BEST OF THE YEAR ROUND UP:
There’s been some truly fantastic albums and CD’s this past year so here’s my listings…
DL Best Of Year LP/CD releases:
These are my favourite vinyl LP and CD acquisitions of 2020 in no particular order:
Paul Weller – On Sunset  2LP
Bob Dylan –  Rough And Rowdy Ways  2LP
Bruce Springsteen – Letter To You  2LP
The Rolling Stones – Goats Head Soup reissue 2 LP
Led Zeppelin Transmissions 1969   2 CD
Led Zeppelin –   A Memory Frozen Forever –  Berlin July 7, 1980 3 LP bootleg
Led Zeppelin – More Comedy Less …

So this is Christmas …so here’s some Zep related Christmas memories….
TBL Retro Christmas Reflection:
 Christmas always bringing with it that air of nostalgia, so here’s a seasonal TBL retro reflection from 1972:
ALLY PALLY 48 YEARS GONE:
48 years ago on Saturday December 23rd  1972, I was lucky enough to be in attendance at the closest gig Led Zeppelin ever played to Christmas in the UK. It was a cold  dank day and the walk up Muswell Hill to the Alexandra Palace was a bit of a trek. All worth it of course, as …

TBL Archive Special:
Golden Lion Reunion 39 years gone…

December 15 – that is a date that always revives memories of the first public reunion of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones which I was lucky enough to be in attendance.
Here’s the story:
Back in the early months of 1981, Lynn Sizemore who was PR to the Golden Lion Roadies Charity For Children Association, the charity formed from the Fulham pub often frequented by the Zep / Swan Song entourage, approached me to publicise in the next issue of TBL, a children’s …

 
Led Zeppelin Vinyl The Essential Collection by Ross Halfin
Now this is something to look forward to in 2021…this will be an essential addition to the Zep bookshelf. I’ve been in touch with Ross about the book recently and it really is going to be something special.
Here is all the info:
Led Zeppelin Vinyl: The Essential Collection by Ross Halfin. Published by Reel Art Press and available to pre-order nowAll pre-orders placed before April 17, 2021 will be signed by Ross Halfin
“Collecting vinyl is an addiction. Nothing beats listening to vinyl and pouring …

It was 40 years ago …they could not continue as they were…

40 years ago this week I vividly remember taking a call from the Musician’s Only paper and being asked for a quote – these were sad times indeed – and it was about to get worse. The whole ‘Zep to split’ story would get buried somewhat when just four days later John Lennon was shot dead in New York…
Looking back at my diary entry for 40 years ago this very day it started off as a fairly ordinary Thursday.
The …

TBL Archive Special :
Melody Maker Poll Awards: November 28, 1979 – 41 years gone…
41 years ago on a late cold November afternoon in 1979, I walked into the plush surroundings of the Waldorf Hotel in London and ordered a vodka and lime at the bar just behind Richard Cole who was organising drinks for three quarters of Led Zeppelin.
The occasion was the annual Melody Maker Poll Awards for which Peter Grant had rounded up Robert, Bonzo and Jonesy to accept a remarkable seven awards. Richard Cole and assorted roadies and …

ELECTRIC MAGIC 49 YEARS GONE:
 
November 21st is always a bit of a special date in my calander year – as it was on this day back in 1971 that I was lucky enough to witness Led Zeppelin live at the Empire Pool Wembley –and as you will read, nothing was ever the same in our house after that. Over the next few days  I’ll be wading through the Empire Strikes Back Tarantura CD box set to recall the night the Wembley Empire Pool was, as the Melody Maker headline ran  ‘Zapped …

Led Zeppelin Berkeley Daze 1st Night 4 LP bootleg box set: 
Here’s my thoughts on the recently released Berkeley Daze 1st Night 4 LP bootleg box set… 
48 years ago this month I purchased my first ever Led Zeppelin bootleg. It was the famous Live On Blueberry Hill on the Trade Mark of Quality label on colored vinyl. I paid £6 for it via a postal order to a mail order outlet I saw advertising in Sounds music paper. It’s arrival on Thursday December 14 1972 was a red letter day for sure.
Thus …

JOHN PAUL JONES  NEW COMPOSITION PREMIERED AT LONDON INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF EARLY MUSIC:
The London International Festival of Early Music (LIFEM) staged the world premiere performance of ‘The Tudor Pull’, a newly commissioned work by John, written for acclaimed viol consort Fretwork.
The world premiere of the newly composed piece was broadcast at 7.00pm on Thursday 5th November from the LIFEM website -link below:
https://lifem.org/pages/fretwork-in-concert
http://www.lifem.org

This isn’t the first time that John’s music has been performed at LIFEM, his hauntingly beautiful Amores Pasados, settings of three Spanish poems were performed by tenor John Potter …

Here’s something to look forward to…
JOHN PAUL JONES  COMMISSIONED BY LONDON INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF EARLY MUSIC
This via JP’s official website:
The London International Festival of Early Music (LIFEM) has just announced the world premiere performance of ‘The Tudor Pull’, a newly commissioned work by John, written for acclaimed viol consort Fretwork.
The world premiere of the newly composed piece will be broadcast at 7.00pm on Thursday 5th November from the LIFEM website -link below:
http://www.lifem.org
This isn’t the first time that John’s music has been performed at LIFEM, his hauntingly beautiful Amores Pasados, settings …