Happy 68th birthday to Joe Walsh!!! I hate the effin' Eagles but I love smokin' Joe Walsh. Life's been good, indeed...

Damn. Looks like I scheduled my Seattle trip a week late. Way to go, Jimmy! Congratulations.

What was shocking was that Detroit tried to lose that game til the very end. It's just that Green Bay's kicker choked WORSE THAN DETROIT!

Old enough to know the difference between soundboards and multitracks at least. Sheesh. Need I remind you that soundboards and multitracks are entirely separate things?

Oh what the heck...I'll roll with the Jackoffs tonight. Calling Walter and Mrs. Walter, zepscoda, in_the_evening, jabe...get your picks in!

You should read Ralph Rosenblum's "When the Shooting Stops...the Cutting Begins"!

Come on, what kind of self-promotion is that? Toot your horn a little, redrum! Give us the title of the movie!

Groovy sixpense! Thanks for the early review. Record show is coming up next month and I hope to get my copy then.

Patrycja, your Toronto Raptors gave it the ol' college try at least. After getting down to Golden State by a ton at the half, they battled back and only lost by 5 points. By the way, this is the 20th anniversary of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that went 72-10, breaking the season record of 69-13 set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. While I am curious if Golden State can challenge the Bulls record of 72 wins in a season, I am more fascinated by whether they can challenge the other record the Lakers set in 1971-72: 33 consecutive wins. It bears watching....and the Warriors are definitely more fun to watch than just about every game the NFL has foisted on us on Thursday and Monday nights. Oy vey! Now that baseball has ended, and the NFL is only interesting on Sundays, I have more time to catch up on the NBA and NHL. Poor Kevin McHale. He got a raw deal from the Rockets. Fuck that team/coach killer crybaby Dwight Howard. What a loser. I hear Ainge wants McHale to come back to the Celtics. Detroit is a real surprise this year....even though they lost to the Lakers on Sunday. Only the second win of the year for the Lakers...who could challenge Philadelphia's record for futility...9-73, I believe, is the record. We are seeing both Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning break down before our eyes. Their bodies betrayed by age and injuries catching up with them. It's kind of sad but Father Time is undefeated. Count Amare Stoudemire as another player who is a shell of his former self...although he's not a Hall of Famer like Kobe and Peyton. Pity that Phoenix Suns team of Nash and Stoudemire never won a championship. They were the last fun team to watch before Curry and the Warriors.

So how did the Cricket All-Stars U.S. tour go? What is the consensus...was it a financial and/or aesthetic success? Ticket prices for Saturday night's Dodger Stadium match were outrageously expensive so I went to the L.A. Kings hockey game instead.

His voice is needed now more ever.

I really don't understand why this is even a bone of contention at this late date? Is it that hard for people to grasp? Not to mention we are talking about 1977 recording technology versus 2015. In 1977 Pink Floyd were the most sonically-advanced band around and even they still needed a mobile recording truck and a seperate microphone system (hence the two mics on the kick drum being a signifier that a show was being multitracked) to multitrack their concerts. I was at the 1977 LA Forum gigs. You know what wasn't at the Forum that week in June 1977? The Rolling Stones Mobile Truck and a second mic on Bonham's kick drum.

I always liked that rhinestone choker Jimmy occasionally wore on the 1975 tour.

Planet Earth will do fine. It will brush us off just like it did the dinosaurs and keep on keepin' on.

And CBS posted Peyton's stats during the game, which is where I first noted them. If you're one of those people who look for credit and a pat on the back for every post, you're barking up the wrong tree. As for Brock Osweiler, I don't doubt he can be better than Peyton was last week. I doubt whether he can be better than a healthy Peyton Manning...say, the way he was against Green Bay. But Denver is in a spot now where they have to play Brock. Peyton is finished...whether he plays again this year or not, this is his last season in Denver. He will either retire or some pathetic team like Jacksonville or Houston will sign him in desperation. So Denver needs to see what Brock can do before the next draft comes up. If Brock is a bust, then they know they have to draft a qb or acquire one thru trades/free agency. Either way, Peyton Manning as Denver's QB in 2016 is not an option. Let me be as clear as can be...NO!!! Is this Gordon's last race? Is he in the hunt for the Winston Cup?

For a man who professes to hate purple, you sure do use it a lot.

It's no fun kicking a man when he's down. I only hope Charlie Sheen gets the help he needs...psychologically, as well as medically.

That's amazing. Did you design that, Andy? Next time I drop some purple microdot I will have something to look at.

Thank you kindly, sir. But nothing I write is as great as your photographs, Mark! A picture is indeed worth a thousand words....or in my case, a million. So you were at Houston in 1975...what happened in 1977 to prevent you from going?

You bet. But if you're hankering for a cronut, I think the cronuts at DK's in Santa Monica (Santa Monica Blvd. & 14th St.) are superior...and they have a much bigger variety to choose from. Including a Japanese purple yam one that is beguiling. Celebrating a day off with a breakfast of steak and eggs...

By "typical dry sounding" do you mean typical for the 1975 soundboards or typical for the 1977s? Because there is a world of difference between the two. Speaking of The Rolling Stones, I don't know if anyone has noticed (especially Jimmy Page), but the Stones just released another show from the vault! In short order, the Stones have released Hampton '81, LA Forum '75, Marquee Club '71, Hyde Park 2013, and now Tokyo Dome 1990. There is also the 1971 Leeds show on the deluxe version of "Sticky Fingers" and Brussels '73 is also available thru the band officially. These are shows that have long been bootlegged and they are not perfect, yet the Stones have put them out as official releases with great sound, UNEDITED!, and to much acclaim from fans and critics alike. Jimmy Page, are you paying attention? A Led Zeppelin Live from the Vault series would go over like gangbusters!

Neither will I. Going to a No Age concert tonight, in fact. There are thousands of concerts happening around the world every night. The odds of jihadists attacking the one I am at are infinitesimal.

Sorry, but I just don't buy the theory that these releases are coming from Jimmy Page. For tax reasons alone (thanks Rover). I know many people are down on the 1975 U.S. tour for the stagnant setlist, Plant's rough voice, or the back to back Moby Dick/Dazed and Confused part which takes up an hour plus of the show and tends to stall momentum. But here are my 10 reasons why I look forward to any new 1975 release. 1. Over the Hills and Far Away: Yes, the vocals could be a little rough with Plant singing in the lower key and neglecting the opening verse BUT the band was usually spot on. Also, by 1975 Page had finally figured out the shape and scope of what he wanted to do in the guitar solo. The start of the 1975 shows could be leaden with the slowed-down "Rock and Roll" and unfamiliar (at that time) "Sick Again". I like "Sick Again" but it lags contrasted with earlier second song ravers like "Celebration Day" or "Heartbreaker". To me, OTHAFA is when the 1975 concerts lifted off. 2. In My Time of Dying: 11 minutes of Page on Danelectro slide and Jones on the fretless and Bonzo going nuts. Are you kidding me? What's not to love? This song in concert hit you like a hurricane. 3. The Song Remains the Same/Rain Song: Call me a traditionalist...call me a romantic...but I always believe these two songs belong together. Sure, there are some great 1977 TSRTSs and even 1979 Rain Songs, but there is something missing when they aren't performed back to back as they were in 1973-75. 1975 is also the last time Jimmy's 12-string had that lovely clear, ringing bell-tone on TSRTS. The 1977 ones sounded much muddier and metallic...and sloppy. In 1975 the galloping TSRTS and the emotional Rain Song made for an intensely satisfying one-two punch. 4. Kashmir: I have stated this so many times that everyone is probably sick of hearing it...but too bad, for I am saying it again: Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could prepare you for hearing "Kashmir" in concert for the first time! If IMTOD was a hurricane, "Kashmir" was like an intergalactic interplanetary storm. It left you standing there with your jaw on the floor and a hole in your chest put there by Bonham's kick drum. Unlike the later tours when you knew "Kashmir" was coming when Jimmy picked up his Danelectro, in 1975 it came with Jimmy playing his Les Paul and Bonham simply counting the song in. With first IMTOD and then Kashmir, this is when most concert-goers first had the inkling that "Physical Graffiti" was going to be an epic album. 5. No Quarter: A concert highlight from its very first appearance in 1973, by 1975 the band had developed a very cool piano and drum improv segment leading into the guitar solo. Funky, jazzy, whatever you want to call it, it was fun to see Jones and Bonham work out a groove. Also, unlike the schizophrenic nature of the 1977 NQs, the 1975 NQs maintained a dark, moody tone suitable to the song. 6. Trampled Under Foot: Another great track from "Physical Graffiti". The solo spot was another chance to watch the interplay between Jimmy, Jonesy, and Bonham. 7. The "Woodstock"/bowing segment of "Dazed and Confused": By 1975 large chunks of "Dazed and Confused" had become ponderous, silly, redundant. There were stretches that had you wishing they were playing another song from "Physical Graffiti" or "When the Levee Breaks" or "The Ocean" or "Celebration Day". But within that 30-40 minute slab of self-indulgence there were moments of awesomeness. The "Woodstock" and Jimmy's bow interlude was one of them. I always thought the "Woodstock" lyrics suited the darker tone of the piece better than "San Francisco". And Plant's echoplexed moans and groans were genuinely spooky and led perfectly into Jimmy's bow screeching. Of course you can't see it listening to the bootleg, but the visuals of the smoke and light show were awesome, too! 8. The spiraling wah-wah jam at the very end of "Dazed and Confused": After the bow segment, it was the obligatory guitar solo for another 15-20 minutes or so, with Jimmy going thru all the usual paces that we'd heard before from 1972-73. But then, a miracle...just when you thought the song had reached the end, with Robert singing the last verse, the band somehow reached back and found a kernel of inspiration and spontaneity and launch into a truly trippy jam that was worth waiting for and truly left you dazed...especially when Jimmy would really hit those high piercing notes on the wah-wah pedal. 9. Stairway to Heaven: No matter what your feelings for the song, no Led Zeppelin fan doesn't want to hear Jimmy's guitar solo. Since no two "Stairway" solos were the same, the chance to hear another one from a concert that's never been released before is reason enough to get this show. 10. The Crunge-funky interlude-theremin jam between "Whole Lotta Love" and "Black Dog": Simply mindblowing! A real highlight of the shows for me...the band was clearly having fun in this part and the sight of Jimmy and Robert duelling during the theremin jam were out-of-this-world! I feel bad for those who saw the concerts before February 13, for they did not get this part of the show. So there you have it...my 10 reasons for anticipating the 1975 Ft. Worth release...or any 1975 US tour release.

Jeff Buckley would have turned 49 years old today.