Possibly. I wonder if the audience made for a less memorable gig. The audience / band vibe seems a little off to me. Also, I'm sure there were less nerves around playing in front of a smaller foreign audience than making a UK comeback in front of the proverbial "ocean" at Knebworth, so they were tighter and more focused. It's pretty incredible considering they hadn't played a gig in 2 years. I would die happy if they released a full concert made up of the best songs from these shows.

I had a feeling you would say Copenhagen 7/24!!! I knew it. All in all , an excellent choice IMO for all the stated reasons.

So, what's your pick? You attended some of the most legendary shows , many of which are contenders for best bootleg for sure , in this forum. 🤔🤗

I agree with Zep head315's assessment above. I never care for "best ever" statements. Nothing is absolute. Maybe a better title for this post would have been Best Unreleased Multi- Track Recorded Show?? To me , a bootleg is an audience or SBD recording that was never meant for official release. There are so many other performances that as a whole have much more atmosphere , vibe, synchrony between the band, etc, that have been stated in comments above . To me Southampton is a fairly good show, recorded in excellent , although fluctuating quality. There are numerous level shifts, and Bonzos drums sound flatter than usual. There's no real audience feedback vibe. I understand and agree with some of your comments about the over processed EQ of HTWWW and the butchering of TSRTS , and the intimacy of the small stage, small venue . In many respects it is similar to BBC 71, but that's a superior performance all around. Blueberry Hill is possibly my all time fav bootleg, but there are so many great moments , so many killer shows. To me , this not best ever...nothing is.

Wild! It has the Merchandise Mart in Chicago on it!

That's a later 70's pressing , most likely after 1977. SD 7201 is the original catalog number. SD 19128 issues are from around 76-77 onward. I am not sure about those signatures. Maybe you can compare them to other authentic ones online. Very hard to know without some kind of reputable provenance.

Yes, better instrumentally but Plant is in rough voice , possibly worse than Southampton. I love that show though, Bonzo is on fire!

I agree with this too. There are moments that stand out and would be worthy of official release but too many gaffs in that show overall. I really , really wish they would at least do a best of Earl's Court full show release, or maybe Copenhagen Warm Ups 7/24/79. There are definitely a few tunes from Southampton that could make the grade for an officially release compilation of live performances , chronologically perhaps. Come on Jimmy...give us something great for the 50th anniversary!

I'm no expert but...the inclusion of a true audience source to give space and ambience is a much better option IMO than trying to artificially enhance a SBD with sound program effects if two sources are available. There aren't many 73 board tapes that I can think of that sound much better as a result of sound enhancement. Most end up sounding over EQd, over amplified, noise reduced. There are a few exceptions but most of the time the original flat board sounds better. IMHO, the matrix I did of New Orleans 73 sounds much more enjoyable than any boot release that has been a "remastered" SBD of that show. There are very few shows pre 75 that have a board and audience tape both available so not many matrix opportunities outside 75 -80. Sue Dounim did some nice matrix work with Seattle 77. I'd like to hear hear more from 77 as those boards are mostly very flat and harsh sounding. For 77, I'd love to hear some attempts at Ft Worth, Landover shows or the Garden shows. Those are the only options for a matrix.

The Rain Song for me too. The lyricism of the melody, harmony and even Plants lyrics are all exceptionally beautiful. My favorite part is the end, the coda. That could've been the seed for another sublime tune.

Agreed. Played and sung with a lot of feeling.

It's on Empress Valleys Complete BBC Sessions, not sure of which other labels have released it.

You can actually hear his breaths at times. As good as it can sound, the mellotron would sound clearly synthetic if you could A/B it side by side with harmonized wooden recorders. Seeing as this went a bit off topic, I would just say Jones "wrote " the part the OP questions in this thread title, but he likely composed it i.e. improvised it during rehearsals or through the takes. He tended to play a similar thematic variation live , but never exactly the same. Something he does on many, many tunes....i.e. Stairway, Rain Song , All My Love.

Not that I've ever seen. It really is one of my favorite performances of Jimmy, because it's so unique. It's a gem.

Agreed entirely. For Your Life would've fit well too, as would many other choices.

Yeah, love those too. He gets into a trance like vibe in that era.

Yes, on some of the the complete BBC sessions. Its on YouTube of course.

I love the Julie Felix show one, where he plays the big Gibson acoustic.

Absolutely, I agree with this... however, there are many clams especially with Roberts vocals, and Jimmy, which would have to be fixed. I doubt they would sign off on mistakes being put out there officially, especially Robert.

Maybe you're referring to the wooden recorders, which Jones played on the studio version. Live he used the mellotron. I think Jones said he came up with the recorder part and recorded each voice separately, overdubbing them.

Exactly. Also, as I said earlier I think its likely JPJ improvised those parts in question in the OP , on the mellotron...they most likely were not written out. It's basically a solo. No composer credit for a nice solo. As someone else pointed out , JPJ had white a number of song credits, as did Bonzo, over 20. Not bad for a drummer!

Thanks for the clarification, and thanks for all you've shared!

I assumed this was from Knebworth rehearsals or a soundcheck because I assumed they were outside on a hot night. Weird and unprecedented way to dress for a gig, like they're just back from a day at the beach.

Is this the pic you're talking about? I always wondered what the story was with this pic. Must've been a hot night!