Zeppelin Mysteries Hosted by Steve A. Jones

[SteveAJones]

'Do what thou wilt'

I read, forget where, that the original pressing of III had 'Do what thou wilt' inscribed in the vinyl. As fate would have it, I was at a thrift shop about 20 years ago and bought III, as I wanted to get the pinwheel-thingy. And, I decided to look if it has that inscription and it did. I was pretty stoked until I thought that maybe it isn't rare at all.

Are these rare at all? Or are there scores of these floating around?

thanks Steve!!

The very first UK pressing included "So Mote It Be" and also credited Peter Grant on both sides of the label. Though not necessarily rare, they are in very high demand...one sold in 2011 for about $3,300 USD:

http://www.popsike.com/LED-ZEPPELIN-III-1st-UK-PRESS-PLUMRED-LABELS-ToP-AuDiO/260814465289.html

A mint condition non first pressing sold in 2012 for about $36 USD:

http://www.popsike.com/LED-ZEPPELIN-III-Original-UKpressing-Atlantic-K50002/190683749713.html

Led Zeppelin III variations are also presented here:

http://www.rarerecordcollector.net/atlantic/led-zeppelin/led-zeppelin-iii/

You may also find this article to be of interest:

http://everyrecordtellsastory.com/2014/03/03/led-zeppelin-a-vinyl-buyers-guide/

[ChevalierMacGregor]

Upon further investigation, I still I am not sure what I have. Jimmy is the producer, no mention of Peter. There is no 'So Mote it Be', but on the side that had the inscribed 'do what thou wilt' there is another inscription that says 'Mastercraft PF', all the other inscriptions are obvious done by hand, but those two are in cursive script. There is a lot of hand-gouged letters and numbers that mean nothing to me.

I tried to take a pic of the inscriptions in the vinyl but that has proved to be all but impossible using my iPhone.

Thanks again, Steve, I appreciate the information

[SteveAJones]

Upon further investigation, I still I am not sure what I have. Jimmy is the producer, no mention of Peter. There is no 'So Mote it Be', but on the side that had the inscribed 'do what thou wilt' there is another inscription that says 'Mastercraft PF', all the other inscriptions are obvious done by hand, but those two are in cursive script. There is a lot of hand-gouged letters and numbers that mean nothing to me.

I tried to take a pic of the inscriptions in the vinyl but that has proved to be all but impossible using my iPhone.

Thanks again, Steve, I appreciate the information

No Peter Grant on the label and no 'So Mote it Be' definitely rules out your album being a first pressing. Having said that, 'Mastercraft PF' in the dead wax suggests it could be a 1970s era pressing...possibly something like this:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Led-Zeppelin-III-034-Do-What-Thou-Wilt-034-Mastercraft-ARCHIVE-MASTER-Ultrasonic-CLEAN-/141343183088?nma=true&si=4BH2vQdTsRka%252B5LNURhDDKF%252FbkI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

or this:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/LED-ZEPPELIN-III-SD-7201-1970-WHEEL-PR-MASTERCRAFT-LP-DO-WHAT-THOU-WILT-/111408183544

or perhaps one of 261 different versions of Led Zeppelin III:

http://www.discogs.com/master/view/4199

Mastercraft Record Plating, Inc. operated a record stamping plant at 609 West 51st Street in New York City. It was formed on November 22, 1948.

Edited September 6, 2014 by SteveAJones

[jsj]

I've often wondered his Page secures his guitars when he travels anywhere to play. A 59 les paul recently went on sale for £225000 and jimmy has two of those and his double neck, given it's iconic status, must also be worth a fortune; throw in his tele as well and there's a million pounds or more of guitars.

I remember when he payed on a US TV show with the black crowes, the host joked about his les paul hanging around back stage, hinting to its susceptibility to theft. Also, given that he was a victim to his black gibson going astray early in zeppelin's career, I assume that he likely doesn't stroll down Kensington High Street to the tube station solo with his number one?

I appreciate it could be a touchy subject, but how does Page and other musicians with iconic instruments (mcartneys hofner bass, gilmour's strat etc) keep stuff safe?

[Cookie0024]

I've often wondered his Page secures his guitars when he travels anywhere to play.

Jimmy gets around this by never performing live

[NealR2000]

1. A big insurance policy.

2. The best guitar techs and personal assistants.

[ChevalierMacGregor]

Wow Steve... you definitely earn your salary!

Lots of good information, thanks

[SteveAJones]

Jimmy gets around this by never performing live

You little rascal! That's a good one.

1. A big insurance policy.

2. The best guitar techs and personal assistants.

Correct.

[SteveAJones]

Wow Steve... you definitely earn your salary!

There is no salary involved, so it must be an illness.

[ChevalierMacGregor]

led poisoning...

[dazedjeffy]

The other Jimmy Page was also at O2...

Syncrolite’s vice president of marketing also watched the show from the mix riser, trying his best to refrain from telling old stories of his days on the road with Zeppelin in the ’70s as part of the Showco crew, and how sharing the same name as the lead guitarist led to much confusion with groupies.

The ‘other’ Jimmy Page said: “We describe our new SX10K-D as the ‘Hammer Of The Gods’, so it’s perfect for Zeppelin — it’s an incredibly bright f**ker!”

http://www.tpimagazine.com/production-profiles/8623/led_zeppelin_the_ahmet_ertegun_tribute.html

[scylla]

I've often wondered his Page secures his guitars when he travels anywhere to play. A 59 les paul recently went on sale for £225000 and jimmy has two of those and his double neck, given it's iconic status, must also be worth a fortune; throw in his tele as well and there's a million pounds or more of guitars.

While we're sort of in the area... am I right in thinking Jimmy has two identical guitars? And if so, why? Or is there some crucial difference that only the musos understand?

[SteveAJones]

While we're sort of in the area... am I right in thinking Jimmy has two identical guitars? And if so, why? Or is there some crucial difference that only the musos understand?

His two Les Paul's are similar but not identical...these two links present an overview of them...additional details can be found by searching online

Les Paul #1

http://findingzoso.blogspot.jp/2012/03/guitarsenal-number-one-gibson-les-paul.html

Les Paul #2

http://findingzoso.blogspot.jp/2012/07/guitarsenal-jimmy-page-number-two-1959.html

[Strider]

Jimmy gets around this by never performing live

[Mike S]

His two Les Paul's are similar but not identical...these two links present an overview of them...additional details can be found by searching online

Les Paul #1

http://findingzoso.blogspot.jp/2012/03/guitarsenal-number-one-gibson-les-paul.html

Les Paul #2

http://findingzoso.blogspot.jp/2012/07/guitarsenal-jimmy-page-number-two-1959.html

that is a nice site! the other gear mystery is the red ones. http://wholelottaled.webs.com/guitars.htm scroll to #3, and #3 please. although its not much of a mystery really, he's got two, its more a matter of which one was used when?

-m

Edited September 15, 2014 by Mike S

[And You Know How It Is?]

Apologies in advance Steve if this question has been asked before. It would be great to view a transcript of all 266 pages of what I consider bar none, the best LZ Forum topic, so I could verify whether or not this has been asked in this amazing thread yet, so here goes: what is the story of LZ playing Madison Square Garden September 19, 1970, ten days after they played their last tour date in the states in Boston on September 9? I know Boston came up last minute, as a result of a cancelled gig in the area in August 1970, so they had to go from Honolulu to Boston in 3 days. But then to go back to England, attend and receive awards at Melody Maker, then fly back to New York, seems like an awful lot. Add to that, doing two Madison Square concerts in one day, why not spread them out over two days instead of two shows in one day?

If you think about it, Zep could have easily played the Garden when they were back East starting the tour in August. It's not like they were rusty, having played 4 German dates the previous month. Furthermore, it's not like the Garden was in use, since it wasn't hockey or basketball season (unless they had Barnum and Bailey in town for a week)..

It just seems mysterious:

• why Zep would fly back to the US for one date in New York
• why squeeze in two shows in one day, when they could have played Saturday night and Sunday night in the Garden

Any sound reasons for these decisions?

[SteveAJones]

Apologies in advance Steve if this question has been asked before. It would be great to view a transcript of all 266 pages of what I consider bar none, the best LZ Forum topic, so I could verify whether or not this has been asked in this amazing thread yet, so here goes: what is the story of LZ playing Madison Square Garden September 19, 1970, ten days after they played their last tour date in the states in Boston on September 9? I know Boston came up last minute, as a result of a cancelled gig in the area in August 1970, so they had to go from Honolulu to Boston in 3 days. But then to go back to England, attend and receive awards at Melody Maker, then fly back to New York, seems like an awful lot. Add to that, doing two Madison Square concerts in one day, why not spread them out over two days instead of two shows in one day?

If you think about it, Zep could have easily played the Garden when they were back East starting the tour in August. It's not like they were rusty, having played 4 German dates the previous month. Furthermore, it's not like the Garden was in use, since it wasn't hockey or basketball season (unless they had Barnum and Bailey in town for a week)..

It just seems mysterious:

• why Zep would fly back to the US for one date in New York
• why squeeze in two shows in one day, when they could have played Saturday night and Sunday night in the Garden

Any sound reasons for these decisions?

Just saw this. I will get back to you with a proper response. All I can add at the moment is they also held a press conference in New York the same day as the two gigs at Madison Square Garden.

[PlanetPage]

It's said that a picture often speaks a thousand words. Take a good look at this one

submitted to me by Horselunges and posted to the board by Mr. Zoso:

Jimmy Page and his companion Charlotte Martin upon arrival, Dorval Airport in Montreal. They look so pissed off! Here's why:

The April 18th 1970 edition of The Montreal Gazette reported Led Zeppelin departed Minneapolis for Montreal at 6am the day of the show. They transited Milwaukee before arriving in Toronto, where they encountered a very frustrating delay to clear customs.

Ultimately, they arrived in Montreal frazzled, with a show to perform that same night!

Another interesting mystery concerning Montreal 1970 is they actually returned a couple days after their Montreal Forum concert. Jimmy went browsing thru the antique district looking for a Tiffany lamp on April 15th.

More on this submitted to me from Grandmeaulne:

There is indeed an antique shopping district just a few blocks south of the old Montreal Forum. It's located on Notre-Dame street, roughly between Atwater and Guy streets.

I kick myself for throwing out my older-brother's copy of a French-language weekly entertainment paper. He attended the concert and it covered the 1970 concert straight from the moment the band landed at the Dorval airport (with pictures of the band in the arrival area) to gossips about what they did and where they went. And there was a pic of Jimmy with Charlotte waiting for their luggage!

I also remember the story because it detailed how the concert was a marketing break-through for the promoter, Donald K. Donald. Back then (and still today, to a much lesser degree) the city of Montreal was divided into two hermeticaly closed communities: English and French. While French Canadians bought records, they rarely attended concerts at the Forum (located in the English part of town) with marketing limited to the English-language press and radio. But the reviewer wrote that for once, French-Canadians did attend the show en-masse, which probably led to its record attendance for a rock concert.

I think the paper was Echo-Vedette. It still exists today as a sort of star-oriented supermarket tabloid. I'm tempted to convince the publisher to dig into his archives for that copy.

Steve, I just want to thank you for your contributions on this forum. It's good to have a devoted connaisseur who hasn't moved to a more specialized board.

..SAJ, I will make a post here but this photo/publication was also discussed in the Mystries Photos and further here in mysteris thread...as you know the publication has been identtifed but due to copyright restriction by Qubecor Media Group, Bibliotheque National Archives Quebec and similarly in Ottawa National Library, this article/images cannot be posted...some details the Library has allowed me to note this past summer, and they are as follows translated:......w.tks to Mlle Gagon;

The Forum Concert is Monday April 13, 1970...

From Photos Vedettes Magazine, dated April 25, 1970 - Unprintable Version...copyright is needed for printable version...

...On tour for 3 weeks (w/very long hours they were very tired; They Left Minneapolis at 8 am Monday morning and arrived in Toronto at noon...they left Toronto at 2:15 for Dorvall, arrived at 3:15 pm..

They were then going to leave Tuesday am from Queen Elizabeth to Ottawa for antoher show...

This photos of Jimmy Page/Charlotte Martin waiting for luggage at Montreal Airport appears on Photos Vedettes Magazine, dated 25 April 1970, 'Page' 32,

the Photographer is Pierre Dury.Com ( Pierre was kind to receive and response to my inquiry, but unable to cooperate further);

The article is five pages in total; various arrival photos of each band member individually captured (including John Bonham chatting very seriously), member in social/party atmosphere, and later the performance Forum Photos (few I noticed have been submitted to the official site here timeline, but not all and not the article ofcourse)

The artilce is very postive and it shows RObert Plant being interviewed unsure if it is for Radio or Television.

My apologies, I can only describe the photos, hope this is somewhat helpful to you for your notes..

Overall, due to low resolution and unprintable quality, difficult to view in clarity, but the first details of arrival are very clear and correct..

The Black Beauty went missing around this time period. Perhaps from the posted photos of the shows in US/Canada around these dates, can assist further, although looking at the Montreal Photo and Ottawa photos, it does not appear Jimmy is holding Black Beauty...

http://www.ledzeppelin.com/timeline/1970?page=1

Edited October 19, 2014 by PlanetPage

[SteveAJones]

^^^

Many thanks as always, Planet Page. Your post has reminded me to contact Grandmeaulne in Ottawa to seek his assistance with liberating a copy of the complete article from the Bibliotheque National Archives Quebec or the Ottawa National Library. I shall attempt to contact him this weekend.

[SteveAJones]

This today from Simon Napier-Bell:

In 1966 Rediffusion Television made a documentary about four key people in the Swinging London scene - a fashion designer, a film director, an advertising man, and a rock manager. Simon Napier-Bell was the rock manager, and this excerpt is edited out of that documentary and set to a song by Rory Fellowes, "Endlessly Friendlessly Blue". The insane car SNB is driving is a Ford Thunderbird convertible, the bass player is John Paul Jones, the guitarist is Big Jim Sullivan, Jimmy Page was making tea, and the group at the end that SNB is rehearsing with is Dianne Ferraz & Nicky Scott. For more information on all this, see "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", published by Ebury Books, available from Amazon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVNEwHg73QU

[Disco Duck]

This today from Simon Napier-Bell:

In 1966 Rediffusion Television made a documentary about four key people in the Swinging London scene - a fashion designer, a film director, an advertising man, and a rock manager. Simon Napier-Bell was the rock manager, and this excerpt is edited out of that documentary and set to a song by Rory Fellowes, "Endlessly Friendlessly Blue". The insane car SNB is driving is a Ford Thunderbird convertible, the bass player is John Paul Jones, the guitarist is Big Jim Sullivan, Jimmy Page was making tea, and the group at the end that SNB is rehearsing with is Dianne Ferraz & Nicky Scott. For more information on all this, see "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", published by Ebury Books, available from Amazon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVNEwHg73QU

Steve,

Do you know if the young black woman briefly shown in the film is Cleo Sylvestre?

Edited October 19, 2014 by Disco Duck

[SteveAJones]

Steve,

Do you know if the young black woman briefly shown in the film is Cleo Sylvestre?

Not according to the Internet Movie Data Base:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0843266/

nor her Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleo_Sylvestre

[PlanetPage]

^^^

Many thanks as always, Planet Page. Your post has reminded me to contact Grandmeaulne in Ottawa to seek his assistance with liberating a copy of the complete article from the Bibliotheque National Archives Quebec or the Ottawa National Library. I shall attempt to contact him this weekend.

..you welcome, my inquiry has now been finalized to no copyright permission granted, the Qubecor Media owns rights to both Echoes Vedettes and Photos Vedettes...sorry...

[thozil]

This today from Simon Napier-Bell:

In 1966 Rediffusion Television made a documentary about four key people in the Swinging London scene - a fashion designer, a film director, an advertising man, and a rock manager. Simon Napier-Bell was the rock manager, and this excerpt is edited out of that documentary and set to a song by Rory Fellowes, "Endlessly Friendlessly Blue". The insane car SNB is driving is a Ford Thunderbird convertible, the bass player is John Paul Jones, the guitarist is Big Jim Sullivan, Jimmy Page was making tea, and the group at the end that SNB is rehearsing with is Dianne Ferraz & Nicky Scott. For more information on all this, see "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", published by Ebury Books, available from Amazon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVNEwHg73QU

I posted this awhile back, but here's a screencap of JPJ from that film:

http://forums.ledzeppelin.com/index.php?/topic/16533-jpj-studio-footage-from-1966/

[And You Know How It Is?]

..you welcome, my inquiry has now been finalized to no copyright permission granted, the Qubecor Media owns rights to both Echoes Vedettes and Photos Vedettes...sorry...

PlanetPage and Steve,

Funny coincidence happened here on your exchange here, and so timely: prior to your email PP about your discovery, I asked Steve about this one off September 1970 Madison Square Garden date. Well, your thread brought me to the 1970 timeline section of this site, and I started looking at the April 1970 Montreal date. In looking at all the images associated with this date, one caught my eye: renown Canadian Zep writer/lover Ritchie Yorke's East Coast column. In it, he writes about Zep's next North American tour, In August and September 1970. He then quotes it will include 3 dates at Madison Square Garden!

So Steve, at least we have a little more to go by now that we have this information. Don't know whether or not it will solve the mystery on how Zep's 3 show MSG dates turned into one date with two shows on the same day, but it's a start!

Thanks PP!!!