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Permalink Reply by Neal on July 7, 2011 at 6:54pm

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY ON THE YARDBIRDS AUTOGRAPH,MY UNCLE KC,HIS GIRLFRIEND DIANE,LATER MY AUNT,AND A FRIEND OF THEIRS NAMED RIP,WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO GOT TO MEET THE BAND.JIMMY PAGE ASKED MY UNCLE 'WHAT IS A PROM? AND THE JESUIT PRIEST PRINCIPAL BOUGHT THEM A EXPENSIVE BOTTLE OF SCOTCH.IN MY OPINION THE YARDIRDS/LED ZEPPELIN FULL BAND AUTOGRAPHS ARE JUST AS RARE AS THE BEATLES,BECAUSE THEY WERE UNAPROACHABLE....YOU CAN READ ABOUT IT IN THE BOOKS ABOUT ZEPPELIN,THEIR SECURITY TEAM WOULD RIVAL THE SECRET SERVICE,I COULD NOT SEE ANYONE OTHER THAN A HOT CHICK EVEN GETTING CLOSE TO PAGE.BECAUSE OF HIS 'PARTY HABITS" AND THE DEATH THREATS AGAINST HIM BECAUSE OF INTEREST IN THE OCCULT THAT THE BAND TOOK SERIOUSLY.BUT AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS PIECE OF ROCK AND ROLL HISTORY HERE THAT IN 3MONTHS FROM THIS PROM,THE YARBIRDS WERE FADING AWAY AND LED ZEPPELIN WAS JUST BEGINNING TO RISE..

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 7, 2011 at 7:42pm

They're WAY rarer than the Beatles. I put smaller versions of your pics up, and maybe Roger Epperson will come by and give his opinion...or other Zep experts.

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Permalink Reply by James R. Altmann on July 7, 2011 at 8:29pm

Extremely nice piece, with seemingly interesting provenance.  Definitely an authentic piece of rock n roll history!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 8, 2011 at 12:05am

James,

You're a wealth of info and experience. What's your background? You're a dealer, right?

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Permalink Reply by James R. Altmann on July 8, 2011 at 1:46am

Steve - I've been collecting music autographs for nearly 30 years now. I started out both in person and via purchase, but now I only purchase when I find something truly unique. It's amazing how things seem to lose their lustre once you have finally procured it - haha. I still keep up to date on all of the happenings and squeeze an in person opportunity in here & there, but by now it is just something that feels like a "been there - done that" type of thing. As far as knowledge goes, when you have been involved with something as long as I have you tend to be quite good at sniffing out the b.s. is all. It's not not something I pride myself on or advertise as being an expert in, but I do know my stuff....for the most part! 

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Permalink Reply by roger epperson on July 8, 2011 at 4:51am

Wow, that is very cool indeed!  I have only seen about 5 fully signed items with the Jimmy Page lineup of the Yardbirds.  I agree with you Steve that James is very skilled in music autographs.  His knowledge spans quite a broad range.

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Permalink Reply by M Kitchen on July 13, 2011 at 12:36pm

Neal - I was AT THAT EVENT!   A former bandmate and myself were hired locally to put on the light show for the Yardbirds.   It was an incredible, unbelieveable evening.  The Yardbirds performing for a prom!   I have very fond memories.  You have a VERY rare piece of history there.  Contact me if you'd like at MHKitchen at a o l dot com.

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Permalink Reply by Neal on July 14, 2011 at 6:47pm

wow that is AMAZING YOU WERE THERE!!!!!!!.my uncles name is KC MCKEOWN, does that ring a bell?

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Permalink Reply by M Kitchen on July 15, 2011 at 10:49am

Neal.  No, sorry, I didn't attend Xavier myself.  The keyboard player in our band at the time was Rick Lemkuhl ( I believe) and he graduated Xavier in 1968.  He got us both hired to do the light show as our local band at the time, The Crooked Mile, had an array of lighting gear, blacklights, color floods, strobes, etc.  We rented some overhead projectors and also took control of the convention center overhead lighting and did lighting for the Yardbird's performance.  I now live in CA and the Yardbirds came to a small blues club here in Santa Cruz in 2007 (with only Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty original members remaining).  I met them after the show and recounted the prom gig from back in the day.  It was an amazing experience seeing my guitar idol Jimmy Page up close and personal.  Its something I'll never forget!  Your posting here clarified the date for me as I couldn't recall if it was '67 or '68.  Best,

and thanks for sharing it.

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Permalink Reply by M Kitchen on July 15, 2011 at 3:50pm

Neal:  I received a very nice email from your uncle. Thanks for connecting.  We probably know some of the same local musicians from that era.  Much appreciated.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Zimmerman on October 11, 2013 at 9:18am

Hello Neal,

Fascinating history!

I thought I should share this photo.

http://live.autographmagazine.com/photo/stxavierprom1968yardbirds

This picture was found in the St. Xavier H.S. archives. I had forgotten about it until recently and was trying to research the date of the prom when I found this link via a Google search. I'm not sure if it has been seen outside of the school before. It might have been in the '68 yearbook, I can't recall.

Cheers!

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Permalink Reply by M Kitchen on October 14, 2013 at 4:40pm

Bill:

Wow...great photo!   Brought back great memories of that evening.   I was just out of the photo on stage right running the lights.

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