In a new post on his official Instagram page, iconic Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has uploaded a rare photo of himself from the old days which his 30-year-old girlfriend Scarlett Sabet hasn’t even born.
This photo was taken by Don Paulsen and Michael Ochs in Bombay, India, in 1967. In the caption of his photo, Jimmy penned a long story of why he came to India, and he told his unforgettable memoirs during his experience in India.
Here’s what Jimmy Page penned:
“On this day in 1967, I visited Bombay, India.
At the end of the Yardbirds tour of Australia, there were two options to return to England: one, which was chosen by the rest of the band, was to route through San Francisco; but I chose to travel to India instead.
The plane arrived at 3 in the morning and the interior of the plane was sprayed with insecticide while the passengers remained seated. Then it was time to disembark. I realised I was the only passenger getting off the plane.
Having made no previous internal travel arrangements, I jumped in a taxi and I guess the driver was quite relieved because behind him there was a line of taxis that appeared to stretch back to the city centre.”
He continued:
He asked me what hotel I was staying at, to which I replied ‘You show me a hotel’ and I eventually arrived at the Airline Hotel (it was a much shadier hotel than it sounds!) in the centre of Bombay. This hotel had been closed down by the time I made my visit to Bombay in Led Zeppelin times in 1971.
I had been told that Ravi Shankar had been putting royalties into his Bhulabhai Institute, a centre that would concentrate on Indian classical music, dance and theatre that would have one floor dedicated to each and I wanted to see how it was getting along. In fact, I did see the foundations of the construction.”
He also added:
“I came from India with a set of Tabla drums and a Tanpura – a drone instrument used in Indian classical music – this one, however, was an oversized version.
Being a fragile instrument it was awarded three complimentary seats by the airline on the plane to enjoy the journey from Bombay to London. As a result of this visit I recorded White Summer on my Simon home recorder playing and overlaying the instruments.”
A fan named connorjones commented and said this:
“Great story Jimmy”
Another fan named danybold wrote this:
“Thanks for sharing this emotional story! 💖”
See the Instagram post below.
