Something New from Led Zeppelin Being Mastered Now

That's how he felt before the release of the DVD and HTWWW in '03... but I think they went a long way in redressing that imbalance in Jimmy's eyes.

And besides, even if Plant hadn't put the kibosh on the chronological live album, it still wouldn't have included anything from '77, and that would have made it incomplete to me, so I'm good with how things have worked out... more so if Earl's Court ever gets an official release.

 

Had JP released a chronological live album in '82, it would have conceivably contained material from 1970 (RAH), 1971 (Paris Theatre), 1972 (LA & Long Beach), 1973 (Southampton/NYC), 1975 (Earls Court), and 1979 (Knebworth). That would have been pretty comprehensive.

 

I would still welcome this. Can't play the DVD on my turntable!!

 

Exactly. I think the problem these days is the overexposure of bootlegs recordings. So many people today have already heard most of the stuff that exists for Zeppelin that there are complaints the second the tracklisting is announced or if it's rumoured that things are "missing" or doctored up. With a lot of those released in the 60's and 70's live albums most people didn't necessarily know in detail what we were missing at the time.
If Ya Ya's or Leeds was released today I wouldn't be surprised if there was a similar letdown if people had heard boots of those complete shows for years leading up to release.

 

That is true, and the other issue is that a number of artists have released complete, unedited concerts -- so when Zeppelin goes down the HTWWW route and edits, omits, and creates composite performances, there are a faction of fans who are unhappy with the presentation.

 

Can't really say that I blame them, though. Especially when you consider that Jimmy Page's excuse for not officially releasing a raw soundboard archive as many other bands have done is that he doesn't want some of the sloppier playing on some of those shows officially released yet there are songs on some of Zeppelin's studio albums with their own share of sloppy guitar playing -ever sat and listened to the solo guitar in "Heartbreaker", for example, or the intro to "Hot Dog"?...pretty sloppy!- that he willingly released for all the world to hear. It seems like a double standard and there are Zeppelin fans out there who are sick of hearing that excuse for so long. We're not that picky, Jimmy! As fans we know there were nights when Zeppelin (namely Page and/or Plant, to be honest) were less than perfect but we accept it.

 

If anyone thinks Jimmy might be loosening up after all these years, the new Yardbirds '68 set has some editing going on, as reported in that thread.

 

No sloppy, smacked-out '77 recordings = no properly comprehensive Zep chronological live album... them's my terms and I stand by it .

 

Damn right! In spite of its many flaws and iffy performances I love the '77 tour.

 

Someone after my own heart!

 

I don't blame the band at all. It is appropriate that they want their musical legacy protected and represented in the best possible light. Bootlegs are one thing, and widely available mainstream live albums are another.

 

Nothing from 1968 exists than can be released. ?

 

Perhaps there is now. We were talking about what conceivably could have been released as part of a chronological live album circa 1982 instead of Coda (and it is unclear if JP even had access to the 1971 Paris Theatre tapes back then). Maybe JP had the rumored 1968 2-track tape in the early 1980's, but IIRC, the archives were not particularly well-organized back then. There were tapes in JP's possession, tapes at Swan Song, tapes at Atlantic, tapes at Olympic, etc.

 

Reading the Barney hoskyns book on Zeppelin, Plant referred to "when I heard the tape of the first rehearsal.....". Who knows if it still exists but I'm 100% convinced there was one at one point, and it's not just a figure of speech by Plant.

 

I would not doubt that there is (or was) a tape of the first rehearsal. But it's possible - likely even - that it was a single mic in the middle of the room, akin to the "Fire" demo/rehearsal tape we have from the In Through the Out Door period. Not suitable for release.

Of course, I'm just speculating and could be wrong.

 

There may be a number of "tapes" of rehearsals in the band's possession (including rumored taped rehearsals from 1977), but "tape" can be broadly defined in terms of sound quality. Some of those tapes may sound like crap or be unreleasable for other reasons. Think about the rehearsal tape of "Fire" that surfaced from the 1980 rehearsals; it sounds absolutely terrible, certainly not up to commercial release standards.

EDIT: tmtomh beat me to it.

 

Has anyone considered the possibility the January 1973 recording Page referred to in his Oxford address might be something other than Southampton?

I’m thinking particularly of Stoke. That is a great quality recording, much better than the usual flat dry Zep soundboards. It has nice punchy bottom end and from memory more ambience than usual on the vocals and guitar (been a while since I’ve heard it though).

I wonder if that recording could be something more than a soundboard. I know it’s never rumoured to have been multitracked but you never know. It’s possible they may have done more than just Southampton around that time.

 

I guess he wants to keep the person behind The Garden Tapes busy.

 

The Garden Tapes - How The West Was Won

 

I was at the 1972 long Beach Arena show the band were on fire but what really blew me away was John Bonham what a performance John put on his playing was incredible and the drum sound shook the arena just amazing! I saw Led Zeppelin in may of 1969 at the Rose Palace in Pasadena Ca. Man the band was young and hungry I wish they would release that show if it was recorded? Anybody know if the Rose Palace show was recorded?

 

I read somewhere that Page's decision to record Southampton Uni was a last minute thing and was the only show professionally recorded on that UK tour.
They didn't even record the Southampton Guildhall show from the day before. I'd love to be proved wrong however.

 

I heard on this forum that Page thought the Uni venue had particularly good acoustics, hence the recording? He would know, although it seems an odd thing if it did, uni venues weren't exactly designed for great sound, more a way to make loadsamoney on beer sales.

 

Nothing new on this front?
I thought we also were forgetting about Montreux 70 as a potential candidate for a supposed live compilation.

 

If the last time John Davis leaked Zeppelin-related news is anything to go by (mentioned in January, officially announced beginning of March), we may hear something soon. Of course, we have no idea where he is in the mastering process so who knows

Edit: And I didn’t forget about Montreux ‘70! The leaked last four songs of the concert sound really good, whole show is fantastic and would be a welcome release

 

In last month's Uncut, Robert Plant was asked if he still speaks to Jimmy Page, and he answered (I'm paraphrasing) "yes, talked to Jimmy on the phone 10 days ago, and John Paul Jones too. At the same time!" Or words to that effect, 'cos I didn't end up buying the mag. So maybe they were discussing whatever Davis is working on, or it was just a yearly or quarterly thing they do, discussing Zep business.

About 90 minutes of How The West Was Won leaked out in late '02 - early '03. It was probably mp3-sourced, and didn't sound as good as what finally came out. I still have it around here somewhere.