Love the 60's garage-rock bands...thanks for starting this thread Swede. Of course, the Lenny Kaye-compiled NUGGETS double-vinyl set that came out in the early-70's and later in an expanded cd box set is a classic of the genre and a MUST-HAVE in any record collection. And just about everyone from the Kingsmen to the Sonics to the Standells to the Count Five to 13th Floor Elevators have gotten their due with remastered cds and such. But there are still dozens and dozens of 60's garage-rock bands out there waiting to be discovered, bands who recorded maybe just one or two singles for obscure regional labels and then vanished. Well, if you've worn your copy of Nuggets to the bone and are looking for more, there's a little label called SUNDAZED that is doing a pretty good job of scouring the country looking for hidden nuggets, and they've put out several good garage-rock compilations that I highly recommend. One is called "2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60's Garage And Psychedelia From USA And Destination Records", a 2-cd set focusing on the Chicago garage-rock scene via the USA and Destination Records labels, with excellent mastering work by Bob Irwin. Featuring bands like The Lost Agency, Daughters of Eve, The Flock, The Foggy Notions, Park Avenue Playground, and The Buckinghams among others, it's a killer sampler to add to your garage-rock collection. Oh, and it is also available on vinyl for the truly retro-experience. Here's the first two songs from the set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lURSPIsdf4

DAMN! There are far too many R.I.P.'s having to be said recently. Joe Morello was a damn fine drummer and a major part of one of the finest and swingingest and INFLUENTIAL jazz quartets ever: The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Dave Brubeck on piano, Paul Desmond on alto saxophone, Eugene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on drums. You cannot overstate what an impact the "Time Out" album made, with tracks like "Blue Rondo a la Turk", "Three to Get Ready" and of course, the immortal "Take Five" with Joe's great solo. Look him up, google him, search youtube...whatever you kids do today...but if you've never heard the man, you need to get hip to one of the great drummers of the time. Alas, another good one bites the dust. Rest in Peace Mr. Morello.

I can't drink at the moment, but this definitely calls for a toast...well done! Good sleuthing on your part!

C'mon Ev...pull through...fight...you have the hammer of the gods within you!

That would be great if that really happened, but if my memory is correct, I do not recall seeing more than one mic on Bonham's kick drum at the 1977 LA Forum gigs I went to, and presumedly one of the signs that a show was multi-tracked is the presence of two or more mics on the kick-drum. Agree with the others about wanting a SBD of the June 22, 1977 Forum gig above the other 1977 Forum shows. Among the Zeppelin treats I bought during my latest swap meet visit was "Second Night At the Forum" put out by the Scorpio label...even though it's not as good an audience recording as Millard's, it's still a good show and much better than Luis Rey lets on in his books. In fact, the OTHAFA guitar solo sounds closer to the fuzzed-out-spaceyness that I remember than even the Mike Millard recordings, which come across a little too clean for some reason. I don't get the hype about the Landover SBDs...I got the May 26, 77 "Bringing the House Down" and after listening to it once have had no desire to ever listen to it again. So, my wish list for Soundboards remains: Anything 1968-1973, especially the "BEARD ERA". Early 1975, when they were doing Wanton Song, Levee and HMMT. The marathon Seattle 75 show and March 12, 75, the second, and BEST of the Long Beach(if not the whole Southern California swing) shows. June 22, 1977 LA Forum. The 1979 Copenhagen warm-ups.

Poor Evster. Hope everything turns out okay...will send positive vibes his way. Someone mentioned he's in LA, so if someone can pm me what hospital he's at, I could pop in to cheer him up.

"8/4/1967 "The Last Time"/"Under My Thumb" Rolling Stones, The Track 604006" Are you sure about this? I'm not questioning the tracks, but the date seems to be off. I thought it was 1965 that the Stones recorded Last Time? Or was this one of those Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestral versions? I also seem to recall the Who recording versions of Last Time & Under My Thumb in 1967 in support of Mick & Keef's drug charges. Might it be The Who's versions that Pagey played on? Anyway, besides all that, the above list is quite impressive...and I've only got about 2/3 of it...still tons for me to get a hold of.

Wonder if he'll make another visit to one of those Japanese Zeppelin bootleg shops for another haul of goodies?

And the wheel(of destruction) rolls on. Fillmore East...Winterland...Boston Garden...The Fabulous Forum...lots of historic venues are disappearing. And now Cobo Hall. As if Detroit hasn't suffered enough. As a devoted reader of Creem from the magazine's inception 'til its demise in the 80's, I knew about Cobo and the importance of the place as a music venue. I'm glad to see Susan Whitall is still writing, as she wrote one of the all-time classic Zeppelin articles in Creem back in 1979...one that SHOULD have been anthologized in that Creem book a few years ago, but wasn't.

Are you talking about cds or dvds?

Appreciate the replies everyone. Thanks. Just curious...what version do you mostly listen to: studio or live? And if live, what particular live version is your favourite?

Awwww, feather in the wind: KEEP HOPE ALIVE! Yeah, it's been frustrating lately...but I refuse to give up hope that Pagey has at least one more trick up his sleeve. And as for the guy who said...no, I'm not even going to dignify his lame-ass comment by responding.

Excellent work everyone who posted these photos! Muchas gracias! :cheer:

Ohhhhh yeeeaaaahhhhhh! This would be incredible...I am praying it happens. I've heard the Lips cover Song Remains the Same and Kashmir and their song "Are You A Hypnotist?" from the Yoshimi album has one of the best Bonham-esque beats I've ever heard.

Awesome stuff dude! Thanks for posting One of the unexpected side benefits to the 2003 DVD project is the wealth of 8mm footage that has popped up on the band's website, in best possible sound and video quality. Now people can see for themselves that nobody, no one, no way no how, moved on stage like Jimmy Page in his prime.

There are 3 different versions of the song Von by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós...this one is the version I like best...unfortunately, the person who posted this video synched the acoustic video to the live audio, so you don't get to see Jonsi bow the guitar...but it still sounds great.

He wasn't saying it was "uncool" to say you didn't like Stairway, he was saying that it is considered "uncool" to admit that you like Stairway. That was the point I was making in my post...that years and years of acting embarrassed by Stairway because of the aspersions cast on it by the post-punk crowd has made it seem uncool to like the song. So I was merely trying to say to those of us who have always loved the song, but felt the societal pressure not to admit it, that it is time to cast of the shackles and proudly own up to our love of Stairway to Heaven. That there is no need to feel shame or feel uncool or unhip just because you like the song. As for classic rock radio, yes it didn't help that they played it incessantly...but then, that is why I stopped listening to most rock radio back in the 80's. So for me, Stairway wasn't beaten into the ground as it was I who controlled when and where I heard the song.

40 years ago today an epically historic moment in music occurred. For it was on March 5, 1971 in Belfast, Ireland that STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN was performed for the FIRST time in concert. So although the recorded studio version wouldn't make it's debut until November of that year with the release of Led Zeppelin IV, or Rune album, 4 symbols, greatest hard rock record ever...whatever name you prefer...I like to think of March 5 being Stairway's birthday. And in honor of its 40th birthday, I would like to pay proper tribute to the song and the impact it had and hopefully rectify some of the insidious revisionism that has festered over the past 20 years or so. That's right...I am here to proclaim loudly and unashamedly: I LOVE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN! Unironically and unconditionally. And you should too. Sadly, in the years since Zeppelin ended, there has been a movement afoot to denigrate Stairway. The post-punk, post-modern, post-ironic crowd love to dismiss it as some hippy-dippy relic and because of its ubiquitousness on the radio, even Zeppelin fans started to belittle the song. It became fashionable among Zepheads to say that only newbies or poseurs liked Stairway. If you were a true fan you liked Kashmir or Achilles but never Stairway. Well fuck that Jack. I say let your freak flag fly and openly proclaim your love for Stairway. Maybe it's because I am old enough to remember a time when there wasn't a Stairway to Heaven...when the song most associated with Led Zeppelin was Whole Lotta Love. Just imagine what it must have been like 40 years ago to be in that audience in Belfast and to experience Stairway for the first time. As one who is half-Irish himself, it warms my shamrocks that Ireland was awarded the privilege of hearing Stairway first among the world. The next night on the 6th of March, the band played Dublin. That is what makes those 1971 concerts so amazing, apart from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse impact of the band's playing...you get to hear Stairway in concert for the only tour where it was an unknown entity. 1971 is the only year where the beginning of the song isn't immediately met with a rush of cheers. You actually can hear the start of the song and feel the hush of the audience. And the qietness of the audience as it settles in to listen to this unfamiliar song only makes the rapturous response at the song's conclusion that much more a testament to Stairway to Heaven's immediate impact on the public. Listen to just about any bootleg from 1971...Los Angeles...Berkeley...the effect is dramatic. People really FELT this song. I was too young to see Zep in 1971...had to wait until '72...but I still recall how GOBSMACKED I was later that year when I first heard the song on the radio and then when I got the record. There's a reason Stairway became so popular immediately upon release. It was truly mesmerizing...hypnotic...EPIC!!! This was no fluke, no accident, and certainly no hype. People responded because the song touched their hearts...their souls. Plus it just SOUNDED AMAZING! It sounds weird but it was the kind of song that you didn't know you wanted to hear until you actually heard it. Then, it was like, YES!, THIS is what I have been wanting to hear all my life. Sure, there had been long...even what you could call "epic" songs before Stairway. Day in the Life and Hey Jude by the Beatles. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands by Dylan. Midnight Rambler by the Stones. In-a-Gadda-da-Vida by Iron Butterfly. Allman Brothers...Grateful Dead, etc. etc. But none of those songs, as great as some of them are, did what Stairway achieved. Most of those other songs were in the same tempo or mined one style of music over its duration. What Stairway achieved was a melding of all sorts of disparate musical elements into a unified whole, while also slowly and almost imperceptibly increasing momentum and intensity along the way. There is the hushed, delicate folky beginning of just acoustic guitar and recorder. Then the ambient pastoral middle passage, with Jimmy's chiming guitars and JPJ's keyboards melding into a shimmering hum. Bonzo's drums enter to pick up the pace the song starts to rock and provide a framework to hang the guitar solo on. And what a guitar solo!!! Not for nothing is it still the solo by which other solos are measured, with its storming the Gates of Valhalla beginning...the impeccable construction as Jimmy climbs that stairway...the yearning call and response of the second section...and of course, those finger vibratos from god...all with that glorious Fender Telecaster tone...all in just over a minute. Next thing you know the song has turned into a headbanger with Bonham's drums cascading around your head and the band driving the song to its smashing conclusion as Plant gives a performance of the ages. And after that blast of fury a sudden return to the graceful calm of the beginning as the song whispers to a close. That is what is what makes the song so effective and memorable to this day...its movement and propulsion. The song takes you on a journey...you feel you are going somewhere but at the same time it lulls you into a sense of calm so that by the end you find yourself surprised that you're banging your head. Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of those songs that came in the wake of Stairway to Heaven. But you notice right away the change in tempo when the guitar solo starts in Freebird...you say to yourself, "ah here's the rocking part." Stairway works it's magic more subtly...its much more layered and textured than most songs of its kind. Gradually it builds a head of steam as the listener is propelled along with the song and ultimately borne aloft. And how about Robert Plant. Simply an incredible and magnetic performance. And I don't find the lyrics as bad or hippy-dippy as some, including Mr. Plant, suggest. Some call it mystical blather. Well, what's wrong with a little mystical blather? Does every rock song have to be about cars and booze and girls? The guy was only 21 when he wrote it...I'd say it holds up pretty well. You know, not every Dylan or Springsteen song is a lyrical gem. You often hear people ask "what does it mean?" And the answer is that there is no ONE RIGHT meaning. It means different things depending on the listener. That is what makes it timeless...it's the songs tied to one specific event that often sound dated with the passage of time. The "medieval" elements that some critics complain about I think are overstated. Yes, there are a couple lines about May Queens and Pipers but overall I found much in the song that I could relate to when I was growing up...and even still to this day I find solace in the tune. Some of my favourite lines in the song and what they meant to me are as follows: "There's a feeling I get when I look to the West"...being born and raised in California, the Golden State, this has always struck a chord with me...in fact, I always feel better when I am traveling West than East...I prefer to follow the sun...ride into the sunset than away from the sun. "There's still time to change the road you're on"...nothing is preordained...no matter what the circumstances you find yourself in, you can always change course, try a different path until you find the road that suits you. "To be a rock and not to roll"...in stormy and troubled times, it is best to be solid as a rock...for yourself and your friends. But hey, even if you don't like the words Plant is singing, you can't refute the way he sings them. In short, in my humble opinion it is one of the finest vocal performances in rock n roll. The tender opening verses, so intimate it is like he's singing directly into your ear...his wonderful phrasing and melody lines...the powerful climax. It's all here in a masterclass for future generations on what rock singing is all about. But to disect the song into its individual parts is beside the point...yes, broken into its components, the guitar playing, the singing, etc. all hold up. But the true power and meaning of the song is how the glorious whole is greater than its individual parts. Everything...the playing, the singing, the production...all added up to some sort of harmonic convergence of GODHEAD. The alchemy of the four members of the band achieved a watershed moment in the band's history...and rock music history. There is no understating the way Stairway exploded into the consciousness of rock fans...and all without the hype of Top 40 radio as there was no single. No MTV, no multimedia exposure. No, it was simply a groundswell of demand by people who heard the song via the record or in concert and requested Stairway in droves to their local radio station til it was literally everywhere and for years ruled as the number one rock song in radio polls. Did it get overplayed? Perhaps. But I would rather live in a world where it was overplayed than to live in one without a Stairway to Heaven. So THANK YOU Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham for creating one of the greatest musical moments ever. I can't tell you how often the song got me through difficult times in my life. Those of us who saw the band in concert can testify to the impact the song had on audiences...the song literally inspired the ritual of flicking your Bic lighter. So Stairway fans be silent no more. Don't let those hipper-than-thou types sway you with their negativity. To hell with "Wayne's World"...if you want to play Stairway to Heaven at your next visit to the guitar shop, let 'er rip! There is no shame in loving Stairway to Heaven. It deserves your love. It deserves your praise. So Zeppelin fans one and all...raise and flick your Bic lighter in honor of the 40th anniversary of the first ever performance of Stairway to Heaven!!!

Oh noooooo! You mean there are people who are confused about The Ocean? This is almost as ridiculous as the knuckle-draggers trying to say that the Beatles were not a rock 'n' roll band. !NEWS FLASH PEOPLE! IT'S EXACTLY AS KNEBBY SAYS: "I gotta date I can't be late for the hailla high hopes ball" There's no conspiracy...no secret pact with the devil...just a simple case of transposed lyrics. "When the held high hammers fall"?!? Really? That's some imagination you've got there. It doesn't remotely sound like that at all and when you take into account the context of the song, it really doesn't make sense. Sounds like you've got Immigrant Song on the brain, hehe. I don't know, maybe it's because a generation or more have grown up listening to music on shoddy mp3's and ipods and whatnot...but whenever I play the Ocean on my stereo, it's clear as a telephone ringing that Plant is singing hailla high hopes ball. In fact, it wasn't until I got on the internet that I discovered that there were actually people who questioned the lyric...it boggled my mind and it still does to this day. It's like some people think there's got to be a link to hell and the devil in everything Led Zeppelin does. Oh, and don't get me started on the mental midgets that accuse Zeppelin of pedophilia because of 1) the HOTH cover from which The Ocean comes from; and 2) the line in The Ocean that goes "she is just 3 years old", not realizing that Plant is talking about his daughter. It's a pity, as The Ocean is such a slamming song; one of my favourites, and it deserves better than to have nitwits picking it apart on false notions based on misheard and misunderstood lyrics.

Anything from the early days(1968-1972) would be manna from heaven...especially something from 1970-71. With all the 1975's that have come out recently, I keep hoping/waiting for the March 12 Long Beach gig to appear...I was there and after listening to the March 11 soundboard I am even more convinced that March 12 was the better of the two...and maybe even the best of all the Southern California shows. A soundboard would be KILLER! Especially since March 12 is the only show of the 1975 LA/Long Beach run that we don't have a complete Mike Millard tape...only the last two songs exist.

Kind of shocked to see that Charlie Watts didn't make the list...especially given how much that magazine is always kissing the Rolling Stones ass. Shrieve making the list is a welcome surprise...never cared for Santana after he left. And, hotplant is right...he was sooo young at Woodstock; he looked like he was still in high school.

If you lived in Los Angeles in the 80's, you remember Elvira's Movie Macabre show Saturday nights on KHJ Channel 9. Plenty of teenage boys, I'm sure, had their first masturbatory fantasies watching her show. Anyhow, one of the great cultural treasures in LA, the Cinefamily@Silent Movie Theatre, is having an evening with Cassandra Peterson, the lovely lass who played Elvira this Sunday, March 6. 3/6 @ 7:30pm An Evening With Cassandra Peterson (feat. 1988's "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark"!) NOTE: Ms. Peterson will not be appearing in character as “Elvira” during the show. Boobs, “B” movies, being a brassy broad -- all of those things played their part in making horror hostess Elvira first a local L.A. heroine, and then a national sensation. But there’s one more “B” we shouldn’t forget, and that’s brains: not the kind in a jar, but the ample lobes of Cassandra Peterson, the Groundlings graduate (Class of Pee Wee Herman!) who brought her to life. Holder of the Guinness World Record for “youngest Vegas showgirl,” Cassandra dated Elvis, lost her virginity to Tom Jones, and ran off to Italy to become frontwoman for a rock band, which led to her casting in Fellini’s Roma -- all before Elvira’s creation! Ms. Peterson will be with us tonight to watch her frighteningly fun 1988 feature film debut Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (which she co-wrote with fellow Groundling alum John Paragon, who also played “Jambi” on “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse”), as well as rare, favorite and new episodes/segments of Elvira’s "Movie Macabre"! Bring your Q’s, and get ready for what will undoubtedly be some A’s (and T’s) to remember! Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Dir. James Signorelli, 1988, 35mm, 96 min. Tickets - $12/free for members

Thanks mate By the way, I'll be seeing the Drive-By Truckers for the first time as they are playing the legendary Troubadour club this monday, March 7...that is a very INTIMATE venue...capacity is less than 150...tix were $25.