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indigomoonbeam

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  1. I was blessed to be in close proximity to Jimmy on four occasions. Here's how those went: 1. December 2002, on On Brompton Road, between Harvey Nichols and Harrods (London), before the Led Zeppelin DVD came out. I became aware of someone looking at me. I'm pretty tuned-in, as I have done a lot of meditation over the years and my eyes connected to a middle-aged man walking towards me, who looked rather familiar. It took several seconds to register why..... it was none other than Jimmy Page. I could never have lived with myself if I had not said something to him, so, I hesitantly blurted out, "Excuse me, are you, Jimmy Page?" To my astonishment, he said: "yes," smiled widely and extended his hand to shake mine. I was truly taken aback but such a gesture and promptly extended mine too. There was a decided energy transfer in the handshake (I know this sounds nuts, but that is what I felt), which was quite something and altogether different from what I have felt shaking anyone else's hand, ever. I asked him how the DVD was coming along (as he was editing it at that time), and he mumbled a few positive words. I asked (rather hopefully) if he was planning on playing any little gigs soon said no and smiled. I sensed he didn't want to take the conversation anywhere else and started to move away; he probably was frightened I'd ask him about his Crowley regalia or something (JOKE), and he was 2. 23 August 2004, at the opening of the new Virgin Megastore, Piccadilly Circus, London. Jimmy was there to lay his hands in cement as the inaugural benefactor of the "British Walk of Fame," the equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Afterwards Jimmy did a signing session inside the Virgin Megastore. Each person could have one item signed and I opted for the Led Zeppelin DVD. There was a big crowd of people waiting, so no time for chit chat, just a hand shake, quick hello and the signing. Link to official photos here - https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/jimmy-page-at-virgin-megastore Link to press article here -https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/page-opens-british-walk-of-fame-6965325.html I regularly checked to see if jimmy's cement paving stone appeared outside the store; it never did. I guess that it was taken away after the launch event for safekeeping. 3. 14 September 2016, at the Complete BBC Sessions Listening event at Olympic Studios (yes, that one, although it was a cinema by that stage, London. Unbelievably, I was able to sit in the front row, and Jimmy was interviewed after the playback. If that was not enough, a fellow (nameless) board member and I decided to go up a narrow set of stairs adjacent to the cinema room after the listening event to find somewhere quieter than the main bar to chill out. We found ourselves in a private room with about twenty to thirty people inside, including one Jimmy Page holding court. Most of the people in the room were from Warner Music going on the conversations, and we were the only two fans. There was no security, and nobody asked who we were. I decided to go off to the toilet, and on my return, I discovered my mate had spoken to jimmy (knowing him from a long time back), and had a photo taken with him. By the point I had returned, Jimmy was busy chatting to record company people. My friend and I ended up spending the rest of the evening chatting to Jimmy's girlfriend, poet Scarlett Sabet, who was really cool and friendly (check out her works, they are amazing). I could have gone up to Jimmy at any time to chat with him and asked for a photo . I decided it was a much better idea to savour the intimate atmosphere and be grateful for my incredibly good fortune. As I write this, kinda of kicking myself for not asking for a photo now though! 4. 01 May 2018, at the launch of Scarlett Sabet's new (then) poetry collection, Zoreh, at the famous Troubadour venue in London. Jimmy was in attendance, and I was outside the venue when he arrived; he spoke to a few people and refused to sign anything (he no longer does that in public, so be aware). The event room was packed, and I ended up sitting new to Scarlet Page but did not speak to her. Jimmy stayed to accompany his girlfriend after the poetry reading in a small group of people. If I had been brazen, I guess I could have spoken to him after the but decided not to force it. --------------------------- I shared those encounters to try and convey the idea that if you meet Jimmy Page, there are different ways to approach the experience and not immediately go into superfan mode. To answer the question in this threat now, I think i would ask Jimmy if it would be possible to have a tour of the Tower House? Cheers, Indi
  2. Jimmy has been teetotal for many years, I would think in excess of twenty. Cheers, Indi
  3. And not the only one in the band either, but different people manage that condition differently. Cheers, Indi
  4. I had this inspirational thought and posted it on a FB Zep forum, but thought it worthy to post here too. How about a 50th Anniversary firework display at Alexandra Palace (for example) to Led Zeppelin music, accompanied by a live orchestra scored by John Paul Jones?. Cheers, Indi.
  5. This thread has turned into a proper lovefest! Ha ha ha ha. Michael Winner must have included a clause in his Will that any future owner of his erstwhile pile next to the Tower House, had to be of at least equal standing in the smug stakes as him. Needless to say, Robbie Williams veritably trounced all bidding competition with some aplomb. Cheers, Indi
  6. Apologies if some of my comments duplicate those earlier in the thread; I didn't read it all before posting. Given the greedy, back catalogue recycling (re-packaging) tendency of the few record companies that remain operational, it is inconceivable that they will not release new material or re-packaged Led Zeppelin material in 2018/19. Jimmy Page, in his guise as curator and "Keeper of the Flame" for the band from a product release perspective, will, without doubt, insist on something special being released by Atlantic to mark the band's 50th Anniversary. Following on from the gargantuan studio remaster series, the only unreleased material of note in the archives will be live recordings. The most logical live releases seem to be an Earls Court live anthology covering all five dates or a Badge Holders Only official extravaganza. The likely mammoth, deep dive hunt for tape treasure in the Atlantic vaults, for the studio remasters, will definitely have unearthed live tape material that was previously thought lost or was merely misplaced. Reviewing all the extant tapes may have resulted in Jimmy looking at the multi-track live tapes that do exist with a fresh light and perhaps deemed them worthy of his rigorous fairy dust treatment (being polite about it!). I'd kinda also expect the Led Zeppelin DVD to have a Blu-ray and 4K release. The only downside to a Zep 50th Anniversary release salvo is that it will afford Jimmy an altogether too easy excuse to postpone his long-mooted new solo record and tour for the umpteenth time. Not that I held any great hope for either for several years now. Without being unduly cynical, I can't help thinking Robert timed his new solo album release and the supporting world tour to properly kick any prospect of him participating in any Zep 50th activity not only into the long grass but into the farthest corners of the globe. Despite all the protestations to the contrary, while a full concert with the remaining members and Jason is inconceivable. Notwithstanding my previous RP remark, I think a televised four-song June performance in Central Park is viable. The amount of rehearsal required to float that would be moderate and sustainable and not disrupt RP's touring schedule that much. As someone astute proposed earlier on this thread, an acoustic set is a good call to get around Robert's current singing style and Jimmy's likely physical endurance constraints. Another idea that came to mind, which would be fitting and I think popular is a David Bowie IS or Pink Floyd: their Mortal Remains style touring exhibition portraying the Zeppelin legacy with a panoply of unseen and rare artefacts. Cheers, Indi
  7. Royal Orleans can't be Robert, unless Jimmy threw some extreme effects on his vocal. The nasal twang sounds like Jimmy when he was introducing Black Dog on the Over Europe 80 dates, but think his voice is higher in register than the person's vocals used in this Reference Mix. I don't know what Bonzo's "singing" voice is like, but listening to the timbre of Bonzoisms on bootlegs, I think it's Bonzo on this track. Cheers, Indi
  8. I so love HOFN; the call and response dynamic between Grandmeister Jimmy and Uncle Bob is so much fun and that thundering avalanche by Bonzo and Jimmy starting at 4.01 on the original studio version is empirical. Cheers, Indi
  9. Well, that was a marathon trawl through this thread. Slightly surprised not to see one pic in this vast treasure trove of obscure or little known images, which is of Jimmy supporting a local protest gathering to do with (from memory) Loch Ness. He is standing with a small crowd of people with a megaphone held to his mouth and is wearing what looks to be one of those Schott leather flight jackets. Maybe it is a known pic so not worthy of inclusion in this particular thread? Cheers, Indi
  10. Gosh, this has to be one of the worst pics I have ever seen of Jimmy...
  11. Those of you who are architecturally-minded may find this link of interest: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol37/pp126-150#h3-0010 Scroll about 70% down the page and you will find an entry for Tower House: No. 29 Melbury Road; the text is as follows and I have pasted the illustrations at the foot of the article: ---------------------------------- Tower House: No. 29 Melbury Road Plates 81b, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89; figs. 29–30 This house, numbered 9 until 1967, was designed by the architect William Burges for his own occupation. Burges began to make drawings for the house in July 1875, but his initial designs differed in some ways from those executed. In particular, the staircase turret, which is the dominant feature of the street front and gives the house its name, did not appear on the first plan. By the end of the year, however, Burges had decided on the present form of the house. No doubt with his designs for Castell Coch still fresh in mind, he placed the stairs in a circular tower crowned by a conical cap of slate. A building agreement was concluded with the Earl of Ilchester in December 1875 and building began in 1876. The contractors were Ashby Brothers of Kingsland Road and the basic cost was estimated to be £6,000. Burges was granted a lease in February 1877 for ninety years from 1875 at an annual ground rent of £50 for the first two years and £100 thereafter. (fn. 105) The design stems from French domestic Gothic of the thirteenth century derived through the influence of Viollet-le-Duc. It makes use of themes explored and developed in Burges's work at Cardiff for the Marquess of Bute. The materials used are a hard red brick with stone dressings and grey slates in diminishing courses for the roof. There are two principal storeys over a basement and a commodious garret in the roof. The three main living-rooms on the ground floor form an L-shaped block with a square entrance hall in the angle, facing south and east. The circular staircase tower, flanked by a small gabled wing, is placed in front of the hall and approached from it through a pair of pointed arches. A double porch serves both the main entrance and the garden door behind it. The street front (Plate 85a) is characterized by a striking association of the steep principal gable and the stair turret. The ground and first floors of the house are marked by storey-and sill-bands and in general there are moulded stone dressings to the eaves and gables of the roof, the chimney stacks being finished in moulded brick. The larger windows have stone mullions and transoms with square or cusped heads to the lights but some of the smaller openings are arched in brick or have plain stone lintels. The stone porch has square piers with carved capitals (the first pier was intended to be embellished with further carving) and a deep entablature with an arcaded cornice. On the garden front (Plate 85b) the western part is again gabled, matching the gable to the street, the centre line of this element being emphasized by a stepped buttress which divides the pair of windows lighting the library. These have finely carved lintels and, like the dining-room windows on the front, emphatically modelled mullions to the side of the library is a larger enclosed by glazed screens, is incomplete in its decoration but has a mosaic floor depicting Pinkie, Burges's favourite dog. The entrance hall, to which access is gained through a heavy bronze-covered door with figure-subjects in relief panels, rises through two storeys to terminate in a painted ceiling based on the emblems of the constellations arranged according to their positions at the time of the first occupation of the house. The hall has a fine mosaic floor representing a labyrinth in the centre of which Theseus slays the Minotaur. Above plain dados the walls are painted as stone, with scarlet joints in simulation of ashlaring, and over the doorways to each of the major rooms are painted emblems appropriate to their use. Figures representing day and night appear in painted aedicules at gallery level on either side of the hall. The fire-hood opposite to the entrance door is more severely treated than those in other rooms, being simply lined out with scarlet jointing. The garden door into the porch is, like the front door, bronze covered, this time with a relief of the Madonna and Child. According to Burges's brother-in-law, R. P. Pullan, the decorative scheme in the dining-room letters of the alphabet are incorporated—with the exception of H, which has been 'dropped' on to the onyx below the frieze. In the ceiling the founders of systems of theology and law are seen, and on the doors of the bookcases which surround the room is an illustrated alphabet of architecture and the visual arts with a scene of artists and craftsmen at their work on each lettered door. Pictures of birds by H. Stacy Marks are incorporated into the backs of the bookcase doors. Where visible the walls of the room are painted with a diaper pattern and above the bookcase runs a continuous deep modelled and gilded frieze of formalized foliage. Figure 29: Tower House, Melbury Road, plans A wide opening opposite the library fireplace, furnished with sliding doors and a central pair of marble columns, leads into one end of the drawing-room. The execution of the decorative scheme here seems to have been incomplete at the time of Burges's death although drawings had been prepared, and cartoons appear pinned to the walls and ceiling in the photographs taken to illustrate the description of the house by R. P. Pullan in 1885 (Plate 86a). The theme in the drawing-room is 'the tender passion of Love' and the chimney-piece, a fine counterpart to the one in the library, is carved with figures from Chaucer's Roman de la Rose. Recently the scheme originally designed for the walls and ceiling has been executed from Burges's drawings. The three windows with their original stained glass are set in deep reveals with marble linings and ornamented with ball-flower enrichments. Back in the hall the stair is approached through the two pointed arches divided by a marble column with a carved capital and base. The stained glass in the windows of the stair turret represents 'the Storming of the Castle of Love' and the wall treatment of the entrance hall continues for the whole height of the stair. Off the first-floor gallery with its turned wood balustrade the two main bedrooms and the armoury are approached. In the guest room on the street front the theme is 'the Earth and its productions' (Plate 87a). The ceiling here is painted with fleur-de-lis and butterfly designs and a convex mirror in a gilded surround is placed at the crossing of the main beams along which are painted frogs and mice. The frieze of flowers growing au natural within a Gothic arcade, once obliterated, has been repainted in the recent renovations. Burges's own bedroom overlooking the garden is decorated with 'the Sea and its inhabitants' (Plate 87b). The elaborate ceiling (Plate 88b), divided into panels by painted and gilded beams and semi-shafts, is set with tiny convex mirrors within gilt stars. Below the level of the corbels is a deep frieze with fish and eels swimming amongst formalized waves. The frieze to the chimney-piece also depicts fish amongst waves, this time carved in relief, whilst above, on the fire-hood, a vigorously modelled mermaid gazes into a looking-glass (Plate 89b). Sea-shells, coral, seaweed and a mer-baby are also represented. Figure 30: Tower House, Melbury Road, elevations and sections The large room over the drawing-room originally housed Burges's collection of armour and was known in his time as the armoury. It now contains little of interest beyond the carved chimneypiece with a crocketed gable rising in front of the hood and three roundels carved with medieval versions of Venus, Juno and Minerva. The storey in the roof, now somewhat altered, contained rooms known as the day and night nurseries although Burges had no family and remained a bachelor to the end of his life). Two interesting chimneypieces still survive, however. One represents 'Jack and the Beanstalk', with Jack supporting the mantelshelf whilst the giant's head and hands appear to tear through the stonework above. On the other are three monkeys at play. The interior decorations were carried out by a small army of artists and craftsmen over several years and were still unfinished at Burges's death in 1881. The names of the specialist firms and individuals who executed the work can be found in the architect's own estimate book for the years 1875 to 1881, which contains over one hundred items relating to Tower House. (fn. 106) Burges appears only occasionally to have recorded alternative estimates for the same piece of work, and the craftsmen who worked at Tower House are in the main those who had worked, or were still working, for him on other projects, particularly Cardiff Castle. All of the stone carving, from the elaborate chimneypieces to capitals and corbels, was done by the sculptor Thomas Nicholls. Burke and Company of Regent Street were the principal contractors for the marble and mosaic work, and Simpson and Sons of the Strand supplied and fixed many of the decorative tiles. The bronze work for the great doors was undertaken by John Ayres Hatfield. The carpenter who was apparently responsible for all the woodwork in the house, from the joinery to the new items of furniture made to Burges's specifications, was John Walden of Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. The figure painting on the library bookcases and elsewhere was by Fred Weekes and Henry Stacy Marks, from whom Burges ordered seventy birds' heads at £1 apiece. Saunders and Company of Endell Street, Long Acre, made the stained glass, several of the cartoons for which were provided by H. W. Lonsdale. Most of the painted decorations were executed by Campbell and Smith of Southampton Row. By 1879, however, other estimates were being taken for decorative work, particularly in the guest room, including from 'Fisher', perhaps of the firm of Harland and Fisher, decorative specialists used by Burges in the past. (fn. 9) Some of Burges's decorations were painted over in the years following his death, and from 1962 until 1966 the house remained unoccupied and was damaged by vandals. Restoration began in 1966 with the aid of grants from the Greater London Council and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. In 1969 Mr. Richard Harris acquired the house and further extensively restored the internal decoration. The firm which had largely carried out the original painted decorations, now Campbell, Smith and Company Limited, was the principal specialist contractor employed. It proved possible to restore damaged and obliterated decorations and to finish parts of the scheme which had not been completed at the time of Burges's death from his own drawings. Figure 29: Tower House, Melbury Road, plans Figure 30: Tower House, Melbury Road, elevations and sections ---------------------------------- Cheers, Indi
  12. Something I noted when recently sauntering down Melbury Road, a distinctly aesthetically unedifying vehicular carbuncle in the guise of a Smart car was ensconced in front of The Tower House's garage door. Now come on Jimmy, let's have a level playing field, if I was Robbie Williams I'd file a formal complaint with the London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea that a car of a lesser calibre than an Aston Martin was parked in full public view in The Tower House's garage forecourt. And while we are on the subject, i can't imagine that garage was an original feature.... Cheers, Indi
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