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ROBERT PLANT & SSS US TOUR/ JOHN BONHAM MEMORIAL WEEKEND/TBL ARCHIVE US & JAPAN 1971/HENDRIX AND MARC BOLAN REMEMBERED /DL DIARY UPDATE

17 September 2015 3,067 views One Comment

michael brazee three

Robert Plant and The Sensational Spaceshifters US Tour:

Robert and co have been back in the US for some very well received performances – here’s the Toronto setlist:

Trampled Under Foot
Turn It Up
Black Dog
Rainbow
Black Country Woman
Spoonful
The Rain Song
No Place to Go / Dazed and Confused
The Lemon Song
Little Maggie
Crawling King Snake
Whole Lotta Love / Who Do You Love

michael brazee one pic

Encore:
Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down / In My Time Of Dying
Rock and Roll

Troronto Review via Jason Macneil : Toronto Sun

It’s been nearly eight years since Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant performed together. And while Page has spent a large chunk of the interim restoring the iconic band’s back catalogue, Plant continues to press forward on a seemingly endless musical adventure.

Such was the case Tuesday evening at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre where Plant and his eclectic supporting cast the Sensational Space Shifters thrilled a sizable but far from capacity crowd for 100 minutes. The biggest difference this time around was how liberally Plant sprinkled the set with reworked, retooled Led Zeppelin classics.

Plant, 67, got things started off perfectly with Trampled Under Foot, the groovy boogie number from Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti. Happy to give fans what they wanted, the singer belted out the tune before offering up Turn It Up from his latest album Lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar.

It was obvious though the ups and downs depended on where Plant was in the set. As interesting as new, Celtic-tinged tunes such as Little Maggie came off they didn’t register as strongly with fans judging by how many kept sitting. This changed quickly whenever Plant unearthed gems such as the delectable foot-stomper Black Country Woman with the singer on harmonica or the swampy, re-imagined Black Dog.

Perhaps the greatest asset was his band, one that easily lived up to its name. A handful of times throughout, guitarists Justin Adams and Liam “Skin” Tyson followed Plant’s blueprint perfectly, morphing from rustic Mississippi blues to rock to folk in the span of a few fleeting moments. This was particularly true on No Place to Go which veered seamlessly into a tasty portion of Dazed And Confused.

Another highlight was The Rain Song which slowed things down roughly halfway into the show. Here Plant, Tyson and keyboardist John Baggott created some magic that both Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones would probably deem worthy.

While professing his love of Toronto, Plant also gave a shout out to Jack White who Plant said was “giving some people some s—” and dedicated The Lemon Song to him. The reference regarded the verbal tussle White had earlier in the week with The Black Keys’ Pat Carney.

See more at :

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/09/16/robert-plant-brings-retooled-zep-hits-to-molson-amphitheatre

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michael brazee and jsutin

At the Toronto show TBL subscriber Michael Brazee who took the pics above, found himself watching the support act The Sonics no less than five feet away from Sapceshifter Justin Adams as can be seen here -nice one Michael!

 

 

 

 

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John Bonham Memorial Tribute:

Remembering John Bonham 35 years On

As previously reported, next week to mark the 35th anniversary of the passing of John Bonham there’s a Memorial Weekend being  organised by The John Bonham Memorial Fund and Steve Barnes of Redditch Music Festival.

On Friday 25th September, a candlelight vigil will be held from 8pm in The Rose Garden, Birchfield Rd (next to Vintage Trax record shop) where people can gather quietly to pay their respects, and leave tributes to John.

This will be followed next day by a mini-festival to commemorate John’s short but impactful life with music and words from local musicians, friends and fans. Free to attend, the event will run from 11am – 5pm.

bonzo memrial

“35 years on, music fans worldwide still talk about John Bonham and his unique and hard hitting drumming style. We want to ensure he is never forgotten here in Redditch” says Ros Sidaway, Treasurer of the Fund “We invite local people and fans of Led Zeppelin from further afield to join us to remember John and celebrate his life. “

For further information and to donate to the fund please visit www.johnbonhammemorialfund.com

 

This from the Redditch Standard:

THERE is a memorial weekend being held at the Rose Garden next Friday (September 25) and Saturday (September 26) to remember the life of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, 35 years since the death of the Redditch musician.

The Friday will feature a candlelight vigil with candles, flowers and tributes, starting at 8pm, with a musical tribute taking place on the Saturday, lasting from 11am until 5pm.

Garage Rock band Voodo Club, Acoustic duo Alan Sheward & Aalia Large, solo singer songwriter, Stuart Wolfenden , young blues guitarist Dom Hawthorne, and female fronted pop covers band Mimosa are amongst those who will be performing both original material and covers, including some Led Zeppelin, during the afternoon event.

The audience will also hear classic Led Zep tracks throughout the afternoon, courtesy of Vintage Trax Roadshow before headliners, swamp blues band Lenny James and the Gator Squad, wrap up the memorial fund raising event.

The Band’s harmonica player, Colin Andrews was a friend of John’s brother Mick, and guested on their sister, Deborah Bonham’s album, “The Old Hyde” and has made guest appearances on her tour.

The weekend has been organised in part by The John Bonham Memorial Fund, which is working to raise £50,000 so that a memorial can be designed and installed in time for 31 May 2016, on what would have been the Redditch-born drummer’s 68th birthday.

Treasurer of the fund, Ros Sidaway, said, “35 years on, music fans worldwide still talk about John Bonham and his unique and hard hitting drumming style. We want to ensure he is never forgotten here in Redditch.

“We invite local people and fans of Led Zeppelin from further afield to join us to remember John and celebrate his life,” he added.

The two day event is being held at the Rose Garden, which can be found on Birchfield Cross, Headless Cross.

For further information and to donate to the fund visit www.johnbonhammemorialfund.com .

http://redditchstandard.co.uk/news/musical-tribute-to-led-zeppelins-john-bonham-as-redditch-remembers-famous-son-13979/

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News updates with thanks to James Cook/LedZep News – be sure to check out the news site below.

Follow Led Zeppelin News on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr to stay up to date on news as it happens.

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TBL Archive Special – September 1971…it was a very good year…

Here’s a look back to September 1971 – capturing the final US dates of Led Zeppelin’s late summer tour and the Japan visit.  Some of the most vibrant and inspiring performances of their entire career…get those CD’s out and enjoy one again some amazing moments…

Compiled and researched by Mike Tremaglio  for TBL issues 29 and 30.

Final dates of the US Tour:

Thursday September 9th, 1971 Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia, USA

Partial Setlist (from incomplete 96 minute soundboard recording):

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles (Intro)/ Black Dog, Dazed and Confused (incl. It Hurts Me So), Stairway to Heaven, Celebration Day, That’s the Way, Going to California, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick

An excellent soundboard recording is further tangible proof of the band’s high performance level during this seventh U.S. Tour.

Friday September 10th, 1971 Onondaga War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse, New York, USA

Syracuse Herald-Journal reviewer Andrew Reschke submitted a very positive review of the concert in his article titled “Britain rock music kings heralded.” Reschke mentioned that the band had played “Black Velvet” (sic – Black Dog), Stairway to Heaven, Hello Marylou, “That’s the Way It Ought to Be,” Going to California, Celebration Day, and Moby Dick. He also mentioned that the band played “The Battle of New Orleans.” If he was referring to this 1959 hit by Johnny Horton, it would have been the only documented performance of the song. It’s conceivable, but highly doubtful, that the song he was referring to was actually The Battle of Evermore (a song that wasn’t played live until the 1977 tour).

Some of Reschke’s observations of the concert included the following:

“Led Zeppelin, who are making their eight visit to this country, offered a three-hour show which proved why they are the kings of acid-hard rock.”

“Through all of their music, this strange, eerie sound is prevalent. They are accomplished musicians and give an entertaining performance. They make heavy use of the weird vibrations that a guitar and an organ can make with the aid of electricity.”

“Although the hard rock sound may be dying out, Led Zeppelin came to Syracuse Friday night, and their performance before an entranced mass of young people, proved that they will be with us for some time to come. Their music is haunting and different, and they were a big hit with those in attendance.”

The Syracuse Post-Standard also reviewed the concert under the banner, “Zeppelin Appeals to 8,000.” In the review, it was mentioned that the promoters, Concerts East, did not employ a warm-up act, which was typical for “name” groups, and that the show started promptly at the advertised time of 8:30 p.m. This would certainly dispel the longstanding claim that the band Black Sabbath played support at this gig.

Saturday September 11th, 1971 War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, New York, USA

Setlist (from 57, 53, & 39 minute audience recordings):

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles (Intro)/ Black Dog, Stairway to Heaven, Celebration Day, That’s the Way, Going to California, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love Medley (incl. Boogie Chillun’, Hello Mary Lou, Mess O’ Blues, You Shook Me, ?, Kind Hearted Woman Blues), Organ Solo/ Thank You

It has been purported that Black Sabbath had supported Led Zeppelin on the bill (as had been suggested and dispelled for the prior evening). So far no evidence has arisen to verify this claim.

 Monday September 13th, 1971 Community Theatre, Berkeley, California, USA

Setlist (from 136 minute audience recording):

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles (Intro)/ Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Celebration Day, That’s the Way, Going to California, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love Medley (incl. Boogie Chillun’, Hello Mary Lou, Mess O’ Blues, You Shook Me, Gee, Baby Ain’t I Good to You, Kind Hearted Woman Blues), Communication Breakdown (incl. It’s Your Thing, Gallows Pole reference)

It is very apparent from the review of the band in the Oakland Tribune, that critic Doris G. Worsham was not prepared for the volume level at a Led Zeppelin concert. In her review, titled “Led Zeppelin bows in with a roar,” Worsham continually harped on the band’s loudness.

She opened the review by stating “Led Zeppelin, tabbed a supergroup by many rock critics, proved only to be loud, boisterous and very deafening at their first Bay Area appearance in over a year last week.”

But she didn’t stop there. She said the sound projection was “almost unbelievable, and often unbearable.” Since I’ve Been Loving You was considered “moving, dramatic, and gutsy, but absolutely too loud.” Celebration Day was considered “a hard, driving number that was unbelievably loud, shook the auditorium and the people in it.”

Volume issues aside, Worsham did state that “it is well know that Led Zeppelin is a talented group. Jimmy Page is without a doubt one of the best guitarists in the musical world. John Bonham is a great drummer, bassist John Paul Jones is an above-average performer and Robert Plant, well, he has been called a male Janis Joplin.”

Ironically enough, highest praise was given to John Bonham, as he presented “one of the most phenomenal drum solos this reporter has ever witnessed. The half-hour solo had the crowd in a frenzy and they roared its approval until his conclusion.”

going to 1

Tuesday September 14th, 1971 Community Theatre, Berkeley, California, USA

Setlist (from 98 minute audience recording):

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker (incl. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)), Since I’ve Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles (Intro)/ Black Dog, Dazed and Confused (incl. Livin’ in the U.S.A.), Stairway to Heaven, That’s the Way, Going to California, Whole Lotta Love Medley (incl. It’s Your Thing, Just a Little Bit, Boogie Chillun’, Hello Mary Lou, My Baby Left Me, Mess O’ Blues, You Shook Me, The Lemon Song)

This concert was immortalized on the “Going to California” bootleg LP. This Trade Mark of Quality (TMOQ) bootleg was released in 1972 and has been a fan favorite ever since. The performance and quality are both exceptional.

Thursday September 16th & Friday September 17th, 1971 Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

The band finished their seventh U.S. Tour back in Hawaii with two gigs at the Civic Auditorium, where they had also played on May 13th, 1969. Evidently, the much larger International Center Arena where the band had played two gigs on September 6, 1970 was unavailable for these shows.

The Civic Auditorium capacity was just 4,000, and by all accounts the venue was a “sweaty dump” by this point in time (and ultimately demolished just three years later). In fact, a fan on the official Zeppelin website claimed that some rats fell from the wooden rafters when the band started Immigrant Song!

The band’s performance was panned in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin by critic Don Weller. He felt that the band’s enthusiasm was missing and that “you couldn’t help but get the impression that these guys were tired and looking forward both to the end of the evening and also to the end of their present tour.”

Japan Tour 1971:

Thursday September 23, 1971 Budokan, Tokyo, Japan

Setlist (from eight different audience source recordings):

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles (Intro)/ Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Celebration Day, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, That’s the Way, Going to California, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love Medley (incl. Boogie Chillun’, Hello Mary Lou, Mess O’ Blues, ?, Tobacco Road, Good Times Bad Times, For What It’s Worth Instrumental, How Many More Times, You Shook Me, Gee, Baby Ain’t I Good to You, Kindhearted Woman Blues), Communication Breakdown

 The band performed their first ever gig in Japan and it’s simply incredible. The intensity and ferocity of the performance is not lost on the wildly enthusiastic Tokyo audience.

The new songs from the upcoming fourth album (Black Dog, Stairway to Heaven, and Going to California) aren’t the only surprises for the Budokan audience; they were also treated to the concert debut performance of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, albeit in a truncated version as the intro to That’s the Way.

But the real unquestioned highlight of the show is a downright historic version of the Whole Lotta Love Medley – tracking in at a longest-ever 36 minutes. The band held absolutely nothing back during the medley with extended versions of Tobacco Road, Good Time Bad Times, How Many More Times, and You Shook Me being the highlights.

Fortunately for fans, the concert had been documented like no other performance in the band’s history – there are eight different audience source recordings of this show available.

Japan 71

Here is a listing of popular bootlegs of this show by audience source:

Source 1 (143 min.):   Front Row (Tarantura & Memphis),

The Storm of Fanatics (Mud Dogs),

Live in Japan 1971 (Last Stand Disc),

The Tokyo Tapes (Empress Valley – discs 1 & 2)

Source 2 (128 min.): Tales of Storms (Silver Shadow & Aphrodite Studio)

The Tokyo Tapes (Empress Valley – discs 3 & 4)

Source 3 (149 min.): Reflection from a Dream (TDOLZ)

Source 4 (30 min.): In Concert LP Source (9 CDs) (TDOLZ – disc 9)

Source 5 (152 min.): First Attack of the Rising of the Sun (EVSD – discs 1-3),

Meet the Led Zeppelin (Wendy),

Timeless Rock (Watch Tower)

Source 6 (31   min.): First Attack of the Rising of the Sun (disc 4 only)

Source 7 (150 min.): Led Zeppelin’s Flying Rock Carnival 1971 Complete

Source 8 (126 min.): The Tokyo Tapes (Empress Valley – discs 5 & 6)

Friday September 24, 1971 Budokan, Tokyo, Japan

Setlist (from five different audience source recordings):

 Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker (incl. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)), Since I’ve Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles (Intro)/ Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Celebration Day, That’s the Way, Going to California, Tangerine, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love Medley (incl. Sing a Simple Song, Just a Little Bit, Boogie Chillun’, Cocaine Blues, Rave On, Your Time is Gonna Come, ?, I’m a Man, The Hunter, Hello Mary Lou, Oh Pretty Woman, How Many More Times), Organ Solo/ Thank You, Communication Breakdown (incl. It’s Your Thing, ?)

 While not nearly as acclaimed as their first Tokyo show, the band delivered another outstanding performance on the same level as the previous evening. For this afternoon matinee the band pulled out a few more surprises, including the debut concert performance of Tangerine and a return of Thank You (with Organ solo) to the encore.

Once again, the highlight of the evening is another stellar and unique Whole Lotta Love Medley (this time ‘only’ clocking in at 28 minutes). The band incorporated some rarely played tracks such as Cocaine Blues, Buddy Holly’s ‘Rave On’, and Albert King’s ‘Oh Pretty Woman’ (the one and only time they ever played the track). But the real surprise of the evening was an impromptu, one minute-plus rendition of Your Time is Gonna Come. Plant started singing the song a cappella while the rest of the band started making up an arrangement for it as they went along. The only other time they ever attempted this track was in San Diego during their 1973 tour (a 25 second snippet was played during No Quarter).

While not quite as extensive as the previous evening, there certainly was no shortage of tapers in the audience. There are five separate audience recordings available of this concert.

Here is a listing of popular bootlegs of this show by audience source:

Source 1 (164 min.):   Afternoon Daze (Mud Dogs), Pretty Woman (Tarantura)

Source 2 (56 min.):   Light & Shade (TDOLZ – disc 1)

Live in Japan 1971 (Last Stand Disc – disc 1)

Hard Rock Night (Wendy – disc 1)

Your Time is Gonna Come (Scorpio – disc 4)

Source 3 (168 min.): Light & Shade (TDOLZ – discs 2 & 3)

Live in Japan 1971 (Last Stand Disc – discs 2 & 3)

Hard Rock Night (Wendy – discs 2 & 3)

Your Time is Gonna Come (Scorpio – discs 1-3)

Balloon Boys’ Rock Carnival in Tokyo (Empress Valley)

Timeless Rock (Watch Tower – bonus disc)

Source 4 (105 min.): Super Stars! LP Source (TDOLZ 9 CD Box – discs 7 & 8)

Source 5 (17   min.): In Concert LP Source (TDOLZ 9 CD Box – disc 9)

Monday September 27, 1971 Prefectural Gymnasium, Hiroshima, Japan

Setlist (from three different audience source recordings):

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles (Intro)/ Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Celebration Day, That’s the Way, Going to California, Tangerine, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love Medley (incl. Sing a Simple Song, Boogie Chillun’, Nine Times Out of Ten, Be-Bop-a-Lula, ?), Communication Breakdown (incl. ?)

The band performed a charity concert benefit for the victims of the atomic bomb. They presented the mayor of Hiroshima with a check for 7,000,000 yen – their earnings from the show – and in return received a peace medal.

Once again, the band were very well received by the appreciative audience and delivered another typically stellar performance. The Whole Lotta Love medley was the shortest of the tour so far (18 minutes), but the band continued to incorporate rarities into the feature. They performed Cliff Richard and The Shadow’s ‘Nine Times Out of Ten’ (the only known performance of this track) and Gene Vincent’s ‘Be-Bop-a-Lula’ (performed only once before – in Helsinki on February 23, 1970).

There are three separate audience recordings of the Hiroshima concert.

Here is a listing of popular bootlegs of this show by audience source:

Source 1 (126 min.): Live in Japan 1971 (LSD) and Peace (Tarantura)

Source 2 (111 min.): Peace of Mind (Mud Dogs)

Source 3 (44 min.): Love & Peace in Hiroshima (Bumble Bee – first 100 copies included two bonus CDRs sourced from the old vinyl LP Led Zeppelin 71-72 by Digger Records)

Other bootleg titles of this show (Live Peace in Hiroshima 1971 (Wendy), Zingi (Tarantura 2000), Message of Love (Lemon Song), and Love & Peace in Hiroshima (Bumble Bee)) are a combination of sources 1 & 2 to complete the show.

 Tuesday September 28, 1971, Koseinenkin Kaikan (Festival Hall), Osaka, Japan

Setlist (from 146 & 15 minute audience recordings):

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles (Intro)/ Black Dog, Dazed and Confused (incl. Third Stone from the Sun), Stairway to Heaven, Please Please Me, From Me to You, Celebration Day, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, That’s the Way, Going to California, We Shall Overcome, Tangerine, Down by the Riverside, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love Medley (incl. Boogie Chillun’, D in Love, Bachelor Boy, Down the Road a Piece, Maybellene, Hello Mary Lou), C’mon Everybody, Hi-Heel Sneakers, Communication Breakdown (incl. Cat’s Squirrel, ?, Watch Your Step)

The next stop on the Japan tour was in Osaka where the band played two of the most historic concerts of their entire career. They continued to pull out all stops, performing many rarities and expanding their rock medleys into new directions.

The Osaka audience didn’t have to wait until the Whole Lotta Love medley to hear the band perform a variety of rock rarities. During Dazed and Confused, Jimmy played some licks from Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Third Stone from the Sun’. Prior to Celebration Day, they performed a 45 second run-through of The Beatles Please Please Me and From Me to You. During the acoustic set they played the traditional songs We Shall Overcome and Down by the Riverside (the only time they had ever performed either of these tracks in concert).

For the fourth concert in Japan, Zeppelin would once again unveil a variety of rock classics in their Whole Lotta Love medley. As they had done the night before, they reached into the Cliff Richard and The Shadows catalogue and pulled out two songs they would play for the first and last time in concert: D in Love and Bachelor Boy. Next, they would channel their inner Chuck Berry and perform Down the Road a Piece and Maybellene (once again, the one and only time these songs were ever played in concert).

The band returned for encores and jammed to complete versions of C’Mon Everybody by Eddie Cochran and Hi-Heel Sneakers by Tommy Tucker (the only other time the later had been performed was at the Yale Bowl on August 15, 1970 as a 30 second snippet during the Whole Lotta Love medley). For the encores, Plant introduced Atlantic record executive Phil Carson on bass and roadie Clive Coulson on vocals.

Communication Breakdown was the finally encore and it included Cream’s ‘Cat’s Squirrel’, as well as a two minute version of Bobby Parker’s ‘Watch Your Step’ (the only other time the song had ever been played was a short snippet during the Whole Lotta Love medley at the Inglewood Forum on August 22, 1971). It was Parker’s ‘Watch Your Step’ that had allegedly influenced Jimmy Page’s guitar riff in Moby Dick.

There are two separate audience recordings of this concert:

Source 1 (146 min. – through Whole Lotta Love)

Source 2 (15 min. – encore after Whole Lotta Love)

Most of the bootlegs are a combination of these two sources to complete the show (except Live in Japan 1971 – Last Stand Disc, which is entirely from source 1, thus excluding the encores).

Here are some of the other bootleg titles featuring this concert:

The Bachelor Boys’ First Stand in Osaka (Empress Valley),

Please Please Me (Tarantura & Wendy), Osaka Woman (Cobla CDR), and

Come On Everbody (Mud Dogs)

Wednesday September 29, 1971, Koseinenkin Kaikan (Festival Hall), Osaka, Japan

Setlist (from 175, 178 & 93 minute recordings):

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker (incl. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)), Since I’ve Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles (Intro)/ Black Dog, Dazed and Confused (incl. ?, Pennies from Heaven), Stairway to Heaven, Celebration Day, That’s the Way, Going to California, Tangerine, Friends, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love Medley (incl. ?, Boogie Chillun’, I Gotta Know, Twist and Shout, Fortune Teller, Good Times Bad Times, You Shook Me), Communication Breakdown (incl. Just a Little Bit), Organ Solo, Thank You, Rock and Roll

The fifth and final show of the Japan tour is renowned as being one of the band’s all-time great shows. The performance is incredible, and the band continued to surprise the audience throughout the evening with rarely, if ever, played gems. Fortunately, the concert had been captured for posterity on an excellent sounding, but imbalanced recording. It is often referred to as a soundboard recording due to its outstanding on-stage feel and stereo separation, but that is still being debated. Regardless, it is a recording that is on the top shelf of every Led Zeppelin aficionado’s CD racks, ready for repeated listening pleasure.

There are quite a few surprises during the performance, but one of the key highlights of the evening has to be the one and only known performance of Friends during the acoustic set. After this rarity, Plant sings a few bars of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes; earlier in the show, Page dropped Pennies from Heaven into Dazed and Confused. Both of these tracks were ‘one and only’ performances, adding to the special atmosphere of the evening.

Once again, the Whole Lotta Love medley, tracking in at 31 minutes, was where the band shined and took the opportunity to play some rock ‘n’ roll classics. Elvis Presley’s ‘I Gotta Know’ segued into The Beatles’ ‘Twist and Shout’, followed by a three minute version of Benny Spellman’s ‘Fortune Teller’ (all three tracks were again ‘one and only’ performances, sans a 40 second snippet of Fortune Teller played in Oakland on September 2, 1970 concert). As they had done during the first show in Tokyo, the band also played both Good Times Bad Times and You Shook Me during the medley.

The last song of the three hour show was Rock and Roll, another preview from their upcoming album and the first time they played the track on the Japan tour.

There are three separate recordings of this legendary concert:

Source 1 (175 min. aka soundboard source): Most bootlegs use this recording as the primary source. Some of the more popular titles from source 1 include: The Complete Geisha Tape (Tarantura & Memphis), Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Mad Dogs), A Cellarful of Noise (Noise Generator), Live in Japan 1971 (Rock Solid & Last Stand Disc), and Live in Osaka (Night Hawk).

Source 2 (178 min. aud. source): 929 (H-Bomb) & 9291971 (Tarantura 2000 –first three discs).

Source 3 (93 min. aud. source): Nine Two Nine (TDOLZ)

Most of the other bootleg titles are multi-sources mixes of the show with the first source usually being the primary source; they include Fatally Wanderer (Wendy), Live in Japan 1971 (Empress Valley), and You Were There in Spirits (Empress Valley). Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Scorpio) used the third recording as the primary source, but filled gaps with the second source.

It’s widely rumored that Jimmy Page has complete multi-tracks of this show in his archive. Allegedly, there were plans to follow the How The West Was Won set in 2003 with a similar archive release to be titled How The East Was Won.

The best way to describe Led Zeppelin’s first trek to Japan could be a twist on the Latin phrase attributed to Julius Caesar – “Veni, Vidi, Vici” – they came, they saw, they conquered. For many Led Zeppelin fans, the 1971 Japan Tour remains the apex of their entire concert history. The Zeppelin machine was truly firing on all cylinders, and their ability to continually take risks and incorporate new songs into the shows each night – sometimes on the spot – demonstrated a band with complete and total confidence. Mission accomplished!

Japan 71 2

Whole Lotta Love in Japan 1971

Led Zeppelin starting performing rock and roll classics during ther Whole Lotta Love medley beginning with their July 12th, 1970 show in Berlin, Germany (as they had previously done in their How Many More Times medley up through their Bath Festival June 28th, 1970 show). While they had incorporated dozens of songs into the medleys over the past few years, they really brought it to a whole new level on the Japan 1971 tour.

In a post on his web site recently, Jimmy Page revealed that the respectful Japanese audiences allowed the band to “hear each other perfectly” and “explore the music in greater depth.” And they did just that – performing 16 songs for the very first and only time. They also performed a wide variety of other rarely played tracks “on the fly.”

Here’s a “Tale of the Tapes” documenting the rarely performed tracks on the 1971 Japan tour:

One and Only Known Performance (16 songs):

Whole Lotta Love medley:

1)   Sept. 24th – Oh Pretty Woman (Albert King)

2)   Sept. 24th – Your Time is Gonna Come (Led Zeppelin)

3)   Sept. 27th – Nine Times Out of Ten (Cliff Richard and The Shadows)

4)   Sept. 28th – D in Love (Cliff Richard and The Shadows)

5)   Sept. 28th – Bachelor Boy (Cliff Richard and The Shadows)

6)   Sept. 28th – Down the Road A Piece (Chuck Berry)

7)   Sept. 28th – Maybellene (Chuck Berry)

8)   Sept. 29th – I Gotta Know (Elvis Presley)

9)   Sept. 29th – Twist and Shout (The Beatles)

Song played in Dazed and Confused:

10) Sept. 29th – Pennies from Heaven (Frank Sinatra)

Songs played standalone:

11) Sept. 28th – Please Please Me (The Beatles)

12) Sept. 28th – From Me to You (The Beatles)

13) Sept. 28th – We Shall Overcome (Traditional)

14) Sept. 28th – Down by the Riverside (Traditional)

15) Sept. 29th – Friends (Led Zeppelin)

16) Sept. 29th – Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (The Platters)

One Other Known Performance (4 songs):

1)   Sept. 27th – Be-Bop-a-Lula (Gene Vincent – in Whole Lotta Love medley)

2)   Sept. 28th – Hi-Heel Sneakers (Tommy Tucker – standalone)

3)   Sept. 28th – Watch Your Step (Bobby Parker – in Communication Breakdown)

4)   Sept. 29th – Fortune Teller (Benny Spellman – in Whole Lotta Love medley)

Two Other Known Performances (2 songs):

1)   Sept. 23rd – Tobacco Road (The Nashville Teens – in Whole Lotta Love medley)

2)   Sept. 24th – Rave On (Buddy Holly – in Whole Lotta Love medley)

Other rare tracks performed during the Whole Lotta Love medley on the 1971 Japan tour include: Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You (Sept. 23rd – Don Redman), Kindhearted Woman Blues (Sept.23rd – Robert Johnson), Cocaine Blues (Sept. 24th – Reverend Gary Davis), and I’m a Man (Sept. 24th – Bo Diddley). All of these tracks were performed less than eight other known times before.

Wrapping up the rare tracks were Eddie Cochran’s C’Mon Everybody (Sept. 28th – performed standalone) and Ricky Nelson’s I Got a Feeling (Sept. 24th – performed during Dazed and Confused).

Other, more familiar covers played in Japan included: Boogie Chillun’ (John Lee Hooker), Hello Mary Lou (Ricky Nelson), Mess O’ Blues (Elvis Presley), Sing a Simple Song (Sly & The Family Stone), Just a Little Bit (Roscoe Gordon, It’s Your Thing (Isley Brothers), and Cat’s Squirrel (Cream).

Led Zeppelin’s ability to improvise and switch gears “on-the-spot” reached its zenith in Japan. The recordings are testimony to the band’s diverse knowledge of rock and roll history and their musical ability to easily shift from one rock classic to the next. Timelessly rilliant!

Thanks go out to Luis Rey who did an incredible job in identifying the medleys in his Led Zeppelin Live book (before the internet made it so much easier). Thanks also go out to Eric Bown, who carries on the tradition at his excellent ledzeppelin-reference.com site.

Mike Tremaglio

…………………………………….

Jimi Hendrix Remembered – 45 years gone… Marc Bolan remembered 38 years gone..

I can remember exactly where I was when the news of Jimi Hendrix death came through 45 years ago tomorrow on September 18. I was listening to the Tommy Vance Friday What’s New programme as I did most Fridays back then eager to hear the latest single releases. Around 5pm the announcement was made on the BBC Radio One news and Tommy went on to provide a fitting tribute to the guitar legend noting the inconsistencies of his performances over the past year.

Across the water the next day Led Zeppelin were performing two shows at Madison Square Garden and Robert Plant paid his respects in the evening show.

”Before we go any further …yesterday a rather uncomfortable thing happened for everybody and a great loss for the music world…and we’d like to think that you as well as us are very sorry that Jimi Hendrix went. I spoke to a close friend of his about half an hour ago and he said probably he would have preferred everybody to get on and have a good time rather than talk about it. So we’d like to get on and try and make everybody happy”.

I’ve been listening to that extract of that speech on the bootleg of the evening show I have titled Shout That Loud. They go on to do an absolute steller version of That’s The Way with Plant’s vocals sounding absolutely incredible. ‘’I wonder how we’re gonna tell you’’ he sings slightly changing the lyrics. Behind him Jimmy strums away sweetly and JPJ adds mandolin totally complimenting the mood. That’s The Way performed by Led Zeppelin one day after the death of Jimi Hendrix is an awesome performance.  See YouTube clip below.

hendrix west

Just prior to the Madison Square Garden dates it was announced that Led Zeppelin had toppled The Beatles in the Melody Maker Poll. Jimmy ,Robert and John Bonham attended the reception for the awards at the Savoy|Hotel in London. Later that day Robert and Bonzo appeared on the BBC Nationwide news programme. The very nostalgic BBC Nationwide report surfaced a few years back – it’s a classic timepiece -have a look at the YouTube clip below.

 

Back to September 18:

I also know exactly where I was on the sixth anniversary of Jimi Hendrix death in 1976. That was the day we were pitched up in Hyde Park ready to watch the free concert featuring Queen. One of the flags in the crowd that day proclaimed ‘’Jimi Hendrix lives.’’

His music certainly does. I had a real Hendrix fascination around 1972-73 and brought a fair few of his albums. I went to see the Joe Boyd documentary film in London and loved the soundtrack. I brought the excellent Hendrix In The West live album in June 1972 – that one has been on the player this week.

Bolan 2

September seems to be something of a month for rock star deaths –Wednesday marked the 38th anniversary of the death of Marc Bolan. Another of my heroes and one of the naturally great looking rock stars. There was plenty of T.Rex on the player here including the Bolan Boogie compilation – every Marc/T.Rex  single of the early 70s was an event and they still sound so fresh. Here’s a pic of Marc with Robert Plant circa 1976.

DL Diary Update:

It was great to hook up with Dec over from Ireland last Saturday. Our gang of Tom, Phil and Max ventured into London. The plan was to visit the Spitalfields Market Record Fair but for some reason another event had replaced it. Undeterred, we moved on to Brick Lane and popped in the Rough Trade East record store. It was nice to see the back issue of Record Collector on sale that has my feature on The Who Live at Leeds album. From there we moved onto the excellent Brick Lane basement market which houses a very interesting vinyl stall and some very good stuff was purchased as follows:

Led Zeppelin – In Through The Out Door –Swan Song Spanish pressing  – this adds the wording ‘GB No 1’ on the brown paper cover. Lovely.

Crosby Stills Nash & Young – Lo majoer de Spanish – this is a unique Atlantic Spanish compilation album showcasing both the group and solo efforts. Never even knew it existed!

Fair Weather – Beginning From an End – rare 1970 album on RCA Nova – my fellow local Bedford Musicologist Pete Burridge  showed me a copy of this only last week. it’s Andy Fairweather Lowe’s short lived group Fairweather’s only album. This has been on my wants list for a good while. it cam out in 1971 on RCA’s progressive label Nova – I remember the local Carousel Record shop (long gone) in town having a whole window display of the distinctive and slightly risky for the time album sleeve. A great find.

Maggie Bell – Queen Of the Night – her 1974 solo album on UK Polydor – this includes a superb version of Trade Winds.

Beck Bogart & Appice – Beck Bogart & Appice UK orginal CBS -another one I’ve been looking for, having picked up their rare Japanese only live album a few weeks back.

sept 12 in pub

 

Here’s the boys in the pub with the vinyl finds – Tom’s Billy Cotton album was a freebie the record stall dealer popped in the bag – he put a copy of Jane Fonda’s Workout album in mine -the cheek!

On the player here – the above recently acquired albums plus Going To California and Live In Japan 1971, David Crosby Tracks In the Dust (would have loved to catch the C S & N Hammersmith show but could not fit that one in) T-Rex Bolan Boogie, Jimi Hendrix Live at Berkeley, Hendrix In the West and Pink Floyd Meddle, Wish You Were Here and David Gilmour Live In Gdansk as there is a rendezvous  coming with Mr Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall next week (thanks Joe).

On Sunday night I watched the utterly joyous performance by Rod Stewart at the Radio 2 Live show Hyde Park relayed live on BBC i player – great to hear some real old faves such as In A Broken Dream and I Was Only Joking with Jim Cregan on guitar – Rod still has it big time -one of THE great singers and performers…he really is back on top of his game.

TBL project wise – another busy week – including an intensive Skype session with Mike Tremaglio to discuss the Evenings With Led Zeppelin book and some initial design work on the forthcoming TBL issue 40 – and the first design and layout has been for a superb feature compiled by Paul Sheppard that tracks 40 great bootleg CD sets. It will be full on in the coming weeks with more text and design/layout for the landmark TBL 40 issue.

We’ve also been dealing with various care initiatives with Janet’s mum Bet to make sure she is ok at home given her recent illness problems. It’s a full weekend ahead with Adam preparing to going back to UNI at Eastbourne in a weeks time and we are hooking with Sam in London – the good lady and I are also taking in the always excellent T Rextasy tribute gig at the 02 in Islington – a bit of Marc in your heart is always inspirational.

Dave Lewis – September 17, 2015.

…………………………

YouTube clips:

BBC Nationwide Led Zeppelin Melody Maker report and interview September 16 1970:

Robert Plant Jimi Hendrix Tribute Madison Square Garden September 19 1970:


Led Zeppelin Japan September 23 1971 cine film

Robert Plant and The Sensational Space shifters -Black Country Woman -Toronto Sept 15 2015: 

………………….

Until next time…

Have a great  weekend

Keep listening, keep reading…

Dave Lewis/Gary Foy –  September 17, 2015. 

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One Comment »

  • Steve Harrison said:

    BBC Nationwide !!!!! Imagine trying to have a ciggy whilst doing a live interview now haha.

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