Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh: The Lost Chicago Tapes

Summary

Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles

Episode: Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh: The Lost Chicago Tapes
Host: Janda (Gamut Podcast Network)
Date: April 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this whimsical, imaginative episode, host Janda brings listeners into the mythos of classic rock with the supposed discovery of a long-lost hotel room recording: “Angel on the CTA”—a song allegedly co-written and recorded by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Joe Walsh of the James Gang (and future Eagles). The episode revels in rock legend, dives deep into 1970s lore, and features a fictional, comedic interview with Joe Walsh recounting his memories (or lack thereof) of the night in question. Ultimately, the audience is let in on the joke: It’s an April Fool’s fabrication, but not without kernels of truth and a healthy serving of rock history fun.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Myth of “Angel on the CTA”

• Setting the Scene ([01:31]):
  • Janda describes the fall of 1969 in Chicago, where Led Zeppelin and the James Gang are playing overlapping shows and staying at the famous Ambassador East Hotel.
  • Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh, close friends and mutual admirers, are said to have jammed and recorded together after dinner at The Pump Room.
• The Legendary Collaboration:
  • Jimmy Page, always ready for inspiration, brings his four-track recorder.
  • A new song, “Angel on the CTA,” supposedly emerges during the night, inspired by a mysterious woman Walsh saw at the Clark and Division Red Line stop.
  • Walsh would ‘later’ mention this event briefly in a (fictionalized) interview with Cream magazine, sparking long-standing rumors.

The Lost Recording and Its Aftermath

• Rock Gossip and Legend ([04:56]):
  • Rumor claims Robert Plant's fury at Page's off-the-clock songwriting meant the song was shelved forever.
  • Some “insiders” speculate the track was an early version of “Pretty Maids All in a Row” from Hotel California.
  • Supposedly, all that remains is a brief snippet, allegedly unearthed through a roadie’s connection.

The “Recording” and Unlikely Percussion

• Unique Production:
  • Janda notes that the background thumping heard is Jimmy Page tapping a Pizzeria Uno deep dish pizza box, as Led Zeppelin’s drummer John Bonham was "asleep in the bathtub next room over."

“Interview” with Joe Walsh ([06:40])

• Outlandish Memories:

  • “I did about 86 Quaaludes, a bunch of mescaline… I even snorted the ashes of 13 deceased people. And I smoked some tire rubber. And I remember this dog that was in the hotel room and it could speak English and it was talking to me and it was telling me to choke Jimmy out…”
    — Joe Walsh (channelled by Steve Tingle) [06:42]
  • The increasingly surreal story ends with Walsh insisting the dog (or maybe he himself) must have eaten the tapes.

• Extended Rambling:

  • “Walsh continued to talk for over three hours about the dog… sometimes veered into a dissertation about free gas and the merits of keeping pet peacocks.” ([07:49])

The Truth Behind the Prank ([08:09])

• Janda reveals the entire episode as an April Fool’s Day fabrication:
  • “There was no Pizza Box, there’s no ‘Angel on the CTA’, and as far as we know, Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh didn’t spend a night crafting a song together holed up in a hotel room in the Windy City.”
  • Key Fact Check:
    • Joe Walsh did famously sell Jimmy Page one of his 1959 Gibson Les Pauls, which Page used for Led Zeppelin II—this detail is true.

Reflection on Rock Mythmaking

• Janda concludes with a nod to the allure of legends in rock:
  • “But in the world of classic rock, isn’t the legend always a little bit more fun than the truth?” ([08:25])

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Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Joe Walsh’s (Parodic) Memory of the Night
  “I did about 86 Quaaludes, a bunch of mescaline… I even snorted the ashes of 13 deceased people… I remember this dog… and it could speak English… I just don’t remember because I was so out of it. And I’m pretty sure that the dog ate the tapes. It was either the dog or me, but I mean, why would I eat my music, you know? So I think the dog did it.”
  — Joe Walsh (as played by Steve Tingle), [06:40]

• Host’s Narrative Reveal
  “Happy April Fool’s Day. From behind the song, There Was no Pizza Box, there’s no angel on the cta. And as far as we know, Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh didn’t spend a night crafting a song together holed up in a hotel room in the Windy City.”
  — Janda, [08:09]

• On the Enduring Power of Rock Legends
  “But in the world of classic rock, isn’t the legend always a little bit more fun than the truth?”
  — Janda, [08:25]

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Important Segments (with Timestamps)

• [01:31] – Setting the Urban Scene: Intro to Chicago, 1969, and the legendary jam session premise.
• [04:56] – The Rumors and “Angel on the CTA” Tape Legacy: Explanation of the song’s supposed legacy and fate.
• [06:40] – Joe Walsh’s Absurd Interview: Surreal recounting of the night and the alleged fate of the tapes.
• [08:09] – April Fool’s Day Reveal: The host breaks the fourth wall with the truth.

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Tone and Style

The episode maintains a playful, knowing classic rock nostalgia, blending historical details with tongue-in-cheek storytelling. Janda’s delivery is authoritative yet light-hearted, deliberately blurring the line between reality and rock myth—ultimately ending with a wink to rock fans everywhere.

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Takeaways

• The story is a loving homage to the mysteries and inside jokes that swirl through classic rock history.
• Listeners are reminded that, sometimes, the allure of the legend outshines the sometimes mundane truth.
• Not all elements were fiction: Joe Walsh truly did sell his Gibson Les Paul to Jimmy Page, and that guitar helped shape rock history.

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If you love classic rock and cherish its larger-than-life legends (real or imagined), this episode delivers a fun, irreverent trip down memory lane—whether or not there ever was a dog who could eat a master tape.

Transcript

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[Podcast Host 1]

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[Podcast Host 2]

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[Podcast Host 1]

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[Janda (Behind the Song Host)]

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[Podcast Host 2]

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[Podcast Host 2]

Welcome to the behind the Song podcast, taking you deeper into classic rock's most timeless tunes. Here's your host, Janda.

[Janda (Behind the Song Host)]

I'm Janda, and in this special episode of behind the Song Powered by Chick Fil A, I'm gonna step away from the big hits to talk about a recording that until today was considered a myth. I've talked about Jimmy Page before, and I've talked about Joe Walsh, but today I'm diving into the night. They recorded a long lost song together in a hotel room right here in Chicago. It was the fall of 1969. Led Zeppelin were playing a residency at the Kinetic Playground on Clark street in the Uptown neighborhood, and the James Gang were also in town, playing at the Auditorium Theater. The two bands had shared a bill earlier that year with the James Gang, opening for several dates on Led Zeppelin's US Tour. During that time, sharing a stage, Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh became fast friends, a friendship so rooted in admiration for each other's talents and that when Page complained that his guitar was producing uncontrollable feedback at shows, Walsh offered to sell one of his 2:59 Gibson Les Paul's to page. Guitar number one, as it's called, was later used by Page to record Led Zeppelin's second album. Anyway, the two found themselves in Chicago at the same time that fall between their respective shows, and both were staying at the Ambassador East Hotel, the hotel of choice for rockers in those days, Paige invited Walsh to his room to hang out and maybe jam a little bit. What happened that night was much more than a jam session between two friends. After dinner at the famed Pump Room in the hotel and more than a few drinks later, the two went back up to Paige's room, room six, and pulled out their guitars. Paige carried a four track recorder with him on the road in those days, just in case inspiration struck, and it surely did that night. A song began to unfold as the hours wore on. A song that Walsh has mentioned only a couple of times at all over the years. Angel on the cta. He said in an interview with Cream magazine in the late 70s that he had written a song with a friend in a hotel room on Chicago's Gold coast inspired by a woman he saw emerging from the Red Line stop at Clark and Division Streets earlier that day. He said she really knocked him out, but offered no further description. And the identity of this mysterious woman has never been revealed. The story and the legend about this song is that it was never released for one reason. Because Robert Plant was enraged that Page had written material and recorded with Walsh at all, even in a hotel room. And he vowed never to let angel on the CTA see the light of day. Page, not wanting to ruffle his front man's feathers too much, allegedly told Walsh that the song could never, ever be released. Angel on the CTA is actually rumored to have evolved into a song that you probably know. Some in certain circles have said that Pretty Maids all in a Row from the Eagles Hotel California album got its start from this magical jam session in Chicago. For years, whispers generated about angel on the CTA without so much of a note ever surfacing on the Internet or anywhere else. The tapes from that night have been up to now, nowhere to be found. Some said they were lost in a fire, some said they were stolen from the hotel room. But through a connection with a former roadie for the James Gang, we here at behind the Song have obtained all that remains of of the music created by Joe Walsh and Jimmy Page that night in Chicago. Hear it now, angel on the cta. Did you hear that? That is the signature sound of Jimmy Page. And you can hear Joe Walsh's characteristic style so clearly. But that thumping in the background, we now believe that that isn't a drum. That is Jimmy Page rhythmically hitting a Pizzeria Uno deep dish pizza box with his foot. Because John Bonham was reportedly asleep in the bathtub the next room over. And for the first time ever, Joe Walsh, the Clown prince of Rock and Roll has finally decided to speak about this long lost recording. After repeated attempts, he finally agreed to a phone interview with me about angel on the cta. I asked him one question. What happened to the tapes? And. And why is this snippet all that remains?

[Joe Walsh (Interviewee)]

Well, you know, I'm not. My mind is kind of foggy as to what exactly happened to those tapes. But I do know from what I remember, I did about 86 Quaaludes of a bunch of mescaline. Oh, God, acid. I even snorted the ashes of 13 deceased people. And I smoked some tire rubber. And I remember this dog that was in the hotel room and it could speak English and it was talking to me and it was telling me to choke Jimmy out, or I don't. He was telling me to do a bunch of things. I just don't remember because I was so out of it. And. And I'm pretty sure that the dog ate the tapes. It was either the dog or me, but I mean, why would I eat my music, you know? So I think the dog did it.

[Janda (Behind the Song Host)]

Walsh continued to talk for over three hours about the dog, a conversation that was, frankly, bewildering as it sometimes veered into a dissertation about free gas and the merits of keeping pet peacocks. But as far as we know now, the full recording of angel on the CTA became, at the end of that magical night, nothing more than dog food. Jimmy Page cannot be reached for comment. It's a monumental find. It changes everything we know about this particular cross pollination of 70s rock. It would be the discovery of the century if it were actually true. Happy April Fool's Day. From behind the song, There Was no Pizza Box, there's no angel on the cta. And as far as we know, Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh didn't spend a night crafting a song together holed up in a hotel room in the Windy City. But in the world of classic rock, isn't the legend always a little bit more fun than the truth? I'm Janda. I hope you had fun with this little fabrication. The stuff about Joe Walsh selling Jimmy Page his guitar is actually true, by the way. We'll be back next week with a real story about a song that you know by heart. If you like behind the song hit, subscribe. Or better yet, tell a friend. Thanks to Christian Lane for the music you hear on these podcast episodes, and thanks to Steve Tingle for channeling the great Joe Walsh. On the way, much more classic rock and roll. Hey, Chicago Chick Fil A has your new favorite Sandwich the Jalapeno Ranch Club Sandwich is available starting March 9th at your favorite Chicagoland Chick Fil? A location. This tasty treat is made with a boneless breast of chicken seasoned to perfection. Served on a buttermilk ranch bun with pickled jalapenos, lettuce, sliced tomato, pepper jack cheese and strips of caramelized onion flavored candied bacon. Enjoy it with Jalapeno Ranch Sauce on the side. Pair it with a Strawberry hibiscus drink. For the perfect meal, try a Strawberry Hibiscus Lemonade, Our classic Chick Fil? A lemonade mixed with delicious strawberry and subtle hibiscus flavors. This refreshing new drink can be mixed with lemonade, Sprite or tea to create your favorite flavor. Both items are available for a limited time, so hurry in today. Chick Fil? A Eat more chicken.