Led Zeppelin Biography - Right From The StartThe Led Zeppelin biography begins with founding member, Jimmy Page. Confusion has always enshrouded the group’s earliest days. The Yardbirds, The New Yardbirds – what was the band actually called? Why all the name changes and when did they occur? My research yielded some fascinating information and brand-new insights into this that I’d never read before and would like to share with you. For now, let’s focus on that important moulting or transition. This new information was gleaned by interviewing three people who attended Led Zeppelin’s first-ever public performance. The eyewitness accounts, photographs and artifacts they shared with me provide priceless historical documentation. You can more read about The Yardbirds elsewhere on this site. For now, just understand that Jimmy Page was the only one member of The Yardbirds who went on to play in The New Yardbirds, which became Led Zeppelin. Gladsaxe Teen Club: A Musical HotspotGladsaxe Teen Club in Copenhagen, Denmark, played a pivotal role not only in Led Zeppelin’s biography but also in the history of groups like Ten Years After and Deep Purple. Volunteer teenagers ran the Teen Club for younger teens. The Egegårdsskolen (Egegaard School)’s gymnasium provided the stage and dance floor. A discothèque in the basement handled the overflow when too many Teen Club members showed up for concerts. Admission at the time was the equivalent of one US dollar. The Yardbirds had a contract to tour Scandinavia in September/October of 1968 and perform at GladsaxeTeen Club on September 7. But they flew off in different directions in July, leaving Jimmy Page with an empty nest. And a legal problem.
The New Yardbirds To The RescueThe Led Zeppelin biography continues with Page replacing his fellow Yardbirds with New Yardbirds vocalist Robert Plant, bassist John Paul Jones and percussionist John Bonham. Jerry Ritz, Scandinavian tour manager for promoter Bendix Music, told me there was talk of “Led Zeppelin” at the time but no official name change. Peter Grant and Jimmy Page had decided that the fledgling Led Zeppelin’s line-up would tour Scandinavia as The New Yardbirds to fulfill the band’s contract obligations. The GladsaxeTeen Club’s house photographer, Jørgen Angel, knew immediately that something wasn’t quite right. He had seen The Yardbirds perform at Copenhagen’s KB Hallen in 1965. Who were these “New Yardbirds”? When they took the stage, he knew from the first notes that he was photographing music history in the making. Yardbirds Of A Different FeatherHere’s an important piece of the puzzle in the earliest days of Led Zeppelin’s biography. Advertised in the Teen Club Nyt (newsletter) as The Yardbirds, these NEW Yardbirds of Page’s were nothing like the original ones the kids had expected to hear that evening! The programme had been printed before the band changed its line-up.
Jørgen Angel says there was a sign at the venue sponsored by soft drink company, Jolly Cola. It announced the act as “The New Yardbirds”. So the one thing the group was NOT called at the time, was “Led Zeppelin”! At least not publicly. Although…in his book called Roskilde Rock: 1962-1972, Danish author Thomas Gjurup included a newspaper clipping of the band. Its caption, “New Yardbirds alias Led Zeppelin”, could well be the earliest documented use of the name. Launch Of The Mighty ZeppelinThe Led Zeppelin biography covers the band’s twelve-year career, from its start as The New Yardbirds in 1968 to the time the group officially disbanded in 1980, after John Bonham’s untimely death. There’s so much to tell you that I can’t do it all justice in this one screen. AND the story goes way beyond 1980! There are the Page/Plant tours. Guest appearances for LiveAid. And the O2 Arena reunion gig. So bookmark this page and check back often, as the saga continues to unfold. We’ll take a closer look at every year in Led Zeppelin history. There’ll be eyewitness accounts and pictures of the O2 reunion concert. We’ll learn about the roles that both Atlantic Records and manager Peter Grant played in Led Zeppelin’s history. I’ll guide you through the entire discography of the band’s official – and unofficial, or bootleg – releases.
The Song Remains The Same Part 2 - The Film
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