Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 - Break & Enter. Frank Reddon
things I did included getting “the boys” out of bed, checking us out of the hotel (without too many extra bills for damages to pay!), making sure we arrived at the next venue on time (in all kinds of weather) and fulfilling the contracts with the local promoters and club owners so we were paid the full fees.
From 1966 to 1972, I worked for the Scandinavian tour organizer/agency Bendix Music as a booking agent, promotion and tour manager. Later Bendix became known as ICO (International Concert Organization). While I was there, I was Scandinavian tour manager for Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Small Faces, The Herd (with Peter Frampton), Manfred Mann, The Move, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (with Mick Taylor pre-Stones), ELO, The Pretty Things, The Spencer Davis Group (with Steve Winwood), Eric Burdon & The Animals, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, The Jeff Beck Group (with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood) and The Faces (again with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood pre-Stones) as well as many other British groups that toured the Scandinavian countries during those six years.
Since the mid-sixties, I worked in the entertainment business in almost every field, as a promoter, a record executive (head of international A&R with EMI/Capitol Denmark), record producer, music publisher, personal manager for some of the most popular local Danish artists, music director for a theatre/concert hall, TV producer, show and play producer and much, much more. Today I run my own agency/management company called KulturKontakt.dk and the record/publishing company TUBA Entertainment.
REDDON: Why did so many British acts tour Scandinavia?
RITZ: Denmark is fairly close to England About a day’s ferry ride.
REDDON:
What an incredible career you’ve had, Jerry! How and when did you meet Jørgen Angel?
RITZ:
I was the Scandinavian tour manager for Led Zeppelin in 1968-69. When I heard The Yardbirds were breaking up, I definitely introduced the group as The New Yardbirds on that first tour. There was some mention of the name “Led Zeppelin”, too. But it was just talk at the time and that name wasn’t used; I introduced them as The New Yardbirds for most of those gigs. I met Jørgen when he and my wife-to-be, Annie, were working as volunteers at the Gladsaxe Teen Club, where The New Yardbirds were booked for their first public performance. Annie and I have been married for 35 years now.
Teen Clubs had sprung up in Gladsaxe and Brøndby because high-rises in the area brought a growing population. People wanted somewhere safe for their youngsters to go and have fun, because there were lots of them!
When I toured with Led Zeppelin that first time, I really liked their music and I tried to be professional by distancing myself from them a bit. I never took pictures. No one said I couldn’t but taking pictures seemed like something a fan would do. I always wanted to be as professional as possible with all the groups I worked with. In this case, I wanted the members of Led Zeppelin to respect me as their tour manager/promoter. So I didn’t take any photos and, while being friendly with them, I kept my distance so I could maintain a professional relationship with them.
I have very few photos taken “on the road”. One picture that I have kept, though, was taken on the second day of Led Zeppelin’s career as a touring band. The day before the picture was taken, we had done two shows. The first was at the Gladsaxe Teen Club in the Egegård School where Jørgen took his pictures and I met Annie. The second was later that evening at the Brøndby Pop-Club in the Noerregaardshallen.
Getting back to the day that the photo was taken – September 8, 1968. It was between an afternoon gig at Fjordvilla in Roskilde (where the supporting act was a topless all-girl band called The Ladybirds) and an evening performance in Rewentlowparken, Lolland. At the time, it was normal that the band plus their only roadie/driver and I were sitting in the front two rows of the van (no windows for the guys in the back!). Behind the second row of seats were all the equipment, PA-system, mikes, amplifiers, guitar cases, drum kit, etc. All in one Ford Transit van!
I think that Peter Grant was with us on the road for the first dates on that tour, which meant we needed a little more space! So we hired Ivan Riel (his brother, Alex, is a famous Danish jazz/rock drummer) and his American 1956 Ford Fairlane convertible for transportation that day. Ivan was a well known chauffeur/roadie for local bands at the time. Today he’s a retired airline pilot!
Since we had plenty of space, we invited some friends along on the road to the two gigs, which was very unusual at the time. I remember there was a good, relaxed atmosphere - very easy. Almost like “Let’s go and play some rock’n’roll and have a good time”.
In the picture [which appears in the hardcover version of this book but cannot here for legal reasons] from the left is my girlfriend at the time, Vibeke and I in white beside the black van. Behind these “young lovers”, you can see Bonzo in a purple t-shirt, Jimmy in front posing with the Danish girl. The picture was probably taken by one of the other band members with her Kodak camera. Behind the steering wheel is driver Ivan Riel talking to a guy who is more interested in his car than in this long-haired band! The stop took place at a gas station and cafeteria near the town of Tappernøje.
Notice that Jimmy is wearing his brand-new Danish wooden clogs that he had bought the day before in Copenhagen with my assistance! I remember Jimmy just loved the look of those clogs. So we stopped along the way on that tour and I helped him pick out a pair. He really thought they were quite something.
REDDON:
They’re probably the same ones he was wearing in photos I’ve seen from 1970. I guess there’s a little story or two behind everything!
You mentioned that you got Led Zeppelin a date in Göteborg, Sweden. If I understand correctly, this date at Göteborg wasn’t booked originally. Do you recall how you got them this extra date? Was it common practice for you, as the tour manager, to add dates for groups like Led Zeppelin if your touring schedule would allow it? I know groups did that here in North America; it happened for Led Zeppelin on the band’s First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69.
RITZ:
Led Zeppelin did play a date in Göteborg, at Liseberg Amusement Park. I remember that the people were walking by, not even looking or listening as Zeppelin played, trying very hard to impress them. But they weren’t interested in Led Zeppelin’s music at all! We all knew before they went on that it would be like this. They were very professional about it. They went on and played well anyway. It was comical - people were walking by with their kids, giving Led Zeppelin funny looks, because here were these guys with long hair playing away, very loudly. They just got strange looks from people passing by with their children. They didn’t get the music at all. Zeppelin joked with me that it was my fault for getting them that awful gig. But it was all in good fun.
REDDON:
When you first met Page and the rest of the group in Scandinavia in 1968, do you recall ever talking about the future Led Zeppelin album?
RITZ:
I think Led Zeppelin mentioned that they were going to record their first album. I can’t remember the specific considerations, as it was so long ago now. However, they did think about the fact they were going to record an album when they went back to England.
REDDON:
Do have any other memories to share about your days on tour with the fledgling Led Zeppelin?
RITZ:
Jimmy Page was so nice to the rest of the group. It was like there was no leader. I travelled with and managed many other acts. I saw lots of scrapping and bickering with these groups. But not with Led Zeppelin. They knew they were four equal parts, coming together to “go for the gold”. Page was so kind to everyone and they got along very well. I never saw any problems of big artist’s egos with Zeppelin.
When you look at it, The Jeff Beck Group’s music was close to filling the void at that time in the late 1960s.