New York radio personality Carol Miller will be proudly presenting the Led Zeppelin reissues on her program. The first of six weekly broadcasts dedicated to the original three Led Zeppelin albums will air on her flagship station, Q104.3, next Monday, May 26.
Shows 1 & 2 - Carol Miller's Get the Led Out on the debut album Led Zeppelin
June 3 - The box sets for the first three albums become available for purchase in the United States
Shows 3 & 4 - Carol Miller's Get the Led Out on Led Zeppelin II
Shows 5 & 6 - Carol Miller's Get the Led Out on Led Zeppelin III
Throughout the six weeks, the show will also be airing the recording of Carol Miller's "exclusive conversation with Led Zeppelin guitarist and producer Jimmy Page." From the show's official press release: "Page was intimately involved with the re-mastering process of the original Led Zeppelin material and also with the bonus tracks that will be included on the new deluxe editions of these classic albums."
The radio show is distributed nationwide to classic rock stations. If your classic rock station doesn't already get the Led out properly with Carol Miller, then you'll be missing out! Call your program director and ask for Carol Miller's Get the Led Out. As a disclosure, I contribute to the show, and I'm a fan too.
It just so happens that at the time the last of these six shows airs in New York, I'll be 132 miles away, onstage with the band Get the Led Out, The American Led Zeppelin, at the Ocean City Music Pier, Moorlyn Terrace, in Ocean City, N.J. This will be my ninth time sitting in with the band, playing all the keyboard parts. We'll be performing live the album versions of songs from all over Led Zeppelin's catalog, not just the first three albums.
Just think of all the things I might be brushing up on playing now! Maybe the Clavi on "Trampled Under Foot."What about the synths on "All My Love"? Perhaps the fluty recorders and electric piano on "Stairway to Heaven"? See you in Ocean City!
Isn't it interesting that nearly all of the Led Zeppelin news coverage anywhere on Thursday was centered on Robert Plant's declaration that there was "zero" chance of another Led Zeppelin reunion? In case you missed it, that's what he told the BBC in the very last second of a six-minute chat aired on BBC radio Wednesday morning and was available online for listening all over the world.
It's what he said in the very last second, the "zero" chance comment, that stole the headlines. Because there's always been an interest in a Led Zeppelin reunion, no matter when the last one was, or how discouragingly bad the last one was, or how astonishingly good the last one was. But Robert's closed the door.
Jimmy admitted, in his separate interview, also broadcast April 23, that he's more surprised than anyone there's not been a reunion. Furthermore, he's not the one to ask about a Led Zeppelin reunion. He's only the guitar player. He's not the singer. You should ask the singer. And so they did, and the singer said no. It was an outright no. And as Brian Gardiner astutely observed on his site, this is exactly what he could have said a long time ago and saved us all some agony.
I'm feeling really badly for Jimmy now. I think he put a whole lotta stock in the inevitability that Robert would change his mind once again. It's possible Jimmy didn't want to get any kind of a studio or live project going again unless Robert was going to be the frontman. Luckily, John Paul Jones doesn't feel that way, and we've gotten Them Crooked Vultures, Seasick Steve, Minibus Pimps, I won't repeat myself...
What was really cool is the fact that neither of the two Led Zeppelin bonus tracks premiered by the BBC at the same time was anything ardent fans have ever heard before. (Correct me if I'm wrong!) Jimmy truly dug into boxes of tapes, and took two years doing it, to arrive at the best stuff there is. And so far, this is stuff that never leaked to the masses.
We've now heard a minute's worth of the Led Zeppelin III outtake "Key to the Highway" (none of the "Trouble in Mind" portion expected later) and learned it was recorded 30 minutes after "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper." It features Robert Plant singing through the same reverberating filter also heard on another studio outtake already distributed and well known among bootleg collectors. But it's a totally different melody, and the chord progression features a nice two-five turnaround seldom heard in the blues.
Representing Led Zeppelin II's bonus disc is a rough mix of "Whole Lotta Love" with an alternate vocal. This is nothing that came out with the multitracks when they leaked online in February 2012. Hmm, just over two years ago, which we can now surmise is when Jimmy started working on this remasters-plus-bonus project taking advantage of technological advancements of the past two decades since the first remastered Led Zeppelin CDs ...
And this is all in addition to the sweet first track of the live CD accompanying the Led Zeppelin remaster, which we can stream on Spotify now whenever we want.
Also, it was fun hearing Robert admit he was imitating the stylings of Steve Marriott on "Whole Lotta Love." Isn't it funny how Jimmy wanted Steve Marriott as the singer and instead got a Steve Marriott imitator? Not that Robert was a Steve Marriott imitator all the time. He says he was this for one three-minute song, then onto something else entirely different for another. Great point!
It sure would be nice hearing from John Paul Jones on these matters. I wonder why not.
Anyway, now that Robert closed the door to any future Led Zeppelin reunions, what impact will that make on whether Jimmy picks up a guitar again, in his 70s, and goes out there with somebody else?
"It's good news for the New Year," says a message posted Jan. 1, 2014, on Jimmy Page's website. "The first of the Led Zeppelin releases - comprising of Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III and their companion discs - will be released this year."
(Editor's note: So the title of Led Zeppelin's first album is Led Zeppelin I, Jimmy? What's the title of the one after Led Zeppelin III?)
In the New Year's message, Page also:
announces some solo material -- "I've also been working on some of my own material from the archives that will be unleashed in 2014."
sends fans his well wishes -- "Hello there and Happy New Year to you all. I hope you are enjoying the holidays. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the support you've given the website." [www.JimmyPage.com]
references a blues song when he closed with the words, "Let The Good Times Roll!"
and signs the message with his name and autograph.
Coincidentally (or perhaps not), New Year's Day 2010 was when UK's The Independent caught Page admitting that he was already "a year behind" on a project with "lots of new music to present."
Page followed up in July 2011 by launching his website and using it twice in its first nine months to sell vinyl pressings of his past solo work. The first, Death Wish II, was a re-released soundtrack album Page had originally released on the Swan Song label in 1982. The second, Lucifer Rising and Other Soundtracks, contained instrumental solo material Page had recorded in the 1970s but had not released.
Walking into Clarksdale, the 1998 album he recorded with Robert Plant, marks the last time Page recorded a full album and released it within months. That disc will enjoy its 16th anniversary in April.
A literal interpretation of Page's remark today about future Led Zeppelin box sets holds that fans can expect one release this year, namely, what is presumably a 6-CD box set focusing on the first three Led Zeppelin albums, recorded in 1968, 1969 and 1970. The set would include the three albums in their original running order with as many as three additional discs of bonus material.
This year will then usher in the fourth intentional wave of rebranding and repackaging Led Zeppelin's studio material. Between 1990 and 1993 came the original self-titled 4-CD box set along with the Remasters, Box Set 2 and Complete Studio Recordings sets. A pair of single-CD sets, Early Days and Latter Days, followed between 1999 and 2000, later to be combined and sold as one. Mothership followed in 2007, offering a remastered look at an updated 2-CD summation of the group's studio tracks.
Individual box sets of newly remastered Led Zeppelin's audio catalog, along with bonus materials, are to be released at different points throughout 2014, Jimmy Page said today when asked in London.
"Each of the albums has been remastered, but it also has a companion disc with it," the guitarist told broadcaster Nicky Horne for Team Rock Radio. "Each disc will give a really intimate picture of the group."
They were in London, where Page was taking part in the Classic Rock Awards because not only was he presenting an award, but also Led Zeppelin was receiving one.
Film/DVD of the Year went to Led Zeppelin's DVD "Celebration Day," the playback of the band's triumphant 2007 reunion show, also in London.
Horne began his four-minute Q&A session with Page by asking him for some recollections about that concert. Before long, Horne switched gears and asked for some follow-up on the Led Zeppelin remasters.
They made news when Page's answers began to provide more specifics about the nature of the releases. For one, he said the work is already complete on the sonic aspects of the box sets. He explained that each album's companion disc would contain goodies such as alternate mixes and alternate takes.
As an example, he said Led Zeppelin III would appear in remastered form, as part of an individual box set, and on its companion disc we will find an alternate version of their blues number "Since I've Been Loving You."
"There's an incredible version of that," he said. "It's very raw in its approach. It's quite dramatic. It's cool."
Page did not divulge any other previously unreleased material that could be expected, so as to maintain the element of surprise.
When asked when the box sets would be released, Page could not point to any precise date. He stressed that they would be released not all at once but separately over time.
Acknowledging last year's remarks that these releases were to have started happening in 2013, and that the current year is almost over, Page said, "I'd rather hoped it would come out this side of the new year, but it will come out in the new year."
Then he trailed off and said something about it possibly not even being ready for this time next year. I chose to ignore that part, and you can too. The audio is available courtesy of Team Rock Radio's Soundcloud page.
On a side note, I'm sorry for the sporadic nature of this so-called "News" site; this is only the second news alert I've written this year. I am pleased to report that while I'm not doing as much writing, I am doing a lot of playing. Musically, that is.
Twice last year and once this year, I toured with the band Get the Led Out, filling in for one of their members. This enabled me to travel a bit -- Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin -- helping to replicate Led Zeppelin's studio recordings in a live atmosphere, much to the appreciation of eight separate crowds. One of the outdoor shows in Ohio this past summer may have had the largest audience I've ever seen.
The Death Wish II soundtrack was the first album released by any surviving member of Led Zeppelin after the group disbanded in 1980.
It was 30 years ago on Sept. 15 that Page recorded an instrumental that was used as the film's main title sequence but was not available on the original soundtrack album.
That instrumental, an early version of the album's song "Who's to Blame" simply called "Synth Track," is said to be added to the track listing of the remastered soundtrack to be issued in October.
Page says the working title "referred to the initial guitar track performed on a guitar synthesiser with further overdubs with guitar synthesiser and melody lines from a Telecaster string bender."
For only 24 hours, the front page of Page's site features a clip of "Synth Track." He says he recently found a white label test pressing of it in his personal collection.
The release is also to include liner notes newly written by Page. He explains on his site:
In 1981, Michael Winner asked me if I would compose the soundtrack to Death Wish II. The songs with vocals were only going to appear in the film for a matter of seconds but I had recorded full versions of them anyway - which is how I ended up doing my first soundtrack and soundtrack album. I’ve re-released this because I wanted it to be available again.
Only 1,000 copies of the remastered Death Wish II vinyl are to be pressed, according to Page's site. They are to be sold exclusively through the forthcoming shop on JimmyPage.com. No plans have been announced for any other reissues at this time.
Page launched his first official site on July 14, saying in an interview published on it four days later, "I think this is the ideal vehicle to present my past, present and future work."
His recollections about Death Wish II, including a track identification log for "Synth Track," are part of the daily "On This Day" feature that keeps the site's front page fresh each day. "It looks random, but it isn't," he explained. "I love the idea that there will be a 'Splash' page everyday and nobody will be able to guess what's coming next."
Jimmy Page joined the Black Crowes onstage
in London, Wednesday, July 13. They played
"Shake Your Moneymaker," a blues by Elmore
James they last played together on tour
over a decade ago. YouTube: brenotube
Jimmy Page has now found himself back onstage for another surprise performance, the second time since June, following the better part of a decade spent just about anywhere other than stages.
London, where many of Page's post-Led Zeppelin gigs have taken place over the past 31 years, on Wednesday night solidified his intention to make a comeback of sorts.
Wednesday's gig was at Shepherds Bush Empire, a venue where Page might remember sharing the stage in March '98 with Robert Plant, during the tour in support of new material on an overlooked album but whose live sets focused on Led Zeppelin hits from another era.
Singer Chris Robinson marvels as Jimmy Page plays
one of the first guitar solos of a long-awaited and crucial
phase of his career, his coming out of retirement.
YouTube: dsrc18
This time, though, Page stepped on the stage with other folks and for only one song, one that surely wasn't "Stairway." Not even close.
With the Black Crowes, the very group with which Page embarked on his last tour just over a decade ago, he entertained Shepherds Bush on a blues standard, Elmore James's "Shake Your Money Maker."
Meanwhile, fans who've been aware of an imminent change to Jimmy Page's official site, www.jimmypage.com, prepared to check in on the hour, every hour, until something changed.
Kool-Aid drinkers believed Page would come out of retirement, in one way or another, when, 24 days ago, a daily countdown of Roman numerals first appeared on Page's site alongside an active sandglass.
The guitarist to Page's left is 38-year-old Luther Dickinson,
the Black Crowes' most recent acquisition, plucked from
the North Mississippi Allstars. YouTube: brenotube
Donovan and Jimmy Page play "Sunshine Superman"
Friday night in London.
Jimmy Page sat in with singer Donovan on Friday night in London, in a way reprising an in-studio collaboration dating back to the days before Led Zeppelin was founded.
Donovan recreated his 1966 album Sunshine Superman during his concert at the Royal Albert Hall, with the backing of an orchestra. One of the unnamed "very special guests" teased in advance of the gig turned out to be Page, who recorded electric guitar on the title track while he was one of London's most highly demanded session guitarists.
Page's onstage appearance amounted to adding guitar to "Sunshine Superman" and another one of Donovan's popular singles from that era, "Mellow Yellow."
Donovan, left, and Jimmy Page embraced
after their live rendition of "Mellow Yellow" on Friday.
Unconfirmed rumors have it that a new legitimate, official release from Led Zeppelin is in the works. It would be the long-awaited video of Led Zeppelin's reunion concert, staged on Dec. 10, 2007, at the O2 arena in London.
At that concert, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and Jason Bonham performed a two-hour stage show of Led Zeppelin material. There has been no official announcement of a DVD release, but rumors suggest such a release is forthcoming, with a possible shelf date much later this year.
LedZeppelinNews.com contributor Wyatt Brake picks up the story with his own observations, originally posted to the discussion groups Royal Orleans and For Badgeholders Only:
There are several discouraging aspects to this interview.
The Zeppelin camp (at least as of 2002-2003) thought they had tons of live recordings to sift through in preparation for public release, and they (mistakenly) believed that these recordings were being adequately stored over the past 20+ years.
Kevin Shirley, who is now the Zepsters' go-to guy when it comes to this stuff ('03 DVD/HTWWW/Unledded/TSRTS) has declared to the members that 'there really isn't that much there' because the performances are unworthy of release. That's obviously a judgment call from a guy they now trust, and the judgment seems unlikely to be reversed because there's little desire - apparently even on Page's part - to delve in and determine if they agree with that determination. A convincing argument could be made that even without that declaration on Caveman's part that Page (the meticulous guy who gave us the original splice-a-thon of 1976 on TSRTS) would have come to the same conclusion, but now we might never know.
The confirmation of something we've long suspected - that Page's role as a producer and even as an "in the cutting room" overseer is over and done. From another KS interview that came out in 2007/2008 in the wake of the remastered TSRTS, we know that Plant was actually the one to 'take the lead on that release and that he was the guy sitting next to Caveman taking an interest in what was being done.
Hopes for an Earl's Court retrospective combining elements of all five (or at least the last three) nights, or a How The (Far) East Was Won, or a more complete Knebworth... all those things seem much less likely to come out in light of what Shirley had to say in this interview. Maybe we'll get an upgraded version of the 2003 LZDVD on Blu-ray, but aside from that, it doesn't leave me optimistic about more archive releases - especially about a release of Japan '71 or Bath '70.
Tonight, I'm remembering a time when Jimmy Page had a backing band.
I'm wearing the T-shirt I bought when I saw Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes. They played live in Camden, NJ. Note the boys in the picture appear to be playing with a Zoso symbol they've discovered! Symbolic, maybe? I'm glad to have seen Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes live. Not everybody got the chance since they never finished their tour. Jimmy Page had back problems!
OK, remember when his touring band consisted of Robert Plant on vocals, Robert's son-in-law on bass, Michael Lee on drums? For their '98 tour, it was back to a fourpiece playing primarily Led Zeppelin songs, plus a few of the Page/Plant/C. Jones/Lee originals that had appeared on Walking into Clarksdale.
A few months later, Robert Plant told Bill Curbishley not to go ahead, as planned, and book any Page/Plant shows in Japan. Robert decided to leave Jimmy. And he did; he just up 'n' left!
And what did Jimmy do? First, he went to the studio, bringing drummer Michael Lee, and laid down some new instrumentals that just needed Robert's part. Their original music needed original vocals. But Robert stayed away.
And what did Jimmy do next? He called up those two Robinson brothers from Georgia and said they should do a few shows together. They'd met before, never jammed. Page had been listening since their first album, however, so he made it happen.
So they rehearsed. These are those 1999 rehearsals with Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes. Thanks to the YouTube user who uploaded them a week or so ago! These have previously been unseen.
Note all the Zeppelin they're playing! They were essentially a cover band handpicked out of Page's preference. They must have hunkered down and listened to some old CDs before meeting up with Page.
This is them meeting up with Page, who wants to see what these boys have got.
And how are the results? See where it's working and where it's not as they attempt "In My Time of Dying."
Part 1
Part 2
Listen to them get low-down dirty on the Howlin' Wolf blues "Smokestack Lightning."
Watch Chris Robinson do some Robert Plant moves on "Houses of the Holy."
At any rate, Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes were on the road the following year, playing a few dates in New York and a few more in Los Angeles. Kevin Shirley just happened to record the L.A. Greek Theater dates and suggested afterward they release it on CD! They did.
That CD package was initially released by musicmaker.com, which was soon to be defunct. In those days before iTunes had taken over, it was available for you to order custom-made CDs with the track listing and order of your own choosing. They'd burn 'em and mail 'em to you -- for a charge, of course. That's the improbable manner in which these CDs were marketed and sold. People would try anything in those days!
It sold so many copies that the site was down. Too bad for the people invested in musicmaker.com, but the success of these sales was essentially lightning striking only once.
But the CDs then went to the TVT label a few months later, and they put out an expanded edition of Live at the Greek and sold it in brick-and-mortar stores. It sold well, too. And they also sold it at their concerts.
This represents one time in Jimmy Page's past that he bounced back from Robert Plant not being available anymore for touring with him. Jimmy tried only once to lure Robert back into the studio, and when that didn't work, he just found a new group with a new singer. And they went from there! Jimmy and the Black Crowes.
When else has Jimmy bounced back from Robert's unavailability? Think also: Jimmy and Coverdale ('93). Jimmy and Aerosmith (a few shows in '90). Jimmy and Paul Rodgers (the Firm from '84 to '86).
Has Jimmy bounced back anytime lately? Uh... Jimmy and Myles? No, we never heard it. Uh... Jimmy and Steven Tyler? Thank our lucky stars we never heard it!
But the point is this: What has Jimmy Page been up to? Why haven't we heard from him?
I close with this: Black Country Communion II. They just finished recording it today! Jason Bonham on drums, Glenn Hughes on vocals and bass, Derek Sherinian on keyboards, and Joe Bonamassa leaving his blues guitar comfort zone and playing straight rock music. This is something to get excited about!
And remember that Page/Crowes live album? Kevin Shirley was at the helm. He is here too. More on that in a moment.
Other than buying records and the iconic picture of Che Guevara taken by photographer Alberto Korda, his appearance in the Spanish-speaking nation raises questions about Jimmy's musical intentions.
Page spent at least three days in Cuba, reports Michel Hernández for Prensa Latina. Word first got out on Saturday that Page was staying at the old Havana's Hotel Saratoga, so local DJ Juan Camacho and Cuban rock band Tesis de Menta (Mint Thesis?) went down to talk to Page. The guitarist, reportedly looking fit and healthy in shorts and black t-shirt, told the admirers that he was interested in the work of Havana nightclub Maxim Rock.
Maxim Rock, along with the Cuban Rock Agency, works to promote rock bands in Cuba.
"I'm desperate to be playing, but it won't be 'til next year."
It is now next year, and Page was just in Cuba checking out a rock club and promoter. Is Page planning on doing something with a latin/Spanish feel, much like he did with Moroccan musicians on the Unledded album with Plant?
Time will tell, but we can only hope this Jimmy Page sighting indicates that he's beginning work on his next project.
An interview conducted live on the Howard Stern show today sheds some light on what Jimmy Page has been, and may still be, up to.
In the "surprise guest's" interview, Aerosmith singer and "American Idol" judge Steven Tyler said he turned down an offer to do some songwriting with Led Zeppelin's guitarist.
Still, Tyler's interview ended with a comment, maybe made in jest, that he might be performing soon with Led Zeppelin.
The story at one time was that Tyler had auditioned for Led Zeppelin, implying Plant would be replaced. Tyler, through his words in today's interview, may have callously reinforced that notion.
Stern asked if Tyler auditioned for Led Zeppelin, and the singer didn't exactly say no.
Tyler mentioned by name the man who was Jimmy Page's manager, Peter Mensch. Tyler said Mench called him to say that Led Zeppelin had "just played live and that Robert wouldn't play with them again." So he was asked, "Want to come over and jam with the guys?" Tyler said it was natural to jump at the opportunity.
However, when he and Page met face to face and was asked to record an album with him, Tyler turned that down due to his allegiance with Aerosmith.
(That is enough to make one wonder how Page would do as an "American Idol" judge. Unafraid to express harsh opinions with words such as "shambolic," Page could be the new Simon Cowell!)
Tyler's overall message on the state of Aerosmith's future was that he would drop "American Idol" if faced with a conflict between being a judge and being a lead singer.
Tyler said he thinks he could have several ongoing projects and they wouldn't jeopardize his position with his bandmates in Aerosmith. For instance, he offered, he could play some Led Zeppelin shows.
Yep, that's right, Tyler said of Led Zeppelin: "I may do some dates with them, just a couple of one-offs." But it wouldn't be a barrier: "That doesn't mean I'm joining Zeppelin."
With printing of Jimmy Page's pictorial autobiography less than a week away, Genesis Publications has temporarily stopped selling copies of the book and thanked its customers.
"We have had an overwhelming and unprecedented response and we want to thank all our subscribers for your support," the company said today in a statement on its website.
"We are currently offline because we are taking time to audit orders. We hope to have some last copies available and they will be on sale on publication day 27 September. So please check back then."
The 500-page leather-bound book is titled "Jimmy Page." It consists of about 650 images selected by Page, captions he wrote to tell the story, and his personal signature and an individual number on every printed copy.
The publisher says "Jimmy Page" is its "biggest ever limited edition" in 35 years of business.
Jimmy Page's pictorial autobiography now has an announced publication date of Sept. 27.
Genesis Publications, the U.K.-based publisher of collectable luxury books, sent an alert today advising customers of the specific publication date.
The book will now include more than 650 photographs and illustrations on over 500 pages, says an official microsite launched at www.jimmypagebook.com. The number of photographs has increased by 50 since a June announcement that publication was being delayed three months so as to incorporate additional images and captions written by Page.
While all 350 copies of the deluxe edition were said to have sold out within two days of going on pre-sale in April, reservations are still being taken for the collector's edition. Page is signing and numbering every one of the 2,500 books in the limited run.
The book covers Page's entire professional career including moments before and after the Led Zeppelin years. One of Ross Halfin's photos of Page's "Whole Lotta Love" performance atop a bus with Leona Lewis for the closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics represents a recent shot. Of it, Page comments, "I'm told that it was the most watched guitar solo in TV history."
One of the earlier moments captured in the book comes from Page's own collection, showing him playing guitar in 1962 with Red E Lewis and the Redcaps, one of his first bands. Several other photos can be seen at www.jimmypagebook.com, and The Sunday Times of London is to publish an exclusive interview with Page this weekend, with a video of it to be available on the newspaper's website beginning Aug. 22.
The release of Jimmy Page's pictorial autobiography is being postponed three months so as to include additional, newly discovered photographs, along with personal recollections about them supplied by the former Led Zeppelin guitarist.
Genesis Publications, the U.K.-based publisher of collectable luxury books, sent an alert on June 30 advising customers of the reasons behind the new September publication date.
"We know that you are waiting patiently, and originally we anticipated to have copies finished this month ready for delivery," Catherine and Jim Roylance of Genesis Publications explained in their message to customers distributed Wednesday.
Page's book comprises many photos from throughout the duration of his professional career and his own personal reflections on his life and times. Prior to forming Led Zeppelin in 1968, Page spent parts of the decade as an art school student, a touring musician, an in-demand studio session guitarist, and a member of the Yardbirds. Since the Led Zeppelin days, Page has been known as one of the world's most highly respected guitarists.
A lawsuit claiming Jimmy Page copied a 1967 song called "Dazed and Confused" on Led Zeppelin's debut album seeks reimbursement from the author of the original work under that title.
Holmes's song called "Dazed and Confused" appears on his album The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes, released more than a year before Led Zeppelin's first album contained a song of the same name. Both songs received separate copyright entries from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
Attorneys for the New York-based singer and guitarist filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Monday.
Holmes declined to offer any additional comments to Lemon Squeezings about the suit. In past interviews, he has explained that Page would have heard him play "Dazed and Confused" at a 1967 concert date in New York when Holmes closed his set with the tune. Page's band at that time, the Yardbirds, was headlining the concert.
Two other members of the Yardbirds, Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty, have said in interviews that both McCarty and Page liked the song so much when they heard Holmes perform it that, separately, both purchased copies of Holmes's album the following day. An adaptation of "Dazed and Confused" was added to the Yardbirds' live sets in 1968, the year that Page's new Yardbirds lineup became Led Zeppelin.
It was not until January 1969 that Atlantic Records released Led Zeppelin's first album, which contained a song called "Dazed and Confused" whose copyright was granted solely to Page.
Representatives for Page's management have so far not commented to Lemon Squeezings on the litigation. In the past, Page has denied any knowledge of having heard of the Holmes recording. This includes an interview published in the November 1990 issue of Musician magazine, in which Page denies any connection between his song and Holmes's.
Portuguese-language websites have been spreading the images of a Jimmy Page sighting in Brazil. Reports say Page landed in Rio de Janiero on Monday and plans to depart on June 28 after visiting some more samba schools, like the one where he was photographed on Wednesday.
The published pictures -- see two here, another pair here and three more here -- are from his June 23 stop by a samba school, where Page flashed his own camera while in a circle of samba percussionists. Page also loosened up with musician Ivo Meirelles, a school official, who can be seen at right playing air guitar.
Page's visit to Rio de Janiero for a charity fundraiser last November saw the guitarist play a single power chord on guitar over the duration of his stay. He avoided playing guitar and joining in with student musicians who were performing some Led Zeppelin tunes and other numbers.
On this trip to Brazil, Page has so far not spoken directly with the media. On June 10 in London, he declined to reveal what his new material would sound like and said he hoped to surprise listeners. He also said he wouldn't be recording with big names.
The concept of picking up awards the way Jimmy Page does is something few others can comprehend. He hasn't exactly been an active musician for some time now, yet it seems that almost anytime somebody somewhere holds an awards ceremony of some kind, Page is on hand to take home one of the top honors.
This again proved to be the case Thursday night at the annual Mojo Honours List Awards gala exalting musicians for their talents. The soon-to-be-published author was all smiles as he was inducted into Mojo's Hall of Fame.
With John Paul Jones at his side two years ago this month, Page showed up at Mojo's 2008 awards ceremony the night Led Zeppelin was named the previous year's "best live act" as voted on by readers in recognition of the group's single reunion concert. Remarkably, the one-off show in 2007 had been Page's first show anywhere in more than five years.
Jimmy Page rarely sat down for interviews in the late 1970s, a fact that has been attributed to his growing mistrust of the press at that time. One interview with the Led Zeppelin guitarist taped during this successful period for the group will be heard for the first time next week.
This interview of Page was conducted by one of his peers in the musical field, singer Long John Baldry (shown at left), who along with Page had been a member of the Cyril Davies R&B All Stars in 1963. Their recorded conversation takes place during Led Zeppelin's heyday, looking back on the time both musicians took part in the U.K. blues boom of the early '60s.
Their interview is both "intimate and revealing," according to a press release issued by Denny Somach Productions for the nationally syndicated "Get the Led Out" radio show hosted by Carol Miller. (Disclosure: I work as a consultant to the show and its website.)
In addition to reflecting on their days performing live with Cyril Davies, Page recalls the formation of Led Zeppelin and discusses their first tour as a new lineup of the Yardbirds. In this exclusive, Web-only audio sample of the interview, Page chats about Led Zeppelin's earliest American gigs leading up to a supporting role at the Fillmore West in San Francisco in 1969.
"Get the Led Out" airs on about 70 radio markets in the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Indianapolis. Local airdates for this episode vary by station but should take place between Monday, June 14, and Sunday, June 20. Check your local listings or call your local classic rock station for more information.
For the second time this year, Roger Daltrey has taken his desire to make music with Jimmy Page to the press.
"Why not?" the Who singer says in Uncut magazine. "I'm a huge fan, and he's such an immense talent -- a wasted talent at the moment, it's criminal."
Daltrey's interview figures into this piece by Neil Spencer, published in Uncut's June 2010 issue and focusing on a possible end to the Who.
Discussing the topic of continuing to collaborate with Pete Townshend, his only fellow surviving original member of the Who, Daltrey shows his age. He says things such as, "Our bodies are beginning to give up on us," and "I'm really enjoying singing again, but you have to be realistic -- I'm 66 f---ing years old!"
A few remarks of Daltrey's are aimed once again at coaxing the Led Zeppelin guitarist into some kind of a working relationship with him. Daltrey says, "I would love to get together [with Page] and put a bit of fire into things, just to show that we're still alive and kicking -- and can kick well!"
Earlier this year, Daltrey said in an interview with BBC Radio 6 Music's Shaun Keaveny, "I'd love to do something, I'd love to do an album with Jimmy Page. He needs a singer to drive him. I'm a great blues singer. I don't sing the blues with the Who, but that's what I used to be before Townshend started writing. I was a great blues singer."
This is Jimmy Page we're talking about, named one of "The 30 Greatest Classic Rock Heroes" in the latest special collectors edition of Guitar Legends magazine currently on newsstands. He must have no shortage of offers coming in from people with their eyes set on having him as their guitarist.
One such offer may have just come in from one of Page's former bandmates in the Firm, drummer Chris Slade.
"Jimmy Page and Chris Slade. What time do you want me there? When you get called by your first name by guys whose posters you used to have on the wall -- and still do, as my dad has kept my old room the way it was with the posters of Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith and AC/DC -- surreal is the word for it."
If one week ago today was Super Tuesday in the U.S. political arena, today has already been somewhat of a Super Tuesday for Led Zeppelin news. A lot of people connected to the band in some way had something to promote today, be it an album, a concert tour, a radio show, or the idea that Led Zeppelin ought to reunite.
In the United States, May 25 has long been designated as release day for two musicians who were not connected to Robert Plant until a couple of months ago.
Just yesterday, the world learned of a scheduled in-studio radio interview that took place in England this morning involving Jimmy Page. And, of course, while it's not news that Page would have been asked about a possible Led Zeppelin reunion, and it's also not news that Page could not speak for anybody but himself when he said he wouldn't oppose it, media outlets have been treating it as if it is news.
And, strangest of all, a press release distributed to the media this morning spoke of another Zep-related radio appearance, this one for several Florida radio markets and for some unstated reason joining both Plant and Jason Bonham. This last radio appearance, on the syndicated "Paul and Young Ron Show," was rescheduled at the last minute from this morning to Thursday morning.
So, if you feel like you're in need of a breakdown of what all happened this morning -- and didn't happen -- and who's promoting what, then sit down and read on.
" on Led Zeppelin's debut album seeks reimbursement from the author of the original work under that title.
, released more than a year before Led Zeppelin's first album contained a song of the same name. Both songs received separate copyright entries from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
