The New Yardbirds - The Fledging Led ZeppelinThere’s a lot of confusion between The Yardbirds and The New Yardbirds even in some of the Led Zeppelin literature. But it’s really straightforward, once you know the story! Jimmy Page is the link between the “old” Yardbirds and the new. When The Yardbirds broke up in July 1968, they were still committed to a short Scandinavian tour that September. So Page had a contractual obligation but no band. He and his manager, Peter Grant, very quickly assembled a new line-up of talent that included founder/guitarist Jimmy Page, vocalist Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones and percussionist John Bonham. There was equity in The Yardbirds’ name. And that was the group specified in the contract. So Page and Grant decided to keep the name and add “New”. This group’s line-up would never change. But its name soon would! Taking Off In ScandinaviaThe New Yardbirds debuted in public on September 7, 1968, at the Gladsaxe Teen Club in a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark. Immediately afterward that night, they played at the Brøndby Pop-Klub, about ten miles away.
At the time, Richard Cole was the band’s permanent tour manager. But he was in the United States preparing for the group’s upcoming First Tour. So Bendix Music, the concert promoter, appointed Jerry Ritz to manage the band’s Scandinavian tour. I was very fortunate to meet Jerry Ritz in person, along with his wife Annie whom he first met at the Gladsaxe Teen Club where she volunteered. Both of them saw the soon-to-be-named Led Zeppelin perform that first-ever gig. Also on hand that particular evening was Jørgen Angel. At the time, he was only seventeen and he had what he considered to be the best job at the Teen Club – house photographer! An award-winning career in rock photography developed. On The Rocky RoadTheir September tour of Denmark and Sweden afforded The New Yardbirds a terrific opportunity to rehearse and try out material for their first album, which they planned to record in short order upon their return home to England. With the exception of one outdoor gig at Liseberg Amusement Park in Sweden, where the passersby couldn’t have cared less about hearing these long-haired, loud musicians, the group was a big hit! Back in England, they gigged at universities and clubs while also working on their debut album at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. A local newspaper announced that they’d perform their first concert as Led Zeppelin at Surrey University on October 25, 1968 but look how they’re still advertised on the poster for that concert!
Flying Into Music HistoryThe New Yardbirds were poised to take off in a big way. Moulting that name in favour of Led Zeppelin allowed them to shake off the past associations – both real and imagined – with the original Yardbirds. This band was completely new and everyone realized it from the opening notes. Led Zeppelin’s set lists on that First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-’69 would include a great many blues numbers from the original Yardbirds’ days. But they would be played in a way that had never been done before and has never been duplicated since. Led Zeppelin fused electrified blues with psychedelia, folk and rock to create its signature sound. And that was just for starters. Led Zeppelin has variously been called “the world’s greatest fusion band”, “the father of heavy/speed metal” and a “precursor to punk”. Whatever the label, the band changed the course of popular music history with every performance. Relive The New Yardbirds’ first-ever performance with
Sonic Boom: Volume 1.
My exclusive, in-depth interviews with Jørgen Angel, Jerry and Annie Ritz provide an inside look at how the group played - both on stage and off!
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