Steve is correct. It just means that the record was mastered by Strawberry Studios. Other records carried the inscription of "PECKO DUCK" or "PORKY" (because they were mastered by George Peckham). Jimmy had nothing to do with those inscriptions.

In Plant's 2005 "Uncut" magazine interview, he says "I wanted to do 'Incense' by the Anglos. But they gave me ballads. They were trying to market me as a blue-eyed soul singer like Long John Baldry. I was embarrassed about it." I'm inclined to think that the ballad reference was to "Our Song". Here's my convoluted theory: Kevyn Gammond was in the Shakedown Sound just prior to joining the Band Of Joy, and I recall reading somewhere that he had been with the group through September 1967. So that means that the "classic" Band Of Joy lineup (Plant/Bonham/Gammond/Lockey/Brown) came together in September, right? But, Paul Lockey says that Bonham wasn't the first drummer in this lineup. So he must have joined sometime afterwards. Then again, band lineups were hardly stable in these days, so it's quite possible that Gammond could have played with both bands in the summer & fall of 1967. Hmmm. Very interesting. Did Welch really get the wrong title for Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth"? That would make me wonder if he got the wrong title for "Sweet Mary" as well. Or perhaps it was a cover of the Leadbelly song? And he doesn't mention "Dagger/Memory Lane", which Robert has mentioned in at least 2 interviews. This must be the Denny Cordell demos mentioned by Dave Lewis' "A Celebration". Interesting that Robert would record the same song with Zep 5 years later.

He's been running his own website (zacron.com) for several years now. He even sells autographed reprints of the 3rd album cover. Here's a picture of Zacron playing the flute while Jimmy strums some kind of dulcimer-type instrument: http://www.zacron.com/view-item.asp?iid=82

Steve, a few questions/corrections: 1. I thought Plant wanted to record "Incense" as the second single (not the first)? 2. I thought Bonham didn't join the Band Of Joy until much later, possibly as late as January 1968. 3. What's your source for the song "Sweet Mary"? I only know of "Adriatic Sea View", "Hey Joe" and "For What It's Worth", plus an unreleased song known as "Memory Lane" or "Dagger Lane".

As a purely impartial observer here, I would say that this is an accurate statement. It's also worth noting that the revised credits for BIGLY and Baby Come On Home both credit Plant as co-writer, and ASCAP and the 2002 Atlantic Records lawsuit both credit Plant as co-writer for all the original songs on the first album. Also, John Paul Jones was recently quoted as saying something to the effect of "Every lyric in every song was written by Plant". Personally I don't believe that to be true, but it's worth noting regardless.

I recall two quotes in a similar vein, although they had different contexts: 1. there was some initial uncertainty about Plant, but the fears were eased by the time the first album was recorded. 2. there was some concern that Plant wouldn't be able to handle being the primary lyricist, but those concerns were eliminated when Plant wrote "Thank You"

Actually, the song surfaced a little over a year ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-gSHihi7lE The "measuring a summer's day" lyric was indeed carried over to "Tangerine", but the rest of the lyrics (including the chorus) are different. And there is no proof that Keith Relf wrote any of those lyrics.

Actually, Anne Briggs had nothing -- repeat, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING -- to do with BIGLY. Not ever. Will Shade was completely wrong here.

I'm not sure what they were thinking. The 3 songs from 1978 were basically complete, along with "Bonzo's Montreux" and "Poor Tom". But I have no explanation for Jimmy's decision to overdub "Walter's Walk" and the Royal Albert Hall recording of "We're Gonna Groove". It would have made more sense to use "Hey Hey What Can I Do" or one of the BBC recordings, but maybe he felt that he didn't want to "cheat" the fans by releasing songs that were already publicly available? No. "Slush" was most likely "The Rain Song" or TSRTS. And "The Slog" was just a made-up bootleg title. Yes. I don't know. I think it was left off for 3 reasons: 1. it was so different from the tone of the rest of the album. Much more soulful. I think they were concerned about being compared to Vanilla Fudge. 2. it has the least-prominent guitar part of all the songs from the 1st album sessions 3. the writing credit. They knew that they wouldn't be able to get away with crediting themselves for the song (since the original was just 3 1/2 years old). And they didn't want to share credit. As for why it was forgotten......supposedly the master tape was lost until it surfaced in an Olympic Studios garbage can c. 1991. I guess everyone had just forgotten about the song (no one ever mentioned it in any interview prior to 1993), which is a shame because IMO it's one of the best songs they ever recorded.

"Star Cycle" was released in June 1980, 10 years after the date associated with "Lost In Space" and long after the last known Zep studio session. Any chance you could provide a source to bolster your claim? Thanks.

"St. Tristan's Sword" is originally mentioned in "The Concert File". It's listed as having been recorded c. 1970 and considered for the 4th album. Personally, the song title doesn't sound to me like something Plant would have written lyrics for. I have wondered if the song was actually the unreleased "all piano piece" that Jimmy mentioned in a 1970 interview. "Lost In Space" was first mentioned by Ross Halfin in his 11/23/04 diary entry: "Jimmy Page rang this morning telling me he's found a load of outtakes including a song with John Paul Jones singing, called 'Lost In Space'..." Now, maybe Ross was just joking; maybe he wasn't. But the song was also mentioned in (I think) the re-print of "The Concert File" (or was it another Dave Lewis Book??), where it was listed as a "Physical Graffiti" outtake.

Ross Halfin mentioned "Lost In Space" in his diary....but knowing Ross he could have just been joking around. "St. Tristan's Sword" is mentioned in one of Dave Lewis' books. Neither is confirmed to be a 4th album outtake, however. Neither song has surfaced among collectors, though.

Robert played harmonica on one track, and he may have played percussion on other tracks. (Said Jones in a 2002 interview: "Someone said, 'Oh, you need a percussionist.' I said, 'Oh, I've got this guy.' Someone said, 'Oh, he doesn't look like a session tambourine player,' and I was like, 'Oh, no, don't worry. He's great. He's really good.' (laughs) That's what we did.")

And that's another thing. If Dreja truly did file a successful cease-and-desist order, then why were they allowed to perform as The Yardbirds on October 19? Wouldn't the press report have stated something to the effect of "Due to legal action, tonight's concert will be billed as Led Zeppelin instead of The Yardbirds..."?

Here's what cracks me up about the alleged "cease and desist order": CHRIS DREJA HAD NO LEGAL AUTHORITY -- AND NO INCENTIVE -- TO FILE A LAWSUIT!! 1. Relf & McCarty gave permission to Page & Dreja to use the "Yardbirds" name through September 1968. 2. that agreement expired on September 30. 3. therefore, Dreja's rights to file a lawsuit also expired on September 30. Why would Dreja file a lawsuit in October? He no longer had permission to use the Yardbirds name anyway!! That's like Pete Best filing lawsuits on behalf of The Beatles. The only "entity" that could have sued Jimmy in October 1968 was "The Yardbirds" corporation. Besides, if Dreja wanted to sue then he would have sued in August when he was kicked out of the band. Suing in October makes no sense at all, especially when you consider the fact that Dreja took the photo on the back of the first Zep album cover!! Do you really think Jimmy would have used that photo if Dreja had sued him???

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??

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.

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........

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?