Jimmy Page & Robert Plant at the Alexis Korner benefit show at Buxton Opera House April 17 1994 – 22 years gone:

22 years ago this week, I was lucky enough to be at the Brixton Opera House. The occasion was a tribute show to Alexis Korner – it heralded the beginning of the Page & Plant re- alliance – they would go on to produce the Unledded project in the summer. Watching these old devils run though I Can’t Quite You Baby with Charlie Jones on bass and the late great Michael Lee was an incredible thrill…Jimmy and Robert were back together and it kick started an amazing four year period…and it all started in Buxton..what a night…

Here’s some TBL/ DL memories of it all…

TBL archive special: 22 years ago on Sunday April 17th 1994, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant performed together for the first time in four years at a special memorial concert for Alexis Korner. This was the first sighting of the newly reunited Page & Plant on stage -they were already rehearsing  for their MTV Unledded project which would eventually see them perform two special shows at the London TV Studios on August 25th and 26th. Robert Plant had initially been billed to appear but the rumour mill was soon in overdrive that he would be joined by Jimmy.

So it was in the unlikely setting of the Buxton Opera House we watched in some wonderment as Bob Harris introduced the pair and the long awaited reunion of the pair was on. They kicked off with a cover of Them’s Baby Please Don’t Go and then on to a very authentic I Can’t Quite You Baby ably assisted by Charlie Jones on bass and the late great Michael Lee on drums – my review of the time noting that he ‘’crashed and clattered in all the right places’’ –something he would do throughout the P & P re-alliance between now and 1998.

Alongside feeding back for TBL, I reporting on this show it for Kerrang !then the main rock music paper and  given the low key nature of the event I was billed as an ‘’undercover Big K! reporter’ .

My review went on to reveal they then played an up-tempo blues jam built around Don’t Stop Me Talkin’ and then a loose instrumental work out with definite Crunge like leanings.

Here’s some extracts:

And finally ’’At least two people haven’t played this song before’’joked Plant as Jimmy stepped on the wah wah pedal and teased out the intro to the classic Train Kept A Rollin’, a track Jimmy used to play with The Yardbirds before he formed Zeppelin and the same number that Zep used to open their set on their last tour in Europe 1980. Inevitably this one was met with a huge roar of appreciation and was performed with an irrepressible swagger that recalled so many past glories. And with that Page and Plant were gone..

This comeback proved conclusively that Page and Plant are more than happy to be back in each other’s company rekindling a partnership that was responsible for so much great music in the past. And judging from a delightful telling moment when Jimmy skipped around the stage chugging out a fierce blues riff against Robert’s incessant scat singing – the potential for this new alliance is awesome. Buxton might just have signalled a whole new beginning for the post –Zep era’.

Pleasingly that latter statement proved to be somewhat prophetic. By the end of August the pair had recorded in various locations and performed the memorable Unledded concerts which formed the contents of the No Quarter Unledded film aired on MTV in October and accompanied by the release of the soundtrack album.  The next year they hooked up with the Egyptian Ensemble and orchestra for an ambitious world tour that delighted audiences across the globe.

The initial spark of all this reunion activity occurred on this remarkable Sunday evening in the Derbyshire countryside all of 22 years ago. …22 years…who knows where the time goes..

DL

………………………………..

Stairway Court Case:

This of course has caused something of a media frenzy and there have been miles of column inches on this subject in the past week..

Amongst the many comments here’s some semblance of reason from Chris Charlesworth’s blogs:

Stairway to the High Court:

Like a nasty dose of some STD that simply won’t go away, the issue of whether or not Jimmy Page and, to a lesser extent, Robert Plant, nicked the opening bars of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ from an instrumental by Spirit entitled ‘Taurus’ grabbed many column inches earlier this week, causing Just Backdated to listen very carefully to the music in question. ‘Stairway’ is credited to both Page and Plant but it’s a safe bet to assume that Page wrote the melody and Plant the lyrics, so if culpability becomes an issue then it is Jimmy who is in the frame.

We are concerned with just the introduction to ‘Stairway’, no more and no less, and those in Spirit’s camp will argue that this is its key element, four crucial notes that are nowadays as well known to rock fans as any Chuck Berry intro that took the fancy of Keith Richards. ‘Taurus’ does not open with this melody but reaches it at around the 45 second mark, but apart from this similarity each song thereafter does its own thing, ‘Stairway’ reaching for the heavens as it inflates and develops, ‘Taurus’ noodling along at the same pace throughout, enhanced by strings as it reaches its conclusion but never really working up much of a sweat.

Both songs hover around an A-minor key. The descending sequence of notes on the D-string are identical, no doubt about it. The tempo or meter, too, is identical, ditto the general, slightly medieval feel which is Zep’s case is enhanced by John Paul Jones playing a bass recorder. ‘Stairway’, however, has a simultaneous ascending run of notes on the top E-string and the phrases in each song are resolved differently. ‘Taurus’ seems to hang loosely, while ‘Stairway’ moves down to a D chord, then a slightly discordant F-major 7^th, then a G major and an A minor chord, a far more satisfactory and pleasing sequence to my mind. In ‘Taurus’ the tranquil little sequence is repeated several times with pretty much the same feel and intensity while in ‘Stairway’ Jimmy pushes down on the power button as each verse comes around, thus disguising and diminishing the similarity.

‘Taurus’ first appeared on Spirit’s debut album released in 1968, a full three years before Led Zeppelin IV, on which ‘Stairway’ appeared. That Spirit debut album also included the song ‘Fresh Garbage’ which Led Zeppelin covered at the beginning of their career, which proves that Jimmy Page was aware of the album. Also, in those early days before Zep established themselves as a top flight attraction, they were on the same bill as Spirit; among the dates they shared Zep’s first ever appearance in America, at Denver on December 26, 1968. They also appeared together at two festivals in 1969, at Atlanta on July 5 and Seattle on July 27, but I have no way of knowing whether Spirit included ‘Taurus’ in their sets; probably unlikely as meandering instrumentals are hardly festival fare.

The lawsuit has been brought by the Estate of Randy California (whose real name was Randy Wolfe), Spirit’s leading light and songwriter, who died in a drowning accident in January 1997, rescuing his 12-year-old son in the process.

The big question, of course, is why it has taken so long – over 40 years – for the Estate to bring the case. Surely Randy, when he was alive, was aware of the similarities between the two songs and, had he felt sufficiently aggrieved, would have brought the case himself. ‘Stairway To Heaven’ will have generated a tidy sum in royalties but far be it for me to suggest that in the present era, when litigation has become a nice little earner, pecuniary motives are at the heart of this. Many plaintiffs bring a case in the hope that a quick out-of-court settlement will resolve an issue and save high legal costs but Jimmy Page has a deep pocket and I don’t see him capitulating easily.

It’s worth pointing out, too, that descending chord sequences in a minor key such as this are as common as muck. Zep used something similar in ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’, which isn’t that different from George Harrison’s ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ on The Beatles’ White Album. Jack Bruce once told me that JS Bach was the master of the descending bass line and, were he alive today, might have a case against loads of rock songwriters, not just Procol Harum. On the negative side, it’s also worth adding that Led Zep have a bit of previous in this regard too: ‘Whole Lotta Love’ = ‘You Need Love’ (Muddy Waters); ‘The Lemon Song’ = ‘Killing Floor’ (Chester Burnett); ‘When The Levee Breaks’ = Memphis Minnie; and a hush seems to have settled over ‘Dazed And Confused’ which songwriter Jake Holmes claims to have written (another descending sequence of notes) and which it is believed was the subject of an out-of-court settlement in 2011.

I wouldn’t like to predict the outcome of the ‘Stairway’ issue but if I was on the bench I’d award a small settlement to the Randy California Estate, perhaps 5% or less of the money the song has generated. This judgement is based on the fact that only 50% of the song is the melody (and 50% the lyrics, which is not the issue), and of that 50% only 10% – at the most – can be attributed to ‘Taurus’, the remaining 90% – not least the entire second half of the song after John Bonham comes tumbling in – pure Page/Led Zep.

Chris Charlesworth.

The blog below by Chris is a follow up part 2 to the above in which  Chris analyses the official deposition.

See more at:

http://www.justbackdated.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/stairway-to-high-court-part-2-mary.html

……………………..

Led Zeppelin News Update:

In conjunction with the Led Zep news site, each week I will be re producing highlights from their weekly email update news summary. This goes out every Sunday. Sign up details are below. Many thanks to James Cook.

the week’s news every weekend so that you don’t miss anything.

Led Zeppelin

The “Stairway To Heaven” copyright case against Led Zeppelin will go to trial in Los Angeles starting May 10. Led Zeppelin had asked a federal judge for a summary ruling, but he only passed a ruling on certain aspects of the case brought against the band by Michael Skidmore, a trustee of the estate of Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe

Jimmy Page

• Jimmy Page re-released his 1965 solo single “She Just Satisfies” on vinyl for Record Store Day on April 16.

• An extract from a new book by music journalist Bob Boilen features Jimmy Page interviewed about Lonnie Donegan. You can read the extract here.

Robert Plant

• A telephone interview with Robert Plant was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on April 10 as part of broadcaster Bob Harris’ seventieth birthday show. You can listen to the clip here.

• Merchandise from Robert Plant’s recent US tour is now available to purchase through his website. Find out more here.

John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones painting a statue of a saint that will be auctioned for charity (YouTube/The Palapa Society of Todos Santos​)

• While in Mexico for the Todos Santos Music Festival in January, John Paul Jones painted a statue of a saint that will be auctioned for charity. The auction will end on May 6. See more details here.

Upcoming events:

May 6 – Bidding ends for a statue of a saint painted by John Paul Jones.
May 10 – The “Stairway To Heaven” copyright case will go to trial in Los Angeles.
June 19 – Robert Plant will perform at the Royal Festival Hall in London with Guy Garvey, Nick Mulvey, Nadine Shah and Josephine Oniyama.
July 1 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at the Rock Werchter music festival in Belgium.
July 2 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at the Beauregard Music Festival in France.
July 4 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at Le festival des Nuits d’Istres in France.
July 7 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at the NOS Alive Music Festival in Portugal.
July 14 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at Festival Noches del Botánico in Spain.
July 20 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at the Street Music Art Festival in Italy.
July 22 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Italy.
July 24 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Italy.
July 27 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in the Czech Republic.
July 28 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Austria.
July 30 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Croatia.
August 2 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform in Germany.
August 4/5/6/7 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters will perform at the Wilderness Festival in the UK.

The Led Zeppelin News email goes out every weekend. To receive it each week sign up here: https://t.co/yp9fGJMSGH

…………………………..

……………………………………

1971:Never A Dull Moment by David Hepworth:

Here’s a review of the above book by TBL contributor Paul Sheppard:

Well, I’ve read it! At first it seemed like a patchwork of vignettes without a coherent theme. To a certain extent that manner pervades the text throughout with only the Epilogue pulling the strands together to form a collective view. The book, being divided into chapters, each of which represents a month starting in January and ending in December, almost encourages the reader to view each month as a milestone in itself. What saves the book from reading like a collection of articles however is Hepworth’s social commentary on the era in general, which helps to place the narrative in context. As a result, the making and of and release of each album described therefore becomes part of the canvas of the times rather than a microcosmic review in itself. Recommended reading for anyone with an interest in popular and rock music and also for more general readers who would like a flavour of the times. Was 1971 the great watershed or a turning point? Not so sure it can be pinned that easily on a single year but the thesis presented at the end does have some sway when viewed against the history of popular music since.

Flashback magazine:

The latest issue of Richard Morton Jack’s always enjoyable psych rock mag is out now. Edited by Richard Morton Jack (co-founder of Sunbeam Records and editor of the Galactic Ramble and Endless Trip books), Flashback is a magazine covering overlooked 60s and 70s music in depth. This issue includes features on The Koobas,The Human Beast, George Martin, Time Out magazine and much more.

More details at:

http://flashbackmag.com/contents.html

………………………….

Ecuador earthquake:

I was most concerned to hear of the earthquake that befell Ecuador  – one of TBL’s most ardent supporters Jose Manual Parada lives in Guayaquil.

I quickly emailed Jose and thankfully he and his family are all ok – here’s his reply:

…………………..

Jimmy Page – She Just Satisfies – Record Store Day Release: Some thoughts…

It was great to get my hands on Universal’s Record Store Day release of the She Just Satisfies/Keep Moving single last Saturday. I’ve been fascinated by this record for many a year. Back in 1979 I thought I had acquired an original copy of this 1965 release – catalogue number Fontana TF 533. I answered an advert in Sounds music paper for a copy that was listed as for sale of this elusive gem. I duly sent off my £10 postal order – at the time quite an outlay. Alas, when the record was delivered, the sleeve and label were of the Fontana variety I had expected but the record sent was not the She Just Satisfies single .

Instead, I was sent Skin Deep/Zoom,Widge And Wag by session drummer Bobbie Graham catalogue number TF 521. This was released on Fontana around the same time in early 1965 and it did have Page involvement with him playing on both sides of the single – and the B side being credited to Graham/Page. The seller informed me he had sold out of the She Just Satisifes single and would I like this instead for £4 or a full refund.

I decided to keep the Bobbie Graham single – unfortunately I never did track down an original She Just Satisfies – but I did get to hear it on the excellent Jimmy Page Session Man bootleg that came out in the late 70s.

Fast forward to 1990 – and the writing of the first chapter of the A Celebration book. The opening chapter was an overview of Jimmy Page’s performances across his career titled The Master And His Art. Selection one was She Just Satisfies.

When the book was about to be published, Fontana in the UK re issued the Page single as a CD single – but only as part of a box set release of other Fontana singles titled The Fontana Singles – Box Set Hits And Rarities Volume One which came out on vinyl and CD.

At the time,I was putting together a promo pack to line up alongside the A Celebration book and I got in touch with Universal with a view to securing the single for my pack. I was able to buy up 100 of the She Just Satisfies CD singles and these duly became part of the limited edition A Celebration promo pack that I sold to promote the book in September 1991.

At the time,this was the only way to secure the vintage Page single on CD without investing in the Fontana box set -It was never commercially available on its own. The only other way to get it on it’s own was if any of the boxes were split up.

Thus, the A Celebration pack remains a unique way of collecting the CD single of She Just Satisfies on it’s own. If you have that pack with the CD single , it’s one of only 100 I produced.

I was well pleased to hear that Universal were making available a reissue of the She Just Satisfies single as part of their Record Store Day release schedule. It remains a true one off recording capturing the early 60s enthusiasm of the youthful J. Page.

Buying it at David’s shop in Letchworth was a great thrill and this 2016 reissue can now line up next to the CD single that I arranged to be a part of that limited A Celebration promo pack nigh on 25 years ago.

………………………

Prince 1958 – 2016 RIP

Just heard the shocking news that Prince has passed away aged 57…

Another light has gone out ..he defined the sound of the 1980s – we saw him in the round at Wembley Arena in 1988 – utterly captivating…songwriter, showman, master musician, guitar hero… a catalogue of lasting music…so sad…RIP

………………………….

DL Diary Blog Update:

Friday Vinyl treats at the Vinyl Barn – at a rather rainy Vinyl Barn last Friday morning, the pickings included The Jeff Beck Group Beck Ola on the Rak label (probably an import) , Two Originals of Carly Simon double set and Midnight Soul, a 1966 Atlantic compilation on the UK orange and plum label – that little lot considerably brightened up a wet Friday here… thanks Darren Harte

Record Store Day 2016:

In recent years we we have pitched up early at Rough Trade West in London -this year for various reasons we opted out…however my very good friend Phil Harris and I did have to pay a visit to the Hi Fi Lounge which is on the way to Letchworth so we popped over to David’s store in the town store to check out what Record Store Day releases were left.

Incredibly, at 11.45pm  there was no queue and Phil was able to park right outside the shop. Inside – a right result as they had a fair bit of limited stock left – the Jimmy Page single, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie Graham Nash and Jimi Hendrix albums amongst others were all sorted – lovely stuff! This was RSD without the usual eaerly morning start. I haven’t been to David’s for years and it was very impressive, the service was great too – and I also managed to bag about 20 60s/70s singles at 25p each.  

I first visited David’s store back in May 1974 – It was one of the first occasions I’d met Dec who would go on to be a lifelong friend. Being record enthusiasts we decided to check out this store which even back then, had a very good reputation. I remember buying a copy of The Rolling Stones Exile On main Street for about £1.50. It would be the first of many occasions when along with Phil, Tom etc we would venture off in search of records. Nothing much has changed some 42 years on…

Finally on the RSD subject – one of my best Record Store Day acquisitions:

Glen Campbell Wichita Lineman – red vinyl edition 7 inch single in a limited edition repro sleeve with art work from the original Spanish issue. This Jimmy Webb composition is simply one of the greatest songs ever written – brilliant performed by Glen and reissued in celebration of his 80th birthday which is on Friday… an RSD gem…

Back here we are having a bit of a tough time – Janet’s mum Betty is requiring more care at her home and we are getting into a pattern that works to support all that which has not been easy. Anyway we have got into a routine. Meanwhile in the world of TBL workload, there has been good progress on TBL 41.

I was at Studio Mix yesterday afternoon working on TBL 41 when news came though of Victoria Wood’s passing…such a shock – like all the other recent passings – a world without Victoria Wood is such a poorer place…and at 62..so sad RIP.

Regarding  the forthcoming new TBL – there’s been some significant new input to the content – I am hoping to announce full details of this issue very shortly.

Don’t forget ALL TBL subscriptions ended with TBL 40 so if you haven’t already done so – now is the time to re- subscribe – you can do so at the link below:

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/subscribe-to-the-201617-tbl-magazines-free-10-x-8-print-with-every-subscription-a-subscription-makes-a-great-christmas-gift/

You can also order TBL 41 as a single issue at the link below:

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/tbl-41-pre-order-now/

On the player: Zep wise Houses Of The Holy sounding good in some spring sunshine, plus Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Walking Into Clarksdale album released 18 years ago today – more on that next week…also on – Fleetwood Mac Tusk Outtakes, Glen Campbell Hits and Love Songs, Miles Davis Sketches of Spain and Tom Jones Greatest Hits. Talking of which..

Tom Jones 1950s – The Decade That Made Me:
I was  very interested to watch this documentary  on BBC 2 last Saturday. It featured  Tom Jones  on a personal journey through his formative years in south Wales in the 1950s. That area is where I have family roots.. Tom was born in Pontypridd which is just a few miles away from where my Dad was raised in nearby Abercynon. When I was a child I visited Pontypridd a few times – in fact I remember watching The Beatles Help film at the local cinema there in 1965. It was particularly poignant watching this as my Dad would been 100 years old on the day it was aired April 16  – Happy Birthday Dad…

Dave Lewis April 21, 2016

YouTube clips:

Prince…RIP:

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant – Buxton Opera House – April 17, 1994:

Sky News – Led Zeppelin’s backing group? Oops!

Until next time…

Have a great weekend,

Dave Lewis/Gary Foy – April 21, 2016.

If you are reading this and have yet to link with the Tight But Loose Facebook page be sure to request/add us. The TBL Facebook is another key part of the TBL set up with updated stories/additional pics etc to keep you on top of the world of TBL.

To view additional photos and TBL info be sure to hook up with the Tight But Loose Facebook page (add us as a friend) at

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1611296783