The last year or two has seen a virtually unprecedented flood of new Zeppelin CDs come out, many of them upgrades of previous issues, and a significant number of them new-to-CD and even newly surfaced recordings.
By popular demand, this issue's expanded 'Blueberry Hill' column attempts to provide an extensive overview of these titles, presented for the first time with a 5-star rating system. This brief excerpt will give readers of our Web Page an idea of what the article is like. The full piece contains capsule reviews of over 70 CDs. A few of them have been previously reviewed in the pages of Proxmity, but everything listed has been released since Robert Godwin's definitive Illustrated Collector's Guide To Led Zeppelin (CD Edition) was published earlier this year.
Mr. Godwin is currently working on a CD ROM version of his guide which will no doubt cover everything listed here in greater detail - if you can't wait for this fall's release of that or aren't 'ROM friendly,' his book can be ordered for $19.95 (U.S.) from The Hot Wacks Press, PO Box 544, Dept. P, Owen Sound, N4K 5R1, Canada. Mr Godwin has a WWW Page that can be reached by clicking here.
By the same token, Tarantura titles listed are only ones that post-date Leo Ishac's complete Tarantura discography, also released earlier this year. For more information about that publication, contact Leo at P.O. Box 400, Bentleigh 3204, Victoria, Australia.
Though we've never felt the need to mention this before, a recent flood of letters prompts me to point out what should be obvious:
Proximity provides bootleg information purely as a guide to its readers: we do not sell bootlegs and cannot tell you where to get them!
Skip it, for rich completists only
Poor, for true hardcores only
Good, worth having if you've got everything else
Very good, crank it up and rock out
Essential - you cannot live without this disc!
(Ratings refer to overall value including sound, performance &
packaging)
Gonzaga '68 (1CD, Capricorn Records)
California '69 (2CD, Lemon Song)
Lead Set (4CD, Tarantura)
A beautifully packaged set in a full-color box recreating the
Grateful Dead's Dead Set album art (a commercial release
on Arista) with a Zeppelin flying over the city-scape. The 4/26
show is soundboard, but seemingly not the same stereo soundboard
that's been around for years - this one is not as clean,
but it's balanced better and contains "White Summer,"
which isn't on the other one, and "Dazed" is cut
off, while it's complete on the other one. Is it possible
that there were two soundboards made of this show?!
The 4/27 show is the same audience tape that's been around for ages, but it's the best sounding version to date, which is to say quite good for the era.
Whole Lotta Love (1CD [single], Tarantura)
To my knowledge, the first bootleg CD single! This newly surfaced tape is just the encore from this show, one of the earliest appearances of "Whole Lotta Love." The sound is quite good for an audience tape of the era, the performance inspired.
Summer Of '69 (1CD, Rubber Dubber)
Nice package with original show poster reproduced, but the source tape is a very guitar-heavy audience recording; the rest of the band is almost inaudible. (Reviewed in Proximity #18)
Feel Alright Montreux (2CD, Cobla)
An absolutely terrific show, and superb audience sound quality. The disc's package is a replica of an earlier vinyl bootleg release. Good release of an essential recording.
Another Four Symbols (1CD, Tarantura)
Familiar recordings from rehearsals for the fourth album, but of course thanks to Tarantura, now released in best-ever sound quality, which is superb. Housed in a nifty cardboard gatefold sleeve, adorned with obscure Aleister Crowly references and great William Stout artwork. The only negative is that it's short (43:00), and should have also contained the acoustic instrumentals from these sessions, originally released complete on Missing Link's Ultra Rare Tracks.
Mad Screaming Gallery (3CD, Lemon Song)
An aplty titled CD, from a basically good quality audience tape
made (and marred) by the notoriously noisy "Artie."
The band plays well but is in constant conflict with a noisy,
restless audience. Frustrating to hear, but a fascinating document.
The Rochester is a muddy audience recording; only about 60 minutes
of the 90 minute source tape, but a good show.
Voodoo Drive (2CD, Tarantura)
Superb though incomplete audience tape presented here in optimum quality, and quite a good performance too. This is a significant upgrade from previous CD releases of this show, packaged in a unique vinyl folder featuring some nice photos and reproducitons of ticket stubs from the show. Essential.
Elvis Presley Has Just Left The Building (1CD, no label)
A nice collection of soundboard excerpts from the UK tour of January 1973; two great rock & roll medleys pulled from "Whole Lotta Love" plus the short but wonderful soundcheck of "King Creole" from Southampton (hence the title). Essential.
Canada Dry (1CD, Tarantura) [not yet rated]
Not yet released as of this writing, when/if this disc comes out it will constitute the first circulation of this rare show.
Ultra Rare Tracks Vol. 2 (1CD, Savage Beast)
Billed as "unreleased PG rehearsals," which is totally misleading. This disc contains album versions of several Physical Graffiti songs with a few minute variations in editing and mixing - barely recognizable as different from the released versions, without extremely studious listening. Skip it!
Song Of The South (1CD, Capricorn Records)
A great source tape of an inspired '77 performance, tragically incomplete! Mick Ralph guests for an encore of "It'll Be Me" (pictured on the cover) Numbered edition of 1000. Essential.
For Badgeholders Only (3CD, ARM)
Complete show in totally acceptable quality (the original source tape is superb), but the best version, on Tarantura (next entry), is of course the hardest to find. This one provides a viable alternative.
Good Night Moon Night (3CD, Tarantura)
The complete and best quality version of the famous "Badgeholders" concert. Incredible and essential.
All Of My Love (1CD, Tarantura)
Early mixes and outtakes from In Through The Out Door - interesting, but many of the cuts are almost identical to the album versions. In a familiar marketing scheme, Tarantura has packaged this in 6 different covers, a move which is sure to aggravate collectors already struggling to keep up with the label's breakneck release schedule and outrageous prices.
Rarities (1CD, Fire Power)
A direct copy of the Westwood One radio-only CD called Rarities on Compact Disc Vol. 7. The original was distributed to radio stations in the U.S. in 1991, and a fine disc it is, too, featuring 22 tracks tracing the early history of Zep's members - Page and Plant's pre-Zep solo material, Page's hottest guitar sessions and several killer Yardbirds tracks. Essential if you like pre-history!
Go back to the Proximity Vol 6, No 19 Page
