"Japan, wonderful place!"
Robert Plant, onstage, Osaka Festival Hall September 29th 1971
After an aborted plan to play Japan in 1970, tied in with Expo 70, Led Zeppelin finally realised the first part of their true 'World tour' dreams with 5 outstanding, relaxed shows. Following the conclusion of their 7th US Tour on September 17th - the second of a brace of shows in Honolulu - they arrived as superstars on Sunday the 19th. With the 4th elpee still two months away from release Immigrant Song was a huge hit as they landed. Away from the growing pressure, mayhem and circus of the US shows, they had a few days to relax and enjoy a new experience before getting down to business.
My favourite live performances come from this era, so I've always been more than keen to get hold of recordings from this tour. Only 5 shows, but compared to the almost business like power of the final US shows, Led Zeppelin seem so relaxed in Japan, yet obviously startled and amazed by the overwhelming reaction of the Japanese audiences. The set list was basically the same as in the US, with some expansion of the acoustic set plus a pretty open canvas for the closing medley. Encore time was also pretty much whatever they fancied.
Japan gets the award for the most audience recordings of all, a mind boggling array of source tapes of every night, in particular Tokyo. Consequently there are also a plethora of bootlegs and even some cine film from the tour. Compared with previous tours, it's fantastic to have complete documents of every night, giving a true picture of the tour and various performances.
From the moment Led Zeppelin kick into Immigrant Song, right up to the last bars of Thank You fade away some 2 3/4 hours later, this show is a joy. Even a broken string preventing the link into and delaying the stomp of Heartbreaker does nothing to calm things. Screaming excitement from the off, as yet unreleased new song Black Dog is greeted like an old friend, even if Robert's 'aah ah' sketch seems to leave many a bit baffled.
Dazed And Confused is getting longer and more intricate show by show, and is already nearing half an hour of mind blowing improvisation, particularly from Jimmy who is relaxed enough to let ideas flow and take his time. The reverential hush during the very long bow sketch is palpable, Japan can barely believe what they're seeing and hearing. The extended coda with exaggerated stop start rhythms and high speed wah wah figures is becoming more and more spellbinding night after night. Stairway To Heaven is received like a hymn, after wild applause and cheers greet the sight of Jimmy Page with the double neck. The version itself is wonderful, you can feel the audience being taken on a positive journey, mesmerised as Robert's crystal clear vocals look for that bustle before Jimmy spits out a flurried solo duelling with Bonzo's perfect hammering. Then the coda, with Robert hitting the high notes and Tokyo succumbing.
Celebration Day is a great bonus here, very muscular with an extended coda and lots of instrumental twists. Then Led Zeppelin sit down. Robert is relaxed enough to talk, despite the fact not too many seemingly understand his bonhomie. He teases Bron-y-Aur Stomp for a verse before Jimmy gently brings in That's The Way, and the restfulness is broken by whistling and creaming during a very pastoral Going To California. Bonzo's showcase gets a great reception before we're into the highlight of this show, as it is every night of the tour.
Whole Lotta Love sweeps everything away from the off, the Theremin battle is complete mayhem with shrieks and whoops from an obviously startled and delirious audience. After the usual Boogie - extended by Robert teasing the ravenous crowd - the crunch of Hello Mary Lou and Mess O'Blues leads to a rare take on US Band Crow's Evil Woman, oddly enough covered by Black Sabbath as their first single!
The next big surprise is a powerful Tobacco Road, the Nashville Teens hit Jimmy played the original session on back in 1964. Scarcely played by Zeppelin, it gives way to Good Times Bad Times, which has been missing in action since the opening blats started the October & November 1969 shows. It really is party time now as no one wants it to end. After a great flurried solo we're into How Many More Times, played inside a medley it used to be the framework of!
After a muscular The Hunter interlude there's still enough calm to slow things down with You Shook Me which itself slips into a myriad of blues references climaxing with Robert Johnson's Kindhearted Woman Blues. The coda of Whole Lotta Love is a mixture of mayhem and relief, the crowd filling the gaps in a high pitched call and response game before Led Zeppelin take control again and drop the bomb. Communication Breakdown is the first encore, frenzied and abandoned, but a stage invasion almost throws the night into chaos. A much more recently discovered audience recording reveals an attempt to calm things with a pastoral Organ Solo leading into Thank You.
Wonderful show, much more intense than anyone could have envisaged. Led Zeppelin are having fun, away from the pressures and underlying threats of violence and lunacy in the USA. More than a dozen audience tapes exist of this show,a staggering amount in comparison to the rest of the World at the time. There was an incredibly rare Bootleg vinyl 'In Concert' that mixed snippets from the two Tokyo nights in listenable quality. One that's long gone and a real rarity. On CD there are dozens of different versions as you can imagine. From the first attempt Storm Of Fanatics right through to a composite on line set King Of The Monsters that gives us every second, unlike the best quality tapes that miss a few moments of the medley, the final encore and some chat here and there.
We do have, brilliantly, a short 7 or so minute colour 8mm cine film compilation gives us a glimpse into the reality of the night.
A second show in Tokyo and the madness continues. Coming after 21 shows in 29 days with only 5 nights off in between certainly meant there was no first night rust, and this second show carried on seamlessly, pushing each other and the once again near hysterical audience into another outstanding performance. The Immigrant Song/Heartbreaker dovetailed double hit is astounding, weaving from Robert's unearthly wail through Jimmy's extended twisting and turning solo figures over a muscular rhythm to his unaccompanied solo, stretching and teasing with a short enthusiastically cheered 'Feelin' Groovy' interlude.
With Robert still more than able to sing in his highest, near hysterical register, the band hold back behind him on Since I've Been Loving You, adding a sophisticated air and calm behind the vocal storm. Black Dog is dedicated to Cliff Richard, and Led Zeppelin power through a version guaranteed to give Cliff nightmares. As with every show this year, the openers are getting both band and audience ready for the big showcase of the night. Dazed And Confused is longer than ever, and has a strangely laid back feel over the opening verses. Bow time is once again greeted with a hush and is extended with Robert mimicking every tweak, shimmer and drone from Jimmy, even so far as to try and emulate the broken feedback disturbances. They get into a bit of Ricky Nelson's I Got A Feeling and Jimmy tries to slide in a bit of Honky Tonk Women, but Led Zeppelin don't bite. The coda is once again startling, a dissonant waltz with gasps and moans from Robert against those spine tingling wah wah figures as Jonesy plots studied notes like raindrops throughout. Majestic.
There's no attempt at Bron-y-Aur Stomp tonight, but instead Robert gives us a hint of what will come in Osaka with a few lines from Friends, something he continues with throughout the show. After the usual, restful duo as per last night we get the live debut of Tangerine, played as a duo. The buoyant audience make up for it with insistent clapping and cheering throughout. And once again the weight of the performance and the core of all surprises is a fantastic Whole Lotta Love. Frenetic and stuttering in the funkiest way possible, Sly & The Family Stone duel with The Famous Flames until Led Zeppelin turn it inside out and Wilson Pickett's take on Everybody Needs Somebody To Love charges through the maelstrom. The Boogie starts low key as usual until Bonzo powers it on and Robert makes everybody true believers with Reverent Gary Davis' Cocaine Blues and a first sighting of Rave On. The wild audience can barely believe their ears as Jimmy slows things down with that lovely descending For What It's Worth backdrop only for Robert to suddenly turn up the heat by ad libbing Your Time Is Gonna Come! I'm A Man and The Hunter set us up for another brilliant Hello Mary Lou. If that's not enough the jam mutates into a funky riff, a distant cousin of The Guess Who's American Woman with a hint of Albert King's I'm Going Down that Robert sings King's (Oh) Pretty Woman - not to be confused with the Roy Orbison classic - before it twists further into a swinging, almost jazzy yet crunching and completely irresistible How Many More Times, thrown in for the second night running. It's all too much really as exhaustion seems to set in for both the audience and band. Robert cuts it short and leads into the Whole Lotta Love finale, conjuring yet another wave of audience hysteria.
A restful Organ Solo from Jonesy starts the encores, bringing its usual calming air, until Thank You regally fills the hall and sets a perfect seal on another classic show. But wait! back for a second time, a frenzied Communication Breakdown appeases the pleas for more, and after the How Many More Times performances of the last two shows ad libs a 'rap' close to the first elpee version with some Hey Hey What Can I Do lyrics thrown in for good measure. Again, over 2 1/2 hours of madness in Tokyo!
The incredibly rare Japanese Bootleg vinyl 'In Concert' has some of the medley included, but there are several edits on the tape used. As per usual there are a myriad of CD's from the muddy drudge of Afternoon Daze on Mud Dogs to the much better Watchtower and TDOLZ releases. Once again there are several audience tapes in circulation, and there doesn't seem to be a year goes by without a new package of these shows, each either different or a slight upgrade in terms of eq and sound if not content.
After the brilliant brace of shows in Tokyo, Led Zeppelin moved south to Hiroshima for the next show on monday. They stopped in Kyoto on the way, staying for the next night. As reported in The Concert File, after a day of sightseeing they turned up at one club where Jonesy jammed 'Green Onions' with the house band.
They then moved onto a club called 'Saturday' and 3/4 of Led Zeppelin (minus Robert) jammed for 40 odd minutes using the equipment from the house band. Wonder if there's a tape....!?!
After a brief break in shows, Led Zeppelin arrive in the south west of Japan to Hiroshima. The show was set up so all proceeds went to the victims of the bomb. They had arrived the day before and visited the Memorial Dome and Peace Park. The Mayor of Hiroshima gave them peace medals and a civic charter and they gave him 7 million Yen (I'm guessing it would be a cheque rather than cash..!!) towards the fund for the victims.
On the night Led Zeppelin once again wowed the Japanese faithful with a brilliant show. Again a myriad of recordings complete a show that once again was filled with one off performances and a positive vibe and artistic freedom pressure sometimes restricted in the USA. The set is pretty much in place, Tangerine now the 3rd track in the fantastic and perfectly placed acoustic set that is a masterful change of pace and mood for audience and band alike.
Once again the openers crunch through the adoring hordes. Heartbreaker is stunning again, some wonderful moments in Jimmy's solo before the lift off that gets everyone shaking and getting ready to boogie. The acceptance of still unreleased new track Black Dog is heart warming, and by Dazed And Confused the band are in full flight. This is now a full half an hour mindfuck, and Led Zeppelin seem in the mood for yet more twists, turns and bedlam.
The pre-bow jam is intricate and sophisticated, a collection of riffs and twists searching for a definitive direction and thrust. After that the bow is long and mesmeric, Bouree the stand out moment amid the turmoil. Stairway To Heaven is a fine, deliberately reverential version, the more than fine solo crowning a studied yet just right performance. Celebration Day is muscular as ever, leading into a very fine acoustic interlude. With Tangerine retained, this is pure Led Zep!
Solo's aside, The weight of the show (once again) falls on the crunching and crushing power of 'Whole Lotta Love'. A shorter medley than previous nights, we get some unique moments just the same. The Theremin sketch is madness, the bacchanalia is infectious and Led Zeppelin ease into party time with a short but wonderful medley. The Shadows Nine Times Out Of Ten leads into Gene Vincent's Be Bop A Lu La, an artist Peter once tour managed. The band slow things down and there's no blues as they move straight to the finale. Without the calming influence of Thank You and it's prelude Communication Breakdown is the only encore. powerful but spasmodically interrupted by crowd nonsense, it does cap another triumph in Japan.
Bootleg acetates cover much of he show but in terrible quality (especially compared to the circulating tapes). Wendy and Tarantura cover the complete tapes better than most.
Led Zeppelin headed back to the middle of Japan for two final shows at Osaka's Festival Hall. By now they were so relaxed anything was possible, and the performance and set list reflected this. The opening tracks received a polite yet strangely hysterical response, but Dazed And Confused really got the show up to another level. Half an hour long now, it moved through so many changes and included one of the longest bow sections to date. The coda included some unusual wah wah trickery with Jimmy delving into Hendrix territory, quoting Third Stone From The Sun amid the Bonzo/Jones stop start chaos.
Stairway To Heaven is an epic in itself, a whole show inside one song with Jimmy soloing for all he's worth and Robert hitting those notes for nearly the last time onstage. Still an unreleased new track, Japan yields totally. Before Celebration Day, Robert goads and entices the crowd by leading the band into a spoof of Please Please Me and From Me To You to much hysteria. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp returns to open the acoustic set, an after Going To California Robert wants more from the crowd and leads them into a stirring We Shall Overcome before the more bucolic Tangerine. A longer take of Down By The Riverside closes the acoustic interlude, satiating a now hysterical crowd.
Once again the real treats are saved for the closing medley. Robert's in pop crooner mode with Biology and a hilarious Bachelor Boy before the band get serious and power into a brace of Chuck Berry rockers Down The Road A Piece and Maybelline. Hello Mary Lou is the last classic before the cut recording leads into the end of Whole Lotta Love. Tonight the rockers are kept as separate encores, starting with C'Mon Everybody and then into Hi Heel Sneekers. Once again Phil Carson gets to jam on bass, and Clive Coulson does some vocals too. All good clean fun. The final encore is an extended Communication Breakdown that delves into Cat's Squirrel and Bobby Parker's Watch Your Step. Another wonderful, unique show.
And we also have the first brief soundboard recording from Japan. For as long as I can remember there has been talk of the soundboard recordings of this tour, always denied. I believe that when the HTWWW tapes were 'auditioned' for release tapes of the 5 shows were rediscovered and found to be in great shape. More recently, with the box set releases and plethora of outtakes, talk of further official releases has been bubbling under and alongside Southampton, Earls' Court and a 1980 collection/compilation, Japan '71 is possible. For now we have Black Dog from this show as a taste of who knows exactly what.....
No vinyl from this show that I can remember, but plenty of CD sets including a few called Please Please Me on Wendy and Tarantura at the very least.
The final show in Japan for this visit, and possibly the finest of the lot. Completely relaxed for the final show this is the best known thanks to the myriad of bootlegs. The 'onstage' recording, compressed by Bonzo's louder than loud drum power, picks up all sorts of onstage chat and banter and is indeed a joy. After the opening pair, which are wonderful by the way, Robert slowly and carefully proclaims 'tomorrow we go back to England' prompting Bonzo to exclaim 'Aah, Brown n Mild!'. Since I've Been Loving You is becoming a real drama onstage, aided by Robert's near hysterical call and response screams. Black Dog maintains alternate lyrics as it powers along to an unknowing crowd.
Dazed And Confused is just about the longest version to date, with a fake false start and much drama over the extended wah wah and harmonic figures. The studied pace and onstage freedom gives a relaxed feeling to the performance, and a new picking guitar figure mutates into Pennies From Heaven, much to the bemusement of all concerned. The coda is once again magical, dramatic time signatures and whispers against Jimmy's mad wah wah blats and flurries.
Celebration Day is my favourite live version, Bonzo slowing the pace to half speed against some amazing guitar figures as Led Zeppelin flex their muscles and just play. Once more the acoustic set is both relaxed and on edge. The famous Cellarful Of Noise bootleg includes Robert teasing and calling out Bonzo, even though the next song is just him and Jimmy. After Tangerine we get the only live performance of Friends, a little gamey and very loose, but fun all the same. Robert continues his crooning of the evening with a couple of lines of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes as the roadies scramble to assemble the equipment for Moby Dick.
Reluctant to play at first, Bonzo groans and asks to be intro'd as British comic Max Wall before launching into a brilliant solo, full of power and verve, and including a long powerful section bouncing beats and syncopation against a fantastic snare roll that seems to go on for ever. The climax and ovation that follows is immense.
Fittingly, the last show climaxes with an extraordinary medley. For sure there's no excursion into How Many More Times, but the final burst is full of fun and groove, laughter and incredible intensity at the same time. A twisting, playful Page riff preludes the fun, and on the more balanced audience recordings you can hear the ovation as Led Zeppelin lay it down one more time. The Theremin maelstrom is brilliant, cohesive and chaotic at the same time as Jimmy and Robert lock together and playfully tease otherworldly waves of sonic power as if it's second nature. Behind them Bonzo creats a storm and Jonesy keeps everything stable.
The Boogie is again long and playful, but the fun really starts with I Gotta Know, a hit for Cliff and an Elvis B-side transformed into an infectious groove. Then Jimmy gets into Twist and Shout, after a couple of missed riffs (a bit like the way he has to remember Shakin' All Over on the 72/73 rehearsal tape by figuring it out as they go), and the result is brilliant. The build up to return to the chorus is endless and joyous when they finally break back and you can almost 'see' everyone on and off stage dancing!
As they wind down, obviously looking at each other as to what happens next, Jimmy shouts 'Fortune Teller' and we're into the Allen Toussaint classic. Recorded by the Stones, The Who and Robert with Alison Krauss amongst others, this is to me the best, loosest and most playful version. Wonderful. Good Times, Bad Times crunches in and is the best live take I've heard. Jimmy excels with some fantastic solo runs, letting loose as Osaka surrenders. Once again in calms and Robert takes his time with a call and response game before a crunching You Shook Me and the madness of the Whole Lotta Love coda.
Encores start with a long, frantic Communication Breakdown complete with a long guitar led instrumental climax. A more restful bucolic encore follows with a nice John Paul keyboard interlude and a stately Thank You, once again extended by some deft Jimmy licks. Finally, over three hours in, a celebratory Rock And Roll closes the night. Madness, fun and the best you can get. Led Zeppelin in Japan 1971.
This was the first bootleg I had, the TAKRL A Cellarful Of Noise vinyl. Slow, only half a dozen tracks, unbalanced sound, but wonderful. The Japanese Live In Japan 1971 double set had more of the show - plus the audio of the band on US TV in 1976 at the end of side 3 (I think) and was speed corrected. Other sets helped to fill the puzzle - You Shook Me, Unburied Dead Zeppo's Grave, Strange Tales From The Road all had unique moments combining to give us most of the show that circulated on the 3 cassette versions I'd had since the mid/late 70's. When the CD revolution hit, Bug reissued the Cellarful vinyl before an avalanche of 'complete' versions, all using the so called soundboard tape.
Now, there are endless versions, including box sets that include both the complete tour and even every Japanese show from both visits.
Led Zeppelin in Japan 1971 was a triumph, a joyous set of performances that mix the unabandoned freedom of early tours with the growing maturity of their songwriting and the more professional edge to the live set. Pivotal and unique, these are some of the most important recordings in Led Zeppelin's history. The recovery of the soundboard recordings - however incomplete or unbalanced they may prove to be - could even lead to a historic release of this magical time. We can only wait and see.
We've had a glimpse of these with Black Dog from the 28th Osaka show appearing and rumours of much more..... Decades ago the downplaying of them as '6 track masters' that sounded awful now seems a bit misplaced shall we say, as this sounds good enough to me. And now comes Immigrant Song from the 29th. Then Stairway and Friends. Empress Valley have given us 80 odd minutes and it's a far cry from the 'complete show'. So far...
Growing whisper of a 'How The East Was Won' official release abound....
My favourite live performances come from this era, so I've always been more than keen to get hold of recordings from this tour. Only 5 shows, but compared to the almost business like power of the final US shows, Led Zeppelin seem so relaxed in Japan, yet obviously startled and amazed by the overwhelming reaction of the Japanese audiences. The set list was basically the same as in the US, with some expansion of the acoustic set plus a pretty open canvas for the closing medley. Encore time was also pretty much whatever they fancied.
Japan gets the award for the most audience recordings of all, a mind boggling array of source tapes of every night, in particular Tokyo. Consequently there are also a plethora of bootlegs and even some cine film from the tour. Compared with previous tours, it's fantastic to have complete documents of every night, giving a true picture of the tour and various performances.
Thursday, September 23rd - Budokan Hall, Tokyo
From the moment Led Zeppelin kick into Immigrant Song, right up to the last bars of Thank You fade away some 2 3/4 hours later, this show is a joy. Even a broken string preventing the link into and delaying the stomp of Heartbreaker does nothing to calm things. Screaming excitement from the off, as yet unreleased new song Black Dog is greeted like an old friend, even if Robert's 'aah ah' sketch seems to leave many a bit baffled.
Dazed And Confused is getting longer and more intricate show by show, and is already nearing half an hour of mind blowing improvisation, particularly from Jimmy who is relaxed enough to let ideas flow and take his time. The reverential hush during the very long bow sketch is palpable, Japan can barely believe what they're seeing and hearing. The extended coda with exaggerated stop start rhythms and high speed wah wah figures is becoming more and more spellbinding night after night. Stairway To Heaven is received like a hymn, after wild applause and cheers greet the sight of Jimmy Page with the double neck. The version itself is wonderful, you can feel the audience being taken on a positive journey, mesmerised as Robert's crystal clear vocals look for that bustle before Jimmy spits out a flurried solo duelling with Bonzo's perfect hammering. Then the coda, with Robert hitting the high notes and Tokyo succumbing.
Celebration Day is a great bonus here, very muscular with an extended coda and lots of instrumental twists. Then Led Zeppelin sit down. Robert is relaxed enough to talk, despite the fact not too many seemingly understand his bonhomie. He teases Bron-y-Aur Stomp for a verse before Jimmy gently brings in That's The Way, and the restfulness is broken by whistling and creaming during a very pastoral Going To California. Bonzo's showcase gets a great reception before we're into the highlight of this show, as it is every night of the tour.
Whole Lotta Love sweeps everything away from the off, the Theremin battle is complete mayhem with shrieks and whoops from an obviously startled and delirious audience. After the usual Boogie - extended by Robert teasing the ravenous crowd - the crunch of Hello Mary Lou and Mess O'Blues leads to a rare take on US Band Crow's Evil Woman, oddly enough covered by Black Sabbath as their first single!
The next big surprise is a powerful Tobacco Road, the Nashville Teens hit Jimmy played the original session on back in 1964. Scarcely played by Zeppelin, it gives way to Good Times Bad Times, which has been missing in action since the opening blats started the October & November 1969 shows. It really is party time now as no one wants it to end. After a great flurried solo we're into How Many More Times, played inside a medley it used to be the framework of!
After a muscular The Hunter interlude there's still enough calm to slow things down with You Shook Me which itself slips into a myriad of blues references climaxing with Robert Johnson's Kindhearted Woman Blues. The coda of Whole Lotta Love is a mixture of mayhem and relief, the crowd filling the gaps in a high pitched call and response game before Led Zeppelin take control again and drop the bomb. Communication Breakdown is the first encore, frenzied and abandoned, but a stage invasion almost throws the night into chaos. A much more recently discovered audience recording reveals an attempt to calm things with a pastoral Organ Solo leading into Thank You.
Wonderful show, much more intense than anyone could have envisaged. Led Zeppelin are having fun, away from the pressures and underlying threats of violence and lunacy in the USA. More than a dozen audience tapes exist of this show,a staggering amount in comparison to the rest of the World at the time. There was an incredibly rare Bootleg vinyl 'In Concert' that mixed snippets from the two Tokyo nights in listenable quality. One that's long gone and a real rarity. On CD there are dozens of different versions as you can imagine. From the first attempt Storm Of Fanatics right through to a composite on line set King Of The Monsters that gives us every second, unlike the best quality tapes that miss a few moments of the medley, the final encore and some chat here and there.
We do have, brilliantly, a short 7 or so minute colour 8mm cine film compilation gives us a glimpse into the reality of the night.
Friday, September 24th - Budokan Hall, Tokyo
A second show in Tokyo and the madness continues. Coming after 21 shows in 29 days with only 5 nights off in between certainly meant there was no first night rust, and this second show carried on seamlessly, pushing each other and the once again near hysterical audience into another outstanding performance. The Immigrant Song/Heartbreaker dovetailed double hit is astounding, weaving from Robert's unearthly wail through Jimmy's extended twisting and turning solo figures over a muscular rhythm to his unaccompanied solo, stretching and teasing with a short enthusiastically cheered 'Feelin' Groovy' interlude.
With Robert still more than able to sing in his highest, near hysterical register, the band hold back behind him on Since I've Been Loving You, adding a sophisticated air and calm behind the vocal storm. Black Dog is dedicated to Cliff Richard, and Led Zeppelin power through a version guaranteed to give Cliff nightmares. As with every show this year, the openers are getting both band and audience ready for the big showcase of the night. Dazed And Confused is longer than ever, and has a strangely laid back feel over the opening verses. Bow time is once again greeted with a hush and is extended with Robert mimicking every tweak, shimmer and drone from Jimmy, even so far as to try and emulate the broken feedback disturbances. They get into a bit of Ricky Nelson's I Got A Feeling and Jimmy tries to slide in a bit of Honky Tonk Women, but Led Zeppelin don't bite. The coda is once again startling, a dissonant waltz with gasps and moans from Robert against those spine tingling wah wah figures as Jonesy plots studied notes like raindrops throughout. Majestic.
There's no attempt at Bron-y-Aur Stomp tonight, but instead Robert gives us a hint of what will come in Osaka with a few lines from Friends, something he continues with throughout the show. After the usual, restful duo as per last night we get the live debut of Tangerine, played as a duo. The buoyant audience make up for it with insistent clapping and cheering throughout. And once again the weight of the performance and the core of all surprises is a fantastic Whole Lotta Love. Frenetic and stuttering in the funkiest way possible, Sly & The Family Stone duel with The Famous Flames until Led Zeppelin turn it inside out and Wilson Pickett's take on Everybody Needs Somebody To Love charges through the maelstrom. The Boogie starts low key as usual until Bonzo powers it on and Robert makes everybody true believers with Reverent Gary Davis' Cocaine Blues and a first sighting of Rave On. The wild audience can barely believe their ears as Jimmy slows things down with that lovely descending For What It's Worth backdrop only for Robert to suddenly turn up the heat by ad libbing Your Time Is Gonna Come! I'm A Man and The Hunter set us up for another brilliant Hello Mary Lou. If that's not enough the jam mutates into a funky riff, a distant cousin of The Guess Who's American Woman with a hint of Albert King's I'm Going Down that Robert sings King's (Oh) Pretty Woman - not to be confused with the Roy Orbison classic - before it twists further into a swinging, almost jazzy yet crunching and completely irresistible How Many More Times, thrown in for the second night running. It's all too much really as exhaustion seems to set in for both the audience and band. Robert cuts it short and leads into the Whole Lotta Love finale, conjuring yet another wave of audience hysteria.
A restful Organ Solo from Jonesy starts the encores, bringing its usual calming air, until Thank You regally fills the hall and sets a perfect seal on another classic show. But wait! back for a second time, a frenzied Communication Breakdown appeases the pleas for more, and after the How Many More Times performances of the last two shows ad libs a 'rap' close to the first elpee version with some Hey Hey What Can I Do lyrics thrown in for good measure. Again, over 2 1/2 hours of madness in Tokyo!
The incredibly rare Japanese Bootleg vinyl 'In Concert' has some of the medley included, but there are several edits on the tape used. As per usual there are a myriad of CD's from the muddy drudge of Afternoon Daze on Mud Dogs to the much better Watchtower and TDOLZ releases. Once again there are several audience tapes in circulation, and there doesn't seem to be a year goes by without a new package of these shows, each either different or a slight upgrade in terms of eq and sound if not content.
Saturday, September 25th - Saturday Club, Kyoto
After the brilliant brace of shows in Tokyo, Led Zeppelin moved south to Hiroshima for the next show on monday. They stopped in Kyoto on the way, staying for the next night. As reported in The Concert File, after a day of sightseeing they turned up at one club where Jonesy jammed 'Green Onions' with the house band.
They then moved onto a club called 'Saturday' and 3/4 of Led Zeppelin (minus Robert) jammed for 40 odd minutes using the equipment from the house band. Wonder if there's a tape....!?!
Monday, September 27th -
Shiei Taikukan Municipal Gymnasium, Hiroshima
After a brief break in shows, Led Zeppelin arrive in the south west of Japan to Hiroshima. The show was set up so all proceeds went to the victims of the bomb. They had arrived the day before and visited the Memorial Dome and Peace Park. The Mayor of Hiroshima gave them peace medals and a civic charter and they gave him 7 million Yen (I'm guessing it would be a cheque rather than cash..!!) towards the fund for the victims.
On the night Led Zeppelin once again wowed the Japanese faithful with a brilliant show. Again a myriad of recordings complete a show that once again was filled with one off performances and a positive vibe and artistic freedom pressure sometimes restricted in the USA. The set is pretty much in place, Tangerine now the 3rd track in the fantastic and perfectly placed acoustic set that is a masterful change of pace and mood for audience and band alike.
Once again the openers crunch through the adoring hordes. Heartbreaker is stunning again, some wonderful moments in Jimmy's solo before the lift off that gets everyone shaking and getting ready to boogie. The acceptance of still unreleased new track Black Dog is heart warming, and by Dazed And Confused the band are in full flight. This is now a full half an hour mindfuck, and Led Zeppelin seem in the mood for yet more twists, turns and bedlam.
The pre-bow jam is intricate and sophisticated, a collection of riffs and twists searching for a definitive direction and thrust. After that the bow is long and mesmeric, Bouree the stand out moment amid the turmoil. Stairway To Heaven is a fine, deliberately reverential version, the more than fine solo crowning a studied yet just right performance. Celebration Day is muscular as ever, leading into a very fine acoustic interlude. With Tangerine retained, this is pure Led Zep!
Solo's aside, The weight of the show (once again) falls on the crunching and crushing power of 'Whole Lotta Love'. A shorter medley than previous nights, we get some unique moments just the same. The Theremin sketch is madness, the bacchanalia is infectious and Led Zeppelin ease into party time with a short but wonderful medley. The Shadows Nine Times Out Of Ten leads into Gene Vincent's Be Bop A Lu La, an artist Peter once tour managed. The band slow things down and there's no blues as they move straight to the finale. Without the calming influence of Thank You and it's prelude Communication Breakdown is the only encore. powerful but spasmodically interrupted by crowd nonsense, it does cap another triumph in Japan.
Bootleg acetates cover much of he show but in terrible quality (especially compared to the circulating tapes). Wendy and Tarantura cover the complete tapes better than most.
Tuesday, September 28th - Festival Hall, Osaka
Led Zeppelin headed back to the middle of Japan for two final shows at Osaka's Festival Hall. By now they were so relaxed anything was possible, and the performance and set list reflected this. The opening tracks received a polite yet strangely hysterical response, but Dazed And Confused really got the show up to another level. Half an hour long now, it moved through so many changes and included one of the longest bow sections to date. The coda included some unusual wah wah trickery with Jimmy delving into Hendrix territory, quoting Third Stone From The Sun amid the Bonzo/Jones stop start chaos.
Stairway To Heaven is an epic in itself, a whole show inside one song with Jimmy soloing for all he's worth and Robert hitting those notes for nearly the last time onstage. Still an unreleased new track, Japan yields totally. Before Celebration Day, Robert goads and entices the crowd by leading the band into a spoof of Please Please Me and From Me To You to much hysteria. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp returns to open the acoustic set, an after Going To California Robert wants more from the crowd and leads them into a stirring We Shall Overcome before the more bucolic Tangerine. A longer take of Down By The Riverside closes the acoustic interlude, satiating a now hysterical crowd.
Once again the real treats are saved for the closing medley. Robert's in pop crooner mode with Biology and a hilarious Bachelor Boy before the band get serious and power into a brace of Chuck Berry rockers Down The Road A Piece and Maybelline. Hello Mary Lou is the last classic before the cut recording leads into the end of Whole Lotta Love. Tonight the rockers are kept as separate encores, starting with C'Mon Everybody and then into Hi Heel Sneekers. Once again Phil Carson gets to jam on bass, and Clive Coulson does some vocals too. All good clean fun. The final encore is an extended Communication Breakdown that delves into Cat's Squirrel and Bobby Parker's Watch Your Step. Another wonderful, unique show.
And we also have the first brief soundboard recording from Japan. For as long as I can remember there has been talk of the soundboard recordings of this tour, always denied. I believe that when the HTWWW tapes were 'auditioned' for release tapes of the 5 shows were rediscovered and found to be in great shape. More recently, with the box set releases and plethora of outtakes, talk of further official releases has been bubbling under and alongside Southampton, Earls' Court and a 1980 collection/compilation, Japan '71 is possible. For now we have Black Dog from this show as a taste of who knows exactly what.....
No vinyl from this show that I can remember, but plenty of CD sets including a few called Please Please Me on Wendy and Tarantura at the very least.
Wednesday, September 29th - Festival Hall, Osaka
The final show in Japan for this visit, and possibly the finest of the lot. Completely relaxed for the final show this is the best known thanks to the myriad of bootlegs. The 'onstage' recording, compressed by Bonzo's louder than loud drum power, picks up all sorts of onstage chat and banter and is indeed a joy. After the opening pair, which are wonderful by the way, Robert slowly and carefully proclaims 'tomorrow we go back to England' prompting Bonzo to exclaim 'Aah, Brown n Mild!'. Since I've Been Loving You is becoming a real drama onstage, aided by Robert's near hysterical call and response screams. Black Dog maintains alternate lyrics as it powers along to an unknowing crowd.
Dazed And Confused is just about the longest version to date, with a fake false start and much drama over the extended wah wah and harmonic figures. The studied pace and onstage freedom gives a relaxed feeling to the performance, and a new picking guitar figure mutates into Pennies From Heaven, much to the bemusement of all concerned. The coda is once again magical, dramatic time signatures and whispers against Jimmy's mad wah wah blats and flurries.
Celebration Day is my favourite live version, Bonzo slowing the pace to half speed against some amazing guitar figures as Led Zeppelin flex their muscles and just play. Once more the acoustic set is both relaxed and on edge. The famous Cellarful Of Noise bootleg includes Robert teasing and calling out Bonzo, even though the next song is just him and Jimmy. After Tangerine we get the only live performance of Friends, a little gamey and very loose, but fun all the same. Robert continues his crooning of the evening with a couple of lines of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes as the roadies scramble to assemble the equipment for Moby Dick.
Reluctant to play at first, Bonzo groans and asks to be intro'd as British comic Max Wall before launching into a brilliant solo, full of power and verve, and including a long powerful section bouncing beats and syncopation against a fantastic snare roll that seems to go on for ever. The climax and ovation that follows is immense.
Fittingly, the last show climaxes with an extraordinary medley. For sure there's no excursion into How Many More Times, but the final burst is full of fun and groove, laughter and incredible intensity at the same time. A twisting, playful Page riff preludes the fun, and on the more balanced audience recordings you can hear the ovation as Led Zeppelin lay it down one more time. The Theremin maelstrom is brilliant, cohesive and chaotic at the same time as Jimmy and Robert lock together and playfully tease otherworldly waves of sonic power as if it's second nature. Behind them Bonzo creats a storm and Jonesy keeps everything stable.
The Boogie is again long and playful, but the fun really starts with I Gotta Know, a hit for Cliff and an Elvis B-side transformed into an infectious groove. Then Jimmy gets into Twist and Shout, after a couple of missed riffs (a bit like the way he has to remember Shakin' All Over on the 72/73 rehearsal tape by figuring it out as they go), and the result is brilliant. The build up to return to the chorus is endless and joyous when they finally break back and you can almost 'see' everyone on and off stage dancing!
As they wind down, obviously looking at each other as to what happens next, Jimmy shouts 'Fortune Teller' and we're into the Allen Toussaint classic. Recorded by the Stones, The Who and Robert with Alison Krauss amongst others, this is to me the best, loosest and most playful version. Wonderful. Good Times, Bad Times crunches in and is the best live take I've heard. Jimmy excels with some fantastic solo runs, letting loose as Osaka surrenders. Once again in calms and Robert takes his time with a call and response game before a crunching You Shook Me and the madness of the Whole Lotta Love coda.
Encores start with a long, frantic Communication Breakdown complete with a long guitar led instrumental climax. A more restful bucolic encore follows with a nice John Paul keyboard interlude and a stately Thank You, once again extended by some deft Jimmy licks. Finally, over three hours in, a celebratory Rock And Roll closes the night. Madness, fun and the best you can get. Led Zeppelin in Japan 1971.
This was the first bootleg I had, the TAKRL A Cellarful Of Noise vinyl. Slow, only half a dozen tracks, unbalanced sound, but wonderful. The Japanese Live In Japan 1971 double set had more of the show - plus the audio of the band on US TV in 1976 at the end of side 3 (I think) and was speed corrected. Other sets helped to fill the puzzle - You Shook Me, Unburied Dead Zeppo's Grave, Strange Tales From The Road all had unique moments combining to give us most of the show that circulated on the 3 cassette versions I'd had since the mid/late 70's. When the CD revolution hit, Bug reissued the Cellarful vinyl before an avalanche of 'complete' versions, all using the so called soundboard tape.
Now, there are endless versions, including box sets that include both the complete tour and even every Japanese show from both visits.
Led Zeppelin in Japan 1971 was a triumph, a joyous set of performances that mix the unabandoned freedom of early tours with the growing maturity of their songwriting and the more professional edge to the live set. Pivotal and unique, these are some of the most important recordings in Led Zeppelin's history. The recovery of the soundboard recordings - however incomplete or unbalanced they may prove to be - could even lead to a historic release of this magical time. We can only wait and see.
We've had a glimpse of these with Black Dog from the 28th Osaka show appearing and rumours of much more..... Decades ago the downplaying of them as '6 track masters' that sounded awful now seems a bit misplaced shall we say, as this sounds good enough to me. And now comes Immigrant Song from the 29th. Then Stairway and Friends. Empress Valley have given us 80 odd minutes and it's a far cry from the 'complete show'. So far...
Growing whisper of a 'How The East Was Won' official release abound....
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