Fact #41136
When:
Short story:
With a final gig in Luton, England, UK, Europe, The Yardbirds break up, leaving guitarist Jimmy Page to fulfil upcoming concert obligations. He re-forms the group as the New Yardbirds, but when The Who's madcap drummer Keith Moon quips, "That'll probably go down like a lead zeppelin," Page's eyes light up.
Full article:
Jimmy Page : It just got to a point where Relf and McCarty couldn't take it anymore. They wanted to go and do something totally different. When it came to the final split, it was a question of begging them to keep it together, but they didn't. They just wanted to try something new. I told them we'd be able to change within the group format, coming from a sessions background I was prepared to adjust to anything. I hated to break it up without even doing a proper first album.
We had these dates that The Yardbirds were supposed to fulfill, so we went as The Yardbirds. They were already being advertised as the New Yardbirds featuring Jimmy Page, so there wasn't much we could do about it right then. We had every intention of changing the name of the group from the very beginning, though. The tour went fantastically for us, we left them stomping the floors after every show.
Peter Grant (manager, The Yardbirds] : I didn't know if Jimmy would want to go back into session work, but he seemed keen to form a new band. Back then I had a good relationship with Atlantic Records so I got him a deal. There was no band at the time.
Jimmy Page (guitarist, The Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin] : We'd done a gig at Albert Hall - a great bill: us [The Yardbirds], the Stones, the Ike And Tina Tuner Revue, and this band Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers, which had Terry Reid in it. I remembered him as a really good singer, so I told Peter (rock manager Peter Grant), that I wanted to start a group with Terry Reid, so could he get the office to find him. I had all these ideas and I wanted to get it right. So I'm back in England after the end of this Yardbirds tour, and Peter said, 'Well I've located Terry, but he's just signed a solo deal.' I said 'Who with?' He said 'Mickie Most!' Now you know their two desks faced each other, right?!"
(Source : Mojo)
Terry Reid : Jimmy asked me to be the singer in Led Zeppelin but I'd just done a deal to support the Stones on their first Tour of North America in three years. I was doing a gig. I think it was in Buxton with the Band of Joy. I'd seen them before, and I knew Robert Plant and John Bonham. And this time, as I watched them, I thought: 'That¹s it!' I could hear the whole thing in my head. So the next day I phoned up Jimmy. He said, 'What does this singer look like?' I said, 'What do you mean, what does he look like? He looks like a Greek god, but what does that matter? I¹m talking about how he sings. And his drummer is phenomenal. Check it out!' Robert Plant : We were good friends because we seemed to be on the same circuit... we always seemed to be playing on the same bill together. He was one of those stellar vocalists along with Steve Winwood, Jess Roden and Steve Marriott, and he got the offer from his connection with Mickie Most, who shared an office with Peter Grant... so Terry said to Peter and Jimmy, "No I've go this thing going. But you should see my mate. Go and have a look at 'the Wild Man From The Black Country'.
(Source : Uncut)
Peter Grant : The stories are true … it was Keith who coined the name, although he meant it as Lead Zeppelin. The phrase just stuck in my mind. I played around with it, changed the spelling to Led, suggested it to Jimmy and he went for it.
Nicky Hopkins (session pianist) : Jimmy Page asked me to join his new band that was just forming and it was going to be called The New Yardbirds. And at the same time, Jeff Beck asked me to join. Decision time. They were both managed by Peter Grant and Peter couldn't sway me one way or the other. He said, "That's up to you to make a choice, I know." So I thought, "Well, New Yardbirds…That sounds a bit shitty." So I thought, Beck has done his first tour, Page has got a new band that hasn't been tried out. At least Beck has already done one tour, which was really popular. So I chose Beck.
(Source : interview with Steven Rosen, 1979)
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We had these dates that The Yardbirds were supposed to fulfill, so we went as The Yardbirds. They were already being advertised as the New Yardbirds featuring Jimmy Page, so there wasn't much we could do about it right then. We had every intention of changing the name of the group from the very beginning, though. The tour went fantastically for us, we left them stomping the floors after every show.
Peter Grant (manager, The Yardbirds] : I didn't know if Jimmy would want to go back into session work, but he seemed keen to form a new band. Back then I had a good relationship with Atlantic Records so I got him a deal. There was no band at the time.
Jimmy Page (guitarist, The Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin] : We'd done a gig at Albert Hall - a great bill: us [The Yardbirds], the Stones, the Ike And Tina Tuner Revue, and this band Peter Jay And The Jaywalkers, which had Terry Reid in it. I remembered him as a really good singer, so I told Peter (rock manager Peter Grant), that I wanted to start a group with Terry Reid, so could he get the office to find him. I had all these ideas and I wanted to get it right. So I'm back in England after the end of this Yardbirds tour, and Peter said, 'Well I've located Terry, but he's just signed a solo deal.' I said 'Who with?' He said 'Mickie Most!' Now you know their two desks faced each other, right?!"
(Source : Mojo)
Terry Reid : Jimmy asked me to be the singer in Led Zeppelin but I'd just done a deal to support the Stones on their first Tour of North America in three years. I was doing a gig. I think it was in Buxton with the Band of Joy. I'd seen them before, and I knew Robert Plant and John Bonham. And this time, as I watched them, I thought: 'That¹s it!' I could hear the whole thing in my head. So the next day I phoned up Jimmy. He said, 'What does this singer look like?' I said, 'What do you mean, what does he look like? He looks like a Greek god, but what does that matter? I¹m talking about how he sings. And his drummer is phenomenal. Check it out!' Robert Plant : We were good friends because we seemed to be on the same circuit... we always seemed to be playing on the same bill together. He was one of those stellar vocalists along with Steve Winwood, Jess Roden and Steve Marriott, and he got the offer from his connection with Mickie Most, who shared an office with Peter Grant... so Terry said to Peter and Jimmy, "No I've go this thing going. But you should see my mate. Go and have a look at 'the Wild Man From The Black Country'.
(Source : Uncut)
Peter Grant : The stories are true … it was Keith who coined the name, although he meant it as Lead Zeppelin. The phrase just stuck in my mind. I played around with it, changed the spelling to Led, suggested it to Jimmy and he went for it.
Nicky Hopkins (session pianist) : Jimmy Page asked me to join his new band that was just forming and it was going to be called The New Yardbirds. And at the same time, Jeff Beck asked me to join. Decision time. They were both managed by Peter Grant and Peter couldn't sway me one way or the other. He said, "That's up to you to make a choice, I know." So I thought, "Well, New Yardbirds…That sounds a bit shitty." So I thought, Beck has done his first tour, Page has got a new band that hasn't been tried out. At least Beck has already done one tour, which was really popular. So I chose Beck.
(Source : interview with Steven Rosen, 1979)