for The Ladybirds, where The New Yardbirds played at Fjordvilla in Roskilde that Sunday.
When I spoke to you the other day, you mentioned that a copy of the contract with Bendix Music had surfaced for that Saturday, September 7, 1968 performance of what was supposed to have been The Yardbirds. Impossibly, you were able to help me get it in this book! It’s absolutely incredible to see this, after all these years. And ironically, this contract illustrates the end of the “old” Yardbirds making way for The Yardbirds, The New Yardbirds and, eventually, Led Zeppelin. Could you please tell me something about this priceless, historic contract?
ANGEL:
Bendix Music was the company responsible for bringing The Yardbirds to Denmark. This contract is signed by representatives of both Bendix Music and Gladsaxe Teen Club. For example, the photo of the contract in your book, from that first-ever public performance of The New Yardbirds at Gladsaxe Teen Club, on Saturday, September 7, 1968 is a great historical document showing that.
REDDON:
I know. It blows my mind…the very beginning of music history on one page. I’d like to thank you, Jerry Ritz and everyone else at the Teen Club, for permitting me to reproduce that contract in my book.
ANGEL:
It’s my pleasure because it’s certainly suited to your research and book. As you can see from this amazing document, the contract between Bendix Music and The Yardbirds has the following information. As of three weeks before, The Yardbirds had been signed to play the Gladsaxe Teen Club on Saturday, September 7, 1968. The fee of 7,000 Danish kroner was pretty steep - more than ten times what a very popular Danish band would get. And the ticket for that evening was 7 kroner. So the evening must have been calculated to result in a deficit as the hall could take about 1,200 to 1,500 people. And the other bands had to be paid, as well as other costs.
REDDON:
It's incredible how you’ve come up with this revealing information after almost forty years. I’m astounded at all of this! That was pretty good money for that time, wasn’t it - 7,000 kroner? Do you think it’s because they were billed as The Yardbirds and it was a signed contract? So the new version of the band that Jimmy Page brought over to Denmark in fulfillment of his tour obligation was for that amount because “a deal is a deal”, with reference to a contract, right?
ANGEL: Yes, that would make sense because The Yardbirds were big here.
REDDON:
Next, I’d like to find out about your lithograph, The First Performance. It’s a work of art on many levels and consists of a collage of photographs you took of The New Yardbirds’ first-ever public performance, on Saturday, September 7, 1968 at the Gladsaxe Teen Club. Where did you get the idea to create such an historical, artistic work?
ANGEL:
I think it may have been a meeting I had with Robert Plant that inspired me to do the lithograph. Another factor was a photo of Robert I had experimented with, years earlier. From those thoughts at different times, the idea and inspiration for The First Performance lithograph arose. I gave a lot of thought to how to present the photos. The subject of photos came up in a conversation I was having with Robert Plant and it went on from there I suppose…that was the “idea spark” for the lithograph. Those photos I took at the Teen Club on September 7, 1968 are not great photos. But they are great historical documents! I wanted to give people as much of this historical concert as possible.
Instead of just putting out one photo, I went with the “proof print” look on the lithograph. I think it conveys that historical sense of time and place. I believe my intention was for you to put on the first Led Zeppelin record, take a look at the lithograph and feel you’re almost there!
REDDON:
Well, I’ve done that and that’s just the way it is! An amazing experience to see those photos and hear the music they were touring with at the same time.
ANGEL:
Maybe The First Performance lithograph wasn’t such a good idea because you have to be a huge Zeppelin fan to have that hanging on your wall. It’s just a lot of pictures otherwise. I might have done better with just doing one photo or whatever. My intention was to give people the essence of that first performance. That’s also why I cropped the four faces of Robert Plant so much because his facial expressions were great!
REDDON:
Yes, Plant’s facial expressions certainly are excellent. You can almost hear his voice, just looking at the writhing, contorting facial expressions visually frozen in those photographs. You really captured the intensity of that performance, by all four musicians - individually and collectively. To me and many others I’m sure, The First Performance lithograph is one of the most important photographic endeavours in the history of popular music. Congratulations for being the one to do it.
I notice just looking at The First Performance lithograph, The New Yardbirds were visually striking. Plant, in particular, stands out. How did they compare visually to other bands you saw and took photos of? What criteria did you use to select the photos for your limited-edition lithos?
ANGEL:
Before I answer that, your question caused me to think of something we should mention in our discussion here. “The Golden God”… Do you know who I’m referring to?
REDDON: Robert Plant, right?
ANGEL:
Yes, that’s right. He was called the “Golden God” because I hear that, at some point, he was standing on a roof top, stretching his arms up and shouting, “I am the Golden God.” Have you heard the story?
REDDON:
It sounds familiar. It was in one of the books or magazines I've read and it happened in LA. But please elaborate.
ANGEL:
So yes, Plant, being the “Golden God”, served as the focal point initially with The New Yardbirds and later with Led Zeppelin. Eventually, Jimmy Page became more extroverted; he wasn’t at the start of the band. He was quite introverted in the beginning, playing away with his head down. So that gave them another dimension of visual interest with Page getting more “visual” in his movements on stage. But don’t forget Bonham. The way he went berserk behind the drums…I mean that was also a powerful visual thing and point of interest for watching Zeppelin perform. John Paul Jones stood there like a pillar of salt.
REDDON: Great description of John Paul Jones…probably the best I’ve ever heard!
ANGEL:
It’s true! Very similar to the way John Entwistle, The Who’s bass player, stood there as he played. From a visual perspective, that guy “parked” in the background provides an important contrast to the movements of singer and guitarist.
REDDON: Oh, I see. That’s an interesting observation that’s not very obvious.
ANGEL:
Now back to your question about The First Performance lithograph. What criteria did I use for creating it and did I use all the photos I took from that September 7, 1968 performance?
A
