76229 Posted September 28, 2018 Share Posted September 28, 2018 I finally caved in and bought this book. To my great surprise it's actually not bad. One bit stood out for me though and made my jaw drop. It says that Mickie Most put cash up to help finance the first US tour in 68/69, and received 1% of Zeppelin's income in perpetuity. Wtf?! That's not like 1% of the income of Dumpy's Rusty Nuts. That's serious money. Then it's never referred to again, annoyingly. I'd love to know if that's true, and if it is, if it was ever renegotiated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morningson Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 On 9/11/2018 at 5:16 PM, the chase said: It is a shame. Chris Cornell was so good. Same with Michael Lee.. Jimmy had a Drummer he could really lock in with, probably the best match for him since John Bonham.. Michael Lee's death was so sad. He was a tremendous drummer. He wasn't Bonham, but who is? I loved how he played and he always looked like he was having a ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstork Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 12 hours ago, morningson said: Michael Lee's death was so sad. He was a tremendous drummer. He wasn't Bonham, but who is? I loved how he played and he always looked like he was having a ball. Agreed, what a talent. Saw Page and Plant at MSG in July ‘98, they were on fire and my friend took to calling Michael Lee “Animal” after the famous muppet after watching the way he attacked his kit that night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucisfero Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Well, I'll try to do my best English, and my point of view is like this: Evidently, this book reveals more about the author than his subject. Salewicz and his partners in business makes the reader believe they produced “The Definitive Biography” about Jimmy Page, but they fails miserably. I think this is often the case when these so called professional and experienced journos attempts to decipher those elusive and hermetic keys that leads to revelations exposing the enigma that lay behind and upfront Page's figure - and by extention his rock band. The mediocrity of Salewicz work doesn’t do justice to the complete and visionary artist Page was, especially at the height of his possibilities, when he pulled out all his tricks leading up the Zeppelin through the seventies for the sake of art and power - working VERY hard, in focus, from within the recording industry and, of course, kicking some serious asses in this conspiracy process. Despite interesting sources who provide access to the more intimate aspects of the artist’s life (especially his early years) and some balanced judgements, the author often sinks into a mud of boring writing, common places, speculations and useless details that make his work look more like girly hairdressing gossip than a really serious “definitive” biography, particularly when dear old Chris does his better to deal with Page’s studies about occult sciences, Aleister Crowley and magick (proving one more time this isn't a subject everybody can understand). So, the book's title is a lame commercial hook and his content a highly subjective interpretation. In justice, it would have been more appropriate to call it “Jimmy Page, a Biography”. If you are looking for a point of view to study the history of this man in comparison to other biographical works about Jimmy, this book may be useful… but hardly definitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babysquid Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 I certainly isn’t the definitive biography. Just another led Led Zeppelin bio with a few extra Page pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 12 hours ago, lucisfero said: Well, I'll try to do my best English, and my point of view is like this: Evidently, this book reveals more about the author than his subject. Salewicz and his partners in business makes the reader believe they produced “The Definitive Biography” about Jimmy Page, but they fails miserably. I think this is often the case when these so called professional and experienced journos attempts to decipher those elusive and hermetic keys that leads to revelations exposing the enigma that lay behind and upfront Page's figure - and by extention his rock band. The mediocrity of Salewicz work doesn’t do justice to the complete and visionary artist Page was, especially at the height of his possibilities, when he pulled out all his tricks leading up the Zeppelin through the seventies for the sake of art and power - working VERY hard, in focus, from within the recording industry and, of course, kicking some serious asses in this conspiracy process. Despite interesting sources who provide access to the more intimate aspects of the artist’s life (especially his early years) and some balanced judgements, the author often sinks into a mud of boring writing, common places, speculations and useless details that make his work look more like girly hairdressing gossip than a really serious “definitive” biography, particularly when dear old Chris does his better to deal with Page’s studies about occult sciences, Aleister Crowley and magick (proving one more time this isn't a subject everybody can understand). So, the book's title is a lame commercial hook and his content a highly subjective interpretation. In justice, it would have been more appropriate to call it “Jimmy Page, a Biography”. If you are looking for a point of view to study the history of this man in comparison to other biographical works about Jimmy, this book may be useful… but hardly definitive. Chris Salewicz surrendered all objectivity and credibility while promoting this book earlier this year when in comparison to Jimmy Page he referred to the legendary Keith Richards as "a mere also ran in the greatest UK rock star stakes". Keith's not #1, but he sure as hell places in the Top 20, if not Top 10. Additionally, if I recall correctly, Chris Salewicz hasn't been in the same room as Jimmy Page since the original interviews were conducted in the late 1970s. It seems Chris used those original interviews as the foundation for the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucisfero Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 On 12/24/2018 at 4:35 AM, SteveAJones said: Chris Salewicz surrendered all objectivity and credibility while promoting this book earlier this year when in comparison to Jimmy Page he referred to the legendary Keith Richards as "a mere also ran in the greatest UK rock star stakes". Keith's not #1, but he sure as hell places in the Top 20, if not Top 10. Additionally, if I recall correctly, Chris Salewicz hasn't been in the same room as Jimmy Page since the original interviews were conducted in the late 1970s. It seems Chris used those original interviews as the foundation for the book. Yes Steve, I remember those interviews very well. I used to like Chris, he had managed to get some very interesting comments from the usually elusive Jimmy about his many interests other than music (Gig Magazine 1977 and NME 1979). And I remembered him for his interesting NME article about the Page-Anger combat back in 1976 (“Anger Rising”, I think that was called). Part of his stuff had helped me, many years ago, to know things about Jimmy when I was searching very passionately in my pre-internet days. So, when I became aware of his "definitive bio" I thought it would be interesting, despite the reviews I had read in the English newspapers, which of course were sensationalistic promotional crap. I was curious to know more about what new things he has to offer, like every time a new book, mag, and whatever about or in connection with the band is published. So you can bet how mad I was when I read some of his stuff. He sometimes speaks as if he had access to Jimmy's private world. One can clearly understand why Jimmy and the other Zepp lads hated the press so much, even know, no matter how polite the game is. By the way Steve, how accurately is that information about that divorce of Jimmy's parents? I think you know about it. Salewicz claims that happened in the mid sixties and blah, blah, but I think you said it actually was in the seventies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roof Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I've loved reading the first half of this book: if you're about to, arm yourself with you tube access close by, and listen to all of the songs mentioned, it's fascinating and engrossing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithril46 Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Well there are some little known facts or tidbits in the new book. But overall not much insight about Jimmy's creative modus operandi or penetrating what drove him in other matters. Actually the Mick Wall or Barney Hoskins Zep biographies are much better books than this one. I really think there is no "definitive" Jimmy Page biography for various reasons. One is that Jimmy is a very complex person, just as macho as he is feminine, which is great for art but not all that great for human relations. Second is that as far as interviews go, Jimmy has great difficulties at letting his guard down regarding anything but music, although sometimes like in Nick Kent's 79' pre-Knebworth interview , Jimmy talks about all kinds of things very coherently. Third is that some people forget that for a long time Zep was a underground band, and all this paparazzi stuff and following stars around, and no internet, Jimmy basically vanished between tours. I remember when Zep split, Page might as well have fallen off the earth, there was all kinds of speculation what he was up to.in the rock magazines. Mainly Jimmy was very guarded, and then biography writers had to extrapolate what he meant by a statement, and that makes it hard for biography writers as to some degree they had to add on questionable assumptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bong-Man Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 On 9/28/2018 at 8:49 AM, 76229 said: I finally caved in and bought this book. To my great surprise it's actually not bad. One bit stood out for me though and made my jaw drop. It says that Mickie Most put cash up to help finance the first US tour in 68/69, and received 1% of Zeppelin's income in perpetuity. Wtf?! That's not like 1% of the income of Dumpy's Rusty Nuts. That's serious money. Then it's never referred to again, annoyingly. I'd love to know if that's true, and if it is, if it was ever renegotiated. I've never heard this referenced anywhere else either. Getting a bit of financing from Most certainly isn't farfetched, as he had business relationships at some point with everyone involved during that time-frame, but the perpetuity angle doesn't sound like something Jimmy or Grant would be contractually interested in at all. Perhaps Most just lent Grant some personal cash so Peter could hold up his end of financing and pre-arranging the first tour. After all, it was the Holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvlz2 Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 (edited) Just read about this today, although not too sure about the contents of the book yet. http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/new-jimmy-page-book-the-anthology-due-out-later-this-year/ Edited March 29, 2019 by luvlz2 clarify Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porgie66 Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 3 hours ago, luvlz2 said: Just read about this today, although not too sure about the content. http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/new-jimmy-page-book-the-anthology-due-out-later-this-year/ yeah, I posted about this in the 50th anniversary thread earlier this morning. What could be more underwhelming right now , another book!? Good grief! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvlz2 Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, porgie66 said: yeah, I posted about this in the 50th anniversary thread earlier this morning. What could be more underwhelming right now , another book!? Good grief! Would love a live Led Zeppelin anthology or solo anthology to go with the book full of blurays, dvds. cds, vinyls, downloads, etc. Edited March 29, 2019 by luvlz2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverseas Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) On 3/24/2019 at 4:43 PM, Mithril46 said: is that Jimmy is a very complex person, just as macho as he is feminine. . lol. Page Macho? Lol. He has the body (in the ‘70s) of a teen girl. Unlike Robert, Page never played any sport like soccer or tennis. I like JP as guitarist and rock God, but he was mainly an antisocial junkie. Edited March 29, 2019 by Silverseas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 7 hours ago, Silverseas said: Having said that, he's probably banged more women that you or I have had hot dinners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76229 Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 8 hours ago, Silverseas said: I thought it was odd when Mick Wall claimed Page was now a mad keen Chelsea FC fan (and that he did nothing nowadays but sit around watching football on tv) when he'd previously shown zero interest in the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chillumpuffer Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, 76229 said: I thought it was odd when Mick Wall claimed Page was now a mad keen Chelsea FC fan (and that he did nothing nowadays but sit around watching football on tv) when he'd previously shown zero interest in the game. Just goes to show that sometimes talented musicians have no taste Edited March 29, 2019 by chillumpuffer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 15 hours ago, Silverseas said: You might want to fix your post. You've made it look like Mithril46 said your words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xolo1974 Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 7 hours ago, chillumpuffer said: Just goes to show that sometimes talented musicians have no taste Seconded. They’re shite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morningson Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 On 3/29/2019 at 1:07 PM, 76229 said: I thought it was odd when Mick Wall claimed Page was now a mad keen Chelsea FC fan (and that he did nothing nowadays but sit around watching football on tv) when he'd previously shown zero interest in the game. I thought it was even odder that Mick Wall padded his book out with paragraphs full of his dreamt up thoughts members of Zeppelin and Grant would say in ridiculous language and prose, thus singling him out as the worst writer on Planet Fucking Earth. Barney Hoskyns' book knocks it into a tin hat and then cleans it clock with plenty to spare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76229 Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 12 hours ago, morningson said: I thought it was even odder that Mick Wall padded his book out with paragraphs full of his dreamt up thoughts members of Zeppelin and Grant would say in ridiculous language and prose, thus singling him out as the worst writer on Planet Fucking Earth. Barney Hoskyns' book knocks it into a tin hat and then cleans it clock with plenty to spare. Yeah, Wall is to rock writing what Rob Liefeld is to comic art, or Herman Tilke to designing motor racing circuits. He's terrible, but he keeps getting commissioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigante Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 27 minutes ago, 76229 said: He's terrible, but he keeps getting commissioned. Wall's deluded, too - he actually thinks he's a writer of some standing. Nay, of distinguished merit! Snort... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithril46 Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Those two books, yes the authors get bizarrely self-important and just ridiculous at times, but in my Zep collection of 25-30 books, overall the books are well written and do have a good amount of previously unknown or pretty obscure facts. IMHO, for some strange reason many Zep books only succeed if they are focused in on one aspect of the band, like their live performances, or how every song recorded in the studio came about, or the many mainly photo books. Anyway , somehow my phrase about Page being just as macho as he is feminine, got really misunderstood. Maybe a better way to put it is once Jimmy got mad about something, his "femininity " went out the window. I can give examples, but I still remember what Ritchie Yorke ( wrote 2 or 3 Zep books) said on this radio interview describing individual band members. About Page( I taped this, but this was like 78', tape is shot) Jimmy could be a violent person at times, but he also had this gentility about him. Believe it or not, John Lennon could be the same way, although not generally known. Page never "sniffed" around for trouble or looked for fights, but that doesn't mean he wasn't macho in other areas or occasions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morningson Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 10 hours ago, 76229 said: Yeah, Wall is to rock writing what Rob Liefeld is to comic art, or Herman Tilke to designing motor racing circuits. He's terrible, but he keeps getting commissioned. Mate, you are so right about Hermann Tilke. I know this is a Zeppelin forum but that man is destroying F1 with his boring circuit designs. There's a reason why Monaco and Spa are the jewels in the F1 crown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morningson Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 10 hours ago, Brigante said: Wall's deluded, too - he actually thinks he's a writer of some standing. Nay, of distinguished merit! Snort... I bought a book he wrote about GNR and at least half of it was him sniping at the band, really juvenile and puerile stuff. There was also a Pearl Jam biography he wrote that was so fatous and copy and pasted it might have well as been written by a massive shit from a one year old baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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