On This Day 02 April

Did those journalists really think Led Zeppelin needed to play France?

1973 02 April On This Day Led Zeppelin, Paris (day 2 of 2)

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Cardiff Wales atTop Rank Ballroom
• 1970 Led Zeppelin - Charleston WV at Charleston Civic Center Coliseum
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Paris at Centre Sportif (day 2 of 2)
• 1986 The Firm- Mean Business album released

1969:

This show was a benefit in for the Biafran Relief Organisation. Led Zeppelin did their part, but in the middle of How Many More Times the revolving stage was engaged and cables suddenly were jerked out of the amps' sockets, some broken off. That was the end of that.

1973:

The band had already cancelled two shows in France because of the audiences. They came back to Paris (actually a suburb to the north of the city) to play the Palais des Sports de Saint Ouen. Roy Hollingworth of Melody Maker reported:  "Zeppelin kicked a great hole in the night..."  But it was too late for France. Led Zeppelin was done with that country.

1973 Led Zeppelin get more gold discs

1973 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, Paris

1986 Mean Business, by The Firm

1986:

You're probably tired of my whining about The Firm, but tough. It's my blog and I'll whine if I want to. And here I go:

The problem with The Firm is there's too much of Paul Rodgers and not enough Jimmy Page. Hey, I'm not putting down Mr. Rodgers. He's a great singer. But, as I've described elsewhere in this blog probably too many time, Paul Rodgers isn't giving it up to the muse that Jimmy Page answers to. Unfortunate for The Firm, because Jimmy Page is the one channeling the magick.

Cadillac, from The Firm's 1986 Mean Business, is a good example of when Jimmy Page gets to open to that channel and let it flow. Paul Rodgers comes through in this one to deliver lyrics and melody that match the setting Jimmy Page has provided. But then on the same album we get Free To Live, which doesn't come up to those standards. 

Cadillac roils with Jimmy Page's dark twisty tones, gasping pauses, and shocking thrusts of high notes. Free To Live starts out with promise: Slade's thumping and the growly guitar in the intro really work nicely together to hint of... well, we never find out, because Paul Rodgers starts singing and the other members of the band just back off and support him. At 2:00 Jimmy Page comes back in and takes over and we get some good stuff working - and then the song recedes to that old band-supports-the-vocalist format, where the singer is making lyrics the music instead of letting words serve the music. That's traditional but it's also boring. And unfortunately, as good as the quartet was, traditional was too typical of The Firm's work. The band was very good, but it was not innovative. We had already heard it all before. And what a shame. It didn't have to be that way.

So I, for one, don't love The Firm as much as I might. That's why I'm hoping that Jimmy Page will soon put out new music that leaves him free of the anchor of a traditional vocalist and rather lets his guitar do the singing.

♪

♪  Dancing Days (Led Zeppelin, Paris 02 April 1973) YouTube
♪  Cadillac (The Firm, Mean Business 1986) YouTube
♪  Free To Live (The Firm, Mean Business 1986) YouTube
♫  Mean Business MTV promo 1986usiness 1986) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube

NOTICE: April 11 will be the last daily On This Day post as that will be a full year's worth.  I won't post any more unless Jimmy Page's website offers some new ones. Stay tuned for new posts here on the Mage Music blog about the music and Magick of  JIMMY PAGE and previews of new Mage Music projects!