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[reviews by Bill Glahn]
Led Zeppelin: Scandinavian Broadcasts 1969 (Magic Dice MGCD 002)
Cover: single pocket jacket with attractive graphics. Track listing and venue information listed on back.
Sound Quality: Very good stereo on side 1 (FM), mono on side 2 (TV)
Venue: (Side 1) Koncerthuset, Stockholm, Sweden, March 14, 1969 (Side 2) RV-Byen Studios, Gladsaxe, Denmark March 17, 1969
Track List: (Side 1) I Can’t Quit You Baby/ I Gotta Move/ Dazed And Confused/ How Many More Times (Side 2) Communication Breakdown/ Dazed and Confused/ Babe I’m Gonna Leave You/ How Many More Times
Comments: Let’s dispatch side 2 right away. It is simply the soundtrack to what already appeared on the official Led Zeppelin 2003 double DVD set called, simply enough, DVD. Only presented without the benefit of Jimmy Page’s remastering. It’s useless to any serious Led Zeppelin fan and the official 2DVD set is easily available on various Internet retail sites for a fraction of what this LP would cost you. It might serve a purpose to vinyl fetishists, but ultimately, it’s a wasted opportunity, being that there are other shows from the same Scandinavian tour that haven’t been released officially. Notably, two very good to excellent recordings from March 15 when the band played shows at two different teen clubs in Denmark.
On to side one.
The Koncerthuset broadcast first appeared on the impossibly rare Japanese bootleg, Missing Links. Doing an a/b comparison, it is immediately obvious that Magic Dice has used a different tape source. This release includes a lengthy DJ intro (in Swedish) that was not included on Missing Links and, after the fade out on “How Many More Times,” a DJ outro as well. Missing Links opened with the first notes of “I Can’t Quit You Baby” and finished with a quick fade out of “How Many More Times,” which left listeners wondering, “where’s the rest of the broadcast?” This time around, “How Many More Times” is extended a bit longer before the DJ interrupts to close out the broadcast in mid-song. Time limitations on radio – don’t you just hate them?
On the down side, the sound quality on Missing Links was stunning while the source used for Scandinavian broadcasts has some periodic level fluctuations. Still, the instrument separation is still wide and enjoyable.
The performance? It’s astonishing, The band opens with “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” a number from their recently released first album. There’s some fine picking from Page and tight support from the band, not wavering far from the studio version. Then things get interesting. Plant announces to the audience that Page has broken a string and tells them that the performance will feature a couple of numbers from the new album. “I don’t know whether you’ve heard it.” Plant is not being facetious. Dead air being the enemy of radio, the band proceeds as a 3-piece with a version of the non-LP Otis Rush song, “I Gotta Move.” Unlike many influences for songs on their albums, Plant gives proper accreditation to Rush. It’s as close an arrangement to “traditional” blues as you will ever hear from Zep, and they shine. Backed by a superb bass line by John Paul Jones and some solid, in the pocket drumming from Boham, not to mention Plant’s harp work and vocals, It’s a rare glimpse of Zep sticking close to their roots. One listen to this, and no nay-saying critic will ever accuse Bonham of being “ham-fisted” again. Freed from his usual position of accenting Page’s guitar licks, he’s brilliantly subdued on this track.
Having finally taken care of his broken string, Page and company continue on to “Dazed and Confused” skipping what most likely would have been “You Shook Me” or “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You,” standard parts of their repertoire at the time. It’s a rather subdued first half of “Dazed,” Page using his violin bow to good effect and an appropriate follow-up to “I Gotta Move” in feel. Then, Wham! Page puts down the bow and delivers a blistering rave-up – the kind that made Led Zeppelin the notorious kings of bombast that they became. The band follows with their set-closer “How Many More Times,” with Plant giving each member the intros that would no longer be needed within the next year. But, alas, allotted time has run out and the radio feed fades to nothing with the MC giving a short outro announcement. For a complete version of the song in all it’s manic glory, see side 2.
Grade: This is a tough one. I’m torn between the importance and quality of Side 1 and the duplicity of Side 2. Whether taken from an independent source tape or simply lifted from an official DVD, Side 2 reeks of piracy, something that I have never supported. Until such time as the Stockholm show becomes available on vinyl with more appropriate material, I’ll give it a “buy” recommendation and leave it at that.
Back Pages [The print version of Live! Music Review began in 1993, well into the CD era. Our last issue was in 2000, well before the reemergence of vinyl as a popular format. As a vinyl enthusiast, I wish there had been some vinyl reviews to post here. But it is what it is. Led Zeppelin is the most bootlegged band in history, and it seems, especially in Japan, not a newly discovered source tape was overlooked. We tried to cover them all. I’m sure we missed a few. Here is a small sample of Zep reviews that appeared in the April 1999 L!MR, an issue which covered 27 new Zep & Zep-related bootlegs over a one month period. Now available on the Internet for the first time.]
Led Zeppelin: Rare Short Party (Image Quality IQ 003-004)
Venue: Yale Bowl, New Haven, CT 8/15/70
Sound Quality: Awful – lots of hiss, but you can hear Page’s guitar clearly. There are numerous cuts and the taper and his buddy just won’t shut up. It gets better as you go along, but playing this one is akin to scraping fingernails on a blackboard.
Cover: Typical low budget packaging from Image Quality. “Fat boy” double jewel case with inlay cards and no booklet.
Tracklist: (Disc 1) Immigrant Song/ Heartbreaker/ Dazed & Confused/ Bring It On Home/ Since I’ve Been Loving You (Disc 2) What Is & What Should Never Be/ Moby Dick/ Whole Lotta Love medley/ Communication Breakdown> Good Times, Bad Times
Comments: The pathetic quality of this recording prevents any enjoyment of what sounds like a pretty exciting concert. The Image Quality discs that we received for review have all been regular silver CDs and not CD-Rs. So while we have had some readers writing to say that all Image Quality releases are CD-Rs, it just ain’t so. But whether it’s on silver, or blue or green or gold disc, Rare Short Party is still a dog.
Led Zeppelin: Fillmore 69 Definitive Remastered Edition (House of Elrod)
Venue: Fillmore West, San Francisco, Cab 4/24/69. The final track is from the Boston Tea Party 1/26/69
Sound Quality: Mind blowing! Even the Boston Tea Party material is better than you’ve ever heard it before.
Cover: Fabulous laminated gatefold cardboard cover with blimp flying over the Golden Gate Bridge in brownish duotone coloring scheme.
Tracklist: As Long As I Have You/ You Can’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover/ Killing Floor/ White Summer/ Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You/ Pat’s Delight/ How Many More Times medley
Comments: Despite the fact that this material has appeared on bootleg CDs previously, this has to be the best Zep disc to come down the pike in eons. The upgrade in sound quality for both shows is a major one, a jaw-dropping adventure to be sure. The only question I have is, “where is the rest of Boston in this quality?” Killer disc. Hands down, pick of the month.
Led Zeppelin: C’mon Everbody (House of Elrod)
Venue: disc one and disc two tracks 1-3 are from the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on 11/6/69, disc two track 4-8 are from the Teen Club, Gladsaxe, Denmark 3/15/69 [2020 edit: as mentioned in vinyl review above, prime material for pairing with Stockholm for a vinyl release], disc two 9-11 are from Glensaxe, Denmark TV-Byen 3/17/69. The cover erroneously listed disc two 4-11 as Danish TV Studios 3/13/69.
Sound Quality: Outstanding audience recording, lots of bite with an occasional glitch. This show has never been available in this quality before. The Danish stuff are the usual sources, a good audience tape from the 15th and an outstandinfg TV studio recording from the 17th [2020 edit: the 17th received an official release in 2003].
Cover: Laminated 4-panel insert and two-sided tray card. Very nice layout. The CD-R discs are silk-screened.
Tracklist: (disc 1) Communication Breakdown/ I Can’t Quit You, Babe/ Heartbreaker/ Dazed & Confused/ White Summer> Black Mountainside/ What Is and What Should Never Be/ Moby Dick (disc 2) How Many More Times/ C’mon Everybody/ Something Else/ Train Kept A Rollin’/ I Can’t Quit You, Babe/ As Long As I Have You/ You Shook Me/ Communication Breakdown/ Dazed & Confused/ Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You/ How Many More Times
Comments: A stunning document for fans of Page’s most aggressive Marshall boogie. The Good Times Bad Times” intro to “Communication Breakdown” started on the Fall UK tour and is most commonly found on the Lyceum shows, both which come nowhere close to the quality found on this disc. This was the start of a Zep tradition where Page would play a tease from one song to introduce another. The Eddie Cochran encores are a rare treat and most commonly found on BBC recordings and the Japanese 1971 tour. A winner!
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