Beck's Bolero recording session--May or Nov. 1966?

Anyone aware of any direct quotes from those at this session as to when this was recorded?

There are two versions of the story, apparently. One that it was recorded in May 1966 while Beck was with the Yardbirds, the other has it in November 1966 after he was out of the group.

FYI: The lineup for the song was
J. Beck, J. Page (guitars)
J.P.Jones (bass)
K. Moon (drums)
N. Hopkins (piano)

 

In the booklet from the 2005 remaster of 'Truth', it says "Probably recorded July 12 1966"

Apart from that, I have no more info

 

Jeff Beck has said in multiple interviews that a few other tracks were recorded at the Beck's Bolero session(s). Anyone have any more info?

 

Originally John Entwistle was supposed to play bass but bailed at the last minute. The guys who played on the session (Moon, JPJ, Page, Beck) had such a good time that they were thinking of forming a group. They needed a singer. They approached Steve Winwood and Steve Marriott. The plan was squashed when Page approached Marriotts manager about it and his reply was "How would you feel about playing guitar with ten broken fingers?" The super group to be, never was.

 

BTW, Beck was still in the Yardbirds when they recorded Bolero. He had a meltdown on stage with them in October of '66. Walked off the stage. Bolero was recorded before that tour

 

Of course it could be wrong, but the liner notes to the British remaster of Truth state that it's from a post Yardbirds session. They list the date as probably recorded on July 12, 1966. The biography on Keith Moon written by Tony Fletcher says Beck quit the Yardbirds in November 1966 during a U.S. tour. It then says the session with Beck and Moon took place back in the U.K. sometime after that. A quote from Beck in the book: "When Moon failed to commit, it took the sails out of the whole thing".

 

Checking the biography once more, the July 12th date listed in the liner notes for Truth has to be wrong. Keith Moon's daughter was born on that date and Keith Moon was at the hospital with her. Two days later, he left for a two week tour with The Who.

 

The name of the supergroup---LED ZEPPELIN!! Entwistle thought it up. Page obviously remembered this at a later date.

 

I thought it was Keith Moon that brought up the Led Zeppelin name...

 

Keith Moon and John Entwistle were together when the name came up. Keith said he made it up, John said he made it up.

 

Well, whoever did it, it sure wasn't Page, who never saw an idea he wouldn't steal!

 

Hang on...wasn't Mike Love to be part of that 'supergroup'? And wasn't it he who suggested 'Led Zeppelin' as a band name?

 

I've heard Keith said the group would go down "like a lead balloon" then John corrected him saying lead zeppelin. Then Page shortened it to Led to avoid mispronunciation.

One thing that supports the May '66 Bolero session date, is that Keith was looking around at that time because he'd gotten in a row with Pete Townshend on Ready Steady Go (or some other show) on May 20 and temporarily left the group.

 

YOU ARE CORRECT, SIR!

 

Here's more to confuse...

I read that Keith Relf (Yardbirds singer) was at this session, and was supposed to sing on this track, but they nixed the vocals entirely.

 

Here's Jeff Beck's own take on the "Beck's Bolero" session:

'It was decided that it would be a good idea for me to record some of my own stuff like 'The Nazz are Blue' with a view towards making a solo album - this was partly to stop me moaning about the Yardbirds. I went over to Jim's house and he had this 12-string Fender and he loved the idea of using a bolero-type rhythm for a rock record. He was playing the bolero rhythm and I played the melody on top of it, but then I said, "Jim, you've got to break away from the bolero beat - you can't go on like that for ever!". So we stopped it dead in the middle of the song - like the Yardbirds would do on 'For Your Love' - then we stuck that riff into the middle.

'I always try to do things wholeheartedly or not at all, so I tried to imagine what my ideal band would be. We had the right producer, Keith Moon on drums, Jimmy on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass. You could feel the excitement in the studio even though we didn't know what we were going to play. I thought, "This is it! What a line-up!" But afterwards nothing really happened 'cause Moony couldn't leave The Who - he arrived at the studio in disguise so no one would know he was playing with another band. That band was the original Led Zeppelin - not called "Led Zeppelin" but that was still the earliest embryo of the band.