. I think the

Yardbirds got 30 quid a night.

FH: So, can you confirm then, once and for all, if JIMMY PAGE is the one who played the guitar riff on your original version of SILHOUETTES?

PN: Jim played on Silhouettes and Wonderful World and, once Karl Green faded, he was replaced on ALL the recordings by John Paul Jones, who also arranged almost everything and was our genius.

(And there you have it ... right from the horse's mouth, as it were ... that IS JIMMY PAGE doing the cool little guitar licks on SILHOUETTES!!!)

EDITOR'S NOTE: After this piece originally ran, it was brought to our attention that the on-going guitar riff that runs throughout HERMAN'S HERMITS' version of SILHOUETTES was actually performed by British Studio Guitar Whiz VIC FLICK. VIC and PETER BOTH confirmed this new piece of information in later editions of our FORGOTTEN HITS

Newsletter. (At ONE point, there was even some speculation that VIC FLICK had SHOWN JIMMY PAGE the repetitive riff that runs throughout the song ... and then later it was debated as to whether or not PAGE was present at the recording session at all!!!) Certainly memories fade after 40+ years ... but the general consensus when all sides were presented is that it was VIC FLICK ... and NOT JIMMY PAGE ... who handled the guitar duties on the HERMAN'S HERMITS version of SILHOUETTES.

FH: All of the musical history books always seem to play up the fact that the JIMMY PAGE version of THE YARDBIRDS eventually evolved into LED ZEPPELIN … but, in fact PAGE and JOHN PAUL JONES had been working with HERMAN'S HERMITS for years PRIOR to this new venture. I asked PETER NOONE if HE was surprised by the new direction his fellow recording mates took:

PN: Jimmy Page only played on a couple of sessions ... Silhouettes and Wonderful World. John Paul Jones was the arranger and bass player on a load of stuff and even joined the band for one short German tour (The Hermits were afraid of him!) I can list all his arranged and played on songs when I am at home and can look at my memory. Peter Grant (ex-Herman's Hermits Tour Manager) was chatting about Led Zeppelin for ages before they broke and nobody who knew Peter or any of the Led Zeppelin guys doubted they would become huge. I remember hearing other singers being touted around who were signed to Mick Most and my only surprise was how long they stayed alive!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Grandad was the rhythm guitarist(Ricky) in the Brook Brothers and Jimmy played session guitarist in Let the Good Times Roll. However due to pye records company bitchiness, the record was only ever a b-side. BUT Jimmy quotes that Let the Good Times Roll was his favorite solo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Grandad was the rhythm guitarist(Ricky) in the Brook Brothers and Jimmy played session guitarist in Let the Good Times Roll. However due to pye records company bitchiness, the record was only ever a b-side. BUT Jimmy quotes that Let the Good Times Roll was his favorite solo.

Are you sure Jimmy was talking about "Let The Good Times Roll"? The reason I ask is because Jimmy is often praised for his stellar guitar work on a different Brook Brothers song, "Once In A While"

Did your grandfather mention if Jimmy (or John Paul Jones) played on any additional Brook Brothers tracks?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you sure Jimmy was talking about "Let The Good Times Roll"? The reason I ask is because Jimmy is often praised for his stellar guitar work on a different Brook Brothers song, "Once In A While"

Did your grandfather mention if Jimmy (or John Paul Jones) played on any additional Brook Brothers tracks?

Once in a while was the a side while let the good times roll was the b side. So yeah guess so. Not sure about JPJ though, I can find out soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

One of these days I'm going to create a website and post my own collection of Jimmy's session rarities. I've got quite a few tracks that don't seem to be very well known publicly.

That would be great! What are your plans on this project?

You should write a book about Jimmy's Pre-Zep history, together with SteveAJones :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I can add that I know that Jimmy played in the recording of this song of a spanish band of the sixties, Los Bravos, in "Black is black"

When I read that, I couldn't believed it! It seemed me a bit weird hehe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I knew that Los Bravos were replaced by session men, but I was never able to confirm that Jimmy actually played on it. But this website seems to confirm it, as does this Wiki page.

The guitar parts don't sound like Jimmy's style, but the bass playing sounds a LOT like Mr. JPJ.

The B-side ("I Want A Name") sounds a bit more like Jimmy to my ears.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I knew that Los Bravos were replaced by session men, but I was never able to confirm that Jimmy actually played on it. But this website seems to confirm it, as does this Wiki page.

The guitar parts don't sound like Jimmy's style, but the bass playing sounds a LOT like Mr. JPJ.

The B-side ("I Want A Name") sounds a bit more like Jimmy to my ears.

Can't always rely on Wikipedia. A lot of it is very accurate like a very good encyclopedia would be, but a lot of it isn't. Some of their sources are speculative at best. But I still use it for a lot of info.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been searching for more webpages where it's said if it's true or is false. I've found an article from a journalist who published one in 2007 in a newspaper in this country, Spain. He must have asked Jimmy about it (it's supossed in the article to have interviewed Led Zeppelin), and Jimmy says he doesn't remember. However, I don't trust so much this journalist, I don't like the way he writes his meeting with Led (you know, that things that you wanna mean only by some descriptions). He also has called them "The kings of plagiarism" in other article, so... :rolleyes: But he seems to like their music. I really don't know.

Other sources quoted in the web, like biograpgy books of Los Bravos say it's true.

All of this is explained here

http://detrasdelacan...los-bravos.html

(Sorry, I don't know how to make it traduced into english)

I add other article. The third paragraph is the interesant

http://www.popthing.com/zona_pop/productores_alain_milhaud_bravos.php

However I'm sure I've seen a documental about them where one of the band members say that Jimmy played. I'm trying to find it. Anyway, in my opinion it's more possible that Jimmy had done it rather than not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, sorry for insisting in this, I have nothing more to do and I keep searching :lol: It's stubborness

I've found that source in which I must have listened the band member telling Jimmy played in the song (it's quoted in a comment, it was a radio interview), however then other person gives arguments to contradict him. I don't know the authority of that person (sometimes in the internet you have to believe a bit), but I prefer now not to think it's true. I fear we'll never know it.

This is the source: http://www.blogin-in-the-wind.es/2010/12/15/play-it-again-carol/

To sum up what is said there: the musician from Los Bravos maybe was confused about it due to the pass of years, and probably Jimmy was playing in those times in the studios near to him, and he could see him and though he was playing in his song. He must have mixed legend and reality, you know, Jimmy gives more prestige, so he said that in the interview.

Ok, that's all

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's what I've long wanted to know: Did Jimmy actually play on John Barry's Goldfinger sessions? I've been having a hard time finding independent verification.

Jimmy confirmed in a 2007 interview that he played on Shirley Bassey's version of the song (which was conducted by John Barry). (

)

However, John Barry's instrumental version (

) is from a different session, and no sources have linked Jimmy to that version. Jim Sullivan and Vic Flick both claim that they played on it. The guitar parts do sound a bit like Jimmy's style, though.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Oh wow, did Jimmy really play on the Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road"?! That is so awesome. Jimmy! You rule, man!

Speaking of Jimmy in the studio, I just found out that engineer Phill Brown has written an autobiography, "Are We Still Rolling?" about his experiences recording with luminaries such as Zeppelin, the Stones, Jeff Beck, etc. It came out in November apparently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

John Paul Jones/Jimmy Page Session:

The Legendary Biddu or Biddu Appaiah (born 1944) is an Indian-British music producer, composer, song-writer and singer who produced and composed many hit records worldwide during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro disco, and Indi-pop, he has sold millions of records worldwide, and has received Grammy and Ivor Novello awards for his work.

7" PROMO single - released 15th Sep 1967 on Regal Zonophone (RZ 3002). Nicky Hopkins (piano), Jimmy Page (guitar), Mahavishnu John McGlaughlin (guitar) & John Paul Jones (Bass)

Side 1 - Daughter of love

Side 2 - Look out here I come

An Excellent condition vinyl .A very nice copy.

http://www.popsike.c...0668596137.html

More on this Session with Biddu: Tony Visconti: The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy

http://books.google....epage&q&f=false

............

Our very own BIddu with his share of luck, destiny and fate....this famous song (Kung Fu Fighting/Carl Douglas) and many more...

Post Music Career, (he openy admists that music does not interest him anymore, he has done it all for 30 years)...

very creative personality...he is now a novelist/writer..."Curse of the Godman" just written...

..I wish to see Jimmy in this direction as well... :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

 In Honour of Legendary John Paul Jones, James Patrick Page,  and Veteran Legendary Musician/Composer "Biddu" from (Bombay) Mumbai, India  in London, 1967 (Biddu Still active Composer in the FIlm Industry and Highly Regarded - this venture while he was seeking fame and fortune in the West,)-  I hope  that Legendary John Paul Jones will continue his creativity with Artists from India, in coming 2017 and beyond, looking forward to the Opera Production....Happy Birthday Legendary Musician - So happy that my world is still Graced with your Creativity, genuis talent, timeless Youth...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, PlanetPage said:

 In Honour of Legendary John Paul Jones, James Patrick Page,  and Veteran Legendary Musician/Composer "Biddu" from (Bombay) Mumbai, India  in London, 1967 (Biddu Still active Composer in the FIlm Industry and Highly Regarded - this venture while he was seeking fame and fortune in the West,)-  I hope  that Legendary John Paul Jones will continue his creativity with Artists from India, in coming 2017 and beyond, looking forward to the Opera Production....Happy Birthday Legendary Musician - So happy that my world is still Graced with your Creativity, genuis talent, timeless Youth...

 

I dig it, a mellow tune to just chill and have a toke to.

Groovy Baby...So far out man

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...