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Longest Stairway to Heaven Version


rtyper

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yea, in 7th of July 1980 was the longest version about Stairway To Haven.... almost 15 minutes !

it's pretty good.

I don't think so. Jimmy treats the solo like he's at a rehearsal. He keeps laboring over it like every fretted note is a chore, stopping, pregnant pause, running over phrases over again until he's satisfied with it. It's pretty sad, really.

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I don't think so. Jimmy treats the solo like he's at a rehearsal. He keeps laboring over it like every fretted note is a chore, stopping, pregnant pause, running over phrases over again until he's satisfied with it. It's pretty sad, really.

I disagree about it being that bad , it's not the best but not the worst. I read somewhere Jimmy smoked a joint sometime near Stairway during that show and that may have something to do with the length. It does have a good bit of the melancholy , heavy on the bending , slow, trippy kind of soloing that was fairly common during some of the 1980 shows. I think he had a different kind of buzz going so he lost track a bit ! SIBLY on that tour had some similar sounds during the solo as well.

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I disagree about it being that bad , it's not the best but not the worst. I read somewhere Jimmy smoked a joint sometime near Stairway during that show and that may have something to do with the length. It does have a good bit of the melancholy , heavy on the bending , slow, trippy kind of soloing that was fairly common during some of the 1980 shows. I think he had a different kind of buzz going so he lost track a bit ! SIBLY on that tour had some similar sounds during the solo as well.

well i think the longest version must have been last week when i pressed the repeat button by mistake and it went on for about 2 hours before i relized what id done.....wow.what a night....must try that again some time , cheers...

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  • 1 month later...
I disagree about it being that bad , it's not the best but not the worst. I read somewhere Jimmy smoked a joint sometime near Stairway during that show and that may have something to do with the length. It does have a good bit of the melancholy , heavy on the bending , slow, trippy kind of soloing that was fairly common during some of the 1980 shows. I think he had a different kind of buzz going so he lost track a bit ! SIBLY on that tour had some similar sounds during the solo as well.

you think? Ive listened to the track alot, ive read the proper story about the joint thing, but if you ask me- i think it terrible. It suck's. If you listen to the other 80's show's, there not as pausy, and sloppy. But thats my opinion.

Etlist your positive!

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I thought it was a very interesting solo, not horrible as some here think, the 80 tour gets put down way too much here, it has the best versions of ALS on this tour, some very good SIBLY's and the last show also has the longest known TUF, and I think its a great version, and the WLL from Berlin just rocks.

I have every show from this tour and there are some very good ones,

Dortmond, Frankfort, Munich and Zurich are some that come to mind.

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Knebworth was way better than Berlin 1980!!! Way way way better. I don't like the 1980 tour. The worst ever. Jimmy was on drugs like hell. But Roberts voice started getting better and he could sing the ending from Stairway!

The Knebworth shows, in general, were abysmal. But it had its moments.

The tour over Europe was an awesome tour. Achilles, Trampled, SIBLY and Kashmir were all great.

Edited by MisterMcLov1n
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The Knebworth shows, in general, were abysmal. But it had its moments.

The tour over Europe was an awesome tour. Achilles, Trampled, SIBLY and Kashmir were all great.

The 4th was an alright show, with some really good moments, but the 11th was a disaster. Poor Jimmy sounded like he was playing with all thumbs that night. Strange, given the Copenhagen shows just a few weeks earlier were quite good IMO.

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  • 4 weeks later...
The Knebworth shows, in general, were abysmal. But it had its moments.

I don't agree with that statement, let's start with the Copenhagen warm-ups, on the first night, the band is really fluid and fresh, if a bit shaky at times, but pull off an overall great performance, accentuated by the debut of new material, then the second night would literally prove to be a performance for the ages, Page's playing especially is really fluent, probably one of the best, if not the best post- 73 performance, apart from him, the band is really inspired that night. Plant is really convinced and confident, a nice example is during Misty Mountain Hop, he goes for it all on one of the verses and reaches the original high note, if a bit raspy, Jones delivers not only great, precise bass playing but also a great piano solo in No Quarter, along with some nice piano work too during Stairway To Heaven, Bonzo is also quite noteworthy, his performance is pure class and he nails the fills with ease and creativity, not the most incredible of performances but as good as you hope it to be.

Then onto Knebworth, the band, heading into the first show is in a really fine state, as the first show show begins, the nerves get the best of Page and he fumbles a bit during The Song Remains the Same, Celebration Day and Black Dog, but then on, his playing is really fluent, if with a few mistakes here and there, Plant is really good at this gig, belting out every line nicely , his voice sometimes gives up on him but he does a nice performance through the show, Bonzo's performance is as good as the past one in Copenhagen and it shows, he really is there to inject energy when things threaten to fall apart and it shows, Jonesy as usual is rock solid. The show overall is great, it starts picking up during Over the Hills, and it doesn't let down, a nice, professional performance. Then onto the second show, probably the worst performance they ever had as an overall group in Britain, Page is really messy through the show, showing the uglier side of his playing, Bonzo is fine but not as good as the previous shows, the Jovial spirit from the three previous performances is quite non existent now, Plant however is atomic this time around, going for high notes and mostly hitting them, an impressive performance, the best of the year. The gig has a few moments of inspiration though, but the excitement is not there.

Hope this sets the record straight.

And by the way, the second longest Stairway, dates from July 20th 1977 in Tempe, Arizona, Page is strung out. Third longest is a tie between June 26th 1977 in The LA Forum and June 26th 1980 in Vienna.

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