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What's the earliest known recording of Zeppelin (or the New Yardbirds)?

I have a recording of their show in Spokane Washington on 12.30.68, but I don't know if this is the earliest.

In August or September 1968 John Paul Jones was hired for a session with U.K. singer P.J. Proby who was recording an album at Landsdowne Studios in London. John got

the other three members of Zeppelin in on the session as it was good money to be made. From what I recall Robert Plant's voice does not appear on that album; he was simply there. I know it may not make sense for him to have been there if he wasn't going to sing but John said Robert was there.

Then of course there is the first Led Zeppelin album, recorded in October 1968.

You must mean live recordings, right? So far as I know the one to which you refer

remains the earliest known live recording but tapes continue to surface all the time.

There was a soundboard recording of Southampton 1973 which was recently made

available.

Edited by SteveAJones
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In August or September 1968 John Paul Jones was hired for a session with U.K. singer P.J. Proby who was recording an album at Landsdowne Studios in London. Jones got

the other three members of Zeppelin in on the session as it was good money to be made. From what I recall Robert Plant's voice does not appear on that album; he was simply there? I know it may not make sense for Plant to have been there but

John said he was.

Then of course there is the first Led Zeppelin album, recorded in October 1968.

You must mean live recordings, right? So far as I know the one to which you refer

remains the earliest known live recording but tapes continue to surface all the time.

There was a soundboard recording of Southampton 1973 which was recently made

available.

I was referring to live recordings, and I don't think there is an earlier one than the one I have. It's really rough, but the historical value makes it worth it. You can tell how good the band is playing despite only being formed for a few months at most. It's empirical evidence that the whole "instant chemistry" claim isn't mere hyperbole, but miraculous fact.

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In Search Of Lost Holy Grails: The Australian Archives

by Leo Ishac

Many years ago I had decided to make a concerted effort to track down as many lost tapes that I could find of the LZ 1972 Australian & New Zealand tour. Up until that period I was not focused on any objective to actually targeting and working towards finding the tapes that surely exist of that tour.

It is plainly obvious that there must me some sort of audio document of all concerts performed by Zeppelin around the world. It comes down to simply finding the 'owners' of those lost gems. These tapes are probably gathering dust in an old shoe box that hasnít seen the light of day for many a year.

Most of the current tapes in circulation are due to the fans being 'connected' and still active in the music and collecting world. The truly lost gems are most likely held by long lost fans who are ignorant of the historical importance that exists on the tapes they made many years ago. These are the guys we all have to locate if we are to find tapes that fill the void left by shows that we are yet to hear and experience.

The following stories and events that I wish to convey in this forum are meant to enlighten us all on what lengths one must go to when seeking to find some of those long lost missing gems. As you read of my personal experiences you will come to realize that it takes a lot of hard work to find just one lost tape. But thankfully there are many other experiences where some of those long lost gems are found purely by chance though these stories are few and far between.

I would sincerely hope that many more fans and collectors would take note of my experiences and if at all possible apply themselves to also searching out for those Holy Grails that we all aspire to find, enjoy and share with our fellow Zepp-heads.

Seek out those old shoe boxes!

THE TAPES:

Perth Western Australia: February 16 1972 Radio Interview: S/board rating: 8 17 minutes

Speaking with many fans who had seen Led Zepp perform in Melbourne I found several who commented that they clearly recall that our local radio station was advertising that the Perth concert was going to be broadcast live in Melbourne.

I had tracked down and spoken to many media personalities who where active during that period and several seemed to confirm what I was being told by several fans. The radio broadcast was to be aired on Thursday evening the 17th February. There was talk that due to the large population in Melbourne and the strong radio interest in Zeppelin touring that there was a good chance that a second Melbourne date could go ahead on the 21st February.

A concerted effort was made to now promote the tour to generate more ticket sales and make a second concert in Melbourne viable. As I understand it, the bands management were keen to put on a second show in Melbourne so that the vast touring costs can be off set by the extra profits made from the 2nd proposed Melbourne date. What the Radio station had failed to mention to the LZ management was that they were proposing to do a radio broadcast of the Perth show.

(As far as I can gather, it seems that the arrangements were made with Zepp's road manager Richard Cole and once the details had reached Peter Grant the whole idea of a broadcast was canned).

A flyer was posted in several Melbourne newspapers pre-advertising the proposed radio broadcast of "Led Zeppelin Live From Perth". The media took this on board and soon the possibility of a live radio broadcast was talked about in our radio and TV news networks. Once the management of Led Zepp had heard about the media hype talking of a live radio broadcast of the Perth concert they quickly put out a statement that all the media talk was false.

The radio station then tried to get interviews with the band members while they were in Perth so that they could use the material in a local (Melbourne) broadcast of interviews with studio tracks edited in between each interview segment. But once the master reels arrived in Melbourne from Perth the station didnít like the material they had to work with and the radio show was cancelled and they then hoped that a live interview could be done with the band while they were in Melbourne. None of this eventuated for one reason or other.

In a news broadcast LZ management denied there would be any radio broadcast and the only way to see and hear them play live was to go to any one of their concerts. There was some minor friction with the Melbourne radio stations once the idea of a live radio broadcast was stopped dead in its tracks. The idea of a second Melbourne date was also dead in the water.

Once I had seen the flyer advertising the proposed Perth show and having spoken to many people in the music industry around that time as well as speaking with numerous fans I felt there was a chance that a recording of the Perth show may still exist somewhere. We all live in hope!

The radio station which was to broadcast the Perth show was Melbourne 3XY. The first step in my search was tolocate the current owners of that radio stations archives as that station no longer existed. A few years back it had shut it doors due to bankruptcy. I had to track down past owners via the Victorian Corporations Registry. To cut a very long story short I found that they company known as 3XY had changed hands about 9 times since 1972 and the company had been stripped of its assets (like all companies succumb to when they cease to exist) and more importantly its archives and records were sold off in fragments to various interested parties.

Each time I made contact with a person and I relayed what I was trying to find, that person may have in turn given me another 3~5 new leads to chase up. Each one of those leads would again give me another list of names or phone numbers to investigate. Some of those leads would of course lead me to a dead end. In a very short time I had compiled a large folder full of names, addresses, phone numbers, stories etc to chase up. The investigative work had begun.

After about 2 months of intensive searching and making about 500 local and interstate phone calls I made one call to a local number that came from one of those leads I was given. A secretary answered the call and I advised her that I was searching for the current owners of the archives and records of the now extinct 3XY radio station. The secretary advised me that she will switch me to the General Manager as he maybe able to help me. I thought this was odd, as you don't normally get passed onto a senior person so quickly after your initial introduction.

The General Manager listened to what I was searching for and why and he seemed to be slightly disinterested in my request. We only talked for a few minutes. He finished our discussion by asking for my name and phone number. He asked me to leave my request with him and he'll call me back if he could help. I had already spoken to many other leads who had said exactly the same as he did so I was not expecting the phone call that came about 8 minutes after we completed this initial conversation.

About 8 minutes after talking with the General Manager my secretary advised me that a General Manager of a company wished to speak with me. I was a senior Bank Manager at the time so I asked my secretary to refer the call onto my assistant manager. My secretary replied that the chap said he was returning the call I had just made to him regarding the band Led Zeppelin. I quickly kicked my secretary out of my office and I took his call.

I can clearly recall the first words he said to me as I said "Leo Ishac speaking".

Those initial words were......

"Led Zeppelin Live Perth 1972".

I said. "Yes, that is what I am searching for."

He again said. "Led Zeppelin Live In Perth 1972!"

I again said. "Yes".

He then said that he has a reel in his hands which is clearly marked "Led Zeppelin Live Perth 1972!"

At that point I fell out of my chair!

He went on to say that there were another two reels in a box marked 'Led Zeppelin' but there are no labels on the reels to indicate what audio they feature.

At first I tried to act mildly interested as if locating this sort of material was an every day occurrence for me. However, after I regained my composer I asked if there was a chance that I could obtain a copy of the audio not expecting to get a positive response. To my surprise he agreed to my request and we made a time to meet at his radio station in two days time. Besides that, he also offered to make copies for me off the master reels while I was at his office so that I can get the best possible quality. You donít meet people like this everyday!

To say that I was salivating would have been an understatement. The two days of waiting were absolutely excruciating and seemed to take forever to get to the time of our meeting. However the time finally elapsed and the moment of truth was now upon me. It was too inconceivable to believe that I may soon be hearing a recording of a long lost Zepp show!

It seemed too good to be true and it was. Read on.....

I arrived at his office exactly on time and trying very hard not to display my excitement at what I maybe just about to experience. I met the general manager and he said he was very busy with work and he didnít have the time to sit with me and make the copies of the reels. I was just about to get all depressed and thinking that it did all seem too good to be true when he then said to me "Here, take the box of reels home with you and make the copies at your leisure. Just make sure you donít damage the master reels and return them when you are finished". At that point I thought I must have died and gone to heaven. It took me only a few seconds to put the box under my arm and break all records for existing the building before he had a change of mind. I got into my car and drove off leaving an inch of burnt rubber behind me..

Back home I called a friend to bring over his reel to reel machine so that we could listen and make copies of this

goldmine find I had in my hot hands. The next day we set up the first reel which was marked "Led Zeppelin Live Perth 1972". The hairs on my neck started to rise as the reel started to run. Here we were, about to listen to a long lost Led Zeppelin concert of the Perth show.

The reel played and what we got was the now well documented radio news broadcast stating that the proposed radio airing of a Perth concert in Melbourne was not to happen. Following that radio news broadcast was the recording of the Perth interviews conducted with the band. Included was the radio promos that were to precede each interview. Nothing else was on that reel and worse still the other reels were totally blank. Our hopes and dreams were dashed. It felt as though my heart had been ripped out of my chest and then put into a blender to make sure that I truly felt the pain! The expectation of finding a soundboard recording then knowing that it was not to be nearly sent me over the edge (others have said that it did).

Anyway, life had to continue and looking at the brighter side of things at least I was able to find some new audio source.

Memorial Drive, Adelaide, South Australia. February 19 1972

Audience: 90 minutes 8+

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Stairway To Heaven, Going To California, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Dazed & Confused, Moby Dick(cut), Whole Lotta Love medley/Boogie Woogie/Mary Lou/Let's Have A Party/That's Alright (cut.)

This tape was probably the most exciting find for me. I was doing the rounds at the local Record fair and I had struck up a conversation with a dealer who was based in Adelaide. This dealer was again a big fan and collector of The Stones. He was mainly interested in memorabilia and not audio collecting. I mentioned to him that I was a fan of Led Zeppelin and that I am always seeking new audio documents of my band. The dealer mentioned that he knows someone back home who runs a record shop who saw LZ back in 1972 and even

taped them. He said he has heard the tape and that it is genuinely LZ from the Adelaide show. Needless to say we made an arrangement to trade my tape of The Stones from Melbourne & Sydney 1973 for a 1st generation copy from his friend of the LZ Adelaide show.

I am a pretty good judge of peoples honesty and this dealer did seem to be very genuine. I was very confident that this tape existed and I would soon have a copy of it. Several days latter I made my own downfall by telling several so-called 'friends' of the find I had made before getting the tape into my hands. Stupidly, I had told my friends that I had probably found a tape of Adelaide and the idiot that I am I also mentioned who it was that I was getting the tape from.

Anyway, the day after the record fair I made copies of the tapes the dealer wanted and sent them over to him. I waited 2 weeks and I hadn't received any LZ Adelaide tapes so I phoned the chap up and asked him what what the delay. During our conversation I got the impression that this chap was having problems in getting me a copy from his friend. I waited another 2 weeks and I called him again. I got many more excuses from him so I got very personal and told this chap not to face me again as I don't like being ripped off. About a week latter a tape of the Adelaide show arrived and when I played it I knew immediately two things. The first thing that I knew was that this was in fact a new tape source of an Australian show. The second thing that I knew was that this tape had been sabotaged. The copy I had received was obviously and purposely butchered. I'd rate the audio quality of the tape I had been sent at about 3 out of 10. I phoned the chap in Adelaide and I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of him.

Several months latter the 2CD title "Shivers 'N' Shakes" was released featuring audio from the Adelaide show. I

compared the audio to the tape I had previously been sent and the source was exactly the same though my tape ran 90 minutes so it was obvious the producer of the "Shivers" title purposely only released a fragment of the show.

Kooyong Tennis Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria February 20 1972:

Tape Source 1: 46 minutes. Audience rating: 5.5 (rated out of 10)

This tape has appeared on the LP's "Count Me Out When Hot" & "Melbourne Madness" LP's.

As well the first few tracks on the CD "Shivers 'N' Shakes" Disc 2 came from this tape source.

The story behind this tape is very interesting if it is actually true. I have spoken to the 'owner' of this tape who relates this story about the background to its original source.

(Note: The current 'owner' of this cassette tape is not the original taper).

Currently only 46 minutes exists of this tape but at one time the whole concert was recorded by the original taper using a reel to reel. The story goes that the taper was mildly interested in going to rock concerts and was a genuine music lover of many varied musical styles. He would go to various concerts and record them using generally professional equipment. As the years passed by his reel to reel collection grew. At one point in time he wanted to be able to play some of his recordings on his car cassette player. To do this he taped some of his reels by simply placing a recording microphone up near one of his speakers as he played the audio from one of his reels. The idiot didn't bother to do a proper line feed recording! Anyway he only bothered to record a small amount of his reel to reel collection.

As the years passed by he became disinterested in his reel to reel collection and he tried to sell his equipment and reels in our local Trading magazine. He didn't get any takers for his stuff so after awhile he simply just took it all down to the local rubbish tip where it lays buried and lost forever. The only remaining document he had left of his original recordings were several cassette tapes. Apparently the original master reels featured some outstanding audience recordings with the Led Zeppelin show being one of them.

Lets hope that this story was simply a persons sick attempt to enlighten us. If it is a true story then I find no joy in hearing of these sort of nightmare scenarios.

Tape Source 2: 72 minutes. Audience rating: 4 ~ 5.5 (rated out of 10)

Black Dog (cut), Since I've Been Loving You, Stairway To Heaven, That's the Way (cut), Dazed and Confused (cut), Rock and Roll, Whole Lotta Love (cut).

This tape would be rated higher if it wasn't for the excessive tape hiss. The actual audio recording for the show could be deemed as good and in some places slightly better than the 90 minute tape for this show but the tape hiss overpowers the recording. It's a shame as the tape feels as though the recorder was very close to the sound system which could have made for a very exciting document of this show.

The tape kicks in when Black dog is just about to be finished which leads me to conclude one of two possibilities. Its either a case that the taper commenced taping the show when Black Dog was finishing (probably arriving late at the show), or the more likely explanation that this tape has been butchered over the years and the first part of the show has been purposely or accidentally edited out. Maybe this tape source exists in a more complete document hidden in some ones old shoebox.

Some of the tracks have cuts in them as well the audio quality seems to deteriorate towards the end of the recording. The taper has edited out some of Plant's chatter between each song but mostly he has left his machine running.

This tape was found being sold by a dealer at a local Record fair about 8 years ago. I was told that the tape being sold was a 1st generation copy off the master. The chap produced his so-called master tape of this source and when I listened to it the quality appeared to be comparable to the copy being sold.

However, the 'master tape' did not genuinely appear to be a master tape to my eyes due to the type and brand of tape. I could be wrong. I was asked if I wanted to purchase the 'master' tape but I declined (the asking price was a bit over the top) as the copy was comparable to the 'master' tape.

Tape Source 3: 88 minutes. Audience rating: 6.5 (rated out of 10)

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Stairway To Heaven, Going To California, That's the Way, Tangerine, Bron-Y- Aur Stomp, Dazed and Confused, Rock and Roll, Whole Lotta Love (cut).

The best recording to date of all the Melbourne tape sources. In this one the tape recorder saw fit to turn his machine on and off between each track which is very annoying. You would think that if you are going to a concert and you want to tape a show, that you would have the common sense to take a spare tape with you. Hell, how many times do you get to see a band like Led Zeppelin live in Australia? The tape runs out about 90 seconds before Whole Lotta Love finishes which just adds to our frustration of another lost opportunity to enjoy a complete show in very good quality.

I acquired a copy of the master tape via interesting circumstances.

After I had published my 1991 photo book "Whole Lotta Zep On Tour In Australia 1972" I received a lot of local interest and promotion via the print media and radio stations. One particular radio station did a Led Zeppelin special and I had donated several copies of my books as prizes for their listeners. One of the listeners of the radio show was a personal friend of the DJ. The DJ gave his friend my contact details and the day after the radio show I received a phone call from him. He stated that he was a fan of Led Zepp and that he has a tape of the 1972 show which is excellent. He offered to give me a copy of it. In return he wanted a copy of any other LZ shows I had from the bands 1972 tour. This chap assured me that his tape was a 'new' source not circulating in the collectors market and it was almost a complete show.

The following day I met the chap and he gave me a 1st generation copy and yes, it was a new tape source and much better than the two previous tapes I had heard. The chap told me that the original taper and owner of this source was his personal best friend who had died of a drug over-dose several years earlier. His friend had left him all of his personal music collection. This is in fact a true story.

Within a year of acquiring this new tape source it was circulating amongst several well known LZ collectors down here and not long after it circulated overseas and appeared on CD.

Years later I was able to acquire the actual master tape of this tape source.

Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney, New South Wales: February 27 1972

Audience: 4 (out of 10) 40 minutes

Black Dog, Rock and Roll, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Whole Lotta Love/Boogie Woogie/Mary Lou/The Rover/Let's Have A Party/ Lawdy Miss Clawdy (cut)/Going Down Slow.

Though only a very short document of what has been described by fans who attended this concert as an incredible rock performance that had not been surpassed by any other touring act before or since.

I was given a copy of this tape by a friend back in 1990. The tape I received was probably about 4th generation and its quality was not too good. It also seemed to be running a bit fast.

During one of my sleepless efforts in searching for more lost material I made one of those rare contacts with a chap who said he had a tape that featured the full concert of Zeppelin from Sydney 1972. This chap resided in Sydney and was working in a record shop. One avenue I thought that could possibly lead me to finding more tapes was to phone as many underground and second hand record shops around Australia. It seemed that I was on the right track when the chap told me what he had.

This chap was a big follower of The Stones and when I told him that I had a tape of their complete show from

Melbourne 1973 we agreed to swap tapes. I initially asked for a 1st generation copy off his master but he offered to send me his master tape in exchange for my Stones master tape! It didn't matter to him when I told him that my Stones tape was probably a 3rd generation source. Anyway, we agreed on trading our tapes.

I asked him how long his Zeppelin tape ran for and he said that he thought it went for about 80 minutes but that it was the full show. He wasn't sure as he said the tape was bought soon after the 1972 show and he has only played it about 4 times in the past 20 odd years! The last time he had played the tape was back in the early 70's! This sounded very interesting.

I told him that it couldn't possibly be the complete show as I've heard that the Sydney concert ran for 120 minutes at the least. In which case the show could not possibly fit onto one cassette tape. The chap replied that its been a long time since he has played the tape but he is sure it runs for 80 minutes and was the complete show. In any case he will send me the tape in a few days time and we should both know then what the tape has on it.

The following day I mailed him my Stones tape. Several days passed by and I hadn't received the tape he was sending me. I phoned him and he stated that he has been too busy to look for the tape but that he had received my Stones tape and he was very pleased with it. He offered to look for the tape that evening and send it out to me in a day or so. About two weeks passed by and still no Zeppelin tape. I phoned him again and he then said that he had found the tape the previous evening and he was now holding it and that it was the complete show. I asked him to tell me what the tracks were if he had listened to it. He replied that he didnít listen to it but that the tracks were typed on the sleeve. He advised me what the tracks were and I was then certain that it wasn't the complete show. But it did have three 'new' tracks if the track listing on the sleeve was to be believed. Those tracks were Stairway To Heaven, Going To California & What Is And What Should Never Be.

Though I was disappointed not to find a complete concert I was pleased that at least I had found three new tracks and better yet, a tape that was supposed to be a 1st generation off the master that had not been played since the early 70's!

Finally, the tape arrived in my hands several days latter and yes, the cassette tape was a genuine cassette tape that was used in the early 70ís. The track listing was typed on the sleeve as well as the more surprising purple stamp that stated..."C DOBRO RARE TAPES". This took me by complete surprise. It appeared to me to be an early attempt at a bootleg product but in cassette form. The title on the sleeve was "LIVE IN SYDNEY 1972"

This surely was a great find! Just to make sure that the item in my hand was genuine and a product from the early 70's I asked a few friends who were also into tape collecting to give me their opinion of the tape. They all confirmed that its appearance and brand convinced them that it was a brand of tape from the early 70's.

That was the great discovery but now for the usual and all too common let down. I played the tape and it seemed to be of better quality than the tape that I was given previously by a friend. The only difference was that my tape featured three extra tracks. Once the first track started to come through my speakers I knew immediately that I had been had. Not by the chap in Sydney whom I traded the tape with, but by the bootlegger who produced this tape and sold it back in the early 70's! The three 'new' tracks were your usual BBC April/01/71 tracks. Once again the bootlegger had sought fit to slice in several tracks from the BBC '71 show onto this tape and sell it as live stuff from the Sydney show.

His intentions were to probably pack out the 60 minute tape so that he can sell his product easily. Any idiot could have picked out the audio difference from the three soundboard BBC tracks and the genuine lower grade audience tracks from the actual Sydney concert.

Yes, I was disappointed that I had not found any new tracks from the Sydney show but at least I had managed to find a rare, early form of bootlegging in this cassette tape. As well as a probable 1st generation tape that appears to have been genuinely in storage for the past 20 odd years and not played frequently. I still retain this tape and to date I have only played it 4 times since acquiring it.

It is worth mentioning at this point that there has been a strong rumour for many years that a bootleg LP exists of the Sydney show which featured the same audio that is on this tape. I was even sent a photograph of the so-called "Live In Sydney 1972" bootleg LP cover. The album was supposed to have been pressed and sold within several weeks of the Sydney concert back in 1972. Only 200 copies were supposed to have been pressed and sold with most going to collectors in the Sydney area soon after the tour ended.

I can state without hesitation or doubt that this story is a complete fraud and fabrication by a scum of a LZ collector/fan who resides in Sydney. This person has been active in the collecting/trading family for many years now. The so-called photo of the Sydney bootleg cover was a fake made up by the same guy. This person dribbles shit and cannot be trusted so be warned. Iíve lost count of how many stories he has made up with regard to finding and having a collection of lost rare tapes. Every year I seem to get asked by other collectors that they have spoken to a guy in Sydney who says he has all these rare tapes etc. These other collectors are always excited that they have found someone who says he has many rare Zepp recordings and film footage etc and that I may have the ability to get the stuff out of him. I always reply that the guys name is "****** *****" and that he is full of shit and he doesn't have anything of interest at all.

So be warned if you start to deal with anyone living in Sydney who says he has a many rare LZ items. And more importantly for all you vinyl collectors out there, you can erase off your Wants Lists the Bootleg LP "Live In Sydney 1972", as it just does not exist.

Many years ago I had ceased to collect bootleg vinyl. Even so, I was still searching out for boot vinyl for several friends and more importantly I was always in touch with numerous die-hard bootleg vinyl collectors and dealers throughout Australia and none of them in all these years had ever seen or heard of anyone owning "Live In Sydney 1972" title. If it had been produced then one of us would have come across it by now as these things tend to turn up in the collecting circles sooner or latter.

Festival Hall, Queensland: February 27 1972:

Tape Source 1: 101 minutes. Audience rating: 3.5 (rated out of 10)

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Celebration Day, Stairway To Heaven, Going To California, Dazed And Confused (cut), What Is And What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love/Boogie Chillen/The Wanderer/Hello Mary Lou/Let's Have A Party.

This is the standard low grade tape that has been circulating for many years and was released on the fabulous 4CD digi-pak package titled "Australian Tour 1972" and made by the Black Cat Australian labelan label. The quality of this tape was not good at all and again this one seems to run a bit fast but at the time it was the only source for the Brisbane show.

My copy of this tape came from a friend and I don't know any background regarding original taper or current owner of the master tape of this source.

Tape Source 2: 132 minutes. Audience rating: 4.5 (rated out of 10)

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Celebration Day, Stairway To Heaven, Going To California, That's The Way (false start), That's The Way, Tangerine, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Dazed And Confused, What Is And What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love/Boogie Woogie/Trucking Little Mama/The Wanderer/Mary Lou/Let's Have A Party/Going Down Slow.

This tape source was a minor upgrade to the above tape in audio quality and more importantly it was almost a complete show.

As with most finds, this one came along by complete accident and was almost missed. The story goes like this...

This tape was discovered by my good friend Philip O'Brien in 1993. Phil had advertised to sell a CD in our local

Trading Post. He received a call from a chap who was interested in buying his CD. They arranged to meet at the chaps place and while there, this chap had commented that he had Jimmy Page's Twin Neck Gibson guitar (Jimmy's custom built Gibson SB double neck). He said that he had won it in the 70's and he proceeded to pull it out to show Phil (the guitar that is). In the meantime Phil was ready to call the shrink for this guy. As it happened the chap did have a Gibson double neck guitar but it was the signature copy. He apparently won it in a contest back in the 70's. He seemed to enjoy telling people that he had Page's original guitar but Phil was able to set him straight.

As discussions proceeded this chap then told Phil that he has a tape of the LZ Brisbane show. Phil replied that he already has a copy of it and itís not great anyway. The chap then said that he couldnít have a copy of it as he hasn't given anyone a copy of it. He then got his tape out and played it. Phil immediately knew from listening to the first track that this tape source was indeed a new source.

Amazingly but true this chap gave Phil his master tapes of this new Brisbane source and told him he could make a copy of them at his leisure. Latter on the chap told Phil he was welcome to keep the master tapes which he did!

The actual taper of this new source was the girl friend of this chap from back in 1972. Somehow he managed to get the tape when they had broken up. Subsequently he lost all contact with her but she may still reside in Queensland.

So by sheer luck another document of a great LZ show is discovered and in the hands of an appreciative fan and collector.

THE VIDEOS:

Sydney 23 February 1972. Pro Shot.

During the early 70's our National TV station the ABC had a Sunday evening music show called GTK that ran for approximately 10 minutes. The format of the show was to generally feature a live performance of a touring or local act with a short interview with the band members. The ABC would approach the management and seek permission to film and record part or all of the show which would be broadcast at a latter date. Sometimes the broadcast would be aired while the band was still touring. (It is worth noting that most touring acts gave permission to have their shows filmed by the ABC. Bands like Pink Floyd, Queen, Deep Purple etc). Just like the UK BBC, the archives of our ABC should hold some very interesting gems in their vaults.

No doubt the short GTK format appealed to Zeppelin's management and they agreed to have part of the Sydney show filmed by the ABC. It was a Sydney based film crew that did the segment. Over the years I have spoken to numerous people about this rare film recording. Personally I just cannot believe that only a few minutes of the Sydney concert was filmed. Besides the never ending search for an audio document of the Perth show I have spent many hours searching for any record of this Sydney TV recording and broadcast.

As we all now know only "Rock and Roll" & parts of "Lets Have A Party" were filmed and broadcast. The ABC re-broadcasted this clip back in 1990 and that is generally the source that has been circulated and traded around the world.

In 1991 I made contact with the ABC in Sydney as that is where the main archives are. To say I had difficulty dealing with them was an understatement. When you are dealing with public servants of this type you can always expect to be treated very poorly.

The first time I phoned I was told that no archives existed of the GTK shows. I then waited a month to pass by before I phoned again hoping to speak to a different person. Luckily, I did manage to speak with a different person than the first time. This person informed me that yes, the GTK shows do exist but the records are not in order and they cannot help me as the job is too large, and in any case they cannot release the stuff to me due to copyright. No matter what I tried to say, this person said they cannot help me or release copies to me.

Now I waited two months to pass by before I was game enough to phone them again with my request. Luck was on side as I managed to speak to a different person again (I made sure to ask each persons name as I phoned in). Unfortunately, as all previous attempts I got a brick wall.

To cut a very long story short I had probably contacted the ABC about 8 times over a 10 month period. On the last time I contacted them I spoke with a chap who seemed receptive to my request and enquiry. I told him what I was searching for and he had the intelligence to key into the computer the details I was asking for. Within a few seconds he told me he has located the Led Zeppelin Sydney 1972 interview with Germaine Greer. I told him I donít know about that but it sounds interesting. He then said he has found on the computer the file code for the GTK footage. I told him that I only needed copies of the material to conduct my reviews of the items for our Fanzines etc. He said no problems at all. I just had to send over a cheque to pay for the copies to be made from their video masters. The cheque was in the mail the following day!

This story is another example of how to never accept no for an answer if you truly believe that something exists.

Since acquiring the videos of the Sydney show and the Sydney cocktail function I have probably tried to contact the ABC about 40 times over the following years to see if they can find any further footage. To date Iíve had no such luck.

Before completing this story you maybe interested in this snippet...

When I had received the video featuring the Sydney cocktail function footage it struck me as odd as to why Jimmy Page was not present. Was he just not filmed and he was actually there in a corner somewhere? The answer to my question came to me a few months latter. As a matter of course I always send over any interesting material I find over to Mr Page & Mr Plant. When Page watched the Sydney interview he immediately stated that he recalled that interview as the security guard refused to let him into the building to attend the function. Page said that he had just shaved off his beard and the security guard didn't recognise him without a beard! The more Jimmy tried to tell the guard that HE WAS JIMMY PAGE, the more agitated the guard got so Jimmy just gave up and left quickly!

During the time I was seeking out the ABC video footage I came across some information of the existence of more film footage. There is a well known TV personality who currently lives and works in the UK. This person who shall remain nameless has a brother who not only attended the Sydney concert but also filmed it from the photographers pit! This person was there as a guest of several of the Australian rock photographers and he had a interest in films so he took along his 8mm camera. I'm told by several reliable sources that this person did in fact film the Sydney show and he was not noticed by any Zeppelin personnel (luckily for him as he would have been killed!). My information is that this person did not have any interest in Led Zeppelin or their music and years latter his brother who is the well known TV personality acquired the film. His brother was and is a fan of Led Zeppelin so it was right for him to take the film for his personal enjoyment.

For over a year I have tried to contact the brother who now holds the film footage but to date I have not had any luck. I made numerous phone calls to the UK but all I got was another brick wall. I am told that this person is generally not approachable. Yeah, I can certainly vouch for that. For the moment I would like to believe that what I have been told second hand is factual. Maybe one day I will get access to this chap and personally ask him about the existence of the film footage.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS:

Ted Keogh Collection:

Ted's name came to me via a friend. I had been told that many attempts had been made to acquire copies of his photo collection or even better yet, to buy his negatives. I was told that he was exceptionally difficult to tdeal with and that he generally would not be interested in talking with anyone who seeks to get his photo collection.

Undeterred I found his contact details and as luck would have it he lived only 20 minutes away from me, and more importantly I got him just a few days before he was permanently moving into the country. He said that he was changing his lifestyle and that I may not have been able to locate him had I contacted him a few days latter. It sounded like he was going to become a recluse from the modern world.

A time was arranged to meet him at his house. We met the following day and I found him to be a genuinely nice guy. I asked him what he thought of the LZ Melbourne show and all he could remember was that they were very loud. Actually this seems to be the most common reply I get from fans who went to their shows.

I told Ted that I was interested in buying his photo collection as a first choice (with full copyright ownership) and as a second choice I would like to pay for copies of some pic's with copyright clearance to publish them at some stage. Ted asked how much would I be prepared to pay for them and in reply I asked him "Are you seriously talking of selling me the whole collection including copyright?" He replied, yes. I then thought of an amount in my mind then I dropped it by 50% and told him my offer not expecting him to accept it, which he did! I was certainly expecting him to up my offer but he was happy with my offer and more importantly he said that it was pleasing for him to see the collection go to someone who can do the photos justice and appreciate them more than he can. I quickly wrote out a contract of sale and we exchanged money for the negatives. I wished him all the best for the future and I gained about 60 unpublished B& W photos that featured some amazing pic's of the lads at the Melbourne concert.

Greg Macainsh Collection:

After I had published my photo book "Whole Lotta Zep On Tour In Australia 1972" I went on a major marketing exercise. I managed to get featured in some of Australia's major newspapers and national rock magazines. After a feature article was written on me in our Victorian newspaper titled "The Melbourne Age", the following day (Monday) I received a letter in my mail from a Greg Macainsh. Greg's letter stated that he saw my feature article mentioning that I was searching for any material regarding Led Zeppelin's 1972 Australian tour. Greg said in his letter that he had several photos of the Melbourne concert and if I was interested I should phone him.

Before I go on I must clarify who Greg Macainsh is. Greg is and was the bassist for the band "Skyhooks". Skyhooks was probably this countries biggest rock act during the mid to late 70's. The moment I saw his letter I assumed it was the famous man himself.

As soon as I got home I phoned him and we arranged a time to meet at his house for latter that afternoon. As luck would have it again, he only lived ten minutes away from me. Once I had met him at his house he told me that during the early 70's he was at university as an arts student learning photography. He would go to most rock concerts and take as many photos as he could in those early days. Back then there was no problem in taking photos of any band unlike the security checks we have now.

Greg said he recalled that the show was too loud (yeah, heard that before) and in any case he liked the Stones more with their show the following year.

When we got onto the subject of his photo collection Greg indicated that he was prepared to sell me the whole

collection including copyright ownership if the price was right. As with Keogh I found Greg easy to talk to and deal with. I told him how much I had paid Keogh to acquire his collection and we both came to a price. Greg was offering me about 85 B & W photo negatives and 11 colour photos that he had lost the negatives for. As before I drafted up a contract and the money and negatives/photos exchanged hands.

Its worth mentioning at this point that Greg had a large box full of unpublished photos/negatives of all major acts who toured Australia (including Stones, Floyd, Deep Purple etc) in the late 60's to mid 70's. Greg was keen to sell off his collection. As I wasn't interested in other bands I declined his offer. I now regret not taking a proper look at his box of goodies as the Stones pic's themselves would have been a nice one to get. We all live with regrets and I know I will die with many on my mind!

Once I had got back home and I had the time to properly look at the negatives that I had just acquired I found two things. Firstly, that the negatives showed a flowing picture of the Melbourne concert from the time the lads walked up the ramp to the stage, then the actual performance and the end of the show. Besides that, many of the pic's were outstanding. Secondly, I discovered that the number sequence of the negatives did not match up. There appeared to be about 30 negatives missing so I immediately phoned Greg back to tell him this.

Greg said that he was sure that he had given me all the negatives but if I left it with him he will look in the box again when he has time and let me know. That discussion was about 5pm on Monday. The following morning I did the usual mail box check and there was a thick letter from Greg. Inside the letter there was the missing 30 odd negatives! Greg, in his generosity wrote a note to say that I can have these negatives for the price already paid. Nice chap indeed!

Once I got home I had a good look at these latest negatives and to my genuine amazement I found that these displayed much better action shots of the band than the negatives that I already had!

My overall intentions in seeking out and acquiring all of these items (photo negatives, magazines etc) was to compile and publish a comprehensive book that would cover the complete Australian 1972 tour. Once I felt I had acquired enough material to publish a book I started to approach several well known publishing houses of rock books. There was only mild interest in this venture so I felt that I could not proceed any further. Normally, I was not a collector of printed matter as my interests generally lay with collecting audio. Because of this and the closed doors I received with regard to publishing a book I decided to sell my whole collection of Australian memorabilia and transferring copyright ownership to a collector who resides in the UK. This collector indicated that he would publish a book that would feature most of the material that I had acquired. One day it should be out.

Edited by SteveAJones
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The Lost Led Zeppelin Hawaiian Mastertape

9-17-71 Honolulu show

Contributor: joelmon

What a killer show. I'd seen the band 2 years earlier, but now that I was 14 I could appreciate it even more.

This was the last concert of the famous Aug-Sept, 1971 American tour of which many of the shows are considered amongst the best performances of the guys careers. The show I saw was right there with 'em.

It was a fairly typical setlist of the time, starting with Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog (Out on the Tiles intro), Since I've been Loving You, Dazed and Confused, Stairway, then after that it gets a little cloudy in my memory. I know they did That's the Way, Going to California, Whole Lotta Love, Moby Dick, and probably Celebration Day, What is and What should never be, and communication Breakdown, possibly others.

My friend, Mike Barnard and I got tickets a few days after they went on sale at Records Hawaii. In that day you could only get tickets at 2 locations, the venue box office or the 1 record store. Mike just recently sent me a photo copy of the concert stub, as I'd misplaced mine, and the ticket number is 2504 out of 4000.

We arrived at the Civic Auditorium a hour before the show and got on the floor right in front near the stage and waited with intense anticipation. I snuck in a small handheld Panasonic cassette recorder and 3 hours of tape by just holding it on my side, away from the ticket taker. I kept it low while waiting, knowing it wasn't OK to have it there, but not knowing the wrath of Peter Grant. Fortunately neither he nor Richard Cole saw it as they walked around. I do remember the massive Grant and his wooly beard.

As it got within a few minutes of showtime the crowd really surged toward the front (all gen. admission so the floor was packed like a cattle yard). I was a wee bit small and about to get crushed so Mike and I slid around and sat on the edge of the first balcony mezzanine, directly behind and above John Bonham's drumset. We were only 12 -15 feet from him. It was a small old style wrestling arena, not the big type of auditoriums nowadays. We could see the band backstage as they prepared to make their entrance. It was so cool.

I held my microphone as the crowd screamed on the Zepsters entrance. They immediately went into Immigrant Song. Plant's voice was a bit ragged at first. His high notes were cracking just a tad but smoothed out quickly and the show was ON.

Robert Plant made a few welcoming comments saying something about being glad to be back in Honolulu and the fine weather and women. As Black Dog was announced, this black dude near us started waving his shirt like a battle cry wave and shouting, so Plant turned around and acknowledged the guy and practically looked straight at us too.

At one point a flash of light shone in my eyes from below and I sorta freaked out when I saw a policeman motioning at me. I thought he was doing this because I was recording but no, he just wanted Mike and I off the edge of the Mezzanine. So we just stood there, right where we were with no more problems.

Even though we were behind the band, it still sounded great cause reallly we were on top of them more than behind. The recording came out decent (6.5-7.0/10) and I enjoyed it for a few years before losing it somewhere.

I don't remember if it just disappeared or got mangled in a player or what...I could just DIE. My loss and all Zep traders loss is unfathomable. It was priceless. I had the whole show on tape, only turning over the tapes mostly between songs so I missed only a little of a couple of sections of songs from tape changes.

That was a special day in my life, and that concert was the BEST show I've ever seen.

Edited by SteveAJones
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Hey Steve, I've got one for you:

WHEN, EXACTLY, DID JIMMY PAGE ATTEND ART SCHOOL?

The "common" story was that Jimmy enrolled at Sutton Art College (does this place exist anymore?) shortly after leaving Neil Christian & The Crusaders in 1962. However, there is handwritten evidence from Jimmy himself (link) that he did not enroll in school until September 1963:

"In September I am going to Art School which will probably come as a surprise to you. But the truth of the matter is that lately all I want to do is paint and make sculptures so I want to further my education in Art."

Now, I suppose that Jimmy could have meant that he was returning to art school.....but then why not write "In September I am going back to Art School"?

And while I'm at it, here's another question for the Zepophiles:

WHEN, EXACTLY, DID JIMMY PAGE PLAY WITH NEIL CHRISTIAN?

Again, the traditional lore tells us that Jimmy played with Neil Christian for about 18 months from 1960 to early 1962. However, fellow bandmember Jumbo Spicer is on the record as stating that Jimmy joined much earlier than that -- as early as March 1959. Add 18 months to that and you end up with September 1961. And that begs the question: what was Jimmy doing from September 1961 to September 1963?

Well?

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Hey Steve, I've got one for you:

WHEN, EXACTLY, DID JIMMY PAGE ATTEND ART SCHOOL?

The "common" story was that Jimmy enrolled at Sutton Art College (does this place exist anymore?) shortly after leaving Neil Christian & The Crusaders in 1962. However, there is handwritten evidence from Jimmy himself (link) that he did not enroll in school until September 1963:

"In September I am going to Art School which will probably come as a surprise to you. But the truth of the matter is that lately all I want to do is paint and make sculptures so I want to further my education in Art."

Now, I suppose that Jimmy could have meant that he was returning to art school.....but then why not write "In September I am going back to Art School"?

And while I'm at it, here's another question for the Zepophiles:

WHEN, EXACTLY, DID JIMMY PAGE PLAY WITH NEIL CHRISTIAN?

Again, the traditional lore tells us that Jimmy played with Neil Christian for about 18 months from 1960 to early 1962. However, fellow bandmember Jumbo Spicer is on the record as stating that Jimmy joined much earlier than that -- as early as March 1959. Add 18 months to that and you end up with September 1961. And that begs the question: what was Jimmy doing from September 1961 to September 1963?

Well?

I'm familiar with his connection to Kellerman, but have not seen that document until now. It's going to take me some time to figure it out. The quick answer to your main

question is that I believe Spicer's recollections to be accurate. I believe Jimmy went

to Art School from 1960 onward, for about 18 months COLLECTIVELY, during and

after which he started doing studio work. Here's a data dump (it won't go into this forum properly formatted) for Page 1944-1964. It's not complete, just a rough outline:

January 9 1944 Sun Heston, Middlesex, England Grove Nursery Grove Road

James Patrick Page is born

??? ?? 19?? Northamptonshire, England

The Page family moves to 400-acre farm property owned by Jimmy's Great-Uncle

??? ?? 1952 Feltham, London, England

The Page family returns to Feltham for a short time

??? ?? 1953 Feltham, London, England Hanworth Road School

Page is a student at this school

??? ?? 1953 Epsom, London, England 34 Miles Road

The Page family moves again to escape the noise of Heathrow Airport

October 12 1953 Epsom, London, England Pound Lane School Pound Lane

Page is admitted on this date as a transfer from Hanworth Road School in Feltham

??? ?? 195?-195? Epsom, London, England Dane Tree School

Page attends this school until the age of 15 or 16

??? ?? 1958 Page and a band of boys including one David Hampson perform two songs on the BBC television program 'All Your Own' with host Huw Wheldon

??? ?? 19?? ???, England

Page attends a Ravi Shankar concert with a girl who was a friend of Shankar…they meet afterward and Shankar writes down sitar chords for Page

??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England St. Barnabus Church

Page sings in the church choir

??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England Foresters Hall Waterloo Road

Page attends dances held here on occasion

??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England Toby Jug

Page also attends dances held here on occasion

??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England Ebbisham Hall

Page attends a Joe Brown concert and records some of the gig

??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England Granada Cinema

Page brings an ice cream to a girl of similarage and asks her out on a date but she refuses

??? ?? 1959 Epsom, London, England Ebisham Hall

Page attended a few Red E. Lewis and The Redcats gigs, chatting to the band afterward and using the guitarist guitar to play licks, riffs and Chuck Berry solos

April (?) ?? 1959 Epsom, London, England Chris Tidmarsh (Red E. Lewis and The Redcats manager) contacts Page after lead guitarist Bobby Oats announced he'd leave the band to go to drama school

April (?) ?? 1959 Shoreditch, England Unknown pub

Chris Tidmarsh invites Page to where the band rehearsed in a room above a pub…he arrives with a solid body guitar and they jammed…he was invited to join band

??? ?? 1959-60 The band gig around for a year until vocalist Lewis is replaced by Tidmarsh, who changed his name to Neil Christian…Page's stage name was Nelson Storm

??? ?? 59 London, England City of London Recording Studios Brick Lane

Shortly after the lineup change, Christian took the band into the studio for a two-hour session and recorded four demos towards securing a recording contract

??? ?? 1959/60 Sheffield, England Live performance as guitarist with Neil Christian & The Crusaders

??? ?? 1960 Surrey, England Sutton Art School

Having left Neil Christian and The Crusaders, Page enrolls in art college and studies there for about 18 months

??? ?? 1961 London, England Albert Lee and Jimmy Page meet for the first time; they go on to often play records at each other's houses

??? ?? 1961 Page develops an affinity for Albert Lee's sound (Gibson Les Paul Custom with Supro Amp) and buys a Supro of his own

??? ?? 196? Mermaid Theatre Puddle Dock Blackfriars EC4V 3DB

??? ?? 196? Cyril Davies invites Page to join his band…Page rehearses with Davies and Nicky Hopkins but declines

?? ??? 1962 or 1963 Studio session for Brian Howard and The Silhouettes (from nearby Mitcham) first EMI single 'Somebody Help Me'

?? ??? 1963 Studio session for Brian Howard and The Silhouettes (from nearby Mitcham) second EMI single 'The Worryin' Kind'

?? ??? 1962 Page decides to drop out of art college to become a studio musician

February 25 1963 Mon London, England Pye Studios

Studio session for London All Stars album 'British Percussion' (Barclay BB 86) released in France in 1965

??? (mid) ?? 1963 London, England Studio session for Jet Harris & Tony Meehan single 'Diamonds'

??? ?? 196? London, England Decca Studios

Studio session for Dave Berry single 'My Baby Left Me'; meets Big Jim Sullivan for the first time

May 31 1964 Sun Kingston, London, England The Cellar Club 22-A High Street

Live performance as guitarist with Mickey Finn

June 29-July 7 1964 Mon/Tue London, England Decca Studios

Andrew Oldham Orchestra session…guitar and/or bassist on 'Try A Little Harder' (2:28) with various artists

June 29-July 7 1964 Mon/Tue London, England Decca Studios

Andrew Oldham Orchestra session…guitar and/or bassist on 'Somethings Just Stick In Your Mind' (2:30) with various artists

July 21-23 1964 Tue-Thu London, England Regent Sound Studios

Andrew Oldham Orchestra session…bassist on 'Heart of Stone' (3:49) with Jagger/McLaughlin/Cattini

September 17 1964 London, England

Guitarist on 'Is It True?' with Brenda Lee…written by Carter Lewis, produced by Mickie Most and released on Decca (#31690)

September ?? 1964 London, England

Guitarist on 'Just Behind the Rainbow' with Brenda Lee…b side of the 'Is It True?' single released on Decca (#31690)

September ?? 1964 London, England

Guitarist on ''What'd I Say?' with Brenda Lee from the same session as 'Is It True?" and 'What'd I Say?'

October ?? 1964 London, England

Studio session with Them for their single 'Baby Please Don't Go'; rhythm guitarist

??? ?? 1964 Croydon, England Fairfield Halls Park Lane CR9 1DG

Attends John Lee Hooker's performance

Edited by SteveAJones
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RE: JIMMY PAGE'S INSPIRATION FOR HOUSES OF THE HOLY ALBUM COVER?

I seem to recall he said this to Dave Schulps in his hotel room during the

'77 tour and was referring to the film, but I could be mistaken about that. I've

reviewed about 20 interviews recently transferred from audio to cdr over the past

few weeks so I can't speak with any degree of precision at the moment --they all

start to run together in my mind after a while!

Steve,

On disc 3 of the Dave Shulps interview starting at 19:00 ish Jimmy speaks briefly about the HOTH album cover.

He does not mention the specific inspiration for it but does say that Hipgnosis was involved and of course mentions the known troubles with color and all.

However in another interview in 1977 Titled 'Jimmy Hotel 1977' for which I do not have specific details as far as date & interviewer he does indeed mention the Midwich Cuckoos....not everyone kept details and notes like you.

Have a listen here:

http://nechtytla.tripod.com/midwichkuku.MP3

tripod's funny, you may need to save it to your hd first to listen.

So not necessarily mentioned as an inspiration, but more so that the children remind them of the movie. So does this still remain a mystery ? Also, any trainspotters out there that can indentify that interview, done on the 11th floor of a hotel whislts waiting for burgers to quell that mystery ?

I remain,

Nech

Edited by Nech
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Steve,

However in another interview in 1977 Titled 'Jimmy Hotel 1977' for which I do not have specific details as far as date & interviewer he does indeed mention the Midwich Cuckoos....not everyone kept details and notes like you.

Have a listen here:

http://nechtytla.tripod.com/midwichkuku.MP3

So not necessarily mentioned as an inspiration, but more so that the children remind them of the movie. So does this still remain a mystery ? Also, any trainspotters out there that can indentify that interview, done on the 11th floor of a hotel whislts waiting for burgers to quell that mystery ?

I remain,

Nech

Nech,

I think that clears up HOTH cover art.

I can solve your tape mystery: The interview to which you refer was conducted by David White of Radio 2SM Australia. It began in Jimmy's limo at Newark International Airport following the Landover, MD gig and continued in his suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The burgers were being sent up by room service, if I remember correctly. This was conducted May 31st 1977 and probably went past midnight.

Radio 2SM had hoped to present a series of on-the-road interviews with the biggest

names in rock, which explains what David White, an Australian, was doing in NYC.

(Edit: Name of the interviewer corrected).

Edited by SteveAJones
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Nech,

I think that clears up HOTH cover art.

I can solve your tape mystery: The interview to which you refer was conducted by David White of Radio 2SM Australia. It began in Jimmy's limo at Newark International Airport following the Landover, MD gig and continued in his suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The burgers were being sent up by room service, if I remember correctly. This was conducted May 31st 1977 and probably went past midnight.

Radio 2SM had hoped to present a series of on-the-road interviews with the biggest

names in rock, which explains what David White, an Australian, was doing in NYC.

(Edit: Name of the interviewer corrected).

Thanks, now I know how to label that tape!

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I'm familiar with his connection to Kellerman, but have not seen that document until now. It's going to take me some time to figure it out. The quick answer to your main

question is that I believe Spicer's recollections to be accurate. I believe Jimmy went

to Art School from 1960 onward, for about 18 months COLLECTIVELY, during and

after which he started doing studio work. Here's a data dump (it won't go into this forum properly formatted) for Page 1944-1964. It's not complete, just a rough outline:

Steve,

Lots of interesting info here. I've got a few things to add...

the 1950s Huw Wheldon appearance - my semi-educated guess is that this was recorded between late-1957 and mid-1958 (based on Jimmy's apparent age and the timeframe for skiffle becoming popular in the U.K.).

joining Red Lewis' band - I know that Jumbo Spicer says Jimmy joined sometime around April 1959, but other sources have indicated that he didn't join until much later in 1959. Also, I've read conflicting reports about the stage name that Jimmy used (Nelson Storm, Elmer Twitch, Jimmy Price).

Neil Christian demo - I'm pretty sure that this took place sometime after October 1960, as one of the songs that they recorded (Johnny Kidd's "Restless") had been released in September.

recording with Brian Howard - I don't think Jimmy played on Howard's 1962 single "Somebody Help Me", because the timeline doesn't quite work (Page met Howard at the "Diamonds" session, which was c. October 1962 -- by which time "Somebody Help Me" had already been recorded).

the 1965 "British Percussion" album - this was recorded 2/23/65, in between sessions for French singer Eddy Mitchell (hence the reason why the album was credited to the "London All Stars" -- a moniker that Mitchell gave to his backing band).

I'd love to see copies of Jimmy's school transcripts........

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As I understand it, he actually does have subtantial documentation of his session years.

It makes sense; he needed to have it to ensure he was being paid and credited properly?

I think that Jimmy remembers a lot more than he has ever let on -- and I believe (hope?) that someday Jimmy will reveal it all.

But I tend to doubt that his own documentation is very thorough. There were no official records kept -- everyone involved wanted to perpetuate the myth that the artists played on their own records. The only person who would have documented the personnel would have been the "fixer" who hired them -- and he really had no incentive to keep track.

Plus, the session musicians were always paid in cash (again, to protect the artists).

As for Jimmy, I would imagine that he kept track of every single session within the first year or so (1963-64), especially the songs that became hits. But by 1965 it was becoming more and more of a "job" to him....and the guitar solo was going "out of vogue"....and the songs were less interesting....and the sessions were becoming more of a blur. I bet he stopped caring by then.

But I would pay a LOT of money to see whatever documentation that Jimmy as. :)

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I think that Jimmy remembers a lot more than he has ever let on -- and I believe (hope?) that someday Jimmy will reveal it all.

Asking about some of those sessions is going to be akin to asking him to recount his first trip to the States. In all likelihood, just won't own up, for one reason or another. You made some great points

about being paid in cash for session work and other matters pertaining to the era. If your not my

all-time favorite Page collaborator, you're a very close second. :)

Edited by SteveAJones
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  • 2 weeks later...
Hey Steve, I got another one for you:

Is it true that Jimmy Page once jammed with Harry Connick Jr.? And if so, did Jimmy actually play the piano that night??

Yes he jammed, but almost certainly only on guitar.

Jimmy attended Harry Connick Jr's gig at the James L. Knight Center in Miami on Feb 13th 1992. (Jimmy at that time was a resident of nearby Jupiter Island). He was introduced to Harry prior to the show and it was suggested he join Harry for a jam during the show, which he readily agreed to do. They jammed on a set of blues

improvisations during the encore.

The next day, the Miami Herald published a favorable review. It makes no mention of

Page playing piano. A photo of the jam also surfaced in various media forums.

I have since spoken to a local resident who attended and bumped into Page after

the show. A stretch limo had just pulled up to the venue and the fan exclaimed

"Nice car", to which Jimmy, standing just behind him, exclaimed "Thanks!" as he

got into it and was driven away into the night.

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Tell me about what actually happened to the stolen cash that was never recovered during the Drake hotel robbery in New York City 1973. There was more than copy of the key for the safe deposit box, one held by band management and the other by the hotel. Who is responsible for the theft hotel management, hotel employees, Richard Cole or anyone else?

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Tell me about what actually happened to the stolen cash that was never recovered during the Drake hotel robbery in New York City 1973. There was more than copy of the key for the safe deposit box, one held by band management and the other by the hotel. Who is responsible for the theft hotel management, hotel employees, Richard Cole or anyone else?

Anyone remotely familar with organized crime in NYC knows this has all the characteristics of an inside job. You can almost imagine a hotel porter or desk clerk calling Joe Pesci with a tip-off in exchange for a cut of the action. Richard Cole was investigated but cleared of any involvement

See the Safety Deposit Box Ripoff thread for more responses.

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