TBL 34 is a wrap and is now at the printers and should be ready to go out in a couple of weeks.  This one is a packed edition to say the least with some 40,000 words.

If you are a current TBL subscriber this issue will complete your subscription and it will time to re subscribe. If you have yet to indulge in a TBL magazine , well this really is the perfect issue to come on board.

  I’ll be unveiling full details of this issue on a post on this site and the TBL Facebook page at 8pm on Monday January 28th.  Be sure to check it out…

Above – with designer Mick Lowe at Studio Mix Bedford signing off TBL 34 on Thursday January 24th, 2013

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Led Zeppelin Mastered for iTunes:

Just before Christmas, iTunes announced a launch of the Led Zeppelin catalogue. There has been a fair bit of very positive feedback on this subject –here are the views of longtime TBL US contributor Larry Bergmann Jr 

 I’ve been reading about this on the net for a little while but the other day I decided to experience this for myself:

 LED ZEPPELIN MASTERED FOR ITUNES

All of the studio albums are on there, but I went on there and bought the one Zep album that has been in need of sonic surgery since the day it was released…you’ve got it, In Through The Out Door

Wow!!! This is like listening to an entirely new album!!!! Everything is brighter and up front in the mix…In The Evening…the bottom end of the drone intro was shaking my house from my computer speakers and it sounds like Bonham is right in here with me! And you can actually hear Plant singing! The whole thing has a much more “live” feel to it, much more immediacy…not as flat sounding as before…

Jones’ piano on South Bound Suarez really leaps out at you and again it’s got more depth to it…the piano has more clarity…and again, the rhythm section is more prominent…ditto Fool In The Rain…Bonham’s drums are much more crisp here, more atmospheric.

Carouselambra…INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again, Plant is more audible now…the middle heavy guitar passage is heavier than ever, Page’s guitar on this sounds like the growl of a lion standing right behind you…Bonham’s sound is so clean, but the biggest revelation to me…Mr. John Paul Jones…no, not the keyboards, although they are crisp and more exciting now…but his bass run…he is rampaging like a mad man throughout the piece!!! I’ve never heard it like this before! All My Love sounds better than ever, and once again there’s more clarity on I’m Gonna Crawl, Jones’ bass again is warm and more up front.

Other findings that I’ve been reading about::The rumour online is that this is an early taste of what Jimmy has been talking about vis-à-vis the re-releases that are supposed to be forthcoming this year…I’m tempted to go wild and buy all of these on iTunes right now, but I think instead I’ll just play the samples on the rest of the albums, trip out on those, and wait for the CDs to be released…but this looks to be real…assuming of course that the CDs have been given the same/better sonic upgrades…

Also, apparently on Bonzo’s Montreux you can now hear Bonzo counting the song in…apparently there’s some other subtle differences across the various albums, a longer fade out here and there etc…that’s some of the stuff I’ve been reading…I did listen to some of the samples on a few of the other albums and it all sounds good, but none of that jumped out as being as dramatically better as ITTOD. And let’s face it, ITTOD is the Zeppelin album most in need of “tweaking”.

Another qualifier, I am not a fussy audiophile, however I absolutely agree that a commerically released CD is going to sound better than an mp3…I’ve seen a bit of debate about these iTunes versions online…I couldn’t tell you if these versions have been brickwalled, drywalled, or hole-in-the-walled and I don’t care…all I know is I compared them to the versions on my Japanese “album replica” edition of the CD, and the iTunes recordings sound markedly improved to these ears. So if they sound better coming off iTunes, I can only imagine that they’re going to be better still when the CDs hit the market…here’s hoping, anyway…

It’s been an exciting time in Led Zep Land these last several months, and if these re-releases come out this year and they all sound better than before, and with some extras on them (hope hope), 2013 could be another sweet year for Zeppelin fans. Larry Bergmann Jr.

 Here is the link to the iTunes site:

http://bit.ly/UU1mZ6.

Demise of Bedford record shops:  

Here’s a piece here in this week’s Bedfordshire Times & Citizen on the demise of record shops in the town with some quotes from me and a pic of the younger DL outside the long gone Our Price shop circa 1998. Glory retail days…

Zep vinyl rarities on view at Olympia Record Fair:

On a much brighter note – There were plenty of rare Zep vinyl pressings to be seen at the excellent Olympia Record Fair yesterday (Saturday). Wading through the racks, I came across a batch of foreign Zep album pressings that included an Indian pressing of In Through The Out Door on Atlantic Records, a rare Spanish Led Zeppelin 3 pressing, plus plenty of rare original bootlegs including Badgeholders Only and Duck Walks & Lasers. I picked up a Houses Of The Holy on blue vinyl, recent Zep bootleg releases Teddy Bears Picnic and Touch And Go and in the bargain of the day –the four track boxed Remasters UK promo CD for just £2 oh yes!

Aside from the Zep goodies, I picked up a couple of Mighty Baby (great early 70s psych/folk/rock band) LPs on 180 g.rm virgin vinyl audiophile editions, Best Of Joe South (he wrote Hush) LP on Capitol, Rolling Stones Let it Bleed outtakes with a brilliant cover  and a superb New Zealand pressing of the first Crosby Stills and Nash debut album on Atlantic with great sleeve notes. You gotta love those little treats.

Happy TBL editor with vinyl…the smile has just faded thanks to Leeds!

It was good to see Eddie Edwards and Graeme H and beers were drunk after in the nearby pub with Michaela ,Dan the EC vets Tom, Phil and Dec plus Ian Avey (who purchased a couple of excellent Jackie De Shannon albums) and Cliff ‘ticket man’ Hilliard (who purchased a rare 1960s US magazine with a Yardbirds feature).

A top day out indeed. Shame Leeds have just taken the edge off the weekend by beating Spurs 2-1 in the FA Cup -though Liverpool also losing made it a bit easier to take!

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Finally here’s the you tube clip of the brilliant mash up of Whole Lotta Love with The Beatles Helter Skelter. Visually and musically this is just totally inspired..well done to Soundhog….

Led Zeppelin vs The Beatles – Whole Lotta Helter Skelter (Soundhog)

Until 8pm UK time Monday Janaury 28th 2013…..

Keep listening, keep reading…

Dave Lewis/Gary Foy

January 27th , 2013.

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