I'd be inclined to say the damn mellotron was out of tune on quite a few dates...some performances of "Kashmir" the sound of the 'Tron is downright painful (not that the synth strings JPJ used in '79/'80 were much of an improvement...) Again, hard to pick ONE 'best' version...IMO it's the only song they knocked outta the park in 2007; that is one of the best I've ever heard. For Zep's heyday, I'll take the '75 versions over anything after that. I want to say the major "Kashmir" whoopsies didn't start until '77.

You need to grab disc two of Bob Dylan's LIVE 1966, issued as part of The Bootleg Series. One of the greatest -not to mention historic- live performances by anyone you will ever hear. "Play fucking loud!!!" - Bob Dylan, Manchester 17 May 1966

Paul's new album -New- is a top five McCartney album. It's right up there with Band On The Run, Tug Of War and Flaming Pie IMO. Not a bad song in the lot, which you sure as hell can't say about a lot of Macca's albums.

Well, we know how it is with McCartney and Japan...as long as he leaves his dope at home...should be good!

Indeed...the man could tell a fuckin' story that sucked you right in. Sure, some of his books got a little lengthy, but, like with Stephen King, some of those longer stories you just couldn't tell in 300 pages. Command Authority, what will obviously be the last Jack Ryan novel now, comes out in December.

Ever heard any of the bootlegs from the "Get Back"/"Let It Be" sessions? There's yer answer. But as John Lennon said, "George Martin didn't really produce us...he's more Paul's kind of music than mine." It wasn't that they were 'scared' to play live, they were fed up with it...big difference. It particularly shows in the 1966 performances. They were sick of rushing through twenty minute performances to a bunch of screaming teenyboppers, and you can't really blame them. Sgt Pepper is definitely overproduced (mainly to mask the inferiority of some of the material) but The Beatles soon seemed to 'rebel' against that on the White Album and Get Back projects. Abbey Road on the other hand is a very lush production (again, to mask the weak material...) And that's almost a rule of thumb for most bands: the weaker the material, the more overblown the production.

That's a cool little song, sounds like The Beatles circa '67 with a little "Instant Karma" thrown in for good measure.

And I've no doubt he'll do it if he can...think he'll have Tony Barrow record the show from the stage like when The Beatles played their last gig there?

I've just reuploaded this here and there, since Jabe and I have been talking about it lately...

IIRC Badgely freaked out because Page was stealing his 'Ludes...Page supposedly felt totally justified saying, "Who's paying his wages?!" :lol: It's worth mentioning the good doctor travelled with the Stones as well (on the '72 or '75 tours, I can't remember) Even if it was a legitimate bellyache, chances are it was drug or booze related (I doubt it could have had much to do with Page's diet ) But I suppose they had to come up with an excuse like "Gastroentritis"...what was Cole gonna say? "Sorry, folks, Jimmy just OD'd on some bad smack!" I'm sure after Keith Richards' bust in Toronto two months earlier they knew they had to be discreet about their vices when on the road. As with the Tampa incident, it's interesting that after Page went down in Chicago at first Robert Plant told the audience, "We're gonna take a necessary five minute break." That five minutes stretched out, and turned into Richard Cole making his announcement that the show was cancelled. In Tampa Plant told the audience "We'll be back in fifteen minutes" but lo and behold they never did come back... Why lie, Robert, knowingly or unknowingly?

^^^ I don't imagine his doctor's opinion ever came into play when it came to wearing the Stormtrooper outfit. The fact that it was Easter Sunday might have had more to do with it... At least two forum members attended the 10 April show, and general consensus amongst the audience towards Page's attire was "Whoa..." One way or another Jimmy was definitely making some kind of statement wearing that getup.

:lol: What, did it taste like chicken instead of fish or something? Yeah, I vaguely remember those discussions...and yer right Steve, it was somebody else who claimed Badgely accompanied Page to Egypt. Didn't they sack Dr Badgely before the end of the first leg of the tour? Somewhere around the Cleveland dates I reckon, which would explain the Badgely references at the 27 April Destroyer show...

And admitted it proudly in interviews. "I'll never turn down alcohol, so a banana dacquiri is perfect for me" :lol: Steve, was it you who stated that Jimmy took the Good Doctor Badgely to Egypt with him between the first and second legs, ostensibly to assist Page with detoxing, etc?

A diet of banana dacquiris (some sources claim french fries as well), heroin, cocaine and Marlboros isn't exactly conducive to good sustained health Jimmy Page in 1977 was "Junkie Chic" before it became fashionable...some nights it looked like the fuckin' Gibson doubleneck weighed more than Page did. I have never subscribed to the 'gastroentritis' story regarding the 9 April show...even eyewitness accounts make it pretty clear that Jimmy was well fucked up on the night...his going into the SIBLY intro directly after "Sick Again" (a faux pas which Robert Plant tries to laugh off calling it "A blues night!") shows Page's disorientation. Normally he smoked like a chimney onstage in '77; that night he left the ciggies alone. My theory has always been that Page did a line too much of something while Plant was berating the crowd about lighting firecrackers after "No Quarter" and whatever Page ingested took hold during "Ten Years Gone". He bounced back nicely for the next night, though.

I was amazed at the amount of editing Page did on SIBLY compared to the other TSRTS tracks...why so much editing? (I get the feeling it was due at least in part to what Zappa would undoubtedly call "Cocaine Decisions" but who knows )

Happy belated Strider!

Duh...I meant to say eight not ten Not Quite A Senior Yet moment :lol:

I think the 28th was best mainly because of that "No Quarter". I don't listen to the 29th much. Even with The Song Remains The Same I never really gained appreciation for how Page assembled it until I found The Garden Tapes site. If I remember right, "Since I've Been Loving You" is the most Frankensteined track, jumping back and forth between the 29th and the 28th in the middle of verses and whatnot. Just using those three performances Page put together a pretty good live album and film soundtrack. And I much prefer the 1976 original album over the new one, mainly because the new one butchered "No Quarter" to make it match the film But I appreciate how Jimmy Page took those shows and was able to lash together a sort of quasi sequel to How The West Was Won for the news TSRTS release.

I always liked the "Lickin' Stick" ad libs...that whole bit and the "Gallows Pole" codas on the end of "Trampled Under Foot" are a couple of the coolest parts of the later '75 shows for me. And, of course "Woodstock" during "Dazed and Confused". So they only did seven out of ten Houses Of The Holy tracks live, looks like. They played the entire fourth album...only two out of seven for Presence, though...

...with John Paul Jones playing rhythm guitar on the tripleneck behind him, don't forget...although personally I would have preferred if JPJ had just played bass on "Ten Years Gone" leaving Page as sole guitarist. Why have an acoustic rhythm guitar, there are no acoustic guitars on the studio take, just massive intricately layered electric guitars foreshadowing Page's work on Presence...JPJ on the tripleneck (or 12 string, on the first leg of the '77 tour) seems kinda gratuitous to me on that song- save the acoustic instruments for the acoustic set...

IMO Billy Preston arguably stole the show most nights when he was with the Stones the same way he stole the show touring with George Harrison in 1974. Billy was one talented dude for sure (even if I do prefer Nicky Hopkins when it comes to tickling the ivories.) Shit, performing those two solo tunes with the Stones or Harrison was written into Billy's contract, which says a lot about the power the guy wielded for someone who was viewed as a mere sideman. I mean, Bobby Keys has put out a solo record or two, and as integral as he is to the Stones' sound you don't see Bobby playing his solo stuff onstage with them...Billy Preston did. On two whole tours. I always interpreted Plant's "So we didn't hire Billy Preston" remark as a bit of a dig at guys like the Stones or George, who did feel they needed his help onstage...Zeppelin's attitude was always like, "Fuck it! We don't need anybody else!" And, quite frankly, I think in some ways having a second guitarist/keyboardist for live performance could have only benefitted their sound...sometimes Zeppelin sounded very sparse onstage, compared to their immensely layered studio recordings. And, of course, having that fifth guy on stage would have enabled them to perform stuff like, say, "D'yer Mak'er"...

"So we didn't hire Billy Preston..."- Robert Plant, Birmingham 18/5/77 Thank you...I knew he did the teaser at the Badgeholders show!

You never know...if there was going to be a time when they'd actually play "D'yer Mak'er" it would have been in '73 I reckon.

Blah blah blah blah blah ...go fuck yerself, buddy ...it's painfully obvious that you have absolutely NOTHING positive to contribute to this discussion, or this forum, for that matter. I don't give a fuck if you did see the band at Earls Court or whatever other Zeppelin experiences you claim to have had. I don't give a fuck if you have been a long time lurker; you act like a newbie and you post like a goddamn newbie. I'm not here to be respected, asshole, I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to make positive contributions to the Zeppelin community, by sharing recordings, passing along knowledge and maybe -just maybe- being able to come across shows I've been searching for for years. It's self righteous, obnoxious pricks like you that make me wonder why the fuck I have anything to do with this community at all, and it's also tossers like you that give the Zeppelin community such a bad reputation. So I repeat: go fuck yerself, newbie. Find another fuckin' forum to troll in.

Then perhaps you'd care to enlighten us over why you think "D'yer Mak'er" is such a 'shite' song, then, instead of just stating it's a 'shite' song and a 'mistake'. Surely you must have actual, objective reasons, right? Otherwise you just come across as an asshole barging in and pissing all over the discussion...Catherine asked a reasonable question, which most of us tried to answer, except for yerself and the one guy who gave yer threadcrap post a "+1" reply. Not saying yer opinion is worthless or anything, but back it up with something. A word to the wise, since yer new here: a little tact and diplomacy goes a long way on this forum...yer not exactly off to a flying start here, not when respected forum veterans like myself, Melcore and Sue are calling you out after eight posts