LED ZEPPELIN - THE DESTROYER!

"And when we kiss my hearts on fire, 

burning with a strange desire"

The stuff of legend. The Destroyer.

1977, a year that I remember for many things, but the return of Led Zeppelin, even though it was more than 3,000 miles and a continent away, is one of the most striking and vivid memories I hold. As the year unfolded it was a strange time for us Led Zeppelin fans. We'd just seen two elpees in one year, a film - that was doing the late and all night cinema rounds by the time we hit spring - but no live shows. After the rumours interviews and pictures in the music press, the 11th Led Zeppelin North American Tour was a reality. Originally scheduled to begin on February 27th in Fort Worth, Robert's laryngitis caused a reschedule that moved the opening show to Dallas on April 1st and the loss of two proposed Canadian shows in Toronto and Montreal and a show in Dayton, Ohio.

In the end, 51 dates were confirmed spread over 3 legs from April 1st until August 13th. By now I was a ravenous bootleg collector, with my stack of maybe 20 bootleg elpees and a growing pile of cassettes. Those 51 dates became my focus, my priority. This the age before Record fairs, the internet, conventions..... There was a network of fans, trading what we could and had to satiate our hunger for all things Zeppelin. Al Rudis reviewed one of the Chicago nights for Sounds, and interviewed Jimmy in his suite at the Ambassador the afternoon after the disastrous 3rd night at Chicago Stadium. 

The next I read was Patti Dewing's 'No Messing' review for Melody Maker, a very positive piece, trumping Zeppelin as 'the best and most significant rock band in the World'. As you can imagine, this only fuelled the fire. By June Ray Coleman was dispatched to New York by MM to report on the Madison Square residency and chat with Robert. The four page pullout 'Biggest Of Them All' was just incredibly exciting, bringing all sorts of thoughts and ideas to the fray. The proposed Wrotham Park show on August 20th was now 'officially' written off, so it was down to bootlegs and crossing fingers.

And then it happened. In July, before tragedy curtailed the tour, a C120 landed on the mat. For Badgeholders Only (part 1) was on it, with the significant bonus of Achilles from 'a 4LP thing on Smilin' Ears called 'The Destroyer''. Wow! It came from an old friend, Phil in Canterbury and was my soundtrack to the summer of '77. Before long I contacted a 'purveyor of fine rare rock vinyl' and sent £31, for For Badgeholders Only (£13), The Destroyer (£16) and £2 for postage.... Six pieces of wonderful wax! Soon, a tape list with Madison Square June 9th (wrong date - was the 11th!) and Chicago April 7th came through, and over the next 4 years I acquired a few shows of the 44 played. so, what exactly are on these sets?

Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland 27th April

In 1980 I'd heard rumours of a 1977 soundboard, that Bonzo had leant a tape to a friend who lent a tape.... etc etc.... but nothing. The following summer I went to the Reading Festival, and wandering around the site on the friday saw a stall (large van) manned by a familiar face - the man they call Tim. Within minutes I was clutching a 4LP box called 'Destroyer', supposedly from Seattle 77, but suspiciously the same title as the wonderful box set I'd cherished for the previous 4 years. My mind told me it was a copy, but a different sleeve and for £15 it HAD to be mine!

On returning home from the 4 day bash, I stuck it on the turntable and was floored to hear a soundboard, a crystal clear recording! Even though the start of the opening track was missing it was astounding to hear. You have to remember in 1981 the only soundboard or FM recordings we had were Stockholm & Fillmore 69, the BBC shows, Royal Albert Hall, Pb and the extra bits from the movie! It was in a mixed up order and had some edits too. And, once I'd played the thing to death, it was a less than spectacular show. Even then I sussed out it was the April 27th show by process of elimination, and another of the 44 was ticked off. So what have we got? Over the 8 sides of wax is a 'standard' 1977 set, with edits in The Song Remains The Same and the first instrumental jam section of No Quarter. Interesting the two performances of No Quarter either side of this show feature the first two versions of Nutrocker, so it's possible it was played on this night too..... Also, very little chat is left, only Robert mentioning Cleveland at the end gives us a definite date and venue.

In truth there isn't much to write home about with this show. In My Time, the acoustic set and Kashmir come across the best, and the final encore frenzy too. A fine example of how a perfect sound lacks the real atmosphere and warmth of a great audience recording, exposing mistakes and separating the audience from the whole listening experience. The next night show that to perfection. Having said all that, even a bare bones Led Zeppelin at 60% on their most erratic tour still takes some beating!

This show first appeared, with a picture of Jimmy from the Earls' Court programme as the cover, on DGRM. This was I believe a European bootleg, with black labels. The US version came in a large plastic carry case with a different rainbow coloured xerox picture of Jimmy from the '77 tour. The box is what computer tapes came in back then I think. The sound was far inferior, some awful phasing and a terrible pressing too - like some of those awful 'east coast' bootlegs on labels like King Kong, CBM etc where bits of paper would be stuck in the pressings....! 

It became an obvious candidate for CD, and in the further and less discernible territories passed off as a legitimate, promo or (cough) 'fan club' issue. The relaunch of TMOQ/Smoking Pig in Europe in the 90's brought a new splatter vinyl edition on 3LP's with a great 1980 pic of Jimmy wielding the lake placid blue Strat. All the time it's the same tape, eq'd and cleaned up, sometimes squashed and compressed, but the same tape. No audience recording has surfaced. Yet.

And now we have some fascinating just circulated cine film from the show. Dubbed very well, the opening clips of 'The Song Remains The Same' are taken from the second night's audience tape before it reverts to the soundboard recording for the rest of it. 

Yet another twist in the saga of 'The Destroyer'... 

Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland April 28th

Now THIS is the real deal! With the striking 'battle scene cover', complete with typo's and spelling mistakes, this is glorious. The illustration on the cover is a black & white copy of one of Frank Frazetta's legendary paintings, the very suitably titled 'Conan The Destroyer'. A nice touch from the bootleggers! Love the label name Smilin' Ears, from an era of great little bootleg labels like Flat ('the only good record is a flat record'), SODD, TAKRL ('a high standard of standardness'), Digger, Ruthless Rhymes, Cream Of The Crop..... 

As a performance this is one of THE best of the tour, without doubt. The atmosphere and audience response as Bonzo warms up is spine chilling, and the band play as if it's their lives depended on it. By Nobody's Fault it's near hysteria, and the pauses and breaks are greeted with a wall of sound, a deafening roar that grows each time, culminating with bedlam by the time Robert leads into the solo with his 'oh Jimmy' battlecry. In My Time and Since are whole drama's in themselves, the band are so confident in their playing and interaction that the arrangements are in their heads and what they play is springboarded from there. They KNOW. Every line in Since from Robert, every call and response has not only Jimmy but also Jonesy and Bonzo filling or leaving a gap in what seems total harmony and empathy, and each line is unique and a passion play in itself. It's a long way from 1969 in many ways, but the complex and daring arrangements of As Long As I Have You those 8 years before at the San Francisco residency are to me the seeds of that 'you can't teach it' confident musical collective only Led Zeppelin can pull off with such grace and ease.

And No Quarter is where the show really opens up. yes, the long solo's can be a bit overbearing at times but the new sophisticated and complex arrangement is perfect. After the dry ice and initial verses, with Robert in fine voice and Bonzo being just perfect, have Cleveland on its feet Jonesy takes us on a bizarre journey with his Grand Piano through classical passages and daring, dissonant phrases that jolt the ear and mind - Ravel, Beethoven, Debussy and even a burst of 'Granada' from Spain. 

The new arrangement has 2 group passages, and tonight the first is the second recorded destruction of 'Nutrocker'. Fantastic and playful, and so powerful. Tchaikovsky would have approved! ELP have their own arrangement, but they couldn't get within a mile of this. After that, the ovation and hysteria is palpable, and Led Zeppelin respond with a beautifully crafted instrumental section. Once again the three are in perfect harmony, and we move effortlessly from restful to intense and dramatic. The vinyl version fades before the final verse, but most is recovered for the later CD versions that feature the complete recording, warts n all. 

Ten Years Gone is another 'one of the best' and the balance between Jimmy and Jonesy is captured just right too. The acoustic set is spot on too, tempering the atmosphere and giving everyone - including those of us still listening 40 years later - time to relax just a little. It's the final section where things really go into the stratosphere. After a frantic White Summer, Kashmir is extraordinary. Robert once called it 'the pride of Zeppelin'. How apt on nights like this. No relaxing listening to this my friends!

Bonzo keeps the adrenaline up with 20 minutes of incredibly powerful and deft percussion before Jimmy gets to play with his toys and creates a maelstrom of sound around an edgy star Spangled Banner and the crowd pleasing bow sketch. And the comes the absolute highlight - Achillles' Last Stand. The first live version I ever heard, it's brutal and powerful. How Bonzo does what he does here......wow!! After 2 and a half hours Stairway closes the show. Missing from the vinyl due to a few tape issues and swearing from the bootlegger, it's a great version amid the chaos. The encores are something else too, and the final half speed dense cloud of sound at the finale of Trampled Underfoot is quite remarkable and the perfect way to end such a great show. 

If you only hear/get half a dozen '77 shows this is right up there with the best LA nights. A desert island bootleg for me. 

The original vinyl box set was repressed with a white box and plain labels, and once the original tape was recovered a variety of CD sets have poured out from the good, the bad and the expensive. Do like the 'Storongest Edition' by TDOLZ. 

Capitol Center, Landover, Maryland, May 30th

As the 1980's wore on Led Zeppelin were seemingly out of favour with the music buying public. But not for us and certainly not for the bootleggers. The demand for live Zeppelin saw the lowering of sound quality of what could and would be pressed onto vinyl and a constant stream of 'new' shows hit the market stalls and record fairs. 'Destroyer III' was one of them. From the final and best of their 4 nights at the Capital Center, it's from a very good audience recording, clean after a heavily distorted The Song Remains The Same but always on the edge of overload. Another great show with a great atmosphere too. Love the No Quarter that's both complex and chaos at the same time. The coda is extended more and more as the tour progresses, Theremin moans and crazy wah wah against Robert's heavily echoed calls to the Dogs of Doom.

They seem so relaxed and at home during the acoustic set, and Robert in particular is certainly master of ceremonies. A brief glimpse of 'Surrender' fills a gap, could this be why it was called 'Destroyer III'?? Again the 'big' songs bring the show to climax after climax, for me Kashmir and Stairway stand head and shoulders above the rest for drama and power. Another great night.

The vinyl set was on the DREAZ label. Nasty, cheap affair really, simple xeroxed sheet and poor plain white or yellow labels and rough 'east coast' pressing, full of bits in the grooves..... Japan fared even worse with the 4 acetate 'Hot tracks' set that's rare, expensive and barely listenable. The CD revolution brought a few versions, but now we have a less than flattering soundboard of the gig (all 4 nights on soundboard now) as well. All the shows used the in house video screen, so there's a point that the 'soundboards' are audio from the footage. Sadly, no footage has as yet appeared but there are a lot of shows of other artists from this venue that are out there.......

Musicarnival, Warrenville Heights, Ohio, July 20th 1969

And here we have the last (so far!) Destroyer saga. Guessing the proximity to Cleveland made the bootleggers of Tarantura release this recording as 'The Destroyer 1969'. And it's a selling point too. A listenable audience recording of an open air show the day before the Central Park double header. Standard set, an hour of intense and overwhelming Led Zeppelin on a bill with both Jeff Beck and The James Gang. 

The blues covers from the first album are great here, and sound too much for the audience. The closing medley is something else too, a fantastic The Hunter before Robert diffuses the madness with a tongue in cheek 'You Make Me Feel So Young'. They seem relaxed and free to just play at this smaller event, probably happy for a bit of restbite from the intense circus of the big festivals they'd been playing throughout the summer.

So there we have it. 4 Destroyers. A legend that became a series and almost threatened a franchise! For all the clarity of the soundboard, the assured power in Maryland and the youthful brilliance back in '69, the 'Battle Scene/Conan' box set is the one for me. Smilin' Ears indeed!!