The Song Remains The Same (Remastered / Expanded) (2CD) I admit I wasn't a fan of The Song Remains the Same live album when it was released back in 1976 (was it that long ago?). The concert seemed flat. When the CD was first issued, I thought it sounded even worse. Hardly any highs or lows -- sound-wise and performance-wise. But Jimmy Page and Kevin Shirley have waved a magic wand over the master tapes. This isn't the same album any more. It's dynamic, vibrant, blistering. The bass guitar is there now! The guitar rings out clear as a bell. And Plant's voice is right up front where it belongs. I've been listening all afternoon to this remastered edition of The Song Remains the Same. There have been projects around the house I was supposed to get to. There was another new CD I wanted to hear. But I couldn't take this 2-CD set out of my player. It held me in its grip for the entire concert. Led Zeppelin continues to astound some 25 years after they broke up, and a full three decades plus after this concert was performed at Madison Square Garden in 1973. If you've held off buying this because the original version left a bad taste in your mouth, rest assured this is a unique experience now. It's crisp as a new can of Pringles and twice as tasty. I highly recommend The Song Remains the Same remastered 2-CD edition. Just Bill -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the incredible Led Zeppelin DVD I was hoping for another gem from Jimmy Page and Co. However this new "improved" soundtrack has some glaring faults! For all the huge Zep fans who have listened to and watched TSRTS will notice that the movie has a couple of bad edits involving the sound. On the old album these bad edits are not present making the music that much better. However on the new expanded CD set the bad edits from the film are now included on the CDs!!! The worst example is the funk riff in "Whole Lotta Love" prior to the theremin solo. It has been completely chopped up thus destroying the fluency of the segue Jimmy Page employs as he moves to the next passage of the extended songs. WHY WOULD HE ALLOW THIS!?! Jimmy Page has always given us top-notch production but this error is simply inexcusable. I've been waiting for this cd to come out for months only to be disappointed by someone I thought would never disappoint me!!! There are also several instances where Robert Plant's voice has been over-dubbed to the existing vocal to create some type of echo effect I guess; but it is clear that it is an overdub and not simply a vocal effect used live. The extra tracks are great but I just can't believe Jimmy Page has drop the ball like this with so many bad edits most obvious in the guitar passages and vocal echoes. I've never before been disappointed by Led Zeppelin! This Sucks! Zep Archiver ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As much as I agree with the other reviewers of this title that is has supurb sound, the rest of it is a very big let down. When the movie and sountrack came out in 1976, they were two seperate items. Now what has happened is that they took the remixed soundtrack from the movie itself and put it onto the CD. What's wrong with that is that there are a lot of bad edits in the movie that were transfered over to the CD itself. That did not happen in 1976. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. I cannot believe that Jimmy Page would alow this to happen. If you want to save yourself some money this holiday season, buy the DVD and listen to the music. Don't waste your time on the CD (I would take mine back for a refund if I could). I am so happy I didn't get rid of my original copy. As a hard-core fan who has been waiting over 20 years for this to come out, I do not recommend it at all. A very big disappointment. J. Novosel

The Song Remains The Same 2-DVD Special Edition This 1976 concert film is one Led Zeppelin item that really did deserve to be improved and expanded. In the November 2007 glut of new Zep products related to the film, this 2-DVD set is clearly the optimal purchase. (Note that this review was written after actually purchasing and consuming the item in question, which appears to be a real rarity so far.) The "Collector's Edition" DVD set adds merchandise that will only be of value to super-diehards, and the new edition of the soundtrack album is apparently built around the new remaster of the movie itself and displays some odd editing choices. I have always felt that the purely audio soundtrack of the movie suffers from the lack of visuals - for example, all 27 minutes of "Dazed and Confused" makes more sense visually because you can watch the theatricality of Jimmy Page's stage performance, while merely listening to the accompanying soundtrack can be tedious. To a lesser extent, the same goes for the extra lengthy "Moby Dick" because while soloing, John Bonham could be even more enjoyable to watch than to listen to. So the film itself is the apotheosis of the entire "The Song Remains the Same" project, and this 2-DVD set presents much needed improvements in audio and video quality, with some bonus items that add value for the enthusiastic fan without becoming obsessive. Though I'm a lifelong Zep fan, I actually hadn't seen this movie in around 20 years. And I had forgotten how cheesy the non-concert footage truly is, with the fantasy sequences serving as little more than period vanity pieces that rarely rise above the amateurish. But who cares, because the concert sequences are stupendous, and in this DVD set they have been presented for maximum aural and visual impact (yes these two shows weren't the band's best, but they were still light years beyond most other rock acts). As for the DVD extras, the interviews and news segments have some curiosity value, but the true goodies are the extra concert sequences. We finally have official video for the blistering performance of "Celebration Day," which was always my favorite from the old original soundtrack album. Other bonuses include "Misty Mountain Hop," though the uncoordinated performance of this song deserved to be left out of the original film; plus a surprisingly heavy take on "Over the Hills and Far Away." For many years the original movie and soundtrack were the only (official) live Zep documents available. For the real live goods, we now have the 2003 CD package "How the West Was Won" and the 2003 self-titled DVD set, which are considerably more hard-hitting and far-reaching than "The Song Remains the Same." But even though it's no longer the definitive live document, fans have long deserved an improved version of the film. For all but the most obsessive collectors, the 2-DVD set is the way to go. doomsdayer520 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to share something that may help you understand and appreciate this film even more. First, please understand that I am a huge Zeppelin fan. I never got to see the band in concert but I own all of their albums (in LP and CD form) and listen to them often. I received the new DVD about a week ago. I had not seen this movie before so the first time I watched it, I was a little confused about the various non-concert segments. I found a short but effective explanation of the band's "fantasy sequences," which I have copied below. Now that I understand what the band members were trying to achieve, I appreciate the film more. Personally, I would not have included the clips about the money being stolen or the rude scene where Peter Grant cusses out the MSG guys (about some counterfeit posters) BUT I would not let these small things keep you from enjoying the most important part of the film, which are the music and the performances. There are dozens of incredible solos throughout the film but I would like to point out one in particular that blew me away and is very easy to miss. It is Jimmy's guitar work in No Quarter. This is the song that contains John Paul's fantasy sequence. This particular solo comes in the middle of that sequence so you don't SEE Jimmy playing it; you have to listen for it. Anyway, I hope this helps. The older I get the more I appreciate the great music we got during the early 70's. I feel fortunate to have lived during those great years. I also appreciate the fact that we can still enjoy these amazing performances more than 30 years later. Rock on. ABOUT THE FANATSY SEQUENCES With an intention to give an insight into the individual personalities in the band, several out-of-concert 'fantasy sequences' were shot by Massot for each of the band members, in addition to Peter Grant and tour manager Richard Cole. The sequences are as follows: Peter Grant (left) and Richard Cole Massot originally shot Grant walking a cameraman around a collection of antique cars, but this footage was quickly abandoned. Instead, Grant and Cole were filmed as hitmen driving towards Hammerwood Park estate in Sussex in a 1928 Pierce-Arrow car. Roy Harper also makes an uncredited guest appearance as one of the 'greedy millionaires' portrayed at a business meeting of multi-national corporations. Massot envisioned Grant and Cole in the hitman roles, as it symbolised the tough business decisions they made on behalf of the band. The female passenger wearing a scarf with Peter Grant driving on a country road is his wife, Gloria. John Paul Jones was filmed first at home with his wife Mo, and reading Jack and the Beanstalk to his two daughters, Tamara and Jacinda, before receiving a call to join the band on their American concert. For his fantasy sequence, Jones initially wished to use footage from the original Doctor Syn film, but was prevented from doing so as this film was owned by Disney. Instead, his fantasy sequence involved a reinterpretation of the film. Jones portrays a masked gentleman known as "The Scarecrow," who travels at night on horseback with three others and returns home to Sussex, an ordinary family man. The three other horsemen with him are a reference to the other band members. Jimmy Page's girlfriend, Charlotte Martin, and baby daughter Scarlet Page can be briefly seen during the closing moments of this sequence, which was filmed in October 1973. Thematic music: "No Quarter". In his fantasy sequence, Robert Plant was captured relaxing on his Welsh country farm with his wife Maureen, and children Karac and Carmen. His fantasy sequence involves him being a knight rescuing a fair maiden (played by Virginia Parker), who is a symbolic representation for his vision of the ideal - his personal search for the Holy Grail. Scenes from the sword fight were filmed at Raglan Castle in Wales while the sailing, horseback riding and beach scenes were shot at Aberdovey then Merionethshire and now Gwynedd, in October 1973. Thematic music: "The Song Remains the Same" and "The Rain Song". Jimmy Page is filmed sitting by a lake next to his 18th century manor at Plumpton, Sussex, playing a hurdy gurdy. The tune played is called "Autumn Lake" and the scene was filmed in October 1973. Page's fantasy role involved climbing up the face of a snow capped mountain near Boleskine House, Loch Ness during the nights of a full moon on December 10 and 11, 1973. The act was meant to show man fighting his way to the top, only to be greeted by The Hermit on the untitled fourth album. Thematic music: "Dazed and Confused". John Bonham was shot with his wife Pat and son Jason Bonham on their country estate, Old Hyde Farm in Worcestershire. It is interesting to note that part of his fantasy includes him spending time at home with his family. Bonham was known for falling into deep depressions while on tour away from his family. His heavy drinking, which ultimately resulted in his death, is usually attributed to his homesickness. The game of pool was shot at The Old Hyde Hotel and the Harley-Davidson riding near Blackpool. His fantasy sequence is the most straightforward of all the members, with Bonham drag racing an AA Fueler at 260mph at Santa Pod Raceway, Wellingborough, Northants, UK, in October 1973. Thematic music: "Moby Dick". Bacchus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally they have released this entire show with the proper sound quality! I have been waiting for them to do this for years and I do appreciate the effort. On the negative side however, unfortunately they decided to put the edited songs from the new soundtrack of the movie (done to match the visuals of the film) on to the CD?? This was just plain lazy and insulting. This wasn't even done back in 76!! There should have been no limit to what they could have put on the CDs. They didn't have to match the audio to the film footage so they should have re-mastered the best available performances, in their entirety, from all the available 73 Madison Square Garden shows into one complete show on a 3 CD set! Instead they just did a direct transfer from the re-mastered Movie and new songs on DVD II to the CD in the original running order of the concert (this is why I give four stars instead of five for the CD and Five stars for the DVD). Back in 76 They chose better song versions for the album then what was in the movie because they could, and some of these performances are possibly their very best live versions of some of these songs and far better than the ones on this current CD or DVD (for instance compare this new version CD/DVD to the older version Song Remains the Same CD/Album of Celebration Day which had Page's greatest realized live guitar solo ever for this song and then compare the older audio version of the middle section and Jimmy's guitar passage/solo on No Quarter to this new version. There is absolutely no comparison and this was arguably one of Page's greatest live solos ever-bold statement I know but true- , and the comparisons of whole lotta love from new to the old CD/album is an absolute joke! All of these old versions are now completely lost in this new shuffle as a few examples- Inexcusable!! Hang on to the old CD/Album!) . This all being said, we must appreciate that Zeppelin is even trying to fix up and put out some of their priceless material officially and with superior sound these days (for profit or not). So in summary the performances we do have here are different from the ones released in 76. The new additions are greatly welcomed, the sound is better across the board, However some of these new versions of songs are not even close to as good as the old album versions that were some of the best live Zeppelin realizations of these songs ever and that have now been lost. Overall though we are talking about Led Zeppelin during their peak tour and of some of there best performances ever (proven in detail below!!). This alone will hopefully and finally put these incredible performances in their deserving historical place, perspective and give them their do justice. This brings me to my next important point. Don't listen to the negative reviewers calling themselves Zeppelin fans. I can tell from what many have written that they don't know Jack squat about Zeppelin or what they were like live throughout their career. They are merely clowns dressed in sheep's clothing wanting to hear themselves talk about something they know very little about (their extravagantly large red floppy shoes give them away). Led Zeppelin has been my favorite band for the past 29 years and I have read, studied and listened to their entire career (every tour of live performances included) in depth. I will tell you in simple chapter and verse that this show (culmination of shows at Madison Square Garden at the end of their 1973 tour) is incredibly underrated and has been horribly misrepresented and maligned over the years by a few people that are full of hot air. I don't care how many of these sheople/clowns try to say that these were sub par performances (even Page himself has tried to insinuate this for unknown reasons in the past and at other times he has claimed otherwise), I'm here to tell you, as an actually well educated die hard Zeppelin fan, it is absolutely not true!! This has just been self perpetuating opinions over the years from hot winded nobodies that really don't know what the hell they're talking about following along with what a few other people have said before them. Back in the day (1976 and forward) when this movie and the soundtrack were actually released it was one of the most popular live albums and movies (midnight movies) on the market. It was constantly listened to, watched, talked about and absolutely revered by music heads and fans throughout my junior high and high school days in southern California-all the way into the early eighties (It still played at the Midnight Movie into the early 80's!). I have listened to all the great unreleased live Zep performances and proclaimed greatest Zep shows and I have to yell, from the mountain top to all, that these performances from The Song Remains the Same of: "Dazed and Confused (the old album/cd version)", "No Quarter" (the old album/cd version), "The song remains the same", "The Rain Song", "Celebration Day" (the old soundtrack/cd version), "Stairway to Heaven", "Whole lotta love (the old album/cd version)" and the recent release of "The Ocean" are still some of the best, if not "The" best live versions of these songs ever -period!! To categorically back this opinion up here's a brief, "true" story, of the actual live history of Led Zeppelin for those who would like to learn a little something: (1968-1970) Led Zeppelin live from 1968 to 1970 was powerful, fierce, raw and unlike anything that anyone had ever heard or seen. Zeppelin during this time toured around the world constantly, devastating audiences and honing their skills and musical catalog along the way. They were new, hungry and building a loyal live and album (Zeppelin I, II, and III) following as they blew everyone away in their path. However, instrumentally the band was still developing. Plants voice was incredible and the Rhythm engine of Bonham and Jones was amazing and would never disappoint throughout Zeppelin's career yet they were still young and developing their craft. As incredible as Page was at that time he was still in progress as a guitarist, as a musical visionary, in his image/stage presence, and in his eventual forge into musical territory that had never been blazed before. Page was also still in his climb to becoming the ultimate guitar legend/hero and the unequalled technical and most innovative guitar player of his time. This pinnacle wouldn't be achieved by Mr. Page until 1971 and through 1973 (this can be witnessed from unofficial live recordings between 1971 and 1973 or from "How the West Was Won" 1972). The Concerts from 68 to 70, put into proper historical perspective, are absolutely amazing relative to everything else at the time yet the band as a whole and the material had not reached its next or ultimate level. Page had a vision and he was about to lead himself and this band to greater heights than any guitarist or band had ever achieved. (1971-1972) Led Zeppelin reached a level of frightening instrumental machinery by 1971. The band members had all honed their skills from countless live performances and non stop touring and recording from 68 onward to the point of perfection as individual musicians and as a cohesive musical unit (Each member of Zeppelin would later be considered one of the very best musicians/vocalists for each of their individual crafts across the board). Zeppelin continued to hone this musical power and devastating musical machinery conquering all audiences in their path around the world during their 71 and 72 tours (as "How the West Was Won" can attest from 1972 and any other recordings you can find from 71 to 72). This was Led Zeppelin at their instrumental best. Their reputation was larger, their audiences were larger, as was their catalog of styles and songs to choose from (Now touring behind the fourth biggest selling album of all time!!- Zeppelin IV). At this time they had honed their stage presence, their cohesiveness and their individual musical prowess to a point that would never be equaled again in their career. Plants voice reached its peak in this era. He would never sing with as much range, control, power or clarity again and along with Pages peak of sheer virtuosity, speed, fluidity, and confidence of playing they had no equals in the rock world instrumentally during this era. Jones and Bonham never failed as one of the very best rhythm sections in rock throughout the Zeppelin Career. Jones and Bonham were always able to match what was coming from the front men, to play up or play down to whatever was coming from Page and Plant. Zeppelin were four pistons in perfect harmony by 71 - 72 and performances from this era can only be described as ferocious, devastating and mind blowing to audiences around the world. Zeppelin's legend, popularity and live reputation had been solidified here. (1973) The 1973 tour can only be defined as Superstardom. This tour was huge, electric and the band was revered as nothing short of gods at this time. This was Led Zeppelin riding their reputation of being the most successful rock band in the world in record sales, their recording catalog (now incorporating the great "Houses of the Holy"), and from their legend as a live act that they had developed through countless tours up to 1972. The 1973 world tour broke box office attendance records and would be the pinnacle of Zeppelin live as far as their stage persona, rock star status/mystique, catalog of albums/songs to choose from, their realization of their live song structures, the size of venues and audiences, and their ability to still be able to capture the tail end of their absolute instrumental power and peak and play at the top of their game. This was Zeppelin at their most electric -The world's biggest rock stars, flying around in their own private jumbo jet to the world's biggest sellout shows and venues. Plants voice had changed by this tour and did not quite have the power, range or clarity of 1972, Jimmy Page at this time was considered the greatest guitarist in the world and the pressure also began to show on him at times during this tour. Though the instrumental machinery had slowed down a bit, the prowess and power was still there for much of this tour. They were still at the top of their instrumental game more times than not and the band also wielded a bigger legacy, legend, mystique and catalog of albums/songs to choose from. The band had also refined the set list and the structure of live versions of songs to their most realized and refined at this stage of their live career. Also, Zeppelin's further developed rock star stage presence/energy of 73 combined with the energy of the 73 audiences was never at a higher level. This magic chemistry mixed with all the reasons given above gives you some of the most satisfying and quintessential Zeppelin performances of all time. When people think of Zeppelin live in the prime of their career, the 1973 version of Zeppelin is what most people envision. Now to my point about the Song Remains the Same. I have heard many performances from the 1973 tour and there may be shows with more energy or have certain versions of songs that are unsurpassed yet there are truly very few moments from any other 73 Zeppelin shows that rival many of the songs captured at the end of this tour at Madison Square Garden for the "Song Remains the Same". For instance: Rock and Roll, Celebration Day (the old CD/album version), The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, No Quarter (the old version), Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven and Whole Lotta Love (the old CD/album version). These are hands down some of the best realized and performed versions of these songs captured live anywhere and from any time-period! (1975) Led Zeppelin didn't tour again until 1975 (it had been two years!). The Led Zeppelin 1975 tour was a tour of great imagery, mystery and anticipation for audiences that had built Zeppelin up into something beyond legend or even as gods. However, this popularity, the resultant pressure and drug use over the years (mostly by Jimmy and Drinking by Bonzo), and the long lay off from touring had taken its toll on the greatest live band of all time. As Composers and song writers their legacy was still only growing due to their incredible double album released this same year (touring on Physical Graffiti - arguably their greatest album ever), and their imagery from this tour is at times unequalled due to the famous "black dragon suite" warn by Page, the even longer hair worn by Plant and Page, and the larger stage shows (the first time use of lasers even-a new effect for the time) during this tour etc. However, the band was older, slower and had lost some of its instrumental prowess and pure power machinery that they once had. Plants voice was far removed from the quality it once had only 2 years prior. Page was now battling with a heroin addiction that took its toll from show to show on his guitar playing that only two years prior seemed to be unstoppable and was unequaled from 71-73. This tour was marked by some magic shows that were unfortunately the exception and not the rule at some of their favorite haunts such as Long Beach, The LA Forum, MSG and moments at the end of the tour during their stand at Earls Court in England. Although many magic moments were captured, the shows were instrumentally slower, less technically proficient, and lacked the energy and power that Zeppelin once controlled. Things would never be the same for Led Zeppelin ever again. (1977) Led Zeppelin toured America for the last time in 1977. Zeppelin hadn't toured since 75 and the lay off again showed more times than not. There were again some magical shows and moments, most notably at certain stands at the bands favorite stomping grounds such as: The LA Forum, Long Beach and Madison Square Garden once again. Their reputation and audiences were larger than life itself at this time. Tragically however, Jimmy Page was battling some serious drug addictions, most notably his heroin addiction. Pages playing could go from close to his hey day of 71-73 to absolutely embarrassing from night to night. There were shows when you wondered if page could even hold up his guitar, much less play it. Plants voice was at times actually better than in the 1975 tour yet the performances as a whole could be shaky with a few high lighted exceptional shows along the way. The band was blowing audiences away at this time from pure reputation and status. Much like the Beatles making audience members pass out without even playing a note back in the 60s. Listening to performances from the 1977 tour, you have to really search to find a few great shows from this tour that can even compare to the power and virtuosity of Zeppelin between 71 and 73. This tour was also cut short due to the tragic death of Robert Plant's son. (1979-1980) Zeppelin would not play again until they played two warm up shows in Copenhagen Denmark in 1979 in preparation for their two huge festival shows at Knebworth in 79 and then the final European shows in 1980 before Bonham's death. Continued Drug addiction and lay offs only further steered the once mighty Zep downward. Although the band gave it their best effort and put up some very admirable fights (shows), none of these shows can truly compare to the power and devastation these four highly tuned pistons could pump out back in 73 and prior to 70/71. This brings us back to why these Madison Square Garden shows at the peak of the overall greatest band in the world's career and possibly some of the peaks of the 73 tour itself are so, so priceless and underappreciated. Don't listen to the naysayers (remember, look for their large floppy red shoes) and now go and listen to these treasured performances from the hands down greatest Rock Band of all time with fresh ears, a new perspective and with complete reverence my friends! Maybe in the future we can only hope for a complete best of performance from the entire stand at Madison Square Garden 73 in a full, uncut 3 CD set. Until that time however, we should all appreciate that Zeppelin is at least finally trying to put some of their priceless, timeless material, that has been locked away and hidden in their vaults for all these many years, out to the public over the past few years. Keep it coming and thank you! Page Master

The Song Remains The Same Collector's Edition DVD For those of you writing reviews before ever viewing the dvd or knowing about its contents I am surprised. I am a Led Zeppelin fan and this dvd is not the same as its original. This is the whole concert in its entirety uncut with more than 40 minutes of added bonus material, including never-before-released performance footage not on the original release such as "Over The Hills And Far Away" and "Celebration Day"; plus performances of "Misty Mountain Hop" and "The Ocean"; a rare 1976 BBC interview with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page; vintage TV footage from the Drake Hotel robbery during the New York concert stand; and a Cameron Crowe radio show. This set also includes collectible vintage T-shirt with original album artwork design, soundtrack CD, lobby cards, reproductions of original premiere invites, tour schedule, and more. Douglas R. Gould ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because of legalities involving the director of the film, the most that Pagey was able to do to alter this vintage concert film was to remix with Kevin Shirley, the sound for DOLBY 5.1 and DTS 5.1 and two-channel STEREO. Where this was really noticeable was in the stand-out tracks DAZED AND CONFUSED, WHOLE LOTTA LOVE, and the MOBY DICK drum solo. Whether it is with the guitar and bow workout in DAZED AND CONFUSED or the Theramin "Pit of Hell" in WHOLE LOTTA LOVE -- Page and Kevin Shirley have been able to add many new dimensions to the sound mix. For example, the rear channels of the 5.1 system have an added new dimensionality to the sound and the overall ambience -- the original QUADRAPHONIC 4-channel mix from 1976 just didn't have the depth of field to sound the way Page intended, using today's advanced technology. Even the cobbled-together 5.1 surround mix for the original DVD of TSRTS -- which was done without the supervision of audio producer extraordinaire Jimmy Page -- sounds sub-par and quite unsatisfying to my ears. This may be one of the reasons why this never got a fair shake from the group's worldwide fan base, and is largely detested by this selfsame group of people. THE EXTRAS ... The second DVD and the printed materials that have been included with this COLLECTOR'S EDITION provide some historical context -- such as the concert reviews, and the news article on the Drake Hotel robbery. Also included are invites and facsimile tickets to the films' theatrical premiere, two sets of lobby cards (one in color, the other set in b & w), a copy of the 1973 tour itinerary, and a t-shirt of unknown size -- which features the soundtrack artwork. DVD # 2 contains some nice extras: 01) The remaining songs from the concert, which because of space limitations in 1976, were never included UNTIL NOW. 02) A TV news report from Tampa, Florida USA about their sold-out show there, which broke attendance and gross gate receipts established by The BEATLES August 15, 1965 Shea Stadium concert. 03) A nice BBC interview with Robert Plant and Peter Grant, as they ride aboard a boat on the Thames. 04) Extensive news footage on the Drake Hotel robbery, which was never solved, to the best of my memory. 05) A Cameron Crowe radio profile of the band. And, considering what he went on to do with his life, this is nice to have. [NOTE: Robert Plant's infamous "I'm a Golden God!" exclamation found its' way into Crowe's 2000 film ALMOST FAMOUS. This film has another Zeppelin connection. Crowe, in his 'director's cut' DVD of the film, the viewer is instructed on when to begin playing Stairway To Heaven at a certain point in a deleted scene. Crowe could not afford to pay to license the song, and it was up to the viewer to pull out their own copy of Led Zeppelin IV to reach full effect in this scene.] All in all, a well-deserved update to an important musical artifact of the raucous 1970's. Kent D. Bentkowski ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anybody who says this is not Led Zeppelin at their best is simply trying to sound like an expert when really all they're doing is regurgitating something Jimmy Page was quoted as saying at some point a long time ago. As someone who has listened to just about every Led Zep bootleg ever made I can say with confidence that most of the songs are definitive live renditions. No Quarter, The Song Remains The Same, Rain Song, Since I've Been Loving You, are all spectacular! And then there is Dazed And Confused; this song continued to grow and mature live just as the group did. The '73 edition is the pinnacle of that songs existence. In '75 although it was longer, it began to meander and loose focus. Dazed from this show is tight, moves gracefully from passage to passage, builds, releases and shows why Jimmy Page is a master craftsman. I'm sick of negative reviews of this show!!! All I can say is you don't know what you're talking about. I am very excited about this complete release. Get It!!! Zep Archiver

You may want to read the reviews of these products on Amazon.com.

1st Question: I like to think I know a thing or two about a particular guitarist. 2nd Question: There's a lot going on with this new site. I'm aggressively supporting it.

I've always considered the soundtrack to be a studio album, not a live one, on account of all the overdubs and edits. As I understand it, Kevin Shirley basically went Pro Tools crazy on the dvd and cd audio to "fix" and "edit". He did the same thing on How The West Was Won. If your a casual fan looking for some live Zep, this will satisfy you. If your looking for a live document that is historically accurate your probably inclined to purchase a bootleg. This was with Modern Guitars: ModernGuitars.com: The advance copy of the two-disc “The Song Remains The Same” movie soundtrack credits Jimmy Page as producer and Peter Grant [LED ZEPPELIN’s manager who passed away in 1995] as executive producer. Kevin: “Yes, Peter Grant was involved in the original making of the movie and its soundtrack, but let me tell you, the CDs you have there bear only a little resemblance to the original soundtrack album with respect to the performances included or anything else. It’s all new, all culled from the three nights at Madison Square Garden. The movie was the template for the new audio. To be fair, the movie, at the time, was adequately shot and edited and we weren’t allowed to change any of the imaging, so we had to work with the audio. I don’t know if you remember the original audio, but it was sometimes out of sync and there were many questionable edits, so I tried to make a more cohesive package that flows with the movie a lot better. What you have there really is a movie soundtrack with a few extras.” ModernGuitars.com: When the movie first came out [1976], wasn’t an attempt made to create something of a surround sound experience in at least some theaters? Kevin: “Yes. Jimmy and Eddie Kramer did some mixes, back in the day at Electric Ladyland, and they were pretty good. They tried to resurrect those for the audio, but I think they were a little less than thrilled, which is why we set about re-doing it again from scratch. 5.1 [Dolby Surround Sound] has made a huge difference in things. It’s like taking an 8-track and saying, ‘Does this work as modern DVD audio?’ It might have been state of the art back then, but it just doesn’t fly anymore.” ModernGuitars.com: The new “The Song Remains The Same” movie DVD is in 5.1. What’s the audio point of view? Where am I sitting in Madison Square Garden? Kevin: “You’re sitting three rows back, in the center, just behind the gorgeous girl with blonde hair [laughs].” ModernGuitars.com: What’s coming from my 5.1 rear speakers? The crowd? Kevin: “There are all sorts of things coming from the rear speakers. Audience, delays, and there are some elements coming back from the rears like in ‘Dazed And Confused’ — the violin bow thing goes all over the place when Jimmy’s climbing up the mountain — some of the drum solos, and in the fantasy sequences the audio travels between the front and the back. So, you’re sitting in the middle of this very interesting experience. There are also the sound effects. There’s the subway train that comes in the middle of the movie right before ‘No Quarter’ — the train comes from right behind you and through the middle of your head, which is pretty cool, actually. It’s a surround experience, no doubt. It’s not a concert with just some subtle rears.” ModernGuitars.com: What were your instructions? What were you told was the goal with respect to the new edition of “The Song Remains The Same”? Kevin: “What I was told was, ‘Here’s the movie, and we can’t touch it [the visuals] but can we improve the audio? How can we make this a very good ZEPPELIN experience?’ There are many bad edits with the original audio. With all due respect to Eddie [Eddie Kramer who served as the original sound engineer], the original’s a pretty average mix — but Madison Square Garden might have been a tough venue with the equipment that was available then — it would probably be much easier and better with what we have now. I took it and looked at it as carte blanche. I looked at the movie and would say, that doesn’t sync at all so why don’t we find the right piece that syncs? If you look at the end of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ on the original movie, the visual’s from a completely different take than the audio. I’d say, ‘Why is there a different take?’ and I’d be told, ‘Oh, because there’s a mistake on the original audio.’ Well, I could fix the mistake and we could put the original audio back on there. There are things you can do now that you couldn’t do back then.”

Feel free to use this thread to ask any questions about the Song Remains The Same!

Any self-respecting Yardbirds or Jimmy Page should have a copy of Greg Russo's book 'Yardbirds, The Ultimate Rave-Up', 3rd edition. Not only did Greg have unfettered access to the surviving members and their family members but a certain member of this board contributed to the book's concert chronology, so it contains THE single most comprehensive listing of Page's pre-Zeppelin live performances ever published.

Nech, I think that clears up HOTH cover art. I can solve your tape mystery: The interview to which you refer was conducted by David White of Radio 2SM Australia. It began in Jimmy's limo at Newark International Airport following the Landover, MD gig and continued in his suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The burgers were being sent up by room service, if I remember correctly. This was conducted May 31st 1977 and probably went past midnight. Radio 2SM had hoped to present a series of on-the-road interviews with the biggest names in rock, which explains what David White, an Australian, was doing in NYC. (Edit: Name of the interviewer corrected).

I'm familiar with his connection to Kellerman, but have not seen that document until now. It's going to take me some time to figure it out. The quick answer to your main question is that I believe Spicer's recollections to be accurate. I believe Jimmy went to Art School from 1960 onward, for about 18 months COLLECTIVELY, during and after which he started doing studio work. Here's a data dump (it won't go into this forum properly formatted) for Page 1944-1964. It's not complete, just a rough outline: January 9 1944 Sun Heston, Middlesex, England Grove Nursery Grove Road James Patrick Page is born ??? ?? 19?? Northamptonshire, England The Page family moves to 400-acre farm property owned by Jimmy's Great-Uncle ??? ?? 1952 Feltham, London, England The Page family returns to Feltham for a short time ??? ?? 1953 Feltham, London, England Hanworth Road School Page is a student at this school ??? ?? 1953 Epsom, London, England 34 Miles Road The Page family moves again to escape the noise of Heathrow Airport October 12 1953 Epsom, London, England Pound Lane School Pound Lane Page is admitted on this date as a transfer from Hanworth Road School in Feltham ??? ?? 195?-195? Epsom, London, England Dane Tree School Page attends this school until the age of 15 or 16 ??? ?? 1958 Page and a band of boys including one David Hampson perform two songs on the BBC television program 'All Your Own' with host Huw Wheldon ??? ?? 19?? ???, England Page attends a Ravi Shankar concert with a girl who was a friend of Shankar…they meet afterward and Shankar writes down sitar chords for Page ??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England St. Barnabus Church Page sings in the church choir ??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England Foresters Hall Waterloo Road Page attends dances held here on occasion ??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England Toby Jug Page also attends dances held here on occasion ??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England Ebbisham Hall Page attends a Joe Brown concert and records some of the gig ??? ?? 195? Epsom, London, England Granada Cinema Page brings an ice cream to a girl of similarage and asks her out on a date but she refuses ??? ?? 1959 Epsom, London, England Ebisham Hall Page attended a few Red E. Lewis and The Redcats gigs, chatting to the band afterward and using the guitarist guitar to play licks, riffs and Chuck Berry solos April (?) ?? 1959 Epsom, London, England Chris Tidmarsh (Red E. Lewis and The Redcats manager) contacts Page after lead guitarist Bobby Oats announced he'd leave the band to go to drama school April (?) ?? 1959 Shoreditch, England Unknown pub Chris Tidmarsh invites Page to where the band rehearsed in a room above a pub…he arrives with a solid body guitar and they jammed…he was invited to join band ??? ?? 1959-60 The band gig around for a year until vocalist Lewis is replaced by Tidmarsh, who changed his name to Neil Christian…Page's stage name was Nelson Storm ??? ?? 59 London, England City of London Recording Studios Brick Lane Shortly after the lineup change, Christian took the band into the studio for a two-hour session and recorded four demos towards securing a recording contract ??? ?? 1959/60 Sheffield, England Live performance as guitarist with Neil Christian & The Crusaders ??? ?? 1960 Surrey, England Sutton Art School Having left Neil Christian and The Crusaders, Page enrolls in art college and studies there for about 18 months ??? ?? 1961 London, England Albert Lee and Jimmy Page meet for the first time; they go on to often play records at each other's houses ??? ?? 1961 Page develops an affinity for Albert Lee's sound (Gibson Les Paul Custom with Supro Amp) and buys a Supro of his own ??? ?? 196? Mermaid Theatre Puddle Dock Blackfriars EC4V 3DB ??? ?? 196? Cyril Davies invites Page to join his band…Page rehearses with Davies and Nicky Hopkins but declines ?? ??? 1962 or 1963 Studio session for Brian Howard and The Silhouettes (from nearby Mitcham) first EMI single 'Somebody Help Me' ?? ??? 1963 Studio session for Brian Howard and The Silhouettes (from nearby Mitcham) second EMI single 'The Worryin' Kind' ?? ??? 1962 Page decides to drop out of art college to become a studio musician February 25 1963 Mon London, England Pye Studios Studio session for London All Stars album 'British Percussion' (Barclay BB 86) released in France in 1965 ??? (mid) ?? 1963 London, England Studio session for Jet Harris & Tony Meehan single 'Diamonds' ??? ?? 196? London, England Decca Studios Studio session for Dave Berry single 'My Baby Left Me'; meets Big Jim Sullivan for the first time May 31 1964 Sun Kingston, London, England The Cellar Club 22-A High Street Live performance as guitarist with Mickey Finn June 29-July 7 1964 Mon/Tue London, England Decca Studios Andrew Oldham Orchestra session…guitar and/or bassist on 'Try A Little Harder' (2:28) with various artists June 29-July 7 1964 Mon/Tue London, England Decca Studios Andrew Oldham Orchestra session…guitar and/or bassist on 'Somethings Just Stick In Your Mind' (2:30) with various artists July 21-23 1964 Tue-Thu London, England Regent Sound Studios Andrew Oldham Orchestra session…bassist on 'Heart of Stone' (3:49) with Jagger/McLaughlin/Cattini September 17 1964 London, England Guitarist on 'Is It True?' with Brenda Lee…written by Carter Lewis, produced by Mickie Most and released on Decca (#31690) September ?? 1964 London, England Guitarist on 'Just Behind the Rainbow' with Brenda Lee…b side of the 'Is It True?' single released on Decca (#31690) September ?? 1964 London, England Guitarist on ''What'd I Say?' with Brenda Lee from the same session as 'Is It True?" and 'What'd I Say?' October ?? 1964 London, England Studio session with Them for their single 'Baby Please Don't Go'; rhythm guitarist ??? ?? 1964 Croydon, England Fairfield Halls Park Lane CR9 1DG Attends John Lee Hooker's performance

The Lost Led Zeppelin Hawaiian Mastertape 9-17-71 Honolulu show Contributor: joelmon What a killer show. I'd seen the band 2 years earlier, but now that I was 14 I could appreciate it even more. This was the last concert of the famous Aug-Sept, 1971 American tour of which many of the shows are considered amongst the best performances of the guys careers. The show I saw was right there with 'em. It was a fairly typical setlist of the time, starting with Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog (Out on the Tiles intro), Since I've been Loving You, Dazed and Confused, Stairway, then after that it gets a little cloudy in my memory. I know they did That's the Way, Going to California, Whole Lotta Love, Moby Dick, and probably Celebration Day, What is and What should never be, and communication Breakdown, possibly others. My friend, Mike Barnard and I got tickets a few days after they went on sale at Records Hawaii. In that day you could only get tickets at 2 locations, the venue box office or the 1 record store. Mike just recently sent me a photo copy of the concert stub, as I'd misplaced mine, and the ticket number is 2504 out of 4000. We arrived at the Civic Auditorium a hour before the show and got on the floor right in front near the stage and waited with intense anticipation. I snuck in a small handheld Panasonic cassette recorder and 3 hours of tape by just holding it on my side, away from the ticket taker. I kept it low while waiting, knowing it wasn't OK to have it there, but not knowing the wrath of Peter Grant. Fortunately neither he nor Richard Cole saw it as they walked around. I do remember the massive Grant and his wooly beard. As it got within a few minutes of showtime the crowd really surged toward the front (all gen. admission so the floor was packed like a cattle yard). I was a wee bit small and about to get crushed so Mike and I slid around and sat on the edge of the first balcony mezzanine, directly behind and above John Bonham's drumset. We were only 12 -15 feet from him. It was a small old style wrestling arena, not the big type of auditoriums nowadays. We could see the band backstage as they prepared to make their entrance. It was so cool. I held my microphone as the crowd screamed on the Zepsters entrance. They immediately went into Immigrant Song. Plant's voice was a bit ragged at first. His high notes were cracking just a tad but smoothed out quickly and the show was ON. Robert Plant made a few welcoming comments saying something about being glad to be back in Honolulu and the fine weather and women. As Black Dog was announced, this black dude near us started waving his shirt like a battle cry wave and shouting, so Plant turned around and acknowledged the guy and practically looked straight at us too. At one point a flash of light shone in my eyes from below and I sorta freaked out when I saw a policeman motioning at me. I thought he was doing this because I was recording but no, he just wanted Mike and I off the edge of the Mezzanine. So we just stood there, right where we were with no more problems. Even though we were behind the band, it still sounded great cause reallly we were on top of them more than behind. The recording came out decent (6.5-7.0/10) and I enjoyed it for a few years before losing it somewhere. I don't remember if it just disappeared or got mangled in a player or what...I could just DIE. My loss and all Zep traders loss is unfathomable. It was priceless. I had the whole show on tape, only turning over the tapes mostly between songs so I missed only a little of a couple of sections of songs from tape changes. That was a special day in my life, and that concert was the BEST show I've ever seen.

No, this is not true. The first Jimmy Page biography, 'Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man' by George Case has been published recently but Jimmy had no involvement with it. It's a worthwhile read, especially for new enthusiasts. (Edit: Typo made at 4 am!)

Yes.

Yes, I'd also like to say hello and welcome Stevie Nicks...

In Search Of Lost Holy Grails: The Australian Archives by Leo Ishac Many years ago I had decided to make a concerted effort to track down as many lost tapes that I could find of the LZ 1972 Australian & New Zealand tour. Up until that period I was not focused on any objective to actually targeting and working towards finding the tapes that surely exist of that tour. It is plainly obvious that there must me some sort of audio document of all concerts performed by Zeppelin around the world. It comes down to simply finding the 'owners' of those lost gems. These tapes are probably gathering dust in an old shoe box that hasnít seen the light of day for many a year. Most of the current tapes in circulation are due to the fans being 'connected' and still active in the music and collecting world. The truly lost gems are most likely held by long lost fans who are ignorant of the historical importance that exists on the tapes they made many years ago. These are the guys we all have to locate if we are to find tapes that fill the void left by shows that we are yet to hear and experience. The following stories and events that I wish to convey in this forum are meant to enlighten us all on what lengths one must go to when seeking to find some of those long lost missing gems. As you read of my personal experiences you will come to realize that it takes a lot of hard work to find just one lost tape. But thankfully there are many other experiences where some of those long lost gems are found purely by chance though these stories are few and far between. I would sincerely hope that many more fans and collectors would take note of my experiences and if at all possible apply themselves to also searching out for those Holy Grails that we all aspire to find, enjoy and share with our fellow Zepp-heads. Seek out those old shoe boxes! THE TAPES: Perth Western Australia: February 16 1972 Radio Interview: S/board rating: 8 17 minutes Speaking with many fans who had seen Led Zepp perform in Melbourne I found several who commented that they clearly recall that our local radio station was advertising that the Perth concert was going to be broadcast live in Melbourne. I had tracked down and spoken to many media personalities who where active during that period and several seemed to confirm what I was being told by several fans. The radio broadcast was to be aired on Thursday evening the 17th February. There was talk that due to the large population in Melbourne and the strong radio interest in Zeppelin touring that there was a good chance that a second Melbourne date could go ahead on the 21st February. A concerted effort was made to now promote the tour to generate more ticket sales and make a second concert in Melbourne viable. As I understand it, the bands management were keen to put on a second show in Melbourne so that the vast touring costs can be off set by the extra profits made from the 2nd proposed Melbourne date. What the Radio station had failed to mention to the LZ management was that they were proposing to do a radio broadcast of the Perth show. (As far as I can gather, it seems that the arrangements were made with Zepp's road manager Richard Cole and once the details had reached Peter Grant the whole idea of a broadcast was canned). A flyer was posted in several Melbourne newspapers pre-advertising the proposed radio broadcast of "Led Zeppelin Live From Perth". The media took this on board and soon the possibility of a live radio broadcast was talked about in our radio and TV news networks. Once the management of Led Zepp had heard about the media hype talking of a live radio broadcast of the Perth concert they quickly put out a statement that all the media talk was false. The radio station then tried to get interviews with the band members while they were in Perth so that they could use the material in a local (Melbourne) broadcast of interviews with studio tracks edited in between each interview segment. But once the master reels arrived in Melbourne from Perth the station didnít like the material they had to work with and the radio show was cancelled and they then hoped that a live interview could be done with the band while they were in Melbourne. None of this eventuated for one reason or other. In a news broadcast LZ management denied there would be any radio broadcast and the only way to see and hear them play live was to go to any one of their concerts. There was some minor friction with the Melbourne radio stations once the idea of a live radio broadcast was stopped dead in its tracks. The idea of a second Melbourne date was also dead in the water. Once I had seen the flyer advertising the proposed Perth show and having spoken to many people in the music industry around that time as well as speaking with numerous fans I felt there was a chance that a recording of the Perth show may still exist somewhere. We all live in hope! The radio station which was to broadcast the Perth show was Melbourne 3XY. The first step in my search was tolocate the current owners of that radio stations archives as that station no longer existed. A few years back it had shut it doors due to bankruptcy. I had to track down past owners via the Victorian Corporations Registry. To cut a very long story short I found that they company known as 3XY had changed hands about 9 times since 1972 and the company had been stripped of its assets (like all companies succumb to when they cease to exist) and more importantly its archives and records were sold off in fragments to various interested parties. Each time I made contact with a person and I relayed what I was trying to find, that person may have in turn given me another 3~5 new leads to chase up. Each one of those leads would again give me another list of names or phone numbers to investigate. Some of those leads would of course lead me to a dead end. In a very short time I had compiled a large folder full of names, addresses, phone numbers, stories etc to chase up. The investigative work had begun. After about 2 months of intensive searching and making about 500 local and interstate phone calls I made one call to a local number that came from one of those leads I was given. A secretary answered the call and I advised her that I was searching for the current owners of the archives and records of the now extinct 3XY radio station. The secretary advised me that she will switch me to the General Manager as he maybe able to help me. I thought this was odd, as you don't normally get passed onto a senior person so quickly after your initial introduction. The General Manager listened to what I was searching for and why and he seemed to be slightly disinterested in my request. We only talked for a few minutes. He finished our discussion by asking for my name and phone number. He asked me to leave my request with him and he'll call me back if he could help. I had already spoken to many other leads who had said exactly the same as he did so I was not expecting the phone call that came about 8 minutes after we completed this initial conversation. About 8 minutes after talking with the General Manager my secretary advised me that a General Manager of a company wished to speak with me. I was a senior Bank Manager at the time so I asked my secretary to refer the call onto my assistant manager. My secretary replied that the chap said he was returning the call I had just made to him regarding the band Led Zeppelin. I quickly kicked my secretary out of my office and I took his call. I can clearly recall the first words he said to me as I said "Leo Ishac speaking". Those initial words were...... "Led Zeppelin Live Perth 1972". I said. "Yes, that is what I am searching for." He again said. "Led Zeppelin Live In Perth 1972!" I again said. "Yes". He then said that he has a reel in his hands which is clearly marked "Led Zeppelin Live Perth 1972!" At that point I fell out of my chair! He went on to say that there were another two reels in a box marked 'Led Zeppelin' but there are no labels on the reels to indicate what audio they feature. At first I tried to act mildly interested as if locating this sort of material was an every day occurrence for me. However, after I regained my composer I asked if there was a chance that I could obtain a copy of the audio not expecting to get a positive response. To my surprise he agreed to my request and we made a time to meet at his radio station in two days time. Besides that, he also offered to make copies for me off the master reels while I was at his office so that I can get the best possible quality. You donít meet people like this everyday! To say that I was salivating would have been an understatement. The two days of waiting were absolutely excruciating and seemed to take forever to get to the time of our meeting. However the time finally elapsed and the moment of truth was now upon me. It was too inconceivable to believe that I may soon be hearing a recording of a long lost Zepp show! It seemed too good to be true and it was. Read on..... I arrived at his office exactly on time and trying very hard not to display my excitement at what I maybe just about to experience. I met the general manager and he said he was very busy with work and he didnít have the time to sit with me and make the copies of the reels. I was just about to get all depressed and thinking that it did all seem too good to be true when he then said to me "Here, take the box of reels home with you and make the copies at your leisure. Just make sure you donít damage the master reels and return them when you are finished". At that point I thought I must have died and gone to heaven. It took me only a few seconds to put the box under my arm and break all records for existing the building before he had a change of mind. I got into my car and drove off leaving an inch of burnt rubber behind me.. Back home I called a friend to bring over his reel to reel machine so that we could listen and make copies of this goldmine find I had in my hot hands. The next day we set up the first reel which was marked "Led Zeppelin Live Perth 1972". The hairs on my neck started to rise as the reel started to run. Here we were, about to listen to a long lost Led Zeppelin concert of the Perth show. The reel played and what we got was the now well documented radio news broadcast stating that the proposed radio airing of a Perth concert in Melbourne was not to happen. Following that radio news broadcast was the recording of the Perth interviews conducted with the band. Included was the radio promos that were to precede each interview. Nothing else was on that reel and worse still the other reels were totally blank. Our hopes and dreams were dashed. It felt as though my heart had been ripped out of my chest and then put into a blender to make sure that I truly felt the pain! The expectation of finding a soundboard recording then knowing that it was not to be nearly sent me over the edge (others have said that it did). Anyway, life had to continue and looking at the brighter side of things at least I was able to find some new audio source. Memorial Drive, Adelaide, South Australia. February 19 1972 Audience: 90 minutes 8+ Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Stairway To Heaven, Going To California, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Dazed & Confused, Moby Dick(cut), Whole Lotta Love medley/Boogie Woogie/Mary Lou/Let's Have A Party/That's Alright (cut.) This tape was probably the most exciting find for me. I was doing the rounds at the local Record fair and I had struck up a conversation with a dealer who was based in Adelaide. This dealer was again a big fan and collector of The Stones. He was mainly interested in memorabilia and not audio collecting. I mentioned to him that I was a fan of Led Zeppelin and that I am always seeking new audio documents of my band. The dealer mentioned that he knows someone back home who runs a record shop who saw LZ back in 1972 and even taped them. He said he has heard the tape and that it is genuinely LZ from the Adelaide show. Needless to say we made an arrangement to trade my tape of The Stones from Melbourne & Sydney 1973 for a 1st generation copy from his friend of the LZ Adelaide show. I am a pretty good judge of peoples honesty and this dealer did seem to be very genuine. I was very confident that this tape existed and I would soon have a copy of it. Several days latter I made my own downfall by telling several so-called 'friends' of the find I had made before getting the tape into my hands. Stupidly, I had told my friends that I had probably found a tape of Adelaide and the idiot that I am I also mentioned who it was that I was getting the tape from. Anyway, the day after the record fair I made copies of the tapes the dealer wanted and sent them over to him. I waited 2 weeks and I hadn't received any LZ Adelaide tapes so I phoned the chap up and asked him what what the delay. During our conversation I got the impression that this chap was having problems in getting me a copy from his friend. I waited another 2 weeks and I called him again. I got many more excuses from him so I got very personal and told this chap not to face me again as I don't like being ripped off. About a week latter a tape of the Adelaide show arrived and when I played it I knew immediately two things. The first thing that I knew was that this was in fact a new tape source of an Australian show. The second thing that I knew was that this tape had been sabotaged. The copy I had received was obviously and purposely butchered. I'd rate the audio quality of the tape I had been sent at about 3 out of 10. I phoned the chap in Adelaide and I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of him. Several months latter the 2CD title "Shivers 'N' Shakes" was released featuring audio from the Adelaide show. I compared the audio to the tape I had previously been sent and the source was exactly the same though my tape ran 90 minutes so it was obvious the producer of the "Shivers" title purposely only released a fragment of the show. Kooyong Tennis Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria February 20 1972: Tape Source 1: 46 minutes. Audience rating: 5.5 (rated out of 10) This tape has appeared on the LP's "Count Me Out When Hot" & "Melbourne Madness" LP's. As well the first few tracks on the CD "Shivers 'N' Shakes" Disc 2 came from this tape source. The story behind this tape is very interesting if it is actually true. I have spoken to the 'owner' of this tape who relates this story about the background to its original source. (Note: The current 'owner' of this cassette tape is not the original taper). Currently only 46 minutes exists of this tape but at one time the whole concert was recorded by the original taper using a reel to reel. The story goes that the taper was mildly interested in going to rock concerts and was a genuine music lover of many varied musical styles. He would go to various concerts and record them using generally professional equipment. As the years passed by his reel to reel collection grew. At one point in time he wanted to be able to play some of his recordings on his car cassette player. To do this he taped some of his reels by simply placing a recording microphone up near one of his speakers as he played the audio from one of his reels. The idiot didn't bother to do a proper line feed recording! Anyway he only bothered to record a small amount of his reel to reel collection. As the years passed by he became disinterested in his reel to reel collection and he tried to sell his equipment and reels in our local Trading magazine. He didn't get any takers for his stuff so after awhile he simply just took it all down to the local rubbish tip where it lays buried and lost forever. The only remaining document he had left of his original recordings were several cassette tapes. Apparently the original master reels featured some outstanding audience recordings with the Led Zeppelin show being one of them. Lets hope that this story was simply a persons sick attempt to enlighten us. If it is a true story then I find no joy in hearing of these sort of nightmare scenarios. Tape Source 2: 72 minutes. Audience rating: 4 ~ 5.5 (rated out of 10) Black Dog (cut), Since I've Been Loving You, Stairway To Heaven, That's the Way (cut), Dazed and Confused (cut), Rock and Roll, Whole Lotta Love (cut). This tape would be rated higher if it wasn't for the excessive tape hiss. The actual audio recording for the show could be deemed as good and in some places slightly better than the 90 minute tape for this show but the tape hiss overpowers the recording. It's a shame as the tape feels as though the recorder was very close to the sound system which could have made for a very exciting document of this show. The tape kicks in when Black dog is just about to be finished which leads me to conclude one of two possibilities. Its either a case that the taper commenced taping the show when Black Dog was finishing (probably arriving late at the show), or the more likely explanation that this tape has been butchered over the years and the first part of the show has been purposely or accidentally edited out. Maybe this tape source exists in a more complete document hidden in some ones old shoebox. Some of the tracks have cuts in them as well the audio quality seems to deteriorate towards the end of the recording. The taper has edited out some of Plant's chatter between each song but mostly he has left his machine running. This tape was found being sold by a dealer at a local Record fair about 8 years ago. I was told that the tape being sold was a 1st generation copy off the master. The chap produced his so-called master tape of this source and when I listened to it the quality appeared to be comparable to the copy being sold. However, the 'master tape' did not genuinely appear to be a master tape to my eyes due to the type and brand of tape. I could be wrong. I was asked if I wanted to purchase the 'master' tape but I declined (the asking price was a bit over the top) as the copy was comparable to the 'master' tape. Tape Source 3: 88 minutes. Audience rating: 6.5 (rated out of 10) Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Stairway To Heaven, Going To California, That's the Way, Tangerine, Bron-Y- Aur Stomp, Dazed and Confused, Rock and Roll, Whole Lotta Love (cut). The best recording to date of all the Melbourne tape sources. In this one the tape recorder saw fit to turn his machine on and off between each track which is very annoying. You would think that if you are going to a concert and you want to tape a show, that you would have the common sense to take a spare tape with you. Hell, how many times do you get to see a band like Led Zeppelin live in Australia? The tape runs out about 90 seconds before Whole Lotta Love finishes which just adds to our frustration of another lost opportunity to enjoy a complete show in very good quality. I acquired a copy of the master tape via interesting circumstances. After I had published my 1991 photo book "Whole Lotta Zep On Tour In Australia 1972" I received a lot of local interest and promotion via the print media and radio stations. One particular radio station did a Led Zeppelin special and I had donated several copies of my books as prizes for their listeners. One of the listeners of the radio show was a personal friend of the DJ. The DJ gave his friend my contact details and the day after the radio show I received a phone call from him. He stated that he was a fan of Led Zepp and that he has a tape of the 1972 show which is excellent. He offered to give me a copy of it. In return he wanted a copy of any other LZ shows I had from the bands 1972 tour. This chap assured me that his tape was a 'new' source not circulating in the collectors market and it was almost a complete show. The following day I met the chap and he gave me a 1st generation copy and yes, it was a new tape source and much better than the two previous tapes I had heard. The chap told me that the original taper and owner of this source was his personal best friend who had died of a drug over-dose several years earlier. His friend had left him all of his personal music collection. This is in fact a true story. Within a year of acquiring this new tape source it was circulating amongst several well known LZ collectors down here and not long after it circulated overseas and appeared on CD. Years later I was able to acquire the actual master tape of this tape source. Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney, New South Wales: February 27 1972 Audience: 4 (out of 10) 40 minutes Black Dog, Rock and Roll, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Whole Lotta Love/Boogie Woogie/Mary Lou/The Rover/Let's Have A Party/ Lawdy Miss Clawdy (cut)/Going Down Slow. Though only a very short document of what has been described by fans who attended this concert as an incredible rock performance that had not been surpassed by any other touring act before or since. I was given a copy of this tape by a friend back in 1990. The tape I received was probably about 4th generation and its quality was not too good. It also seemed to be running a bit fast. During one of my sleepless efforts in searching for more lost material I made one of those rare contacts with a chap who said he had a tape that featured the full concert of Zeppelin from Sydney 1972. This chap resided in Sydney and was working in a record shop. One avenue I thought that could possibly lead me to finding more tapes was to phone as many underground and second hand record shops around Australia. It seemed that I was on the right track when the chap told me what he had. This chap was a big follower of The Stones and when I told him that I had a tape of their complete show from Melbourne 1973 we agreed to swap tapes. I initially asked for a 1st generation copy off his master but he offered to send me his master tape in exchange for my Stones master tape! It didn't matter to him when I told him that my Stones tape was probably a 3rd generation source. Anyway, we agreed on trading our tapes. I asked him how long his Zeppelin tape ran for and he said that he thought it went for about 80 minutes but that it was the full show. He wasn't sure as he said the tape was bought soon after the 1972 show and he has only played it about 4 times in the past 20 odd years! The last time he had played the tape was back in the early 70's! This sounded very interesting. I told him that it couldn't possibly be the complete show as I've heard that the Sydney concert ran for 120 minutes at the least. In which case the show could not possibly fit onto one cassette tape. The chap replied that its been a long time since he has played the tape but he is sure it runs for 80 minutes and was the complete show. In any case he will send me the tape in a few days time and we should both know then what the tape has on it. The following day I mailed him my Stones tape. Several days passed by and I hadn't received the tape he was sending me. I phoned him and he stated that he has been too busy to look for the tape but that he had received my Stones tape and he was very pleased with it. He offered to look for the tape that evening and send it out to me in a day or so. About two weeks passed by and still no Zeppelin tape. I phoned him again and he then said that he had found the tape the previous evening and he was now holding it and that it was the complete show. I asked him to tell me what the tracks were if he had listened to it. He replied that he didnít listen to it but that the tracks were typed on the sleeve. He advised me what the tracks were and I was then certain that it wasn't the complete show. But it did have three 'new' tracks if the track listing on the sleeve was to be believed. Those tracks were Stairway To Heaven, Going To California & What Is And What Should Never Be. Though I was disappointed not to find a complete concert I was pleased that at least I had found three new tracks and better yet, a tape that was supposed to be a 1st generation off the master that had not been played since the early 70's! Finally, the tape arrived in my hands several days latter and yes, the cassette tape was a genuine cassette tape that was used in the early 70ís. The track listing was typed on the sleeve as well as the more surprising purple stamp that stated..."C DOBRO RARE TAPES". This took me by complete surprise. It appeared to me to be an early attempt at a bootleg product but in cassette form. The title on the sleeve was "LIVE IN SYDNEY 1972" This surely was a great find! Just to make sure that the item in my hand was genuine and a product from the early 70's I asked a few friends who were also into tape collecting to give me their opinion of the tape. They all confirmed that its appearance and brand convinced them that it was a brand of tape from the early 70's. That was the great discovery but now for the usual and all too common let down. I played the tape and it seemed to be of better quality than the tape that I was given previously by a friend. The only difference was that my tape featured three extra tracks. Once the first track started to come through my speakers I knew immediately that I had been had. Not by the chap in Sydney whom I traded the tape with, but by the bootlegger who produced this tape and sold it back in the early 70's! The three 'new' tracks were your usual BBC April/01/71 tracks. Once again the bootlegger had sought fit to slice in several tracks from the BBC '71 show onto this tape and sell it as live stuff from the Sydney show. His intentions were to probably pack out the 60 minute tape so that he can sell his product easily. Any idiot could have picked out the audio difference from the three soundboard BBC tracks and the genuine lower grade audience tracks from the actual Sydney concert. Yes, I was disappointed that I had not found any new tracks from the Sydney show but at least I had managed to find a rare, early form of bootlegging in this cassette tape. As well as a probable 1st generation tape that appears to have been genuinely in storage for the past 20 odd years and not played frequently. I still retain this tape and to date I have only played it 4 times since acquiring it. It is worth mentioning at this point that there has been a strong rumour for many years that a bootleg LP exists of the Sydney show which featured the same audio that is on this tape. I was even sent a photograph of the so-called "Live In Sydney 1972" bootleg LP cover. The album was supposed to have been pressed and sold within several weeks of the Sydney concert back in 1972. Only 200 copies were supposed to have been pressed and sold with most going to collectors in the Sydney area soon after the tour ended. I can state without hesitation or doubt that this story is a complete fraud and fabrication by a scum of a LZ collector/fan who resides in Sydney. This person has been active in the collecting/trading family for many years now. The so-called photo of the Sydney bootleg cover was a fake made up by the same guy. This person dribbles shit and cannot be trusted so be warned. Iíve lost count of how many stories he has made up with regard to finding and having a collection of lost rare tapes. Every year I seem to get asked by other collectors that they have spoken to a guy in Sydney who says he has all these rare tapes etc. These other collectors are always excited that they have found someone who says he has many rare Zepp recordings and film footage etc and that I may have the ability to get the stuff out of him. I always reply that the guys name is "****** *****" and that he is full of shit and he doesn't have anything of interest at all. So be warned if you start to deal with anyone living in Sydney who says he has a many rare LZ items. And more importantly for all you vinyl collectors out there, you can erase off your Wants Lists the Bootleg LP "Live In Sydney 1972", as it just does not exist. Many years ago I had ceased to collect bootleg vinyl. Even so, I was still searching out for boot vinyl for several friends and more importantly I was always in touch with numerous die-hard bootleg vinyl collectors and dealers throughout Australia and none of them in all these years had ever seen or heard of anyone owning "Live In Sydney 1972" title. If it had been produced then one of us would have come across it by now as these things tend to turn up in the collecting circles sooner or latter. Festival Hall, Queensland: February 27 1972: Tape Source 1: 101 minutes. Audience rating: 3.5 (rated out of 10) Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Celebration Day, Stairway To Heaven, Going To California, Dazed And Confused (cut), What Is And What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love/Boogie Chillen/The Wanderer/Hello Mary Lou/Let's Have A Party. This is the standard low grade tape that has been circulating for many years and was released on the fabulous 4CD digi-pak package titled "Australian Tour 1972" and made by the Black Cat Australian labelan label. The quality of this tape was not good at all and again this one seems to run a bit fast but at the time it was the only source for the Brisbane show. My copy of this tape came from a friend and I don't know any background regarding original taper or current owner of the master tape of this source. Tape Source 2: 132 minutes. Audience rating: 4.5 (rated out of 10) Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Celebration Day, Stairway To Heaven, Going To California, That's The Way (false start), That's The Way, Tangerine, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Dazed And Confused, What Is And What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love/Boogie Woogie/Trucking Little Mama/The Wanderer/Mary Lou/Let's Have A Party/Going Down Slow. This tape source was a minor upgrade to the above tape in audio quality and more importantly it was almost a complete show. As with most finds, this one came along by complete accident and was almost missed. The story goes like this... This tape was discovered by my good friend Philip O'Brien in 1993. Phil had advertised to sell a CD in our local Trading Post. He received a call from a chap who was interested in buying his CD. They arranged to meet at the chaps place and while there, this chap had commented that he had Jimmy Page's Twin Neck Gibson guitar (Jimmy's custom built Gibson SB double neck). He said that he had won it in the 70's and he proceeded to pull it out to show Phil (the guitar that is). In the meantime Phil was ready to call the shrink for this guy. As it happened the chap did have a Gibson double neck guitar but it was the signature copy. He apparently won it in a contest back in the 70's. He seemed to enjoy telling people that he had Page's original guitar but Phil was able to set him straight. As discussions proceeded this chap then told Phil that he has a tape of the LZ Brisbane show. Phil replied that he already has a copy of it and itís not great anyway. The chap then said that he couldnít have a copy of it as he hasn't given anyone a copy of it. He then got his tape out and played it. Phil immediately knew from listening to the first track that this tape source was indeed a new source. Amazingly but true this chap gave Phil his master tapes of this new Brisbane source and told him he could make a copy of them at his leisure. Latter on the chap told Phil he was welcome to keep the master tapes which he did! The actual taper of this new source was the girl friend of this chap from back in 1972. Somehow he managed to get the tape when they had broken up. Subsequently he lost all contact with her but she may still reside in Queensland. So by sheer luck another document of a great LZ show is discovered and in the hands of an appreciative fan and collector. THE VIDEOS: Sydney 23 February 1972. Pro Shot. During the early 70's our National TV station the ABC had a Sunday evening music show called GTK that ran for approximately 10 minutes. The format of the show was to generally feature a live performance of a touring or local act with a short interview with the band members. The ABC would approach the management and seek permission to film and record part or all of the show which would be broadcast at a latter date. Sometimes the broadcast would be aired while the band was still touring. (It is worth noting that most touring acts gave permission to have their shows filmed by the ABC. Bands like Pink Floyd, Queen, Deep Purple etc). Just like the UK BBC, the archives of our ABC should hold some very interesting gems in their vaults. No doubt the short GTK format appealed to Zeppelin's management and they agreed to have part of the Sydney show filmed by the ABC. It was a Sydney based film crew that did the segment. Over the years I have spoken to numerous people about this rare film recording. Personally I just cannot believe that only a few minutes of the Sydney concert was filmed. Besides the never ending search for an audio document of the Perth show I have spent many hours searching for any record of this Sydney TV recording and broadcast. As we all now know only "Rock and Roll" & parts of "Lets Have A Party" were filmed and broadcast. The ABC re-broadcasted this clip back in 1990 and that is generally the source that has been circulated and traded around the world. In 1991 I made contact with the ABC in Sydney as that is where the main archives are. To say I had difficulty dealing with them was an understatement. When you are dealing with public servants of this type you can always expect to be treated very poorly. The first time I phoned I was told that no archives existed of the GTK shows. I then waited a month to pass by before I phoned again hoping to speak to a different person. Luckily, I did manage to speak with a different person than the first time. This person informed me that yes, the GTK shows do exist but the records are not in order and they cannot help me as the job is too large, and in any case they cannot release the stuff to me due to copyright. No matter what I tried to say, this person said they cannot help me or release copies to me. Now I waited two months to pass by before I was game enough to phone them again with my request. Luck was on side as I managed to speak to a different person again (I made sure to ask each persons name as I phoned in). Unfortunately, as all previous attempts I got a brick wall. To cut a very long story short I had probably contacted the ABC about 8 times over a 10 month period. On the last time I contacted them I spoke with a chap who seemed receptive to my request and enquiry. I told him what I was searching for and he had the intelligence to key into the computer the details I was asking for. Within a few seconds he told me he has located the Led Zeppelin Sydney 1972 interview with Germaine Greer. I told him I donít know about that but it sounds interesting. He then said he has found on the computer the file code for the GTK footage. I told him that I only needed copies of the material to conduct my reviews of the items for our Fanzines etc. He said no problems at all. I just had to send over a cheque to pay for the copies to be made from their video masters. The cheque was in the mail the following day! This story is another example of how to never accept no for an answer if you truly believe that something exists. Since acquiring the videos of the Sydney show and the Sydney cocktail function I have probably tried to contact the ABC about 40 times over the following years to see if they can find any further footage. To date Iíve had no such luck. Before completing this story you maybe interested in this snippet... When I had received the video featuring the Sydney cocktail function footage it struck me as odd as to why Jimmy Page was not present. Was he just not filmed and he was actually there in a corner somewhere? The answer to my question came to me a few months latter. As a matter of course I always send over any interesting material I find over to Mr Page & Mr Plant. When Page watched the Sydney interview he immediately stated that he recalled that interview as the security guard refused to let him into the building to attend the function. Page said that he had just shaved off his beard and the security guard didn't recognise him without a beard! The more Jimmy tried to tell the guard that HE WAS JIMMY PAGE, the more agitated the guard got so Jimmy just gave up and left quickly! During the time I was seeking out the ABC video footage I came across some information of the existence of more film footage. There is a well known TV personality who currently lives and works in the UK. This person who shall remain nameless has a brother who not only attended the Sydney concert but also filmed it from the photographers pit! This person was there as a guest of several of the Australian rock photographers and he had a interest in films so he took along his 8mm camera. I'm told by several reliable sources that this person did in fact film the Sydney show and he was not noticed by any Zeppelin personnel (luckily for him as he would have been killed!). My information is that this person did not have any interest in Led Zeppelin or their music and years latter his brother who is the well known TV personality acquired the film. His brother was and is a fan of Led Zeppelin so it was right for him to take the film for his personal enjoyment. For over a year I have tried to contact the brother who now holds the film footage but to date I have not had any luck. I made numerous phone calls to the UK but all I got was another brick wall. I am told that this person is generally not approachable. Yeah, I can certainly vouch for that. For the moment I would like to believe that what I have been told second hand is factual. Maybe one day I will get access to this chap and personally ask him about the existence of the film footage. THE PHOTOGRAPHS: Ted Keogh Collection: Ted's name came to me via a friend. I had been told that many attempts had been made to acquire copies of his photo collection or even better yet, to buy his negatives. I was told that he was exceptionally difficult to tdeal with and that he generally would not be interested in talking with anyone who seeks to get his photo collection. Undeterred I found his contact details and as luck would have it he lived only 20 minutes away from me, and more importantly I got him just a few days before he was permanently moving into the country. He said that he was changing his lifestyle and that I may not have been able to locate him had I contacted him a few days latter. It sounded like he was going to become a recluse from the modern world. A time was arranged to meet him at his house. We met the following day and I found him to be a genuinely nice guy. I asked him what he thought of the LZ Melbourne show and all he could remember was that they were very loud. Actually this seems to be the most common reply I get from fans who went to their shows. I told Ted that I was interested in buying his photo collection as a first choice (with full copyright ownership) and as a second choice I would like to pay for copies of some pic's with copyright clearance to publish them at some stage. Ted asked how much would I be prepared to pay for them and in reply I asked him "Are you seriously talking of selling me the whole collection including copyright?" He replied, yes. I then thought of an amount in my mind then I dropped it by 50% and told him my offer not expecting him to accept it, which he did! I was certainly expecting him to up my offer but he was happy with my offer and more importantly he said that it was pleasing for him to see the collection go to someone who can do the photos justice and appreciate them more than he can. I quickly wrote out a contract of sale and we exchanged money for the negatives. I wished him all the best for the future and I gained about 60 unpublished B& W photos that featured some amazing pic's of the lads at the Melbourne concert. Greg Macainsh Collection: After I had published my photo book "Whole Lotta Zep On Tour In Australia 1972" I went on a major marketing exercise. I managed to get featured in some of Australia's major newspapers and national rock magazines. After a feature article was written on me in our Victorian newspaper titled "The Melbourne Age", the following day (Monday) I received a letter in my mail from a Greg Macainsh. Greg's letter stated that he saw my feature article mentioning that I was searching for any material regarding Led Zeppelin's 1972 Australian tour. Greg said in his letter that he had several photos of the Melbourne concert and if I was interested I should phone him. Before I go on I must clarify who Greg Macainsh is. Greg is and was the bassist for the band "Skyhooks". Skyhooks was probably this countries biggest rock act during the mid to late 70's. The moment I saw his letter I assumed it was the famous man himself. As soon as I got home I phoned him and we arranged a time to meet at his house for latter that afternoon. As luck would have it again, he only lived ten minutes away from me. Once I had met him at his house he told me that during the early 70's he was at university as an arts student learning photography. He would go to most rock concerts and take as many photos as he could in those early days. Back then there was no problem in taking photos of any band unlike the security checks we have now. Greg said he recalled that the show was too loud (yeah, heard that before) and in any case he liked the Stones more with their show the following year. When we got onto the subject of his photo collection Greg indicated that he was prepared to sell me the whole collection including copyright ownership if the price was right. As with Keogh I found Greg easy to talk to and deal with. I told him how much I had paid Keogh to acquire his collection and we both came to a price. Greg was offering me about 85 B & W photo negatives and 11 colour photos that he had lost the negatives for. As before I drafted up a contract and the money and negatives/photos exchanged hands. Its worth mentioning at this point that Greg had a large box full of unpublished photos/negatives of all major acts who toured Australia (including Stones, Floyd, Deep Purple etc) in the late 60's to mid 70's. Greg was keen to sell off his collection. As I wasn't interested in other bands I declined his offer. I now regret not taking a proper look at his box of goodies as the Stones pic's themselves would have been a nice one to get. We all live with regrets and I know I will die with many on my mind! Once I had got back home and I had the time to properly look at the negatives that I had just acquired I found two things. Firstly, that the negatives showed a flowing picture of the Melbourne concert from the time the lads walked up the ramp to the stage, then the actual performance and the end of the show. Besides that, many of the pic's were outstanding. Secondly, I discovered that the number sequence of the negatives did not match up. There appeared to be about 30 negatives missing so I immediately phoned Greg back to tell him this. Greg said that he was sure that he had given me all the negatives but if I left it with him he will look in the box again when he has time and let me know. That discussion was about 5pm on Monday. The following morning I did the usual mail box check and there was a thick letter from Greg. Inside the letter there was the missing 30 odd negatives! Greg, in his generosity wrote a note to say that I can have these negatives for the price already paid. Nice chap indeed! Once I got home I had a good look at these latest negatives and to my genuine amazement I found that these displayed much better action shots of the band than the negatives that I already had! My overall intentions in seeking out and acquiring all of these items (photo negatives, magazines etc) was to compile and publish a comprehensive book that would cover the complete Australian 1972 tour. Once I felt I had acquired enough material to publish a book I started to approach several well known publishing houses of rock books. There was only mild interest in this venture so I felt that I could not proceed any further. Normally, I was not a collector of printed matter as my interests generally lay with collecting audio. Because of this and the closed doors I received with regard to publishing a book I decided to sell my whole collection of Australian memorabilia and transferring copyright ownership to a collector who resides in the UK. This collector indicated that he would publish a book that would feature most of the material that I had acquired. One day it should be out.

So there's still a little trouble in Jimmy's paradise? Heh-heh-heh. Hey, they were up against huge cultural differences, not to mention the age gap.

In August or September 1968 John Paul Jones was hired for a session with U.K. singer P.J. Proby who was recording an album at Landsdowne Studios in London. John got the other three members of Zeppelin in on the session as it was good money to be made. From what I recall Robert Plant's voice does not appear on that album; he was simply there. I know it may not make sense for him to have been there if he wasn't going to sing but John said Robert was there. Then of course there is the first Led Zeppelin album, recorded in October 1968. You must mean live recordings, right? So far as I know the one to which you refer remains the earliest known live recording but tapes continue to surface all the time. There was a soundboard recording of Southampton 1973 which was recently made available.

Monday, August 12th 1968 at 39 Gerrard Street in London. That part of London is known nowadays as China Town but back then it was a low-rent area where performing artists and musicians could often be found rehearsing and practicing. It's just down the road from Peter Grant's former office on Oxford Street so he was undoubtedly familiar with it.

Once I get my scanner hooked up I'll send you some John Paul Jones photos. I took quite a few good ones when he toured in 1999 and I have many from the early days.

JIMMY PAGE: First Meeting, Houston 1985 By "Ronnie Lane's Former Butler" I am proud to be able to say that I am friends with a person as fine and amazingly creative as Jimmy Page. Anyway I was living with Faces bassist Ronnie Lane as his butler and personal assistant in early 1985. Jimmy came through Houston with his new band The Firm, and Ronnie and I went to the concert with our new friend Mark Bowman, including one of Jimmy and I together. Jimmy had 4 seats reserved for us on the stage behind a bank of speakers, so we watched his entire performance from about 10 feet away. Yes, I took a camera. He sought out Ronnie backstage and suggested he come visit the following night at our apartment, which he did. My first words to him were, "Good evening Mr. Page, please come in, Mr. Lane is expecting you. My name is James." He snorted and said, "Yeh, mine too..." This began a friendship which has lasted over 20 years. We spent several hours together that evening, during which I spent most of the time listening to the two of them visit while occasionally injecting something pointless with a sporty posh accent. When I finally cracked him up, he spewed his drink and exclaimed to Ronnie, "Where'd ya get HIM?!?" Ronnie just grinned and said, "He's my butler. Ain't he great?" This was on or about March 21, 1985. I will have many stories about Pagey but you must remember his privacy must be honored at all times, so don't expect any great revelations here. He is absolutely genius-level smart in fields other than music, and funny beyond belief, qualities which may not be readily apparent in his public life, so it's been wonderful to enjoy those aspects of his personality. He's no angel but he's known a few and settled on one. She herself is another story for another time.

RE: JIMMY PAGE'S INSPIRATION FOR HOUSES OF THE HOLY ALBUM COVER? From: "Steve A. Jones" To: chofgren Subject: Jimmy's Inspiration for HOTH Album Cover Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 01:57:09 +0000 Chris - Sorry, it's 3am here and my brain is getting fuzzy. This is what I meant to pass along concerning where Jimmy got the concept for the HOTH album cover. I have his specific comments confirming this as a matter of fact from a 1970's era interview I recently had transferred to cdr from the original audiotape. ------------------------------ The Midwich Cuckoos "If you were wishful to challenge the supremacy of a society that was fairly stable, and quite well weaponed, what would you do? Would you meet it on its' own terms by launching a probably costly, and certainly destructive, assault? Or, if time were no great importance, would you prefer to employ a version of a more subtle tactic? Would you, in fact, try somehow to introduce a fifth column, to attack it from within?" First published in 1957, The Midwich Cuckoos was a return to familiar territory for John Wyndham after the more fantasy-themed Chrysalids. In many ways this is the archetypal Wyndham novel, containing all his classic themes and techniques, written in the classic style. It is also quite possibly his best-known work, with the possible exception of The Day of the Triffids. This is mainly due to the well-known film adaptation, Village of the Damned(196X), which led to a sequel, Children of the Damned, and a 1995 remake. Synopsis The quiet Winshire village of Midwich is disturbed for the first time in decades when, late one night, the entire population lapses into an inexplicable trance-like sleep. The army quickly cordons off the area and establishes that the effect influences a dome-shaped space - centred on a strange metallic object that has appeared at the centre of the village. Nearly thirty-six hours later, the sleep-induction field vanishes, along with the object. Apart from a few residents who have died in accidents or of exposure, the villagers seem unaffected. But Colonel Westcott, an officer in military intelligence, recruits Richard Gayford, a newcomer to the village, to monitor the situation. Sure enough, some weeks later a remarkable fact becomes apparent - all the women in Midwich of child-bearing age present during the phenomenon are pregnant - over sixty in all. Panic is narrowly avoided, but local eminence Gordon Zellaby is well aware of the full implications - the women have been implanted by some other intelligence present during the 'Dayout'. When the babies are eventually born, however, they seem wholly human, but for their golden eyes and hair. As time goes by, though, odd events occur - it seems the Children can exert a compulsive influence over those around them and are even capable of forcing self-harm. Zellaby also discovers the Children possess a strange linked intelligence - anything taught to one of the boys is instantly known by all of them, and the same applies to the girls. The story moves forward seven years. The Children are now nine, but physically resemble adolescents. A local man has been killed in a road accident. The verdict is one of misadventure, but Zellaby and others know better - the dead man accidentally injured a Child and was compelled to kill himself by the others - a deliberate act of murder, but beyond the cognisance of the law. The dead man's brother attacks the Children with a shotgun but again is forced to commit 'suicide'. Events escalate and an angry mob marches on the special school the Children attend. The Children make the villagers attack each other and several deaths ensue. Shortly afterwards they impose a restriction zone around Midwich - outsiders are allowed through, but not villagers, thus creating a human shield against any attack on them. Westcott reveals that Midwich was not the only, or even first place to have a Dayout. In several places the Children were stillborn or killed, but a Soviet group survived and were raised in secrecy - hence military intelligence's interest in the Midwich colony. A few days ago, the Russians grew alarmed by their Children's burgeoning power and obliterated the whole town without warning, and have urged the other nations of the world to do the same with any other Children that may exist. The Midwich Children demand transport out of the village to a place where they may mature in peace. Clearly, if allowed to survive, they will replace normal civilisation - but the morality of that very civilisation refuses to contemplate the necessary extermination of children, even ones as potentially lethal as these are. The Children seem in the ascendant until Zellaby - who, it is revealed, is already terminally ill - destroys himself, them, and their school with a bomb. His last letter is warning that, in order to survive, one must be prepared to take whatever measures are required... "This is not a civilised matter... it is a very primitive matter. If we exist, we shall dominate you - that is clear and inevitable. Will you agree to be superceded, and start on your way to extinction without a struggle?" From: "Chris Hofgren" To: Steve A. Jones Subject: RE: Jimmy's Inspiration for HOTH Album Cover Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 21:53:23 -0500 RE: The Midwich Cuckoos, I never read that book (although had read Wyndham's 'Day Of The Triffids' as a schoolkid) but was aware that Village of the Damned (1960) - which I haven't seen for many years - was based on it. what were Page's transcripted comments from that audio interview? I have the 1976 audio interview as bonus Disc 3 of a 1997 'BBC Sessions' CD limited edition......there Jimmy talked a lot about the English school system, society generally and detrimental influence on kids, shows he would have been influenced by Wyndham-style gritty scifi stories of that '50s-early'60s era. Please let me know if the interview you're referring to is different. Was it the movie, or story which inspired the album imagery concept? Direct reference to a scene in movie (I can see, the blond wigs....) or book? or something less specific, indirectly implied by the released HOTH artwork? best, Chris H. From: "Steve A. Jones" To: chofgren Subject: RE: Jimmy's Inspiration for HOTH Album Cover Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 03:10:16 +0000 I'll have to get back to you in the next week or so with a confirmation of his exact comments. I seem to recall he said this to Dave Schulps in his hotel room during the '77 tour and was referring to the film, but I could be mistaken about that. I've reviewed about 20 interviews recently transferred from audio to cdr over the past few weeks so I can't speak with any degree of precision at the moment --they all start to run together in my mind after a while! Bare in mind Storm Thorgersen, amongst others at Hipgnosis, was chiefly responsible for actually bringing several of Jimmy's album cover concepts into reality. Robert & Jimmy enjoyed a similar relationship with Aubrey Powell at Atlantic when their 80's-era solo careers required promotional videos. They would speak to Po in gerneral terms of what they wanted and he'd come up with the "script". You probably already knew this or are aware of it. Regards, Steve A. Jones From: Chris H. Sent:Thu 12/29/05 3:22 AM To: Steve A. Jones Steve, thanks again and please let me know whenever you get around to it. Knew about Thorgersen's role but not Powell/Plant/Page in '80s..... yes it would be interesting to hear more about HOTH artwork concept development (there's several interview comments around about how difficult the colour printing/execution of the jacket was). maybe I'll just have to track down that VOTD DVD (it's on a 2-for-1 disc in the U.S. which also includes the later sequel best, Chris H.

QUOTE (Darth Zoso @ Nov 22 2007, 12:25 AM) Years ago, I was once told that the band was to play at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, CA but the show was canceled when Bonham passed away. True?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Swan Song announced plans for a 33 date US tour on July 7th 1975; it would have included a performance at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Sat, Sept. 6th. However, as a consequence of Robert Plant's car crash on Aug 4th their rehearsals (to have taken place in France from Aug 10-20) were cancelled while all touring was postponed (and ultimately cancelled). These dates were announced for the ill-fated first leg of the 1980 North American tour: Oct 17 80 Montreal, Canada The Forum Oct 19 80 Landover, MD USA Capitol Centre Oct 21 80 Landover, MD USA Capitol Centre Oct 22 80 Philadelphia, PA USA Spectrum Oct 23 80 Landover, MD USA Capitol Centre Oct 26 80 Richfield, OH USA Richfield Coliseum Oct 27 80 Richfield, OH USA Richfield Coliseum Oct 29 80 Detroit, MI USA Joe Louis Sports Arena Oct 30 80 Detroit, MI USA Joe Louis Sports Arena Nov 1 80 Buffalo, NY USA War Memorial Auditorium Nov 3 80 Philadelphia, PA USA Spectrum Nov 4 80 Philadelphia, PA USA Spectrum Nov 6 80 Pittsburgh, PA USA Civic Arena Nov 7 80 Pittsburgh, PA USA Civic Arena Nov 9 80 St. Paul, MN USA Civic Center Nov 10 80 Chicago, IL USA Chicago Stadium Nov 12 80 Chicago, IL USA Chicago Stadium Nov 13 80 Chicago, IL USA Chicago Stadium Nov 15 80 Chicago, IL USA Chicago Stadium

ZEP TO PLAY SALCOMBE (!) In late February/early March 1990 Robert Plant and his band began rehearsing for their upcoming European tour in Salcombe, England as this was not far from keyboardist Phil Johnstone's expectant wife. The local council ordered a March 1990 warm-up gig at Cliff Trust Assembly Hall cancelled after they were led to believe it would feature a reformed Led Zeppelin. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm seeking any additional information; thank you.

Mystery: The Robert Plant House Fire In 1978 the City of Kidderminster's Fire Station dispatched firefighters to the home of Robert Plant to extinguish a chimney fire. Robert later stopped by the fire station for a cigarette and a cup of tea and signed several Led Zeppelin albums for the fire fighters. I'm seeking any additional information.

Knebby, Many thanks for the information! In lieu of the ticket stub you've still provided me some additional leads by sharing the names of others who were there and may recall it or said something along the way in the UK press. It's good to hear there may be a newsclip from the royal reception that could shed more light on that event. In the mid-80s Jimmy kept two photos displayed side by side in his living room; one of him with Prince Charles and the the other of him with Lady Diana. If I had to guess I'd say they were taken at that reception for British rockers but I'm seeking to confirm it. I am not writing a book at the moment, though many have encouraged me to do so. In this digital age a book may not be the best way to share Led Zeppelin's legacy. Sam has launched this incredible website, for example, but clearly could have done a book as well. So, in closing, I'd say that right now I'm still just on a quest for more knowledge. If I ever do get books together I'd hope to emulate Peter Guralnick's 'Elvis Last Train to Memphis' or Bill Wyman's 'Rolling With The Stones'. I suppose there are those who view this as mere trivia, and I won't argue the point, but this thread is just getting started. Who knows what mysteries are to come. I'm hoping others will post their unsolved Zeppelin mysteries in this thread too. Yours Sincerely, Steve A. Jones