ON THIS DAY… PAGE AND PLANT PLAYED GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL ‘95
25 JUN 1995
I played Glastonbury Festival with Robert Plant and our coat of many musical colours. Broadcasted on TV & Radio, it was a little windy that day and the elements made sport with the wind bombarding the sound as it released from the PA speakers and drifted all over the place. But it was exhilarating to play Glastonbury and we played really well to a really enthusiastic audience who were willing us on.
ON THIS DAY… LED ZEPPELIN RECORDED THE JOHN PEEL SESSIONS AT MAIDA VALE, LONDON
24 JUN 1969
‘Whole Lotta Love’ / 'What Is and What Should Never Be’ / 'Communication Breakdown’ / 'Travelling Riverside Blues’
We recorded this show at Maida Vale studio to promote 'Led Zeppelin II’. In typical Led Zeppelin tradition 'Travelling Riverside Blues’ was made up on the spot from a riff I had on the electric twelve string. We had reached a point at the BBC where you could overdub a solo over the initial track of the song. This helped a lot to give a more complete rendition of our material and I must say the BBC engineer Tony Wilson did a really good job for us on this day. The BBC producer was John Walters.
ON THIS DAY… I VISITED MANGUEIRA AND PORTELA IN BRAZIL
23 JUN 2010
On this day in 2010, I was in Rio where I would be getting an injection of high voltage Samba at the percussive samba schools of Mangueira, Portela and Beija Flor. During this period, I had a showcase that coincided with the build up to a World Cup football match being projected on an adjacent wall in the hall. The Brazilians are known for their passion for football and the same school’s percussion and dancers timed the conclusion to their mini-showcase admirably as the glances became more than anxious from those watching the screen, awaiting the kick off.
ON THIS DAY… I PLAYED REYKJAVIK WITH LED ZEPPELIN
22 JUN 1970
WE WENT TO THE LAND OF THE ICE AND SNOW
ON THIS DAY… I PLAYED MY FIRST SHOW WITH THE YARDBIRDS AT MARQUEE CLUB, LONDON
21 JUN 1966
In the summer of 1966, Jeff Beck had invited me to a Yardbirds show at the May Ball at Queen’s College, Oxford, where the band were to perform in a giant marquee. They were really playing well that night but the audience of penguin-suited university bods were mainly unreceptive and too busy being loud drunks. During the set, Keith Relf became disenchanted with the audience and morphed into what would later be termed a punk, with colourful language and insults to what was a drunken bunch of Hoorays. Keith was wobbling but he finished the set with suitable angst. I thought he was brilliant under the circumstances, but Paul Samwell Smith left the band that evening.
Three days after the Oxford gig, on this day in ‘66, The Yardbirds had this date at London’s Marquee club with no bass player. In the event that Paul was not going to return, I volunteered to play bass with them. This was my debut. It was not an easy job to fill the massive powerhouse role set by Paul Samwell Smith, but I pulled it off.
ON THIS DAY… I RECEIVED AN HONORARY DOCTORATE OF MUSIC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SUREY
20 JUN 2008
Today’s the summer solstice, and in 2008 I received an honorary doctorate of music at the University of Surrey at Guildford Cathedral.
I had visited the Cathedral before in my Epsom choirboy days, but over forty years later receiving this degree was a moving experience for me and my family, who were also present at the ceremony. The University had some cool facilities and students were up to some interesting music, with sound engineers graduating in digital and analogue recording.
ON THIS DAY… I PLAYED ON FRENCH TV IN PARIS WITH LED ZEPPELIN
19 JUN 1969
On this day in 1969, I played the TV programme ‘Tous En Scene - Antenne Culturelle du Kremlin-Bicêtre’ in Paris with Led Zeppelin. The two songs that were featured in various TV shows and TV series to promote the bands work with reference to the first album were 'Communication Breakdown’ and 'Dazed and Confused’. With some of these TV shows at the time, it became more obvious that wanting to perform our material live and the quality of the TV recording just wasn’t working - like mixing oil and water.
Also on ths day, in 2009, I met the gorgeous Miss Alison Mosshart from The Kills, and recently with Jack White’s Dead Weather at the LA Film Festival. I’d seen the band premiere at the Roxy two days before.
ON THIS DAY… I SAW JOHN MAYALL & THE BLUESBREAKERS IN LONDON, UK
18 JUN 1965
On this day in 1965, I went to see John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers at the Pontiac Club in Putney, London. It showcased Eric Clapton’s magnificent mastery of the blues guitar. Eric came to stay at my home in Epsom that night as I had told him about the recordings and guitar sound I was getting from my Simon recorder. We played together and tracks surfaced on the ‘Blues Anytime’ series on Immediate Records. I went on to produce 'I’m Your Witchdoctor’ and 'Telephone Blues’ with Mayall and Clapton, as well as 'Sitting on Top of the World’ and 'Double Crossing Time’.
ON THIS DAY… I PERFORMED AT THE UNICEF KOSOVO APPEAL IN LONDON
16 JUN 1999
When the troubles in Kosovo finally subsided there was a hasty fundraiser put together at the banqueting halls in Whitehall. I’d been asked to play this event and I played it with my group at the time: Michael Lee on drums and Guy Pratt on bass. I played an instrumental version of ‘Dazed and Confused’ and I was told people got the idea of the movements being like a classical piece. It must have been quite spirited as apparently it registered on the highly sophisticated sensor equipment at the Ministry of Defence.
This sound source is taken from a rehearsal with the band.
15 JUN 1974
Today in 1974 saw the release of the first signing Bad Company’s eponymous album on Swan Song; Led Zeppelin and Peter Grant’s label, a subsidiary of Atlantic.
