equally psychedelically decorated guitar.
Courtesy: Howard Mylett Collection, used with permission. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc.
REDDON:
That would be fun to reminisce like that. As you say, you were all young at the same time. So it must have been as enjoyable for you, as it was for Jones, Page and Plant to talk about your youth and the time you spent that night at the Teen Club.
ANGEL:
Yes, it was. Jimmy Page told me the story about his “Dragon Guitar” [referring to the psychedelically-painted, 1958 Telecaster Page used in The Yardbirds and the early career of The New Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin: 1968-69]. It’s supposed to be a dragon and it’s hand-painted by Page. He used a very special light-reflecting paint. And Page was very happy with that design he’d painted on. But he was going away for awhile on this one occasion. So he left the guitar with a friend of his who was an artist. When Page came back, the friend said he had a gift for him. He had painted something really nice on the guitar, the friend told Jimmy.
REDDON: Oh man, I would have flipped!
ANGEL:
And it didn’t seem to me that Jimmy was over that yet!
REDDON:
No kidding…I don’t blame him. That was such a fine looking design on that Telecaster. Ah, that’s a superb story.
ANGEL:
And I said to Jimmy, “Couldn’t you have someone restore it to its former design?” But he said that wasn’t possible because his friend had done a thorough job and had totally removed Jimmy’s hand-painted pattern, and then re-painted it with the new design.
REDDON:
Wow, a priceless piece of music history inadvertently erased like that. Me? I’d be looking for a new friend!
ANGEL:
Poor guy, I felt very sorry for him! Well, those are some of the recollections we talked about. We also looked at details in the photos hanging in the gallery. “What is that in the photos?” we said. “What kind of amplifier is that?” Going forth and back, all the different gear and knobs on the equipment. They enjoyed looking at the photos because it reminded them of different kinds of things. They all looked not only at the photos from ’68, but also from ’69, when they came on their Second Scandinavian Tour in March of that year.
Another interesting recollection from John Paul Jones was made when he noticed that, in the September 1968 Gladsaxe photos, there was a metal apparatus over the strings near the bridge area of the bass guitar. You could rest your hand on that metal piece when you play the bass guitar, with the right pick hand.
So John Paul noticed the second time Zeppelin came to Copenhagen (in March ’69), he had taken the piece off his bass. And I asked John Paul, “Why did you take that piece off your bass?” And he said, “It was in the way!” It was funny because many people were wondering sort of, “Why would he take that off?” So he had the simple and logical response of it being in the way. The Led Zeppelin guys were all really, really pleasant and we all had a good time going over those photos and the fond memories they brought back for us all.
REDDON:
After having The New Yardbirds negatives stashed for so long, how do you feel about bringing them to light? Did you ever think your work would be making such a major difference to the members of Led Zeppelin, or a Led Zeppelin researcher such as me?
ANGEL:
It was great, great fun taking The New Yardbirds photos and, later, the Led Zeppelin shots… and all the other Gladsaxe Teen Club photos from 1966 to 1969. I enjoy it when some editor contacts me and wants to use a certain photo for an article. It makes me very happy. Our current affiliation with your publishing project is another excellent example. It’s extremely satisfying when what you’ve done is appreciated and of value to others; for whatever reason that may be.
It’s interesting. In the first three months I had my website up and running, I had more compliments by people signing the guest book than in the fifteen years I've taken pictures! It’s nice when people enjoy the work you’ve done. Many of my photos have been presented in different formats around the world.
REDDON:
As well, you told me about something interesting that Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple had in common as bands about their respective, professional debuts. Could you tell me about that?
ANGEL:
When I met Jon Lord, the keyboardist for Deep Purple, in Stockholm in 2006, he had been out with John Paul Jones the night before. People from the Polar Music Prize had told them about my exhibition of photographs. So that got Jon and John Paul talking about the old days. And they found out that both their bands – Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple - had had their world premieres in Denmark, only three months apart.
I asked Jon why they chose Denmark to be the first place to play with the new band. He said he had suggested Denmark because the Danes were so nice! Jon had previously played for a longer period of time – three months, I think – with The Artwoods. If I’m not mistaken, it was at a small place called Soho, in the Bakken amusement park, ten miles outside Copenhagen.
Jon also told me that Deep Purple was called “The Roundabouts” for that first tour. They wanted to save the name “Deep Purple” just in case they didn’t go over very well!
REDDON:
That’s a remarkable coincidence both of those huge bands debuted in Denmark. I have a few other sort of “miscellaneous questions” if you still have time.
ANGEL: I’m happy to do it. You’ve had some interesting, out-of-the-ordinary questions.
REDDON:
Thanks a lot. All right then. What recollections immediately come to mind when you hear the album, Led Zeppelin?
ANGEL:
Do you remember when we first corresponded some time ago, that I told you one of the answers to your questions would be “spring rolls?”
REDDON: Oh yeah! It made me wonder. Is it time now to find out?
ANGEL:
Yeah, I suppose it is! My immediate memory when I hear Led Zeppelin is, I think of spring rolls! In 1969, my parents bought a place in the country. It’s now my wife’s and mine. I was seventeen years old and not keen on spending the weekends in the country. I wanted to stay in town and have fun with my friends.
We would go to Bakken amusement park. It had several places where there was live music. When Bakken closed at midnight, it had become a tradition to go to my place while my parents were away. The deep fryer was the latest thing. So people would say, “Let’s go to Jørgen’s house for spring rolls and Led Zeppelin!” My friends would say, “In with the spring rolls, up with the volume of Led Zeppelin!”
REDDON: What songs were your favourite when Led Zeppelin first came out?
ANGEL:
