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The Last Great Gig


pinky

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As we all should know Plant's voice was not able to go high in 1973 like the previous year 1972 I have boot from Japan 72 and that was just before the U.K. tour wich went into 73 and Plant sounds very much like the American tour but it just seemed every time he tried to sing and belt it high his voice would crack MUCH more frequently than in America wich leads me to believe this tour was "the end". I have only heard Southampton of the 73 tour so I dont really have an idea how his voice was that tour.

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Pinky,

If you have The Song Remains The Same, was recorded July 27, 28 & 29, 1973 at Madison Square Garden.

So, you can compare what you think Robert's voice sounds like too you between January to July 1973.

Edited by LedZep4Ever
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Pinky,

If you have The Song Remains The Same, was recorded July 27, 28 & 29, 1973 at Madison Square Garden.

So, you can compare what you think Robert's voice sounds like too you between January to July 1973.

Yah he did have a better sounding voice that night but it was relativley the same and I know when TSRTS was recorded. But that is not what I asked his voice was already gone from what it was "in range" at least until 79. ;)

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The 1971 US tour saw the start of Plant's vocal decline really. He had problems earlier that year and Zepp had to delay the BBC Paris Theatre gig (1971-04-01) because of this. Plant still sang strong and high after this, even if he may not have gone for all the high notes (for example Black Dog or the ending of Stairway). The latter part of the Australian 1972 tour shows Plant in excellent voice, sounding more powerful than he had for much of the previous year.

Another drop came at the start of the 1972 US tour when his voice was noticably more shrill (as opposed to powerful and raw) when he went for the high notes and cracking started to occur. The Japan 1972 tour, at the beginning of October, saw more of a shrill and cracking Plant. The first night of the tour started badly and ended fantastically - just listen to the 1972-10-02 Stairway... fantastic, but the majority of dates on the Japan 1972 tour saw Plant in weak voice.

The 1972/1973 UK tour is probably the real turning point for Plant. His voice became weaker and less powerful from the start of these shows, but at the last 72 date (1972-12-23) he is still capable of pulling off a good Immigrant Song wail. But then we go over the Christmas break and hit... Sheffield. January 2nd 1973. This is Plant's worst voice night that I know of. He can't and refuses to go for any high notes, his voice goes all over the place in Rock and Roll, and the ending of Stairway is sung in a low monotone. Plant complains of bad flu in this show and it's hard not to believe him.

After Sheffield, Zeppelin continued to perform dates in the UK until the end of January 1973. Plant's voice gradually improved throughout these dates - his voice gained more power and sounded less shrill, but he was still not able to hit the high notes with confidence. Throughout 1973 Plant's voice remains different to his previous years and indeed will never sound the same again. He gains confidence towards the end of the first leg of the 1973 US tour (Kezar, LA Forum etc) and sounds generally great and powerful, even with a lot of cracking of his voice. The second leg of the epic US tour starts out with Plant in bad shape but by last week he sounds absolutely fantastic, his most powerful and confident since the 1972 US tour. Listen to 1973-07-28 in MSG... Plant's voice is strong and confident.

So after the 1973 tour ends we fast forward to January 1975. The early '75 shows are infamous for Plant's bad flu-ridden voice and indeed it does not sound good. Plant has the raw power from the end of the previous tour but he simply can't hit his trademark high notes. It is not until March 1975 that his voice comes back full force. It is at its most raw and strong, and Plant is able to match his studio attempts at tracks like Trampled Under Foot with devastating effect. Listen to 1975-03-20 / 21 and you'll learn to love that sheer power of his voice. The rest of the 75 shows, including Earls Court, see Plant in good consistent voice.

You know I've been typing this for 10 minutes and I really don't see what the fuck for. Listen to the bootlegs and find out about Robert's wonderful ever-changing voice for yourself. Ignore this post. :D

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The 1971 US tour saw the start of Plant's vocal decline really. He had problems earlier that year and Zepp had to delay the BBC Paris Theatre gig (1971-04-01) because of this. Plant still sang strong and high after this, even if he may not have gone for all the high notes (for example Black Dog or the ending of Stairway). The latter part of the Australian 1972 tour shows Plant in excellent voice, sounding more powerful than he had for much of the previous year.

~snip~

You know I've been typing this for 10 minutes and I really don't see what the fuck for. Listen to the bootlegs and find out about Robert's wonderful ever-changing voice for yourself. Ignore this post. :D

excellent post!

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i totally agree with silvervishnu. I just want to point out that while his voice was definitely more confident and powerful in summer '73, it had a raspiness and roughness to it. It was just different, not bad at all... I really do love his voice, no matter when and how good it was. He is my favorite singer of all time!

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Following on from SV's post I'd say the last time we heard Plant in the really devistating form of his early career was the first LA Forum show from 71. After that it was noticble that he started to cut back on the extreme vocal gynastics even if he didnt start to really show signs of wear until the US 72 tour.

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if you're talking about range, just go through all your boots and listen to communication breakdown, and listen to how he sounds at the "having a nervous breakdown" part. in 71, he usually tries to hit the notes but his voice sort of breaks up and you can tell he's really forcing it. by late '71 (i'm just going by Osaka) he doesn't even attempt to hit the high notes, and does it an octave down. by the end of the 72 us tour his voice really starts to have a different sound to it. but i think 6/25 /72 LA is still one of plant's best vocal performances, even if he can't hit the crazy high notes he could in 1970.

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if you're talking about range, just go through all your boots and listen to communication breakdown, and listen to how he sounds at the "having a nervous breakdown" part. in 71, he usually tries to hit the notes but his voice sort of breaks up and you can tell he's really forcing it. by late '71 (i'm just going by Osaka) he doesn't even attempt to hit the high notes, and does it an octave down. by the end of the 72 us tour his voice really starts to have a different sound to it. but i think 6/25 /72 LA is still one of plant's best vocal performances, even if he can't hit the crazy high notes he could in 1970.

Agreed, I think that LA show from 72 is probably his last 'GREAT' performance where he could pretty much sing everything the way he wanted to. Still not close as good as past tours but close enough.

I've always loved Plant's singing on 8/21/71 his voice is really high during that show, and he really tries to reach back for that something extra, that and 9/2/70 are two of my favorite Plant shows, his singing is incredible. He sounds great in every 1970 show but that one from Oakland is especially good for him, IMO.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Even as early as 1970, repercussions from the way he was singing started to become evident, listen Communication Breakdown from RAH. He struggles slightly on "havin' a nervous breakdown...". On one of my earlier '70 boots (from the UK tour), I distinctly hear him sing: "HAVIN' A NERVA!!!!!-EOus breakdown DRIVE ME INSANE!!!!!! He all but mumbles the word "breakdown" and "nervous" is nigh unrecognisable!

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Even as early as 1970, repercussions from the way he was singing started to become evident, listen Communication Breakdown from RAH. He struggles slightly on "havin' a nervous breakdown...". On one of my earlier '70 boots (from the UK tour), I distinctly hear him sing: "HAVIN' A NERVA!!!!!-EOus breakdown DRIVE ME INSANE!!!!!! He all but mumbles the word "breakdown" and "nervous" is nigh unrecognisable!

Even in early 1969 he started loosing his voice some even say before he was born his voice was starting to loose it :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Edited by jimmy page66
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In 40 more years will it really matter?

I mean really. Something as trivial as Robert's voice going? Where did it go?

Next thing you know we'll have a thread dedicated to Jimmy's guitar playing and it's decline due to his heroin abuse. Oh wait... I'm sure that's been covered.

Or how about Bonzo's steady drinking and his decline into the grave? Oops... that's been covered too.

I know!!! Let's pick on Jonesy!!! There's got to be SOMETHING that lead to his decline.

I'm going to step out now and piss in the wind. :wave:

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