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  1. Here are some never-before-seen fan photos from Led Zeppelin's legendary Carnegie Hall (October 17, 1969) appearance. A group of 15 year-old fans captured their experience at the 8:30pm (early show) from the 10th row. They describe a lack of security, except for Carnegie Hall ushers and were free to venture up to the front of the stage for a few pics as well. Amazingly, these photos also reveal Jimmy Page's first photographed live use of his Black Beauty Les Paul during Led Zeppelin and confirms it was brought to North America for this fall 1969 tour. http://www.ledzeppelin.com/show/october-17-1969
  2. Although I posted a list recently, it was written haphazardly over one night as I couldn’t sleep. There were many mistakes and missing songs. This is a much more revised playlist that I have put a lot more thought and time into (several weeks) so I think it is more than deserving of its own discussion. This is partly aimed at people who haven’t looked into bootlegs and don’t know where to start like me a couple of years ago, so I try to stick to decent quality where I can; also, partly for bootleg experts just for conversations sake between fans If you’re new to boots though, know that most of these aren't in perfect quality like the official releases (some are pretty flawless soundboards though), by “decent” I mean listenable to me as someone who doesn’t have the best “Bootleg ears”. 17th April 1970 I think is as rough as it goes on this list by far. I also acknowledge every time I say “best” or “worst” that it’s just my opinion. I wanted this to be as comprehensive and complete as possible, including as many songs as possible so I count Page and Plant, The Black Crowes and Robert Plant and his solo bands etc. They are fantastic performances (despite the “purity” issues some have. And I agree, the 1998 tour would’ve been a perfect time to get Jones and Junior on board). They also fill in gaps where Zeppelin didn’t perform some songs, or some just not very well. I try to give Zeppelin alternatives to those where I can. Several of these have quite a few dates listed as the song maybe changed a lot and wanted to give examples of the best ones from each era. - Led Zeppelin - “Good Times Bad Times” - 4th September 1970 - - For the rest of the list, I don’t count songs played under the context of another song (in a medley) unless there's no other option however this song was barely performed on its own and it was much better as part of a medley. This version is from the “Communication Breakdown” medley in 1970 on the “Blueberry Hill” bootleg. For the full song, “Celebration Day” from 2007 is also a worthy choice. “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” - 28th June 2014 - - Robert Plant at Glastonbury 2014. This is one of those songs that I think Robert Plant and whomever he’s with (Sensational Space Shifters, Band of Joy, Alison Kraus etc) do a better rendition than any Led Zeppelin did together. I’ve never been much of a fan of the electric versions played on the Telecaster in 1969, the only one that comes to mind is Denmarks Radio. Plant’s vocals are amazing I’m just not a fan of the telecaster tone and if it had to be electric, would take a cleaner, mellower Les Paul over it, so I’m picking Glasto’ 2014 -10th December 1998 - Page and Plants final ever gig exactly 9 years before the “Celebration Day” gig. One of Page’s best solos ever. “You Shook Me” - 26th January 1969 - - Boston Tea Party, great Organ solo. Again, I don’t have great “Bootleg Ears” so this sounds kinda choppy to me but it’s not too bad and the performance I think is well worth it. The best “Train Kept a Rollin’” is performed on this set as well for me. For a much cleaner quality recording and still amazing performance: -27th June 1969. “Dazed and Confused” - 29th September 1971 - - This is a whole discussion in and of itself. The one I listen to the most is probably the “Song Remains the Same” version purely for the “San Fransisco” part, the quality and tone, but any European ‘73 version is a good time. For the best “Woodstock” section, I recommend May 24th at Earls Court. There are too many and they vary too much so I’m giving a few from a range of years: -25th March 1969 (Supershow) -9th January 1970, Royal Albert Hall -4th September 1970, LA (Blueberry Hill) -16th March 1973, Vienna -22nd March 1973, Essen -27th July 1973 – The version on “The Song Remains the Same” comes entirely from that night but it’s been cut in over 10 places, listen to the full version. -12th March 1975, Long Beach -21st March 1975, Seattle -24th May 1975, Earls Court (Best “Woodstock” section) “Your Time is Gonna Come” - 18th October 1999 - - The only performance by Led Zeppelin was part of a medley of “Whole Lotta Love” on 24th September 1971 during the Japan 1971 tour. It’s quite obvious they are inexperienced in performing the track, as jones resorts to playing the “Ramble On” bass line instead. A fuller and better version is found on Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes “Live at The Greek”. Basically the only option but still great. “White Summer/Black Mountain Side” - 14th April 1970 - - Sounds slightly rough to begin with, trust me you get used to this one as the audience settles down and it sounds clearer. The 1970 versions are much better at having that trance effect which was the whole point of the song. I’d like to add as well that although the 9th of January 1970 at Royal Albert Hall is an extremely popular choice, I think it is vastly, vastly overrated. I just don’t like the distorted, fuzzy tone on it and the performance beyond that is leagues behind many others. My guess is that it's not one of their highly regarded tracks (although I love it) so people don’t listen to many versions compared to something like “Since I’ve Been Loving You” so just default to saying RAH, but maybe that’s just me. From 1975 onwards he noodles aimlessly a lot more and by 1980 its sad to listen to him struggle through it. I don’t recommend any 1980 version – he even gets a firecracker thrown at him. - 27th June 1969 - - Although this is from the Playhouse Theatre 1969, this is NOT the one on BBC Sessions although it is in almost flawless quality. -8th April 1970, Raleigh -23rd April 1970, Jimmy Page on The Julie Felix Show -21st May 1977, Houston “Communication Breakdown” - 4th September 1970 - - The “Blueberry Hill” performance for that Bass solo, the “For What It’s Worth” jam and the “Good Times Bad Times”.  I would like to see the one recorded alongside the rest of “How the West Was Won” as well as the other missing numbers that should have been on the 2018 remaster; “Thank You”, “Tangerine”, some of the “Whole Lotta Love” medley and maybe even the “Louie Louie” cover. “I Can’t Quit You Babe” - 9th January 1970 at Royal Albert Hall - - The version on “Coda” is in my opinion far superior to the one which appears on this album, and that’s basically a remix of the RAH recording. Listen to the full version though, not the cut one on “Coda.” “How Many More Times” - 17th April 1970 - - This performance I think is the best but to me the quality of the recording isn’t great. Peter Grant also had a gun pulled on him backstage at this show. Whilst maybe not their finest track, this and “Dazed and Confused” are the foundations for the longer jams that would follow on other songs like “Whole Lotta Love”, “No Quarter”, “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" and “Heartbreaker”. -17th March 1969, Denmarks Radio -9th January 1970, Royal Albert Hall -7th March 1970, Montreux - Led Zeppelin II - “Whole Lotta Love” - 29th September 1971 - - Other than the Japan 1971 gigs, I honestly believe some of the mid-later versions are better than the earlier ones in both performance and recording quality. The versions done on the European 1973 tour are all great, and the 1975 ones where longer versions of “The Crunge” were incorporated I think are also worthy of a few top spots. If you want longer medleys, any from the five Japan 1971 dates (bar the 27th) are all over or near half an hour and are all probably at the top in terms of performance. -January 9th, 1970, Royal Albert Hall -7th March 1970, Montreux -17th April 1970, Memphis -14th September 1971 -28th September 1971, Osaka  -25th June 1972, L.A. -16th March 1973, Seattle -July 27th and 29th mix (The Song Remains the Same) -17th March 1975, Seattle  -25th May 1975, Earls Court -4th August 1979, Knebworth -30th June 1980, Frankfurt   -7th July 1980, Berlin - This is the last song from their last performance. The band is in nowhere near top form, but towards the end, Jones starts ripping it on bass. “What is and What Should Never Be” - 9th January 1970, Royal Albert Hall - - This is particularly impressive. June 25th, 1972 (How the West Was Won) is also good enough but I prefer RAH. Like many other songs here, it didn’t vary too much and was kinda played as is, making vocals, tone and sound quality important factors here. “The Lemon Song/Killing Floor” - 27th April 1969 - - “Killing Floor” at the Fillmore West. Great version, slightly dodgy quality however worth it for a look at an early version of the song done by an early Zeppelin.  “Thank You” - 4th January 1971 - - One of Jimmy’s finest solos. This in my opinion is one of the best live songs the band performed. I’d go as far as saying I'm not even much of a fan of the studio release, but the live ones far outdo it and are always up there in my playlists. The organ solo which introduces it is also a factor in my choices. Here’s a few others I think anyone could easily prefer over my choice: -7th March 1970, Montreux -4th September 1970, L.A. - 31st August 1971, Orlando -29th September 1971, Osaka -19th June 1972, Seattle -22nd January 1973, Southampton -29th July 1973, MSG - The final night of the MSG run, curiously not included in “The Song Remains the Same” is also great, this was also the final performance of the song. -16th May 1995 “Heartbreaker” - 7th March 1970, Montreux - - Their performance of this song at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1970 is phenomenal but unfortunately the tape cuts off very dramatically during the track, so I cannot give it my vote. The version captured on “How the West Was Won” is also brilliant as is 29th September at Osaka. I'm a fan of the simple intro played by Bonham on 1973 performances. There are so many options for this that I’m adding more: -9th September 1971 in Hampton -14th September 1971 at Berkeley -29th September 1971, Osaka -29th July 1973, Madison Square Garden -12th March 1975, Long Beach -25th May 1975 - The final song they played in Earls Court.  -21st June 1977, LA -29th June 1980, Zurich “Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman)” - Page hated this song, so it was never performed sadly. It was one of the first songs I learned by ear when learning to play at first, so it has a special place for me and is almost synonymous with “Heartbreaker”. “Ramble On” - 9th February 2011 - - Robert Plant with Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller on "Artists Den". It has countless performances with Page and Plant, but I’ll take the “Celebration Day” version from 2007 over those. If you’re a Led Zeppelin purist and only want performances by the whole band where possible then 2007 is your only option as they only played bits of it here and there, but over that and the Page and Plant ones I’d take this one from Artists Den. Plants singing is phenomenal and his older, more controlled voice suits it. This is longer with an impressive Mandola solo by Darrell Scott.  “Moby Dick” / “Pat’s Delight” / “Over the Top” - 9th January 1970, Royal Albert Hall - - 20 minutes shorter than the later versions and still as impressive. I personally feel the 30-minute-plus versions from ‘75 and ‘77 was too much, and I'm a fan of longer jams. “Bring it on Home” - 25th June 1972 - - (How the West Was Won) [The final performance]. This is a great final performance for this track. Both the Royal Albert Hall and Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes (Not performed on “Live at the Greek”) are very good, particularly the Crowes versions where 3 guitars make the song a much better live experience. - Led Zeppelin III - “Immigrant Song” - 9th September 1970 - - One of their best shows ever. 29th September 1971 at Osaka yet again also very good, it deserves a mention just for that phenomenal Wah-Wah solo. Of course, “How the West Was Won” is really good as well. “Friends” - 29th September 1971, Osaka - - The only one by the full band. I prefer this over subsequent Page and Plant or Plant + whatever band came after. “Celebration Day” - 4th September 1971, Toronto - - This is an amazing version. Before I heard bootlegs, I was only aware of the album cut and the “Song Remains the Same” version and was not a fan of either. However, this version in good quality far outdoes both of those. The version from a few weeks later, 29th September in Osaka I think is ever so slightly better for ever so slightly lower quality so do the trade if you want, but in both Robert’s full vocal range is heard and there is a great jam at the end. As a rule of thumb, the 1971 versions are far better and far more energetic than the 1973 versions for this one.  “Since I’ve Been Loving You” - 23rd September 1971 - - People very often say for A LOT of their songs that the later versions do not compare to earlier ones and I mostly tend to disagree with that statement, however I really think it applies here. This song in my opinion is where Jimmy’s playing can really decline in later shows. I suppose because of how emotional and raw it is. He can get by on most other songs even on his bad nights, but this song is where I really think it takes his all to perform. For that reason, I don’t really like any of the later versions that I’ve heard, including ‘Badgeholders’ and ‘Eddie’ and especially the 1980 versions. I’m open to suggestions of course as I’ve not heard anywhere near all boots, but the later ones just don’t match the earlier ones. There is part of me that just wants to say the “Song Remains the Same” version as that was what got me hooked onto this band. Spotify said it was my most listened track in 2020 and that I had heard it nearly 1000 times that year, so like 3 times a day for a year. It made me quite reluctant to listen to boots of this song, however, having explored the world of bootlegs since then I’ll give a few which I think are among the best:  -21st March 1970, Vancouver - One of the best-sounding bootlegs especially for the early era, this one isn’t mentioned enough. The vocal work is phenomenal. Don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t do any crazy wailing or anything but the raw emotion he conveys never mind the fact that Jones’ organs almost outshine Page here plus the pristine quality. -4th September 1970 in LA (Blueberry Hill). Great Vocals and Playing -31st August 1971 in Orlando  -23rd September 1971 in Tokyo (This is my favourite) -29th September 1971 in Osaka  -27th June 1972 in Long Beach (How the West Was Won) -24th March 1973, Offenburg -27th July and 29th 1973 mix (The Song Remains the Same) -14th February 1975 in New York -If you like the 1977 ones, I’d have to say 23rd June with 21st June as a close second.  -27th January 1996, Rio de Janeiro - Of the Page and Plant ones I know of this is the best “Out On the Tiles” - 19th September 1970 - - “Bring It on Home” made a far better Black Dog introduction than this. “Gallows Pole” - 25th August 1994 (Page and Plant “No Quarter” Unledded Album) - - They did play it a few times in the very early 70s and it was also covered as part of a medley at the end of “Trampled Underfoot” in 1975, namely at Earls Court. Band of Joy had a great rendition of it on Artists Den but over all of them for both performance and quality would be the Unledded album.  “Tangerine” - 28th September 1971 - - Again, I would have liked one from either the 25th or 27th June to have appeared on “How the West Was Won” along with the rest of the gigs. If this, “Thank You” and at least “Communication Breakdown” were included, it would have been one of the most complete live albums ever. -25th June 1972, L.A. -25th May 1975, Earls Court -Countless Page and Plant performances -9th February 2011, Artists Den “That’s The Way” - 25th May 1975 - - The acoustic sets from Earls Court are amazing and I much prefer them to the “How the West Was Won” versions. I don’t much care about the fact that it’s edited but the reasons I prefer the acoustics from here rather than on “HTWWW” apply more to “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” and “Going to California”.  “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" - 27th June 1977 - - I have a few. I generally prefer the later ones here as I feel from ‘75 onwards it sounded like he had developed the song more, even before the jam sections in ‘77 he adds little variations here and there in ‘75 whereas in 1972 it was kinda performed more or less as was on the album. Here are a few: -25th May 1975 - The sound from Earl’s Court is amazing as it is from the 25th, although I think the 24th also has a very good and slightly different performance of it. The official video on YouTube seems to be using audio from the 25th and at least some video from the 24th. Both are great. Earls Court has a much more soulful solo in the middle. -27th June 1977 – Includes “Dancing Days” in the Medley, great quality for an acoustic set 17th July 1977 (Filmed) - This whole concert from Seattle was actually filmed in its entirety and features some great versions of a few songs although overall the gig isn’t great, it’s ok. This version is pretty amazing though. . “Hats off To (Roy) Harper” - Was never performed by any of them. I don’t understand the hate for this song. I mean it's not great, but people actually hate it I don’t think it's that bad. - Led Zeppelin IV - “Black Dog” - 9th September 1971 - - The most aggressive version. Or one of them. The version of the ORIGINAL cut of “The Song Remains the Same” I also hold in extremely high regard. The remasters and the version that exists on Spotify have been butchered completely. I think in terms of the remasters cutting things out, this song is the worst for it as the newer one on Spotify is missing half of the song. For vocals alone, any March 1971 version will forever be at the top for Plant. I don't much rate later versions as I think the solo must be harder for him to nail so I prefer the earlier ones with the better playing and the better vocals. -28th September 1971, Osaka -25th November 1971, Leicester -19th February 1972, Adelaide -24th July 1979, Copenhagen -4th August 1979, Knebworth “Rock and Roll” - 23rd June 1977 - - This kinda has to take the cake as you got Bonham on drums and Keith Moon alongside him. There are quite a few others though that are great listed below: -3rd May 1971, Copenhagen -27th February 1972, Sydney -27th June 1972, Long Beach (How the West Was Won) -27th July 1973, (The Song Remains the Same) -23rd May 1975, Earls Court (This and Seattle are the only ones from ‘75 that are good) -21st June 1980, Rotterdam -7th July 1980, Berlin “The Battle of Evermore” - 25th August 1994 - - (Page and Plant “No Quarter” Unledded Album). As much as I love John Paul Jones, his vocals on the 1977 versions render them far inferior to basically any Page and Plant version. I saw a video of him singing on Instagram in recent years and he’s actually really good at singing, but he really wasn’t in 1977 apparently. The backing vocalist taking the place of Sandy Denny on this version, Najma Akhtar, is absolutely phenomenal. “Stairway to Heaven” - 14th September 1971- - The 1971 versions have way more passion in them. A lot of people seem to dismiss later ones based on technical ability which in my opinion wasn’t the problem, this song specifically had Plant fully believing the lyrics in 1971 and it shows, whilst Jimmy just happened to be at his peak. There are more grand-sounding ones from 1973 onwards, here are my top contenders: -1st April 1971, Paris Theatre -4th September 1971, Toronto - One of the earlier performances. The song actually hadn’t even been released yet, so you can hear the audience go into the song without all the fanfare -23rd September 1971, Tokyo -29th September 1971, Osaka – Of course. -July 27th/28th/29th 1973 mix (The Song Remains the Same) -May 1975, Earls Court (Official YouTube Channel) [Edited] -23rd July 1977, LA - Best later performance -8th December 1983, New York (Arms Concert). Jimmy Page performed it as an instrumental and whilst he is clearly not of the cleanest mind and struggling, you even see him drool all over the double neck, I think the emotions he was experiencing playing the song again without Bonham or Zeppelin - basically on his own comes through and makes for a pretty decent performance and worth a listen. -29th October 1988 - (Outrider Tour) -10th December 2007, London (Celebration Day) [The Final Performance] -2nd December 2012, Washington. Heart, Jason Bonham, an orchestra and two choirs plus more at the Kennedy Centre Honours right in front of Led Zeppelin.  “Misty Mountain Hop” - 3rd May 1971 - - The first ever performance of the song, they get completely lost more than once and it is very, very obvious when it happens, however, it is literally the only version I know of where Plant sings it at all close to the album. I also quite like hearing them get a bit lost and come back, it makes them a bit more relatable, and it isn’t too bad. They don’t play any completely wrong notes they just end up with Jones and Page playing different parts and you can imagine Bonham staring at them. This gig also features the first ever “Gallows Pole”. -July 27th/28th 1973, “Song Remains the Same”. -30th June 1990, Knebworth. “Four Sticks” - 3rd May 1971 - - This show in Copenhagen I think is the only performance by Bonham, it’s at least the first one if there were more. There are amazing ones by Michael Lee with Page and Plant, however, this is Bonham's song. “Going to California” - 25th May 1975 - - I am extremely biased here as I listened to this at the perfect time and almost no version can top it, the version from Earls Court on the official YouTube channel. Like “Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp”, it seems to definitely be audio from the 25th but the edited video appears to at least use some of the 24th, although it’s sometimes difficult to tell as they are only a day apart and have the same stage lighting. However, if you’re going to ask me what version, nostalgia and emotions aside, I think is musically the best, I’m 100% voting for: -29th September 1971 which is phenomenal and much longer. It isn’t in as pristine condition as the Earls Court recording (although still pretty good), but the length and musical passages that are captured in that recording make it probably the top spot for most people and again, personal bias aside, is probably the best version at least on listenable tape. From my knowledge, I cannot think of any gig that comes close to those two dates for this song to me, including “How the West Was Won”. “When The Levee Breaks” - Neither of the live versions in 1975 (there are two or three) are very good. If I had to choose between them, 20th January 1975 is the better one. And whilst Page and Plant did perform it (on a quarry), I have yet to find any performance of the song, live or not, by anyone, that even comes close to that which was cut on the album. So just stick to that would be my advice. For half-decent ones at least, John Paul Jones has played it on a Lap Steel Guitar during the House of Blues webcast in 2000, and on bass for “Playing for Change” in 2021 featuring many others, including Derek Trucks - Houses of The Holy - “The Song Remains the Same” - 21st June 1977 - - The whole of the “Listen to This Eddie” bootleg Bonham is on fire, as are the others, however, this is commonly dubbed "The Bonham Concert". His earth-shattering intro on this is almost reason enough to call it the best. “The Rain Song” - 28th July 1973 - - “The Song Remains the Same”. Sound quality is imperative on this due to the electric yet acoustic feel of the song. After May 1975, the seamless segue from “The Song Remains the Same” into this song with Robert’s cry in between was never performed again as they got separated. They both made the set lists most of the time but were separated and never performed together again unfortunately.  -29th July 1973 – Day after the one that was used on the album -24th May 1975, Earls Court -23rd July 1979, Copenhagen -4th August 1979, Knebworth -29th June 1980, Zurich -25th August 1994 – In a similar fashion to “Thank You” at MSG, performed seemingly at the same gig as the Page and Plant “No Quarter” Album, however, it is not included. -17th February 1996, Nagoya “Over The Hills and Far Away” - Depends on if you’re after Plant’s best singing or Page’s solo. Plant hits the higher notes with no problem on basically any 1972 version, “How the West Was Won” will do (I’ve read “The Garden Tapes” so I know of the edits - it doesn’t matter to me) - however I quite like the 1977 versions as Page has figured out what to do with the solo. Anything after Osaka 1972 is when the vocal change starts to happen. As with most other songs, the vocals are at their worst in 1975 by far, however as the vocals go bad the solos get better. The main issue to me is the melody. It's not just that his voice goes and he can't sing higher pitches, it’s the fact he didn’t just sing it in a lower octave (which I would’ve been fine with) – he changes the whole melody for some unknown reason, and it’s shit if I'm being honest. -19TH June 1972, San Bernardino -25th June 1972, LA (How the West Was Won) -16th March 1973, Vienna (From here onwards, Robert doesn’t sing the high parts of the song) -21st March 1973, Hamburg – Great solos from Jimmy in the German 1973 shows. -12th February 1975, Madison Square Garden (Worst vocals out of these choices by far, great solo) -24th March 1975, L.A. -21st June 1977, L.A. -23rd June 1977, L.A. -27th June 1977, L.A. -4th August 1979, Knebworth “The Crunge” - 19th March 1975 - - Not played on its own but quite often during medleys. It’s included in the medleys in 1972, where it was performed as an instrumental in “Dazed and Confused” and can be heard on “How the West Was Won”, and in longer 1975 versions during “Whole Lotta Love” but usually have Robert sounding strained by the end of the show, and Page sounds unsure of the time changes and often misses cues. The instrumental ‘72 versions are usually better but shorter. From 1975, I’d say March 19th in Vancouver as its one of the only ones I’ve heard that isn't completely screwed. For 1972, either June 22nd in San Bernardino or “How the West Was Won” 3 days later.  “D’yer Mak’er” - Was never performed; there are rumours of a 1973 performance, but it isn't in circulation if it did happen. Some mistake a reggae-ish jam from 25th May 1975 to be D’yer Mak’er, however, it is not this song specifically. “Dancing Days” - 19th June 1972 - - They played it twice during this concert. They just decided to give it another crack at the end. The second one I prefer. The version on “How the West Was Won” has a good mix and due to lack of improvisation and this performance being good anyway, this version might be better for some just for quality. Due to lack of variations, I prefer to hear it in the “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” medley I mentioned earlier. “No Quarter” - 21st March 1975 - - My favourite track personally. Like “Dazed and Confused”, this is a whole separate discussion and is highly subjective. Personally, the best version for Jones is 21st March 1975 in Seattle (near perfect soundboard). This date is also one of Jimmy’s highlights from 1975 although his solo is a bit choppy to begin with, but he gets there eventually. As this is one of those songs that changed every time, here’s others from different stages: -15th July 1973, Buffalo -17th July 1973, Seattle -28th February 1975, Baton Rouge -18th May 1975, Earls Court -11th June 1977, New York -21st June 1977, L.A. -24th July 1979, Copenhagen -4th August 1979, Knebworth -25th June 1995, Glastonbury - (Exactly 23 years after “How the West Was Won”). Acoustic and middle eastern. This is amazing and not spoken about enough. -13th July 2000, John Paul Jones “House of Blues” webcast. -10th December 2007, London “The Ocean” - 25th June 1972 - - You can’t go wrong with any as they don’t vary much or even at all, except of course for whether Robert remembers the lyrics. I see no reason to hunt out a lower quality bootleg over one of the official ones for this. The audience at the first of two shows used to make “How the West Was Won” were treated to one of the best if not very best and longest set of encores they ever played which, again, SHOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED as bonus tracks in the 2018 remaster, even if it had to be lower quality. Unfortunately, the second show two days later didn’t have the same encores. - Physical Graffiti - “Custard Pie” - 18th October 1999 - - Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes “Live at The Greek”. Again, not much choice. This is better in my opinion than the Page and Plant versions. Jimmy had really picked up momentum by this point. His playing by 1995 had improved greatly over the 80s, but by the later Page and Plant tours, he really reached his early days’ levels in my eyes. He kept it going in his shows with the Crowes, even beyond "Live at the Greek". Some of the very best live solos he’s ever played, he played in that late Page and Plant/Black Crowes era. It doesn’t necessarily apply to this song; I'm just saying checkout the 1998 tour as well as some of the Crowes’ gigs. “The Rover” - There is a sound check for an unknown 1973 show where they played this song. Although not fully developed, it is the only complete version the band played. They played the opening in 1977 only as an intro for “Sick Again”. The video for the sound check has been uploaded by “Led Zeppelin Rarities”. “In My Time of Dying” - 22nd June 1977 - - This show, jammed in-between two of the best bootlegs (the day after “Listen to This Eddie” and the day before “For Badgeholders Only”) is overlooked far too often due to its lower quality. This version is almost 15 minutes and includes a lengthy improvisation section which covers “The Lemon Song”. Here are a few others if you need better quality that are also amazing: -28th February 1975, Baton Rouge -19th March 1975, Vancouver -27th April 1977, Cleveland -21st May 1977, Texas -7th June 1977, Madison Square Garden -25th June 1977 – 3 days after the above-mentioned gig, this is the final performance until 2007 -10th December 2007, London “Houses of the Holy” - 9th February 2011 - - Robert Plant and Band of Joy live on Artists Den. The band never performed the song and barely after they broke up. Regardless, this is an amazing version. Check out this band. “Trampled Under Foot” - June 30th, 1980 - - Probably the most consistent song of the 1980 “Tour over Europe”, if that says anything. This and many ‘75 versions, particularly 16th February 1975 from St Louis and 25th May at Earl’s Court. -16th February 1975, St Louis -21st March 1975, Seattle -24th May 1975, Earls Court -25th May 1975, Earls Court -28th April 1977, Cleveland -25th June 1977, LA -20th July 1977, Tempe -29th June 1980, Zurich -7th July 1980, Berlin -10th December 2007, London “Kashmir” - 10th December 2007 - - “Celebration Day” honestly gets my vote. The ageing of Plants’ voice really lends itself to this song. And such a grand ending. I feel this is much better than most versions they performed pre-1980. - 21st June 1977, L.A. -4th August 1979, Knebworth -25th August 1994 “In The Light” - Sometime in 2000 - - Literally the only option is a bonus track on the Japanese release of “Live at The Greek”. The album was recorded on 18th-19th October 1999, however “In the Light” and “Misty Mountain Hop” were recorded sometime in 2000 and released as bonus tracks in Japan. A very underrated song. As a side note, Mike Kerr, singer of Royal Blood, lists Zeppelin as a heavy influence. I can hear his singing style most clearly and directly in this song. “Bron-Yr-Aur" - 9th September 1970 - - This is one of the first songs that got me into Zeppelin. The studio release is far more atmospheric due to quality and effects; however, this live version is from what I’ve heard the best sounding caught on tape. It wasn’t performed much, pretty much only in 1970 and not too often even at that. He does add an interesting harmonic section very briefly and some chord changes here and there. As stated before, I’m not a fan of acoustics in bootlegs but this sounds ok to me.  “Down By the Seaside” - 19th May 1995 - - It was often performed as part of a medley within “Calling to You” by Page and Plant, however in its entirety it was never performed, neither by the band nor any of its members to my knowledge. Here they play like 3 or 4 bars of it before a crescendo into “Break on Through” by The Doors, followed by a snippet of “Dazed and Confused”. On 28th September 1971 at Osaka, they cover a classic “Down by the Riverside” however it is unrelated.  “Ten Years Gone” - 23rd June 1977 - - Some people really don’t like the 1977 versions, and I do agree that 4th August 1979 at Knebworth is better for the overall song, however I find Jimmy's solo slightly off-putting. Although the 4th is the better of the two Knebworth shows, Jimmy’s playing still wasn’t great and leagues behind the Copenhagen shows only 2-3 weeks prior. It is fully filmed, however, so you do get to see John Paul Jones on his triple neck guitar playing rhythm which looks sick. I find it badass they were so big they had a triple neck guitar playing rhythm. -21st June 1977, LA – Or any LA 1977 version -24th July 1979, Copenhagen 4th August 1979, Knebworth -10th July 2000, Jones Beach Theatre “Night Flight” - 6th November 1998 - - Page and Plant played it a few times during their UK 1998 Tour. This version from the Wembley Arena and the one from the University of London are both great and are among the only options for this song. “The Wanton Song” - 12th January 1975, Brussels - - I personally prefer the Page and Plant versions where they blast the “Immigrant Song” intro then 10 seconds in just switch into “The Wanton Song”. I think both Jimmy and Robert were in far better form by the mid-90s than they were in 1975, but if you want Bonham and Jones, this is the best.  “Boogie With Stu” - Wasn’t performed by any of them. “Stu” is Ian Stewart of The Rolling Stones for anyone who doesn’t know. They were using the Stones’ recording equipment at Headley Grange. “Black Country Woman” - 19th June 1972 - - This is the only full live performance. Robert Plant also performed it on his “Now and Zen” promotional tour in 1988. The best of these versions in my opinion would be the pro-shot version from April 1988. This is obviously better quality than the June 1972 boot and was also filmed professionally. It is on the “Mark Zep” YouTube channel. He has also done it a few times post- “Celebration Day” with Band of Joy.  “Sick Again” - 21st June 1977 - - An underrated song, but the lyrics just don't sit with me. It's really kinda weird, even for Plant's zep standards. - Presence - “Achilles Last Stand” - 22nd June 1977 - - Insane drumming. 4th August 1979 is also pretty good, in way better quality and is filmed so some will prefer that. I would’ve much preferred this over “For Your Life” in 2007. Although it is really nice to throw in a rarity, doing it on your last ever gig and in place of a far superior song I think was sort of dumb. There aren’t many insane singing heights as the song itself was recorded in one of Plant’s worst periods and although Jimmy’s playing had dropped slightly over the ‘98-2000 era, he pulled off far more difficult songs that night. Jones is as usual set in stone and Jason was more than capable. “For Your Life” - 10th December 2007 - - London (Celebration Day). The only option for this is “Celebration Day”. Like I’ve said, an interesting choice for their final show. I’ve always wondered why. I would’ve been fine with nothing from presence at the 2007 gig if I’m honest, however I suppose it was meant to sum their career up and feature every era. Even then though, I would take even “Tea for One” and especially “Achilles Last Stand” over this even if they had to drop the keys. It would’ve fitted much more as a “White Summer” replacement in 1977 or at least in the 1980 tour than it did in their send-off show. “Royal Orleans” - Was never performed by any of them, thank God. This, "Candy Store Rock", “Hots on For Nowhere” and "South Bound Suarez" are in my opinion the worst songs released by the band and don't understand how people can rank "The Crunge" and "Sick Again" as the worst instead of these.  “Nobody’s Fault but Mine” - 27th April 1977 - - The famous “Destroyer” bootleg. This song again doesn’t vary as much so you have a lot of similar options. This is great quality, from a pretty well-regarded bootleg and is better than the Knebworth versions. -10th December 2007, London is also noteworthy “Candy Store Rock” - 7th July 2001 - - Page and Plant performed it at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2001 and I believe this is the only time it was performed. “Hots on For Nowhere” - 10th July 2000 - - Page and The Black Crowes played it during their Summer 2000 tour. There is a pro-shot of them at the Jones Beach Theatre uploaded by Mark Zep on YouTube. “Tea For One” - 13th February 1996 - - Whilst never performed live by the band, Page and Plant performed it in the 90s and this version from Tokyo in 1996 is another example of how much Jimmy had improved and recovered since the 80s and even late Zeppelin. Joe Bonamassa has also done great covers of it. - In Through the out Door - “In The Evening” - 4th August 1979, Knebworth - - Love the introduction to it. They kept the pattern of amazing album openers even until the very end, this song is the best on this album. Had “Fire (Say You’re Gonna Leave Me)” been released, that wouldn’t be the case in my opinion, that song absolutely slaps; alas it wasn’t. I say Knebworth out of the Zeppelin versions, but I prefer the Page and Plant ones. Here are a few others: -24th July 1979, Copenhagen -24th June 1980, Hannover -29th June 1980, Zurich -1st April 1995, Detroit -19th May 1995, Oakland -17th February 1996, Nagoya “South Bound Suarez” - Was never performed by any of them that I know of. There’s an unreleased track recorded during sessions for “In Through the out Door” called “Fire (Say You’re Gonna Leave Me)”. It has some progressive rock elements and sounds kinda like Yes, but I think it’s infinitely better than this and “Hot Dog”.  You could replace “Hot Dog” with “Fire (Say You’re Gonna Leave Me)”and use “Ozone Baby” or “Wearing and Tearing” instead of “South Bound Suarez” and I think I would've liked this album much more. I’m hoping one day for an official release of “Fire” cos its actually good - a pipe dream maybe. “Fool in The Rain” - 5th October 2005 - - Robert Plant with Pearl Jam is your only option. They played it during a Hurricane Katrina benefit. A great performance and worth the wait. If I'm being honest though, I like this track purely for the drums; I don’t much care for the riff or the singing if I'm honest. There are no alternatives for this. “Hot Dog” - 24th July 1979 - - I actually can’t believe they did this live but there you go - Copenhagen 1979. “Carouselambra” - 17th February 1996 - - It was performed briefly within “In the Evening” by Page and Plant on occasion, but never in its entirety or with synths although it did sound good. I think this song is vastly underrated and I’m not even a fan of “In Through the out Door”. I understand they were trying to embrace newer music like they always do, and I think this is where it works, far better than most of the album. I sometimes prefer “The Epic (Rough Mix)” from the album’s deluxe edition as the vocals and guitars are more pronounced. It was probably going to be on the set lists for the 1980 American Tour apparently which I would’ve really liked to see, but we all know what happened there… “All My Love” - June 30th, 1980 - - Cheesy synths and the 80s pop style have prevented me from properly liking this song, but I find it hard to criticise it too much considering its meaning and the reason it was written. I do align more with Page and Bonham’s position though, feeling it was out of character as he “could imagine people doing the wave and all of that… that is not us”. I would’ve been more on board if Jones had a more atmospheric keys solo, but his “Dream Machine” brassy trumpet solo is definitely not his finest hour. I do like Plant’s singing on this performance though. I don’t hate the song, it’s a good song, just not my kinda thing and I understand it did quite well at the time. “I’m Gonna Crawl” - This was never performed live. Another underrated song. Page’s best solo on the album; Plant gives an emotional performance, a highlight since “Houses of the Holy”. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and “Tea for One” are both in C Minor Aeolian and so were performed together in 1977; it’s possible this would have replaced that lengthy jam in future tours as I think it’s a decent enough song, though not quite as good, and they were veering away from longer jams. The 1980 tour didn’t feature long “Dazed and Confused” and “No Quarter” renditions and they may have wanted to include more tracks from the new album. - Coda - “We’re Gonna Groove” - 9th January 1970 at Royal Albert Hall - - Legendary. “Poor Tom” - A rehearsal from 1970 shows an incomplete version of the song being hummed essentially, I don’t think it was performed beyond that.  “Walters Walk” - The song is based on improvisation during “Dazed and Confused”, this is the closest to a live version of this you’ll get. You can hear it on “How the West Was Won” and many other performances.  “Ozone Baby” - Was never performed “Darlene” - Was never performed.  “Bonzo’s Montreux” - 17th July 1977 - - I believe he played it in “Moby Dick” in 1977, although this is the only one I’m aware of and as much as I love Bonham and his solos, I do not think listening to half an hour of “Moby Dick” is worth it so I honestly couldn’t tell you which one is better if there’s more. “Wearing and Tearing” - 30th June 1990 - - Page and Plant performed it at their reunion at Knebworth in 1990. It is to my knowledge the only option. - Extra Tracks from the Led Zeppelin Box Sets 1/2 and CODA (Deluxe Edition) -  “Hey, Hey What Can I Do” - 1st April 1995 - - There are multiple Page and Plant versions of this (any of them will probably do, they’re very similar) but I much prefer the Album cut over any performance I’ve heard. This one however is the best of the live ones I know of.  “Baby Come on Home” - Was never performed. “Sugar Mama” - Was never performed. “St Tristan’s Sword” - 29th September,1971 - - Was played during the medley of “Dazed and Confused” along with “Pennies from Heaven”. This was also listed as one of the best if not absolute best “Dazed and Confused” performances. - Non-Album/Covers - “Train Kept a Rollin” - January 26th, 1969. Some 1980 versions aren’t bad too. “As Long as I Have You” - 27th April 1969 “C’mon Everybody” - January 9th, 1970, Royal Albert Hall “Long Tall Sally” - 28th June 1970 “Louie Louie” - 25th June 1972 (The same concert as “How the West Was Won” however this was cut). “Burn Like a Candle” Bootleg. The 2018 remaster of the album should’ve included this and the versions of “Thank You” and “Communication Breakdown” from those nights that are still in the vaults somewhere. “Weekend” - 21st August 1971 “Money (That’s What I Want)” - 30th June 1980 “Blueberry Hill” - At Blueberry Hill (4th September 1970) “It’ll Be Me” - 22nd May 1977 - - They only did it twice. This is much better quality than the other one and even features Mick Ralphs himself. “I Gotta Move” - 16th March 1969 - - Soundboard in Excellent Quality. “Mystery Train” - 19th June 1977 - - An Elvis Cover. “Please Please Me” - 28th September 1971 “From Me to You” - 28th September 1971 “Georgia (On My Mind)” - 26th May 1973 - - It was improvised once in 1973 when Jimmy had his guitar restrung after a string snapped. It’s caught in pristine quality as well. Robert Plant does a good cover of it on 18TH January 1985. “Happy Birthday” - 31st May 1973 “High-Heeled Sneakers” -28th September 1971 “I Can’t Be Satisfied” - Sometime in ‘77. “Sittin' and Thinkin'” - 27th April 1969 at the Fillmore. “Stand By Me” - 9th October 1972 “The Girl Can’t Help It” - 19th September 1970 “Twenty Flight Rock” - 19th September 1970 (Second Show) “Walk Don’t Run” - 22nd August 1971 “We Shall Overcome” - 28th September 1971 “When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)” - 19th June 1972 I think it’s quite surprising as someone who had to stick to official releases for a while how many songs they actually played when you count bootlegs and solo careers. There are only a handful of tracks from the catalogue that weren’t covered in some way; and of the ones left, only “Living Loving Maid”, a full version of “Carouselambra” with Jones and “I’m Gonna Crawl” I think I’d like to see; the others from “Presence”, the remainder of “In Through the out Door” and the few left from “Coda” I can live without. What began as a fun post made on a late night when I couldn’t sleep has now become a sort of passion project spanning over a month. It’s been quite fun going through bootlegs again and even discovering a few top spots I wasn’t aware of. Feel free to let me know of any alternatives to these you think are the best live performances
  3. Flashback Friday. 50 Years Gone. September 4, 1970. Los Angeles, California.These are a few of the albums that were spawned on this night in Los Angeles 50 years ago. All of which I have. It is one thing for one random night of the year to generate one legendary live album. But when two concerts on the same night in the same city create two legendary live albums...one official, one unofficial...then, that is some music history. To top it all off, both bands and up jamming together at the end of the night. Fairport Convention was beginning a three-night stand at the Troubadour Club...Friday-Saturday-Sunday Sept. 4-6. They were professionally recording all three nights for a prospective live album. Sandy Denny was gone. This was the "Full House" Fairport Convention lineup of Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Pegg, and Dave Mattacks. Joe Boyd and John Wood were overseeing the recording of the gig. I think they were using gear from Wally Heider Recording Studios. The tapes recorded over the three nights were used to make the "House Full: Live at the Troubadour 1970" album. Released in the UK in 1974 and in the U.S. (with a different cover and slightly different songs) in 1986. This would prove to be the only live recording of the Richard Thompson era of Fairport Convention, as he would leave the band at the end of 1970 and join forces with his wife, Linda Thompson. Meanwhile, a few miles south of the Troubadour Led Zeppelin was playing their concert at the Fabulous Forum of Inglewood. They were in the middle of their 1970 North American tour and had just become the first band to topple the Beatles from #1 in the Melody Maker Music Poll. Their new album Led Zeppelin III was still a month away from being released but they felt confident enough in the new material to play three or four new songs from the album on this tour, even though nobody in the audience had heard them before. Plus, they were still riding the jet trails of Led Zeppelin II, which had cemented and expanded their popularity by leaps and bounds. By 1970, Los Angeles had become like a second home to Led Zeppelin. This was their sixth tour to come through Southern California. They loved playing here and some of their most inspired shows happened at the Fabulous Forum and other venues in the area. Maybe the charms of Miss Pamela and her friends had something to do with that? Led Zeppelin did not professionally record this night at the Forum, apart from a soundboard from the mixing desk which has yet to see the light of day. Most likely buried deep in Jimmy Page's archives. But there were some intrepid audience members who recorded the concert secretly. One guy was known as Rubber Dubber. Another team were Ken Douglas and Dub Taylor, known as the TMOQ guys...Trademark of Quality. These were the guys who were also responsible for the Bob Dylan "Great White Wonder" and Rolling Stones "LiveR Than You'll Ever Be" bootleg albums. Rubber Dubber released his tape on double vinyl under the title "Led Zeppelin Live at the LA Forum 9-4-70".Rubber Dubber's tape is slightly better sounding than Ken & Dub's tape...both teams used portable reel-to-reel recorders at the Forum...but it is woefully incomplete. It is missing the first half hour and chunks of "Whole Lotta Love" and the encores. For this reason, it is Ken & Dub's bootleg album "Live on Blueberry Hill" that became the more famous bootleg. First released on double vinyl under the Blimp Records label, then shortly reissued under the Trademark of Quality label. Both Rubber Dubber's and the TMOQ's bootleg albums were released mere weeks after the concert and before Led Zeppelin III was even released. Which is why "Immigrant Song" was titled "From the Midnight Sun" on the bootleg...nobody knew what the song was yet. "Live on Blueberry Hill", along with the earlier Dylan and Stones bootlegs, confirmed there was a sizeable bootleg market for certain bands. The bootleg industry took off from that point. Led Zeppelin played Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill" as the final encore. They also threw in a rare performance of "Out on the Tiles" (one of only two known in existence) and some other special treats that night at the Forum. So far, there are no less than six different audience source tapes of Led Zeppelin's concert at the Forum September 4, 1970. Each of varying length and quality, but taken together we now the complete concert available with the songs in proper order. After Led Zeppelin finished their 2 and 1/2 hour concert, they zoomed up to the Troubadour Club. If you had been standing outside of Pink's Hotdog stand on LaBrea Ave. that night around midnight you would have seen Led Zeppelin's limousines heading north up LaBrea before they turned left on Santa Monica Blvd. to the Troubadour Club. It was no secret that Led Zeppelin loved Fairport Convention. They arrived around the end of Fairport Convention's second set. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham eventually joined Fairport onstage for some songs and jams. The tapes were all rolling. "Morning Dew" and "Hey Joe" and "Mystery Train" have been mentioned as some of the songs played. Richard Thompson tried to teach Jimmy some jigs and reels. Dave Mattacks said his drums looked like they'd been through a hurricane after John Bonham got through with them. Okay, so where are the tapes to this jam session? Dave Mattacks, Robert, Jimmy, Joe Boyd, John Wood, everyone confirms the jam session at the Troubadour happened and the tapes were recording but nobody seems to know or be willing to confess where the tapes are located. I have read Joe Boyd says he has them but fears the Ghost of Peter Grant....which doesn't make sense in this day and age of youtube and internet. Peter Grant is long gone. Another time Joe Boyd mentioned the tapes were stored at Universal. Well, this could be a problem. Because a huge fire ripped through the Universal archives a few years ago. It could be those tapes were destroyed in the fire. That would be ghastly news for Fairport Convention and Led Zeppelin fans...the Troubadour tapes are one of the Holy Grails. One last note about this night of September 4, 1970...after the jam session was over, John Bonham, Dave Mattacks, and Janis Joplin drank the night away at Barney's Beanery on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood.
  4. I was browsing thru the used cd bin at the record shop tonight and came across this little treat for only $6.99! With my $3 off coupon, that dropped it down to $3.99. I had not heard of the New Mexico soundboard being released. Neither Argentum Astrum nor the Led Zeppelin Database list the May 23, 1973 Albuquerque New Mexico show as even having a tape, soundboard or audience. It's not on any of the Soundboard lists, either. I couldn't find any info on Discogs or Collector's Reviews or even by Googling the date, title and cd matrix number. At first I thought it might be misdated or even a fake but after listening to it, it is definitely a 1973 soundboard and it is not from any of the 1973 shows I already have...Tampa, Mobile, Ft. Worth, New Orleans, San Antonio, Salt Lake, San Diego, L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, etc. Here are the particulars: The title is... Led Zeppelin Unidentified Live New Mexico, Albuquerque U.S.A. May 23RD 1973 The label credits are... Celebration © 2002 Limited Edition Original Soundboard Recording Produced by JIMMY Original Mastering at Stargroves. Artworks by Gemini Special Thanks to Mr. B and YS CD # 6060485230311 Track listing: 1. Rock and Roll (Ending) 2. Celebration Day 3. Black Dog 4. Misty Mountain Hop 5. Since I've Been Loving You 6. No Quarter Total tape length about 35 minutes. How has this slipped by unnoticed? Especially since it came out in 2002. How did all the Led Zeppelin databases miss it? Has anyone else come across this 1973 Albuquerque soundboard? Either in this form or another release? Obviously it would be great to have a more complete tape. But only $4 for a new Celebration Day (Jimmy, whether by design or accident, tries some new variations during the verses), Since I've Been Loving You (although Robert flubs the intro), and No Quarter is a steal.
  5. This is such a cool new episode of Boppin' With Beth this week that you don't want to miss! The late, great John Bonham, one of the greatest and most influential rock drummers in history, is the "focus beam" artist on this week. Hear tunes from artists he liked including The Spinners, Four Tops, Peter Green, Graham Bond Organisation, Buddy Rich and Max Roach. You'll hear all about his story as well as a tune from his band Led Zeppelin and a track John did with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones featuring David Sutch. John's little sister Deborah Bonham is the guest for Beth's Lightning Round and there's a cover of a Ron Davies written tune, originally recorded by David Bowie, from Deborah's band with her husband (Peter Bullick), Bonham-Bullick too! I've got a Jeff Daniels rocker in Rockabilly Rewind and there's songs from The Yardbirds, Eric Johanson and JD McPherson as well! Hear it all HERE: https://boppinwithbeth.blogspot.com/2022/09/john-bonham-focus-beam-on-boppin-with.html
  6. If you listen to rock radio, there is probably a station in your town that counts down the top 100 or top 500 requested songs. In L.A., both KMET and KLOS would do their countdowns on Memorial Day weekend. Here is KLOS' countdown from exactly 40 years ago in 1982. Led Zeppelin placed 32 songs in the top 500, and was the only band to have two in the top 10, including Stairway at number one, natch. How many of your favourites can you find? How many of these songs are still played on radio today and how many have been squeezed out of the playlist? Stairway To Heaven — Led Zeppelin Free Bird — Lynyrd Skynyrd Born To Run — Bruce Springsteen Won’t Get Fooled Again — The Who L.A. Woman — The Doors Cocaine — Eric Clapton Imagine — John Lennon/The Plastic Ono Band Kashmir — Led Zeppelin The Spirit Of Radio — Rush Comfortably Numb — Pink Floyd (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction — The Rolling Stones Hotel California — Eagles Baba O’Riley — The Who Light My Fire — The Doors Aqualung — Jethro Tull Hey Jude — The Beatles Maggie May — Rod Stewart Dream On — Aerosmith Wheel In The Sky — Journey Roundabout — Yes Money — Pink Floyd Purple Haze — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Smoke On The Water — Deep Purple Behind Blue Eyes — The Who Roadhouse Blues — The Doors Heartbreaker/Livin’ Lovin’ Maid (She’s Just A Woman) — Led Zeppelin A Day In The Life — The Beatles Sympathy For The Devil — The Rolling Stones Breakdown — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Layla —Derek & The Dominos Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends — The Beatles Green Grass & High Tides — Outlaws Whole Lotta Love — Led Zeppelin Back In Black — AC/DC Gimme Shelter — The Rolling Stones Roll With The Changes — REO Speedwagon You Really Got Me — The Kinks All Along The Watchtower — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Dazed And Confused — Led Zeppelin Come Together — The Beatles Time — Pink Floyd Let It Be — The Beatles Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd Who Are You — The Who Back In The U.S.S.R. — The Beatles Under My Thumb — The Rolling Stones Ridin’ The Storm Out — REO Speedwagon Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy — Bad Company Revolution — The Beatles Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) — Pink Floyd Rock ‘N Roll — Led Zeppelin Foreplay/Long Time — Boston Riders On The Storm — The Doors Lola — The Kinks We’re Not Gonna Take It — The Who Sweet Emotion — Aerosmlth Take It Easy — Eagles Black Dog — Led Zeppelin Tom Sawyer — Rush Shattered — The Rolling Stones Bohemian Rhapsody — Queen Surrender — Cheap Trick Renegade — Styx Night Moves — Bob Seger Southern Man — Neil Young Heartbreaker/Livin’ Lovin’ Maid — Pat Benatar Devil With The Blue Dress (Medley) — Bruce Springsteen You Better, You Bet — The Who Jumpin’ Jack Flash — The Rolling Stones Mystery Achievement — The Pretenders Rock ‘N Roll Music — The Beatles Bad Company — Bad Company Honky Tonk Women — The Rolling Stones Woman From Tokyo — Deep Purple Carry On Wayward Son — Kansas Slow Ride — Foghat My Generation — The Who White Rabbit — Jefferson Airplane I’ve Seen All Good People — Yes American Girl — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Over The Hills And Far Away — Led Zeppelin In The Air Tonight — Phil Collins Foxy Lady — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Midnight Ramblers — The Rolling Stones Love Me Two Times — The Doors Gone, Gone, Gone — Bad Company Lady — Styx Rosalita — Bruce Springsteen Babe I’m Gonna Leave You — Led Zeppelin Love, Reign O’er Me — The Who Like A Rolling Stone — Bob Dylan Roxanne — The Police Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap — AC/DC Walk This Way — Aerosmith Hollywood Nights — Hollywood Nights Life In The Fast Lane — Eagles That Smell — Lynyrd Skynyrd Go Your Own Way — Fleetwood Mac The Logical Song — Supertramp Just What I Needed — Cars Houses Of The Holy — Led Zeppelin Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ — Journey (Don’t Fear) The Reaper — Blue Öyster Cult Start Me Up — The Rolling Stones Magic Man — Heart Suite: Judy Blue Eyes — Crosby, Stills & Nash Run Like Hell — Pink Floyd Badge — Cream The Rover — Led Zeppelin Runnin’ With The Devil — Van Halen Stone In Love — Journey Train Kept A Rollin’ — Aerosmith Locomotive Breath — Jethro Tull Watching The Wheels — John Lennon Message In A Bottle — The Police Running On Empty — Jackson Browne In The Evening — Led Zeppelin Badlands — Bruce Springsteen Miss America — Styx I’d Love To Change The World — Ten Years After Highway To Hell — AC/DC Fire And Ice — Pat Benatar Breakfast In America — Supertramp Pinball Wizard — The Who Crazy On You — Heart I Am The Walrus — The Beatles Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)) — Neil Young & Crazy Horse Hungry Heart — Bruce Springsteen Hey, Hey, What Can I Do — Led Zeppelin In The Dark — Billy Squier Refugee — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Hey You — Pink Floyd More Than A Feeling — Boston Urgent — Foreigner Bell Bottom Blues — Derek & The Dominos Out Of Time — The Rolling Stones Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd Life’s Been Good — Joe Walsh All Right Now — Free Let’s Go — The Cars All Day And All Of The Night — The Kinks Jamie’s Cryin’ — Van Halen Yesterday — The Beatles Man On The Silver Mountain — Rainbow Break On Through — The Doors You Really Got Me — Van Halen Tumbling Dice — The Rolling Stones Message Of Love — The Pretenders Going To California — Led Zeppelin Thunder Road — Bruce Springsteen Touch Me — The Doors Suffragette City — David Bowie Strawberry Fields Forever — The Beatles Truckin’ — The Grateful Dead And The Cradle Will Rock — Van Halen Good Times Bad Times — Led Zeppelin White Room — Cream Cinnamon Girl — Neil Young & Crazy Horse Brown Sugar — The Rolling Stones Join Together — The Who Rockin’ The Paradise — Styx Good Times Roll — Cars Radar Love — Golden Earring A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me) — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers The Promised Land — Bruce Springsteen All You Need Is Love — The Beatles Misty Mountain Hop — Led Zeppelin Rhiannon — Fleetwood Mac Come Sail Away — Styx Piece Of My Heart — Big Brother & The Holding Company Stay — Jackson Browne Rocky Mountain Way — Joe Walsh Lights — Journey Hush — Deep Purple Going Mobile — The Who All My Love — Led Zeppelin For What It’s Worth — Buffalo Springfield Snowblind — Styx Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds — The Beatles It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll (But I Like It) — The Rolling Stones Woodstock — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Desperado — Eagles Are You Experienced? — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Candy-O — Cars La Grange — ZZ Top A Thing About You —Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Us And Them — Pink Floyd Twist And Shout — The Beatles De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da — The Police Jane — Jefferson Starship Highway Star — Deep Purple Too Hot To Handle — UFO Fool For The City — Foghat Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen — Santana Thank You — Led Zeppelin The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em) — Greg Kihn Band The Party’s Over (Hopelessly In Love) — Journey James Dean — Eagles The Real Me — The Who Big Ten Inch Record — Aerosmith Dance The Night Away — Van Halen Can’t Get Enough — Bad Company You’re No Good — Linda Ronstadt Back Door Man — The Doors Help! — The Beatles Already Gone — Eagles Working For The Weekend — Loverboy Crossroads — Cream Train In Vain (Stand By Me) — The Clash Iron Man — Black Sabbath Have A Cigar — Pink Floyd Don’t Misunderstand Me — Rossington Collins Band Hit Me With Your Best Shot — Pat Benatar One Of These Nights — Eagles Brass In Pocket — The Pretenders The Pretender — Jackson Browne Immigrant Song — Led Zeppelin Get Back — The Beatles With Billy Preston The Ocean — Led Zeppelin Harden My Heart — Quarterflash Crystal Ball — Styx Don’t Do Me Like That — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Paranoid — Black Sabbath Thick As A Brick — Jethro Tull Even It Up — Heart Paint It Black — The Rolling Stones Find Your Way Back — Jefferson Starship Eleanor Rigby — The Beatles Even The Losers — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers My Best Friend’s Girl — Cars Since I’ve Been Loving You — Led Zeppelin Dear Prudence — The Beatles Come To Poppa — Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) — The Moody Blues Every Picture Tells A Story — Rod Stewart Lonely Is The Night — Billy Squier Nicole — Point Blank Like A Hurricane — Neil Young Barracuda — Heart Stay With Me — Faces Flirtin’ With Disaster — Molly Hatchet When The Levee Breaks — Led Zeppelin The Wait — The Pretenders Space Truckin’ — Deep Purple Cowgirl In The Sand — Neil Young & Crazy Horse Girls Got Rhythm — AC/DC Dangerous Type — Cars All Down The Line — The Rolling Stones Song Is Over — The Who Don’t Stand So Close To Me — The Police Peaceful Easy Feeling — Eagles Instant Karma (We All Shine On) — John Lennon Double Vision — Foreigner Killer Queen — Queen Love Her Madly — The Doors Stone Free — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Penny Lane — The Beatles Don’t Stop Believing — Journey A Life Of Illusion — Joe Walsh Little T & A — The Rolling Stones Breakout — Shooting Star Rain Song — Led Zeppelin (Just Like) Starting Over — John Lennon In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed — The Allman Brothers Band Shapes Of Things — The Yardbirds Heaven And Hell — Black Sabbath Lunatic Fringe — Red Rider Rocks Off — The Rolling Stones Reeling In The Years — Steely Dan Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic — The Police Sugar Mountain — Neil Young What Is And What Should Never Be — Led Zeppelin Freewill — Rush Smokin’ — Boston The Fuse — Jackson Browne Fight The Good Fight — Triumph Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out — Bruce Springsteen Rivers (Of The Hidden Funk) — Joe Walsh Dancing Days — Led Zeppelin Me And Bobby McGee — Janis Joplin Sunshine Of Your Love — Cream Happy — The Rolling Stones Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) — Styx She’s Not There — Santana Hold On Loosely — .38 Special Keep Pushin’ — REO Speedwagon The Voice — The Moody Blues Let It Bleed — The Rolling Stones Waiting For A Girl Like You — Foreigner (I Know) I’m Losing You — Rod Stewart Hell Is For Children — Pat Benatar Listen To Her Heart — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Limelight — Rush Bitch — The Rolling Stones Just The Same Way — Journey Whipping Post — The Allman Brothers Band Birthday — The Beatles Stop Your Sobbing — The Pretenders You Can’t Always Get What You Want — The Rolling Stones For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) — AC/DC Born To Be Wild — Steppenwolf Poor Man’s Son — Survivor Redneck Friend — Jackson Browne Street Fighting Man — The Rolling Stones Games People Play — The Alan Parsons Project Roller — April Wine The River — Bruce Springsteen Do It Again — Steely Dan Jessica — The Allman Brothers Band From The Beginning — Emerson, Lake & Palmer For Your Love — The Yardbirds The Waiting — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers I Want You (She’s So Heavy) — The Beatles Move It On Over — George Thorogood & The Destroyers Can’t You Hear Me Knocking — The Rolling Stones Because The Night — Patti Smith Group How Many More Times — Led Zeppelin Breathe/On The Run — Pink Floyd Feel Like Makin’ Love — Bad Company Casey Jones — The Grateful Dead Ticket To Ride — The Beatles Ohio — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young The Last Time — The Rolling Stones Gimme Three Steps — Lynyrd Skynyrd Can’t Find My Way Home — Blind Faith Abacab — Genesis Can’t You See — Marshall Tucker Band Living After Midnight — Judas Priest Fly Away — Blackfoot She’s So Cold — The Rolling Stones Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser (Live) — Bob Seger Hello, I Love You — The Doors Prove It All Night — Bruce Springsteen Celluloid Heroes — The Kinks The Long Run — Eagles Ice Cream Man — Van Halen Boom, Boom (Out Goes The Lights) — Pat Travers Band You Shook Me All Night Long — AC/DC Cross-Eyed Mary — Jethro Tull Ready For Love — Bad Company Take Me To The River — Talking Heads Straight On — Heart Women — Foreigner Tush — ZZ Top Fantasy Girl — .38 Special Space Oddity — David Bowie Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) — The Hollies Sultans Of Swing — Dire Straits Portrait (He Knew) — Kansas Déjà Vu — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Manic Depression — The Jimi Hendrix Experience So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star — The Byrds South Bound Saurez — Led Zeppelin Evil Wind — Bad Company Edge Of Seventeen — Stevie Nicks I Just Want to Make Love to You — Foghat Better Things — The Kinks Fool In The Rain — Led Zeppelin Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) — The Beatles Come Together — Aerosmith Two Tickets To Paradise — Eddie Money The Core — Eric Clapton Head Games — Foreigner Rock & Roll Woman — Buffalo Springfield Take The Long Way Home — Supertramp Point Blank — Bruce Springsteen Going Down — Jeff Beck Group China Grove — The Doobie Brothers We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions — Queen On The Border — Eagles While My Guitar Gently Weeps — The Beatles Beatin’ The Odds — Molly Hatchet Mother’s Little Helper — The Rolling Stones Hot Blooded — Foreigner Long Live Rock — The Who Crosstown Traffic — The Jimi Hendrix Experience The Ties That Bind — Bruce Springsteen Trampled Underfoot — Led Zeppelin We’re An American Band — Grand Funk Railroad Rebel Rebel — David Bowie Saturday Night Special — Lynyrd Skynyrd Lady Jane — The Rolling Stones Here Comes My Girl — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Juke Box Hero — Foreigner Man On The Corner — Genesis Everybody Wants Some!! — Van Halen Evil Ways — Santana Love Hurts — Nazareth Bridge Of Sighs — Robin Trower Who’s Crying Now — Journey Bloody Well Right — Supertramp Don’t Let Him Go — REO Speedwagon Ruby Tuesday — The Rolling Stones Time For Me To Fly — REO Speedwagon I’m Eighteen — Alice Cooper The Boys Are Back In Town — Thin Lizzy Takin’ Care Of Business — Bachman-Turner Overdrive Find Another Fool — Quarterflash Catch Me Now I’m Falling — The Kinks Doctor My Eyes — Jackson Browne I Need To Know — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Golden Years — David Bowie Keep On Loving You — REO Speedwagon Rip This Joint — The Rolling Stones Gimme Some Lovin’ — The Spencer Davis Group Gallows Pole — Led Zeppelin Love Stinks — The J. Geils Band Helter Skelter — The Beatles Frankenstein — The Edgar Winter Group It’s My Life — The Animals Turn Me Loose — Loverboy Fresh Air — Quicksilver Messenger Service I Saw Her Standing There — The Beatles Heart Of Gold — Neil Young Her Strut — Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band You Wear It Well — Rod Stewart Magic Power — Triumph People Are Strange — The Doors Easy Livin’ — Uriah Heep Oh Well (Live) — Fleetwood Mac A Hard Day’s Night — The Beatles When The Music’s Over — The Doors Living In The U.S.A. — The Steve Miller Band Jailbreak — Thin Lizzy Primera Invasion/Searchin’ — Santana Darkness On The Edge Of Town — Bruce Springsteen Lady Madonna — The Beatles Crazy Train — Ozzy Osbourne 30 Days In The Hole — Humble Pie Walk On The Wild Side — Lou Reed All The Young Dudes — Mott The Hoople Anytime — Journey Blue Morning, Blue Day — Foreigner Call Me The Breeze — Lynyrd Skynyrd 5:15 — The Who Tell Her No — The Zombies Katmandu — Bob Seger While You See A Chance — Steve Winwood Centerfold — The J. Geils Band Let’s Spend The Night Together — The Rolling Stones Jealous Lover — Rainbow Magic Bus — The Who Ten Years Gone — Led Zeppelin Don’t Look Back — Boston Victim Of Love — Eagles I’m Going Home — Ten Years After Hand Of Fate — The Rolling Stones Livin’ In The Limelight — Peter Cetera Magic Carpet Ride — Steppenwolf Back In The Saddle — Aerosmith The Loner — Neil Young Against The Wind — Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band Michelle — The Beatles Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? — The Rolling Stones Our Lips Are Sealed — Go-Go’s She’s Not There — The Zombies Hypnotized — Fleetwood Mac Stranger — Jefferson Starship Green River — Creedence Clearwater Revival Movin’ On — Bad Company Sexy Sadie — The Beatles The Chain — Fleetwood Mac I’m A Man — The Yardbirds That Girl Could Sing — Jackson Browne Somebody To Love — Jefferson Airplane Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man — Bob Seger System Lyin’ Eyes — Eagles Communication Breakdown — Led Zeppelin Welcome To The Machine — Pink Floyd Baby Hold On — Eddie Money Heavy Metal (Takin’ A Ride) — Don Felder Any Way You Want It — Journey Mississippi Queen — Mountain Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around — Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Long Train Runnin’ — The Doobie Brothers I Got A Line On You — Spirit Touch And Go — The Cars Talk To Ya Later — The Tubes Over, Under, Sideways, Down — The Yardbirds Treat Me Right — Pat Benatar Too Daze Gone — Billy Squier Back Street Girl — The Rolling Stones Ah! Leah! — Donnie Iris Give A Little Bit — Supertramp In The City — Eagles Tales Of Brave Ulysses — Cream I Love Rock ‘N Roll — Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Burnin’ For You — Blue Öyster Cult Run With The Pack — Bad Company Don’t Let Him Know — Prism You Shook Me — Led Zeppelin Winning — Santana Ramblin’ Man — The Allman Brothers Band Fire — The Jimi Hendrix Experience The Horizontal Bop — Bob Seger I Can’t Stand It — Eric Clapton And His Band Hells Bells — AC/DC Back On The Road Again — REO Speedwagon Drive My Car — The Beatles Bringing On The Heartbreak — Def Leppard
  7. I don't listen to radio often, especially so-called "classic rock" radio. But I was with a friend and he had his car radio turned to KLOS 95.5 FM and they are in the midst of some contest called 'March Bandness'. Obviously a take-off of the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. According to what I found online, Led Zeppelin won last year. They started with 16 bands and the final four were Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Metallica, and Aerosmith. Here is the bracket as it stands...Led Zeppelin vs. Metallica for the championship. You can vote online. https://955klos.listenernetwork.com/Contest/CFAQOA#/bracket
  8. *****NOTE: I am new to this forum; I am NOT new to anything Led Zeppelin. Please, I ask you to ignore the first part of that sentence, and consider the second. Appreciated. ****** ***The Song Remains the Same Complete Re-EDIT On Way! *** [Note]: Individual evaluation only, not a means of piracy; this will NOT be distributed in any such way; again, my individual evaluations I've always preferred original TSRTS footage, be it a bootleg or 8mm. However, the actual viewing experience is rather limited by the subpar quality even terrible for 1970's cinematics. Honestly, the "film" portions of the film (I know, that sounds redundant, whatever) are pretty ugly. When one compares the close-up concert sequences re-filmed, the viewing experience becomes exhilarating. Add original panoramas of the actual crowd; the experience is timeless. And, of course, 1920 X 1080 resolution is absolutely stunning. The producers made their best intentions to create the best viewing experience possible during the time. The only reason I bring this thought up is because of a project I am working on to re-edit TSRTS (film) as close to original setlist as possible, while still retaining an apex entertainment factor. The fan-edition looks great, but I wish to make it even better. The plans are as follows: 1. Rip 2007 Blu-Ray release as a main video reference for best consumer-attainable quality as of 2013 2. Integrate my FLAC vinyl rips as much as possible to cover the abridged / shortened scene performances and restore original song length. 3. Somehow attain the best quality original footage / bootlegs. This includes the abandoned gaps in Black Dog, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, etc. 4. The whole point of #3 is to eliminate psychedelic/fantasy sequences limiting attention on the band itself. The problem really arises from point no. 3; attaining footage to fill the gaps. I have some, but not enough. If anyone knows where to access the originals in best quality, that would be a great help! Plans for release are late December/early January 2013/2014, though this is extremely tentative and subject to change. ***This is for experimentation purposes only and NOT for personal gain, resale, or profit or mass-release and or reproduction; only individual evaluation.*** If any of you are of interest, please don't hesitate to inform me as soon as possible! Thank you for your support. -A/S
  9. Just a reminder to everybody Kennedy center honors Wed december 26 it's been a few weeks since the taping and I almost forgot about the show on CBS here in the states it starts 9pm here on the east coast.
  10. What was the first song your heard from Led Zeppelin that made you a fan?
  11. Popped into Amoeba Music in Hollywood last night and noticed they had a "Led Zeppelin" original vinyl hanging on the wall, signed by all four members: Robert, Jimmy, John and John Paul. The price is $2,400…which works out to $600 a signature. Wonder how long it will be there before someone snaps it up? If you are interested, I am sure you can call up the shop or check out their website.
  12. http://rockandrollgarage.com/led-zeppelins-jimmy-page-reveals-what-he-is-doing-during-quarantine/
  13. http://rockandrollgarage.com/tony-iommi-recalls-why-john-bonham-was-fired-by-bands-before-zeppelin/
  14. http://rockandrollgarage.com/when-ritchie-blackmore-criticized-led-zeppelin-to-john-bonham/
  15. http://rockandrollgarage.com/what-jimmy-page-said-about-living-at-the-haunted-aleister-crowley-house/
  16. http://rockandrollgarage.com/robert-plant-reveals-the-strangest-led-zeppelin-covers-he-ever-heard/
  17. Just uploaded a re-edited DVD of the Earls Court shows on Guitars101. Just type "Led Zeppelin Best of Earls Court 75 DVD re-edit guitars101" into Google or PM me for a link. There's also an mp4 version if you prefer. Both DVD and mp4 versions now work great on VLC media player. All sync issues that cropped up in my first version when played on a computer should now be fixed. I've selected the best performance of each song from the 24th/25th May shows that circulate. Improvements include: - a better audio mix of the opening numbers that's more sympathetic to Plant's voice (which always took a few songs to warm up in 1975); - I've smoothed out the edits which make a complete Going to California and That's The Way; - you can finally hear the backing vocals in Tangerine which I've boosted using the night of the 18th; - no official footage from the Led Zeppelin DVD has been used - a few of the vocal flubs have been fixed so it's closer to what an official release could sound like. Enjoy!
  18. I just read about a new pending lawsuit over Stairway to Heaven, and wanted to give my opinion. It's not the first time LZ has been sued, and probably won't be the last. Here's a link to the article at Businessweek. Note 1: I didn't proofread, edit, or spellcheck this. This is the web, FTLOG. Let the errors go. Note 2: This is one man's opinion. There's a detailed story in Businessweek about the latest copyright infringement lawsuit against Led Zeppelin, one of my favorite bands. I've read most of the biographies and sagas about LZ, plus I have all their music and videos. With that level of interest, I've followed the lawsuits. The suits ask interesting questions of us: what is a "basic" sound that simply exists for anyone to create a variation of, what is a song that loosely inspired another, and when is borrowing considered copying (or stealing) under the law? I feel bad for judges and juries who have to sort these things out, because it's an example of human culture being shoved into a rectangular box, and it can't possibly fit. That's probably why most of these lawsuits are settled prior to an official ruling. These kinds of lawsuits exist in nearly all aspects of life: technology -- hardware and software, books and other writing, cars, etc. I once read that 99% of all cell phones sold in the world yield some of the profits to Microsoft because the company owns so many technology patents. Companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and countless others, often buy companies not for their products or services, but to acquire the patent portfolio. It's complicated and fascinating. The latest lawsuit against LZ involves Stairway to Heaven, which sounds a lot like a song called Taurus, by the band Spirit. Does that mean it's copyright infringement? Hard to say. Many people have tried to say LZ's song White Summer (sometimes called Black Mountainside or White Summer / Black Mountain Side) is theft of a Bert Jansch song. To make things more interesting, Jimmy Page started doing the song with The Yardbirds, before LZ was formed. Jansch is (was) a British folk guitarist and singer who did his own version of the song, which he called Black Waterside. Turns out, Jansch's song is similar to a song called Mustapha, by Davy Graham, which came out a couple of years before Jancsh released his own version. Jansh's song is also similar to Graham's guitar version of She Moved Through the Fair. Some say LZ should credit and pay Jansch and Graham. However, Black Mountainside is a British (or maybe Scottish, I can't remember) folk song dating back hundreds of years. This makes it fair game for anyone to use for inspiration, and is likely the reason LZ hasn't been sued over their version. Another area of creativity I've enjoyed, and one that intersects with Led Zeppelin, is fantasy novels -- although not for many years. There just isn't enough good fantasy out there to get fired up (with a few notable exceptions). Tolkien is, of course, the Founding Father, and has never been bettered. When I plowed through The Lord of the Rings as a kid, I thought it was the most creative thing anybody had ever produced. I found out it's not nearly as creative as I thought, starting with elves. Elves existed in popular culture in Celtic and Dark Age Britain, and probably most Celtic areas, at least a thousand years before Tolkien came along. They were thought to exist in a parallel universe, traveling back and forth between their own world and ours through known gateways. The Isle of Avalon in Arthurian mythology is the most famous of these gateways. Myrlin the magician, of Arthurian mythology, could travel freely between both worlds, and he is rendered as Gandalf in LOTR. The elven folklore was so powerful that England's first king, Alfred, is associated with elves. Alfred, btw, was spelled Aelfred at the time, with the A and E combined in the Old English ash character. Today's "alf" could just as easily have been rendered "elf". The name means, literally, "elf councillor". One had to be very important to give advice to the elves, as the people of the time believed, because the race was considered wise and mysterious. In LOTR, Frodo was formally named Elf Friend by the elves. It was a high honor, borrowed by Tolkien wholly from real folklore that existed for thousands of years. To this day, there is some debate about whether "Alfred" was the name of the king, or his title, or both. The way people thought in the 9th century was so different from our own, we may never know. My opinion is that if a royal family in 9th century Anglo-Saxon / Danish England named a second or third son, as Alfred was, A Councillor to Elves, they would have been viewed as incredibly arrogant. Others probably gave him the title, and it was assumed as his name. This was fairly common at the time -- choosing, or adopting a name chosen by others, after attaining a high office. Midieval kings did this as a matter of routine. This ancient history can be seen today in the way Popes change their name upon attaining the office. As for Tolkien, his major works were loosely designed to provide a creation myth for Great Britain, so they needed to feel like they originated in the Dark Ages or earlier -- hence the similarities to the folklore and literature of the period. If you read the Niebelungenlied (sp?) and the Kalevala (sp?) and Arthurian literature and some other Dark Age stories, you quickly discover that Tolkien is not nearly as creative as most people seem to believe. He had some novelties, and was a great writer, and crafted a heavyweight story on things that mostly existed earlier. He plagiarized nothing, yet invented little. His greatness was the story and the writing. Magic rings? Like elves, commonplace for the era, and not invented by Tolkien. Today we see an echo of this ancient history whenever a wedding ring is placed on a finger. Tolkien was influenced by many sources, and he in turn was a major influence on Robert Plant, the primary lyricist for Led Zeppelin. Many LZ songs contain references to LOTR. And, just like Tolkien's writings, many LZ songs can be traced back to older sources -- other rock songs or earlier blues songs, but that doesn't necessarily mean theft. If it was that easy, Robert Jordan would have been sued by Tolkien's estate for the Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels. Tennyson's estate, if it still existed, would sue both, except that copyrights expire after awhile. The descendants of Beowulf's author would sue everyone. Tolkien was, after all, an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) scholar and considered one of the best translators of Beowulf. A recent lawsuit was that of Dan Brown over his authorship of The Da Vinci Code. The authors of a non-fiction (although highly speculative) book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail sued Brown because, they said, Brown fictionalized their book. I don't believe Brown denied this, and after reading both of those books, I can say he would have been foolish to deny it -- they're nearly identical at the idea level. Brown won because, as the British court said, an idea can't be copyrighted. The main idea in both books is the Holy Grail, a powerful motif of Arthurian mythology, which greatly influenced Tolkien, who greatly influenced Robert Plant. This why I wrote this long-winded post -- so many parallels, so many connections, so much gray area, and occasionally a court of law has to sort out the meaning of it all and how the law applies. Ridiculous and fascinating. Oh, I also wrote this because I love LZ and Tolkien, and also because I believe law must exist, and because it's a mostly rational concept that deals with irrational human beings, it will never function well. So, what's the dividing line between an idea and an original work of creativity, protected by copyright laws? LZ will win the new lawsuit if they can demonstrate that the song Taurus had nothing to do with Stairway to Heaven or that Taurus was merely the idea that prompted an original work. The Businessweek article shines a light on this: "Ultimately, the legal test isn’t what experts say. Under U.S. law, the standard a jury or judge would apply is whether the song in question sounds like a copy to an ordinary lay listener." Tolkien's estate will never have to deal with these types of lawsuits because the copyright on Dark Age literature is long expired, and also because the exact authorship of many of the works is impossible to prove, but these are the only reasons. I've read most of the source material that influenced Tolkien, such as the Arthurian stuff, the Kalevala, the Norse sagas, the Niebelungenleid, Beowulf, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Taleisin, Aneirin, etc. I've also listened to most LZ music, as well as the source material. The parallels are uncanny. If LZ stole Taurus and re-worked it as Stairway to Heaven, then Tolkien stole Gandalf from Old Welsh writers. I don't hold it against Tolkien -- I don't consider him a thief -- and I don't consider LZ a thief over Taurus. The inspiration seems clear, but I think it stops well short of copyright infringement. I'd give you 10:1 the suit is settled out of court with a small monetary payout and a new credit appearing on future releases of Stairway to Heaven.
  19. For Flashback Friday. Here is a flashback to 40 years ago...1980. Every March or April the Readers' Poll issue of CREEM magazine would arrive. With all of the revisionist history out there (punk rock killed Led Zeppelin's popularity, etc.) it is sometimes instructive to go back in time to contemporaneous accounts to see what the kids were really thinking back then. If I had a dollar for every old geezer who tells me they were really into Joy Division back in 1980 I would be a millionaire, haha. For space reasons I will only include the top 3 results for each category. Here now are the 1979 Readers' Poll Results as published in the March 1980 issue of CREEM. WAX TOP ALBUM OF 1979 1. In Through the Out Door - Led Zeppelin 2. Candy-O - The Cars 3. Dream Police - Cheap Trick TOP SINGLE OF 1979 1. My Sharona - The Knack 2. Let's Go - The Cars 3. Cruel to be Kind - Nick Lowe BEST R & B SINGLE OF 1979 1. Bad Girls - Donna Summer 2. You Gotta Serve Somebody - Bob Dylan 3. Sail On - Commodores BEST R & B ALBUM OF 1979 1. Bad Girls - Donna Summer 2. The Jukes - Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes 3. I Am - Earth, Wind & Fire BEST JAZZ ALBUM OF 1979 1. A Taste for Passion - Jean-Luc Ponty 2. Chicago XIII - Chicago 3. Mingus - Joni Mitchell BEST REISSUE OF 1979 1. Quadrophenia - The Who 2. The Kids Are Alright - The Who 3. The Clash - The Clash BEST NEW WAVE SINGLE OF 1979 1. Dreaming - Blondie 2. Rock Lobster - B-52's 3. I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats BEST NEW WAVE ALBUM OF 1979 1. Eat to the Beat - Blondie 2. The Clash - The Clash 3. Fear of Music - Talking Heads HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "If the Beatles get back together, I'll throw up." - Lori A. Nielsen Sterling Heights, MI FLESH AND BLOOD TOP THREE GROUPS 1. Led Zeppelin 2. Cheap Trick 3. Rolling Stones TOP THREE LIVE GROUPS 1. Cheap Trick 2. The Who 3. Led Zeppelin BEST MALE SINGER 1. Robert Plant 2. Robin Zander 3. Roger Daltry BEST FEMALE SINGER 1. Debbie Harry 2. Ann Wilson 3. Stevie Nicks BEST NEW WAVE SINGER 1. Debbie Harry 2. Elvis Costello 3. Joe Jackson BEST NEW WAVE BAND/PERFORMER 1. The Clash 2. Blondie 3. The Ramones BEST NEW GROUP 1. The Knack 2. B-52's 3. The Records HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "I won't have to. I've just discovered the concept of negative time." - Stephen Demm, Baltimore, MD BEST R & B GROUP 1. Rolling Stones 2. Earth, Wind & Fire 3. The Commodores BEST R & B SINGER 1. Mick Jagger 2. Donna Summer 3. Stevie Wonder BEST GUITARIST 1. Jimmy Page 2. Rick Nielsen 3. Mick Jones (The Clash) BEST BASSIST 1. John Entwistle 2. Tom Petersson 3. John Paul Jones BEST KEYBOARDIST 1. John Paul Jones 2. Rick Wakeman 3. Keith Emerson BEST DRUMMER 1. John Bonham 2. Bun E. Carlos 3. Neil Peart HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "Teeth clenched in the bathroom." - Joe Slate, Hollywood, CA BEST HORN PLAYER 1. Clarence Clemmons 2. Chuck Mangione 3. David Bowie BEST INSTRUMENTALIST 1. Ian Anderson 2. Brian Eno 3. Jean-Luc Ponty BEST SONGWRITER 1. Jimmy Page /Robert Plant 2. Rick Nielsen 3. Elvis Costello BEST PRODUCER 1. Jimmy Page 2. Nick Lowe 3. Roy Thomas Baker MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 1. Jimmy Page 2. Rick Nielsen 3. Pete Townshend HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "With my head up and my pants down." - Stan Rooks, Seat Pleasant, MD SUNDRY BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT 1. No Led Zeppelin tour 2. Led Zeppelin's "In Through the Out Door" 3. Sid Vicious' death RIPOFF OF THE YEAR 1. LP prices 2. Concert prices 3. Gas prices DRUG OF THE YEAR 1. Marijuana 2. Cocaine 3. Alcohol HERO/HEROINE OF THE YEAR 1. Rick Nielsen 2. Keith Richards 3. Robert Plant COMEBACK OF THE YEAR 1. Led Zeppelin 2. The Who 3. The Kinks HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "Armed and heavily sedated." - Edouard Dauphin, New York, NY WORST GROUP 1. Kiss 2. Bee Gees 3. The Knack MOST PATHETIC OF THE YEAR 1. Kiss 2. Disco 3. Bee Gees ALBUM COVER OF THE YEAR 1. "In Through the Out Door" - Led Zeppelin 2. "Dream Police" - Cheap Trick 3. "Candy-O" - The Cars ROCK CRITIC OF THE YEAR 1. Robert Christgau 2. Lester Bangs 3. Rick Johnson ROCK PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 1. Lynn Goldsmith 2. Neal Preston 3. Bob Gruen HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "Without a job." - James Meiklejohn, Swartz Creek, MI FASHION PLATE OF THE YEAR 1. Rick Nielsen 2. Debbie Harry 3. Mick Jagger SEX OBJECT OF THE YEAR 1. Debbie Harry 2. Robin Zander 3. Loni Anderson FAD OF THE YEAR 1. Roller Disco 2. Disco 3. Drugs ROCK JOCK OF THE YEAR 1. Rod Stewart 2. Robert Plant 3. Roger Daltry HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "With whiter teeth, fresher breath, and the Ramones." - Gretchen Meyer, NYC BEST ROCK 'N' ROLL MOVIE 1. The Kids Are Alright 2. Rock 'n' Roll High School 3. Life of Brian TV SHOW OF THE YEAR 1. Saturday Night Live 2. WKRP in Cincinnati 3. Mork & Mindy COUPLE OF THE YEAR 1. Stiv Bators & Bebe Buell 2. Cher & Gene Simmons 3. Rod & Alana Stewart PUNK OF THE YEAR 1. Iggy Pop 2. Sid Vicious 3. Elvis Costello HOW WILL YOU FACE THE 80's? "Oh shit." - Connie Bennett, San Diego, CA BEST OF THE 70's BEST ALBUM OF THE 70's 1. Led Zeppelin IV 2. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen 3. Alive - Kiss 4. Some Girls - Rolling Stones 5. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols - Sex Pistols * 14. The Song Remains the Same - Led Zeppelin BEST SONG OF THE 70's 1. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin 2. Rock 'n' Roll All Night - Kiss 3. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd 4. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen 5. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who * 13. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin BEST GROUP OF THE 70's 1. Led Zeppelin 2. Rolling Stones 3. Kiss 4. The Who 5. Sex Pistols BEST THING OF THE 70's 1. Punk/New Wave 2. Rock 'n' roll 3. Drugs 4. Sex 5. Heavy Metal
  20. Now that the remastered "Houses of the Holy" has been released, here is where you can post your feelings, good or bad, about the reissue. This goes for whether you only got the remastered original album, or if you got the Deluxe Vinyl package or if you went whole hog and got the Super Deluxe Editions. Or even if you just got the HD downloads. Whatever format you got this remastered "Houses of the Holy", give us your review. How does it sound to you as compared to the original vinyl or the old cds? Do you like the packaging? Were there any flaws or screw-ups in your opinion? What sounds better? What sounds worse?
  21. John Bonhams Drumming Explained Rather a heady title I admit. I don’t think anyone can fully explain him. However I have been playing the drums for roughly 38 years, and I started out wanting to be like him at the age of 5. (And Ringo). So I thought some of you might want some insight from a drummer who has studied a master. Because after all, to become a master one must study a master. This could well be a 100 page essay, but in the interest of brevity I have selected a few songs hopefully everyone has access to, and noted time marks where applicable to illustrate my examples. John Bonham could play with feel, a deep enveloping feel. He was a drummer where “feel” came first, time second. Whereas, in the case of Neil Peart for example, time is first, feel is second. Bonzo also had the amazing quality of being powerful, yet nimble. He also had swing, as is evident in Candy Store Rock, Kashmir, Out On The Tiles, just to name a few. It is easy to see his jazz/swing influences such as Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, and Joe Morello. In fact John Bonham borrowed a lot of of Joe Morello’s triplet ideas. Dazed and Confused Of course the most noticeable God like quality of his drumming was his speed. He could bend time. The good drummers can do this, our brains can move in nanoseconds, calculating what you just played, what you are playing, and what you are going to play all at once. The best example of John’s speed is the end of Dazed and Confused (from The Song Remains The Same). There have been fierce debates as to whether it is has been sped up, but I can assure it has not. The hand is quicker than the eye. I also know because I can play it. Same song now, different example: Note at the 11:59 mark how Jimmy Page lets Jonesy and Bonzo take over in this rhythmic interlude. This is a great example of how fast and tight the rhythm section was, and how important it was to the success of the band. Trampled Under Foot Here is another example of the blistering speed at which he could play. And maintain throughout a 10 minute song. At the 4:36 mark we get a glimpse of John’s concentration, he is definitely “in the zone”, and as you can see, sweating and working very hard. Moby Dick/Over The Top Another great glimpse into the happiness and concentration on John’s face occurs at 4:56, 5:20, and 6:04. One of things I believe that made Zeppelin great was the happiness in their music. The Song Remains The Same The happiest and most swinging Zeppelin song, in my opinion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he6TQsU8d6k John has an interesting approach to this song where alternates the lead beat of the bar between the snare drum and the bass drum. Just another example of his jazz feel, and his attention to detail. When The Levee Breaks Some more interesting attention to detail here at the 1:35 mark. At one time I thought this was tape noise, but I’m convinced it’s John making the sound of water bursting through a small hole. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEKkJHSO8A0 Of course this is also one of the best known songs for capturing his drum sound. Although there were some interesting recording techniques used, the sound still came from the drummer. He played the first note on his bass drum with an accent (hitting it harder) then silencing his drum head with his bass drum mallet before striking the second note just after. Simple yet genius. Here is a great example of his speed and nimbleness around the kit at 5:16, and his incredible foot speed at 5:26 We can also witness the sheer speed of his wrists with his machine gun drum rolls at 6:48. In closing I want to say happy birthday to the most intelligent, powerful, soulful, nimble, quickest, passionate and and talented rock drummer of all time.
  22. Jimmy Page revealed on his instagram page that recording for the first Led Zeppelin album began September 25, 1968...51 years ago today. Studio One, Olympic Studios. He included a photo of the worksheet. So, along with July 7 having a certain symmetry in Led Zeppelin lore, so does September 25. 😮
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