SteveAJones
-
Posts
24,196 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by SteveAJones
-
-
Do I dare even attempt to post the , um, alternate take of this pics?!!!
Nah, best not tempt fate!!!
Steve do you have an anecdote as to why the tensions were so high that day ...enough to get Plant to take desperate measures to try to elevate the spirits?
Hello, Nech. Ah, yes, that infamous outtake with Robert's trouser snake on full display.
It probably is a bit too racy for this board, but the ladies are sure to love it. Unaware
of any specific anecdote aside from Jimmy's hair getting mussed up on the way down
in Richard Cole's roadster. All were clearly amused, whatever the reason for dropping
his pants.
-
Stevie Nicks on the left.
-
Thanks for the link Steve- it saved me from asking if the photo shoot was done on 2 different days as some are wearing different clothes.
These photos have always been one of my favorites of the band in their later years.
Hi Stargroves. Just thought I'd mention there's a recent update to the Robert Plant Concert Chronology that may be of interest as I seem to recall we attempted to confirm
where you saw him perform in July '88. At the time I showed two shows at MSG in NYC on 7/28 & 7/29, but ticket stubs have surfaced to confirm he played Nassau Coliseum on 7/28 & MSG on 7/29. I believe you said you thought you'd seen him at the Nassau Coliseum. The opening act was Cheap Trick.
-
Plant Out Fanzine
There was a b&w Japanese Robert Plant fanzine titled Plant Out running for seven issues
from circa 1984 to Feb 1986 and published by Kayko Kato of Nagasaki, Japan. If anyone
has a copy of this fanzine or can put me in touch with Kayko please contact me. Thanks!
-
One of my favorite non stage Led Zeppelin group photos regardless of the date it was taken.I have a magazine with the photo. The caption below the photo says something like,"will the weeds be chest high before the next Led Zeppelin album?"
A favorite of mine as well and the best caption I've ever seen for it was:
Led Zeppelin Still Outstanding In Their Field
-
Steve - well I think it is safe to say they were definitely taken before August 12th, as they were the official Knebworth publicity shots, and used in the official Knebworth programme and posters sold at the venue on both dates (4th and 11th) .
I would say that in order to get the programme (and posters) ready on time they were in fact taken long before the dates you have suggested, certainly not in August.
...a good, no great, point. I've got to look into this further towards a confirmed date and location.Edit: The photo call was held in early June in the fields adjacent to Knebworth House. Clarification came via Dave Lewis' Led Zeppelin Celebration II starting on pg 54:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Q2vLCdjw9...snum=4#PPA54,M1
-
Steve, Where were the 1979 pictures taken the cornfield pics(the 1st photo shoot)
Cecil, they were taken in the festival field adjacent to Knebworth House in August 1979.
The band were booked into the Roebuck Hotel & arrived around 6pm on August 2nd for
a soundcheck lasting less than an hour. I don't have the soundcheck photos in front of me at the moment but those may well substantiate these were taken just beforehand.
If not, they were taken no later than August 12th (after the second festival date) as the band had all departed Knebworth House by that morning.
It's well known the image above was used to promote In Through The Out Door, but
lesser known is that the sky has been airbrushed by Hipgnosis to appear far less dull and overcast than it really was. There are so few offstage photos of them from '79 they had little choice but to use what was available.
-
Steve, I swore I read something where someone (I forget who) from the Yes camp claimed that after the XYZ recordings, Peter Grant showed up at their door demanding the master tapes. When that person refused, Peter stuck a lit cigar in his hand till the guy gave the tapes to him. I'm guessing this is bullocks. Any truth to it?
Also, while I'm at it. What was the deal with the supposed Zep rehearsals when they considered touring with Tony Thompson? I know Tony had a car wreck and that was that. Where they really that close to doing a tour? Where these rehearsals recorded and if so, have you ever heard them? Everything I've read is pretty vague. Any juicy details would be appreciated.
Wolfman, post #2320 of this thread covers the XYZ project fairly well. Have never heard the anecdote concerning Peter Grant and the master tapes. Seems very far-fetched, seeing as they were only rough demos with Jimmy after the demise of Led Zeppelin. Peter had entered a period of blackness by then and I just can't imagine him being
bothered to intervene.
I'm fairly certain I covered the January 1986 rehearsals earlier in this thread as well. Suffice to say they were nowhere near touring, it was merely a case of getting the
three of them together to rehearse with Thompson. As I recall, Thompson was hurt
in a car smash the evening of the second day, so they carried on with roadies filling
in on drums for about a week. Robert had gotten used to being the pilot of the storm
in his own band and expressed frustration with Jimmy for having to fiddle with effects
pedals every five minutes. The whole thing kind of went nowhere and ended with a whimper. If I don't find the details posted previously in this thread I will do so.
-
Please disrerard my above post. Off topic and not relevant to Wolfman's query and SAJ 's reply. Apologies to to all.
No worries. There is a bootleg for final Oakland show titled "The Last Brawl".
-
Blocoboy,
Interesting! The last ad you posted is the first time I've ever seen Obstweedle spelled without the "H".
The only other place I've seen it spelled this way was in the liner notes for 66 to Timbuktu which were written by Plant. It seems in many interviews over the years, it has been spelled with the"H". This is probably why there is always so much confusion about the correct spelling of the name.
Good find.
Somewhere in the Mysteries Thread there is a concert ad for Obs' Tweedle, which
sparked speculation as to if the liner notes should have had the apostrophe also,
but the consensus was the advert was incorrect.
I think confusion about the correct spelling of the name originates in a '72/'73 interview
Jimmy gave to Zig Zag magazine wherein he says he saw Robert perform with a band
called "...Obstweedle or Hobbstweedle or something..."
Robert himself was very precise during a 7/4/98 Page/Plant interview with Much Music held at the Molson Amphitheater in Toronto. The interviewer accentuated the H when she pronounced it, and Robert was quick to correct her by saying "Obs" with emphasis and spelling it out.
-
A bit more to add to the story..all from the Sutton Coldield News.-
Unbelieveable. Great find!
-
Here a tough one Steve. I'm an old-school wrestling fan so I'm curious have you seen any footage or photos of Peter Grant from his wrestling days. I believe he wore a mask too. I'd love to see that.
I myself have never seen any photographs or film from Peter's wrestling days. Something like that could possibly be in the possession of his daughter, Helen, or his son, Warren, but they don't appear to be active members here and I don't have any direct contact details. You may recall last year numerous furnishings, antiques and paintings Peter had collected were sold at auction.
-
The magazine was SOUNDS, not sure of the publication date but the pic of Plant on the front appears to be early 80's.
I believe this is from 'Sounds Fan Library #12' which is a special all Robert Plant issue published in 1983 (for the benefit of anyone seeking a copy on ebay or what have you).
-
JPJ's dad died in 8/70. A few shows were rescheduled or cancelled due to this. Dave Lewis' The Concert File backs this up.
You are correct. The perils of posting off the top of one's head!
The first eight dates of the August '70 tour were postponed to allow JPJ to remain
at his father's side. Ultimately, JPJ joined the group for a concert in New Haven, CT
on 8/15/70. The 8/26/70 concert showtime for the Public Hall in Cleveland was moved up from 8:30pm to 5:30pm to allow JPJ to return to England. The 8/27/70 concert set
for the Milwaukee Arena was postponed the morning of on account of the death of JPJ's father the night before. The next concert was Winnepeg Arena on 8/29/70.
They then performed in Milwaukee on 8/31/70.
-
Steve,my search came up empty and it's something I don't recollect,but...
Are there any published interviews or snippets by the parents of the members of Led Zeppelin upon having witnessed a Led Zeppelin concert? Their thoughts on the enormity of the Led Zeppelin machine, ... did they realize how huge Led Zeppelin was, and how were they as parents affected? Did any of the band's parents ever see a concert in North America?
So far as I know there are none published, with the exception of Robert's father whom told the press assembled at Kidderminster Airport words to the effect of "all this fame and fortune, what is it worth compared to the love of family" as he waited for Robert's
return following Karac's tragic death.
Robert said his father became more aware of Led Zeppelin's success having read about
them in an issue of Financial Times. I should think word of Led Zeppelin having broken the Beatles record at Tampa in 1973 would have been received by all the parents, but
no specific comments have been published. Bonham was of course filmed on one of his
father's construction sites in the Led Zeppelin film The Song Remains The Same.
So far as I know none of their parents ever attended a North American concert (Joe
Baldwin (JPJ's father) passed away in '72). Jimmy's father, James, attended at least
one of the Knebworth '79 concerts and his mother, Patricia, was at the 02 reunion.
Perhaps their first real indication of Jimmy's musical success was when he purchased
the boathouse in Pangbourne and moved out.
Bonzo's mother Joan attended a couple Led Zeppelin conventions in London back in the 90s; during one of them Bonzo's brother Mick, sister Debbie and daughter Zoe performed together (I have it all on film).I'll have to look further into my own files for any other instances of their parents having attended their gigs or made public comments concerning the group's success.
-
Robert Plant's Oasis: Ahmet Ertegun
This is an excerpt from an extensive Ahmet Ertegun profile published in the June 20, 1988
issue of New York magazine, a month after the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Concert:
-
Plumpton Place Caretaker (1974)
I could be mistaken, but as I recall this man's name is Pat and he was Jimmy's caretaker
at Plumpton Place.
Malcolm Dent was Jimmy's caretaker at Boleskine House:
A rock legend and black arts figured in Malcolm's life
by Calum Macleod
Published: 03 November, 2006
OVER 30 years in the Highlands have done little to erode Malcolm Dent's mellow Surrey tones, but for the past six years he has been putting that voice to good use in providing a service for the sight-impaired in the area and beyond.
Black Isle resident Malcolm is one of the volunteers who produces talking newspapers for the Highlands and Islands Tape Service for the Blind and Disabled (HITS).
It is 25 years since the first edition of the north's talking newspaper was sent out to 35 blind people throughout the area.
Today the service caters for up to 500 listeners, some from well outside the Highlands, and is always in need of fresh volunteers like Malcolm to cater for demand.
"I was unemployed for a short period some years ago and I heard they were looking for volunteers. I walked through the door and I was snapped up immediately,” Malcolm recalled.
The Inverness Courier is just one of the local newspapers recorded, along with the Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Monthly Record, the magazine of the Free Church of Scotland, and some church services, with tapes sent throughout the UK and beyond - Malcolm recalls one listener as far away as New Zealand.
"People like the sound of my voice, I know that, but as a volunteer you do more than just read. There's high speed copying of tapes. You've got to check the ones that go out have something on each side and check the ones that are returned,” Malcolm said.
It is one way the 62 year old has of contributing to the region where he has lived since 1971.
"I sometimes find it amusing my mother gave me a Scottish name. There's no Scottish blood at all in the family,” he said. "It always seemed strange that I should land up in the Highlands."
Yet Malcolm had only made one visit to Scotland, hitch-hiking to Edinburgh as a teenager, before he was brought to Loch Ness by his boyhood friend Jimmy Page, guitarist with Led Zeppelin, to live at what is probably the most notorious house in the Highlands, Boleskine House near Foyers.
"Jimmy Page caught me at a time in my life when I wasn't doing a great deal and asked me to come up and run the place. I never did establish why he fixed on me,” Malcolm said.
At the time, there were plans to run electricity pylons from the new power station at Foyers through Boleskine's grounds. Page asked Malcolm to fight these plans and supervise the restoration of the house.
"Initially I thought I'd be coming for a year or so, but then it got its hooks in me. I met my then wife at Boleskine House. My children were raised there - my son Malcolm was born in Boleskine House,” Malcolm said.
However, when Malcolm first arrived at Boleskine, the 18th century lodge seemed far from hospitable.
"It was a wreck,” he said. "It had been more or less abandoned. There'd been at least one fire there, parts of the building were missing and it had been badly patched up. The grounds, which at one time had been very nicely laid out were gone to hell so the main task I took on was getting them into some sort of shape. That was something I really enjoyed."
Life at Boleskine contrasted greatly with his previous career in advertising. He learned to raise animals, including goats and pigs, and developed new skills including furniture design.
"All the main rooms look out across the loch and you're 300 feet up so you have some dramatic views. We loved living there,” Malcolm said. "It was a great house to raise children in and they loved it there, in spite of its history and in spite of the peculiar happenings that went on there."
Malcolm had no idea of Boleskine's history when he arrived at Loch Ness and knew nothing of occultist Aleister Crowley, the house's most infamous former resident.
Crowley became a counter-culture hero in the 1960s for his rejection of conventional religion and liberal attitude to sex and drugs, but even during his time at Boleskine, his reputation led local people to avoid the house after dark.
"I knew Jimmy had some weird interests, but that was about it,” Malcolm revealed.
According to legend, Crowley bought Boleskine in 1899 to carry out a magic ceremony, but never completed it, and the demonic entities released in the rite remained in the house.
"I arrived a total sceptic, to a degree I still am, but there are things at the house you can't explain,” Malcolm said.
"I'm aware that, compared with where I'm from in Surrey, there's more superstition in this part of the world. It all became a bit more real when I came here, but it never put me off."
One of the most famous stories is that the head of Simon Lord Lovat, beheaded for treason following the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, can be heard rolling around the floor at Boleskine - even though the house dates only from the 1760s.
"At the time of his death, he was supposedly casting his mind back to the heart of the Highlands. Just above us is Errogie, which is the geographical centre of the Highlands, and the nearest consecrated ground is Boleskine,” Malcolm explained.
Another ghostly tale is more closely related to Crowley and involves seven chairs brought to Boleskine from the Cafe Royal in London.
"Everyone loves that story,” Malcolm laughed. "Jimmy got those chairs specifically because one of them had Aleister Crowley's name on it. Each of the chairs belonged to a famous person and had a nameplate on the back and front - Marie Lloyd, Billy Butlin, James Agate, Ruldolph Valentino, William Orpen and Jacob Epstein."
Crowley's chair was always placed at the head of the table, but after the chairs were repaired, Malcolm would come into the room and find they had switched places with Marie Lloyd's chair at the head of the table.
"The kids couldn't have done it and we didn't know why this was happening. Then I realised the guy who did the repairs didn't know which plaque went with which chair and hadn't put them back on the right ones,” Malcolm said.
Construction work and redecorating also seemed to have their effect on the house.
"Doors would be slamming all night, you'd go into a room and carpets and rugs would be piled up,” Malcolm added.
Another regular occurrence was that the back door, inside doors and kitchen doors would suddenly spring open as if someone was running through them, even on calm days.
"We just used to say that was Aleister doing his thing,” Malcolm said.
If the happenings were strange, so too were some of the visitors.
"I had them from every corner of the world,” he recalled. "A lot of them were nutters. A lot of them were downright dangerous lunatics. They will still be turning up today. The house is on the map as an occult centre and you're not going to get rid of Crowley's legacy that easily."
Page, who spent no more than six weeks at Boleskine in the 20 years he owned it, eventually sold the house in the early 1990s. Coinciding with the break up of Malcolm's marriage, it began a new chapter in his life.
"I always say I have had my life back to front - I had my retirement at Boleskine,” Malcolm commented. "No matter how hard I worked, it never seemed like a job at all."
Most recently a salesman for double glazing company C. R. Smith, Malcolm acknowledges life is a little tamer now, but no less enjoyable and if he has no longer the scenic views over Loch Ness to enjoy, he can sometimes be treated to displays by the Moray Firth dolphins right outside his window at Kilmuir.
"You've got to enjoy life." Malcolm said. "There's a saying: life's not a rehearsal. I subscribe to that."
-
And Steve if you see Jimmy and Roy Harper there say hello from me
Will do! If I find where those rocks are I may ask for some help loading them up.
Mojo Honours List
Porchester Hall London, England
June 16th 2005
-
December 15th 1981, Golden Lion, Fulham at the presentation of the Roadies Charity for Children Raffle Prize night - attended by Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Peter Grant. Peter was in great form and looked this happy all evening. I believe he was sitting on top of a bin at the time I took the pic, having found no seat to spare - he just said "Oh well - in the bleedin' bin then!" and plonked himself down.
Here's my ticket
"Oh well - in the bleedin' bin then!"
Terrific Peter Grant anecdote. A thousand thanks for sharing.
-
Behind The Scenes: The Song Remains The Same "Swordsmen at Raglan Castle"
Photos courtesy of Steve A. Jones Archive
-
Steve that looks like the outfit he wore for the Rock for Kampuchea show.
It's a perfect match. Thank you very much, Paul!
-
Mystery Photo:
Earlier tonight I found this photo at the bottom of a crate in the archive:
Photo courtesy of Steve A. Jones Archive
I have no idea where it was taken or when. The only clue is it says "Print Made by Kodak Mar 1980" on the back and there seems to be a ticket or pass in/on his pocket. As you know, this only establishes when it was developed, not when it was actually taken. This is all I could come up with for the six months prior to March 1980:
10/30/79 Plant and Page attend a Supertramp concert at Wembley Arena
11/1/79 Plant and Page attend a second Supertramp concert at Wembley Arena
11/10/79 The Zeppelin entourage take a block booking for Abba concert at Wembley Arena
11/25/79 Plant leads Power Plant to semi-finals in 'The Sun'/Goaldiggers five-a-side soccer competition (plays three matches)
11/28/79 Plant, Jones, Grant and Bonham and Cole attend the 'Melody Maker' Poll Awards reception at the Waldorf Hotel in London and receive seven awards
12/29/79 Plant, Bonham, and Jones participate in Paul McCartney's Concert for the People of Kampuchea at the Odeon in Hammersmith, London
1/16/80 Plant and Clapton (among others) attend reception launching 'The Summit', album aiding "International Year Of The Child" in London (venue unconfirmed). Plant also
grants an interview to Richard Skinner for broadcast on BBC Radio One's 'Newsbeat'
2/3/80 Plant attends Rockpile gig and joins them for an onstage jam at Top Rank in
Birmingham
2/5/80 Plant attends Rockpile gig at Keele University in Wales but does not perform
Any help in confirming where this photo was actually taken would be most appreciated.
-
Club names do change but they usually make some sense.."Established Owl"??
It's entirely possible I misheard what Robert said about it being the "Established Owl". I do know for certain he did say he had opened for Gene Vincent so perhaps there is an advert somewhere to substantiate where Gene had performed on that tour.
Your absolutely correct about artist and audience recollections being inaccurate. The
howler I always think of is in more recent years when Jimmy once told an interviewer
about the Earls Court concerts in "1976".
-
Thought I'd add a couple of things - first is a photo I took of Peter Grant in 1981
Can you provide details concerning a more specific date and/or location? What was the occasion? From all accounts, 1981 was a difficult year for Peter Grant, yet he
is smiling broadly.
...a good, no great, point. I've got to look into this further towards a confirmed date and location.
Bonzo's mother Joan attended a couple Led Zeppelin conventions in London back in the 90s; during one of them Bonzo's brother Mick, sister Debbie and daughter Zoe performed together (I have it all on film).
Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones
in Led Zeppelin Master Forum
Posted
Yes, and he is wearing a tie in an older b&w shot of what also appears to have been a wedding or formal social occasion at a church.