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EVENINGS WITH LED ZEPPELIN PRE ORDER DETAILS/LZ NEWS/WHOLE LOTTA FROG/TBL ARCHIVE OVER EUROPE 1980 & BATH FESTIVAL 1970/JIMMY PAGE NOVEL/RUDE WORLD/DL DIARY BLOG UPDATE/

23 June 2021 1,637 views One Comment

The countdown continues:

77 days to go to the publication of Evenings With Led Zeppelin –The Complete Concert Chronicle Revised & Expanded Edition by Dave Lewis and Mike Tremaglio

The new expanded edition is extended by 48 pages bringing the total to 624 – including a brand new 10-page concert bootleg CD discography appendix

Dozens of additional concert ads, handbills, ticket stubs, press reviews, venue photos have been added – many images updated and improved.

More on stage photos have been added, including many never published before.

If you bought the first edition you already know that it is a thorough and complete chronicle of Led Zeppelin’s concert history – it achieved a 95% five star rating on Amazon reviews.

This new updated edition is a major upgrade over that highly acclaimed first edition – and even if you have the first book – this new edition adds so much more -and will be a very worthwhile re investment…

Here are some statistics on the additions to the revised & expanded edition:

Now includes over 300,000 words and 3,100 images!

55 Concert entries have been expanded in length with new text, images, and information

55 Concert entries include new press concert previews & reviews (many with images)

100 Concert tickets added

75 Concert adverts added

25 Concert photos added

22 New Led Zeppelin (11 unconfirmed or cancelled gigs) & pre-Zep 1968 concert listings (11)

20  Handbills/Posters images added

20  Miscellaneous images (Programs/Membership cards/press releases/contracts/venue pics, etc.) added

10  Page concert bootleg CD discography added to the Appendix section.

If you have yet to invest, be prepared to be amazed – this is essential reading for every Led Zeppelin fan…

Evenings With Led Zeppelin – Revised & Expanded Edition – signed by Dave Lewis edition – for UK buyers only :

As with the first run of the book, I am making available a signed by Dave Lewis edition – this will be in a limited edition of 100 books which I will personally sign.

It will include a four page 2,000 word interview with Mike and I conducted by the renowned Zep chonicler Andy Adams..

Due to the prohibitive overseas postage costs, this offer is for the UK only.

Here’s the link to pre order this limited edition –

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/evenings-with-led-zeppelin-the-complete-concert-chronicle-revised-and-expanded-edition-pre-order-now/

 

Overseas buyers can  pre-order the forthcoming Revised & Expanded Edition via Amazon US at the following link

https://www.amazon.com/Evenings-Led-Zeppelin-Complete-Chronicle/dp/1913172392/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=evenings+with+led+zeppelin&qid=1619437826&sr=8-1

Don’t miss out- this is the Led Zeppelin story told from where their legacy was forged – live on stage…


Led Zeppelin News Update:

In conjunction with the Led Zep news site, each week I will be re- producing highlights from their email update news summary. This goes out periodically. Sign up details are below. Many thanks to James Cook.

Led Zeppelin

Robert Plant

Upcoming events:

July 19 – Robert Plant will perform as part of Saving Grace in Worthing.
July 20 – Robert Plant will perform as part of Saving Grace in Bexhill.
July 22 – Robert Plant will perform as part of Saving Grace in Malvern.
July 26 – Robert Plant will perform as part of Saving Grace in Dudley.
July 29 – Robert Plant will perform as part of Saving Grace in Buxton.
July 31 – Robert Plant will perform as part of Saving Grace at the Underneath the Stars festival in Barnsley.
August 2 – Robert Plant will perform as part of Saving Grace in Birmingham.
August 10 – “Led Zeppelin Vinyl: The Essential Collection” by Ross Halfin will be published.
September 7 – “Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin” by C.M. Kushins will be published.
September 9 – The revised and expanded edition of “Evenings With Led Zeppelin” will be published.
September 25 – The 2021 John Bonham celebration event will be held in Redditch.
November 9 – “Led Zeppelin: The Biography” by Bob Spitz will be published.

Many thanks to James Cook.

The complete Led Zeppelin News email goes out periodically. To receive it sign up here:http://tinyletter.com/LedZepNews

Led Zeppelin News Website: Check out the Led Zeppelin news website at

http://ledzepnews.com/


Whole Lotta Frog..

This rather bizarre story was doing the rounds last week – this report from the Classic Rock website:

Scientists in South America name a newly discovered frog species after Led Zeppelin:

Led Zeppelin may have sold hundreds of millions of albums and set audience attendance records in the US which will never be surpassed, but as unimaginable as this may seem, Jimmy Page’s band have remained very much a cult concern among the planet’s amphibian population.

This may change, however, with the thrilling news that scientists pottering around the slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes have discovered a new species of frog and decided to name the little fellas after Led Zeppelin.

Pristimantis ledzeppelin, which translates as Led Zeppelin’s Rain Frog, was found by scientists David Brito-Zapata and Carolina Reyes-Puig in the Cordillera del Cóndor, a regjon straddles south-east Ecuador and north-east Peru. Their discovery has been logged in great detail in the Neotropical Biodiversity Journal.

Brito-Zapata and Reyes-Puig said all the specimens had been found “on shrub vegetation surrounding streams inside mature forest, where they perched on bush leaves”, between 1.7 metres and 3 metres above the water. Males of the species grow to about 2.4cm long, while one adult female was found to measure 3.6cm from snout to vent.

“The name honours Led Zeppelin and their extraordinary music,” the pair explain in the journal. “Led Zeppelin was a British rock band formed in London in 1968, one of the most influential bands throughout the 1970s, and progenitors of both hard rock and heavy metal.”

Full story here:

https://www.loudersound.com/news/scientists-in-south-america-name-a-newly-discovered-frog-species-after-led-zeppelin

……………………………………….

It was 41 years ago – Led Zeppelin Over Europe 1980: 

This month marks the 41st anniversary of the first dates of the final Led Zeppelin tour – a low key 14 date trek taking in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Austria and Switzerland. I was lucky enough to attend five of those gigs. This is all chronicled in my Led Zeppelin Feather In The Wind Over Europe 1980 book

Here’s is a further extract – my on the road account written at the time and first featured in TBL issue 5…

Led Zeppelin Over Europe 1980:

Frankfurt Festhalle – It was 41 years ago …

Flashback to the Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany – on the evening of June 30th, 1980 around 8pm:

I am in the confines of the grand Festhalle venue in the heart of Frankfurt and I am standing no more than ten feet away from the four members of Led Zeppelin. The occasion is the tenth gig on the current tour of the band who have reigned supreme as the world’s greatest live rock attraction for much of the past decade. However the 1980s are upon us, and many things have happened since Led Zeppelin undertook their last full scale tour some three years ago.

The musical landscape they one stood over like a colossus, has changed radically. The onset of punk rock and new wave has challenged the status quo of the mega-bands – the so called dinosaur acts.
In fact, Robert Plant will make reference to the dinosaur tag on more than one occasion on this tour. Aside from the new wave of bands who rely on sharp, incisive three minute blasts of power pop, a new movement of rock outfits, spawned on the hard and heavy riffs that powered Zeppelin to the top, are in the wings ready to take dislodge their crown.
Within the next twelve months, the likes of Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Diamond Head, etc., will begin to dominate the music press in a similar manner in which Zeppelin were once courted, ushering in a movement that will be termed ‘’The new wave of British heavy metal.’’

Led Zeppelin are performing in Europe in an attempt to thwart such challenges and re-establish themselves as a working band. That aforementioned last tour, a gargantuous trek across America in the summer of 1977, attracted a combined audience of nearly one million. Last August over 200,000 came to pay homage to them over two Saturday gigs at Knebworth.
Things, though, have moved on considerably, even since then. This tour has garnered little publicity back home, and though a hardcore of UK followers have made the trip over, by their standard this is a very low key affair.

Tonight, though, they are playing one of the larger venues on the tour. The 13,500 capacity Festhalle . Ten years ago, Zeppelin became the first band ever to play this venue and their return is much anticipated by the German audience. Tonight’s crowd is also boosted by the presence of a number of US servicemen based at the nearby US Army base where Elvis Presley did some of his time for Uncle Sam way back when.

Understandably, the four members look a little apprehensive as they mill around the short stairway that will soon usher them on to the stage. This is the second show of the tour that my friend Tom and I are taking in. Twelve days ago, we witnessed their vibrant second night in Cologne. Since then the tour has not been without it’s problems. Last Friday, John Bonham collapsed on stage in Nuremberg after just 16 minutes and the show was cancelled.
When we met with security man Dave Moulder earlier in the day, he was keen to play down the events saying John had merely suffered from nervous exhaustion. A show in Zurich last night appears to have gone well. The heavily bearded drummer seems his boisterous self as he banters with Robert Plant. Plant is again wearing the green cap sleeve top and jeans attire that has been his ever present uniform for the tour. He too looks upbeat, if a little bit nervous. John Paul Jones, with suave short hair and smart shirt, is interacting with them. Jimmy Page is dressed in a white suit with a green top and matching green sneakers. He looks slightly sweaty, but is smiling warmly as the imposing frame of manager Peter Grant points out the all important presence of Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun – the man who has guided their career at the label from the very beginning.

The lights are dimmed, and road manager Phil Carlo shines a torch through the dark and leads them up to the stage. Bonzo climbs the rostrum to the drums, Jonesy turns right where his tech assistant Andy Ledbetter straps on the Alembic bass, and Jimmy Page walks onto the stage to the left, followed by Robert Plant.

As they walk into the glare of the spotlights, those assembled in the Frankfurt Festhalle finally view all four members of Led Zeppelin and the place erupts.

Guitar tech Ray Thomas straps on the Gibson and Jimmy moves to the effects pedals. A few snare shots and bass shuffles from John Bonham is the signal for the guitarist to lean back and exhort a fierce moaning wail from the Gibson. Robert stakes a stance to his immediate right –the spotlights pick out the pair in regal splendour  and then BLAM!

They launch into Train Kept A Rollin’, the old Johnny Burnette barnstormer The Yardbirds used in their heyday, and indeed Zep played on their first US tours. Now it is being revived to kick start what will be two hours of full-on power and excitement.

Tom and I are extremely fortunate to be watching all this action unfold just a few mere feet from the stage. As the band begin their ascent to the stage, Peter Grant acknowledges us and nods approvingly as Dave Moulder ushers us to the side of the stage. In effect, we have been allowed into their tight-knit inner sanctum.

Watching Led Zeppelin live on stage from this ultimate vantage point is, unsurprisingly, an astonishing experience and one that we will repeat in Mannheim and Munich later in the week.

To be continued…

Extract from the book Led Zeppelin Feather In The Wind – Over Europe 1980 by Dave Lewis.


It was 51 years ago:

Sunday marks the 51st anniversary of one of the most famous Led Zeppelin performances -their bill topping appearance at the 1970 Bath Festival.

Too mark that event here’s the details of that performance as chronicled in the Evenings With Led Zeppelin book

June 28, 1970 – Bath Festival of Blues & Progressive Music ‘70 – Bath & West Showground – Shepton Mallet, England

Setlist:

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Dazed And Confused, Bring It On Home, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Organ Solo/ Thank You, That’s The Way (introduced as ‘The Boy Next Door’), What Is And What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, How Many More Times Medley (inc. Rice Pudding, Mr. Soul, Beck’s Bolero, Down By The River, The Hunter, Think You Need A Shot (The Needle), Honey Bee, Long Distance Call, Boogie Chillun’, Hideaway, El Paso Blues, The Lemon Song, I Need Your Love Tonight, That’s All Right, etc.), Whole Lotta Love, Communication Breakdown (inc. Sing A Simple Song, It’s Your Thing, etc.), Long Tall Sally (inc. Say Mama, Johnny B. Goode, That’s All Right

 Background Info:

Much has been said and written about Led Zeppelin’s historic performance at the 1970 Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music. It was certainly a key turning point in the band’s career, especially in their homeland. Just over two months earlier, The Beatles had officially called it quits, and by the time the Bath Festival had wrapped up, it was clear that Led Zeppelin was now the most popular band in the world. “Official” declaration of this fact came in the form of the Melody Maker Poll Awards in September, when Zeppelin had seized the mantle from The Beatles and were named the World’s Top Group.

Unlike the 1969 Bath Festival which was held at the Recreation Ground in Bath, the 1970 Bath Festival was held at the Bath & West Showground in Shepton Mallet, 15 miles south west of Bath. The attendance at the 1970 Festival was significantly higher than the previous year, with over 150,000 fans in attendance (the 1969 Festival was considerably smaller, with Zeppelin performing to approximately 12,000 fans).

The band played on the second day of the festival, June 28, and started their performance at 8:30 pm. The set opener was the newly-penned Immigrant Song, which bore little resemblance to the LP track as Robert had ad-libbed much of the lyrics. For the next two hours and twenty minutes, the band put on one of the greatest performances of their storied career.

Press Reaction:

Melody Maker (July 4, 1970) – Cover Story: Five Encores for Zeppelin!

by Chris Welch & Chris Charlesworth:

 “Led Zeppelin stormed to huge success at the Bath Festival. As about 150,000 fans rose to give them an ovation, lead singer Robert Plant told them: “We’ve been away a lot in America and we thought it might be a bit dodgy coming back. It’s great to be home!”

            “They played for over three hours – blues, rock and roll and pure Zeppelin. Jimmy Page, in a yokel hat to suit the Somerset scene, screamed into attack on guitar. John Paul Jones came into his own on organ as well as bass, and John Bonham exploded his drums in a sensational solo. And the crowd went wild demanding encore after encore… a total of five!”

           “They kicked off with a new riff from their next album called ‘Immigration Song’ (sic). They actually took some time to warm up the crowd, but this may have been intentional as they built up to a fantastic climax with an act lasting over three hours… They had made all the hang-ups worthwhile and given the crowd a night to remember – whatever else happened. In their final minutes, they paid tribute to the Masters of Rock and Roll with the songs of Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry.”

 Bootleg Recordings – 2 audience sources (129 & 119 minutes):

For years, the only bootleg recording available of Zeppelin’s set was a barely listenable audience recording. Fortunately, a major upgrade of the recording appeared in 2010 from a second generation tape. The taper recorded the performance on a Sony tape deck with a stereo microphone attached to a pole twelve feet in the air, 200 yards from center stage. While certainly not perfect, the recording captures the festival atmosphere and gives the listener more of an appreciation for the outstanding gig.

Beginning with a different lyrical arrangement of the recently written ‘Immigrant Song’ as the show opener, the band started strong and never let up in delivering one of their all-time greatest performances.

The encores were especially epic, with many rarities played during the ‘How Many More Times’ medley (with the total number of available concert recordings of each song in parentheses): Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Mr. Soul’ (1); Muddy Waters’ ‘Long Distance Call’ (6); Big Joe Williams’ ‘El Paso Blues’ (2); Elvis Presley’s ‘I Need Your Love Tonight’ (3). Little Richard’s ‘Long Tall Sally’ included Gene Vincent’s ‘Say Mama’ (2); Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B. Goode’ (1).

Many thanks to Mike Tremaglio  

Extract from the book Evenings With Led Zeppelin by Dave Lewis and Mike Tremaglio (Omnibus Press)

Currently out of print – we are hoping to have a reprint edition for publication ahead. More details as they unfold.



Staying with the Bath Festival…a report of the existence of film footage of the Bath appearance from 2017:

Icons of The Hall Event – Led Zeppelin Royal Albert Hall footage screened – Led Zeppelin at Bath 1970 film discussed…

  Before proceedings had got under way I studied the contents of a special display case that had various memorabilia on show – part of that was a vintage film label marked Led Zeppelin at Bath. I have previously been aware that Peter Whitehead had shot film of the band at the Bath Festival in 1970 but here was tangible evidence.

This was backed up by Professor Steve Chibnall during the forum when I asked a question about the Bath film. Steve revealed he had viewed the 20 to 30 minute silent colour footage (the label says B and W but Steve says it is colour ) and though it was rather dark in places it was usable and he hoped one day it could be restored and see the light of day.

Here’s the full transcript of the question I asked via the LZ News site:

Tight But Loose editor Dave Lewis: Hi there, my name’s Dave Lewis, I’m from the Led Zeppelin magazine, so all this has been fascinating. I’m very intrigued to hear you tell me that the Bath Festival was filmed and so you’re saying that the Led Zeppelin show was filmed?
SC: Indeed, yes.
DL: Can you tell me how much of that was filmed and still remains?
Steve Chibnall: There’s 20 to 30 minutes and a lot of it is backstage. I’ve only seen the footage, I haven’t seen it with sound. The problem, according to Peter Whitehead, was that A. He was stuck in traffic and had trouble getting to Bath so he arrived late. He was supposed to film the band arriving by helicopter and he missed that.
And then when Led Zeppelin played, they played in the dark and there was insufficient stage lighting for his cameras. So he reckoned that the footage, the live footage, was not usable. It is usable because, I mean, it can be, it can be restored now. So you can raise those lighting levels, you can see more digitally.
It looks beautiful to me and I think it was recorded, the band probably have a recording of it, I would think. So there is a possibility. He was supposed to do interviews with the band members as well, which I don’t think that ever happened. But certainly there is 20 or 30 minutes of footage from Bath. And if you look in the display case there you can see what was once a label attached to a can of film which says precisely that.
DL: That immediately made me think ‘wow.’ So, is it colour film?
SC: Yes.
DL: And who actually owns it?
SC: Peter Whitehead owns the film but Led Zeppelin, no doubt, will own the music.
DL: So could you see that coming out at some point?
SC: I’d love to see it come out, I think it would be a really good project for 2020, don’t you? The fiftieth anniversary of the Bath Festival.
DL: 2018?
SC: No, it was 1970.
DL: Oh, sorry, it would be, yeah. It would probably take that long to work it out.
SC: It would, but it would be lovely to have that, wouldn’t it?
DL: Superb, thank you very much.

Like I said, I had previously been aware that Peter Whitehead had shot the Bath Festival in 1970 but this was real tangible evidence it exists and it was great to chat to Steve afterwards and hear first hand from someone who has actually viewed it. Quite weather it will ever see the light of day officially only time will tell. It was incredibly exciting to be right there as this revelation news was unfolding.

Sadly there ahs been no updated information on weather the film will surface – it’s surely on every Zep fans wish list…

And finally on Bath 1970:

There’s some great Bath 70 pics and stories on this website link:

http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/ZEP2.html

……………..

Searching For Jimmy Page  forthcoming novel:

Christy Alexander Hallberg has been in touch to inform me about her forthcoming novel – here’s the info:

Christy Alexander Hallberg’s debut novel, Searching For Jimmy Page, is forthcoming later this year fall 2021 from Livingston Press.

Per the synopsis on the back cover of the novel, “The unraveling of eighteen-year-old Luna Kane’s haunted past begins in the winter of 1988, when her dying great-grandfather, a self-proclaimed faith healer, claims he hears phantom owls crying in the night. ‘Them owls, like music. Can you hear the music?’ His plea triggers Luna’s repressed memory of her dead mother’s obsession with Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin’s legendary guitar wizard, and sends her on a pilgrimage from North Carolina to England,” to search for the man whose music her mother held sacred.

In case you or Tight But Loose readers are interested, the arts magazine HocTok just featured me reading from Searching for Jimmy Page on their YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzbX2TyLrrc&t=1s

https://livingstonpress.uwa.edu/Serching%20for%20Jimmy%20Page.htm

Liza Wieland, author of Paris, 7 A.M., named one of The Best Books by Women of Summer 2019 by O, the Oprah Magazine, offers this praise for the book: “In her wondrous first novel, Christy Hallberg gives us a mystery, a mother-daughter love story, a paean to rock and roll, and a window into the culture of eastern North Carolina, all joined seamlessly by the elegance and poetry of her writing. It’s a book that begs to be read twice, first to find out the true story of Luna’s parentage, and then again, immediately but more slowly, to savor the beauty of the language.”


Rude World:

 

Robert Plant – Digging Deep:

Another great episode in the Robert Plant Digging Deep podcast series…here’s the info:

Digging Deep, The Robert Plant Podcast – Series 4 Episode 2 – Rude World

For this episode Robert Plant has chosen a song he recorded with Jimmy Page and Rainer Ptacek in 1997 entitled ‘Rude World’. Rainer was a hugely talented cult guitar hero with a unique blues folk style. This track features on a compilation dedicated to him called ‘The Inner Flame’ which also included contributions from PJ Harvey, Madeleine Peyroux, Evan Dando and Emmylou Harris (which illustrates just how great Rainer was). If you don’t know his work yet, let Robert be the person to introduce you…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaJmJCwWjmo

More Rude World thoughts…

… Listening to the excellent Robert Plant Digging Deep podcast Series 4 Episode 2 – in which Robert discussed the track Rude World – a collaboration with Jimmy Page for the Rainer Ptacek Inner Flame tribute album, brought back some lovely memories of that period.

Back in 1997 the track Rude World was sent to me on a preview advance cassette (does anybody remember cassettes?!) ahead of its July release on the Inner Flame album

This coincided with the launch on May 22 1997 of the Led Zeppelin Concert File book staged by Omnibus Press in the basement of the Helter Skelter book shop in London’s Denmark Street – and may I say the much missed Helter Skelter book shop, it was a wonderful shop specialising in all manner of rock, pop, jazz etc books.

On the night we were able to combine the launch, which included appearances from editor Chris Charlesworth, myself and co-author Simon Pallett plus the screening of various Zep footage, with an exclusive playback of Rude World.

I can vividly recall the intense reaction as we played it through – its rich tone resonating greatly with the audience – for this was new Page and Plant music hot from the studio and ready to be consumed. That trip hop beat and distorted guitar hitting the mark.

Back then in 1997 they seemed so utterly contemporary which of course they were…

Above is the TBL newsletter I produced to hand out on the night which has background info on Rude World via the much missed CD specialist magazine Ice.

A great memory of a great track….

More Digging Deep:

Digging Deep, The Robert Plant Podcast – Series 4 Episode 3 – House Of Cards

More than once on Digging Deep, Robert Plant has chosen songs by artists with whom he’s crossed paths many times over the years and this episode is no exception. The track in question is the iconic ‘House of Cards’, written and first recorded by Linda & Richard Thompson whose own musical history intertwined with Roberts on more than one occasion. As he’ll explain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOmyo287Lpg

Robert Plant’s new Digging Deep podcast on the Richard and Linda Thompson’s House of Cards reminded me of what a superb track this is.

Here’s a brilliant clip of Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy performing Richard & Linda Thompson’s House of Cards on the later With Jools Holland show in November 2010 – I was lucky enough to be in attendance watching from the left of the stage…it was mesmerising…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZUjK5B3Tq4


DL Diary Blog update:

Thursday June 18:

On the player celebrating Paul McCartney’s Birthday…the rather brilliant 1982 Tug Of War album and sounding mighty fine as the rain falls outside…

Thursday June 18:

It was 41 years ago today…

On the player the Led Zeppelin Cologne 1980 triple album bootleg as recorded on this day in 1980 at the Cologne Sporthalle -a gig I was very lucky to be in attendance at…and what a gig it was…

Thursday June 18:

… It was 41 years ago today…

 

The TBL editor looking a bit nervous in Cologne awaiting Led Zeppelin’s second gig of their Over Europe tour at the nearby Sporthalle…it was about to get very exciting…

Thursday June 18:

It was 41 years gone …and 10 years gone…

41 years gone…on the way to Cologne on June 18,1980 for Led Zeppelin’s second gig of their Over Europe tour…

10 years gone…at StudioMix Bedford on March 26,2011 working on the Feather In The Wind Led Zeppelin Over Europe 1980 book…

June 18:

Not much to cheer about for England …Scotland did well…

Saturday June 19:

 

On the player celebrating his Birthday – Nick Drake – An Exploration of Nick Drake – Heaven in a Wild Flower

Like so many others, Nick Drake’s music passed me by first time around – even though I’d heard the likes of Time Has Told Me and Hazy Jane on the Island Records sampler albums Nice Enough To Eat and Bumpers .

Fast forward to1985 – the Island Records rep that called on the record store I managed left a preview cassette with tracks from upcoming albums – one of them was two tracks from the then forthcoming Nick Drake compilation An Exploration of Nick Drake –Heaven in a Wild Flower . I was certainly taken by Northern Sky and Hazy Jane 1. However it took a couple more years for me to really get it.

In 1987 when I was managing the Our Price record shop in Northampton, one of the staff often had the Heaven in a Wild Flower album on the instore player. It was then that my ears where really opened. I quickly purchased that compilation album and followed it with the Hannibal label release Time Of No Reply. Five Leaves Left, Bryter Later and Pink Moon soon followed.

The magic of Nick Drake’s music has accompanied me ever since. In late 2009 I wrote a major feature for Record Collector on the making of the Five Leaves Left album.

Rarely a week goes by when one of his albums does not find itself on the player here. I have many books and magazines on the subject and I am very much looking forward to Richard Morton Jack forthcoming authorised biography.

Elegant, observational and forever autumnal, Nick Drake ‘s catalogue of work has a unique quality all of its own.

This superb compilation album lives up to its title as an exploration of Nick Drake – and one worthy of repeated investigation…

Saturday  June 19:

Saturday is platterday…on the player the brilliant Bruce Springsteen double album The River…

Sunday June 20:

Sunday sounds on CD…loading up the excellent Virgin Records CD reissue package of the classic Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street…

 

Sunday June 20:

Thinking of my much missed Dad on Father’s Day…

I love this photo of the very young me aged 7 in 1964 with my late sister Margaret and late Mum in our garden in Dents Road…

My Dad being a proud Welshman, would have been excited at the prospect of Wales making progress in the Euros and we will be cheering them on here in the match against Italy this afternoon for sure…

Sunday June 20:

Feeling a very blessed man here with lovely Father’s Day  cards from Adam and Sam…

Sunday June 21:

Well done Wales…

Monday June 21:

 

It was 44 years ago today…Loading up the brilliant Led Zeppelin Listen To This Eddie three CD bootleg set on the Empress Valley label – one of a few I have of this epic   as recorded 44 years ago today June 21 1977 at the LA Forum – taped by the late great Mike Millard.

A amazingly atmospheric audience recording – and one of the very best latter era Zep concert performances …

Monday June 21:

Recent DL LP record acquisition – a beauty from the Vinyl Barn last Wednesday…

Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water LP, this one a Japanese CBS Sony quadrophonic pressing with inner bags and a unique hard cardboard gatefold sleeve presentation – all other copies I’ve seen are in a single sleeve.

One of my all time favourite records and finding it in this version is what record collecting is all about – thanks Darren…

Tuesday June 22:
That will do nicely…job done…
Wednesday June 23:
On the player here – the epic For Badgeholders Only Live at The LA Forum double album bootleg – as recorded on this day in 1977 – a classic Led Zeppelin performance with a guest appearance from Keith Moon…. and sounding great…
Wednesday June 23:

DL Charity shop find earlier today : The 2004 Brian Wilson Presents Smile CD –complete with slip case and colour booklet in excellent condition… £1.99? I’ll take it!

Some particular inspirations this past week…

Always a welcome sound –the new issue of Mojo dropping through the letter box – including Amy Winehouse, The Rolling Stones, Roger Chapman , Nico and more and the You Gotta Move! free CD looks great- a profile of the Muscle Shoals Sound…

Some CDs arriving via my very good fried Russ Rees – thanks mate!

Paul Aspey sorting me some RSD product -thanks mate!

An inspiring  visit from my lifelong very good friend Dave Corp…

Phone catch ups with Dec Hickey, Barry Farsnworth and Andy Adams….

Update here:

A busy week with various projects to work on and some challenges – I had an issue with facing a person (someone who was once a a very important friend) concerning some stuff from the past which has niggled for a good while – it was distressing  but it made me realise it was high time to draw a line firmly in the sand and  let it go….

In between all that, there’s been plenty of Euro action – Scotland had their moment against England, Wales did very well to reach the last 16 while England did the job in perhaps unspectacular fashion -but nevertheless topped the group. It now leads to Denmark against  Wales on Saturday and England against Germany at Wembley next Tuesday. We have of course been there before and had much disappointment – here’s hoping Gareth’s boys can get over the line and into the quarter finals – though of course it wont be easy…we will be watching with much anticipation here…

Thanks for listening – stay safe and well you very lovely people…

Dave  Lewis – June 23,2021

TBL website updates written and compiled by Dave Lewis

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One Comment »

  • Chris Leaton said:

    I look forward to reading every week. Also looking forward to the new book (preordered!!) Cheers from Lantana, TX USA!

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