Through a chance meeting with Ross Halfin at a NAMM Show, Greg Sipe met with Jimmy Page in a New York City hotel room to show off the custom Gibson acoustic guitar that Sipe has built in tribute of Led Zeppelin.<br /
The guitar has a custom paint job of Led Zeppelin III.
Read the entire interview here.
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/06/chesapeake-man-tells-tales-his-collection-250-guitars
With a lack of decent new music, the music buyers are rocking to the oldies. On the Australian chart this week, Led Zeppelin’s 1972 album ‘IV’ sold more than The Veronicas first album.
Old albums by Cat Stevens, Billy Joel and Cold Chisel did better than new albums Fiest, Fergie and OneRepublic.
The artists at the top of the chart get all of the headlines but when you look past the Top 50 mark, it is obvious that it isn’t the kids going into stores, it 30+ adults.
Between 50 and 60 this week, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, and kd lang sit alongside The Herd, The Music and Jason Mraz.
The Forest Gump Soundtrack, released in 1994, sold more than the most recent Panic At The Disco album.
Heritage artists selling out of stores last week in considerable numbers included Roy Orbison, Rod Stewart, Crowded House, Alanis Morissette, Garth Brooks, Madonna, Beach Boys and Mariah Carey.
The University of Surrey is proud to confer the honorary degree of Doctor of the University to Jimmy Page for services to the music industry. The award was made on Friday, June 20 at Guildford Cathedral. Jimmy generously signed a guitar (see attached photo) which will be given away in a competition at the upcoming GuilFest festival. Surrey’s involvement with GuilFest this year celebrates its innovative music programmes that reflect the diversity of contemporary musical practice.
James Patrick “Jimmy” Page, OBE is a world renowned guitarist and composer. Born in Middlesex in 1944, he grew up in Epsom, Surrey where he developed a passion for both painting and music. Throughout the 1960’s he was in demand as a session musician, leading eventually to his becoming a member of The Yardbirds. After various personnel changes, the band renamed themselves Led Zeppelin, and played under that name for the first time at the University of Surrey on October 25th 1968.
Over the next decade Led Zeppelin effectively redefined ‘rock’ music, drawing on a wide range of influences to create a string of legendary albums which have, to date, sold over 300 million copies. Led Zeppelin are unquestionably one of the most important and influential ‘rock’ bands ever, and the highly successful reunion concert at The O2 in 2007 shows the phenomenal interest in their music which persists today. Through his work with Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, a major creative force within the band, became universally recognised as being one of the greatest and most versatile guitarists of all time.
Away from music, he has been involved in the Action for Brazil’s Children Trust, or ABC Trust. His commitment to this cause goes back to 1994 where he witnessed first hand unrest in the largest of Rio de Janeiro’s shanty towns. He resolved there and then to do something to help, which led to the establishment of “Casa Jimmy”, a shelter for abandoned street children, which continues to be run successfully today and has helped over 250 children to find a better life. Building on this, the ABC Trust was set up with Jimmy Page as the founding patron. In 2005 he was awarded an OBE in recognition of his charitable work, and also made an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro later that same year.
http://www.ballard.co.uk/press_releases/company_releases.aspx?story=1196
Speaking at an awards ceremony in London, both guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones said that they expected the concert to become available.
“I hope so one day, yeah,” Page told BBC 6Music.
Although Jones echoed Page’s sentiment, he said that at the moment “there is no hurry” to release it.
“It was a special occasion you know and we really wanted that just to be it really,” he added.
Led Zeppelin’s reunion at the O2 Arena last December was watched by 18,000 fans, although over a million people tried to register for tickets.
http://www.gigwise.com/news/43939/led-zeppelin-reunion-show-to-get-dvd-release
Miriam Datskovsky of Portfolio.com reports that Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”, originally released in 1971, is considered a musical masterpiece and is one of the most-played rock tunes of all time. Proving its longevity, “Stairway” hit the U.K. charts again last fall and was a top download in the U.S., after Zeppelin’s first downloadable album launched on iTunes. But because the band is notoriously protective of its work, “Stairway” hasn’t met its full moneymaking potential. While other artists have made big bucks by licensing songs to Hollywood and Madison Avenue - think of Bob Dylan’s “Love Sick” in that Victoria’s Secret commercial - Zeppelin has shunned most opportunities.
Read more from Portfolio.com.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=99321
British blues-rock singer-songwriter Deborah Bonham - sister of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham - makes her U.S. album debut with Duchess. The disc features thirteen soulful songs - including twelve originals - plus guest performances from former Free and Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers and John’s son Jason Bonham, a second generation skins-master who played with Zeppelin at their 2007 U.K. show honoring Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.
The album was co-produced by Deborah and Glen Skinner, and features her ace band, made up of former Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley, bassist Ian Rowley, keyboardist Gerard Louis and guitarist Peter Bullick. Paul Rodgers and Jason Bonham are heard on the stand-out track “Hold On” - other highlights include the bluesy “Pretty Thing,” “Duchess & the Shufflemeister,” the ballad “Love You So,” the folk-flavored “Chains” and the country-tinged “Blue” (the latter with veteran pedal steel ace BJ Cole). Also featured is “The Old Hyde Revisited,” a new, live-in-the-studio version of the title track from Bonham’s ‘04 U.K. album. The song is a moving tribute to her father John Henry Bonham, Sr. and brothers John and Michael, who all passed away within years of each other.
Deborah Bonham first got the urge to perform when she was six years old and saw her brother in concert with Led Zeppelin. After his untimely death in 1980, she set out to cultivate her own branch of the Bonham family tree’s musical heritage. Her U.K. debut For You And The Moon was critically praised, and a second album, The Old Hyde, followed. With Duchess, Bonham claims her standing as rock royalty, and comes into her own as an artist.
Legendary rockers Led Zeppelin have been honoured with the Best Live Act prize for their one-off reunion at Britain’s Mojo Magazine Awards, held in London on Monday.
They were conferred the award in recognition of a show the band staged last December at London’s O2 Wembley Arena.
The event was hosted by the magazine’s editor Phil Alexander.
Celebrities like Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, British singer Kate Nash and former Blur rocker Graham Coxon attended the award ceremony.
Jimmy Page was speaking to Xfm shortly after he and bandmate, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, scooped the award for Best Live Band at the Mojo Honours List 2008. Not bad going for band who, prior to last December’s one-off, hadn’t played a full gig together since 1980.
Asked if he’d tried to subsequently persuade vocalist Robert Plant to rejoin the band, the legendary guitarist responded: “I’m not going to persuade anyone to do anything. It’s just like the O2, you do it in the spirit of your heart, don’t you? You either do it or you don’t.”
Page was quick to quosh rumours that his broken finger wasn’t quite the story that had been presented to the public. He said: “Broken finger? Damn right! It broke here,” he said, showing Xfm the now-repaired digit. “This one that looks like a knuckle on the end. It seriously was, it was broken in three places.”
Responding to the hypothesis that three weeks was a short period of time for a broken finger to heal, Page claimed that his focus on the upcoming gig helped him through, saying: “But I gotta tell you, that was the kind of focus that there was on behalf of everybody towards that O2 gig.”
He also added that the finger still hadn’t fully healed by the time of the gig: “But my personal focus was that broken finger - it didn’t matter [about it], it was just steering ahead. It didn’t get better in three weeks, it’s just that I played in three weeks.”
For those fans fearing that Led Zeppelin might never fly again, Page remained positive that the O2 gig would eventually see the light of day on DVD: “Well I hope so, one day; yeah”
WENN (World Entertainment News Network) reports that Jason Bonham has spoken of his joy at performing with legendary band Led Zeppelin - comparing it to scoring a string of winning goals at the soccer World Cup.
The drummer joined the band as a replacement for his late father John Bonham at an one-off London gig in December 2007.
And although Bonham was impressed with his performance, he was initially scared of not living up to his father’s talents.
He tells UK magazine Musician, “It was like the penalty shoot-out at the World Cup, but you’re taking everyone. I had to shoot 16 times and get the goal every time.
“We all arrived separately and didn’t communicate with each other until ten minutes before we went on. At that point I don’t know what I was feeling. I was breathing deeply trying to keep calm. I knew I could do the gig, but could I do it when it counted?”
And the musician says his time on-stage with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones has left him eager for another reunion.
He adds, “It’s hard to be in this situation where it was so good and now I’m left in limbo about what’s going to happen next.
“I’m happy with what happened, and if I ask, for me it’s me being greedy.”
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=99102
Jason Bonham, the son of Led Zeppelin’s original drummer John Bonham, has said that he would tour with Led Zeppelin “in a heartbeat”.
Bonham took over his late father’s drum seat when the band reformed for a one off reunion show in London last year.
The concert, at the O2 Arena, was watched by 20,000 fans, although over a million people registered for tickets for the event.
Since the concert, rumours have been rife as to whether the band will announce any more shows.
Currently, frontman Robert Plant is currently promoting ‘Raising Sands’, his album with Alison Krauss, on a US tour.
Speaking to the BBC, Bonham said: “It’s up to them but if it was up to me, I’d love to.”
Bonham, who said the reunion show was “better than I could have imagined”, said he hoped to be “put into the loop” regarding more shows.
“My fingers are crossed and I would do it in a heartbeat,” he said.
http://www.gigwise.com/news/43840/jason-bonham-i-would-do-a-led-zeppelin-tour-in-a-heartbeat