Bumping this thread because it deserves to be on the first page automatically...maybe Sam could think about pinning it along with Deb's thread. Lawd knows there aren't many finer and more integral women to this board than Deb and Knebby.
I just have to get down on my knees again in supplication to your effort Knebby in bringing forth all this vast treasure trove of knowledge, insider perspective and great photos. It's so nice to be able to place the names with a face.
I bow down to you...and if there's any special task I can perform for you while I'm down in this position, I'm at your service.
Of course, it would be rude of me not to acknowledge the contributions of others: HotPlant, Steve, MSG, Sam, and PlanetPage...a salute of gratitude to all of you.
But as this thread is Knebby's baby; she doing the hard work of excavating it from the old site, it is she that gets to use me at her whim, should she ever desire.
Now that everybody's rolling their eyes, stop for a moment as I do have some entourage info to contribute.
Something flashed in my mind when reading Knebby's post about Magnet...I just wasn't sure what it was.
Well, I recently picked up another copy of Paul Kendall's seminal book "LED ZEPPELIN A Visual Documentary by Paul Kendall". Published in 1982, this was the first great overview of Led Zeppelin. Ritchie Yorke's bio was incomplete and had minimal black and white photos, and Howard Mylett's books were hard to find in the U.S.
Paul's book, on the other hand, was LOADED with great photos as well as having a chronological text, and was readily available in America.
Anyway, not having looked at the book in years(my other two copies are in storage), I thumbed thru my latest copy and there it was...the reason Magnet's name seemed so familiar. In the chapter dealing with 1975, there's an entry for January 29, Greensboro, North Carolina that mentions rioting between fans and the police. It quotes an account from Melody Maker, which I now quote for you:
"Melody Maker: Although the majority of the rioting fans had disappeared by the end of the show, the group were forced to make the quickest getaway within seconds after leaving the stage. Zeppelin manager Peter Grant took the wheel of one of the limousines - much to the surprise of the official driver - while the other was driven by Magnet, a British roadie employed by Deep Purple, who had come along to the concert as an old friend of the band.
Heading the procession was a police car which cleared the way for the two limousines, sirens blasting at speeds of up to 70mph in a heavily built-up area. The three cars drove over red lights and on the opposite side of the road in a scene that resembled a Steve McQueen movie car chase. The squealing tyres almost drowned out the police siren.
Grant, an expert driver, who had offered to buy both limousines from the car company, said afterwards 'I didn't care what happened so long as I got the boys out OK. That car I was driving was out of tune, otherwise I'd have driven faster still'."
Their were three cars the other car was driven by Richard Cole
John Magnet Ward
The Entourage
in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
Posted
Their were three cars the other car was driven by Richard Cole
John Magnet Ward