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LED ZEPPELIN PHYSICAL GRAFFITI REISSUE – FULL DETAILS ANNOUNCED – FEBRUARY 23RD RELEASE DATE SET – THE COUNTDOWN COMMENCES…

8 January 2015 3,866 views 17 Comments

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Atlantic/Swan Song have today officially announced the full details, track listing, formats and release date of the next Led Zeppelin reissue – this will be a stand alone release of Physical Graffiti with a bonus companion disc  – due on the 40th anniversary of its original release in February 1975.

Here is all the info via the official press release:

Physical Graffiti Deluxe Edition Arrives Exactly 40 Years After Debut,

Produced And Newly Remastered By Jimmy Page,

With Previously Unreleased Companion Audio

Multiple CD, Vinyl, And Digital Formats, Including Limited Edition Super Deluxe Boxed Set, Available February 23

The Led Zeppelin reissue campaign continues in 2015, turning the spotlight on the double album Physical Graffiti. The deluxe edition of the group’s sixth studio album will arrive 40 years after the original debuted on February 24, 1975. The reissues of the first five Led Zeppelin albums in 2014 found both commercial successes, with multiple titles reaching Top 10 chart status in countries around the world, as well as widespread critical acclaim, including the recent Classic Rock “Reissue Of The Year” Award.

As with the previous deluxe editions, Physical Graffiti has been newly remastered by guitarist and producer Jimmy Page and is accompanied by a disc of companion audio comprising previously unreleased music related to the original release.

Physical Graffiti will be available February 23rd from Atlantic/Swan Song in the following formats:

  • Double CD – Remastered album packaged in a replica of the original LP jacket.
  • Deluxe Edition (3CD) – Remastered album on two discs, plus a third disc of unreleased companion audio.
  • Double LP – Remastered album on 180-gram vinyl, packaged in a sleeve that replicates the LP’s first pressing in exacting detail.
  • Deluxe Edition Vinyl (3LP) – Remastered album and unreleased companion audio on 180-gram vinyl.
  • Digital Download – Remastered album and companion audio will both be available in standard and high-definition formats.
  • Super Deluxe Boxed Set – This collection includes:

o Remastered double album on CD in vinyl replica sleeve.

o Companion audio on CD in card wallet featuring new alternate cover art.

o Remastered double album on 180-gram vinyl in a sleeve replicating first pressing.

o Companion audio on 180-gram vinyl in a sleeve with new alternate cover art.

o High-definition audio download card of all content at 96kHz/24 bit.

o Hard bound, 96 page book filled with rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia.

o High-quality print of the original album cover, the first 30,000 of which will be individually numbered.

Certified 16x platinum in the U.S., the commercial success of Physical Graffiti was equaled by its critical reception. Generally regarded as one of the greatest double albums of all time, the original 15 tracks represent a creative tour de force that explores the band’s dynamic musical range, from the driving rock of “Custard Pie” and acoustic arrangement of “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” to the Eastern raga of “Kashmir” and funky groove of “Trampled Under Foot.”

PG 3

The companion audio disc that accompanies the deluxe edition of Physical Graffiti has seven unreleased tracks, including rough mixes of “In My Time Of Dying” and “Houses Of The Holy,” as well as an early mix of “Trampled Under Foot” called “Brandy & Coke.” All the unreleased companion tracks offer fans a chance to hear well-known songs from a different perspective, including the Sunset Sound mix of “Boogie With Stu” and “Driving Through Kashmir,” a rough orchestra mix of the band’s eight minute opus “Kashmir.” Also featured is “Everybody Makes It Through,” a strikingly different early version of “In The Light” with alternate lyrics.

In 1968, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant formed Led Zeppelin, one of the most influential, innovative and successful groups in modern music, having sold more than 300 million albums worldwide. The band rose from the ashes of The Yardbirds, when Page brought in Plant, Bonham and Jones to tour as The New Yardbirds. In 1969, Led Zeppelin released its self-titled debut. It marked the beginning of a 12-year reign, during which the group was widely considered to be the biggest and most innovative rock band in the world.

Led Zeppelin continues to be honoured for its pivotal role in music history. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and a year later was awarded with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm. Founding members Jones, Page and Plant – along with Jason Bonham, the son of John Bonham – took the stage at London’s O2 Arena in 2007 to headline a tribute concert for Ahmet Ertegun, a dear friend and Atlantic Records’ founder. The band was honored for its lifetime contribution to American culture at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2012. In January of 2014, the band won their first ever Grammy award as Celebration Day, which captured their live performance at the Ertegun tribute concert, was named Best Rock Album.

Physical Graffiti

Track Listing

Disc One

  1. “Custard Pie”
  2. “The Rover”
  3. “In My Time Of Dying”
  4. “Houses Of The Holy”
  5. “Trampled Under Foot”
  6. “Kashmir”

Disc Two

  1.  “In The Light”
  2. “Bron-Yr-Aur”
  3.  “Down By The Seaside”
  4.  “Ten Years Gone”
  5.  “Night Flight”
  6.  “The Wanton Song”
  7. “Boogie With Stu”
  8. “Black Country Woman”
  9. “Sick Again”

 

Companion Audio Disc

  1. “Brandy & Coke” (Trampled Under Foot – Initial Rough Mix)
  2. “Sick Again” (Early Version)
  3. “In My Time Of Dying” (Initial Rough Mix)
  4. “Houses Of The Holy” (Rough Mix With Overdubs)
  5. “Everybody Makes It Through” (In The Light Early Version/In Transit)
  6. “Boogie With Stu”  (Sunset Sound Mix)
  7. “Driving Through Kashmir” (Kashmir Rough Orchestra Mix)

Full pre-ordering details at:

http://www.ledzeppelin.com/buy

 

…………………………….

Some initial DL thoughts:

Looking at the companion audio disc track listing for Physical Graffiti, it is again in line with the companion audio track listing policy for  Led Zeppelin II, III, IV and Houses Of The Holy – in so much that the content is intended to act as a companion to the versions we all know and love.

Let us remind ourselves It’s Jimmy’s vision to present working mixes and alternate versions to as he put it ‘’to hear a mirror of the tracks as you know them…some were reference mixes for us at the time…others completely different in approach.’’

Those disappointed by the lack of live material – , as I mentioned before live material is not the concept of this release   – Jimmy did employ the Paris 1969 recording as the bonus companion audio on the Led Zep I reissue. This was included as he felt there was insufficient outtake material to fill a Zep I studio companion disc. This initiative was not intended to act as a precedent. Live material is not the priority with the reissue programme – that’s not to rule out a potential live set of releases as a separate project in the future although of course nothing is cast in stone on such an idea at this moment in time.

Once again there is plenty of scope for us to hear and enjoy the working mix down process that went into shaping the songs that have been ingrained on our brains for over 40 years.

So bring on…

Brandy & Coke” (Trampled Under Foot – Initial Rough Mix)

“Sick Again” (Early Version)

“In My Time Of Dying” (Initial Rough Mix)

The above will be mixes from the sixth album Headley Grange Graffiti sessions late 73/early 74

“Houses Of The Holy” (Rough Mix With Overdubs)

The above will be from the Houses sessions spring 72 -the title track that somehow got left off the album of the same name

“Everybody Makes It Through” (In The Light Early Version/In Transit)

Likely to be one of the highlights as it  traces the songs genesis -another sixth album Graffiti Headley Grange session late 73/early 74

“Boogie With Stu”  (Sunset Sound Mix)

This was recorded in early 1971 for the Zep IV album but left off – it was however part of the Led Zep IV Sunset Sound Studios mixes – the source of the versions of Stairway to Heaven and Misty Mountain Hop on the Led Zeppelin IV companion disc.

In my interview with Jimmy last October he  mentioned this fact:

DL: So, why was the Sunset Sound mix of the album not used at the time?

JP: What happened with the Sunset Sound mix was this. Andy Johns and I went over to Sunset Sound in Los Angeles to mix the fourth album there, because of the facilities they had. They had natural echo chambers. I knew they had natural echo chambers at EMI, for example, but you couldn’t get in there. There was so much music that I liked that had come out of Sunset Sound, and it was a result of the limiters, the compression and the echo chambers – like the Byrds’ stuff, that was all done there.

I was keen and Andy was, too. There was also extra things that later came out on Physical Graffiti that we did at Headley at the time of recording the fourth album. There was Night Flight, Boogie With Stu, obviously, and Down By The Seaside – they all got mixed at Sunset, too. Going To California was mixed at Sunset but Battle Of Evermore wasn’t, that one didn’t go there for a mix but all the other things we did at the time we mixed there.

“Driving Through Kashmir” (Kashmir Rough Orchestra Mix)

Another sixth album Graffiti session at Headley Grange  late 73 early 74.

It’s worth noting that bringing in the earlier recorded Houses Of The Holy and Boogie With Stu, Jimmy has retained the concept of Physical Graffiti being a summary album – mixing new material with previously recorded older tracks to put in perspective where they were at up to that point.

Regarding the selections on the companion audio disc:

Yes we can all ponder on the might have been and lost tracks that may or may not have been overlooked – and who knows what might turn up on the Coda companion disc…in my view it’s far better we celebrate exactly what Jimmy Page has put before us… and in my world this forthcoming Physical Graffiti reissue looks to have more than enough scope for me to love this band even more than I thought I did…and you too..

And lets be under no illusion this is Physical Graffiti we are talking about here – in my view the greatest album of all time – the opportunity to hear it afresh in this remastered form and wallow in all the activity that will surround it in the coming weeks…well, that is some prospect.

All this is happening 40 years on from the original release –  back in 1975 as a hugely Zep obsessed 18 year old, I have vivid memories of the whole period of awaiting this new outpouring of Zeppelin music.

NickKent’s preview in the NME in early December (I of course memorised the entire track listing to impress all and sundry who would listen!), Jimmy’s interview in NME at the same time and that quote ”1974 didn’t really happen – 1975 will be better” (was it ever!).

The early US 75 tour reports in NME and Melody Maker, the Whistle Test Robert Plant interview and previews, Alan Freeman previewing five tracks on his Saturday show, John Peel playing Kashmir, the back page ads in the music papers of the sleeve in a window frame… the daily ripping open of the boxes that arrived at the WH Smith record department I worked at in that January to February period – hoping amongst hope it would be the new Zep album as release dates came and went …until finally that day in late February when finally this embellishment of riches was before us…then the album entering the UK chart at number one and the announcement of the Earls Court shows…

PG mock up

The coming weeks will be like living that expectation all over again – as you can tell I’m a little excited…as I am sure you are too…

…………………………….

And in keeping with previous releases it’s time for the countdown to begin:  

TBL countdown to the release of the reissue of Physical Graffiti –  46 days to go and counting:

This is the original mock up sleeve for Physical Graffiti produced by Atlantic/Sawn Song in the US. It has some minor differences in the photos, the windows are uncut and it has alternate typescript to the finished version. A few of these were sent over to the UK in late 1974 for the UK WEA (Warner/Elektra/Atlantic) sales reps to take to the UK shops as they were selling in the album. I first saw this in November 1974 when the rep who called on the WH Smith record department I had just started working at called in to take our order. We ordered 25 albums, 10 cassettes and 3 eight track cartridges. We had to quickly order more after the 25 sold out on the first day! When he had finished selling the album in to his shops, the rep very kindly gave it to me.  It remains one of my most prized pieces of Led Zep memorabilia.

Physical Graffiti is coming…so get ready to party like it’s 1975… 

Dave Lewis –  January 8th, 2015.

YouTube clip:

Original Trampled Underfoot promo film produced by Filmfinders for screening on The Old Grey Whistle Test February 21st, 1975.  

Until next time…Keep listening, keep reading…

Dave Lewis/Gary Foy – January 8th, 2015

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17 Comments »

  • Mike Wilkinson said:

    Is it the 23rd of February yet?
    Time is passing so slowly waiting for this!

  • Allan Reynolds said:

    why no Swan Song and would have liked to see a double album of the bonus material.
    Hopefully songs like Hey hey what can I do and baby come on home & Swan song etc will be on the reissue of Coda.

  • Dave Whyte said:

    What would be great is if the Deluxe set (all the vinyls) included the book.

  • Del said:

    You got watch these limited edition box sets, I have bought them all from HMV and on unpacking Zepp III at home I noticed a big scratch across one of the vinyls so had to take it back and change it. since then I have opened them all in the shop. On opening set IV in the shop I also had no numbered picture, even tho it said on the box that it was numbered so the bloke opened another one and that was numbered so I had that one instead. Have ordered physical graffiti from HMV and so will be checking that one as well !!

  • Mike Wilkinson said:

    Looked again at my purchase from Amazon and, although the picture of what I bought clearly showed the numbered print (standard photos for the launch),the actual wording of the advert does not contain the print in the description at all.

    I’m sure that Amazon would argue that I actually got more than I ordered.

    Still a bit pee’d off that I paid full cost though for a un-numbered copy!

    Don’t suppose anybody wants to swap my un-numbered one for their numbered one?

    Thought not!

  • Aris Roskam said:

    @Mike Wilkinson: I also received an unnumbered copy of the 4th album. Having l, ll, lll and Houses numbered, I found it a bit disappointing I received this one without “High Quality Numbered Print”. After a call to Brit’s Amazon’s helpdesk they promised to look for the correct one. After 6 weeks, and lots of mail, I finally received the numbered copy. THNX TO MARK NIÑO AT AMAZON.CO.UK!!! They stated that the numbered and the un-numbered stock were basically mixed with the initial stock as instructed by the vendor. However, the vendor have since sorted through the stock to make sure the numbered ones are available as priority until they run out then it’ll switch to un-numbered…
    Maybe you’ll also get a chance to trade your unnumbered copy with a numbered one!!
    Good luck! Aris.

  • Andrew r said:

    I believe Rob Beck is referring to the super deluxe set not being of value
    ie £130 for the book inside.As to PG it was and still is the soundtrack of my life these past 40 years. I still remember the wonder of that die cut sleeve back in 75
    that was before any tracks were played!Kashmir was just another track on the lp
    and had yet to achieve iconic status strange as that might sound.If i find this whole re release business a little underwhelming it is worth considering that any opportunity to re examine one of the greatest double lps ever produced has got to be worthwhile.

  • Mike Wilkinson said:

    Let’s just say that, since missing out on a numbered version of IV after getting one of each of the others, I’ve been logging on several times each day to make absolutely sure I didn’t miss this one.
    And I haven’t.
    Bring it on 😉

  • Ian in New Zealand said:

    I haven’t got the ears nor the hifi to appreciate any remastering and the alternate versions – well, they’re just the wrong versions aren’t they?

    Anyhoo, love the Trampled promo – brings back memories.

    And, yes Dave, it is the greatest album of all time!

  • Roxanne Barker said:

    Is Rob Beck referring to the Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page book as being a “rip off” ? I pre-ordered mine from Amazon and it cost 40.00 US dollars, minimal shipping. I think it’s a lovely thing to have, and a testament to a fabulous career, plus it’s a great record of events I’ve lived through as well. I think the re-issues are interesting; perhaps different choices could have been made rather than outtakes of well-known material. I enjoyed the first album with the Paris concert, and LZ III contained some nice acoustics. The other releases are so-so, but that’s not the point. Page has stated repeatedly that he wanted to show a “band in progress”, and I think that’s what he’s done by choosing variations of songs we all know and enjoy. I’m certainly looking forward to Physical Graffiti!!

  • Bill Cromwell said:

    Disappointing. I, too, thought that the Physical release could be The One. At least give us “mirror” versions of ALL the tracks. I bought the first three releases and regret dropping the coin. I skipped 4 and Jouses. Saving my pennies for my favorite stage of Zeppelin, Physical and Presence. Still might give Physical a whirl, but I better get more for the Presence release! Jimmy, all is forgiven if you come through, as some have suggested, with Coda.

  • Stephen said:

    Will be great to hear PG at it’s sonic best, but JP has misjudged the whole companion disc thing. The “portal” into the past he talked about, is quickly becoming a rabbit hole. Unless your a sound engineer, the alternate mixes are of little value. Fans wanted unreleased material like “Swan Song” and some live takes of the album tracks. It’s so frustrating because in the Zeppelin universe, any official release takes ages. So we know it will be a long wait, if ever, for anything else.

  • Rob Beck said:

    What a rip off! £130 for a book, he should be ashamed of himself! King Crimson charge that for 27 CD’s of a whole tour. Missed opportunity of putting out all 5 nights of Earls Court as the companion discs instead of the meagre offerings served up! Very disappointed

  • Larry said:

    I’m a little disappointed that there’s no expanded version of Swan Song here…as Graham said, maybe for Coda where perhaps “all will be revealed” (Jimmy hinted as much at one point recently iirc).

    Jimmy messing about with a live recording would likely produce a brilliant sounding document. Reference the official DVD with something like the Knebworth gig. On the flip side vis-a-vis an earlier gig, much of the medlies would wind up on the cutting room floor as we witnessed with BBC Sessions and Paris 69. Hard to settle for that after spending years (and in the case of BBC, a large majority of my life) with the bootlegs.

    Whatever the case, I’m very much looking forward to Feb. 23!

  • Graham Rodger said:

    Initial thoughts – crushing disappointment at the lack of bonus material here. I thought that this was going to be the one. Hope all the lost treasure will be revealed on CODA in 2015.

  • paul aspey said:

    Tomorrow might have been a better day to announce the release of my personal favourite album
    it being Jimmy’s birthday and all , I am still trying to master the dancing from OGWT

    Live recordings!! me neither we all have loads of bootlegs from across the years. I personally prefer the rock n roll medleys of Elvis material that materialised on the spot
    how many non zep heads would appreciate that

  • Mark Carroll said:

    Looking forward to this, however I’m not bothered about live releases, I wouldn’t trust Jimmy Page to produce a Led Zeppelin live set anyway. If you REALLY need to listen to Led Zeppelin “live” get hold of a bootleg soundboard recording. They are SOOOOOO MUCH BETTER than a live set that has been “MESSED ABOUT” by Jimmy Page…

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