The missing piece

[Eddie Edwards <eddie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Details of the March 19 1969 BBC tape coming right up.  First, though, I
want to tell you who we all have to thank for discovering this tape.
>From Warsaw, Poland, Tomislaw Czarnecki (tomislaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx).  A
true Zep fan who, on discovering this rare and precious gem on an old
reel-to-reel tape in a collection he had acquired, chose to share it
with us.  I find it impossible adequately to express my gratitude to him
and I am sure many of you will feel the same.

The tape is a recording from the BBC World Service.  It's an AM
broadcast, so don't expect miracles as far as sound quality goes.
Having said that, it's a very nice, clean recording.

As Scott has mentioned, this is almost certainly not the original April
14th 1969 broadcast, but a re-broadcast in different form a few weeks
later.  Tomislaw has sent me a copy of the tape exactly as he has it,
and this is how it goes:

- - Alexis Korner introduction
- - What Is And What Should Never Be
- - more chat from Alexis Korner
- - I Can't Quit You Baby
- - more chat from Alexis
- - You Shook Me (fades out after the organ/harmonica solos)

- - Sunshine Woman (appears to be from a separate recording)

The version of "What Is And What Should Never Be" is a bit of a puzzle.
The backing track and vocals are identical to the version from the June
16 1969 BBC session, but it has different guitar overdubs.  The
differences in the guitar parts (the main solo and the fills at the end
of the verses) are subtle but they can clearly be heard if you listen
for them.

"I Can't Quit You Baby" is surpassingly excellent, Pagey mixing melodic
expression and raw power in equal measure.  Some alternative lyrics are
thrown in, hinting at the way the song would be performed and combined
with other blues classics in the medleys from late '71 to early '73.
This song, for me, is the highlight of the tape.

Whereas the take of "You Shook Me" from the March 3 1969 BBC session
features a rather unusual arangement, with the organ solo coming in
after only one verse, the version here is more traditional, not too far
from LZ1.  It fades out as the broadcast reaches its allotted 15
minutes, so we don't get to hear the ending.

No "Sunshine Woman" on that broadcast, then, but thankfully it's on this
tape.  It's identical to the previously available version, but much
better quality.  Still an AM recording, mind you, but a much clearer and
fuller sound than on that old acetate.

So what can we make of all this?  As I said above, my guess is that the
session was originally broadcast complete and that this tape is from a
re-broadcast a few weeks later.  For some reason, the BBC dropped
"Sunshine Woman" and replaced it with "What Is And What Should Never
Be".  Quite how the latter came to have different guitar overdubs is a
mystery.

As is often the case when old recordings surface, this tape raises some
questions as well as answering some.  But I for one am not complaining.
I'll be getting a tree going in a few days time - DAT branches will be
included.

- -- 
Eddie Edwards

The Garden Tapes - a study of The Song Remains The Same
http://www.olkil.demon.co.uk/lzgarden/contents.htm
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