Here’s the latest Led ZepNews Update:

Meet Suzee Carnel, a stewardess on The Starship

Last month, LedZepNews spent an enjoyable hour on the phone in the early hours of the morning here in the UK with Suzee Carnel in Malibu, California.

Back in 1973 when Carnel was 18, her first job was as a stewardess on The Starship, a newly refitted plane whose first customers were Led Zeppelin.

This week, we published this interview with Carnel about her four years in the sky with Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Elton John and more.

Carnel was an eyewitness to history and ferried Led Zeppelin around the US in both 1973 and 1975. She speaks frankly in the article about John Bonham’s behaviour in 1975 and the impact it had on the staff working on the plane.

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The story behind the upgraded footage of Led Zeppelin performing in Charlotte in 1970

Last week we reported on a new transfer of footage of Led Zeppelin performing in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 7, 1970 that was shared by LedZepFilm.

We spoke to the footage’s filmer Hunter Desportes and his brother Bobby who attended the show when they were aged 16 and 18 respectively to get their recollections of the show as well as the story on how they managed to both film and photograph it.

And we also learned from LedZepFilm how the new transfer came about, which has given the footage a new lease of life.

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Led Zeppelin to be featured in ‘Rock Visions’ book

An image released by Genesis Publications to promote the ‘Rock Visions’ book

Led Zeppelin memorabilia will be featured in the upcoming book “Rock Visions” that will be published by Genesis Publications.

It’s unclear when the book will be published or which Led Zeppelin content will be included in it. It’s based on the collection of artist and director Rob Roth.

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A mystery Knebworth stamper surfaced on eBay

The Led Zeppelin Knebworth stamper being sold on eBay (eBay/Hidden Gem Comics and Collectibles)

An interesting item surfaced on eBay this week in the US: A rubber stamper which the seller claims originates from when Led Zeppelin played at Knebworth Festival in 1979.

The stamper prints the text “Led Zeppelin Knebworth 8.11.79” and comes in a box printed with a version of the Swan Song logo that instead reads “Black Swan”.

The eBay listing is missing any provenance or information on what the stamper was used for. Despite this, the seller is asking $1,000 for the item.

Curious whether a rare Led Zeppelin item had surfaced, perhaps something used to produce crew T-shirts or other memorabilia back in 1979, we flagged the listing with some Led Zeppelin experts. Two of the world authorities on Led Zeppelin memorabilia had never heard of Black Swan in relation to the band during its lifetime.

The ‘Black Swan’ logo printed on the outside of the stamper’s box (eBay/Hidden Gem Comics and Collectibles)

Black Swan is, however, a modern bootleg label. And the date format on the stamper is American, not British. Would Led Zeppelin, a British band performing at Knebworth, a British music festival, have printed any items with a US date format?

We think not, and so we’re concluding this stamper is likely a modern item used to produce likely bootleg merchandise. But we’d love to hear if any LedZepNews readers have other theories or information about the item.

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Pink Floyd reached a deal to sell its catalogue for $400 million

Pink Floyd has reached a deal to sell the band’s catalogue to Sony for around $400 million, according to reports published this week in The Financial Times and Variety.

The deal suggests there is strong investor interest in classic rock band catalogues, even if those bands feature warring band members, a sign of light for deals involving Led Zeppelin’s catalogue.

You may be wondering why we’ve repeatedly mentioned the sale of Pink Floyd’s catalogue in this Led Zeppelin newsletter. LedZepNews has spoken to a number of music investors as we’ve investigated the deal reached by Helen Grant to sell her 10% stake in Led Zeppelin’s catalogue.

Most of the investors who we’re aware of having looked at Grant’s stake previously expressed interest in buying Pink Floyd’s catalogue when it was up for sale in 2022. So any activity around Pink Floyd’s catalogue could cause a wave of interest in Led Zeppelin too.

Jimmy Page

The Black Crowes is publicly trying to find pro-shot footage of a live show with Jimmy Page

With less than five months to go before the expected release of an expanded box set of Live At The Greek, the album originally released in 2000 that captured live recordings of The Black Crowes performing with Jimmy Page, the band is searching for the master tapes of one of the most famous pro-shot videos from their tour with Page.

On October 3, The Black Crowes publicly issued a call for help via its email newsletter and through Led Zeppelin collector Mark McFall seeking anyone who knows who owns the pro-shot footage of The Black Crowes and Page performing at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York on July 10, 2000.

Pro-shot footage from that show has been circulating since shortly after it took place, apparently because someone who attended the event managed to make an illicit copy of it from a TV screen at the venue, McFall tells LedZepNews.

Now, as the band prepares to fill six discs of the upcoming box set with previously unreleased live tracks including Black Crowes and Led Zeppelin material as well as soundchecks and jams, it’s also hoping to figure out a way to legally release the Jones Beach footage for the first time.

There are two ways to view this call for help: The first, less charitable, way is this is a sign of a last-minute scramble for footage which should have taken place years ago. The second is this is a band reaching out to fans in a genuine attempt to produce the most definitive box set possible before it goes into production.

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Jimmy Page reportedly discussed reforming The Firm in 2007

Jimmy Page held talks about reforming The Firm, his mid-1980s band, around 2007 but abandoned the idea when Led Zeppelin reunited later that year. That’s according to drummer Chris Slade who was a member of The Firm alongside Page.

Robert Plant

More photos of Robert Plant out and about last week

In last week’s email, we mentioned that Robert Plant was photographed around Wolverhampton on September 27.

This week, we spotted some more images of Plant on that day visiting the Good Shepherd Wolverhampton charity as well as the Wolverhampton Art Gallery. Click through to Instagram to see all the images in each post.

gsm_wolves

A post shared by @gsm_wolves

gsm_wolves

A post shared by @gsm_wolves

Upcoming events:

• October 8 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Bari, Italy.
• October 9 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Naples, Italy.
• October 11 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Rome, Italy.
• October 12 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Florence, Italy.
• October 14 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Bologna, Italy.
• October 15 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Turin, Italy.
• October 17 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Como, Italy.
• October 18 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Bolzano, Italy.
• October 20 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Padua, Italy.
• October 21 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Trieste, Italy.
• October 23 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Brescia, Italy.
• October 25 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at the Baloise Session music festival in Basel, Switzerland.
• October 27 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Antwerp, Belgium.
• October 29 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Paris, France.
• Late October – “Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love: A People’s History” by Richard Houghton will be published.
• November 5 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Harrogate, UK.
• November 6 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Stockton, UK.
• November 13 – The Playing For Change album Songs For Humanity, featuring John Paul Jones on a cover of “When The Levee Breaks”, will be released.
• November 23 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Woking, UK.
• November 24 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Southend, UK.
• 2025 – An expanded version of Live at the Greek, the live album featuring Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes, is due to be released.
• May 5 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
• May 6 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• May 8 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• May 9 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Malmö, Sweden.
• May 11 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Gothenburg, Sweden.
• May 14 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Oslo, Norway.
• May 16 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Stockholm, Sweden.
• May 18 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Tampere, Finland.
• May 19 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Helsinki, Finland.
• May 21 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Tallinn, Estonia.
• May 23 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Vilnius, Lithuania.
• September 11 – The book “Valhalla!: The A to Z of Led Zeppelin” by Paul Brannigan will be published.
• October 2025 – John Paul Jones’ song cycle for Dame Sarah Connolly will premiere in London.That was our 361st email. Have any questions or feedback? Reply to this email and we’ll get back to you.Follow Led Zeppelin News on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date on news as it happens, and check ledzepnews.com for the latest news.

Many thanks to James Cook 

The complete Led ZepNews email goes out periodically. To receive it sign up here:http://tinyletter.com/LedZepNews

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TBL Archive 2:

Last week marked the 53rd anniversary of one of the all time great Led Zeppelin live performances – the September 29 concert in Osaka.

Here’s my review of  the 2020  Transatlantic Records bootleg release More Comedy Less Work…

Now this is what I call an inspiration…

My thoughts on…

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

4 CD long box package Transatlantic Records

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

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

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

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

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

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

The reasons for my enthusiasm are simple:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To summarise:

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

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

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

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

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

Dave Lewis – May 25, 2020

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

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

Led Zeppelin – More Comedy, Less Work

Osaka, September 29 , 1971

Background and Context

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

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

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

More Comedy – Less Work (LZ/TAR) 4 Cd

What we get:

CD1

01 – Welcome To Osaka 929 [aud]

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

03 – Heartbreaker [sbd] 929

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

05 – Black Dog [sbd] 928

06 – Dazed and Confused [sbd] 929 patched

CD2

01 – Stairway to Heaven [sbd] 929

02 – Celebration Day [MT] 929

03 – That’s The Way [MT] 929

04 – Going To California [MT] 929

05 – Tangerine [MT] 929

06 – Friends [sbd] 929

07 – Smoke Gets in Your Eyes [sbd] 929

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

09 – Moby Dick [sbd] 929 patched edit

CD3

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

02 – Communication Breakdown [sbd] 929

03 – Organ Solo [MT] 929

04 – Thank You [MT] 929

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

sbd – soundboard (speed corrected -2%)

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

As described in the accompanying notes:

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

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

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

The Verdict:

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

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

Paul Sheppard

Many thanks to Paul

Johnnie Walker – the highly respected DJ to retire:

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Dave Lewis Diary Blog Update:

Thursday October 3:

Great to meet my cousin John London at the excellent Bedford Beer Festival earlier

Thursday October 3:

After a visit to the Bedford Beer Festival great to see the Birthday boy Mat Roberts at the open mic night at the Flowerpot…

Friday October 4:

Thanks for listening