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JIMMY PAGE CHELTENHAM LITERATURE FESTIVAL EVENT/ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS HIGH AND LONESOME/LZ NEWS/TBL ARCHIVE – PARIS 69 – LED ZEPPELIN III – JAPAN 71/ DL DIARY BLOG UPDATE

7 October 2021 1,355 views 3 Comments

 

 Jimmy Page joins Cheltenham Literature Festival Line-Up to discuss Jimmy Page: The Anthology

Next Wednesday October 13, Jimmy Page will be discussing the Anthology book at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.

Here’s all the info:

From his early days as a session musician, through his years on the world stage with Led Zeppelin, to his solo work and collaborations, Jimmy Page has lived a spectacular life in music. Throughout it all, he has amassed an archive of guitars, costumes and memorabilia now being published in Jimmy Page: The Anthology. Join Jimmy in a rare interview as he opens his archives, telling the inside story of his phenomenal career. Chaired by Times journalist Will Hodgkinson

Wed 13 Oct 2021 5:45pm – 6:45pm

The Times and The Sunday Times Forum £14 *plus booking fee

More info and tickets details at this link:

https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature/whats-on/2021/l173-jimmy-page

More info here via the Genesis Publications website:

Jimmy Page will be in conversation live on stage at The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival to discuss his 2020 book, Jimmy Page: The Anthology.

Last year, the festival showcased its first digital line-up due to the pandemic, after being held in Cheltenham for the previous five years. Now, it’ll once again be held at a number of locations around the town, showcasing the best in publishing with speakers and authors from around the world.

The rare interview with Jimmy Page is set for October 16, 2021.. It will cover his spectacular life in music, from his colossal body of session work in the Sixties, through to the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin and beyond. Page will also discuss the contents of the book, including the impressive archive of guitars, costumes and memorabilia that he has amassed throughout his career, all of which was published for the first time in the anthology.

Speaking about the book last year, Page said: “I wanted to include items from my personal archive that have played a part in my overall story, to give the detail behind the detail.”

The Anthology contains a new text of over 70,000 words, in which Jimmy Page guides the reader through hundreds of rare items, many of which are previously unseen, and others of mythic status, such as the Gibson double neck guitar, his dragon-emblazoned suit, his white embroidered poppy suit, and the outfit worn in the concert film The Song Remains the Same.

Also included are handwritten diaries, correspondence, rare vinyl pressings, previously unpublished photographs and much more. Page personally selected each piece shown in the book to create the most comprehensive and revealing account of his life to date.

For more info see links at:

https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature/

https://www.genesis-publications.com/news/jimmy-page-joins-cheltenham-literature-festival-line-up-to-discuss-jimmy-page-the-anthology/1208?fbclid=IwAR31wdXkk7IGZcXpyZ3Lld4zO3t6ZFJzuDuBAoFer-VAfKATA7i6qVDnkIc


Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – High and Lonesome…
High and Lonesome from the new Robert Plant and Alison Krauss album Raise The Roof has just been premiered on Lauren Laverne’s BBC Radio 6 Music show – it’s a new composition written by Robert Plant and T Bone Burnett.

It was introduced by Robert with a few words:

‘’It turned into something special and it surprised all of us because it has echoes of something else a long time ago’’

‘It’s a cool piece’’ he stated and it certainly is..

  1. Bone Burnett conjures up a Bo Diddleyesque guitar back drop as Robert takes centre stage. His vocal phrasing is just exquisite with plenty of mysterious repeated lyric refrains (‘’Does she still think of me?’’) and Alison joining in on the chorus.

There’s a hint of both Howlin’ Wolf and Jimmy Reed in the bluesy feel he projects and It all drifts off into a meandering coda with some atmospheric strings underpinning the hypnotic feel of the song.

Folks, High and Lonesome is brilliant and in an ever changing world one thing remains ever constant – the sheer quality of Robert Plant’s vocal delivery. He sounds magnificent.

As with Raising Sand, in the company of Alison Krauss again Robert Plant sounds totally inspired…so get ready to raise the roof on November 19 when this long awaited new collaboration is released.

Dave Lewis – October 7, 2021

Listen to High And Lonesome here…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM40mlXWOSM

Led Zeppelin News Update:
Here’s the latest round up from LZ News:

Led Zeppelin

Jimmy Page

Robert Plant

Upcoming events:

October 13 – Jimmy Page will be interviewed on stage at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.
November 9 – “Led Zeppelin: The Biography” by Bob Spitz will be published.
November 19 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ second album “Raise the Roof” will be released.
2022 – Robert Plant will go on tour with Alison Krauss and “Robert Plant: A Life In Vision,” a photo book edited by Dave Lewis, will be published.
Early 2023 – “A Whole Lotta Music: Life To My Ears,” the memoirs of Tight But Loose editor Dave Lewis, will be published.
2023 – A remastered and expanded 30th anniversary edition of “Coverdale–Page” will be released.

 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/


TBL Archive 1 :

LED ZEPPELIN AT OLYMPIA PARIS  OCTOBER 10, 1969 IT WAS 52 YEARS AGO -TBL ARCHIVE REVIEW

To mark the 52nd anniversary of the Led Zeppelin Olympia Paris gig today, here’s my 2014 review of the companion disc that features Jimmy’s edit of the show. 

Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin I

The Companion Audio Disc: Live at the Olympia, Paris, October 10th 1969

Good Times Bad Times / Communication Breakdown (4.05)

I Can’t Quit You Baby (6.41)

Heartbreaker (3.49)

Dazed and Confused (15.01)

White Summer / Black Mountain Side (9.19)

You Shook Me (11.55)

Moby Dick (9.21)

How Many More Times (11.14)

zep one reissue

The debut Led Zeppelin album was the recorded statement of their first few weeks together. The material selected had been well rehearsed and pre-arranged by the four, one of the primary reasons it took a mere 36 hours to record the album at Olympic Studios, in Barnes, West London.

It’s evident there was very little left over from the album sessions, though back in 1992 Page did salvage Baby Come On Home (aka Tribute To Burt Burns), an outtake from this era that appeared on the Boxed Set 2 compilation. It’s been reported over the years that Zep rehearsed cover versions of The Band’s Chest Fever, Bobby Parker’s Watch Your Step and Elmer Gantry’s Flames but it would appear they were never recorded, as Jimmy has not come up with any alternate versions or outtakes from the first album’s sessions.

Instead he has used the companion disc platform for the first album to present a fully fledged 1969 live on stage recording. There may have been a case for an earlier representation of the band being made available- notably the early Fillmore 1969 appearances (and who knows maybe that situation will be addressed in the future).

However, Jimmy has opted for a later 1969 performance. The source is a radio broadcast of the band’s performance at the Olympia in Paris on October 10th 1969, recorded by Europe 1 radio for the Musicorama programme and part of a short European tour Zep were undertaking during that autumn. A 78 minute edit of the show was first aired on November 2nd 1969. Left to languish in the radio station’s archives for some 38 years, it was re broadcast on December 7th 2007, just three days before the band’s reunion concert at the O2 in London. The recording was subsequently bootlegged, most versions with the French DJ introductions left in and unevenly mixed.

Overall this is a much punchier mix than the bootleg version. To accommodate the formatting , there are some edits and the whole presentation clocks in at just under 70 minutes.

There is no band introduction and much of Robert’s between song chat is edited. As for the actual songs themselves, Good Times Bad Times/Communication Breakdown ,I Can’t Quit You Baby, Dazed And Confused ,White Summer/Black Mountain Side ( missing the ‘wanking dog’ Plant reference !) are relatively uncut from the original broadcast. The previously unheard Moby Dick clocks in at 9.21 – it can assumed that there has been some editing on this as Bonzo’s showpiece of the time was clocking in at around 15 minutes. There’s a slightly unorthodox intro to the piece as Jimmy comes in slightly later with the riff, behind Bonzo’s tympani playing. After the riff comes back in at the end, Bonzo undertakes a final percussive flurry with a boisterous shout and then a 50s riff from Jimmy brings it all to a close.

Heartbreaker is edited to a very compact 3 minutes.49 – during the solo just as the recording goes into that weird echo effect of the radio broadcast. Jimmy avoids that sequence and cuts it straight into the up-tempo solo – it all clocks in at a compact  3 minutes 49.

How Many More Times is scaled down from the 22 minute original performance to 11 minutes 14. There is some chat from Robert prior to the track – it then omits the onstage band member’s introductions during the intro as was custom at the time and cuts straight to the riff.

There’s therefore no room for Aynsley Dunbar reference or the Lemon Song/Boogie Chillun’ sequence featured on the broadcast  – however the Oh Rosie/Steal Away (backed by a distinctive Whole Lotta Love riff) and The Hunter is in there  – in effect this version is in a similar arrangement to that of its studio counterpart. A final goodbye and namecheck for the players brings proceedings to a close.

The Paris Olympia show vividly demonstrates Led Zeppelin’s progression as a unit during their first year together, in particular the growing confidence of Robert Plant, his shrill vocal attack adds real vitality and spark to the proceedings.

Highlights: The opening Good Times Bad Times/Communication Breakdown salvo with John Bonham doubling up the bass patterns to whip them into shape. The pure blues attack of I Can’t Quite You Baby and You Shook Me – the latter providing a loose framework for a lengthy improvisation –and the How Many More Times finale which carries the listener along on an irresistible adrenalin rush.

After completing another US tour in the fall of 1969, they would go on to revise the act for the opening gigs of 1970. This Paris performance is therefore a welcomed official representation of the band at this point – with a set list still full of Zep I vitality nurtured during the countless gigs they performed that year – and now maturing with the introduction of new material from the about to be released Led Zeppelin II.

This then is an energetic snapshot of the often wild abandonment performances of this era. Whilst the bootlegs serve their purpose, when it comes to the officially sanctioned live album releases (of which How The West Was Won would be a template), I feel there’s a real sense that we are hearing Led Zeppelin as its original founder perceives it. That is reason enough to welcome Led Zeppelin Live at the Olympia 1969 into your homes and onto your deck at the earliest opportunity…

Dave Lewis  – May 20th, 2014


TBL Archive 2:

On the 51st anniversary of Led Zeppelin III here’s my thoughts on the original album and the 2014 reissue:

Led Zeppelin III: Solid gas then… Solid gold now…

THEN:

Led Zeppelin III was my first experience of the anticipation and waiting that would often be required leading up to the release of a new Zep album.

 

The waiting began in early 1970 and would last a period of ten months.

This anticipation was played out via the pages of the NME music paper as that was my prime source of Zep info. We had the NME delivered to our house and each week I would devour it religiously to seek out any info out on the band. I also looked in the newsagents to keep up with the other weekly music papers namely Melody Maker, Disc and Music Echo and Record Mirror. If there was a good story in any of those, again I’d snap that up.

As 1970 unfolded there was a fair bit of activity to track with reports of the Royal Albert Hall show, that Goldrush Record Mirror colour cover as they flew out to the US, the early reports of them turning down TV offers and then accepting the opportunity to top the Bath Festival, the subsequent Bath Festival rave reviews and then the news stories building up to the release of the third album.

All of this was against a backdrop of many other events that year that had a huge impression on this particular then 13 year old – on March 21st I attended one of my first ever big league football match watching Chelsea beat Man Utd 2-1, there was the breakup of The Beatles, the World Cup in Mexico which saw England lose to West Germany and the magnificent Brazil side triumph, nearer to home Deep Purple and Chicken Shack topped a one day festival at Bedford Town football club ground – I had to be content with hearing it from my bedroom as back then the 25 shilling asking price was way out of my league.

Then there was the voting in of the Edward Heath’s Conservative government – on that Election day (June 18th) I went to see The Beatles Let It Be film.In the autumn the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin occurred within weeks of each other and the Sounds music paper was launched (I still have the first issues). Just before the release of Zep III, I watched with some awe Ernie Hunt’s donkey kick free kick goal for Coventry v Everton on Match of The day (you tube it – its amazing!).

All of these events added to a very memorable year and acted as a rites of passage to my maturing as a teenager – oh and I also began developing an interest in the female form – the singer Julie Driscoll ( who had a big hit with Wheels On Fire) being an early pin up fave.

Back to the initiation of this third Zep album. It was down to Radio One DJ Alan Freeman to supply the initial thrills – on two Sunday afternoons in late September during his Pick of The Pops top 40 chart run down, he aired previews from Zep III namely Immigrant Song and Out On the Tiles. I taped these on my reel to reel tape recorder, so even before the album was issued in the UK I had some fresh Led Zeppelin music to play… And boy did I love that album – oh did I ever.

Finally in early October came the day when I clapped eyes on the incredible sleeve. I can still quite verbatim from the NME review of the album by Nick Logan which stated in the headline ‘’Zeppelin Solid Gas, Solid Gold.’’

Suffice to say, Led Zeppelin III was top of my playlist for the next six months – along with the subsequent Zep 1 and II acquisitions – eventually they were slightly edged out by my reel to reel recording of the BBC In Concert broadest of April 1971.

There is one other anecdote surrounding the arrival of Led Zep III –I distinctly remember being amongst some friends attending a Luton Town match in the autumn of 1970 – when we were discussing our favourite music outside the ground before the match, I enthusiastically talked up the new Zep album only for an acquaintance amongst us to retort ‘’Led Zeppelin? They’re a bit pathetic aren’t they?’’

Er…no!

I was quite stunned by this as it was the first time I’d had experience of the musical snobbery that surrounded my affection for liking rock music. It was not to be the last as the Slade/T. Rex v Zep wars raged on into 1972 and beyond.

Oh and back in 1970 through 1971 there was another challenge. In November 1970 I saw a review of US singles in Record Mirror that revealed that the B side of the US single of Immigrant Song had a track titled Hey Hey What Can I Do as it’s B side. A non-album B side at that – so began the quest to acquire that particular single. I eventually sourced it from the guy who sold me the Whole Lotta Love single for another £1.25 new pence. It arrived in the spring of 1972, ironically just as Hey Hey What Can I Do was issued as a track on the New Age Of Atlantic compilation.

So the fact is, I have massive affinity for the time that Led Zeppelin III arrived in my life.

Along with Physical Graffiti and Presence, it’s my favourite and most played Zep album. I’ve also enjoyed some very memorable live renditions by the principal players of the songs from Led Zeppelin III – that fist blast in my schoolboy ears of Immigrant Song at the Electric Magic Wembley show in 1971, Celebration Day at Knebworth in ‘79 and Robert Plant with Strange Sensation at Hammersmith Odeon 2002 , Gallows Pole, Friends and That’s The Way at the Page & Plant Unledded filming in 1994, a killer P & P delivery of Since I’ve Been Loving You at Sheffield Arena in 1995, Tangerine (‘’This is for our families and friends..’’) and Bron Yr Aur Stomp at Earls Court.

I also love the live renditions of Zep III numbers (Immigrant Song,Out On the Tiles,Since I’ve Been Loving You, That’s The Way,) to be heard on the Live On Blueberry Hill and Going To California TMQ label bootleg albums.

As for the collecting of Led Zeppelin III, I have a fair few pressings including the UK original plum and orange Polydor pressing , a Spanish pressing with the titles on the back and a recently acquired New Zealand pressing which omits the wheel and just has blank spaces on the sleeve. I also have a bootleg pressing said to be a mono mix put out in Uruguay.

Over the years I’ve written extensively about the album, notably for a feature in TBL issue 10 and a major Record Collector piece that appeared in the Christmas edition of 2010 marking the album’s 40th anniversary.

Put simply, Led Zeppelin III is an integral part of my Zep DNA.

NOW:

So to the newly remastered edition via the super deluxe box set. A very faithful reproduction of the cover and then to the vinyl…as with Zep 1 and 2 the quality is just exceptional – far sprightlier than previous versions.

And it’s the finer detail that really delights : John Paul Jones’ bass runs all through Immigrant Song , the clarity of Robert’s opening vocal on Celebration Day, the crispness of John Bonham’s drumming on Since I’ve Been Living You, the ‘’Keep a coolin’ ‘’ line thrown in at the end of Gallows Pole, the rush of acoustic guitar beauty on the opening of That’s the Way, the maracas on Bbron yr Aur Stomp.. All these unique nuances are heard to greater effect that ever before.

Creatively, well we all know it was a watershed album as they emphatically demonstrated that Led Zeppelin was not going to be just about plugging into Marshall and Orange amplifiers. There is a depth and subtly in these performances that is forever awe inspiring.

As for the companion disc well this is a joy from start to finish –there’s so many enlightening moments – the vocal tracking on the line ‘’In spite of all your losing’’ on The Immigrant Song, the hypnotic quality of the instrumental Friends, the looseness of the Celebration Day mix, the Bonham drum assault in Bathroom Sound which is a masterclass of percussive brilliance. The incredible group synergy revealed by the early take of Gallows Pole, the lushness of the dulcimer led That’s The Way, the delightful early attempt at the Page guitar army approach on Jennings Farm Blues backed by some class Bonzo drumming. The sheer pure bluesness of the Key To the Highway/Trouble In Mind performance.

Best of all and worth the price of admission alone, is the take of Since I’ve Been Loving – a quite brilliant snapshot of the sheer creativity of Led Zeppelin that summer of 1970. Again it’s the group synergy at its best. Robert offers up an astounding vocal performance, Jimmy is out of this world and John and JPJ carry it all with effortless aplomb.

To paraphrase my own words in TBL 27: Folks, this version of is what the phrase ‘tight but loose’ was invented for as this take of Since I’ve Been Loving You is fucking incredible. And I use the adjective quite purposely and forcefully. Absolutely fucking incredible.

Led Zeppelin III summary:

This is my favourite album of the first three reissues – it holds so many memories from an enlightening period for me as a teenage Zep fan but at the same time, it sounds so contemporary and fresh. It’s just brimming with creativity and set the seal on the path ahead. Falling in love with it all over again this past month has been an absolute joy.

DL – July 2nd, 2014


TBL Archive 3:

Japan 1971 – it was 50 years ago…

This week marks the 50 anniversary of one of the all time great Led Zeppelin live performances – the September 29 concert in Osaka.

Here’s my review of last year’s Transatlantic Records bootleg release More Comedy Less Work…

Now this is what I call an inspiration…

My thoughts on…

Led Zeppelin-  More Comedy – Less Work: Live At The Festival Hall Osaka Japan September 29,1971

4 CD long box package Transatlantic Records

I’ve come a little late to the party when it comes to the recent soundboard tapes that have surfaced from Led Zeppelin’s tour of Japan in 1971. I recently acquired the Please Please Me 6 CD set via the Eelgrass label and I am looking forward to wading through this expansive set of recordings of their September 28, 1971 performance at the Festival Hall in Osaka.

The following night, the last of the Japanese tour has appeared on a variety of releases, most recently as 929 How The East Was Won – this I have on a double CD set, again via Eelgrass that presents the soundboard source.

Now there’s a much longer presentation of this celebrated performance under the title More Comedy Less Work.

It presents the near complete performance with a mix of the aforementioned soundboard source plus the so called multi-track stage recording and a couple of extracts from the September 28th show. All this has been achieved via a Winston tape overhaul. For those who are unaware, Winston is an avid fan who is highly skilled at improving the sound of Zep bootleg recordings. Over the years Winston has widely and freely shared his remastered recordings, many of which have been acclaimed as definitive versions.

With that prospect in mind I could not resist the opportunity to delve into this new version.

I am of course looking forward to soaking up the previously mentioned 6CD Please Please Me set that chronicles the previous night ( I will report back on that one in due course), but my eagerness to hear a complete September 29 Osaka presentation had me ripping off the outer cellophane ready to get intimate with the three CDs. Note a fourth CD in the package showcases an Up Close radio show from 1992 and a Jimmy Page interview from 2017.

The reasons for my enthusiasm are simple:

For a start, all self-respecting Led Zep fans know that the three city, five show Japanese tour the band undertook in September 1971 was very special. Across those gigs they varied the set list considerably, throwing in all sorts of one offs and unique cover versions. The night of September 29 was no exception, in fact being the final night they really went to town.

The basic set list is also pretty much as it was a mere 53 days on from this memorable Osaka 1971 performance when on the night of Sunday November 21, I was lucky enough to witness Led Zeppelin live for the first time on a night of pure electric magic at the Empire Pool Wembley.

During this period Led Zeppelin were right on top of their game – and then some…

These were the nights where they sought as Jimmy would put it, that fifth element. There’s a hunger and vitality in the playing – a sense of wonderment at what they could achieve and how far they could push the boundaries. There was nothing they could not attain musically, their ambitions were infinite.

Other factors: Robert Plant’s vocal register was at its highest and most potent – a quite remarkable instrument in itself that he deployed to maximum effect.

The interplay between Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham was at a new peak of creativity..

They had a brand new fourth album in the can and ready for imminent release and they knew it was good – and of course they were more than eager to preview material from it.

In short, their confidence was absolutely sky high and boy did it show…

Now my relationship between Led Zeppelin and this Japanese tour goes way back. In 1976 I first got to hear what it sounded like via a bootleg LP.

Led Zeppelin A Cellarfull Of Noise – Live In Japan was a single LP on the Kornyfone label. I purchased it from the Sounds Ahead record shop in Marlborough Court just off Carnaby Street – a tiny record shop that specialised in under the counter releases.

Unfortunately this recording of the fabled September 29 Osaka show was strictly lo-fi and it also played slightly slow. It did however open my ears for the first time to the potency of their playing and also included that bizarre interlude when John Bonham went missing. ‘’Where’s Bonzo?’’ proclaimed Robert repeatedly prior to a drummer-less performance of Tangerine.

Things did improve considerably with the acquisition of the various September 29 audience sourced CD set that surfaced in the 1990s. Last year came the much welcomed new double CD of soundboard highlights. It’s always been one of my all-time fave Zep gigs.

Now the oddly titled More Comedy Less Work presents the full show in genuine Winston style.

The packaging itself is fairly rudimentary   – a cartoonish illustration with an overhead airship on the front of the digipack long box. The Led Zeppelin script is lifted from the Led Zeppelin III cover and a sticker indication noting that this is a limited run of 300 portrays the group image featured on the back of that album sleeve. The back cover has some brief explanatory notes about how the recording was pieced together. An eight page booklet has small photos from the tour and reproduces the 1971 Japanese tour programme, though in very small black and white thumbnail type pics.

Some further explanatory notes about the unique content of the set list would have been an asset. It’s all in the Evenings With Led Zeppelin book and TBL issue 31 thanks to Mike Tremaglio’s diligent chronicling.

As for the music, well, let them take you there ….to the Festival Hall in Osaka for the final night of what had been a highly successful tour.

I am well versed with this performance via the previous recordings but hearing it complete in such quality is an absolute revelation.

Right from the moment you hear Bonzo exclaim ‘’Louder, louder’ the listener is hurtled right into the action and let me put it on record from the off: This performance of Immigrant Song may well be the best ever – Plant’s echoed shrill is a pure joy, Bonzo pushes it all ahead in tandem with JPJ and as for Jimmy… the moment he opens up the wah wah for a truly scintillating run is one of the all-time great Zep live moments. The unrelenting energy of it all is just extraordinary.

From there, well it’s a total tour de force. Everything that is great about the band – everything that they have learned to harness in a mere three years is all here. The matchless confident stomp of Heartbreaker really hits the mark – as does the slow burn blues rock of Since I’ve Been Loving You. The seamless patch in of Black Dog from the 28th keeps the momentum flowing.

Dazed And Confused is a cavalcade of electric magic – there’s no other words to describe it, and there’s a drop in for a one off extract of Pennies From Heaven. It’s worth noting here that whenever Zep extended the studio versions of their catalogue, as they did many times – it always came out sounding like a development rather than an indulgence – and there’s no finer example of that than this marathon performance.

Stairway To Heaven is a suitable regal delivery and Celebration Day is always great to hear from this era – actually whenever I hear it I am always reminded of the opening sequence at Knebworthon August 4, 1979 when it made a welcome return to the set.

The acoustic set offers blissful light and shade acoustic harmony moving through That’s The Way and Going To California followed by that aforementioned amusing interlude where Bonzo goes missing prior to a sweet Tangerine. What follows is a rare piece of Zep concert history: the only known live delivery of the Led Zeppelin III staple Friends –which is followed by an ad hoc short cover version of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.

A strident What is And What Should Never Be ushers in a complete Moby Dick – the master Bonham and his art..

The Whole Lotta Love medley is a 31 minute veritable Zep Spotify playlist. Try this for a starters: Elvis Presley’s I Gotta Know segued into Twist And Shout performed as The Beatles used to, followed by Benny Spellman’s Fortune Teller. Again via Mike Tremaglio’s research in the Evenings With book we know this trio are ‘one and only’ recordings, save for a 40-second snippet of Fortune Teller which was (also played in Oakland on September 2, 1970 concert. As they had done during the first show in Tokyo, the band also throw in the rarely played live Good Times Bad Times and a blues wailing You Shook Me.

Finally, after an emotionally draining Thank You this three hour show concludes with Rock And Roll – another preview from their upcoming fourth album and a first time outing on this Japanese tour.

The September 29 Black Dog is added on in the multi-track version.

To summarise:

So what we have here is a near complete representation in the best sound quality yet of one of the truly great evenings with Led Zeppelin.

I’ve been playing non-stop this past few days  -and what a much needed inspiration it’s been..

Whilst Led Zep and related artists are never far too away from the player here, this is the first real genuine new Led Zep aural experience I’ve soaked up in a good while. It’s a recording that offers a stark reminder of why I have invested so much time and energy into chronicling this band these past 50 years – and why Mike and I spent a sizable amount of our waking hours over a five year period producing the 576 pages that made up the Evenings With book. It’s one of those times when the power of music – and there’s no finer music than Led Zeppelin at full throttle live in concert in my book – gets right to the soul and provides such inspiration, and as we all know, in these unprecedented times any inspiration right now is much welcomed…

More Comedy Less Work will rightfully take its place alongside the Fillmore West April 27, 1969 performance , Plays Pure Blues (Texas International Pop Festival August 31, 1969), Live On Blueberry Hill (LA Forum September 4, 1970) and Going To California (Berkeley September 14, 1971) as my go-to fix when it comes to the in- concert appreciation of the first three years of Led Zeppelin’s existence.

In a world of current confusion one thing certainly remains ever constant – listening to Led Zeppelin perform live in 1971 is a truly wonderful thing… and this overwhelming September 29 performance of that year is more than ample proof…

Dave Lewis – May 25, 2020

Here’s TBL bootleg expert Paul Sheppard’s views:.

More on More Comedy Less Work – TBL contributor and Zep Live on CD expert Paul Sheppard’s observations:

Led Zeppelin – More Comedy, Less Work

Osaka, September 29 , 1971

Background and Context

There are, to the best of my knowledge, 2 main audience sources plus two soundboard sources for this show. These can be sub-divided into several generations for each audience source plus two generations for the soundboard sources. Over the years, in the realm of Cd bootlegs, we have had copious releases of varying quality using one or the other source or mixes of both.

What it comes down to are the following groupings for the Cd releases that have emerged:

  • An actual soundboard – a maximum length of about 90 minutes with Empress Valley feeding out individual track releases as well
  • An actual soundboard mix – in reality a mix of audience sources
  • Source 1 “soundboard – possibly two different versions and short of the whole show
  • Sources 2 &3
  • Sources 4 & 5
  • Mixes – where most of the show is available and where ‘More Comedy – Less Work’ fits in

More Comedy – Less Work (LZ/TAR) 4 Cd

What we get:

CD1

01 – Welcome To Osaka 929 [aud]

02 – Immigrant Song [sbd] 929 + 928 wail fix edit

03 – Heartbreaker [sbd] 929

04 – Since I’ve Been Loving You [sbd] 929

05 – Black Dog [sbd] 928

06 – Dazed and Confused [sbd] 929 patched

CD2

01 – Stairway to Heaven [sbd] 929

02 – Celebration Day [MT] 929

03 – That’s The Way [MT] 929

04 – Going To California [MT] 929

05 – Tangerine [MT] 929

06 – Friends [sbd] 929

07 – Smoke Gets in Your Eyes [sbd] 929

08 – What Is and What Should Never Be [sbd] 929

09 – Moby Dick [sbd] 929 patched edit

CD3

01 – Whole Lotta Love [MT] 929 +patched audio

02 – Communication Breakdown [sbd] 929

03 – Organ Solo [MT] 929

04 – Thank You [MT] 929

05 – Rock and Roll [MT] 929 – Bonus track

sbd – soundboard (speed corrected -2%)

MT – multi track stage recording (edited to completion with Plantations and various patches by Winston)

As described in the accompanying notes:

This is a merge of the newly released soundboard, previously released stray soundboards and the excellent remaster done by Winston.

Besides the speed correction on the SB portion there are a few small fixes to clean up some very minor sloppiness in the performance. Moby Dick is not quite complete but about 90% there. Black Dog is from the 28th (for the SB).

SB levels were brought down in order to level match and for headroom. Very minor eq and limiting was applied and only in spots to get more cohesion in sound.

The Verdict:

A clean and relatively uncluttered recording with Tarantura influenced packaging (though by no means as luxurious as Tarantura’s). The ‘soundboard’ parts are especially good. Owning as I do, 15 versions of this show either on Cd or stored, I can say that this is as good as it gets and highly recommended. Ok, so we have to accept the inclusions from the night before (notably ‘Black Dog’) but I can live with that. Always a pleasure too to hear the ‘Pennies from Heaven’ segment within ‘Dazed’ which a lot of other releases miss out.

The fourth CD contains eight tracks from a US radio show broadcast on 28th Jul, 1992 called ‘Up Close’ which focuses on the 1990 Remasters alongside an interview with Jimmy Page in 2017.

Paul Sheppard

Many thanks to Paul


DL Diary Blog Update:

Friday October 1:

Thinking about the our beautiful ex Our Price colleague and very good friend Hayley Martin one year gone…always a ray of light…you will shine in our hearts forever…

 

 

 

 

Saturday October 2:

Great piece on David Bowie in today’s Times…

Saturday October 2:

Saturday is platterday – and EP day…

There are times when it’s good to be surrounded by the things you love – I’ve not been feeling that great these past few days so there was inspiration to be had in sorting out some of my records – in this case seven inch EPs…

The EP(Extended Play) was a popular format in the 1960s. Usually made of four or five tracks and running at 45RPM, they retailed at slightly more than a normal single.

The EP was a showcase for an artist or band to feature exclusive material or offer extracts from their current album, they sometimes came as a mini greatest hits package. EP’s were presented in glossy sleeves with informative sleeve notes.

As can be seen, I have a fair few of them and they are wonderful artefacts of a bygone record buying age – and of course they still sound great. Some of these will be on the player today……

 

Sunday October 3:

It was great to have a visit from our very good friend Alan Stutz today – and hand over his copy of the rather splendid Evenings With Led Zeppelin Revised & Expanded edition …

Update here:

I am still getting over the cold that developed last week -I was getting worried and did go for a Covid PCR test which thankfully came back negative.

Alan’s visit did lift the mood on Sunday but this week mentally I have also taken a real dip. That horrible overwhelming depression and anxiety that can easily occur has been troubling me – to the extent that on Tuesday I spent 7 hours in bed,  I just gave up and wanted to hide away. I am finding it very hard to navigate through a lot of issues here right now (not least Janet’s ongoing difficulties with her leg which we need to seek guidance on) and hope I can get a more positive perspective on things…once again Janet and one or two others have been pivotal in their understanding and advice…

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

Dave  Lewis – October 7, 2021

TBL website updates written and compiled by Dave Lewis

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3 Comments »

  • VHP said:

    Hi Dave,

    Its good to see that Jimmy is venturing out from his country house with a visit to the Vinice Film premier & now for the forthcoming Cheltenham Festival. As he said that he has been playing guitar during lock down, I wonder if he will finally venture into a recording studio and record some new (& very long promised) new music?

    I don’t see why during lock down someone couldn’t have dropped some recording equipment off at his house. He could have left it for a couple of weeks – so he new it was safe to use, and recorded a CD of acoustic songs. That would have been great.

    I do remember that after the O2 Robert said that he had said to Jimmy that if he sent him some acoustic ideas, then he would work on them – but nothing was sent.

    Ah well, I look forward to listening to Robert and Alison’s new CD.

    Thanks for a great web site as ever Dave. Are you going to Cheltenham?

  • Steve Hall said:

    The new Krauss/Plant single sounds good…… looking forward to the album in November, and tour details for next year. I’m still a bit puzzled about the Saving Grace gigs that were “postponed” in August, though. The e-mail I got from Birmingham Town Hall said that they were trying to agree a new date with RP & the band, so ‘watch this space’, but have heard nothing since!
    I agree with you about 29/9 Osaka – it’s always been one of my fave’s, and I’ve got several copies in my collection, each one slightly improved on the last. The most recent, with majority sbd recordings, is excellent.

    Keep your head up Dave, things always improve when you least expect!!

  • Keith Stover said:

    Dave, your blog begins, “Next Wednesday October 16…” My calendar says 16 October is a Saturday….

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