TBL Archive Special 1: September 7, 1968 – the on stage debut 52 years gone:

52 years ago on September 7th 1968, the line soon to be known as Led Zeppelin performed their very first concert in Gladsaxe Denmark. – the first of two appearances that day… 

REMEMBERING 52 YEARS GONE….

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7th, 1968

GLADSAXE, DENMARK

TEEN CLUB BOX 45

DATE:                         September 7, 1968 (1st show)

VENUE:                     Teen Club, Egegård Skole

LOCATION:              Gladsaxe, Denmark

Billed as: “Yardbirds”

Support Acts: Fourways; Bodies

With The New Yardbirds line-up complete, there was an outstanding engagement to fulfil that was left over from the old Yardbirds’ date sheet ­- a ten-date tour of Scandinavia. Billed as ‘The New Yardbirds’, the group that would become Led Zeppelin made their stage début on September 7 in Denmark.

They would not perform as ‘Led Zeppelin’ until six weeks later – at Surrey University on October 25, 1968.

The venue for their first ever performance was the Teen Club in Gladsaxe, Denmark, a Copenhagen suburb. The Teen Club was actually a gymnasium at Egegård Skole (School), which was converted into a rock club on Saturday nights.

The band was fulfilling an old Yardbirds commitment to perform at the club. In New Musical Express (July 13, 1968), it was noted that the Scandinavian tour would start on September 14th; in fact, for many years this date was generally acknowledged as the date of their very first gig. The following week’s Record Mirror (July 20, 1968), correctly mentioned that the tour would start on September 7th.

Among the 1,200 – 1,400 youngsters who witnessed rock and roll history was a 17-year old student, Jørgen Angel, the photographer for the club’s in-house magazine, Teen Club Nyt (News). Thankfully, Angel took plenty of outstanding photos of the new band with his mother’s camera.

Angel recalled the historic concert for Jaideep V.G. of Rave magazine: “I was pretty disappointed because The Yardbirds were supposed to play that night. It was sometime in the evening that I heard a band called The New Yardbirds would perform. I thought maybe that has nothing to do with The Yardbirds. Maybe there’s just one person left from The Yardbirds, which turned out to be right, it was only Jimmy Page from The Yardbirds who played that night. And the others I had never seen or heard of. But when they went on stage it was something very special and different and spectacular. They were full of energy and they were different. I had no idea they were going to be big.”

“Standing by the side of the stage it was obvious that there was a chemistry,” said Peter Grant. Robert recalls: “We were very green – it was a tentative start but we knew we had something.”

The stage act for the début tour was based loosely on the set The Yardbirds had been performing on their final US tour. ‘Train Kept A Rollin’ was the opener and ‘Dazed & Confused’ the centrepiece, with Page using the violin bow. Old blues chestnuts ‘I Can’t Quit You’ and ‘You Shook Me’ were also delivered in the arrangements that would later appear on their first album. Early self penned numbers included ‘Communication Breakdown’ and ‘How Many More Times’ – the latter built around Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘How Many More Years’.

The act was fleshed out with a variety of covers – something that would remain a feature of their sets for many years to come. Elmore Gantry’s ‘Flames’ and Garnett Mimm’s ‘As Long As I Have You’ were early staples at this point. They also came up with a dynamic arrangement for the folk standard ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’. Page had played the Joan Baez version to Plant on their initial meeting. “I want to do a version of this but with a certain dynamic edge,” he told his new singer.

It was obvious to them all that even on this début tour the line-up had an identity all of its own. Page: “We realised we were working under false pretences, the thing had quickly gone beyond where The Yardbirds had left off. We all agreed there was no point in retaining the New Yardbirds tag so when we got back from Scandinavia we decided to change the name. It was a fresh beginning for us all.”

Photographer Jorgen Angel also revealed to told Huge Jones’ Proximity magazine ”I took a number of photographs There wern’t many actual lights on stage in those days -at least nothing you could use, so I used a flash. I used my mother’s holiday camera and my father’s old flash and I just snapped away. When I first knew of the gig I was disappointed even before the concert because I was looking forward to seeing The Yardbirds again and what we were getting was one Yardbirds member and three totally unknown guys. My disappointment was only up until they started performing because it was a great concert”.

PRESS REACTION:

Teen Club Nyt (October 1968) by Bent Larsen:

“The English group YARDBIRDS had been rehearsing their new set most of the afternoon. So when they entered the scene they were really hot to get started and give it all. Their performance and their music were absolutely flawless, and the music continued to ring nicely in the ears for some time after the curtains were drawn after their show. Let me in particular give my praise to JIMMY PAGE who has made a great job with the 3 new men. They really succeeded and in particular the guitar solo by Jimmy Page created huge applause. We can therefore conclude that the new YARDBIRDS are at least as good as the old ones were.”

DATE:                         September 7, 1968 (2nd show)

VENUE:                     Brondby Pop Club, Nørregårdshallen

LOCATION:              Brondby, Denmark

 Billed as: “The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page”

Support Acts: The Day of Phoenix;

The Eyes; Ham

BACKGROUND INFO:

The band wasted little time in getting the next concert under their belt, performing a second show of the day in another Copenhagen suburb. The Brondby Pop Club was very similar to the Gladsaxe Teen Club, in that it was a rock club located in a school gymnasium.

PRESS REACTION:

Glostrup Handelsblat (Sept. 11, 1968):

                “When you start a new season you always try to make the opening night a little better than you need to. The ‘little better’ this time was the fantastic Yardbirds in a whole new lineup…The Yardbirds however, requires a closer examination. Jimmy Page has again put a new band together. The music is the same, only better than ever.”

                “Robert Planto (sic) should face some small criticism and a lot of praise for an excellent performance. There is no doubt that he is a good singer but he doesn’t have to twisht his body like he’s having a ruptured appendix, or does he? Musically the band is super-great. Their hard disciplined beat is amazing. Of course it was foremost Jimmy Page that was responsible for this but the drummer should also be mentioned; a drum solo so wild and good is hard to find. It was so good that one almost wished that John Bonham wouldn’t stop.”

Thanks to Mike Tremaglio for the above info as researched for the Evenings With Led Zeppelin book.

In 2013 this historic occasion was marked by the unveiling of a plaque at the original school they performed that first show at

Jerry Ritz who was there back in September 1968 reminded me of this great  website –

http://www.ledzeppelin1968.com/ZEPPELIN_DEBUT.html

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LZ News:

Led Zeppelin

• A full soundboard recording of Led Zeppelin’s March 24, 1975 performance in Los Angeles is being released by Japanese bootleg label Empress Valley. Find out more about it here.

• Another snippet from a soundboard recording of Led Zeppelin’s January 18, 1975 performance in Minneapolis has emerged online. Six songs from the show have now emerged following an earlier bootleg release of a partial soundboard tape.

• The Supreme Court has been asked to review the result of the “Stairway To Heaven” legal battle.

Jimmy Page

• “Scarlet,” a Rolling Stones track featuring Jimmy Page, was included on the remastered release of “Goats Head Soup” this week. Page recently spoke to The Sunday Times about recording the song in 1974.

• Previously unheard recordings of Jimmy Page performing with The Yardbirds surfaced online last month. Tapes of the band performing with Page in San Francisco on July 26, 1967 and in Concord on May 29, 1968 have been circulating on private forums.

• Jimmy Page shared photographs of his notes for the “On This Day” section of his website to celebrate reaching 1 million followers on Instagram.

• Jimmy Page is now selling another two signed prints of photographs of his guitars.

Robert Plant

• Robert Plant released a new single, “Too Much Alike,” featuring Patty Griffin. The track, from the new Digging Deep: Subterranea compilation album, is produced by Buddy Miller and Robert Plant

• The latest episode of Robert Plant’s Digging Deep podcast discusses “Song To The Siren”.

Upcoming events:

September 9 – A guitar signed by Robert Plant and Tony Iommi will be sold at Julien’s Auctions
September 25-26 – The next John Bonham celebration event will be held in Redditch.
October – The limited edition, signed prints of Jimmy Page’s guitars will be dispatched by Genesis Publications.
October 2 – Robert Plant’s new compilation album “Digging Deep: Subterranea,” featuring three previously unheard tracks, will be released.
October 13 – The affordable version of Jimmy Page’s Anthology book will be released in the UK.
October 20 – The affordable version of Jimmy Page’s Anthology book will be released in the US.
June 18-20, 2021 – Robert Plant will perform as part of Saving Grace at the Black Deer festival in Kent.
September 25, 2021 – The 2021 John Bonham celebration event will be held in Redditch.

Many thanks to James Cook.

The complete Led Zeppelin News email goes out periodically. To receive it 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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Robert Plant Digging Deep Podcast:

The third series the excellent Robert Plant Podcast has kicked off – the fourth podcast available now talks about Shine It All Around  – this is the fourth of the live recordings taken from the Q and A event staged at the Rough Trade East record shop in London on February 27 – an event I was lucky enough to attend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Phe3yACwNg

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TBL Archive 2:

TBL Archive Special 2:Little By Little…

Robert Plant Wembley Arena – Tuesday, September 10 1985 – it was 35 years Ago today…

Krys Jantzen flagged this one by sending an excellent pic taken by him outside the Wembley Arena venue on the night.

35 years ago -that is just incredible because it does seem like a second…or a lifetime ago.

Robert only performed two proper UK gigs in 1985 on this night and two days earlier at the Birmingham NEC.

This was the Shaken’ N’ Stirred tour – in support of the rather difficult third album released in May. Robert had toured the US that summer and bang in the middle of all that came the call to perform at Live Aid. The axis was well and truly spun because despite the chaotic nature of it all – it had ignited the flame again.

Shaken’ N’ Stirred – yes a difficult album and very left field in a Plant experimentation sort of way. At times the time signatures did go all over the place (Kallalou, Kallalou anyone?). But when it was good as on Little By Little, Easily Led  and the superb Sixes And Sevens, it was very good indeed. I remember playing the quasi- rap Too Loud to all sundry in proclaiming Robert’s contemporary status.  I also remember getting very excited about the 12inch single and double pack seven inch release of the second single from the album Little By Little. We were on holiday in Weymouth when it came out and purchased it from the local branch of the long gone John Menzies chain.

On stage, it was still very much a Zep free zone  – though at times he relented slightly. I’ve just played In The Mood from the bootleg CD of the Wembley Arena gig and it reminded me that a cry of Hot Dog during that number was the nearest we got to getting hot under the collar for the days of yore. That, and a few lines from Since I’ve Been Loving You during the close of Slow Dancer and a Boogie Cillun insert in Young Boy Blues – but that was yer lot back then – it was still a case of ”No led anything”.

This was the mid 80s and the order was changing.

I too was actually in something of a new era. Newly married the year before, my writing energies had transferred into writing two weekly music columns for the local newspaper – I did get the odd Zep mention in and did review this gig. I was also well ensconced in the music retail world and was about to embark on an exciting challenge that would see WH Smith open their own stand alone record stores called Sound FX – I was to be the manager of the Bedford store.

Zep related wise ,I was still as keen as ever to follow the respective careers so when these dates were announced it was a must see situation.  The Birmingham gig on the Sunday had been a little under par due to some sound problems but for London we had a right result.

The set list lined up as follows:

Intro music – Song To The Siren by This Mortal Coil – this is a stunning version of the Tim Buckley number with vocals by Liz Fraser of the Cocteau Twins – I remember buying this the next week. Robert would later cover this track himself, performing it live with the Priory Of Brion and Strange Sensation and recording it for the 2002 Dreamland album.

In The Mood/Pledge Pin/Pink and Black/Little By Little/Burning Down One Side/Too Loud/Thru With the Two Step/Messin’With the Mekon/Slow Dancer/Good Rockin’At Midnight/Young Boy Bluies (including Boogie Chillun insert/Sea Of Love/Honey Hush/Encores: Like I’ve Never Been Gone/Big Log/Easily Led.

The good lady Janet was next to me in our fourth row tickets – and backstage before the gig, we had seen and spoken to Robert as well as Jimmy Page who was in attendance. This one felt like an event being a major London gig – amongst others backstage I also recall seeing Slade’s Noddy Holder.

One of the other things that spring to mind from that night is the merchandise. Alongside the usual t shirts that was a high quality though rather garish Shaken’ N’ Stirred pink and black sweat shirt. it was on sale for a then extortionate £20 – twice the rice of admission of the gig – our good friend Kam invested in one and every time he wore it, we ribbed him for years as being the most expensively dressed man in the house!

The gig itself was a hugely enjoyable one. This presentation featured the Honeydrippers segment where, aided by the Upton Horns and The Queen Bees, Robert donned a sparkle T shirt to zip through Good Rockin’ Tonight, Young Boy Blues which included a Boogie Chillun interlude, Sea of Love and Honey Hush. Overall it was a high energy performance on a large stage that did look slightly like a block of cheese.

Little did we know that this gig would be a very significant one. Overall, I remember it as being a really good performance – the good lady Janet rates this as one her fave gigs.

For this would be the last live performance of this line up that had carried Robert from 1983. So it was goodbye to Robbie Blunt, Phil Martinez, Jezz Woodroffe  and Richie Hayward. As Robert stated in 1988. ”A little light came above my head at Wembley. It happened half way through the set. I might’ve been singing ‘squeeze my lemon until the juice runs down my leg’or ‘I’m a fool for a cigarette’. No seriously, It could have been anything but I realised that I’d taken this little journey round and round in circles ever decreasing and dumbfounding everybody by showing how to waste a perfectly good career’.

Judging by the tone of that statement this was a man at a definite career crossroads. Live Aid had put the Zep spark back in his mind. There was a plan to meet with Jimmy and John Paul Jones in Bath for a get together to see what might happen.

As it turned out nothing much did. This re- grouping at a village hall near Peter Gabriel’s studio in early 1986 did show some promise but ultimately came to nothing. ”Two or three things sounded promising, a sort of cross between David Byrne and Husker Du” commented Plant later adding ”For it to have succeed in bath I would have had to have been far more patient than I had been for years”. The rehearsals fell apart when drummer Tony Thompson was injured in a car smash.

What happened next? Well Jimmy went off to make the Outrider album and Robert gathered a new set of musicians around him – come in Phil Johnstone, Chris Blackwell, Doug Boyle and Charlie Jones which led to the excellent Now And Zen album.

When I turned up at Leicester University to see a low key warm up date of his new band in January 1988, It was evident that Robert Plant was at last more than comfortable with his past. For the first time in his solo career, Robert performed Led Zep numbers. In The Evening and Trampled Underfoot felt like a rebirth that night and it remains one of my favourite all time ever gigs.

As for me, well Sound FX proved not to be the future of music retail (the writing was in the wall when I saw the design of the counter which was made to look like a beat box cassette player complete with hand rail – most embarrassing!). WH Smith sold the chain to Our Price in 1986 -a wise move as we were now part of a very successful chain and with the CD boom about to hit, there would be great retail days were ahead.

Writing wise, I had formulated a plan for a major Led Zeppelin reference work. I’d already began looking for a publisher and I was initially turned down flat by Chris Charlesworth at Omnibus Press who in a classic rejection letter advised me that Omnibus and I quote ”only sold music books by bands that sold lots of concert tickets like Bon Jovi’. Sensibly he revised that view a year later and went with the idea – the result was the A Celebration book published in 1991.

35 years on, I am not too sure if Bon Jovi remain shaken’N’ stirred for their particular passion but I know Robert Plant does..

Little by little – the days pass by…

DL September 9, 2020.

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TBL Archive 3:

Friday September 4:

Pre Birthday Friday treats at the Vinyl Barn:

At the always excellent Vinyl Barn this morning I was well pleased to find a copy of the excellent Colin Blunstone compilation album I Don’t Believe In Miracles alongside a copy of The Beatles White Album on a double cassette – you can never have too many copies of the White Album whatever the format – thanks Darren…

Saturday September 5:

It’s a Happy Birthday to…well me actually!

I am hoping this very special lady will still need me now I’m 64…

Saturday September 5: Great to see our very good friends Steve and Anne Marie this morning and their present of a Venezuela pressing of  In Through The Out Door in a gatefold sleeve – wow thanks folks!

Saturday September 5:

Lovely Birthday presents from the good lady –you can never have too many copies of The Rolling Stones Goats Head Soup – so here’s the reissue clear vinyl version and the version with the Scarlet seven 7 inch single – thank you Janet!

I am certainly not feeling blue and lonesome..and how fitting as I had the original Goats Head Soup for my Birthday when I was 17 in 1973!

Saturday September 5: Great to be with lifelong friends Phil and Eileen and max and Julie on my Birthday…

Monday September 7:

Latest DL vinyl record acquisition – Bob Stanley Presents 76 In The Shade

As this summer slips away a timely arrival of the latest in the truly magnificent Bob Stanley compilations on the Ace label –this one hones in on the long hot summer of 1976…

76 In The Shade a double album brings together a variety of sounds of the period from the likes of 10CC, Jefferson Starship, Blue Mink , Liverpool Express, Smokey Robinson, Lyndsey De Paul, Gilbert O’ Sullivan and more, mixing the well know with the lesser known and the exotic… a wonderful package with extensive sleeve notes and an evocative cover …

1976 and all that…I remember it well…and I will be immersing myself in this one…

Tuesday September 8:

It was 47 years ago today…

47 years ago today on Saturday September 8 1973 I was lucky enough to witness The Rolling Stones at Empire Pool Wembley. Such was the demand to see them, they played both an afternoon and evening performance on this day. I attended the afternoon show which prompted Mick’s opening greeting ‘’How are you this afternoon, just give me a minute to wake up’’

Support acts were Kracker newly signed to the Rolling Stones label and the excellent Billy Preston who also appeared with the Stones.

For me , aged 17 and three days old it was an incredible thrill. Mick and co were amazing with Mick Taylor on peak form – amongst many highlights Dancing With Mr D and Star Star from the just released Goats Head Soup and and Rip This Joint and All Down The Line from Exile On Main Street.

I was already a massive Stones fan but this incredible afternoon cemented my passion for all time – a passion that continues to shine (a light) ever brightly – and though it’s sometimes a battle with The Beatles, they are my number two all- time fave band…

Note my arena ticket back in 1973 was all of £2.20 – when I saw them at Twickenham Stadium some 30 years later in 2003 my front block gold ticket was £150…but of course worth every penny…

September 9:

Cooking up a variety of Goats Head Soup ingredients here –  you can never have too much of a good thing..

Update here:

Firstly Janet I would like to thank you all for the many kind comments and best wishes we received on our respective Birthdays – we are truly humbled by such kindness.

I had a fantastic Birthday weekend – made all the more special by so many messages and greetings on Facebook and the TBL website and word from lifelong friends on the phone and visits here.

It’s been back to work this week – for the first time in nine months the good lady Janet is back in her job as deputy pre school leader at the local pre school. Janet is getting back in the groove and I am so proud of her. The physio exercises to strengthen her leg are ongoing and we’ve been doing plenty of walking to also aid that.

I’ve been back on planning various TBL initiatives and to that end, have began sorting out of the TBL archive. I have been feeling somewhat anxious over certain matters – not least the rising infection rate. I dearly want to visit The Rolling Stones new shop in Carnaby Street but have not felt mentally strong enough for a trip to London as yet which is disappointing.

Some particular inspirations this past week:

Sunday lunch at The Embankment Hotel with our very good friends Steve and Anne Marie..

A visit to the Tuesday Record Club at The Castle staged by my very good friend Pete Burridge – the first for nearly six months…

Very nice messages from Sheldon Cole, Keith Cranfield and Niki Gunner…

Some very supportive dialogue with Doug Boyle…

Soaking up the contents of the new reissue of Goats Head Soup…

Thanks for listening – stay safe and well you very lovely people…

Dave  Lewis – September 9, 2020

Until next time, stay safe and stay well…