LED ZEPPELIN - JULY 6TH 1969 & 1973

JULY 6TH 1969

NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL, NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND

What a show! For many years I'd had the 'first' audience tape of this show. Recorded from inside the thronging masses, the vocals get lost and all semblance of balance disappears as the tape rolls on. The feeling of being part of a great performance inside a chaotic festival event. Their second straight open air performance, directly competing against their peers, they pulled out all the stops and stole the show.

Rumours abounded they wouldn't appear, they were sick or even splitting up. Nervous promoters downplayed their appearance for fears of a riot but the fans came and greeted them like heroes. They responded with a wonderful on and over the edge performance.

The track listing was :-

Train kept A-Rollin'/I Can't Quit You Baby

Dazed And Confused

You Shook Me

How Many More Times/The Hunter/Lemon Song

Communication Breakdown/Long Tall Sally

From the outset the crowd are with them, lots of noise and cheers greet every Page-Plant duel and counterplay. Dazed And Confused is fast becoming the showcase of the set, Jimmy's bow sketch a definite crowd and musical highlight.

By the closing extravaganza of 'How Many More Times' they could do no wrong. Thankfully a second tape emerged a few years after the first so we could not only enjoy the culmination of the performance but hear Robert's vocals as well. The chaotic encore is testament to the bedlam and unease Led Zeppelin created in America in 1969.

We have the original Japanese Vinyl 2LP bootleg from the original vocal-buried tape and a handful of CD bootlegs, the Empress Valley being the best featuring the newer recording. There has (so far) been no sign of footage from this festival.

JULY 6TH 1973

CHICAGO STADIUM, ILLINOIS

The start of the second leg (Robert called them two tours) of the 9th US Tour. After a 5 week lay off things aren't too good. Robert has lost his voice almost completely, changing the mood and feel of the performance. Of course, 1973 Led Zeppelin is a devastating machine, full of power and energy. They try and compensate, but it's going to be a few days before Robert has recovered enough to add the show and push the rest of the band.

Sadly the peaks of the first leg take a while to return, but pressures of touring mean there's no chance to cancel but instead to plough on. In the end it's not a bad show, just held back because of Robert's malaise.

The set list :-

Rock And Roll/Celebration Day/Black Dog

Over The Hills And Far Away

Misty Mountain Hop/Since I've Been Loving You

No Quarter

The Song Remains The Same/The Rain Song

Dazed And Confused

Stairway To Heaven

Moby Dick

Heartbreaker/Whole Lotta Love/Boogie Chillun

Communication Breakdown

The audience tape circulating for ever is poor, the soundboard great. It's still a good show, the instrumental passages are outstanding as ever, but with Robert flailing it's a disappointment. Shame.

LED ZEPPELIN - CELEBRATION DAY

 

'My my, I'm so happy, I'm gonna join the Band. 
We're gonna sing and dance in celebration,

We're in the promised land'

A song about New York, to quote Robert. A joyous track, put together in the early summer of 1970 and recorded in Island Studios 1 on June 3rd, the same day as Out On the Tiles. Robert is in upbeat mood, lifting the whole thing. From Jimmy's jangling blues intro the band kicks in thanks to a swooping backward echo fade, a traditionally jarring Bonzo kick start and the next level of the burgeoning Jimmy Page Guitar Army.

I've always been fascinated by the separation and juxtaposition of completely different guitar tones and sounds, each equally important and unique, coming together to create a fantastically textured whole. The instrumental outtakes that have surfaced highlight Jimmy's vision and arrangement prowess - the song is the focal point, not the musicianship or any solo. His solo is lyrical and concise, and is one of only 3 to be found on III.

It's a flexing of musical muscles too, the strident riff combining with that unique Jones-Bonham rhythm section. Jonesy's understated and underrated bass figures perfectly underpin the weaving and sonic dexterity of what's going on above and beyond. Magic stuff.

And there's the legend of an engineer wiping part of the intro as Jimmy was preparing to mix, hence the slightly menacing descending synth figure linking it with the happy positivity of the delighful Friends.

The earliest live sighting we have is during the first encore of the Copenhagen May 3rd '71 show where Robert teases some lyrics during the jammed coda of  'Communication Breakdown'. From that point on it joins the set usually after 'Stairway To Heaven' - probably because Jimmy played it on the 6 string neck of the Gibson Twin Neck - before the acoustic set. In the pre-US Tour warm up in Montreux it appears after the acoustic set.

Played throughout the 7th US Tour, we have 9 bootlegged versions to choose from. In Japan it featured every night, the last show in Osaka September 29th being a particularly great version, Page jamming and jousting with Bonzo, who halves and flips the beat, double guessing Jimmy as they trade licks and riffs. Dig it out and wonder...

Back in the UK it featured sporadically, and we only have recordings of Auckland and Brisbane on the Antipodean shows. Played in Charlotte on June 9th, it was absent thereafter on the 8th US Tour before being promoted to 2nd place for the 9th US Tour. 

I've always had a soft spot for the Movie/Soundtrack version, and was always dismayed at it being on the soundtrack and missing from the film. Now, thanks to the outtakes dusted down a decade ago we get to finally see it, even if a reconstructed show would have been the perfect way to present it.

After that we didn't see it again until a remarkable resurrection for the 4 1979 Knebworth and warm-up gigs. I remember it as nervous and hurried, the muscular and trickier Sick Again pushed back into the heart of the set.

Always a personal favourite, it grew from a great Page-Bonham duel to a early set rocker to get things going (mainly Jimmy's fingers) and kick things along.

Not really a single, it was released in South Africa on TEAL MR10 with Immigrant Song on the flip, and as part of the rare Brazilian 3 track EP that came initially with a magazine and also featured Friends and Since I've Been Loving You on the 'Rock Spectacular' label. 

There are copies in picture sleeves, but how real/valid they are.....

In 1992 Dave Lewis and I were planning the 1st UK Led Zeppelin Fan Convention and almost immediately came up with the title 'Celebration Days', which we both thought perfectly fitting. And celebrate we certainly did! Here's Alan 'Fluff' Freeman's wonderful notes for our Programme from the weekend....

The fact the title was used for the ultimate tribute show at the O2 gives an idea as to their feelings about a largely forgotten track. It would have been good and proper if they'd played it, but maybe that's a little churlish! 

LED ZEPPELIN - CAROUSELAMBRA

'And everything was soon no sooner thought than deed, and no one seemed to question anyway'

An epic muse, the second longest studio track in Zeppelin's arsenal. One of the seeds of renewal on 'In Through The Out Door', a new avenue that was sadly never to be explored fully. Originally rehearsed in May '78 when Led Zeppelin reconvened at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean to see if Robert had overcome his tragedy to at least some degree and there was a future for Led Zeppelin once again.

The fragmentary recordings from Clearwell show a tentative yet determined positivity, and the new music (including the sadly and strangely unfinished and unreleased 'Fire' from the same sessions) is vibrant and positive. It's an indication of how enthusiastic they are, despite the first of  takes disintegrating after the first section and the other two getting not much further Robert already has skeletal lyrics and an arrangement is taking shape. 

Some 6 months later, after running down the numbers at Ezyhire in October, Led Zeppelin recorded 'Carouselambra' at Abba's Polar Studios. Laid down on November 23rd, the same day as 'I'm Gonna Crawl', it's ambitious and full of energy but ultimately flawed. The mix is, for once, a problem. Strangely muffled, Robert's vocals are buried and it lacks an edge to add to the obvious punch.

There are great moments, Bonzo powering things along as only he can. On careful listening Robert's lyrics are cynical and wistful, wary of the vast machine that is Led Zeppelin he sits at the heart of. Jonesy is having a whale of a time with his 'dream machine', the new Yamaha GX-1 symthesiser, later to go back to Keith Emerson. Jimmy, as with much of 'In Through The Out Door' stays on the periphery and adds colour, texture and drama from the outside, the edge. For the only time in the studio, Jimmy employed his Gibson Twin Neck, adding a shimmering quality to the prog style middle section.

Never performed live, it was rehearsed and thought to be a set certainty for the 1980/81 US Tour. There's also a possibility it was considered for the Over Europe 1980 tour. 

Rehearsals had taken place at London's Rainbow from April 22nd to May 3rd, or at least were booked for those dates but after a week or so press leaks led to  change of venue to the Victoria Apollo. Listening to the Munich show, it could have been added easily to the set but may well have replaced something. 

My guess would be the latter part, possibly ousting either 'Trampled Underfoot' or even 'Achilles Last Stand'. A point of discussion for sure.

There are also the companion disc remixed version of the finished studio take - one or two nuances and a higher vocal and crisper sound - and the remarkable Bonzo only drum outtakes from much of the sessions that shows he still had the power, drive and intuition all the way through his career.

As there were no serious rehearsals on that first (and only) day - September 24th - it's very unlikely it would have been run through. It would certainly have been routined within the next couple of 'serious' rehearsal days, as Zeppelin always did when auditioning challenging songs to add/replace to the set. 

On the 1995 tour the mid section was added to the post solo part of In The Evening, but Carouselambra has never had a full live outing. Even this small insert showed how it could have sounded as a live Zeppelin number in 1980/81 and beyond....

LED ZEPPELIN - JULY 5TH 1969/70/71/73/80 !!

JULY 5TH

There are many dates in Zeppelin's history that resonate throughout the years. July 5th is one, and here are some of the events on that date over the years....

ATLANTA POP FESTIVAL, INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, HAMPTON, GEORGIA 1969

The opening show of the 3rd US Tour. Fresh from a triumphant and busy June in Blighty, Gee set up their most extensive tour to date, hitting as many Festivals as possible plus both favoured and new venues in between. They appeared on the second day of this star studded 3 day event. Jimi Hendrix had played the first night, and over the 3 days Janis Joplin, Spirit, Canned Heat and any more appeared. And while Led Zeppelin were wowing 'em in Hampton Georgia, The Rolling Stones were playing their free Hyde Park tribute to Brian Jones show in the company of King Crimson (their debut performance), Family and others including Screw!

Much of the event has been released or made available via bootleg, a slew of soundboard recordings and assorted footage over the years and decades. For nigh on 25 years the rumour of a soundboard of the Zeppelin performance has grown and grown. Some maintain they have heard it, have a sample, know it to exist. But, even to this day it hasn't escaped the hoarder's clutches.

All we have (so far)  is a compilation of silent 8mm cine film that includes under a minute of Led Zeppelin footage. But I'm more than convinced it's out there.

JULY 5TH 1970

ISLAND STUDIOS, BASING STREET, LONDON

In the aftermath of the Bath Festival, Led Zeppelin went straight back to work. With much of 'Led Zeppelin III' recorded or ready before Bath, this quick visit saw them using studios 1 and 2. The dates included in the information with the newly released deluxe editions may not be the actual dates of recording, but just when the mix and some overdubs were done.

However, 'Gallows Pole' was put through its' paces, as the rough incomplete but fascinating mix attests. And we do have an alternative 'released' version that appeared briefly on a US promo copy of the album. This was done in studio 1, and we also have the remarkable and long rumoured instrumental jam/framework 'St. Tristan's Sword' which came out of studio 2. Full of many ideas, riffs and mood changes, it sounds far away from 'III', probably the reason it was left aside. Remarkable stuff though, a great relaxed take.

JULY 5TH 1971

VELODROME VIGORELLI, MILAN, ITALY

Playing some fragmented dates across Europe, Led Zeppelin debut in Italy and find themselves in the middle of a cynical riot. Unconfirmed reports place them in Rome the day before, but if this show was their Italian debut it's little wonder they never returned.

Only a distorted, distant recording exists of some 23 minutes, cutting in to 'Since I've Been Loving You', a complete 'Black Dog' and a large portion of 'Dazed And Confused'. They are on top form, Robert's voice is still at it's highest and the band interaction and syncopation is growing show by show.

Outside of their performance, all hell broke loose. Reactionary Police, agitated every time the crowd rose in appreciation, charged the crowd with batons and used copious amounts of tear gas, so much so the band thought the crowd were lighting fires. After a suddenly truncated set, trouble escalated and much of the PA and Zeppelin's gear was trashed. Robert showed his upset and frustration, weeping in frustration as he described the events to journalists.

There have been a bootleg Japanese acetate (Blow's One's Cool),2 different bootleg elpees and a boot CD (Stepmothers Club, which also includes part of the Newcastle City Hall 30-11-72 show erroneously attributed to Birmingham Stepmothers Club March 71, an unconfirmed performance) featuring this recording. There has also been a small amount of colour cine film, showing brief clips of the stage, some of the local support acts and brief snippets of Zeppelin. Dubbed with Black Dog from the bootleg tape and flushed out with stills of the show and newspaper reports.

JULY 5TH 1973

SOUNDCHECK, CHICAGO STADIUM

Now we come to a real can of worms. There have been at least 3 different dates given to this remarkable recording of Led Zeppelin at play. Never the most disciplined of groups, they openly stated their hate of soundchecks, so much so that the majority of the time it was left to the crew. Another reason why so many of the '73 and '75 recordings start off unbalanced as Rusty tried to get things right on the run!

I first got this cassette as the Chicago venue and date. Then I saw it traded as the Met Center, Bloomington 17th January '75, when they were known to have warmed up for the tour. There are some classic Neal Preston shots from this rehearsal, and with the addition of 3 tracks from 'Physical Graffiti' it was a fairly obvious conclusion. Not for me, Robert's voice is too strong and Jimmy's guitar sound and fluidity is much more '73 than '75. And then it's also thought to be from early May '73, before the first leg of the tour. My gut tells me July, guess there's only one man who really knows....

Anyway, the track listing is :-

Sugar Baby (2 takes)

Wanton Song (2 takes)

The Rover (2 takes)

Night Flight (4 takes)

School Days

Nadine

Round And Round

Move On Down The Line

Love Me Like A Hurricane

Move It

Dynamite

Shakin' All Over

Hungry For Love

I'll Never Get Over You

Reelin' And Rockin'

Surrender

'Sugar Baby' is worth the price of admission alone, a tight but loose funky exercise, sounding a lot like the pre-Theremin funk out jam in Whole Lotta Love circa '72/'73. The  Graffiti tracks are in different states of repair. Wanton Song is a primitive early try at the middle part, later completed in Early '74 at Headley Grange (Another clue to the date). The Rover is loose and joyous and coming together. Night Flight, already recorded for 'Untitled' originally sounds more like obsessive attempts to see if it would become part of the set.

from then on the cover versions are marvellous, Led Zeppelin at play. From kitsch Pop to Psychobilly and all points in between. Love Move It, Nadine and a swinging Shakin' All Over the most. A rare glimpse inside the World of Led Zeppelin when the circus is out of town and the hangers on away from the room. Just four boys and their music. Brilliant stuff, and loads of bootleg versions, even on vinyl back in the day as 'Tribute to Johhny Kidd and the Pirates'.

JULY 5TH 1980

OLYMPIAHALLE, MUNICH, GERMANY

Led Zeppelin Uber Alles! Hold the back page - Steve Gett's enthusiastic full page report from Melody Maker was certainly a shock. After what seemed like years of press negativity, especially in the UK, this was more like it. The penultimate show, a hot Saturday night in Munich. The tour had been erratic but at its' best a perfect rebirth. Cutting out some of the flab and refocusing the songs into a more metronomic, powerful way.

The first burst of shows were short and sweet. In the middle things sagged a bit and there was the unfortunate Nuremburg incident. By the time Led Zeppelin arrived in Munich they were on the home stretch and it showed. So much energy went into this performance, and the set had evolved and stretched to a point where it felt like a US Stadium Gig. The sign of things to come, or so many of us thought. Sadly it was not to be.

The set ran :-

Train Kept A-Rollin'/Nobody's Fault But Mine

Black Dog

In The Evening

The Rain Song

Hot Dog

All My Love

Trampled Underfoot

Since I've Been Loving You

Achilles Last Stand

White Summer/Black Mountain Side/Kashmir

Stairway to Heaven

Rock And Roll

Whole Lotta Love/Boogie Chillun'

A great, powerful performance. The openers hit home, and both The Rain Song and All My Love sound light and delicate, a celebration. The raucous audience adds to the atmosphere and Achilles Last Stand seems to float above everyone's heads. 

Ironically, as it was omitted from the last gig in Berlin this was to be the last performance, in the city where it was constructed and recorded. Encore time has the bonus of a second drum kit, stage right, for Simon Kirke. A loose and chaotic Led Zeppelin plus one closes the night. Lotta fun. Lotta Fun.

One of only two shows NOT available as a soundboard recording, there are a couple of good and one or two poor audience recordings, and the good ones have been released on CD. One of my favourite nights of the tour, hugely enjoyable listen.

And one of the first two films to emerge, alongside Cologne, is just under ten minutes of clear colour cine film complete with sound. Close and from a couple of angles, it includes some snippets of the drum duel. Nice accompaniment to the audio, great it was captured.

KING CRIMSON - JULY 1ST & 3RD 1974/96/2000

'I'm a Dinosaur, someone keeps digging my bones'

 

July 1st 1974. A date that has a special resonance for King Crimson. 22 years apart from the final show by the 'Red' touring line-up to a triumphant return to London for the 'Thrak' band. Oh, and 3 years and 2 days later a completely different live show promoting 'The Power To Believe', again at the wonderful Shepherds Bush Empire.

 

 

Always an enigma, always moving forward, searching. The true spirit of the much derided musical form described as Progressive Rock. What has always made them stand out is the uncompromising attitude of leader Robert Fripp. The final show on July 1st 1974 has all the hallmarks of the peak, the end of a cycle, an era.

 

 

Touring 'Starless and Bible Black', shows got better and better. This final show at Wollman Skating Rink, Central Park, New York has been described by Fripp as their finest since 1969, that he felt 'a tingling through his spine'. Listening to the remastered bootleg tape, it's not hard to see why.

 

The set ran :-

Walk On (No Pussyfooting)/21st Century Shizoid Man/Lament/Exiles/Cerberus (improvisation)/Easy Money/Fracture/Starless/Talking Drum/Larks Tongues In Aspic II

 

 

Always loved the Wetton fronted line-up. His voice suits the melodic yet dissonant style perfectly for me. The line-up of Fripp/Wetton/Bruford/Cross certainly reached a peak here. Released as part of the ongoing series 'The King Crimson Collectors Club' on CD as their 10th release, it also featured as disc 20 on the mammoth 24 disc 'Road To Red' box set.

 

Just 7 days after the Central Park gig they were in Olympic Studios recording one of their finest, and actually my favourite elpee 'Red'. Adding 4 extra musicians to bring saxophone, oboe and cornet alongside the violin of David Cross, the newly set up 3 piece King Crimson began work on their final statement of the decade.  

 

The live show, as with many of those inside Road To Red, is essential. Red as an elpee and last will and testament of the original journey of King Crimson, is even more so.

 

 

Fast forward 22 years. After a successful 6 week European Tour, the new 'double trio' King Crimson arrive at London's Shepherds Bush Empire for a pair of shows. I remember this night well. Never saw the 60's/70's KC (too young) but have seen a handful from the 80's on. This was a great show. Loved the distraction, the beautiful soundscapes from Fripp as a replacement to the absent California Guitar Trio. Pulled many an inquisitive fan away from the bar.

 

 

Adrian Belew has been on my radar so to speak since his Zappa days, stuff like City Of Tiny Lights on the magnificent Sheik Yerbouti double elpee, and some fine guitar duels with FZ to boot. His voice alone stands out (love the 2 elpees by spin off The Bears by the way) let alone his carefree noise annoys guitar style. On the night, new and old melded together well, and wile the new far outnumbered the old, Red and Larks' Tongues II were personal highlights. Of course, ya gotta love tracks like 'Dinosaur' and the final encore 'Elephant Talk', succinct and strident.

 

Gathered together as two separate then one combined 2CD set, it was the KCCC's 3rd release, a nod to the significance the band held it in.

 

And, as almost a footnote, King Crimson returned to the same venue 3 years and 2 days later. Stripped down to a 4 piece, the set and sound has completely changed. The new elpee, 'The Power To Believe', and The CostruKction Of Light was the main focus of the set, complete with a couple of improvisations and a new Larks' Tongues, Part IV. Filmed as part of the Eyes Wide Open 2DVD set, alongside a Tokyo show from April 16th the same year (but with a largely different tracklisting), the show ends with a heartfelt and powerful 'Heroes', a track Fripp added 'hairy arsed guitar' to for David Bowie in Berlin.

 

 

Not as essential to me as the two July 1st shows, it is a great gig and a joy to watch. The thing for me with King Crimson is the unknown quantity mixed with the intensity and joy of both. We shall not see their likes again, the true real Progressive Rockers.

 

 

 

 

LED ZEPPELIN - BRING IT ON HOME

'Watch that train rollin' down the track'



The closing track on 'Led Zeppelin II'. A step along the way, a definite signpost of the progression of the group. Written by blues legend Willie Dixon, the earliest known recording is by Sonny Boy Williamson II in 1963, where Dixon is correctly credited as sole songwriter.

The original recording sessions began in LA at Mystic Studios during the first week of May 1969, when the basic structure was recorded alongside 'Moby Dick' and 'The Lemon Song. The following week Zeppelin were in Vancouver and on May10 th overdubbed Robert's vocals and harmonica at R & D Studios during the day before performing at the PNE Agrodome that evening. 

Led Zeppelin also recorded an alternative take of the middle incendiary section during the bit by bit recording sessions for 'Led Zeppelin II', stunning evidence of this being a live in the studio jam from Atlantic Studios, New York on July 24th that appears on the deluxe edition of Coda. 

Three days after playing two sets in Central Park, they laid this down before heading to West Allis, Wisconsin for the 

Mid-West Rock Festival.

Anyway, by August everything was brought together and the LP was assembled and mixed during the last days of the month in New York by Jimmy and Eddie Kramer.

Now 'Bring It On Home' had another prime example of Jimmy's burgeoning guitar army, adding wave upon wave of harmony guitars to the lift-off riff before Bonzo enters with two depth charge snare hits. There's no solo, just some power riffing.

Then they added an intro and a coda, both slow understated shuffling blues rhythms, as the original guys from the Delta would have played it. Robert adds some nice harmonica licks but his vocals are mumbled and slurred, crudely aping Sonny Boy Williamson II's vocal style. And then they compounded it by crediting it as a Page/Plant composition. Oh dear. It wasn't until 1987 that Willie Dixon got his due and sole songwriting credit, alongside recompense for Robert stealing his lyrics from You Need Love for Whole Lotta Love. Since then it's (rightly) been a Dixon composition.

Live, the earliest version we had is as an encore at the recently discovered new audience tape of the middle of three Winterland shows that closed the fourth US Tour, then

as one of the numerous encores at the legendary Royal Albert Hall show on January 9th 1970, it's arrangement giving rise to a fantastic adrenalin fuelled 3 way guitar-drum-harmonica call and response jam. Joyfully we have this on 'DVD'.

The only other captured performance is from Copenhagen on February 28th, again as an encore. For the 5th US and 6th US Tours it followed the opening blast, staying in the first 3 or 4 in the set until the tour ended with the two outstanding Madison Square Garden shows on September 19th. We have by now 24 live versions on bootleg, and the only show its' omitted from is the Honolulu September 6th gig.

A live tour de force, the duels are extended plus we have Robert getting the crowd involved, as the 'Live On Blueberry Hill' bootleg will attest.  But come 1971 and the set was revamped with 'Since I've Been Loving You' and 'Black Dog' brought in to follow the openers. From then on we only have 3 bootlegged versions - Belfast March 5th '71 (3rd encore), Nassau Coliseum June 14th '72 (4th encore) and L A Forum June 25th '72 (5th encore) - and that's it. Apart from Jimmy's incendiary riff used as a link between 'Celebration Day' and 'Black Dog' for the 9th US Tour, the mass of studio harmony overdubs covered by Jonesy, sometimes using his 5-string bass.

Post Zeppelin, Robert reverted to a blues shuffle/swing version for his Honeydrippers club gigs in 1981, and Page and Plant played the truncated middle section on both the Unledded and Walking Into Clarkesdale Tours.

Jimmy also played it with the Black Crowes, a perfect candidate for the multi-guitar set up

Never a candidate for a single, there are a couple of oddities as the b-side to Heartbreaker (Italy) and Livin' Lovin' Maid (Turkey) plus, you guessed it, at least one Polish Postcard Flexi.

For most of us, the best two live versions you could imagine have been released officially! The 'DVD' gives us the Royal Albert Hall performance and the (probably) last live version is caught on the outstanding 'How The West Was Won' 3CD set.

LED ZEPPELIN - WHATS YOUR FAVOURITE FESTIVAL APPEARANCE?

'I told Pagey one or two people would be here, but he said he doubted that very much'

Robert Plant, Knebworth August 4th 1979

 

 

 Here's a question, something to ponder and discuss. From June 28th 1969 at Bath to August 11th 1979 Led Zeppelin appeared on the bill at a fair few Festivals. A dozen in 1969 alone. And if you add multi-artist open air shows they headlined like Kezar, the Oakland 'Day On The Green' events, even the Vigorelli Vellodrome in Milan July 5th 1971, we have 19 or so 'Festival' appearances.

 

 

So..... what's your favourite. The one you attended? The best bootleg? We know the band were never keen, Gee pulled them out of Woodstock for fear they would just be 'another band on the bill'. Plus his well founded paranoia regarding audio and video recording and thereby lack of control.

 

 

Here are a few posters to jog your memory cells. What's your fave? Your least fave? What footage do you like the best?

 

Please let me know, add your comments and thoughts.

 

Andy

 

TO BE A ROCK

 

LED ZEPPELIN - THE BATTLE OF EVERMORE

'Dance In The Dark Of Night, Sing To The Morning Light'

 

Sometimes fate and the moment can lead to the unexpected. The Battle Of Evermore began life due to one of those moments. Tucked away in the damp bucolic dilapidation of Headley Grange, the relaxed confident atmosphere made work easy. Restful.

Jonesy had brought several instruments along for the sessions, including a mandolin. Jimmy, as fate would have it, picked it up and, strummed a few chords and messed around a bit. He recalls the sequence for The Battle Of Evermore came quickly, easily, at the same time light heartedly suggesting a decent mandolin player would laugh at the basic riff he'd created.

This was late 1970, and after the lukewarm press response to 'III' and disappointing initial sales, Jimmy responded by driving the band on, moving forward, almost subconsciously knowing there was something big, special to come from his band.  And he wasn't wrong.

Coming after the bombast and crunch of Black Dog and Rock And Roll, The Battle Of Evermore is a brilliant mood change. From the chiming introduction, gradually filling the air as Andy Johns edges up the faders, the calm is palpable until those familiar chords ring in.

The inspired choice of Sandy Denny was a masterstroke. Jimmy and Robert had become close to Fairport Convention, even though Sandy had decided to leave the band that year. Back in June they'd appeared on the same bill at the Bath Festival. The most legendary collaboration came after one of the most celebrated Zeppelin gigs of them all. On September 4th 1970 they wowed the L.A. Forum in Inglewood with a sterling performance captured by not one but (at least) three enterprising bootleggers, made famous by not only premieres of tracks from the as yet unreleased 'Led Zeppelin III' but a final almost unglued third encore of Fats Domino's anthem 'Blueberry Hill'. Hence the Blimp and later TMOQ bootleg of the same name.

said performance they returned to the Riot House and headed for the Troubadour, just a few blocks away on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. Here, Fairport were playing the first of 3 nights, recording them for a possible live elpee. Sandy Denny was no longer a part of the group, but the connection was there. Of course, adrenalin still flowing, a jam ensued into the night which, according to Richard Thompson, was recorded but Gee took and kept the tapes of his charges performance. The belatedly issued live elpee has no Led Zeppelin or even mention of the night. Shame.

So, once the band had an arrangement for The Battle Of Evermore, Robert began to formulate lyrics, the story. The outtake versions (pre-Sandy Denny) show us a tentative, less confident and formulated vocal. During a period when Robert was virtually obsessed with the romantic history of the dark ages, the Scottish Border wars and the myths and legends of the rulers and bloodlines steeped in the hills and vales around his chosen home, he delved into both fact and fantasy, once more recalling Tolkien into ever expanding lyrical description.

Sandy Denny was asked, and added her Town Crier vocal as part of what was increasingly a timeless play, a far cry from the 'getting our heads together in the country mannnn' acoustic doodlings from many bands at the time. Their voices gelled perfectly, Sandy bringing a discipline and focus where alone Robert may well have gone just that bit further. Sandy even got here own rune.

Listening to it in context, just the introduction with it's long long fade in is the perfect aural palette cleanser. By the time it chimes off into the distance the whole mood and expectation of the elpee has changed. And after that there's Stairway To Heaven.

Maybe lost for some due to not being a constant live track, The Battle Of Evermore is to me a wonderfully heroic song, and a risk that works brilliantly.

When getting a set together for the Magick 11th US Tour in 1977, it was auditioned and considered as a star part of the revamped acoustic set. Never thought of before, probably due to Sandy Denny's imperious vocals, they decided in Jimmy's words of the time to 'take the odd risk' and set out to find a workable arrangement in January '77 in Manticore.

It was left to Jonesy to provide vocals, as well as acoustic guitar and bass pedals. Bonzo and Jimmy added harmonies of sort, and Bonzo hammered out the drum motif on tambourine. It was a gamble, and despite the obvious vocal inadequacies it kinda works. Robert expands his vocals with echo and his eventide harmonizer during the coda.

Performed throughout the '77 US Tour, it became an instant favourite earning huge ovations night after night. Sadly, it disappeared along with the rest of the acoustic set after the tour. Performed at every complete show on the tour, we have 34 versions on bootleg to choose from, plus the pro-shot footage of the Seattle July 17th to watch as well.

The new expanded edition of 'Untitled' includes an instrumental take from January 29th 1971, plus we have various part and complete outtake mixes as well. Have never seen any singles or EP's with this on, although there are polish and Russian postcard flexi's. The 2CD collection covering much of Sandy Denny's career 'The Music Weaver' did include The Battle Of Evermore, an unusual and rightful gesture.

It was also wonderfully reimagined for the Unledded project with Najma Akhtar reprising Sandy's role in a new, Eastern way. A definite highlight, the beauty of the song shone once more. It wasn't a standard part of the set without Najma being part of the tour, but she did appear at the tail end of the '95 UK Tour, beginning with the two NEC Shows.

And Robert had also performed it with Fairport Convention and went on to include a live arrangement with Alison Krauss...