Re: BBC Set...Who Cares?

[danderso@xxxxxxxxxxx (David Anderson)]

McIlheny:

>I have been reading all these posts about the BBC set and I can't help
>but wonder why most of us care.  What we are getting is a bunch of
>sessions most of us have had for ages.

I wonder just how many people really have any of this stuff.  Over 1,000?  
5,000?  There is a misconception that all bootlegs sound like shit, and they are
illegal, so lots of people who really love the music never get into them.  This 
applies to tape trading too.

Jimmy, Robert & John Paul could agree to release the entire L.A. '72 show (Burn 
Like a Candle bootleg) in perfect quality with a couple of cuts and someone 
would still find a reason to complain.  I wish they could see it from a 
fan/collector's standpoint, but they don't, and never will.  There's still no 
excuse for the cuts in the '71 show, though.  They lost an opportunity to put 
out a definitive version.

But, knowing Atlantic, I can see it now, sometime next year:

     "Re-released, re-mastered - The classic that started it all - Led 
     Zeppelin II, with bonus track, the Whole Lotta Love medley from the 
     BBC Paris Theatre session, complete and unedited for the first time.  
     Watch out for the re-re-re-re-release of the whole Zep catalog w/live 
     bonus tracks!!"

I bet that's exactly what the greedy bastards end up doing.  Bastards.

>They may be slightly better quality, but hell they're edited and most of 
>Plant's chatter is gone.  They didn't even include anything rare, or is 
>Eddie Edwards the only person in the world with a decent copy of Sunshine 
>Woman? Doesn't Page even have this?

Are there any official live albums which feature the whole event, from the first
note played through all the introductions, etc., with no overdubs?  I can't 
think of one.

As for rare material, the upgrade of Sunshine Woman is much better than what was
around before, but Jimmy Page is the man who wouldn't release the Bombay 
Orchestra '72 tracks because the sound isn't good enough, so go figure.  The 
Bombay tracks sound great to me.

BTW, thanks to Tomiszlaw (sp?) for unearthing the BBC World Service/Alexis 
Koerner tape, and to Eddie Edwards for spreading it around.  Good job guys!

>Even with all my idiotic bitching, I'll buy the damn set as soon as it comes 
>out in the States.

I'll buy it.  There's a chance it will sell well, paving the way for 
something more substantial.  Problem is, the next year or so will be taken 
up with the new P/P album/tour.  Perhaps Jon Astley has been assigned the 
task of rounding stuff up for future release.  Who knows?

- --Dave Anderson