09/29/1971 Osaka - Stairway To Heaven - EVSD SBD Single

[pluribus]

1 minute ago, Sticks of Fire said:

The guy who ran the Lazers during the 1977 tour was given the Noise solo snippet by the band for cues.   He gave that to Hotel to upload.  

So the band certainly must have all the LA 1977 soundboards. 

Pretty cool that even as early as 1979 Page already had a high regard for the Badgeholders show. He could’ve chosen any of the gigs from the 77 tour to give instructions for the lighting cues. I don’t think the Dragonfly Badgeholders vinyl was even out lby the time of Knebworth, so the legend/reputation of those LA shows really wasn’t on anyone’s radar back then. Only the band, and maybe a handful of tapers and traders back then knew how “uniquely” good those shows were. Attendees of the LA gigs could’ve easily assumed that all the gigs on the 1977 were as good as that run. It would be another 15 years before the full picture of the 77 tour would emerge, via connecting all of those audience tapes and the release of those soundboards.

[Sticks of Fire]

Just had to watch the Tokyo 1971 8mm film.   Omg how exciting these Japan 1971 shows are!!

Edited October 5, 2018 by Sticks of Fire

[the-ocean87]

5 hours ago, porgie66 said:

If this version of Stairway were to be used for an official release, there would have to be an edit made at the end. Bonzo makes an uncharacteristic mistake and it nearly throws off the band....I doubt Page would be OK with that. 

Plant is also out of pitch on some parts after the guitar solo. Jimmy would have to use pitch correction.

Edited October 5, 2018 by the-ocean87

[drpete]

Since we got Black Dog from 9/28,  its gotta be assumed a chunk of, if not all, of that show is out there.  Will be very interesting to see what comes out.  Will go the torrent route for now until I feel a complete recording is available 

[Sticks of Fire]

50 minutes ago, drpete said:

Since we got Black Dog from 9/28,  its gotta be assumed a chunk of, if not all, of that show is out there.  Will be very interesting to see what comes out.  Will go the torrent route for now until I feel a complete recording is available 

It’s interesting that a few years ago that article was written in a magazine with people who recorded the Zeppelin Japan shows for the band....now a few years later soundboards of the shows are turning up.  Like the guys had these tapes all these years and now are letting copies loose. 

[ZepHead315]

4 hours ago, Sticks of Fire said:

Did they play it on 9/24?   I need to revisit that show.   I always like Tokyo 9/22 and Osaka 9/28 the best. 

Nope. They didn't play it at all on the 24th. They only played it on the 28th (apart from the aforementioned tease on the 23rd).

The 24th is a great show to revisit. I personally think it's Plant's best night of the tour. He nails quite a few of the highs in Black Dog for example, which is pretty rare for that period. 

I'm in total agreement with you about 9/23 Tokyo and 9/28 Osaka as being the best shows. A pity the 28th doesn't have better sound, although the recordings we have (for the most part) aren't that bad.

[badgeholder]

3 hours ago, pluribus said:

I don’t think the Dragonfly Badgeholders vinyl was even out by the time of Knebworth

Not sure about that, I seem to recall it coming out very quickly, like within a few months after the show. I could be mistaken.

As for Osaka, man it sounds good, too good to be just a soundboard if you ask me...

[JohnOsbourne]

6 hours ago, ZepHead315 said:

I'm afraid I don't quite understand this. If EVSD does indeed have Pontiac and the Forum 77 shows, then wouldn't it make sense that they're holding out on releasing them since those shows are so highly regarded? Yes, the physical market is drying up every year because fans are getting older and torrenting is so ubiquitous, but I would think EVSD would want to save the best for last. Hence why most of the shows they've released (Seattle and Osaka notwithstanding) have been mostly ranging from mediocre to decent but nothing earth shattering. Plus, what about the noise solo from 6/23? Did EVSD release that or was it put out by another label? (I can't remember off the top of my head).

What puzzles me is why they're holding on to the LA 75 shows. I mean, are they really THAT highly regarded? I always felt the general consensus was that they were a step down from Seattle and not a good showcase of the band at their best. Unless EVSD is planning some type of box set release of all three shows in the near future, I can't see why they would want to hold on to them for so long (assuming they have them). Long Beach sure, but not LA.

The Forum shows are indeed weaker than the other shows on the great West Coast run, not just Seattle.  But there are still some killer moments there and there is a certain allure to Zeppelin in the Forum.  I think any LA soundboard would be a big deal (esp. a box set), although no doubt at this stage there's a good deal of '75 fatigue.

For clarity I probably shouldn't have included Pontiac and Badgeholder shows with a discussion of the '75 boards. There's been a good enough mix and large enough sample for '75 to conclude that it's very unlikely they have anything from January and early February.  Keep in mind that if they had the entire tour, this would include the unreleased Pittsburgh show, which would unquestionably generate great interest.  The fact that the January performances were sub-par in many ways isn't a enough strong reason to think that's why the early leg of tour has been held back, IMO.

For '77, as was discussed above a block of tapes was taken from the band.  This probably explains what we've seen for the '77 boards:  they were taken in May when the second leg began, and the band didn't figure it out until they got to NY in early June (surprised they caught on at all given how drugged out they all were).  If true, this event makes unlikely Pontiac or the Forum.  Ultimately it comes down to:  what reason do you have to believe tapes of these shows exist, outside of the band (Page and probably Jason Bonham)?  I can't see a good reason, and I generally need a reason to believe something, faith aside.

 

 

[duckman]

After ordering my copy  last weekend, Empress Valley's Geisha 2CD HTEWW box was delivered at my doorstep Friday morning... and honestly  I can't get over it. Through the years I have listened to dozens of versions of the last Osaka 71 show. The infamous 1974 TAKRL Cellar-full of Noise album, Wild Side (on Toasted Condor CD..."oh, they played 'Friends?") in 1990, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Mud Dogs), Fatally Wanderer (Wendy) and Live in Japan (6 CD Wendy). These sets transported me to the stage of Osaka Festival Hall (I can hum it, dream it while awake). But this new potent, punchy  and well balanced, mono live album grabbed me by the crutch. The flow is just incredible.

Completing this 2CD set with  the previously released singles and 'Whole lotta love' (Please, can we have it for X mas , EV?), Celebration Day and Tangerine, will generate the best ever Live album ever. Period. Matrix'ng with the stereo source would yield an even more better representation. 

(Oh yeah, and the Geisha artwork is spot on.... although I would baptize this Live Album 'Bless your Socks' 🖖)

Edited October 7, 2018 by duckman

[Walter]

On 10/1/2018 at 10:57 PM, duckman said:

...and they included not only Stairway and Friends, but added the 928 SB Black Dog as a bonus.

guess this one will sell like hot biscuits 

Yes it will! I just preordered a copy

[Bonzo_fan]

On 10/5/2018 at 9:34 AM, porgie66 said:

If this version of Stairway were to be used for an official release, there would have to be an edit made at the end. Bonzo makes an uncharacteristic mistake and it nearly throws off the band....I doubt Page would be OK with that. 

Yes, I noticed this for the first time on the board as well.

[Xolo1974]

I think this board sounds absolutely fantastic. Can’t wait to hear the rest of it...assuming it gets trickled out. Then I’ll stump up and buy it 

[SteveZ98]

I've been working on this show since it came out. The problem is I keep listening to it instead of remastering it because the performance is so good. I used to favor the 1973 shows in Germany over the 1971 ones in Japan. However, I need to rethink that opinion based on this soundboard. Also, I'm not sure if it was brought up before, but what happens around the 45 second mark? It sounds like a really poorly done overdub, but I'm guessing it's a bum note from one of the guys. 

 

[Mattius]

On ‎10‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 2:34 PM, porgie66 said:

If this version of Stairway were to be used for an official release, there would have to be an edit made at the end. Bonzo makes an uncharacteristic mistake and it nearly throws off the band....I doubt Page would be OK with that. 

Maybe so, but you'd need to be a mega fan or audiophile listener to notice!

[hummingbird69]

On 10/7/2018 at 6:56 PM, Bonzo_fan said:

Yes, I noticed this for the first time on the board as well.

What is the exact time of this "mistake"?

[dullarmor]

"Osaka — 1971, Sept. 29th" being one of my favorite Led Zeppelin shows, like many of you, I was super happy when I heard a decent mix of the soundboard would be released by EVSD, but was disappointed to discover that the two tracks they previously published on a sampler CD, namely 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Friends', were not included on How the East Was Won.

I don't know if that bothers you as much as me, but I searched a version of the same quality including 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Friends' and found it!

JamesKG, the Traders' Den audio thread moderator, published a torrent file of EVSD's How the East Was Won with 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Friends' inserted where they belong in the setlist. All files are lossless (FLAC). Thanks a lot to him!

 

 

[porgie66]

6 hours ago, hummingbird69 said:

What is the exact time of this "mistake"?

If you need that then you don't notice it! 😏

[porgie66]

9 hours ago, Mattius said:

Maybe so, but you'd need to be a mega fan or audiophile listener to notice!

There are a lot of mega fans and to anyone who listens to Zep often, it's obvious. 

[tmtomh]

1 hour ago, dullarmor said:

"Osaka — 1971, Sept. 29th" being one of my favorite Led Zeppelin shows, like many of you, I was super happy when I heard a decent mix of the soundboard would be released by EVSD, but was disappointed to discover that the two tracks they previously published on a sampler CD, namely 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Friends', were not included on How the East Was Won.

I don't know if that bothers you as much as me, but I searched a version of the same quality including 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Friends' and found it!

JamesKG, the Traders' Den audio thread moderator, published a torrent file of EVSD's How the East Was Won with 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Friends' inserted where they belong in the setlist. All files are lossless (FLAC). Thanks a lot to him!

 

 

James did a great service to everyone with that merge of all the soundboard tracks!

One thing I've learned recently from folks with a better ear for pitch than me: Apparently this soundboard source runs 1.5% to 2% fast. It's easy to fix in Audacity or another free app. I slowed my copy down by 1.5% (because it's better to end up with a source that might be a tiny bit fast than a tiny bit slow - nothing sounds worse than a tape that runs too slow). It was easy and the result is great.

[hummingbird69]

1 hour ago, porgie66 said:

If you need that then you don't notice it! 😏

If you can't point it out it's not there ;)))

[Mattius]

12 hours ago, porgie66 said:

There are a lot of mega fans and to anyone who listens to Zep often, it's obvious. 

I have over 300 pressed Live Zep Cd's - So it's safe to say I am a little obsessed. I didn't notice it the first time I listened to it!!

Edited October 10, 2018 by Mattius

[JTM]

12 hours ago, porgie66 said:

There are a lot of mega fans and to anyone who listens to Zep often, it's obvious. 

No it isn't, I can't here it, so where is it.

[porgie66]

On 10/9/2018 at 5:35 PM, hummingbird69 said:

If you can't point it out it's not there ;)))

Its there...use your ears, you'll hear it. Also...its been discussed earlier in the thread. 😉

[hummingbird69]

11 hours ago, porgie66 said:

Its there...use your ears, you'll hear it. Also...its been discussed earlier in the thread. 😉

I have used my ears and there is no mistaker during the time suggested on the other page. Bonham is perfect from the start of the solo all the way through to the end. I hear nothing wrong at the 8:40 mark or beyond.

[porgie66]

13 minutes ago, hummingbird69 said:

I have used my ears and there is no mistaker during the time suggested on the other page. Bonham is perfect from the start of the solo all the way through to the end. I hear nothing wrong at the 8:40 mark or beyond.