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Phil Carson is alive and well. He is a senior executive with Atlantic Records.

He joined Led Zeppelin on bass for 'Money' at Festhalle in Frankfurt on June 30th 1980.

He also joined The Firm on tour for a jam session as well as on holiday with Jimmy in

Ibiza.

Right. I had mistaken Carson for Richie Yorke getting up on bass in Japan

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Right. I had mistaken Carson for Richie Yorke getting up on bass in Japan

Any reason you quoted Steve's post with wrong information in it?

FWIW, from Richard Cole in "Stairway To Heaven" about Carson:

"In Osaka, the band asked Phil if he wanted to make one of his occasional appearances on stage playing bass. He was a damn good bass player, and since Led Zeppelin rarely asked anyone to perform with them, Phil was honored at the invitation."

He then goes on to regale us of stories about Phil Carson being the butt of practical jokes and then, er, his other attributes. I'll leave it at that.

Edited by solar
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Any reason you quoted Steve's post with wrong information in it?

Didn't know it was wrong info. After Steve's post I checked Ritchie Yorke's book, 'The Led Zeppelin Biography,' and realized he was the one who got up in Japan.(p.67) not Carson.

Can you give me a reason why you are questioning me for that?

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Can you give me a reason why you are questioning me for that?

Just wanted to make sure SteveAJones' misinformation about Phil Carson's current whereabouts is not perpetuated into assumed fact here, as many assume his posts as 100 percent accurate 100 percent of the time. As Nine Lives posted, this is what Phil's been up to the last 15-20 years:

http://forums.ledzeppelin.com//index.php?s...308&st=280#

Phil Carson hasn't worked for Atlantic Records for quite some time.

Press release for American Masters (2007) - "Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built"

Production Bios

AMERICAN MASTERS Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built

PHIL CARSON

Music Executive

In a career that has spanned four decades, Phil Carson is firmly established as one of the most influential forces in rock music. After a successful career as a recording and touring musician, he was appointed senior vice president at Atlantic Records and was a major contributor at the label in the development of its trio of English mega bands: Led Zeppelin, Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He signed such multi-platinum artists as AC/DC, Twisted Sister, Gary Numan and Abba to Atlantic, brought Phil Collins to Warner Music Group, America to Warner Brothers, and co-produced the multi-platinum Honeydrippers CD with Robert Plant and Ahmet Ertegun. He was also responsible for bringing Virgin Records to the United States by signing a deal with Richard Branson, giving Atlantic distribution rights to the Virgin label for several years. The first release under that agreement was the multi-platinum "Tubular Bells," a groundbreaking piece of music used for the soundtrack of The Exorcist.

As president of the music division of JVC, he developed the classic rock-oriented Victory Music label. He earned a Grammy nomination for the acclaimed Muddy Water Blues album from Paul Rodgers and scored chart positions with new albums by David Bowie, Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

He is the president of Phil Carson Associates, a management and music company whose client list has included Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers, Yes, Motorhead, Asia, Foreigner, Ben E. King, Bad Company, The Who (for tour sponsorship) Twisted Sister, Jason Bonham, and Ronnie Wood. Recent projects include AMERICAN MASTERS Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records, a documentary and soundtrack album that he produced with Ahmet Ertegun. The film premiered on PBS and the Billboard chart soundtrack CD featured newly-recorded tracks from such luminaries as Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Tom Petty, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow. He also serves as president of the North American division of DVDplus International, the company that developed the invertible hybrid DVD/CD disc technology known as DualDisc and DVDplus.

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Didn't know it was wrong info. After Steve's post I checked Ritchie Yorke's book, 'The Led Zeppelin Biography,' and realized he was the one who got up in Japan.(p.67) not Carson.

Also, I can not find this information you quoted on p. 67 of my copy of Yorke's "Led Zeppelin: The Definitive Biography" -- which is Chapter 3: The Launching of Led Zeppelin -- and no mention in the section covering the Japanese tour. Cole's book says Phil Carson was who joined them on bass, which makes more sense as Carson had played bass for Dusty Springfield and Ritchie Yorke was a Canadian journalist for the Toronto Globe & Mail.

Dave Lewis' The Concert File also lists it as being Phil Carson on bass, not Yorke. Lewis quoting Carson:

"We had a good relationship and I got to jam with them on stage quite a lot. John Paul Jones would play keyboards, I would be on bass guitar and we would sail through seven or eight old rock songs. It was great. ... They did lean toward things I would be most comfortable with! Eddie Cochran songs were very high uop on my list for playing. Normally we played 'C'Mon Everybody' and old Elvis things like 'Blue Suede Shoes' and Johnny Kidd & the Pirates' "Shaking All Over.' It was great fun."

Edited by solar
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Just wanted to make sure SteveAJones' misinformation about Phil Carson's current whereabouts is not perpetuated into assumed fact here, as many assume his posts as 100 percent accurate 100 percent of the time. As Nine Lives posted, this is what Phil's been up to the last 15-20 years:

Solar, in your zeal for issuing a public service announcement you've failed to note we've

yet to confirm when (or if) Phil Carson terminated his association with Atlantic Records.

Do bear in mind the whereabouts of any record company executive is not my area of

primary expertise or interest.

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Here's plenty of confirmation, Steve

The press release for the second album from Bowie's Tin Machine:

http://www.bowiewonderworld.com/presso.htm

31st July 1991 - For Immediate Release

Tin Machine Belong In Rock & Roll

Poole Edwards

True to their word TIN MACHINE are back with a serious rock and roll album, a new label and an Autumn tour. The album - which was mainly recorded in Sydney, Australia, in late '89 and was produced by TIN MACHINE and mixed by Tim Palmer and TIN MACHINE - is due for release on September 2nd.

The album, the title of which is TIN MACHINE II, will be the first on a major new label launched by Japanese electronic giants JVC, called Victory Music. Victory Music, which is headed by former top executive at Atlantic Records, Phil Carson, will be distributed in the UK and the rest of the world, excluding the USA, by London Records, and in the USA by Polygram Records.

The first single to be released from TIN MACHINE II will be YOU BELONG IN ROCK & ROLL, which will be issued on August 12th.

He also was managing Motorhead in 1991 for their album "1916"

http://www.mf-b.ru/disks/md-1916-eng.php

And Yes for their 1991 tour:

http://www.forgottenyesterdays.com/graphic...r=2&gid=759

Also, Phil worked with Jason Bonham in 1996:

http://www.oldbuckeye.com/jason.txt

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Do you know everyone Jimmy or John Paul Jones worked with while they were studio musicians?

Hello Emma Rose. Welcome to the thread. The question you've posed is daunting and I

believe it deserves it's own thread. Perhaps you will elect to start one in the Pre/Post

Zeppelin Forum.

Unfortunately, Jimmy has been reluctant to divulge the documentation from his studio years. Other experts in this field are convinced the documentation is probably minimal

in comparison to the amount of work he actually did. The same could be said for John

Paul Jones.

John Paul Jones' official site does highlight some of his more important session work. I

know quite a bit about Jimmy's and so does swandown who is also on this forum. Adrian T'Vell in London has published some excellent guidebooks and I believe he has a website with further details.

"Is there anyone Jimmy and John Paul Jones DIDN'T work with while they were studio musicians" may be an easier question to answer!

Edited by SteveAJones
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Here's plenty of confirmation, Steve

To which I can only say thank you very much for the confirmation! The point of this

thread is to COLLABORATE towards the truth. These are mysteries, remember!

I'll just add that Phil was very involved with Jason's early success as a professional

musican.

Edit: Jason played drums on the demos of Robert Plant's first solo album in 1981. On

December 31st of that year he joint Plant and The Honeydrippers for a complete gig

at JBs in Dudley near Birmingham with his mother Pat Bonham in attendance. In 1982

Jason contributed to the sessions for Robert Plant's second solo album for 25 GBP a

day plus snacks and lager. Phil Carson telephoned Jason to ask if he'd consider

joining Airrace, who Phil thought were great but needed a different drummer. Jason

accepted the offer and Phil signed them to Atlantic Records in September 1982.

Edited by SteveAJones
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Another note on Phil Carson - He did serve as creator and exec producer for 2001's Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records disc, which featured Page/Plant and was released on Atlantic. However, at that point, a story from the Boston Globe also says that Carson was still an executive for JVC's Victory Records.

http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~presley/elnews177.htm

(scroll down to the story "Sun tribute CD makes legendary founder beam" by Steve Morse, Oct. 27, 2001)

And a quick bio from Chris Welch's 2003 book "Closer to the Edge: The Story of Yes"

PHIL CARSON. The former close ally of Yes and UK boss of Atlantic Records and Victory Records now lives in Palm Springs, California. He is president of the music division of The Shooting Gallery film company based in Los Angeles. His son Jack Carson runs their artist managament company whose clients include drummer Jason Bonham. Phil Carson was executive producer of the Sam Phillips tribute album Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records (London-Sire), released in 2001 and featuring among others Bob Dylan, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. The documentary film Good Rockin TOnight was screened on US TV in 2001.
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Another note on Phil Carson - He did serve as creator and exec producer for 2001's Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records disc, which featured Page/Plant and was released on Atlantic. However, at that point, a story from the Boston Globe also says that Carson was still an executive for JVC's Victory Records.

That's an excellent dvd. It shows Page/Plant recording 'My Bucket's Got A Hole In It'

in the presence of Ahmet Ertegun, who smiles and nods his head to the beat. Great!

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Also, I can not find this information you quoted on p. 67 of my copy of Yorke's "Led Zeppelin: The Definitive Biography" -- which is Chapter 3: The Launching of Led Zeppelin -- and no mention in the section covering the Japanese tour. Cole's book says Phil Carson was who joined them on bass, which makes more sense as Carson had played bass for Dusty Springfield and Ritchie Yorke was a Canadian journalist for the Toronto Globe & Mail.

Dave Lewis' The Concert File also lists it as being Phil Carson on bass, not Yorke. Lewis quoting Carson:

"We had a good relationship and I got to jam with them on stage quite a lot. John Paul Jones would play keyboards, I would be on bass guitar and we would sail through seven or eight old rock songs. It was great. ... They did lean toward things I would be most comfortable with! Eddie Cochran songs were very high uop on my list for playing. Normally we played 'C'Mon Everybody' and old Elvis things like 'Blue Suede Shoes' and Johnny Kidd & the Pirates' "Shaking All Over.' It was great fun."

This is from my book- The Led Zeppelin Biography, Ritchie Yorke Copyright 1976 Methuen Publications Chapter 3 The Launching Of Led Zeppelin p.67

Standing in the wings was Phil Carson, a former bass player and manager who had just been appointed Atlantic's new British director. "It was the first time I'd seen the lads play," he remembers, positively glowing at the thought. "It was just an absolutely am-aaaaz-ing concert. No band has ever played rock 'n' roll like they played it. It was just an incredible experience to see that band in the Albert Hall environment. They were just so good that night.They closed the show with a rock 'n' roll set which was probably the best I've ever heard them play ( even better than the rock 'n' roll set they later played in Osaka, Japan, with me on bloody bass)- certainly they were better than I've heard anyone else ever play a rock 'n' roll set." (Carson has since become the group's closest personal link with the record company)

Re-reading this it probably means Carson got up and played bass in Japan, but the way Yorke uses parenthesises throughout the book, interjecting his own thoughts in them, it led me to believe he got up and played. Perhaps not the most cohesive writing style for this example

Edited by deluxe
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Not to get into a lengthy discussion about Canadien journalist Ritchie Yorke but he did

interview Jimmy at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London in May 1972 during the sessions

for 'Houses of the Holy'. He was writing for 'Rainbow' magazine at the time and their

interview was published in 'Rainbow' magazine's May 29, 1972 issue. My point is he

had sufficient means and support to travel outside of Toronto in pursuit of a story,

particularly if it was Led Zeppelin.

Edited by SteveAJones
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Not to get into a lengthy discussion about Canadien journalist Ritchie Yorke but he did

interview Jimmy at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London in May 1972 during the sessions

for 'Houses of the Holy'. He was writing for 'Rainbow' magazine at the time and their

interview was published in 'Rainbow' magazine's May 29, 1972 issue. My point is he

had sufficient means and support to travel outside of Toronto in pursuit of a story,

particularly if it was Led Zeppelin.

I believe Ritchie has returned to his native Australia http://www.ritchieyorke.com/index.php?node...&pagesid=72. And yes, he has traveled extensively with the band and was widely considered one of the first mainstream rock writers to "get" what Led Zeppelin was attempting musically.

My point, though, was more that he was not a bass player and wouldn't have had the band's confidence to join them on stage. I believe deluxe caught the error in his misreading of the poor parenthetical quoting which Yorke wrote in that Phil Carson quote. The parentheses inside the quote marks were Carson's words, while those outside the quotes were Yorke's.

Edited by solar
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Do you know everyone Jimmy or John Paul Jones worked with while they were studio musciains?

This is a question that will never be answered. There were no records kept, and it's simply not possible for all the musicians to remember every single session that they played on.

Jimmy was a full-time session guitarist from the fall of 1963 until June 1966 when he joined The Yardbirds. In that timespan he played on literally thousands of records. Only a couple hundred are known to collectors.

John Paul Jones was a full-time session player from 1963 until August 1968 when he joined Led Zeppelin. He probably contributed to twice as many sessions as Jimmy did.

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Thanks for answering, Steve A Jones and swandown. I didn't know they didn't keep records. Wouldn't they want to be credited for their work?

They would have been more interested in just getting paid. You see session players were rarely credited which is what leads to many of the disputes over the years as

to who played what.

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They would have been more interested in just getting paid. You see session players were rarely credited which is what leads to many of the disputes over the years as

to who played what.

I guess that makes sense. It still seems a little wierd to me tho, but I guess things were different in the 60s

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Thanks for answering, Steve A Jones and swandown. I didn't know they didn't keep records. Wouldn't they want to be credited for their work?

I'm sure that Jimmy and JPJ would have wanted to be credited, but it simply wasn't the practice of the time to list all the backing musicians for every record. Most records were released as 7" singles without picture sleeves, which means that ALL the credits had to be put on a tiny little record label. They barely had enough room to list the song title, the artist's name, and the producer's name.

Another factor is that the record companies wanted to hide the fact that the bands didn't play on their own records (otherwise it would hurt sales). So they deliberately made sure that no records were kept. The record company hired a producer, who then hired a person known as a "fixer", who then hired the session musicians. The fixer was the only person who knew exactly who played on the session. And he had no reason to keep a diary.

I'm sure that in the early days (1964) both Jimmy and JPJ made note of the "big name" sessions that they played on. But after a few months the luster wore off and it just became a job to them. All the sessions started to sound the same.

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