Constance writes:
>Anyhoo, here is an excerpt from the paragraph where Ian Hunter had
>just auditioned for Mott....
>
>"The new recruit was Ian Hunter Patterson from Shrewsbury. Older than
>the others, he was a veteran of British beat groups in Hamburg, had
>recently backed Billy Fury and almost joined Jimmy Page's New Yardbirds."
Actually, Ian Hunter DID join the New Yardbirds -- but Jimmy wasn't a
member of the group!
Confused? Here's the long-lost story...
When Mickie Most found out (in the fall of 1968) that Jimmy Page and
Peter Grant would be abandoning the "Yardbirds" name and going off on
their own, he was a bit miffed. I guess he felt that he owned a piece
of the Yardbirds, since he was their producer as well as Peter Grant's
boss. So, he decided to cash in on the name by assembling his own
group, which was to be called The New Yardbirds.
Most's plan was to have this band tour in places where Zep wouldn't be
touring (i.e., small towns in the U.S.), flying under the radar before
the first Led Zeppelin album had even been released yet.
The band included Ian Hunter on bass and Mick Strode (one-time Band Of
Joy member!) on guitar. They rehearsed for a few weeks but the whole
project fell apart when Peter Grant found out and threatened legal action.
An interesting sidenote to the story: Hunter put a slightly different
twist on the story in a 2002 interview -- he claimed that the band was
assembled as a "backup plan" for Jimmy Page, just in case Plant, Jones &
Bonham didn't work out! However, I tend to doubt that aspect of the
story, as it seems highly unlikely that Jimmy would have been willing to
join a band that he'd never even met or rehearsed with.
Anyway, that's the story. If nothing else, it proves that the "New
Yardbirds" name existed in 1968.
Hope this helps,
Scott
(swandwn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)