I've read something in a couple of interviews that Jimmy gave surrounding the DVD release that all the nights were recorded (SAJ will be able to confirm, I'm sure), but that not all of the audio was useful or usable - for instance, one night the Bass drum didn't get recorded for some reason, rendering that recording useless (unless you want to spend hours analysing Bonhams playing, sampling his kick drum and sequencing a replacement which would send the 'no overdubs!!!!!' posse into a complete frenzy). If you watch the EC segment on the DVD (especially Going To Calfornia) you can see that Roberts hair changes from shot-to-shot, so they definitely recorded video for more than one night too. What won't have been recorded was a separate feed from every camera - you'd need a very large 2" tape machine for every camera if that was the case, which would have been incredibly expensive and impractical. The video that does exist will be the selections that were made by whoever was controlling the feed to the video screens literally on the fly. That means if you want to edit the video (as they did for DVD) then your only choice for different viewpoints during one song is to either pick segments from different nights, or from different songs - which is why you occasionaly get audio/video sync problems (fingers not playing notes matching the audio on guitars etc.). Hope that helps.

Hey Steve, Sorry to be a pedant, but I know you're a stickler for accuracy...... 2 inch tape was the video medium for Earls court - but the '16 track' part does not relate to video tape. In those days (as is now in fact for those who still use tape) you could only fit one video source onto a tape - video, especially colour footage, takes up a lot of space. 2 inch 16-track was the audio medium that the concerts were recorded on.

Not a dentist! I have been just been fascinated by the change in Jimmys face since 1977 (since I waited up ALL NIGHT only to see him dribbling and drooling at Live Aid when I was 15 and TOTALLY obsessed by zep. I cried after seeing them at Live Aid.)- and I've talked to people who've had to have dentures fitted 'cos they have too much bone damage to have implants successfully done (or are too tight, as Jimmy has been purported to be from time to time!), and those who've had successful reconstructive stuff done, like shaun ryder. I'm kind of intrigued by people who can damage themselves that much with substance abuse because they think it's cool.... Jimmy obviously thought heroin was cool and a fillip to his creativity, got burnt pretty bad by the experience and thankfully came through it better than some of his generation. Thankfully he never got to the stage of an uncommonly pure dose, like Janis did, or just plain burnt out like Kurt. I mean, really....... of the four guys in Zep Jimmy was really the one burning the candles at both ends, in the middle, and anywhere else he could. The fact that it was John who passed and not him was probably as much a shock to him as anyone else surrounding the group! Aaaaanyway...... I feel I've hijacked a thread that's supposed to celebrate Mr. Page in all of his many incarnations, so I shall very much shut up now! Thanks for pandering to my slight obsession!

Wholeheartedly agree that it's great that he's still around and appears to finally be in very good health. The main reason I think he's got dentures is the complete change in the shape of his face and the way he holds his lower jaw. Implants can only be put into sound bone and the way his teeth were in '83 I'm not sure there was much left at the front for him. Before then he always had a bit of an overbite (top teeth overlap bottom teeth), after that he seems to have had an underbite (bottom teeth overlap top teeth) - meaning his front teeth have been moved further into his mouth. I think he got away with veneers and bridges for most of the eighties, but I reckon he had quite a bit more work done around the Page/Plant era. He also does a lot of the 'I haven't got my own front teeth any more' facial postures - his lower lip folder over his top lip for example, and there's at least one interview (one of the Japanese ones) where I swear he's been fiddling with his dentures and doesn't quite lock them back in place before he starts talking (another thing my grandad used to do!). All things considered though, he's looking pretty good for a 69 year old who by all accounts shouldn't really have made it to 40. Teeth are a small price to pay to have survived multiple drug addiction and pretty major alcohol dependency. In fact it's a shame he's so coy about discussing it, because as such an influential person in the music scene he could do a lot for awareness of the problems substance abuse can cause - after all it took him more than 25 years to totally clean himself up!

I doubt very much that Jimmy has any of his own teeth left (on top at least) - that's what years of cocaine/heroin use will do for you! From the way his nose and top lip have sunk and his bottom jaw has moved forward it looks like he's lost quite a bit of bone from his top jaw. He obviously had a LOT of work done after the ARMS concerts because his teeth looked pretty good for the Firm and were truly awful just before. Watching him in interviews nowadays is interesting because he's constantly fiddling with his teeth, which makes me think he's got dentures now - my grandad was always fiddling with his dentures and Jimmy moves his mouth in the same way my grandad did whilst he was doing it.

Eddie Kramer talks about recording LZII on 8-track in this fab interview: http://findingzoso.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/interview-with-eddie-kramer.html

Having done a little more research, it would appear that the majority of the engineering and the entire mixdown on Led Zep 2 was done by Eddie Kramer, with Andy Johns only being mentioned as engineer on 'Thank You'. If he didn't engineer on 'Ramble On' how on earth would he know how it was recorded?

Sgt Pepper was recorded at Abbey Road December '66 to April '67, on 4-track. Abbey Road didn't get an 8-track machine until May '68. Some of the Sgt Pepper multitracks are available for download if you look in the right places - they are ALL 4-track. If you read 'Revolution in the head' which is an exhaustive account of the Beatles perfoming and recording history, you will also find confirmation of Sgt Pepper being recorded on Abbey Roads Studer 4-track machines. This is all information that is very easy to find, and is common knowledge. Apparently 'Ramble On' was recorded at Juggy Studios in New York, which in 1969 only had an 8-track machine. Check this link for more info: http://wnew.radio.co...studios-juggys/ If you check out this: http://www.guitars10...3-a-136014.html it shows the cover of a recent pirate release of some of the multitrack stems from led zep 2. If you look carefully you'll see that the four songs it features ALL break down to 8 tracks, which means that these four songs at least were recorded on 8-track tape - nobody was syncing multitrack machines in '69 - they were too busy trying to cram 16 tracks onto 1" tape whilst minimizing crosstalk and maintaining fidelity. Ramble On, which is conveniently included, has the drums bounced to two tracks, 3 guitar tracks, a bass track, one vocal track and a combined vocal and guitar track, a total of 8 tracks. Bring up the faders on this and you've got the whole song. If it was originally recorded on 16 track, where did the missing bits go? Where is the 'sync track'? Please demonstrate where this 'click track' is. The final nail is variation in tempo through the song. If they played to a click track, the song would have had to be at a constant tempo from start to finish (otherwise what's the point in a click track????). It is not a constant tempo throughout the song. If you listen to the clicking sound during the song you will also notice volume variations between the clicks - i.e. some are louder/quieter than others. Also the rhythm is slightly swung, rather than being straight 16th notes. If you know of a metronome from circa 1969 than can a] change tempo throughout a song, and b] change the volume of its click in a random but musical way, and c] can add swing to the click I'd be fascinated to see it. If you're going to claim things like this, at least back it up with some research or a copy of the source of the information.

Click tracks are not used to sync tape machines! You use one track on a multitrack to record a SMPTE synchronisation pulse (a not very pleasant or playable to sound) so that two machines can then be synchronised. For example to synchronise two 24-track machines you would lose one track per machine to SMPTE timecode leaving you with 46 usable tracks. Considering Led Zep II was recorded in quite a few different studios it was probably recorded on 8 or 16 track tape (24 track machines didn't really get used until the mid 70's and I think Presence was their first album to use that format) and that really would have been plenty - at the time 16 tracks was considered an incredible amount and synchronising two tape deck without physically connecting the mechanisms (so no need for a sync track) was a pipe dream.... remember The Beatles recorded the majority of their stuff on 4 tracks! I call bullshit on this one. The pitter-patter clicking noise is Bonham hitting either cardboard boxes (like on Buddy Holly's 'everyday' which has been stated as an influence on the song) or his knees and is there deliberately - Do you really think Page would have left in in otherwise?. If you want to call Bonham's percussion a 'click track' that's fine, but technically incorrect.

They never played to a click track! The very thought!!! You can hear the occasional stick click from Bonham if you listen extremely carefully in the stops in Black Dog and Nobody's Fault But Mine. I think the only time Page has admitted to needing to play to a click track was in 'Shake My Tree' from the C/P days.

Jonesy did it. He's done tons of orchestral writing. Check out the last couple of minutes of 'Snake Eyes' from 'Zooma' where he turns the blues into a Stravinsky-esque fugetta with a string orchestra. He's got a LOT of talent has Jones. One of his gripes during the P&P era (other than not being invited and the fact it was called 'No Quarter') was that they nicked borrowed his orchestral arrangements for Kashmir and The Rain Song.

Jimmy also used the Transperformance on Kashmir for the No Quarter project... He got it during the Coverdale/Page period. I think he's used it on Whole Lotta Love since he got it.

Ditto. However, I do wonder whether he's deliberately that low in the mix because some of his playing was a little ropey.... Pages guitar work did seem to be more reliant on experience over actual practice in the last few years of Zep (I am SO going to get flamed for saying this....).

Don't get me wrong - the isolated drums sound great.... and on 'In the evening' and 'fool in the rain' they're not bad in the mix, but just not as good as the isolated snippets we've all heard. Because the room they recorded in wasn't that 'live' (or reverberant, if you wish) they had to resort to using a lot of extra added reverb which just doesn't sound 'right' for the zep sound. Which is the main issue I have with 'carouselambra'..... the whole band is thoroughly and liberally drenched in reverb... except for the keyboards which are drier than...er...a really dry thing on a hot day. It leaves them sounding totally separate from the rest of the band, and adds to the already slightly cheesy sounds that late 70's synthesisers were renowned for. Add that to Robert being totally buried and pretty much unintelligible and you have a good reason for it not being among their more popular compositions.

I couldn't agree more. It's the one zep album that would benefit from a complete sonic overhaul. The mix is shabby - it sounds like Jimmy is trying to hide his guitar for much of it. I know they got to use Polar studios for nothing, but the sound of the place doesn't suit the band... Bonzo's kit sound squashed (Jimmy even said on one of his 'on this days' that the sound of the studio wasn't what they were used to). One could hope that for the new remasters the multitracks could be revisited and a more sympathetic mix done...... although the chances of that happening aren't even worth considering. I think with a different/better mix more people who don't really like the album would finally 'get it'. There are some great songs on there, just not presented in the most flattering light.

Do we know if this is the multitracks or the stereo masters? Only asking because if the multi's are transferred there's the possibility of alternate mixes being included in the box sets.

I can almost guarantee, possibly, that I may or may not know exactly, or even vaguely, what Mr. Page needs to do.

Er.... like the 'guaranteed new material and tour' he's been promising to 'manifest' for just about the last decade? Why do you write shit like this when you can't possibly know what the guy is going to do? I don't really think he knows what he's going to do, if he can actually be bothered to get off his arse and do anything at all. Which, quite frankly, he doesn't even need to do. I'll believe it when I actually see and hear some product. Until then it's total conjecture. 'Almost guaranteed' is like saying 'it almost snowed today' in the middle of summer - it don't mean shit.

If you actually read my post you would have seen that I said 'about' 15 seconds. This is called 'an approximation', or if that language is too complicated for you, 'a guess'. If I was 100% wrong there would have been NO 'Trampled Underfoot'. Do you not understand percentages either? Jeez.... I suppose you wanted me to take along a stopwatch and time it to the 1/100th of a second. Sorry to have ruined your day.

Yeah - got friends who are in the show, so got some freebie tickets.

Er... just to get back on track ... Trampled Underfoot is definitely in the opening ceremony, for about 15 seconds.

What I found most interesting was the contrast in the production values between the songs on the album, and the 'B' sides (which had minimal Albini involvement). I think the album itself is muddy and lifeless (apart from 'heart in your hand, which is lush - shame about the fumbled vocals), but found 'the window' really breathed... (and that was apparently produced/mixed by Charlie Jones if my memory serves.) The whole album could do with some judicious editing and re-mixing, and then I think the songs would really shine.