Firstly an update on the state of play with the TBL Product frenzy distribution.

TBL 29 has been distributed over the past few days and subscriber UK copies should be arriving now – Overseas copies should also be well on the way. Initial orders for the Led Zeppelin Feather In The Wind – Over Europe 1980 are now on the way out – again UK orders should be arriving in the next few days with overseas orders following over the next two to three weeks. Orders for T-shirts will begin to be distributed over the next week.

Many thanks for your patience in advance – the TBL distribution factory (that’s me and the good lady Janet!) has been working flat out to fulfill orders as they come in and ongoing we aim to be turning them around as received.

There’s been a fantastic initial reaction to the book – Planet Rock has a news story about the book on their website and I am due to appear on Nicky Horne’s Planet Rock evening show in the next couple of weeks. The current issue of Classic Rock has a two page preview of the book with a selection of photos taken by Tom Locke that appear in the book.

Remember the book is on offer at a special introductory offer price so be sure to order as soon as possible. Within all the product frenzy it’s worth mentioning not to miss out on TBL 29. If you have yet to re-subscribe (and looking at the listing a fair few 2010 subscribers have yet to do so), don’t miss out – this issue sets up a trio of info packed TBL magazines due this year – again reader feedback has been very positive with the Bob Harris interview, Phil Tait’s I Was There Back To the Clubs retrospective, Mike Tremaglio’s Spring ‘71 tour log, the BCC latest and Rikky Rooksby intensive study of Stairway To Heaven proving essential TBL reading.

The TBL Distribution two taking a deserved break from packing the TBL goods -hey one day those T-shirts might be worth a fair sum – order now!

Back to the book: Once you have your copy in your hands, an appropriate soundtrack as you wade through the contents will be required. As I’ve been packing books earnestly here its been great to get acquainted again with titles such as Cologne ‘80, Brussels Affair,Tour Of Europe 1980 (Zurich), Hotter Than The Hindenburg (Frankfurt) and Complete Berlin. Key contributor to the book Larry M. Bergmann jr also compiled his own personal selection of the best individual song performances. Here’s his take on the best of the best from the Over Europe tour –as featured in the book.

’Having listened intensely to the Over Europe 1980 tour tapes and CD’s, I have identified what I consider to be the best performance of each number they performed as part of the Over Europe 1980 set list. These are the performances that would line up on my version of an imaginary live box set from the Over Europe 1980 tour. ‘’Shall we roll it Jimmy….’’

Larry M. Bergmann jr

Train Kept A Rollin’

Cologne, June 18th

Nobody’s Fault But Mine

Brussels, June 20th

Black Dog

Bremen, June 23rd

In The Evening

Zurich, June 29th

The Rain Song

Dortmund, June 17th

Hot Dog

Bremen, June 23rd

All My Love

Zurich, June 29th

Trampled Underfoot

Hannover, June 24th

Since I’ve Been Loving You

Brussels, June 20th

Achilles Last Stand

Munich, July 5th

White Summer/Black Mountain Side

Brussels, June 20th

Kashmir

Frankfurt, June 30th

Stairway To Heaven

Hannover, June 24th

Rock And Roll

Berlin, July 7th

Whole Lotta Love

Berlin, July 7th

Heartbreaker

Rotterdam, June 21st

Communication Breakdown

Cologne, June 18th

Money

Frankfurt, June 30th

A mighty fine list indeed that demonstrates that the 1980 Led Zeppelin could still cut it.  Yes, they were erratic and there were nights when it did not always come together with the fluency of their earlier years. When it was good though, the 1980 Led Zeppelin was still utterly spellbinding. I know because I was lucky enough to be there.

Here’s some more observations of mine taken from the introduction to the book:

‘’Listening to Led Zeppelin performing in Europe all those years back reveals an endearingly vulnerable quality unique to this tour. The cock-sure knowing arrogance of 1973 and 1975 was long gone.  Instead, what we hear over those performances is a purity and honesty in their playing. That mistakes occur only lends to the humility of these four players who had long since needed to prove themselves.

So yes, Led Zeppelin were loud, brutal and primeval, and still projected that gift of spontaneous musical combustion. But no, Led Zeppelin were not washed up in 1980. True, the grandiosity of 1977 and Knebworth was a thing of the past, but by and large the performances of those Europe gigs provided enough evidence that they could reclaim their American crown had they toured there in the autumn. America was a whole different ballgame to the climate in the UK. Punk and new wave never fully penetrated there, and they would have been on decidedly more safer ground than here at home.

Given all that had gone on in the past three years, the question still remained: What kind of future did Led Zeppelin have in the 1980s?’’

To read more order the book now…..

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Hopefully after wading through Led Zeppelin Feather In the Wind –Over Europe 1980 you will have a clearer picture on these final days of the band. It’s the story of the Led Zeppelin tour that time forgot…until now

Invest and be enlightened…

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So is there life after the Zep Fest Cancellation? Well yes there is. We’ve dusted ourselves down here on got on with things -and may I say sincere thanks again for the simply amazing and inspirational comments and support that has come in from all corners. My stock is still in transit and sorting out the aftermath has been time consumming.Valiently some of the TBL crew bit the bullet and travalled over anyway to soak up the sights of DC and meet with legendary memorabilia collector Brian Knapp. Mark Harrison and Michaela Firth and Gary Foy have all hooked up for the weekend –  folks, have a toast for absent friends – we would have loved to have been there but it wasn’t to be.

Zep Fest 2011 – Cancellation – what cancellation? Not quite the expected turn out but here’s the TBL crew admirably making something of it in Washington DC yesterday – Brian Knapp and lady friend, Michaela Firth and friend, Gary Foy, and Mark Harrison.

Other stuff going onhere : It was great to see the boy Adam pick up Sportsman Of The Season award at his end of season awards bash last week –where my good friend Terry Boud did a fine job of hosting. Last week’s Premier League survival Sunday was utterly amazing and made for probably the best Match Of The Day programme of recent years. Robert Plant of course must have been very relieved that his beloved Wolves survived in such dramatic fashion. More on Robert’s reaction can be found at

http://www.wolves.co.uk/page/News/0,,10307~2364914,00.html

The season’s finale is of course the Champions Legue final between Barcalona and Manchester United at Wembley. I can clearly recall watching Utd’s 4-1 win over Benfica in 1968 (that George Best goal was awesome) and hope United can overcome the might of the Spaniards – though it wont be easy.

Bob Dylan reached the grand old age of 70 on Tuesday. For many he remains an acquired taste – for me he is amongst a handful of artists who can be termed a genius He is an artist who I have travelled down many paths over the years.

I have had a deep affinity for his work and his milestone age had me on a wave of recollections I remember Blonde On Blonde being on the Dents Road radiogramme –it was the first LP I ever saw that had one song (Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands) take up the whole of one side. I recall the excitement of his Isle Of Wight festival appearance in 1969 and when I purchased his Self Potrait album a couple of years later I loved those live cuts form that show. A feature on his bootleg catalogue by Michael Gray in the fantastic Let It Rock magazine in 1972 had a huge influence on me. It took me on a journey  of discovery. The first  bootleg albums I ordered were Led Zeppelin Live On Blueberry Hill and Bob Dylan’s GWW Live At The Royal AlbertHall on Trade Mark Of Quality. In 1972 I paid £5.50 to invest in The Concert For Banglka Desh by George Harrison & Friends which has a brilliant side of live Bob.

I remember first hearing Knockin On Heaven’s Door and listening intensely to the preview of his comeback album Planet Waves on the Friday night Rockspeak show programme. Two years later the Desire and Blood On The Tracks albums were my constant companions when teenage love affairs were going wrong – ironically when I finally got to see him live at Blackbush in 1978 I have a vivid memory of Bob’s encore of Times They Are A Changing playing out just as I was having a final parting argument with the soon to be ex-girlfriend.

I wasn’t at all sure about his God finding albums though Slow Train Coming such as  the opening track Precious Angel though I was pleased to see it enter the charts at number two behind an album called In Through The Out Door.

Despite his 1980s output taking something of a dip I kept the faith and on a cold Sunday autumn night in 1987, I witnessed a fine show in Birmingham with my good fiend Jerry Bloom  when Bob linked up with Tom Petty. In the 90s there were a couple of appearances at the Hammesmith Odeon that I attended – one good and one not so good as Terry and I managed to miss our stop coming back on the train (it wasn’t the beer honest !) and ended up in a snowy Wellingborough. Oh yes the trials of the Zim.

His box set collections  Biograph and the Bootleg Series Volume One remain yardsticks for how such things should be done. My desire to see him perform live might well have declined and his recent albums have been hit or miss but he’s still a true giant of modern music. I have countless books about him and often pick up the great Dylan fanzine Isis.

Listening to a compilation of his work this week has emphasised what an astounding breadth of catalogue he has created. So I say happy birthday Bob. You are one of the artists who shaped my appreciation and enthusiasm for music in all its forms.

Robert Plant thinks you are bit good too….

Had to have a bit of a wallow in Earls Court retro land as those fabled dates came around again these past few days. 36 years gone and still as brilliant as ever.  The May 23rd version of Over the Hills And Far Away is just heavenly – No Quarter from the 18th and 24th probably tie for the greatest ever version of that particular epic, Dazed on the 24th is a veritable feast (the Woodstock sequence always brings a lump to my throat) and Stairway from the DVD is simply as good as that song ever got –and might just be Jimmy’s finest ever live solo.

Trying to catch up on a load of CD’s and vinyl albums that recent workload has prevented me from doing,though have to say I haven’t got too far. Had the Zep Whole Lotta Outtkes vinyl LP on and a delightful wade through the John Peel Dandelion Records box set CD compilation (thank you Andrew R!)

Looking ahead the Whole Lotta Led tribute band gig at the Civic Theatre here in Bedford on June 18th will act as a bit of a local launch for the book and it would be great to see all that can make it to that. I am also looking to wax lyrical about the book on a few radio stations in the coming weeks – details to follow.

With this intensive study of Zep in 1980 now completed, I need to turn my attneiton to The Who for a major feature I am collating on their 1971 Who’s Next album. More re-discovery of great music from a great era.

The aformentioned classic album of couse ends with the track Wont Get Fooled Again – a very appropriate title  in the light of recent events…

Some You tube clips for the weekend:

Here’s Seasick Steve performing two new from his new album You Cant Teah A Old Dog New Tricks  live on Later with Jools Holland with the  guest bassist John Paul Jones and drummer Dan Magnussen

Seasick Steve – Don’t Know Why She Love Me But She Do

Seasick Steve & John Paul Jones Interview on Jools Holland 2011
Seasick Steve You Cant Teach A Old Dog New Tricks
And finally Haley Reinhart performing What Is And What Should Never Be on American idol. You can’t keep a good song down….have a great Bank Holiday weekend!

I