Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Day 37: 1/9/1970 London, England

1/9/1970 London England  Royal Albert Hall Multitrack
We're Gonna Groove, I Can't Quit You Baby, Dazed and Confused, Heartbreaker, White Summer/Black Mountain Side, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, How Many More Times*, Bring it on Home, Whole Lotta Love, Communication Breakdown, C'mon Everybody, Something Else, Long Tall Sally^
*-The Lost Mixes EP Vol. 7
^-Royal Albert Hall 1970 Master Edition

The famous Royal Albert Hall show begins with a brief introduction of the band before they launch into We're Gonna Groove followed by I Can't Quit You Baby, both of which saw official release (misattributed and in altered form) on Coda. Page is in excellent form. The bow solo in Dazed and Confused is eerie and dynamic. He shreds through an excellent extended guitar solo. Bonzo and Jones are like an out of control locomotive. Plant is locked onto Page, echoing his licks at every turn until the thunderous finale. An epic indeed.

Heartbreaker is unfortunately cut short just as the guitar solo is beginning. Page delivers another impressive White Summer/Black Mountain Side, followed by an excellent What is and What Should Never Be. Plant is enthusiastically engaging the crowd at the beginning of How Many More Times, trying to make the vibes reach all the way to the back of the room. The extended Bolero section includes wild soloing from Page as well as an impromptu jam, complete with lyrics. Plant is full of bravado as he declares himself during The Hunter section. The medley includes a great Bottle Up and Go jam as well as an excellent fast-paced That's All Right. Plant quips "I couldn't make it that time" after his voice breaks during the final "gun!"

The first appearance of Bring it on Home has all the power and intensity of the album version and then some. Whole Lotta Love is ferocious, the crowd can't get enough. A quick and dirty Communication Breakdown is followed by quicker and dirtier renditions of C'mon Everybody and Something Else. Bonzo attacks the latter at full force. The show ends with an explosive Long Tall Sally medley including Move on Down the Line and Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On.

The tape is a copy of Kevin Shirley's multitrack working mix that was being prepared for Led Zeppelin DVD. The two supplementary sources are of lesser quality, but they are more complete in the songs they are used for. The film on Led Zeppelin DVD is simply amazing. To be able to see the band interacting with one another on stage at one of their peaks. And with a superb 5.1 surround sound mix. Must see.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

1970-01-09, Royal Albert Hall, London England. From Official DVD Release, Monada and Celebration version.
I took the various releases I have and tried to compose as much of the show as possible. The set list for the show is as follows, with what version I listened to.
We're Gonna Groove (Official DVD) - Great sound, this version (cleaned up a bit ) was used on Coda.
I Can't Quit You Baby (Official DVD) - Again, great sound, this version was used on Coda, though apparently Page did not fix a mistake on the Coda version while he did fix it here.
Dazed and Confused (Official DVD) - A great version of the song, Plant changes up the lyrics a bit as well.
Heartbreaker (partial, from Official DVD - Credits) Shame there isn't more of the song.
White Summer (Official DVD) Getting to see and hear Page run thru this song makes my day, fun stuff.
Since I've Been Loving You Missing on all sources I have.
Thank You Missing on all sources I have.
What Is and What Should Never Be (Official DVD) Stereo effects added after the fact, I'm guessing anyway.
Moby Dick (Official DVD) Bonzo shines, as usual.
How Many More Times (Monada Version - not edited) Version is a bit longer and doesn't have the edits present in the official version, quality is pretty good as well.
Whole Lotta Love (Official DVD) - Excellent sounding version, some post production echo and such added.
Communication Breakdown (Monada Version). Version has post song encore break with crowd cheering 'Zeppelin', and apparently some of the guitar solo was cut on the DVD.
C'mon Everybody (Celebration Version) Version has a bit more pre and post chat.
Somethin' Else (Monada Version) Again, version has a bit more pre and post song chat.
Bring It On Home (Monada Version) Version is a bit longer than the DVD version, but it might just run a bit slower.
Long Tall Sally (Celebration Version) Most complete version, though it has some tape issues.

Shame I couldn't find a complete audience recording, but not sure if one exists from the sound of it. Anyway, with some of the reordering and use of different sources, the flow of this listen wasn't the best, however, the performance and sound was outstanding. My DVD to audio transfer seems to have a bit of static, I'll have to redo it sometime apparently. The Garden Tapes at http://www.thegardentapes.co.uk/ is a good site to try to sort out what's been done with official live releases of Zeppelin.... Page is a MANIAC!

Eric said...

I think we should make it a priority to seek out the truth as to if a version of Since I've Been Loving You, and Thank You exist. All bootleggers must unite!

Anonymous said...

This is a definite must have. Get the official DVD, the sound is great and to watch them blow the audience away is awesome! The whole show is great, but watching Page play White summer is amazing and How many more times is fantastic! Show this to people who think Zeppelin wasn't good live. They'll soon repent

Jim said...

You forgot to mention Jimmy's brief reference to 'Hideaway!'

kipnisreza said...

To anyone who has questions as to the whereabouts of Since I've Been Loving You, Page had done an interview a little while back in which this subject was brought up. He said that the original untouched tapes do indeed include Since I've Been Loving You. However, Jones's organ did not record onto the track, leaving only the vocals, guitar, and bass. Because of this issue, it was denied for the DVD project and it was never released. I do not have any information as to the whereabouts of the complete Thank You from this show at this time.