Jimmy Page

Okay, in our last episode we established that Jimmy Page had come to Reno to make a CD with David Coverdale of Whitesnake. And it was good. Right about that time Poison was on tour with the "Bullet Boys" (a cool Ted Templeman produced band in the vein of Van Halen), Slaughter (the pride of Las Vegas) and Poison Headlining at their Zenith (the tour would play at the Lawlor Events Center on the UNR campus). Scotty Roberts, Poison's Road Manager, calls me up and says, "Hey Max, will you call David and Jimmy, and invite them to join us"? So I did. It was a great night. The Bullet Boys, and Slaughter were like kids at Christmas. Tim Kelly, guitarist for Slaughter bear hugs me, and says "Dude! I met Jimmy Page, my childhood dream!" (Tim died in a car accident a couple years later, returning from a gig, so hey St Peter put that one on your list). I had been friends for years with Bret, C.C., Rikki & Bobby, through our mutual Hollywood friend Kenny Ryback. Poison had been asking Jimmy & David to come out and jam during the encore. David was a little pensive, due to the fact they wanted to do "Rock'n'Roll" by Led Zeppelin. David turns to me and says "what are the words?" (he was in Deep Purple, for crying out loud, why not do "Burn" as well?) Jimmy didn't like David being excluded, and kept saying "Thanks, but no" to the Jam. Poison was at their peak. They had an ass kicking show. C.C. was on fire. Poison had this cool custom built stage, with inset "portals" for pyrotechinics. That means there were holes in the stage. In a final plea from the wings of the stage, Bret got David & Jimmy to join them onstage. Jimmy's Body Guard & Personal Affairs Manager, gave me a spooky, stern look. I shrugged, "they'll have fun". It was either Bret's or C.C.'s prize Les Paul that was handed to Jimmy, as they were introduced to the cowd of 10,000 cheering fans. That guitar saved Jimmy's life. As David and Jimmy walked out onstage to the tune of Led Zeppelin's "Rock'n'Roll", Jimmy fell right into the hole in the stage. My heart sank. The entire arena was silent. Then, with that cherubic grin, he crawled back out onto the stage, (with a 2 piece Les Paul) and Jimmy, like the true Rock Hero he is, says..."Can I have a different guitar? This one doesn't play very good". All of a sudden C.C. goes into "Stairway to Heaven". Jimmy immediately vetoed that one, and threw down some "Rover". It was a crazy fantastic trainwreck, and quite an end to the show. Jimmy was hurt. We had to take him to the Hospital. It was the longest ride, and yet only a mere 4 or 5 blocks to St. Mary's Hospital. You go from a Rock Concert with all that music and crowd cheers, to the sterile quiet of an emergency room. Jimmy was going to be just fine. He cracked 2 ribs. The lights were bright, the Doctors & Nurses were stern, we were on our best behavior. Check in and paperwork, all serious. Lots of questions...."Name?", "James Page"...."Occupation?"...(Jimmy looks at me and grins)..."Time Waster"....