John Paul Jones for Presences Electroniques Geneve:

John Paul Jones will be appearing at the Présences Electroniques Geneva event on November 28:

This via their website:

Présences Electroniques Geneva is celebrating this year its first half decade, as it has now five years on the musical meter. An age that normally marks the history of an event and leads to a certain stocktaking. The opportunity is taken to revisit the genesis of an event that, while taking up the concept of the eponymous Parisian festival from which it originates – « PRESENCES électronique »-, yet differs from it with its two-fold formula: the first, more academic one, offers at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices a deep dive into the history of electronic music, from electroacoustic pioneers to the latest producers, around the Acousmonium, an amazing loudspeaker orchestra, whose primary purpose is the spatialization of sound; the second one more dance floor-oriented, transposes the idea of expanding sound to the clubbing format, with an optimized quadraphonic system at the Zoo.

Symbol of the attachment to the mother festival and to its instigator Groupe de Recherches Musicales INA, PEG will present two movements of a work by François Bayle, creator of the Acousmonium and composer of many acousmatic works.

The opportunity is also taken to highlight the interesting enfranchisement of the Geneva festival, which this year throws its musical and artistic net over three days – in place of the usual two – and four venues. Besides the BFM and Zoo, the Museum of Art and History, which will host an octophonic sound & light installation, “Niches” by Mimetic and Sigmasix of Geneva, and the Centre des arts, which will be the stage of an overview of the history of sound spatialization through a conference given by Ina GRM, also participate. Symbol of this expansion, the performance by John Paul Jones’, a founding member of the legendary Led Zeppelin, who will glorify the anniversary edition of the Geneva’s festival with his mythical aura. A very nice gift, you will agree…

See ticket details and more at this link:

http://presenceselectroniques.ch/2015/#services

For the latest Zep news updates be sure to check out Led Zep News at https://www.facebook.com/ledzepnews/ 

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TBL Archive Special 1:

The pic here is the very rare flyer from the Cliff Hilliard collection for Led Zeppelin’s  October 12th concert at London’s Lyceum back in 1969…

So this is another milestone anniversary as it’s nigh on 46 years to the day they played what at the time, was their most prestigious London gig to date. It also marked the last time the band performed this set in the UK – by the time of their next London date – the famous January 9th 1970 Royal Albert Hall show – their set would be overhauled.

Here’s how it all lined up on that October Sunday night in 1969 via research from Mike Tremaglio:

SUNDAY OCTOBER 12 1969

LONDON, ENGLAND

THE LYCEUM, ‘SUNDAY SCENE’

Setlist (from 60 minute audience recording):

Good Times Bad Times Intro/ Communication Breakdown, I Can’t Quit You Baby, Heartbreaker, You Shook Me, What is and What Should Never Be, Dazed and Confused, How Many More Times Medley (incl. Boogie Chillun’)

Support from Frosty Moses and Audience.

The Lyceum show was the start of a series of Sunday night showcases, presented by promoter Tony Stratton-Smith. The original idea is for the headlining act to present an entire album in concert. They  declined that idea and only two numbers from the new album were subsequently premièred.

According to New Musical Express , promoter Tony Stratton-Smith was lining up a year-long series of concerts for Sunday evenings at the Lyceum.  The intention for the series was to have two star attractions plus an up-and-coming act.  Stratton-Smith mentioned that he wanted “to create the British equivalent of New York’s Fillmore East, with a free and easy atmosphere and a sense of community.”  The “Crab Nebula” light show accompanied the concert performers (in the spirit of the Fillmore East’s “Joshua” light show.   The concert was a 2,000 capacity sell out and the group were paid what is thought to be the highest fee for a one night performance in the UK.at that point. The deal with Stratton-Smith was for Led Zeppelin to receive the fee in cash the next day.

Nick Logan in New Musical Express reported: “It’s a pity that with such a large audience present, Led Zeppelin should turn in one of their less inspiring performances. Having seen them at both the Marquee and the Albert Hall it seems the larger the venue the better it suits the Zeppelin’s overpowering sound, although the Lyceum audience responded enthusiastically to everything they did. It was mainly the now familiar opening to their act – ‘Communication Breakdown’ etc. that suffered. Robert Plant’s voice being drowned by the sheer volume of sound. Jimmy Page’s guitar solo midway through was deservedly well received and when the group came in again on ‘You Shook Me’ and ‘What Is And What Should Never Be’ there was something of an improvement.”

Freddie Mercury, Queen’s legendary front man and Lyceum concert attendee, was a little bit more enthusiastic. In a letter mailed to his friend Celine Daly, Freddie wrote: “Just heard Zeppelin II LP and it’s a knockout.  Saw them at the Lyceum and they were really great.”  At the time, Mercury was still in his original band called “Ibex,” who included a cover version of Communication Breakdown in their setlist (as evidenced by a 9/9/69 bootleg recording).

 Bootleg CD References:

Ballroom Blitz (World Productions)

The Lyceum Ballroom U.K. 10/12/69 (Totonka)

Lyceum (Cobla Standard)

Triumphant UK Return (Empress Valley)

Compiled by Mike Tremaglio

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TBL Archive Special 2:

This is the superb poster I have in my collection advertising the screening of the Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded film on MTV – all of 21 years ago – here’s the TBL review of the Unledded album.

THE ALBUM:

NO QUARTER – JIMMY PAGE AND ROBERT PLANT UNLEDDED (Fontana 526 362 2)

No Quarter (the Unledded tag has been somewhat played down in the packaging) is a lengthy, 14-track CD clocking in at over 79 minutes – a mere three minutes less than Physical Graffitti. The actual sleeve design I find disappointing. A low key shot from Corris Slate that offers a rather windswept portrait of the ageing dynamic duo. The CD booklet itself is sparse on detail and the discographer in me again bemoans the lack of sleeve notes. If ever an album’s evolution was worth explaining then it was this one. It strikes me that the official press release notes produced for the MTV premieres would have fitted in very well here. An enigmatic photo of a bizarrely painted hand maintains the mystery of sleeve images of old. The nod to the original credit for Bron Y Aur (they’ve reverted to that spelling again) first deployed on the Led Zep III inner sleeve is a nice touch and one that vividly illustrates (as I’d hoped when I undertook The Making Of Led Zeppelin III feature back in the early summer) their allegiance to the original unplugged concept from 24 years back.

The sequencing differs from the MTV broadcast, skitting around from Wales, London and Morocco rather haphazardly. I would have preferred to see it retain the more cohesive flow of the film with all the Moroccan tracks particularly in one block.

From Morocco, ‘Yallah’ retains plenty of atmosphere enhanced with an echoed spoken intro and a very live-in-the-marketplace feel. ‘Wah Wah’ has a quaint charm but does lose some of its impact when stripped of the visual scope of the film, while the previously unused ‘City Don’t Cry’ emerges as a plaintive croon with a strong Gnaoua presence. While these excursions are admirably executed and remain a worthy record of their travels, the latter two songs do come over as a little too ethnic to broaden their appeal with repeated plays. ‘Wonderful One’ is still… well… wonderful. No other word for it. This version is an alternate recording from that which appeared in the film with Robert committing an affectingly sensitive vocal over Jimmy’s equally sensitive strumming.

From the mountains, ‘No Quarter’ fascinates with its phased reverb and modal tunings while ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ stomps and grinds to a knockabout climax (listen carefully for the off mike “Thank you very much”- comment at the end). I’d love to hear ‘Levee Breaks’ and ‘Gallows’ from the same session and hopefully along the way we will. From London there are some truly outstanding moments: ‘Thank You’ delights in its sheer familiarity, ‘Friends’ via its dramatic intro, ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ as a classic blow and ‘The Battle Of Evermore’ with its ethereal feel and Najma’s searing vocal

That leaves the final four numbers: ‘That’s The Way’, ‘Gallows Pole’, ‘Four Sticks’ and ‘Kashmir’. Here the sequencing is really spot on as one classic dovetails magnificentiy into another. This pan of the album really does capture the excitement so evident on screen. And as a bonus ‘That’s The Way’ appears as the previously unheard treat. Led by Jimmy’s swaying Ovation double neck, Robert offers an evocative trip through the memory bank in an arrangement enhanced by Michael Lee’s subtle drum pan and Porl’s lilting banjo. It’s a performance that again reflects Page’s ‘same picture within a different frame’ ethic.

The travelogue nature of proceedings on the No Quarter CD may skip uncomfortably across the continents at times but the journey is ultimately a fulfilling one. I find myself treating it like a favourite radio station – dipping in and out with repeated pleasure every time. Because here on Radio Unledded via the World Service you’re never too tar away from a solid gold classic.

Dave Lewis, October 1994 – first published in TBL issue 10

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Led Zeppelin Final Three Reissues – more feedback:

More additional feedback on the final three Led Zeppelin Reissues –

Here is an extensive review of the Coda reissue by Ken Winovich:

In-Depth Review of the new Remastered Led Zeppelin ‘Coda’ Super Deluxe Box Set by Ken Winovich – October 8 -2015

After the death of Led Zeppelin’s drummer John Bonham, I needed time to step back from it all. I took a breather. We were all stabbed right in the heart with his death. I briefly got into the music of the Police and was already into Rush starting in 1977 and they helped during this breather. I still listen to my top fives of Zep, Rush, Heart, Yes and Hendrix to this day. I don’t allocate much time to new and old music by others. I am just very well content. But Zep is played the most and always will be. I never expected the ‘Coda’ release and never gave it any thought that ‘hey…the band still owe one more album”. Who would have after Bonham’s death? I can only imagine how Pagey must have felt when Peter Grant struck up the nerve to remind Jimmy one more album was still due under contract. Grant had also stated that he had done a ‘handshake’ deal with Atlantic on the renewal of Zep’s contract. Had that official contract signing occurred, we would have had live albums of Earl’s Court, Knebworth and more by now.

Because an album can take time to make, Page must have got the word soon after Bonham’s death. I figured the record company would have a lot of nerve even asking after this tragedy. I also figured we’d get a slapped-together live album anyway from Atlantic in a few years. The first ‘leak’ that a new album might be imminent came in an all-Zeppelin magazine. It even described the tracks and I remembered this magazine because it mentioned the track ‘Poor Tom’. So when I officially got wind of this new album by Pittsburgh radio station WDVE in 1982, it was a shock as I dismissed that magazine story as ‘rubbish’. Although many fans have called it a weak album, I feel ‘Coda’ is not. It’s got two riff-heavy hitters on it. Throw in the powerful opener of ‘We’re Gonna Groove’ coupled with an outstanding live rehearsal version of “I Can’t Quit You Baby’ and you have the makings of a good heavy album. ‘Bonzo’s Montreux’ only solidifies it with the rest of the tracks holding up quite well on their own. It’s just a little short in length. But it is an important album for me.

It got me to allow Zeppelin, despite that awful tragedy (and when coupled with another story of why I took a ‘breather’ which I’ll get to), to work it’s way back into my life. Not that it had fully left. New bootlegs still kept coming and several would get my attention. But I was just too NUMB. We all dealt with Bonzo’s death in our own painful ways. Jimmy stated that for a long time, he didn’t even pick up the guitar. For me, it was a Zeppelin album, cassette or CD. Bootleg or otherwise. I just didn’t want to be reminded of Bonham’s death but even more so, I had to struggle with the hand that fate dealt to me – of having never seen the band live – mainly attributable to the series of events that started to unfold beginning in the latter half of 1975 culminating in the Fall of 1980. But I make no excuses. I should have been at the Civic Arena show on February 1, 1975. Sadly, for me, I couldn’t stand to even see any of the surviving band members as a solo act. It just wouldn’t be the same. I don’t accept percentages I thought. 70%. 80%. Nope. If it ain’t 100% Zeppelin, I didn’t want it (I tossed and turned many a sleepless night – would I say I ‘saw’ Zeppelin if I was able to see Jason and them at the O2? Would that have counted? My answer was ‘YES’). That bothers me now that I saw none of them as a solo act but back then, Bonham’s death was just too much to absorb. I did go see Page/Plant three times and John Paul Jones twice. But poor Robert – the most successful of them all post-Zep, didn’t get me at a single show on his solo tours.

My apologies. I bought all his albums though (right up to this year’s EP) and was glued to the radio for his live broadcasts. In many ways, the one they played from his first solo tour on July 4th got me re-focused back on Zep. Another person who surely felt my ‘Zeppelin withdrawal’ after Bonham’s passing was the record store owner where I got all my bootlegs! I disappeared! Another place closer to where I lived had them but most of what I needed or wanted they didn’t carry. But we all had to deal with Bonzo’s death in our own way, whatever it took. The early 80’s were a trying time for me. I was a young adult, trying to establish myself financially. I was in drafting and design school when the news of Bonzo’s death came over the classroom radio at exactly 12:50 PM on Pittsburgh’s rock station WDVE. I had just come back from lunch. I was in great spirits as the US Tour was getting ever closer and for the fact that my co-worker Chuck at a mens clothing store had promised me back stage passes since his girlfriend Carmella worked for Pittsburgh promoters DiCesare-Engler. It was a bright sunny cloudless day. If you listen to the Cleveland WMMS radio report on Youtube about Bonham’s death that ‘fateful day’, that Scotland yard clip on there is also what WDVE played from ‘The Source’ (an early 80’s rock radio insider news ‘source’). Our drafting instructor let us play WDVE all day while we did our drawings. When the news came on over the air that fateful day, I was stunned and that was a long walk home from school. I normally ran home to stay in shape and would try to beat my time from the previous day. There was no running that day and it seemed to take me forever to get home.

Part of it may have been that I just didn’t want to hear any more confirming radio reports and the fresh air was doing me some good. To this day I am also angry I didn’t tape any of the radio reports. That’s how numb I felt. Now I knew how my fellow drafting classmate Bill felt when his favorite band Lynard Skynard lost some of it’s members back on October 20, 1977 in the plane crash.

To make things even worse, I also got inter-twined in that anti-rock movement back in the early 80’s and it came to an ugly head with the backwards masking. Things really came full circle when a fan of Judas Priest had committed suicide. The end result was new label warnings for parents to be cautious what they allow their children to listen to. I had heard reports of satanism running wild from a chief of police. A priest also gave me an audio tape copy of the confessions of a former satanist who explained ‘how albums were really made’. That the finished products had spells placed on them designed to ‘influence’ the listener long before they arrived in our hands. No wonder there were always ‘delays’ with the albums and the ‘artwork’ when according to the tapes, the night of a full moon or whatever was required. Things finally came to a head and I had to deal with it. I was swayed by the ‘evidence’. Led Zeppelin and all other rock bands would possibly have to go. I remember my friends reactions: “What are we supposed to do?” My friend Butchie had the most to loose as he had an album collection slightly bigger than Page’s as shown in ‘It Might Get Loud’. This isn’t any more different I thought than when John Lennon made his poor-choice-of-words statement that ‘The Beatles were more popular or bigger than Jesus’. I remember that so well as I was into the Beatles first as a kid. I have to give John Lennon credit. He did clarify what he meant, explaining that he didn’t say they were better than God (his comment was first reported in the UK in March 1966 with the London Evening Standard and it hit the ‘fan’ in August 1966 when that interview was forwarded to the US teen magazine ‘Datebook’) but I noticed from that point on my interest in the Beatles faded fast. I lost some respect for them. They broke up soon afterwards and that was that. After some research, I gathered up my Zeppelin collection and gave it to my bandmate which he in turn sold off along with his collection.

I sold off the entire Led Zeppelin bootleg album collection separately to a collector in North Carolina. I got into dance music having just turned 21 and went out dancing with my cousin Debbie and her friends and forgot all about Led Zeppelin for what ended up being about a whole year. Then CD’s arrived. Cassettes were still big when ‘Coda’ came out. But I’d find out years later that Led Zeppelin were not bad. When the DVD’s, interviews and books would all start to come out, I realized as Robert Plant put it on the ‘How The West Was Won’ DVD that “The whole point of music is to make people happy.” That interview from the Drake hotel in September of 1970 (done the very day of Jimi Hendrix’s death hitting the news wires) was so important to me. That’s what tipped the scale. And I am here now to tell all of you that all that backwards masking stuff is complete bullshit from the Zeppelin standpoint. How do I know? I recorded myself singing “Stairway To Heaven” to a backing track. Last year I played it backwards and I couldn’t believe my own ears! There I was….sounding like I was saying the same backwards satanic messages that Robert was accused of saying! It’s all bullshit. If you don’t believe me, sing one yourself and reverse it.

Just make sure you reverse the right sentence(s)! It’s just coincidence. Sadly, my bootleg album collection was gone. I could kick myself. So could my bandmate. Me and my bandmate figured the bootlegs would be worthless anyway because they were so poorly made and were falling apart from the hot humid summers and I thought ‘no loss here’. Wrong! Just take a look at the current prices they go for now! I saw my double green ‘Bonzo’s Birthday Party’ 2-Lp bootleg sell for $300 (I knew it was mine because I used to cut out photos of the bandmembers and glue them to the boring white-label bootlegs to watch them spin around like in the movie!). Didn’t matter anyway. I started another collection and got them all back on bootleg CD’s (especially after a business trip to Boston at ‘Second Coming Records’ near Harvard!) with the only loss being my tube stereo from the 60’s which played back guitar songs in splendid tube-amp style! I said to myself “You should have realized if all that backwards masking stuff was true, you would have been ‘safe’ because you were playing live bootlegs instead of the supposed magic-strewn official releases. The bootlegs weren’t ‘zapped’ with magic like the originals supposedly were. I was back with a fury enjoying the music of Led Zeppelin. Is this also about idol worship? When Dave Lewis exclaimed “Zeppelin is a way of life”, I knew exactly what he was talking about. We’re not worshiping the band. We just enjoy their music.

To an extreme that’s hard to explain and that’s only because the music’s so darn good. The extreme’s no different than classical music lovers or devotees of Beethoven or Mozart and nobody’s excommunicating them! Jimmy Page once stated he does not worship the devil. So there you have it from his own mouth. Whether I approve or disapprove of his dabblings in the occult or agree or disagree with what he or his other bandmates say or do is irrelevant because it’s not about them personally but it’s about them musically. Just as it’s not about me personally but about my preferences musically. Yes I learned to listen to everything this band says or does because what they were talking about made sense. When I get some spare time, my band will record ‘Stairway To Heaven’ and in the key spot with me singing, I’ll reverse it so all can hear. And I promise you I don’t have the wizardry to ‘modify’ music.

On to the Super Deluxe Boxed set package design:

The dark green cover is really cool and compliments the original gray ‘Coda’ album. I predicted and favored this green color rather than the gray one I toyed around with in Paintshop.

Next was the rather short 72-page hardback book. I felt it could have included another 5 pages front and back of photos over the band’s twelve year career. But what it did have that I liked very much (and more so than the others) was the assorted alternate album covers. It was great seeing the juke-box track cards which I remember quite well from my junior high days hanging out at a local pizza shop! Poor Angelo heard ‘Stairway To Heaven’ and ‘Black Dog’ multiple times through no choice of his own! Great shot of Bonham taking the shoulder strap off his head from John Paul Jones’s bass! That photo reminded me of my first band days when after a three hour band practice, we would all switch instruments so our practice wouldn’t come to an end because we enjoyed playing so much! The photos of the master tape boxes show a shortage of music and I felt they could have put another track on the one side. ‘Sugar Mama’ would have been nice or ‘Sunshine Woman’ but then the overall heaviness of the album would have been diminished. So it’s best the way it was. The real gems are the companion track information at the end of the book. It’s loaded with information which will make this entire remasters project a treasure-trove of goodies for Zeppelin fans to pour over for years to come!

The original album is just great with it’s sturdy construction using heavy card stock. I love the textured braille lettering on the front (‘braille’ is a tactile writing system used for people who are blind. It is traditionally written on embossed paper. The person simply runs their fingertips over the embossed letters in order to ‘read’ without sight). Was Jimmy making a statement to the ‘blind’ press? Another statement similar in vain to the untitled ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ album with no title but four mysterious symbols? All of the photos on the inner album gatefold look much clearer now that they were printed on better quality card stock. What’s interesting is the single cardboard sleeve was placed in the left pocket of the gatefold and the album with white protector sleeve was placed in the right pocket. Whereas the originals from 1982 had the left pocket glued shut which also included my UK pressing which I just checked now.

Up next is the serial print. Mine is number 06784 / 30000. The cool thing about this serial numbered print is the fact that it was also embossed! Fine touch of class.

The companion album is next. This is the single standout gem of the entire 2014-2015 remasters project. It looks so cool in black with the orange highlight and will officially become my Halloween album every end of October! It’s a double with Jimmy saving the best for last! It’s jam packed with fifteen tracks. You can tell by the back of the companion album as it has the most cluttered track listing, not that I’m complaining! I immediately think back to Plant’s comments during the 1975 U S tour when he mentioned that “tonight, we’re going to play a wide cross-section of material” and that’s exactly what this companion album delivers. It’s Led Zeppelin’s entire career, starting with the first album outtake of ‘Sugar Mama’ all the way to the the band’s untimely end. I love the album and this Super Deluxe Box Set so much that I have it right up there alongside ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ and ‘Physical Graffiti’ as some of their finest product. Outstanding! The raised embossed braille lettering on it’s front shows the bands penchant for quality. Even the CD’s were done the same way!

The HD Download card was next with it’s motherload of FLAC files. It’s the largest zip file surpassing even ‘Physical Graffiti’, weighing in at 2.10 GB whereas ‘Physical Graffiti’ was only 1.83 GB and this zip file took the longest to download. But it was worth the wait!

The original CD was next. Again, fine attention to detail and they are beautifully reproduced. The only difference, the cardboard sleeve is placed in the second pocket of the gatefold along with the compact disc.

The companion CD was next and like ‘Physical Graffiti’, it’s thick. Jam packed with the best selection of material over the band’s twelve year career. It will provide years of listening pleasure. With all the track info on it’s back, the Warner info and proof-of-purchase sticker, there’s just enough room for it all!

Now on to this long awaited remastered music:

‘We’re Gonna Groove’ – Bonham’s drumming on this track is outstanding. He was on fire at that Royal Albert Hall show (January 7, 1970) and that’s readily evident by the time you get to his drum solo if you have any doubts. The bass growls which start at 00:28 just add to the force of the track. At 01:37, Page’s guitar note bend is neat. Jimmy’s also added some metal slide. You can really feel the power from this show opener and album opener. To hear it crystal clear is a testament to John Bonham’s playing and he would have been proud.

‘Poor Tom’ – Listen to the hi-hat far right which Bonham only uses now and then. Quite interesting. Another great example of Bonham ‘finesse’. The 12-string acoustic sounds so sweet with Page relying on that trusty old Altair tube limiter again especially at 00:56-00:59. Nice harmonica-frenzied end. The track order employed by Page for both sides of this album stand out even more when heard in blazing 21st century sound. Fantastic! I think ‘Led Zeppelin IV’, ‘Houses Of The Holy’, ‘Physical Graffiti’ and ‘Coda’ are the best examples of Led Zeppelin track-running-order perfection.

‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’ – Listen to Bonham follow Page’s flurry of notes with both in unison at 00:56. How many drummers do you know that do that? (Heh heh :). Excellent Plant vocal vibrato for five or so seconds ending at 01:24. He’s one of the few vocal artists I ever hear doing that and it’s a joy to hear on these remasters. By 03:00, you see the effective use of dynamics by Zeppelin from all-out frenzy one moment to a calm before the storm at another. On this remastered track, you can hear Bonham’s whole kit ‘rattle’ with each drum strike!

‘Walter’s Walk’ – My favorite track off this album. One of the mothers of all Jimmy Page riffs. Pity we hadn’t heard this one sooner. Page opens with the killer riff and when Bonham comes in with his classic stomp, it just has it all. To hear this in all it’s remastered glory just about brings a tear. The real beauty of these remasters is the ability to study Page’s deployment of guitar overdubs which in and of itself will take years to process and will also help hard core fans uncover how he even attempted to play a heavily overdubbed guitar track like ‘Ten Years Gone’ live on the 1977 U S Tour. Wow! Listen to the bass drum kick at 03:33 in all it’s remastered glory! What a drum roll at 03:42-03:43!

‘Ozone Baby’ – The slide note at 00:31 is rather loud. You can hear Plant at the end of the track mumble “Uhhhh” as Page struck the last barre chord. Nice to hear the break at 01:16 remastered.

‘Darlene’ – Another spot-on Page/Jones/Bonham opening all in unison! Listen to how hard Bonham pounds that snare drum with double strikes at a time. The 00:21 Bonham finesse sounds so awesome I almost want to take up the drums! Nice to hear the remastered pace changes like the one at 03:11. Bonham is fantastic at the end of 03:30! Nice descending piano notes at 04:31 which I never heard before but are brought out in these remasters. Things like this have all of us asking “What else have I missed?”

‘Bonzo’s Montreux’ – Nice to hear Bonham count out the “1..2..3..4” at the start of the track. This remastered track brings out that squeaky hi-hat again (00:36 & 00:37)! Love hearing that Bonham kick during the 00:40’s. Nice lateral panning by Jimmy at the studio controls as the tympani come in. After playing this track and hearing the synclavier treatments, I hopped on Youtube to explore the various sounds the synclavier makes. The most notable use of the synclavier that I knew of was on Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’. What’s neat on this remaster is hearing Bonham bending the tympani notes by stepping onto their foot pedals. Wow! What a treat at 02:38! A fine drum orchestral piece. Bonham didn’t overdue it. It’s just right and it’s a shame we never got to see this live. One can only wonder if this would have been done on the 1980 U S Tour! What’s also neat is that Bonham couples the kick drum kicks with light hi-hat taps at the end at 04:16. Fantastic and the show-piece of the entire album!

‘Wearing And Tearing’ – The song starts with a very complicated kick drum in so far as when and when not to tap it during the main riff. There’s a video I think I saw on Youtube where it explains how Bonham took the leather strap off his kick and replaced it with a chain on his kick pedal! No wonder he kicks and drums like hell on wheels and yes, it’s another track that would have left Bonham wanna-be’s at the curb had they been asked to fill his shoes after his untimely death. What a power-house of a track to close out the band’s final album! Bonham throws in the kitchen sink and it’s just stunning to listen to.

In conclusion, another superb remaster which is sure to provide decades of listening pleasure to Zep fans worldwide! Although it didn’t have the bootleg tracks ‘Say You Gonna Leave Me’ or ‘Fire’, it does have ‘St. Tristan’s Sword’! And the powerful ‘Sugar Mama’! I expected the 1-2 Bombay tracks and that’s quite interesting because I suspect that’s where Page and Plant got their idea for their ‘No Quarter’ CD and tour! They remembered 1972. I remember saying to myself “If they come up short with tracks for this companion album, I’ll take another version of ‘In The Light’ or ‘When The Levee Breaks’ for sure” and sure enough, they’re on here! So this companion album more than any of the others met fully with my expectations and seeing it’s the last, puts an outsanding cap on it all! Even better, I got my greedy little hands on this puppy almost a week before it’s official release and that made it a real joy to buy. Although the price was $20 more, there’ll be no whining or complaining by me because this Super Deluxe Box set is just outstanding! The fact that it picked up a leftover that didn’t make it on the first eight (‘Bring It One Home’) and served up additional ‘work-in-progress’ tracks of ‘In The Light’ and ‘When The Levee Breaks’ by far justifies the additional $20. I also knew that if they came up short of material they would put ‘Hey Hey What Can I Do’, ‘Baby Come On Home’ and ‘Travelling Riverside Blues’ on here in vinyl form because I knew that vinyl is so red hot right now and I was very happy with that. Finally, it doesn’t have the instrumental ‘Swan Song’ nor the John Paul Jones sung ‘Lost In Space’, but maybe….just maybe….we’ll see those surface in the near future as Jimmy hinted there could be a record store day EP in the future. A Record Store Day EP release of ‘Sunshine Woman’, ‘Swan Song’, ‘Lost In Space’ and either ‘Fire’ or ‘Say You Gonna Leave Me’ sounds perfect! ‘Nuff said and it’s time to get knee deep in all nine of these Super Deluxe Box sets. The sooner the better! There’s so much to enjoy! I hope these next 4 or 5 years pass by so fast while I’m dissecting these nine box sets and that I am surprised when I learn of that new EP on Record Store Day!

[Please see my separate companion album review for ‘Coda’. Sorry for the delay after an ‘ear ache’ from hell disabled my listening pleasure for two months!]

Scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best:

Content: 5.0
Audio: 5.0
Satisfaction: 5.0

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The Led Zeppelin Tape Documentary by Luis Rey:

Luis Rey has a new updated version of his much acclaimed long out of print tape logs book. Under the title The Led Zeppelin Tape Documentary it’s being published in a limited edition by Abbotsford Books. Luis explained his plan to produce an updated version to me earlier in the year – I did have plans for TBL to be involved in the publishing but my workload this year prevented me moving on with this. However Julian Walker and Eddie Edwards have been on hand to assist Luis in pushing this essential Zep read one back out there – TBL’s Mike Tremaglio also cast an eye over the updated text.

Luis Rey will be at the Victoria Fair  on Saturday ( see below) with copies of the book.

I am aiming to be in attendance –  the nearby pub for a meet is The Royal Oak – details below:

http://www.theroyaloakpublichouse.co.uk/

Julian revealed more details on his Facebook page as follows:

Very exciting news for all true Led Zeppelin fans. Luis Rey’s completely revised and overhauled book, now called “The Led Zeppelin Tape Documentary” (which was the very first and original title of his work) is released in a first edition, strictly limited to 100 copies, each one individually signed by Luis Rey. 555 pages, lots of colour and black & white reproductions of tickets, posters and live CDs. THE essential reference to the band’s live performances, told with penetrating truth and insight as only Luis Rey can tell it.

I’ll check in with Julian for ordering details and report back on all this soon.

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Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters Classic Rock Review:

Here’s an excellent review of the September 20 Boston show from TBL contributor Stephen Humphries which appears in the new issue of Classic Rock. There’s a couple of YouTube clips form the gig below.

VIP Record Fairs:

The VIP Record Fair returns to London Victoria  this Saturday October 17. The venue is the Royal Horticultural Halls, 80 Vincent Square Victoria London SW1p 2PE

Doors open for general admission at 12 and it runs to 6pm. Early entry is 10.30 am.

More details at http://www.vip-24.com/londonvictoria.htm

VIP  Music Mania Record Fair  at Olympia, London – Saturday November 14,Sunday November 15 2015:

TBL/Rufus Stone will be having a stall at the VIP Music Mania Fair at Olympia on November 14 and 14th – The Five Glorious Nights book will be on sale and I will be signing copies of the book.

The Olympia Music Mania Fair is the biggest UK event of it’s kind with easy central London travel links.

It attracts dealers from the UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Italy etc. The are a multitude of stalls at the event offering vinyl, CD, books, magazines DVD’s etc across all genres of music -including many Led Zeppelin vinyl and CD collectors items. This is destination fair that is well worth attending. Much more than a mere record fair it’s an event where you can sped hours browsing the racks with like minded enthusiasts.  The TBL crew will be in attendance so come and say hi at the TBL/Rufus Stone stall.    VIP link for more details is at http://www.vip-24.com/olympia.htm

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DL Dairy Blog Update:

A tricky time here at the moment. As mentioned before, Janet’s mum Betty has again been suffering health problems – after a fall at home last Sunday she was admitted to hospital again with a chest infection and some other issues. We are monitoring the situation daily and getting advice for care ahead. Difficult times indeed and very draining – particularly for Janet.

Within all that, we are keeping the show on the road and to that end there’s been work on TBL 40 – mainly on one of the centrepiece features which will be a 9,000 word overview of the early years of the TBL magazine. Like I said it’s been hugely nostalgic and cathartic to look back at how I came to create the TBL platform of communication as I initially termed it. More on all this soon.

Elsewhere there’s been some work on another project ahead.

Within a difficult time here there was a silver lining last week. I chanced upon a Sony LBT D 105 ‘’Dynamic bass feedback compact Hi-fidelity stereo system’’ in a local charity shop. Turntable, CD, double cassette and radio all in perfect running order and in great condition not to mention (drum roll please)…Five band graphic equalizer!. These things went out at about £500 in the early 90s –I had a Pioneer one back then. This was at a bargain price of just £24.99. I quickly snapped it up. It sounds wonderfully powerful. A top find indeed – retro Hi –Fi rules! The Led Zep slip mat is an added accessory courtesy of the DL collection of course.

On the player here –  Led Zeppelin Remasters as released all of 25 years ago today, Led Zeppelin Live In Japan 1971, Stephen Stills 2, Simon & Garfunkel Bookends , Paul Simon Greatest Hits, Free – The Free Story, David Gilmour Rattle That Lock.

All being well, I am aiming to be at the Victoria Fair on Saturday and look forward to seeing those that can make it along.

Dave Lewis, October 15, 2015.

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You Tube Clips:

Led Zeppelin – Remasters US TV advert:

Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters – Spoonful – September 20 Boston:

Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters – Trampled Underfoot  – September 20, Boston:

Until next time…

Have a great  weekend

Keep listening, keep reading…

Dave Lewis/Gary Foy –  October 15 , 2015. 

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