The Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds album The Beginning… is released this week via Jimmy Page’s website. Produced by Jimmy when he was 17 at the RJ Sound Studios in Morden, it’s an important remnant of the London R and B scene. To tie in with this archive release we present…

AN EXCLUSIVE TBL INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS FARLOWE:

‘’We are like brothers really, we totally respect each other. He thinks I’m a great singer and I think he’s a great guitarist.’’

Chris Farlowe talks to Dave Lewis about the release of  The Beginning… and his long association with Jimmy Page.

On April 30, Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds : The Beginning will be released via the Jimmy Page website

This 12-song demo recording, produced by Jimmy Page, was recorded in 1961 at RG Jones Sound Studio in Morden.

This historic session marked the launch of a highly successful career for Chris Farlowe.

It was also the very first official producer’s role for the young Jimmy Page.

Now some 56 years on, this vintage recording captures the spirit of the pre Beatles music scene – an authentic reminder of the early 60s London R and B sound.  

In this exclusive interview for TBL, Chris Farlowe recalls the recording of this historic demo, his subsequent work with the Immediate label, his collaborations with Jimmy Page in the 80s and plans ahead.  

DL: So, let’s go right back to your early career. You formed TheThunderbirds after playing in a skiffle band – is that right?

CF: Yes, that’s right. It was after I had played in my skiffle band The John Henry Skiffle Group. We won the British Skiffle Group Championship at the Tottenham Royal. We were getting more into blues and had some great musicians involved, especially our guitarist of that time, Bobby Taylor. The Thunderbirds toured all over the country and began to build a good reputation.

DL: When did you first become aware of Jimmy Page?

CF: We used to play many of the places around London and one of them was the Evesham Hall near Epsom. Jimmy came from that neck of the woods and he just turned up one night. He really liked Bob Taylor and said he influenced his early playing. Jimmy liked the band and he liked me as a vocalist, too.

DL: So, it was his idea to produce a demo for the group?

CF: Yes, there he was, this 17 year old guy and he said ‘’Do you want to record an album?’’ We obviously said yes to that. I’d never recorded anything up to that point and now the rest is history. Jimmy knew about RG Jones studio in Morden in Surrey as it was near where he lived. NB The studios later relocated to Wimbledon).

DL: Did the demo you recorded with Jimmy producing The Thunderbirds consist pretty much the contents of your live act at the time?

CF: Oh yes, absolutely. All that early R and B stuff and rock’n’roll, that was the music we loved.

DL: Where were you hearing things like Bobby Parker’s Watch Your Step and Barrett Strong’s Money?

CF: We used to play a lot of the airbases. That’s when the American servicemen were over and we got to look in their PX military stores. We were lucky enough to look through the albums and singles there. This was stuff that they had bought over. It was things I had not heard and hearing something like Watch Your Step… well, I knew this was the material I wanted to sing. It was a fabulous band that we had, with great musicians, and the singer wasn’t bad too! We built up a good reputation. A lot of big stars came to see us, The Beatles for instance.

DL: So, you were you aware of The Beatles early in their career?

CF: Yes, we went over to Hamburg in 1962 and performed at the Star Club, which was one of the clubs The Beatles performed at a lot.

DL: For 1961 you were ahead of the game on a lot of the acts in getting those performances down on tape.

CF: Yes, that’s right. Jimmy has said that’s what is historical about this demo. It was recorded before The Beatles had been in a studio.

DL: There’s a great version of Just A Dream – originally performed by Jimmy Clanton and His Rockets in the late 1950s.

CF: Yes. Just A Dream was a great song – again, that probably came out of the Airbases. The girls always loved that one, as it was a slow one.

DL: Money is in a very different arrangement from, say, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Bern Elliott and The Fenmen versions.

CF: Yes. Our version has that dynamic voodoo rhythm played by our drummer, Johnny Wise – a Bo Diddley beat. He was an amazing drummer for the time. Jimmy commented recently that The Beatles had probably heard it from the other bands covering it. We took it from Barrett Strong’s version on Motown and tried to make it our own.

DL: The two instrumentals that open the album are a great example of the musicality of the band.

CF: They are, absolutely. The jazzy feel to Spring Is Near is the sort of thing Bob could turn his hand to. They were improvised as we were recording. Johnny Warne on bass and Johnny Wise on drums knew what they were doing on things like that.

DL: I also really like the version of I’m Movin ‘On. Around 1970, I’m Movin’ On was one of the songs Led Zeppelin used to slot in as part of their Whole Lotta Love medley.

CF: It was covered a lot, for sure. I think we had heard it by Hank Snow from way back. Another country one we gave a good account of was I’m Hurtin’. That was a Don Gibson song.

DL: Did it take long to record the demo?

CF: No, it was all done in a day – or an evening.

DL: Did you consider that Jimmy might play on the demo or was his role solely as the producer?

CF: No, Jimmy was not on it. Like I said, he really admired our guitarist, Bob Taylor. His job was to make sure we got everything recorded right. Jimmy plugged us right into the console. He really understood the type of sound he wanted to capture – a real rawness in the playing and he really got that.

DL: Jimmy was only 17 at the time. I take it, musically, he was well ahead of his time?

CF: He had a vision, for sure. He knew what he wanted to achieve, he knew where he was going. I think he’s a genius. I mean to think of the Zeppelin and all the music he has done and to play the guitar like that – his whole presentation has been amazing. Looking back to those early years, well yes, Jimmy was way ahead of his time.

DL: Did you use the demo tape to subsequently try and get a recording contract?

CF: No. It was made by Jimmy and he did it as a fan. I did get a record deal a year later and released my first record, Air Travel, on Decca.

DL: I noticed the production credit for that single is listed as RG Sound Production. Did you go back to the studio to record more tracks?

CF: We may well have done, though not with Jimmy. I can’t quite remember but if it says that on the label, it looks like we did.

DL: Were you aware the tapes still existed?

CF: Yes. I had a copy of the acetate a couple of the boys in the band did. One of them has passed away. Bob Taylor is still around. He has an acting school over in Los Angeles. He is coming over in a few weeks and I know Jimmy wants to meet him to chat about the old days.

DL: When did Jimmy come to you with the idea of putting out the 1961 demo?

CF: Basically, he was at a party record thing with Van Morrison. I was there and I said to him ‘’Jimmy, what are we going to do with that demo tape? Are we going to do something with it ?’’ He said ‘’Yes we are. It’s time we did after all these years.’’ That started the ball rolling.

DL: When you heard it again, what did you think?

CF: I thought it was fantastic. I’d forgotten how good we were for a three piece band and singer. It reminded me why people raved over us when we were touring.

DL: Moving on with your career, you released some fine singles on Columbia with The Thunderbirds. In fact one of them was a version of Just A Dream, which you had previously recorded on the 1961 demo. That came out in 1964 and was reissued in 1966 after the success of Out of Time.

CF: Like I said, it’s always been one of my favourites and I was keen to return to it – not that it did that well. The Thunderbirds were on those singles and I had Albert Lee in the band – another really good guitarist.

DL: How did you come to record under the pseudonym, Little Joe Cook, for the Sue label?

CF: Ah, Little Joe! We were going to do some recording for Chris Blackwell while we were messing around in the studio. We recorded that version of Stormy Monday Blues. We just had a blow with it. About four months later, I was in a record shop and I could hear this version of Stormy Monday Blues. I thought ‘That’s me singing’. I asked who it was by and they told me it was by Little Joe Cook on Sue. I was contracted to EMI at the time so they had to use a pseudonym. It’s regarded now as one of the best blues records from that era.

DL: You signed to the Immediate label in 1965. How did you get to link up with Andrew Loog Oldham?

CF: Andrew and the Stones used to come down to the Flamingo Club, as everybody did. It was run by the Gunnell brothers and Rick Gunnell was my manager. I had known the Stones for a while by then, having seen them in their early days. So I started to record for Immediate and my name was getting mentioned a lot more and of course it helped that Mick and Keith were getting involved.

DL: Did you see much of Jimmy during that period? He was the in house producer with Immediate for a while.

CF: Yes, I did. He worked on my albums as a session musician. I know he played on Moanin’, and on Out Of Time he was on acoustic guitar.

DL: Your version of Jagger/Richards’ Out Of Time was your biggest hit and number one the same week England won the World Cup in July, 1966. That must have been so exciting.

CF: It was, yes. My mum came woke me up one morning and said “There’s a lot of photographers outside – you’re number one!’’ It was unbelievable, what with the World Cup going on.

DL: I recently got hold of that great EP you released, Chris Farlowe In The Midnight Hour. There’s a great version of Otis Redding’s Mr. Pitiful. You played with him, didn’t you?

CF: Yes I did, and that was amazing. He was down the Flamingo Club. He said to me ‘’I think you’re a great singer, let’s do some shows together.’’ We did a Ready Steady Go TV show and some gigs.

DL: What made you move on from Immediate?

CF: Basically, they went bankrupt – and I was looking to do something different.

DL: Am I right in saying John Bonham did some gigs with your band?

CF: John Bonham did play some gigs with us, yes. He was the demolition man on drums. He had such a great sound. He was packing the drums up one night and told me he was moving on to join a band with Jimmy Page. I wished him luck, not realizing just how big this was going to be for him – nobody did, but as we all know, it was to be an incredible success story.

DL: You recorded a one off album titled From Here To Mama Rose, with a line up called The Hill in 1970.

CF: That‘s actually one of my favourite albums. We had Paul Buckmaster on cello and Steve Hammond, the guitarist from Fat Mattress and ex Thunderbirds bass player, Bruce Waddell. It was a harder sound and it was completely different to anything I had done then.

DL You then moved on to the jazz- rock orientated Coliseum. What was it like being in a band of that type?

CF: Colosseum was, again, a different thing for me. It showed I could move into other areas. The live album we did is a classic. I then joined Atomic Rooster for a couple of albums, which was good while it lasted.

DL: Did you get to see Led Zeppelin play live?

CF: No, never. I wish I had but we were doing our own thing and our paths never crossed during those years.

DL: You then hooked up with Jimmy to provide vocals on two tracks on the Death Wish 2 soundtrack album. How did that come about?

CF: Jimmy just rang me up. He told me he was working on the soundtrack to a Michael Winner film and wanted me to put the vocals down. We did those tracks fairly quickly.

DL: You were back with him to work on the Outrider album. There’s some great performances on that. I think Blues Anthem is superb.

CF: Yes, I do too. I remember he called me up to help him on that album. I got there and said ‘’So, what songs have we got?’’ He said ‘’We haven’t, as yet’’. So I stayed at his house a few days and we wrote Blues Anthem and Prison Blues. We also did a version of Leon Russell’s Hummingbird, which I also really like.

DL: Was there ever a chance you might go out with Jimmy when he took the Outrider album on the road?

CF: There was talk of it but I think I was working with my band. It just didn’t work out. John Miles did it.

DL: Have you ever appeared on stage with Jimmy?

CF: Surprisingly, I haven’t. I’d love to, of course. In fact, I said to him the other day, if he wants to form the Zeppelin again, I’m ready and available!

DL: I know you are still busy, out on the road. You did some touring with Maggie Bell, I recall?

CF: Yes. Maggie and I did some things a while back now. More recently I’ve been doing a 60s tour with Herman’s Hermits and Amen Corner. I still get asked to do those old R and B tunes. Somebody will ask for a version of Money and I’ll be right on it. I’m still very busy. This release of that demo tape has added a new lease of life again. There’s one or two other active releases lined up at some point.

DL: You have enjoyed a lasting affinity with Jimmy over many years.

CF: I have, yes. We are like brothers really, we totally respect each other. He thinks I’m a great singer and I think he’s a great guitarist.

DL: How would you summarise him as a musician?

CF: To have come up with all that music – to form Led Zeppelin – and what a name he came up with. His whole look – the way he presents things and his outlook on playing – like I said, he’s a genius. Back in 1961, he had that vision. He was so forthright in wanting to pay for that demo and record us – and I am so thankful he did.

DL: Final thoughts on the release of The Beginning?

CF: I’m really knocked out with the album. After 56 years, it’s important to me it’s out there. It’s also great I am still in demand and people still want to spend money on seeing me sing.

Dave Lewis interviewed Chris Farlowe on April 6,2017. With thanks to Bill McCue.

Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds: The Beginning… is now available for pre-order at jimmypage.com in advance of its April 30 release date. The release is available in two editions: Standard and Deluxe. The 1-LP, 1-CD set is available signed and numbered by Chris Farlowe and Jimmy Page in a limited edition release, bringing the signatures of two music legends together for the very first time.

To order the Beginning album go to this link:

http://shop.jimmypage.com/products/588373

Other Recommended Chris Farlowe listening:

Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds – Dig The Buzz, First Recordings ’62- ’65 (RPM, CD)

Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds Featuring Albert Lee – Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds (Charley LP)

Chris Farlowe – 14 Things To Think About (Immediate LP, 1965)

Chris Farlowe – Farlowe In The Midnight Hour (Immediate EP, 1965)

Chris Farlowe – Out Of Time -The Immediate Anthology (Castle 2CD)

Death Wish 2 Soundtrack (Swan Song LP, 1982)

Outrider – (Geffen LP, 1988)

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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.

Led Zeppelin

• Three upgraded videos of Led Zeppelin performing in the US in 1977 have been uploaded to YouTube. The first video showed Led Zeppelin performing at the LA Forum on June 22, 1977. The second was a slight upgrade of Led Zeppelin performing in Greensboro, North Carolina on May 31, 1977. And the third video was another slight upgrade of Led Zeppelin performing on May 30 in Landover, Maryland.

• Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” entered the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart at No. 16 after being featured in the trailer for “Thor: Ragnarok.” Read the full Billboard article here.

Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page and Scarlett Sabet at the Atlantis Bookshop in London on April 12 (Twitter/AtlantisShop)

• Jimmy Page’s long-running feud with his neighbour, singer Robbie Williams, could restart after Williams filed a planning application for a shed in his garden. We took the opportunity to write the definitive history of the Page/Williams feud here.

• It was Record Store Day yesterday, and two of the releases featured Jimmy Page. There was a three-track, 10-inch Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes release as well as a single by Beverley Martyn that was originally recorded in 1966 with both Page and John Paul Jones. We included photos and information about the releases in this post.

• Singer Chris Farlowe gave an interview to Dangerous Minds where he explained how he agreed to release his album on Jimmy Page Records. Farlowe said he spoke to Page at a party held by Van Morrison and the pair agreed to finally release the recording. It looks like this is a photo of Farlowe and Page at the party.

• Tight But Loose editor Dave Lewis has listened to the upcoming Chris Farlowe release on Jimmy Page Records and published his impressions of the album here.

• Jimmy Page was photographed with his girlfriend Scarlett Sabet at the Atlantis occult bookshop in London on April 12. See the full photo here.

• It looks like Page is currently in the US with Sabet as she’s on a poetry tour.

Robert Plant

• Robert Plant was spotted watching comedian Jasper Carrott at Dudley Town Hall on April 21.

John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones’ updated signature bass guitar (John Paul Jones)

• John Paul Jones announced on Friday that he has released an updated edition of his signature E-Bass guitar with Manson. The new bass guitar comes in two finishes: Vintage red sunburst and blackburst, Manson says on its website. The updated guitar is priced at £2,399. Here’s everything you need to know.

• French site RockerParis published photos and a video of John Paul Jones performing as part of Minibus Pimps in Paris last Sunday. View the full post with photos here, and you can see the video of the performance here.

• We got a closer look at the poster for John Paul Jones’ Tres Coyotes performance in Helsinki, Finland on April 5 thanks to Juha Kakkuri. See the full poster here.

Upcoming events:

April 30 – Jimmy Page Records will release “The Beginning…”, a 1961 Chris Farlowe studio session produced by Jimmy Page
May – The March 21, 1975 Seattle soundboard bootleg “Deus Ex Machina” is rumoured to be released this month.
May 19 – The new album by Darrel Higham, which features Robert Plant, will be released.
May 23 – A photo of Jimmy Page appears in the new photo book by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, which will be released today.
May 27 – Unrestored footage of Led Zeppelin performing at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970 will be screened there as part of an event about the director Peter Whitehead.
June 2 – Robert Plant will be interviewed on “Brian Johnson’s Life On The Road” on Sky Arts.
June 23 – John Paul Jones will perform at the Sun Station Vadsø festival in Norway.
June 24 – John Paul Jones will perform at the Sun Station Vadsø festival in Norway.
Mid-September – The new Black Country Communion album, which will feature Jason Bonham, is due to be released.

Many thanks to James Cook.

The complete Led Zeppelin News email goes out every weekend. To receive it each week sign up here: http://tinyletter.com/LedZepNews

Led Zeppelin News Website: Check out the Led Zeppelin news website at

http://ledzepnews.com/

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Here’s another review of the Stairway To Heaven Led Zeppelin Masters – report and pics by Hiroshi: 

Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin Masters Edinburgh Usher Hall – April 23, 2017: 

I am not a huge fan of tribute acts. I just can’t take many of them seriously…well, maybe you are not supposed to take them seriously, after all.

That said, I greatly enjoyed the Stairway To Heaven: Led Zeppelin Masters show at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, on Sunday evening. In fact, it was more than just another tribute show. The collaboration of the Zep Boys and the Black Dog Orchestra took the all-too-familiar tunes to a higher dimension.

In a way, this attempt reminded me of Page/Plant’s No Quarter World Tour. On both occasions, the added orchestration underscored the beauty of many an original song of their catalogue. When they entered the second verse of The Rain Song and the symphonic sound of the strings started to flow in the air, I was taken back to the Century Hall, Nagoya, February 17, 1996 — my flashback moment of the night.

And the sublime of Stairway To Heaven — it was one of those moments this much overplayed, maligned song manifested its true quality and retrieved the dignity it deserved. Simply a stunning performance. It got my thoughts running wild — now, if Stairway had been performed on stage in the same manner by Page/Plant twenty-odd years ago…(a far-fetched idea, wishful thinking? Remember, there was a moment Robert shook off his cynicism to the song when the duo delivered the heartfelt, albeit abridged, acoustic version on the Japanese news show during their promotional visit prior to the tour). A missed opportunity indeed.

There were some good ideas successfully carried out. No Quarter was mostly performed by the Zep Boys and keyboardist Paul Gray without the orchestra until the last chorus part. As Paul finished the solo, he disappeared from the stage, leaving Tzan to launch into the guitar solo, accompanied only by the bass and the drums — No Quarter played without keyboard! An approach I had never imagined, this daring arrangement was effective in its own right and quite refreshing, something unpredictable. Paul returned at the end of the guitar solo, finishing the song with the orchestra joining in, bringing the performance to a climax.

Vince asked the audience to participate “ah ah, ah ah” in Black Dog, the main set closer. Whole Lotta Love included snippets from Dazed And Confused and Four Sticks after the theremin-free freak out section. Did the boys learn from Dave’s London Palladium review?

As many Zep enthusiasts know, the Usher Hall is the venue of Led Zeppelin’s Scottish debut, February 17 (postponed from Feb 7 because of Robert’s car accident), 1970. As far as I could hear, there was no mention related to it by Vince, but he made a few comments about the land (e.g. “Scotland gave us AC/DC”) that drew some delighted responses from the crowd as well as one big, collective booing. The majority of the attendees were of mature age, quite a few remembering the times Led Zeppelin ruled the world for sure. As the boys unleashed Whole Lotta Love, one lady in pink jacket, seemingly belonging to that age group, rushed to the stage, dancing frenetically, her blond bob disheveled to the favourable gaze from the people around. Certainly the music for a generation. I made for home, feeling happy.

 Hiroshi

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Led Zeppelin – The Destroyer 40 years Gone:

The Return of The Destroyer Fan Gathering – 10 Years Gone:

Another anniversary and again hard to believe that it was all of ten years ago this week that in collaboration with Julian Walker and Graeme Hutchinson, we staged a special Return of The Destroyer fan gathering at the Knights Templar pub in London. This was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of those memorable shows at the Richfield Coliseum on their 1977 US tour – later to be immortalised on the Destroyer box sets.

It was a great day out – I remember the late Howard Mylett attending along with a host of like minded enthusiasts and TBL supporters including Gary and Carol Foy.  Mark Harrison, Eddie Edwards, Graeme Hutchinson, Keith Creek, Gary Davies etc.

Robin Wealleans supplied the video and TV screen – in fact I recall we had a bit of job with the outside glare as it was an unusually hot and sunny spring day. Fan Lisa Haynes Truscott relayed her memories of being in the crowd at the curtailed Tampa date on June 3 1977.  We also staged an auction that raised over £1,000 for the ABC charity.

The night before I also interviewed ex Free/Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke at his gig at the Esquires club in Bedford. Crazy days indeed.

Here’s the report of the day that appeared in TBL issue 18. Little did know we know as we gathered on that rather hot day in London, that plans were already underway for Led Zeppelin to stage a spectacular comeback in honour of Ahmet Ertegun- indeed the next time I would see some of the names above would be in the confines of the 02 Arena on that night of nights on Monday December 10, 2007. That is all another story and one I will be focusing on in the next issue of the TBL magazine.

Review Of The Week:

Record Store Day Product  Review Number One:

Jimmy Page The Black Crowes  – Live At Jones Beach – RSD Exclusive ten inch on marbled black and white vinyl. Number 2342 of 4000:

It’s incredible to think it’s over 17 years ago since Jimmy hooked up with The Black Crowes. To be honest, I struggled with that liaison at the time. It was all a bit too soon after the Page and Plant link up and I was still bathing in the glory of the 1998 Walking Into Everywhere tour.

Obviously Robert’s decision to curtail their collaboration left Jimmy somewhat high and dry. The  link up with the Crowes enabled him to keep on performing the songs he loved. And what really was not to like – The Black Crowes were a fine rock’n’roll band and big Zep lovers. I wasn’t really a big Crowes fan myself but I certainly knew of their work. I had also seen them supporting Robert on his 1993 Fate of Nations tour.

The first set list reports looked very exciting with the likes of Ten Years Gone, You’re Time Is Gonna Come and In The Light. Come the subsequent live album, Live At The Greek – Excess All Areas, I struggled with Chris Robinson’s vocal delivery. Without Robert singing those songs, it lost something integral for me. Jimmy’s playing however was right on the button. Looking back at the TBL tour watch reports of the late 1999 US dates in TBL issue 14, it’s evident that witnessing this unit live on stage back then was something to behold.

Bill McCue in his review of the Roseland Ballroom show on October 14,199 talked of ”Courageous song choices, warm vibes on stage, gorgeous guitar harmonies, smooth time changes and an underlying groove that won’t let you go’. Mark Bowman at the Greek Theatre on October 18 reported ”I think I went to sonic heaven tonight – Jimmy’s playing was superb he seemed to easily nail every solo he did”

Talking of that live album, I recall it was made available by buying individual tracks from Musicmaker.com and you could make your own track list up. This was in the real dark days of vinyl when the appeal of traditional format had been severely diminished by the popularity of the CD and now downloading.

As mentioned above, a lot of people had a lot of fun seeing Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes on tour in the US. I was hoping that seeing would considerably aid believing. So when the UK dates were announced I had tickets for the November Wembley Arena date. Alas, back trouble prevented Jimmy from performing and the Page/Crowes liaison came to an end.

Some 17 years on, it’s time for a reappraisal of Jimmy’s work with The Black Crowes and this exclusive Record Store Day release is as good as any place to start. What we have here is a three track ten inch EP (with all songs tracks making their Page/Crowes debut on vinyl).

This is all a long way from the make it up yourself download days. A genuine slab of rather splendid vinyl – marbled black and white vinyl at that.

First up is Misty Mountain Hop – a fairly routine delivery and Chris Robinson’s vocals are somewhat deep in the mix. It’s great of course to hear that angular riff and drummer Steve Gorman replicates Bonzo’s final roll most effectively. The version of Bring It On Home that follows is a much better bet though. It commences in the bluesy arrangement of Led Zep II – Robinson’s raw vocals are well suited to Sonny Boy’s original moaning’s and the harmonica adds an authentic touch. Then…Blam! That riff kicks in and it’s a moment of aural electricity that is almost worth the price of this ten inch pressing alone. Things get very interesting further on when they move into the 1970 Zep live arrangement -they had plainly been listening to Live on Blueberry Hill at the time. Overall, a most enjoyable exercise.

Over on Side Two, there’s an ambitious stab at In The Light – never played live by Zep, it replicates the Jonesy drone via Ed Harsh’s keyboards amidst some growling guitar effects . It’s a pleasing moment when the crowd recognises the song and cheer enthusiastically. Robinson’s vocals are slightly harmonised and that descending riff is always joy to hear. At the outro, the multi guitars suppled by Jimmy,Rich Robinson and Audley Freed replicate the spirt of the original. A successful venture into the world of Physical Graffiti.

The Jones Beach gig was notable for a rare performance of Hot’s On For Nowhere – it’s a shame they could have not found room for that one to be added to this release as this ten inch pressing clocks in at a meagre 20 minutes playing time.

Having sampled these three tracks, I decided to search out the Complete July 10 2000 Jones Beach gig which I have on the Access All Areas 2000 Watch Tower label CD set. It’s  a very good show -the last night of the tour. The repertoire is a veritable Led Zep juke box and Jimmy’s playing reflects his obvious joy at being able to perform these songs live. In fact it would make very good sense to make this whole performance available on vinyl at some point.

This welcome ten inch Record Store Day issue (a companion to the Live At The Greek triple coloured vinyl RSD release of a couple of years back) has therefore provided something of a timely reappraisal of the merits of Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes – Jones Beach was rocking that night for sure…

Dave Lewis – April 25, 2017.

More RSD release reviews to follow.

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VIP Record Fairs:

There’s a couple of notable VIP Record Fairs upcoming. On Saturday I am aiming to be at the Victoria Fair, on of the key London Fairs of the year.

Here is all the gen:

THE BIG LONDON RECORD FAIR:

VIP RECORD FAIR @ Horticultural Halls, 80 Vincent Square, Victoria, London
SW1P 2PE
SATURDAY 29th APRIL
Share our Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/1956541791258292/
THE EVENT
It’s the UK’S BIGGEST RECORD FAIR. this great circuit of music traders
descend on THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL HALLS, IN VICTORIA, shortly. Rub
shoulders with dealers and collectors from all over the UK, Europe,
America, Japan and Australia.
ON SALE
All tables are fully booked so you will find every thing from Prog Rock,
Punk Rock, Brit Pop and Hip Hop through to Soul, Reggae, Blues and Doo Wop!
Plus specialists in The Beatles, Vintage Turn tables and accessories. At
the fair, visitors will be able to buy Vinyl, CDs, memorabilia, books,
posters, promos – anything to do with music.
THE VENUE
The fair takes place at the most famous of Record Fair venues – The Royal
Horticultural Halls. It’s a large, well-lit, hall in the heart of London.
There is great access to the underground system, easy to get to and a
superb café in the hall all day.
Parking
This is free in the pay & display bays, in the area and also permitted on
single yellow lines in the area at weekends.
Underground
The nearest tube stations are Victoria and St James’ Park
VISITORS INFORMATION
Doors open to the public at 12 NOON  – £5.
Early entry at 10.00am. £10.
Show closes at 5pm.
Visitor Info – http://www.vip-24.com/londonvictoria.htm

Bedford VIP Fair -May 6:

On Saturday May 6, the Bedford VIP Record Fair takes place at the Harper Suite venue. I am having a stall at that one with various TBL goodies on offer and more. I look forward to seeing all that can make it along.

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DL Diary Blog Update:

Record Store Day…and what a day it was…

The team picture outside David’s record shop Letchworth on  Record Store Day: Tom, Max ,Phil and me…my Zep bags are full of RSD goodies ie Black Crowes/Jimmy Page, David Bowie, Marianne Faithful, Ian Hunter etc .

It was one of the very best ever Record Store Days in my view (this was our seventh consecutive RSD queuing experience) and boy we had some fun – during the morning it was really exciting being in touch with various friends (hello John Parkin, Ian Avey  andSteve Livesley ) who were also searching out these limited editions all over the country.

We began queuing at a rainy Letchworth at 7am – there was around 130 there at the time – by the shop opening time of 8am it had swelled to double that. We eventually got into the shop to be served around 9.45. By then some of the limited items were selling out – as I got near to being served I could see they had only three of the David Bowie Promo box set on the self. I was hoping I was going to be lucky and phew I was – result! Most of my other wants on my list were still available and I came away with some beauties. The Bowie Promo and Cracked Actor releases, Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes ten inch, the Bruce Springsteen Hammersmith ’75 set, Sex Pistols God Save The Sex Pistols album, Marianne Faithful album, Beverley single featuring JPJ and Jimmy, the Ian Hunter & The Rant Band single Dandy – a tribute to David Bowie and the expanded version of Elton John’s 1970 live album 17-11-70 (oh and get well soon Elton).

Hats off to David’s record shop – they made it feel like a real event and the staff were fantastic. If you are in the Letchworth area be sure to check this great shop out…

We then returned to Bedford to attend the excellent Bedford Pop Up Record shop event in Castle Lane. I picked up a nice promo copy of the Santana She’s Not There single

It’s a shame Spurs could not complete a perfect day against Chelsea later that day in the FA Cup semi- final but hey, you can’t have everything.  That’s football for you!

Here’s a pic taken in front of a rather iconic album sleeve at the Gibson Guitar Studio at the pre gig reception for the Stairway To Heaven Led Zeppelin Masters Pallidum gig last week. Keen Bowie collectors might notice the sleeve is the reissue version on RCA International – ah that’s detail for you!

On Monday night it was to Mowsbury squash court to see a keenly contested match with the young Adam against the veteran Max…the veteran’s experience shone through for a convincing win but Adam held his own on quite a few occasions – Max though is pretty good it has to be said!

Evenings With LZ progress: We are now approaching 1971 and again co- author Mike Tremaglio has come up with some amazing historical reviews and images that will bring it all into perspective. On we go…

It was good to see Spurs keep up their challenge with a 1-0 at Crystal Palace  – I can’t see Chelsea slipping up and they should win the Premier League title..but it’s still not over – Spurs v Arsenal beckons on Sunday which will be a right old battle…

Right, I’m off to search out that Cleveland April 28 show – Another night of The Destroyer…they were quite good that night too…

Dave Lewis – April 26, 2017

YouTube Clips:

Led Zeppelin May 31 1977:

Led Zeppelin LA Forum June 26 1977: