LED ZEPPELIN - LIVE ON BLUEBERRY HILL

"Shh....easy, easy...aah found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill"

The final celebratory crunch of Led Zeppelin's triumphant return to the Inglewood 'Fabulous' Forum in Los Angeles on September 4th 1970. Even if you don't collect Bootlegs, even if you don't collect Led Zeppelin, the chances are you've heard of 'Live On Blueberry Hill'. A legend for sure, released and re-released a myriad of times in just about every possible format (and yes there is an 8 track cartridge version ...!) over the last 48 years. But, before I delve into the murky world of (at least) 4 source tapes, what about the actual gig? What about the performance? After all, that's the crux of it all.

The set itself is pretty much standard for this part of the 6th US Tour. The encores are where it's set apart, with only a couple of the final shows of the tour eclipsing tonight for track listing and performance. Led Zeppelin III is still yet to be released at this point, so after J J Jackson's 'individually and collectively' introduction there's a palpable gasp as Led Zeppelin pummel the LA faithful with a spine tingling Immigrant Song. The Blimp 2 elpee bootleg titled this From The Midnight Sun without any knowledge of the song and in their haste to get the bootleg out as quickly as possible. The sound is still settling down as they stomp into Heartbreaker, now more than ever a showcase for Jimmy. After Robert's customary welcome, where you can hear (on all recordings by the way) the near hysterical crowd's excitement and desire to boogie.

Dazed And Confused is masterful and dynamic, setting an almost reverential mood during the bow episode, where the echoed blats of sound reverberate around the Forum as Robert alternates between squeals and low 'oohhmm' drones. The final sequence is almost dream like with Jimmy's relatively clean tone floating over a relaxed rhythm as Led Zeppelin let the climax flow and build naturally and effortlessly. Bring It On Home has Robert as cheerleader and a call and response middle section to make you smile. 

Already nearly 40 minutes in, Led Zeppelin know they're now totally in charge and setting the pace and mood. So they sit down. Everybody. Robert's affinity with the crowd calms everything as they listen and laugh as he fills in the gap for tuning and getting the chairs out. a lovely That's The Way (new to the LA faithful) brings waves of applause and shrieks of appreciation. While Jimmy wrestles with the tuning of Bron-Y-Aur Robert takes the opportunity to explain the origin and inspiration of not only the instrumental but the whole acoustic mood of some of the new songs. 

"This is a thing called Bron-Y-Aur, it's the name of a little cottage in the mountains of Snowdonia near(?) Wales. (It's) the equivalent of the phrase golden breast. This is because of its' position every morning as the sun rises and it's really a remarkable place" 

The following version, for many years the only live one on bootleg, is light and winsome, respected by the relaxed crowd. Since I've Been loving You brings the edge and drama back into the performance and audience, and is followed by a sterling Thank You that's preceded by a strange keyboard solo used to hearing from the Blimp tape that has some strange speed fluctuations in between the bizarre drones and church organ figures. By now everyone's fit to boogie, and after a classy and strident What Is And What Should Never Be, Bonzo gears himself up to nail it.

Moby Dick is one of his finest, powerful and busy, his unequalled syncopation a marvel. After the look no sticks section John winds up for the climax with an unbelievable snare roll that builds and builds for ever until the final blast. Robert serenades his mate with 'The Big B! The Big B!" as LA crumbles. The set closing Whole Lotta Love and medley may not be anything unusual (although it certainly was at the time as we had only the later BBC and Going To California bootlegs to compare it to at the time) but it's a fitting way to bring the show to an end. I'm Movin' On and Think It Over stand out for me, before Robert draws laughter and squeals with an x-rated Lemon Song extract that finishes with the line 'just take your teeth out before you get into bed' before a call and answer 'woman' sketch as Led Zeppelin bring the hammer down.

A standing ovation is stoked by J J Jackson's 'did you dig it?' exclamations and a burst of firecrackers greets their return. An annoyed Robert says 'you oughta be locked up!' before they crunch down on Communication Breakdown and LA loses all control. After a stunning thousand notes a second Jimmy Page solo and a couple of verses of Good Times Bad Times Jonesy gets the crowd clapping with a great bass solo and Robert pays homage to CSN&Y by throwing in For What It's Worth and even the opening lines of I Saw Her Standing There. Wonderful stuff.

Called back again LA is treated to Out On The Tiles, a perfect bluster of power. Not knowing any better at the time, it was odd for many years not to find another live version, and it's only as an encore in New York 15 days later that we get to hear another live performance. After that Robert manages to calm the crowd before sending them over the edge with a near hysterical crunch of Blueberry Hill, giving the crowd one final boogie and the bootleggers a true rarity and a title at the same time.

So there we have it, 132 minutes (on the longest tape available) of 'pure and alive rock'. That's the phrase TMOQ used on the insert of their Live on Blueberry Hill 2 elpee set that was edited and rejigged and lasted 'one hundred and six minutes and fifty three seconds'. And so to the bootlegs. Blimp came first I believe. With a plain stamped sleeve, a Monty Python meets Bosch insert and deluxe labels complete with track listing, they crammed the juice of the performance onto four sides of  coloured wax. Only the acoustic numbers, some chat and links were missing, saving some 25 minutes playing and cheering time. No sooner had the Blimp version hit the streets, the TMOQ guys ripped a copy for their Live On Blueberry Hill version that had the usual day-glow pig stickers and a variety of labels and colours too.

And at the same time another bootleg outfit Rubber Dubber brought out their own version of the show. In a plain gatefold sleeve with the legend 'Live At The L A Forum 4-9-70' printed on the front (the first run had rrp $6-00 printed top right too), this was a better sounding elpee. Shame it was much shorter, missing the first half an hour, Bonzo's solo, most of the closing medley and the last two encores. BUT it did have the acoustic set, including the wonderfully spelt 'brahamrarr' on their own deluxe labels. Great sounding and very rare set. Within weeks it became a sensation, selling out all over the place. 

Represses, now on plain boring black wax, and rips from just about every label - Dittoline and CBM spring to mind - and the compilation double Caution:Explosive! on Wizardo featured a large chunk of the Rubber Dubber tape with 25 minutes from Winterland April 25th 1969 and a couple of comedy sketches thrown in for good measure. Again, despite editing and a very strange running order we got the acoustic set. Similarly the TMOQ '3 Days After' set based around the climax and encores from the LA Forum June 3rd 1973 show also sneaked the acoustic tracks on side one after a stellar Stairway To Heaven.

The CD revolution gave us untold versions, initially TMOQ vinyl versions digitised, clicks n all. There are so many out there, it's hard to know what's the best. Basically there were 4 tape sources used. The stereo Rubber Dubber (just about the best in my opinion).  The mono tape Blimp/TMOQ used (now including the acoustic tracks)which is more compressed and lacking both width and depth. A longer stereo source that's more distant but longer with more chat and audience noise. And an even longer mono tape from about the same distance that includes all J J Jackson's introduction and chat, even if it's a bit squashed in places and has a few drop outs. None are perfect. 

Eat A Peach get a lot of thumbs up for their version, and there's the deluxe 9 CD set Tarantura put out to give us the 4 sources plus a tape from the Rubber Dubber Vinyl too. And there's a DVD-A. The most important thing, as I've maintained to myself for the last 41 years, is the performance and getting the most complete version you can.

 The recent Night Owl matrix is the best and most complete I've heard thus far.

 

Sometimes you have to get  a multitude of copies to achieve that, but it's all part of the hunt, the chase. Dozens of sites and blogs dedicate themselves to dissecting every second, every drop out, every colour of every insert. And yet to me, the vinyl still is the one where I found MY thrill!