Coolest Shit Ever: Jimmy Page Plays Chopin With Jeff Beck’s Band. Junky Fabulous.
7 Jul, 2009 in Coolest Shit Ever, Jimmy Page, fnord, music
This is from Sept 20 or 21, 1983, at the Royal Albert Hall. This is the first of the ARMS Concerts, which starred Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, Joe Cocker, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Paul Rodgers, and everyone else in the world. It was a benefit tour for Faces bassist, Ronnie Lane. He had MS, and his friends wanted to come up with enough money to provide him, and anyone else in the London area, with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. It made him feel better.
It was Jimmy’s first public appearance since the 1980 Zeppelin tour, and he was is rough shape. This tour is what prompted him to kick heroin. The bummer is that he really is sub par, and he’s jamming with Clapton and Beck, who promptly mop the floor with him. However, this song, Prelude, is really touching and heartbreaking. I love love love his phrasing, and the absolute perfection with which he times the final little phrase. It’s from 2:22 to 2:24, and it’s perfect.
When MTV broadcast this show in 1983, I lost my mind when I saw Jimmy’s set. It was… not so good. It wasn’t as awful as I remembered, but it was definitely my introduction to 1980’s Jimmy Page, at least until the Outrider tour, where he totally, absolutely was amazing.
Ok. Here’s the song. It’s the Coolest Shit Ever. Enjoy junky Jimmy.
I have taken a piss with a cigarette in my mouth and I cannot imagine playing guitar while doing it. Jimmy should have doused the blunt and concentrated on his guitar. Sometimes the old razzle dazzle hippie shit does not work. Poor jimmy wears clown shoes. Sad, oh so sad.
You remember. The Outrider show was amazing. Still is (I have it on tape and CD), but the ARMS Tour was a disgrace. The mighty Zep PR machine kept Jimmy’s horrible playing a secret. The legend was still mighty. It’s too bad the ARMS tour wasn’t five or ten years later. Then it would have been really cool to see Beck, Clapton, and Page jamming. However, it was this train wreck that prompted the Zosophonic one to get his shit together.
Jimmy has redeemed himself for sure. Talk about a flight of the phoenix. It just goes to show that it is never too late. Never.
That’s pretty. Interesting to hear that the Outrider tour was that good, as I thought the album was disappointingly lame. I don’t think I’ve listened to it more than three times, and traded it in many years ago. Even the few moments of brilliance couldn’t save the bad vocals, bland production, and questionable song selection/arrangements. Just my $.02, of course, and aplologies for any negativity…I love you, Jimmy, and I would love to hear more live stuff from that obscure era(hint, hint, Mr. Blogmaster).
Hi, The Gus. Yes, everything you said about Outrider is true. I don’t like it … at all. The tour had some of the same issues, re: vocals, and the stale, on the beat, backing band (with a 20 year old Jason Bonham), but.. Jimmy’s playing was fantastic. He had his shit together, and the band was tight, if 80’s.
The Zep songs were done brilliantly, the Jimmy songs were done better, the Death Wish songs were good, and even the Firm Songs were better than the Firm. Many of the songs were instrumentals a la Jeff Beck, and he rose to the occasion.
The Worcester show was fantastic. Eric and I had front row seats. Jimmy even played a bit of Dazed and Confused with a pick we threw up onstage. Robert Plant was standing behind the bass stack, not joining in (he played the centrum the next night), and the fags from Aerosmith were there as well.
One day I will send you a show from that tour. Get in line. I have discs from 2006 to mail still.
This concert has some great moments, but my favorite is the Steve Winwood version of Roadrunner. His keyboard solos, particularly the last one, are models for clarity, tunefulness and concision, a symphony in 30 seconds.