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Chicago

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  1. Carlos Santana from Guitar magazine 10/85 " Of all the musicians I've heard after Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page is still the greatest to me. I'm finding out that vision is the most important thing. I think Jimmy Page has got the best vision for rock the way I like to play it. That's saying a lot because there are great guys out there, like Van Halen. But none of them have those mansions, those huge things that Jimmy Page makes. His vision of composition knocks me out. The way he puts chords together on Led Zeppelin right through In Through The Out Door is classic stuff. It's symphonic."
  2. The first time I saw The Firm was on March 7,1985 in Milwaukee. My friend and I were able to get in the arena early and got to see and hear Page doing his own guitar soundcheck with the violin bow and wah-wah. That never would have happened in the Zeppelin era. It was the 3rd show on that first tour and Jimmy came out storming. The City Sirens solo was incredible. The Firm were really swimming upstream in contrast to whatever else was happening on the music scene at that time. Kajagoogoo anyone?
  3. It was spine-straightening when Jimmy appeared in the Stormtrooper outfit on that Sunday night. It would be interesting to know what the other band members thought before they went onstage that night. Maybe a future question for Richard Cole. The white poppy outfit really shimmered with all the lighting they had back then. So the visuals probably had something to do with it and Jimmy being so scrawny it hid that fact . White supposedly makes you look fuller than anything black.
  4. If anyone has a chance to listen to the alternate mixes of Mean Business they're far superior to the officially released album. Jimmy's guitar is way more upfront in the overall sound and his playing on Spirit of Love is brilliant. The way he stacked his parts on that song is classic Page.
  5. My wife and I visited our daughter at Indiana University three weeks ago. One of our daughter's college courses is exclusively about The Beatles. Todd Rundgren was brought in to give a lecture about the Beatles influence on his music and societal shifts. He was great, very funny and entertaining. I had forewarned my family that if Zeppelin or Page were mentioned he was going to rip them. I had informed them about the Bebe Buell affair and Todd's dislike of Jimmy. Even though he gladly warmed them up at the 1979 Knebworth shows. As the Q+A session progressed an audience member commented about what a rip off band Led Zeppelin were, at that moment Todd began to call Jimmy " the most over-rated and shoddiest guitarists he's ever heard!" He later contradicted himself when he exclaimed what a great guitarist John Lnnon was because he was so crude and raw as a player. Steal a guy's main squeeze and he'll never forget it.
  6. The picture posted above with Jimmy wearing the crushed velvet jacket is from the U.S. leg of the ARMS shows in 1983. I have a photo of him at that time with the exact same look and outfit.
  7. That's definitely a post-Zeppelin photo. It must have been around the 1983 ARMS tour. Page's appearance, wardrobe and dental situation indicate that era.
  8. My first concert ever: The Firm, April? 1985 Rosemont Horizon, Chicago Illinois. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a great show indeed.Page was having a blast that night and having front row seats enhanced everything about it. Plenty of hot licks,sweat and drool that night.
  9. He wasn't eating solid foods on first leg (April 1977) for as he explained he was attempting to "photosynthesize like a plant". Their April 9th Chicago gig was halted and called off after about 45 minutes when Jimmy fainted onstage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I was actually at this show I can attest that Jimmy Page din not faint at this performance. It sounds more dramatic , but it didn't happen that way. Jimmy signaled something to his roadie during 10 Years Gone and a chair was placed in front of the drum riser. Page took a seat slouched in a 45-degree angle and remained in that position until the song's conclusion. All of the band then surrounded Jimmy and then escorted him off the stage.
  10. I've yet to see a photo of Jimmy Page smoking a cigarette onstage prior to the 1977 U.S. tour. I do recall from a short interview around that time Page saying he had recently started smoking to piss off some flight attendant while traveling. Sounds convenient.
  11. QUOTE (Chicago @ Jul 22 2009, 09:36 AM) Jimmy Page put on a fantastic show on Easter Sunday 1977 and I 'm really happy to have been there. Page and Zeppelin played their asses off. No one got up and left the show because of what Page was wearing and I'm sure many here would have very different opinions about this show if they were actually in attendance. I know a lot of musicians who started playing guitar after seeing Jimmy Page perform on this tour and it's a positive thing to inspire musicians. Nice to see you, Chicago! Make no mistake, I envy you a LOT! It's been so long since they quit, and even many of us who have been fans since the 1970's have never had the opportunity to see them live, and I'm one of these people. I wouldn't really dispute what you are saying, and in a way it's impossible to dispute. It's just that I think there is more to this than what you have stated here. They were reaching huge audiences on that tour, and it must have been inspiring to a lot of people, not only because it was great shows (magnificent lights and all that), but also because they still sounded unlike anybody else. I mean, to me, listening to these bootlegs and official live releases, LZ, even on a bad night, sound like an almost impossibly great band having an off night. So I'm not doubting that. I'm also not doubting what you and others who experienced their 1977 shows first hand are saying either - I realize there really is no substitute for having actually been at a show. Even a good quality DVD only ever gives you a faint glimpse of that - you hear what they played, see how they moved onstage, you see the lighting, and it's all kind of muffled by comparison with the first hand experience. You rely on your imagination a lot when you watch these things, I find, and that's a poor substitute. But the thing is, it kind of works both ways... I can't dispute what you experienced at a concert, and, on the other hand, your experience isn't mine, so it can't convince me as such. I still have to go from descriptions by people like yourself who were there, and then add to that bootlegs, existing video footage, photos, etc. and then make up my own mind. My opinion on 1977 is basically that relatively speaking it was a period where real problems were coming to the surface, in various ways, and that you can hear it in the live performances. It was Led Zeppelin, and one expects a lot. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Otto, you make clear points about the 1977 tour and I agree it was most definitely an inconsisent tour. There were many factors that led to the quality of the music during that time. The long lay-off after Robert's wreck created a black hole of uncertainty about their own musical future. Zeppelin were in non-resident status and drug and drink problems were expanding into unhealthy territory. Filling the void that playing music used to satiate. I love Presence, but other than that it seems there was very little playing taking place during that time. If you don't run the machine it starts to corrode. By the time rehearsals had been wrapped for the Zeppelin 1977 tour, Page was proclaiming "We have the stamina to play for 10 straight hours!" Then the postponement of the 1st leg of tour due to Robert's throat situation and I think the most detrimental contributing factor about that tour. They didn't play as a band for over a month and Jimmy said he didn't even practice his guitar. If he wasn't practicing you lose your abilities pretty quick. I couldn't understand why he wouldn't prepare for the big tour approaching. I'm sure he wasn't running laps and more likely enjoying his intakes. As an enormous fan already at that young age I also had expectations about the band and Jimmy. I was hoping to have caught them mid-tour when they would be loose and slamming. That was initially the case until the tour was re-configured and Zeppelin played really early in Chicago. I had a bad feeling they'd probably be rusty. The band had also hit Chicago extremely early on the 1975 tour and had arrived in bad shape, with Page's busted finger and Robert's croak of a voice. I was hoping to avoid the warm-up pase of the 1977 tour, but that's not how it went. The April 7th and April 10th shows were damn fine and they gelled really well and seemed to apply themselves. As the tour progressed there were some really potent shows ( Cleveland, Houston and the string of shows in L.A.) By the 3rd leg of the tour the band were absolute toast and were probably just trying to get through it. Page looked drained of his life force and doing those 2 outdoor shows in Oakland showed how unhealthy he was. On the 1977 Seattle video, Bonzo looked half asleep during the intermidable Over the Top. Not a flourishing time for Zeppelin and then the crushing blow of Karac Plant's death. I've written extensively on the shows I saw on that tour in Chicago and articulated the highs and lows of the four nights. My major disappointment in those shows was the glaring omission of Dazed and Confused. I always thought that song encapsulated Page's intensity,chops and mystery. Jimmy had to be in good form to pull it off and by performing it on the Outrider tour and the 02 show, Page must have known how much power that song possessed. I know others have said the song had run it's course by 1977, but I don't know anyone that wouldn't have preferred Dazed and Confused over Page's sonic experiment solo.
  12. Jimmy Page put on a fantastic show on Easter Sunday 1977 and I 'm really happy to have been there. Page and Zeppelin played their asses off. No one got up and left the show because of what Page was wearing and I'm sure many here would have very different opinions about this show if they were actually in attendance. I know a lot of musicians who started playing guitar after seeing Jimmy Page perform on this tour and it's a positive thing to inspire musicians.
  13. It's good to know others enjoyed The Firm, especially in live performance, as much as I did. It was great to see Jimmy back in action after his bleak post-Zeppelin phase. I was lucky to get front row seats for 3 of the 4 Firm shows I attended. Page really put on a show and between the sweat, smoke and searing guitar work it was obvious Jimmy was back and having a blast. I vividly recall immediately before The Firm hit the stage, a multitude of very lovely ladies were installed in front of the stage for " musical inspiration."
  14. It's unofficial Ninelives. it's a fantastic soundboard and the sound just explodes. I thought Supernatural was a good move for Carlos as it reconnected him to the masses. It's very enjoyable and the band I'm with presently plays Maria Maria and Corazon Espinado at our shows. The last few of his collaborations have been good but a little less appealing. I've thought that Jimmy Page might follow the similar route of collaborating with various artists for a new project. It certainly worked for Carlos.
  15. I have a live double c.d. of a Santana/ Mc Laughlin 1973 concert at the Chicago Auditorium . It was a short tour that coincided with Love, Devotion and Surrender release. It's amazing and has Billy Cobham, Larry Young, Doug Rauch, and Armando Peraza performing with them. A stunning show.
  16. I've met Carlos several times and played a gig with his percussionist, Chepito Areas, a few years back in the city. Caravanserai was a real turning point for Carlos because he bucked Clive Davis' advise to make it more commercial and stayed true to his vision. Michael Shrieve had a big part realizing the sound on this release. In a similar vein were the albums Welcome and the spectacular triple- live album Lotus.
  17. QUOTE (Chicago @ Feb 5 2009, 04:50 PM) Taking time from one's career to devote yourself to raising a family is a supremely admirable thing. I did it myself and I commend Jimmy for the sincere effort he's made as a father. It's far more important than pleasing some ingrate that thinks Page should be an absentee parent to prove somehow he's not retired i.e.- " Get on with it already!' or "Page lounging around with his remote." I know we tend t disagree re this stuff Chicago, so please don't take this personally - but I think this is a rather romanticised view. Jimmy didn't specifically choose to have time out to be with his growing family - in fact he isn't with them every day - and if at any point since the kids were born he had had the opportunity to go out on a tour with Led Zeppelin I bet my house he would have done. He was willing only recently to become what you call an "absentee parent" to take Led Zeppelin out on tour, I think it is stretching things a little to say he is not making music at the moment because he's chosen to be at home being a parent. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's called the flow and ebb of life. Things change and you adapt. I don't have knowledge of Jimmy's daily existence and don't claim to. But he has talked of being more involved with his growing family and you don't live outside the bubble of that. Jeff Beck and Robert Plant have mentioned in interviews of Jimmy raising his kids and how great his children are. I don't think they covering for him.So at whatever level he's been their for them and attentive. I'm sure he would've loved to tour with a Zeppelin reformation but we all know that wasn't going to happen. You switch gears and move on.
  18. Taking time from one's career to devote yourself to raising a family is a supremely admirable thing. I did it myself and I commend Jimmy for the sincere effort he's made as a father. It's far more important than pleasing some ingrate that thinks Page should be an absentee parent to prove somehow he's not retired i.e.- " Get on with it already!' or "Page lounging around with his remote."
  19. 3.) I have an Unledded promotional interview with Robert and Jimmy and Robert mentions that "it all this started with four guys above a hardware store". I was curious if that is the site on Gerrard Street? --------------------------- I don't think Robert was referring to Zeppelin , but more to the originators of early rock and roll. He mentions "4 guys kicking ass with a stand -up bass." Implying that this great form of music has devolved into the band Genesis and the like. It's pretty certain Jonesy wasn't using the stand-up bass on those initial jams on Gerrard Street.
  20. The show I was at followed the tragedy in Cincinnati in 1979. Townsend was getting blasted onstage, regardless, it turned out to be a great concert. Extremely loud and truly riveting. I did some recent gigs where we played Substitute, Shaking All Over, Pinball Wizard and part of Amazing Journey. Those songs are fun as hell to batter out on guitar.
  21. And the frame of a supermodel.
  22. That was quite a colorful outfit Jimmy was wearing then. I had a poster insert from Hit Parader where Jimmy's in that garb which I had on my wall. My Father walked in my room and commented - " Who's that Afghan?" - referring to the breed of dog.
  23. Is that from the Swan Song inception party in 1974? Roy Harper and Bill Wyman.
  24. I once had footage of Jimmy jamming with the Beach Boys from that time. My daughter, who was a toddler then,recorded a Disney movie over that footage. I remember Brian Wilson not being on stage with them and Jimmy Page using a massively flanged guitar sound for those songs.
  25. Dick Dale was never in the Ventures....and I recall Jimmy getting quite irritated with Robert Plant during a 1998 interview about Walking Into Clarksdale when Robert kept referring to Page's guitar playing on WIC being akin to Dick Dale. Jimmy advised him to find another comparison.
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