Bill Curbishley: Fired by Page, later let Plant go...

[anniemouse]

Again Mr Jones and Ip thank you for the information. I am always nervous in asking questions so thank you for your patience.

[Raj24]

I’ve always thought the “great swan” of Led Zeppelin looked very elegant but little did I know the frantic paddling that was going on just under the surface. Okay I knew there were issues with Page and Plant and with Jonesy from the 80’s onwards but it is only since coming on this forum and following a lot of the threads that I now realise what a precarious ride it has been right from the very beginning and I’ve been following them since about 1975,  Chuffin’eck!

[mstork]

Heard Bill Curbishley interviewed on Bob Lefsetz’s podcast today.. According to BC, a friend of his recently ran into Page, who asked him to send his love to Curbishley, and added that he had come to realize how much good he did for him when he was his manager.  Just thought it as an interesting addition to the thread, Jimmy’s many manager switches are interesting/puzzling to me, and it really seems Curbishley did a great thing for him and the others regarding their publishing rights.

[SteveAJones]

4 hours ago, mstork said:

Heard Bill Curbishley interviewed on Bob Lefsetz’s podcast today.. According to BC, a friend of his recently ran into Page, who asked him to send his love to Curbishley, and added that he had come to realize how much good he did for him when he was his manager.  Just thought it as an interesting addition to the thread, Jimmy’s many manager switches are interesting/puzzling to me, and it really seems Curbishley did a great thing for him and the others regarding their publishing rights.

Bill's wise advice and council saved Robert Plant's solo career.

Jimmy Page under self-management is...lacking.

 

[reids]

2 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

Bill's wise advice and council saved Robert Plant's solo career.

Jimmy Page under self-management is...lacking.

 

+1

maybe JP will work again with Bill for a future special project needing assistance.

R😎

[mstork]

On 12/6/2019 at 3:37 AM, SteveAJones said:

Bill's wise advice and council saved Robert Plant's solo career.

Jimmy Page under self-management is...lacking.

 

BC also clearly ended on a bad note with Robert. The interview is a good listen, most of it regards The Who as he’s been with them a really long time, but the Page and Plant stories are interesting...

[JeffLZ]

On 12/6/2019 at 2:37 AM, SteveAJones said:

Bill's wise advice and council saved Robert Plant's solo career.

Jimmy Page under self-management is...lacking.

 

Did BC start managing Plant in 1982?  I've never heard that before - I thought it was Phil Carson that managed him early on.  It's confusing.  Also - the selling of publishing shocks me, there isn't a lot of info about that.

[Brigante]

Bill Curbishley became Robert's manager between Shaken 'n' Stirred and Now and Zen. It may well have been Bill who persuaded Robert to rein in the experimental pieces, get a younger band and play a few Zeppelin songs. Or Bill may have been one of them - I think someone once said that Phil Johnstone urged him to think about going that way too.  

Edited April 24, 2023 by Brigante

[Cookie0024]

15 hours ago, JeffLZ said:

Did BC start managing Plant in 1982?  I've never heard that before - I thought it was Phil Carson that managed him early on.  It's confusing.  Also - the selling of publishing shocks me, there isn't a lot of info about that.

I'm also very curious about the sale of Robert's publishing rights for Led Zeppelin music. I've tried digging around on it but found no reliable sources on what happened and when.

[SteveAJones]

On 4/23/2023 at 3:14 PM, JeffLZ said:

Did BC start managing Plant in 1982?  I've never heard that before - I thought it was Phil Carson that managed him early on.  It's confusing.  Also - the selling of publishing shocks me, there isn't a lot of info about that.

It was Peter Grant who secured Robert's first deal as a solo artist with Atlantic Records. On October 14, 1985 Robert issued a press release that everyone in his band was out. In a subsequent interview, he said the reason why is because he had grown weary of their "menopausal rumblings".

In October 1986, Robert met Phil Johnstone and Dave Barrett and the three began writing new songs within two days. In January 1987, Doug Boyle was brought in and Chris Blackwell soonafter. Charlie Jones joined "in the final stages of recording", replacing Phil Scragg.

Meanwhile, in Autumn 1986 Robert signed a new management deal with Bill Curbishley's London-based Trinifold. It was indeed Bill Curbishley who carefully explained to Robert that if he intended to maintain a viable solo career he must return to performing Led Zeppelin material. His newfound willingness to do so ushered in an era of unprecedented success as a solo artist.

9 hours ago, Cookie0024 said:

I'm also very curious about the sale of Robert's publishing rights for Led Zeppelin music. I've tried digging around on it but found no reliable sources on what happened and when.

I'm posting from memory so bear with me...as I recall Peter negotiated a two-album deal with Atlantic Records to establish Robert as a solo artist. As I recall, Robert sold his rights to receive royalties from sales of Led Zeppelin's back catalog (the 10 original albums) during negotiations for the next deal. One motivation was that by cashing out it allowed him to launch the Esperanza label. It also coincided with an imminent divorce -- make of that what you will. Anyway, no one could have predicted something called the compact disc would come along to revolutionize the music industry. Sales were slumping such that Coda as a new release was hailed for bringing consumers back into the record stores.

[Cookie0024]

Thank you, Steve!

[SteveAJones]

37 minutes ago, Cookie0024 said:

Thank you, Steve!

It's been discussed here in the past with more lucidity, but the search function may or may not reveal the precise threads. Perhaps search key words "royalties" or "back catalog".

[Plant77]

On 4/25/2023 at 2:49 AM, SteveAJones said:

It's been discussed here in the past with more lucidity, but the search function may or may not reveal the precise threads. Perhaps search key words "royalties" or "back catalog".

Thank you for all the wonderful information Steve. If I am mistaken I apologize, but I thought the Esperanza label was before Shaken and Stirred. I thought that Album dropped in 85. I know that his 87/88 album Now and Zen was 2/88. He absolutely started playing Zeppelin after and or during that time. I am sorry, I am looking it up now and you are correct. The label and the management was absolutely in the timeline you explained above. Damn, you are good Sir. Please offend someone soon, I miss it. 
 

Thanks Steve. I appreciate your unbelievable knowledge of this band. It blows me away. People can feel like they are a Zeppelin fan, but they really need to read any number of your threads to realize that they/I have a lot to learn.

 

Cheers Steve. Thanks again. 

[SteveAJones]

9 hours ago, Plant77 said:

Thank you for all the wonderful information Steve. If I am mistaken I apologize, but I thought the Esperanza label was before Shaken and Stirred. I thought that Album dropped in 85. I know that his 87/88 album Now and Zen was 2/88. He absolutely started playing Zeppelin after and or during that time. I am sorry, I am looking it up now and you are correct. The label and the management was absolutely in the timeline you explained above. Damn, you are good Sir. Please offend someone soon, I miss it. 

Thanks Steve. I appreciate your unbelievable knowledge of this band. It blows me away. People can feel like they are a Zeppelin fan, but they really need to read any number of your threads to realize that they/I have a lot to learn.

Cheers Steve. Thanks again. 

Well, just to be clear don't conflate his selling his rights to receive royalties from sales of Led Zeppelin's back catalog with his change of bandmates and management. They were two separate and distinct events, with the change of bandmates and management occuring afterward.

Just between us girls, there was a time in my life when my ability to recall events and capacity to aggregate information and retain it was rather remarkable if I do say so myself. That was a very long time ago and I have become convinced I'm entering the back nine of mental acuity. I am exceedingly hesitant to post anything from memory anymore. Oh sure, I usually will get the gist of it right but the finer details escape me. Fortunately, I always journaled a lot, took copious amounts of notes and my unpublished memoir was drafted long ago. The upside of getting old is one reaches a point in life where one has little left to say, if only because it's all been said before and there's a search function.🙂  

Edited April 27, 2023 by SteveAJones

[Zep Hed]

We could all use one of those in our brains, right? A search function!! 😄

[SteveAJones]

13 hours ago, Zep Hed said:

We could all use one of those in our brains, right? A search function!! 😄

Sure! As well as pause and delete. 😇

[Plant77]

On 4/27/2023 at 5:01 AM, SteveAJones said:

Well, just to be clear don't conflate his selling his rights to receive royalties from sales of Led Zeppelin's back catalog with his change of bandmates and management. They were two separate and distinct events, with the change of bandmates and management occuring afterward.

Just between us girls, there was a time in my life when my ability to recall events and capacity to aggregate information and retain it was rather remarkable if I do say so myself. That was a very long time ago and I have become convinced I'm entering the back nine of mental acuity. I am exceedingly hesitant to post anything from memory anymore. Oh sure, I usually will get the gist of it right but the finer details escape me. Fortunately, I always journaled a lot, took copious amounts of notes and my unpublished memoir was drafted long ago. The upside of getting old is one reaches a point in life where one has little left to say, if only because it's all been said before and there's a search function.🙂  

I loved the back nine reference Steve. In my profession I have to remember all kinds of information all day everyday. I am finding it harder to remember verses just writing it down to make sure I don’t forget. I like to think as we get older our minds are full of more information and we have more to remember. I truly believe that. So to not let the inconsequential information go, we actually have to try and work on those memories. 
 

Thanks again for the info. I know for sure you have answered this many times, I thought that Robert was able to get his royalties back, or that he had to purchase them back. If I am mistaken and you have answered this many times I apologize. 
 

Have a great night Steve.