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SteveAJones

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    Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

    in Led Zeppelin Master Forum

    Posted · Edited by SteveAJones

    Thank you all for the the help on that. Does anyone know what Jimmy Page was influenced by in terms of artists, and did it reflect on the album designs?

    Jimmy himself was always quite fond of the pre-Raphaelites:

    http://persephone.cps.unizar.es/General/Ge...aphaelites.html

    Jimmy also collected quite a few M.C. Escher works during the first few American tours.

    However, as you'll see in a moment, regardless of his interests in art he had the good fortune of close association with a number of talented graphic artists.

    George Hardie was commissioned by Jimmy to produce the first album cover, the details of which have been covered previously in this thread. Chris Dreja, whom had been the bassist in The Yardbirds, took the photographs on the back. Interesing to note it was his pursuit of photography which influenced him to opt out music for some time.

    The album sleeve design for Led Zeppelin II was from a poster by David Juniper, who was simply told by the band to come up with an idea that was "interesting". His design was based on an old photograph of the Jasta 11 Division of the German Air Force during World War I, the famed Flying Circus led by Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. After the picture was tinted, the faces of the four members of the band were airbrushed on from a 1969 publicity photograph, as well as the faces of band manager Peter Grant and tour manager Richard Cole. The woman in the picture is Glynis Johns, the mother from Mary Poppins. Her presence in the photo is an obvious play on the name of recording engineer Glyn Johns. The other face added was that of bluesman Blind Willie Johnson. The cover also pictured the outline of a Zeppelin on a brown background, which gave the album its nickname "Brown Bomber".

    Led Zeppelin III was designed by Zacron, a multi-media artist whom Jimmy had met in 1963 whilst Zacron was a student at Kingston College of Art.

    Jimmy's long-standing friendship with Barrington Colby culminated in the album cover for Led Zeppelin IV, for which Jimmy contributed the typeface for the lyrics to "Stairway to Heaven", printed on the inside sleeve of the album. He found it in Studio Magazine, an old arts and publication which dated from the late 1800s. Jimmy thought the lettering was interesting and arranged for someone to work up a whole alphabet.

    The cover art for Houses of the Holy was inspired by the ending of Arthur C. Clarke's novel Childhood's End. (The ending involves several hundred million naked children, only slightly and physically resembling the human race in basic forms). It is a collage of several photographs which were taken at the Giant's Causeway, Northrn Ireland, by Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis. This location was chosen ahead of an alternative one in Peru which was being considered

    The album sleeve design for Physical Graffiti features a photograph of a New York City tenement block, with interchanging window illustrations. The album designer, Peter Corriston, was looking for a building that was symmetrical with interesting details, that was not obstructed by other objects and would fit the square album cover. He said:

    We walked around the city for a few weeks looking for the right building. I had come up a concept for the band based on the tenement, people living there and moving in and out. The original album featured the building with the windows cut out on the cover and various sleeves that could be placed under the cover, filling the windows with the album title, track information or liner notes.

    The two five-story buildings photographed for the album cover are located at 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place in New York City. But to enable it to fit, the fifth floor had to be cropped out. So for the album cover it became a four-story building instead. The front cover is a daytime image, while the back cover is the same image but at nighttime. As a by the way, this is the same building The Rolling Stones used in their 1981 promo video for 'Waiting on A Friend'.

    The cover and inside sleeve of Presence, created by Hisgnosis, features various images of people interacting with a black obelisk-shaped object. Inside the album sleeve, the item is referred to simply as "The Object". It was intended to represent the "force and presence" of Led Zeppelin. In the liner notes of the first Led Zeppelin boxed set, Jimmy explained:

    There was no working title for the album. The record-jacket designer said `When I think of the group, I always think of power and force. There's a definite presence there.' That was it. He wanted to call it `Obelisk'. To me, it was more important what was behind the obelisk. The cover is very tongue-in-cheek, to be quite honest. Sort of a joke on [the film]. I think it's quite amusing.

    The background used in the cover photograph is of an artificial marina that was installed inside London's Earls Court Arena for the annual Earl's Court Boat Show that was held in the winter of 1974–1975. This was the same venue where the band played five dates in May 1975.

    In 1977 this album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best album package.

    In Thru The Out Door featured an unusual gimmick: the album had an outer sleeve which was made to look like a plain brown paper bag, and the inner sleeve featured black and white line artwork which, if washed with a wet brush, would become permanently fully colored. There were also six different sleeves featuring a different pair of photos (one on each side; see images at right), and the external brown paper sleeve meant that it was impossible for record buyers to tell which sleeve they were getting. (There is actually a code on the spine of the album jacket, which indicated which sleeve it was—this could sometimes be seen while the record was still sealed.) The pictures all depicted the same scene in a bar (in which a man burns a Dear John Letter), and each photo was taken from the separate point of view of someone who appeared in the other photos.

    The album artwork was designed by Hipgnosis. Storm Thorgerson recalls the design in his book Eye of the Storm:

    The sepia quality was meant to evoke a non-specific past and to allow the brushstroke across the middle to be better rendered in colour and so make a contrast. This self same brushstroke was like the swish of a wiper across a wet windscreen, like a lick of fresh paint across a faded surface, a new look to an old scene, which was what Led Zeppelin told us about their album. A lick of fresh paint, as per Led Zeppelin, and the music on this album... It somehow grew in proportion and became six viewpoints of the same man in the bar, seen by the six other characters. Six different versions of the same image and six different covers.

    In 1980, Hipgnosis was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best album package for In Through the Out Door.

    Coda was also designed by Hipgnosis, and the ten circular irrigation fields on the back cover are thought to correlate to the ten albums released by the band. The inner liner features a collage of photographs. The main photo on the right side—showing the band members clapping—was taken the day before their Knebworth concerts in 1979 on the concert grounds. However, the band were dissatisfied with the image, and their image—and the ground where they stand—are all that remain from that photo. Superimposed behind the band is a photo of a green field in Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire, England, near Bonham's home. It is thought John Paul Jones suggested the album title.

    Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

    in Led Zeppelin Master Forum

    Posted

    John Paul Jones Triple-Neck Instrumental on www.johnpauljones.com

    http://johnpauljones.com/video_tripleneck2000.html

    Is this multi-camera footage from the 3/14/00 House of Blues concert in New Orleans?

    I know three songs from this gig were sanctioned for simulcast on the internet at the now defunct www.rockuniverse.com website, but it's my understanding each of those

    songs were incomplete.

    Is there any confirmation or further details available concerning how many of the JPJ solo gigs were professionally audio/video recorded? I distinctly recall seeing a single

    boom mike and camera mounted atop the soundboard in Frankfurt on 11/8/99.

    Led Zeppelin in Las Vegas?

    in Led Zeppelin Live

    Posted

    Re: August 12, 1969 Entry (previous posts)....Off to Vegas....

    UPDATES - TODAY:

    VERY GRACIOUS MS. PAMELA DEBARRES...HER RESPONSES VIA -EMAIL I RECEIVED FROM HER OFFICIAL SITE:

    WE stayed at the HIlton Hotel that night FOR SURE! I don't remember what Jimmy did once we got back to L.A. the next day for certain...

    Richard was there, yes, I have no idea where they went afterwards...we stayed in a suite at thehotel, we all did that night...and flew back to LA the next day.

    ............

    Re: July 31, 1969 - Led Zep arriving (from where/City?) at Thee Experience Night - ?

    Hi there,

    I did see Elvis with Led Zep and as you might recall in Band, I sat in the front row with Jimmy & Robert...and Peter Grant...I saw him again with Michael in early '77.

    I believe that was the first time they saw Elvis in concert as well..so I don't think that earlier date is accurate...

    XOP

    - HI, since I met them that night I have no idea what they were doing the day or night before...sorry,

    P

    (she is referring to July 31, 1969)

    ......

    Added:

    Regardless Elvis Connection...the Las Vegas Possibility remains open.(NIGHT OFF FOR ZEP/ and Mark Chain's recollection)...Ms. Debarres does not now where they might have arrived from July 31, 1969 at Thee Ex...(Note, Zep was in Salt Lake City July 30th...perhaps their travel can be tracked)......

    ADDED:

    Earlier it was confirmed that Peter Grant was in fact in New York on August 12 in addition to other nights, but according to Miss Debarres he saw Elvis on August 12...In this case, Peter may have flown from New York to Vegas and arrived with EVERYBODY in L.A., then departed to New York via separate available flight than Page (in this way Grant is able to receive Page as originally documented - Grant is suppost to receive Page at New York Airport)...**Page came back to L.A. Same night...

    Added:

    ...Ms. Debarres confirms she only went to see Elvis with ZEP...there was no ZEP Concert on August 12, 1969 in Vegas...

    Outstanding and thanks so much for sharing! Hats off and thanks to Miss Pamela too!

    Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

    in Led Zeppelin Master Forum

    Posted

    Actually, I have 2 theories on Jimmy's tenure at art school:

    1. based on recent evidence that Jimmy joined Neil Christian's band as early as March 1959 (and stayed with him for 18 months), then Jimmy could have enrolled in art college as soon as September 1960.

    2. on the other hand, Jimmy wrote to a pen pal in 1963 that he planned on going to art school in September 1963. But perhaps Jimmy only meant that he was returning to art school?

    Either way, most of Jimmy's life prior to 1966 is a total unknown.

    This is consistent with what I believe to be the facts too. Enrolled in Sutton Art College circa Sept '60 after having left Neil Christian and the Crusaders following a bad bout of glandular fever. Tenure at art college also lasted about 18 months, but he continued to

    be involved in music during this time, for example rehearsing with Cyril Davies and Nicky Hopkins for Davies band (Jimmy declined to join), accompanying beat poet Royston Ellis on accoustic guitar, and listening to records at home with Albert Lee. Jimmy developed

    an affinity for Lee's sound (Gibson Les Paul Custom with Supro Amp) and bought a Supro of his own in 1961. Jeff and Jimmy were friends in art college, but attended different schools.

    Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

    in Led Zeppelin Master Forum

    Posted · Edited by SteveAJones

    "That's Me In Your Jimmy Page Video!"

    Mesa Amphitheater Tempe, AZ Sept. 17 1988

    Background: In February 2009 I was contacted with a request for help in obtaining an MTV interview filmed more than 20 years ago. The footage shows a soundcheck for a Jimmy Page concert followed by an interview with Jimmy and a local radio station contest winner - the very same person making the request!

    Having established authenticity of the requestor's claim, arrangements were made thru a third party to have a first generation digital copy delivered at no cost and no expense. I asked in return only that I be allowed to share the requestor's story and photos with this forum when she was prepared to do so and that time has come:

    My Day With Jimmy Page

    By Judy Cook

    It was 1988 and I was living in Phoenix, Arizona, having moved there two years prior hoping to find a band and focus on music before moving on to Los Angeles.

    As a guitar player, I had many influences in my music and Jimmy Page was a primary one. I'll never forget when I first heard on the radio that Jimmy was coming to Phoenix on his Outrider tour. Not only were they giving away tickets to the show, but they were also going to be giving away a Custom Les Paul guitar in a drawing from all the concert ticket winners. Winning the tickets was the easy part, as I have literally won countless concert tickets and prizes from radio stations over the years. For this contest you simply had to be the correct caller. I was one of the first winners of the contest and I remember telling the person who got my information I was going to win that guitar!

    I don't remember exactly how long the contest lasted but it was a couple of weeks or so.

    It was a Friday when they said they were going to do the drawing and announce the big winner at 3:00 pm. I was at work about to go to lunch and the receptionist transferred a call to me at about noon. The man on the other end of the phone said: "Is this Judy?""

    I said: "Yes"."

    He said:

    "This is Curtis Johnson from 98 KUPD; when do you want to pick up your guitar?""

    I was in shock. Sometimes I can be pretty subdued with my outward emotions, but I was freaking out inside!!

    Once I calmed down, Curtis gave me additional details of how the day was going to go. Basically, I was going to get to meet Jimmy Page at his hotel and receive the guitar.

    However, I got another call the day before the show advising me to come to the venue early to meet Jimmy backstage before the show. I got there while they were setting up and starting sound checks. When I arrived, a record company representative met me.

    The record company representative talked with me for a while and I let him know my background, that I was a guitar player and in a band. A little while later, he came back to me and asked if I would like to be interviewed by MTV with Jimmy Page. The day just kept getting better! MTV and Jimmy seemed to find it interesting that it was a girl that won this contest as well as one who actually played guitar.

    Well, as I was waiting for the events to unfold, my friend Mary (she was the bass player in my band,) and I watched the crew set up for the show. My first glimpse of Jimmy was him working with the crew on the lighting gels. There was something he wasn't pleased with. The gentleman from the record company came back, giving us further instructions - "NO pictures" he told us. Well, that was not what I wanted to hear, but I had no choice.

    MTV brought me out onstage to be interviewed. They started with just me, asking me questions about my band, and such. The sun was shining directly into my eyes, making it difficult to relax. The whole thing became very surreal as I looked to my left and saw Jimmy just standing there with a big smile on his face. I had not met him yet - there had been no previous introduction - and so I met him as cameras were rolling during the MTV interview.

    During the interview, there is one thing that stands out that I remember, and that is the A&R rep from the record company telling my friend Mary to take as many pictures as she could! I guess since Jimmy was enjoying himself we were given the go ahead to take pictures. I am very grateful to have them to this day, because while the next part of this adventure is not on videotape, it is forever documented in photographs.

    On the video, you hear Jimmy make a comment on how he would like to see the double neck on me. Well, after the interview was done, he asked me if I would like to check out the double neck as well as his other guitars. He brought me over to the guitars and told me a little about some of them. I remember him specifically pointing out some of the guitars that always go on tour with him.

    As we looked at the guitars, we came to the double neck. He picked it up and handed it to me, helping me put it on. It was one heavy guitar!! Surreal? Here I am, backstage at a Jimmy Page concert. We've just gotten interviewed by MTV and he brings me to his guitars, hands me the double neck and now….he is watching ME play it! Just a truly magnificent moment, one of the best in my life and no, I did not play Stairway to Heaven. As I recall I was just riffing and such. I felt lucky, privileged and quite honored to play his guitar. I'm not sure how many others had played that guitar before me, but I know I am one of them.

    The concert was fabulous, of course.

    After the show, we hung out with Carter (Jimmy's guitar tech) and opening act Mason Ruffner. Everyone took turns playing the new Les Paul custom guitar Jimmy presented to me and that I still own to this day.

    You may notice on the video he was having trouble with the pen he was given to sign the guitar with. Well, after the body was signed and it blotched up, he signed the pick guard. Unfortunately, the pick-guard still had the plastic on it, so the signature was not on the pick-guard. I had put the plastic with his signature on it somewhere I thought was safe, but I fear a friend may have "misplaced" it. Oh well, what's a smudged signature on an amazing guitar, especially when you have the video, pictures, guitar and all the memories from the experience?

    After the great day I had at this concert, and such a rare amazing experience, I felt so blessed, and so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity. Many girlfriends asked me "Did you get a kiss?", and my reply was simply "Would you kiss Buddha?""

    I'm so grateful to have received the video to dvd transfer of my interview with Jimmy more than twenty years later! My son, future grandchildren and I will cherish it always.

    Judy1.jpg

    Judy3.jpg

    Judy4.jpg

    Judy5.jpg

    Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

    in Led Zeppelin Master Forum

    Posted

    By pure chance I've come to learn a new acquaintance of mine (who recently interviewed Jimmy in Los Angeles) is seeking to contact Peg LaForce, who as it turns out is a long-lost best girlfriend of hers from nearly 30 years ago. Well, I do know Peg once published a Led Zeppelin fanzine titled 'The Crunge' (and later retitled 'Music Creations') from Jan 1982 till June 1985 as I have nearly every issue in my archive. Her address at the time was West Covina, CA. If anyone here should know the whereabouts of Peg please contact me via PM.

    Pleased to report current contact details for Peg LaForce have been forwarded to her long-lost best girlfriend. Special thanks to Frank Smith for his invaluable assistance.

    At Home With Robert Plant in Wales (1975)

    in Photos

    Posted

    The article must be written after 1977 since it claims that the death of his son made Robert retreat into the Welsh countryside, and that this could have been the end of Led Zeppelin. But it also stated that Jimmy is listening to live concerts to make a live album and that Jonesy and Jimmy are writing new material, and that Robert needs time to find balance in his life again.

    If your translation is accurate, this must have been published sometime after July 1977 but probably before the rehearsals at Clearwell Castle in May 1978.

    Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

    in Led Zeppelin Master Forum

    Posted

    Scarf.jpg

    The keffieh is as old as the sands of Sudan and Saudi Arabia, as varied and popular in its uses from the Fertile Crescent to the Maghreb, as dear to Bedouins as Birkenstocks are to Vermonters, and as adaptable and beloved by Westerners, who can fit the keffieh to their climes rather than let their bigotries project juvenile assumptions on the checkered cloth. It was so ubiquitous in the 19th century—in the Arab Peninsula, in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan—that British and French colonists took to wearing it for its comforts and distinctive look, just as students in coldish France and England, who couldn’t care less about its political threads, these days wear it for its warmth and fashionable malleability.

    To the person whom contacted me privately concerning this matter, I hope you can now understand it doesn't necessarily infer Jimmy Page supports Palestinian nationalism.

    Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

    in Led Zeppelin Master Forum

    Posted

    Geez, and here I thought Sam never makes comments about any such things!

    I wonder what their webmasters, publicity guys, record label (?) think of this...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PtsaMokig0

    The Devil will be Happy ?? What's that?!?! Perhaps the title of the background song?

    Hmmm, I guess that explains Jesse calling the music "scary"

    Vultures. The Devil. Never Deserved. They certainly seem to be going for a dark vibe,

    but I've met Diamanda Galas and seen her perform so I really don't scare easily! :lol:

    Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

    in Led Zeppelin Master Forum

    Posted · Edited by SteveAJones

    Jimmy Page Jam with Poison

    University of Nevada - Lawlor Events Center

    May 14, 1991

    Previously in this thread we investigated a Coverdale/Page jam session with Poison back in 1991. Since there is no confirmed press coverage all I've had to go on was word of mouth that it was during the encore, that both Coverdale and Page jammed on 'Rock And Roll', 'The Rover', and 'Stairway To Heaven' and that Jimmy did indeed fall into a hole on the stage.

    Now, singer Bret Michaels clarifies the events of that evening:

    It was lead guitarist C.C. DeVille's birthday. Jimmy Page came onstage with me and I had always been a Zeppelin freak. The place went insane. I was unbelievably excited, getting to play Rock And Roll with Page. And on top of that, he was going to play my brand-new Les Paul (Gibson guitar). It was the greatest day of my life.

    There were these huge holes on stage to hold the fireworks. Page began moving toward one and it was like one of those scenes in a movie with the character going slow motion to try to stop a disaster. 'Nooooooo,' I was yelling, but he went down, luckily not landing on the fireworks, luckily not injuring himself, even though he fell 6 to 8 feet. My Les Paul snapped in half, but he got back up and continued to play with us. Still, even with that memory, I love to play Reno.

    So it would seem this jam was limited to just Jimmy on 'Rock And Roll'. The search for

    press coverage/photographs continues.

    Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

    in Led Zeppelin Master Forum

    Posted

    Do you know from which studio all these outtakes came? We have a sessions, where Babe I'm Gonna leave You, You Shook Me and Tribute to Bert Berns survived as almost finished tracks. First 2 songs can be attributed to Sept 27th session, Tribute to Bert Berns to Oct 10. I wish to know exact studio for these if possible.

    UPDATE:

    The sessions for the first album began on September 27th, 1968 at Olympic Studio where according to studio records they recorded under the name The Yardbirds. The first two tracks are full band run through of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You". "You Shook Me" is the very first take according to the voice of engineer Glyn Johns. It lasts for almost eight minutes and cuts out at the very end. There are three takes of "Tribute To Bert Burns", which surfaced in 1993 as "Baby Come On Home." This dates from the final day of recording. What follows is a half hour of guitar and organ exercises. It's

    origin and purpose is a mystery and when they first surfaced it was claimed the organ player was Steve Winwood.

    Bottom line: let's change the sessions from Abbey Road to Olympic.

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