Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Led Zeppelin - Listen To This Eddie (Genuine Masters) June 21, 1977

Here's a special treat for all of you, the legendary Mike Millard Listen To This Eddie recording, as presented by Genuine Masters....which i happily dedicate to my good friend, who's birthday on the 20th comes one day too early, and one day too late, to two of Zeppelin's greatest gigs ever in 1972 and 1977, how unfortunate lol, but hey that's how i remember her birthday lol.....anyways like always, enjoy!!



Led Zeppelin
- Listen to This Eddie -
- Collectors Edition - audio only.

June 21 1977
- The Forum -
Inglewood , Los Angeles CA
Label: Genuine Masters
Lineage: GM cdrs>EAC test and copy (no errors)>Flac frontend
encode level 6align on sector boundaries and test>Flacs

Disc 1:
1-Intro
2-The Song Remains the Same
3-The Rover (intro)
4-Sick Again
5-Nobody's Fault but Mine
6-Over the Hills And Far Away
7-Since I've Been Loving You
8-No Quarter

Disc 2:
1-Ten Years Gone
2-Battle of Evermore
3-Going to California
4-Black Country Woman
5-Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
6-White Summer/Black Mountainside
7-Kashmir
8-Over the Top/Moby Dick

Disc 3:
1-Heartbreaker
2-Guitar Solo
3-Achilles Last Stand
4-Stairway to Heaven
5-Whole Lotta Love
6-Rock & Roll

As requested by zosouk; hope you enjoy it!
Okay, I know this is the umpteenth version of this show to be shared
but I know some folks will appreciate having Genuine Masters
excellent treatment of Mike Millard's great recording. This is
from my GM cdrs and not an audio rip from the dvd-a.
The music speaks for itself...an outstanding performance, arguably
'77's best overall.

My Comments:
This is arguably one of the greatest gigs ever put on by Led Zeppelin in their 12 year career, it also is arguably one of the great highlights of the whole 1977 North American tour. It also reserves a special honor as being the first bootleg i ever acquired, and like a potent drug, it only took this one show to get me hooked for life. In a tour that is infamous for its decadence, debauchery, and violence this show stands as an example   of the continuing ability by the band to put on shows that were successful both musically and entertainment-wise. The show comes in near the end of the second leg of the tour (out of three) that was already into its second month, and it follows a successful six show residence at New York's Madison Square Garden earlier in the month. This was the first night of a six night stint at the LA Forum following a bad performance in San Diego on the 19th, in which John Bonham put on a sluggish performance due to suffering from food poisoning. With San Diego in mind the band set out to make up for the bad gig, so from the amazing recording we have, we can enjoy the show that from the onset was determined to be an excellent one. As for the tape it is an excellent three-dimensional recording that with amazing clarity captures the show as if it were going on around us. Taped by the famous bootlegger Mike Millard, who also taped several of Zeppelin's Southern California shows in 1975, his recording got its claim to fame for the sheer quality of the sound, in fact it was of such good quality and importance that it was even included in the official Led Zeppelin DVD. The recording was held comparable to a professionally-recorded concert and hence the name Listen To This Eddie which is supposedly a reference to audio engineer Eddie Kramer who worked with zeppelin on many of their projects. In fact one my favorite aspects of the whole show is the very beginning, right were Millard begins his recording, that initial Whoosh of audience noise is simply stunning....it feels as if one is literally transported  back in time to 1977 to where Millard was standing when he witnessed this amazing show. The show itself begins with an aggressive The Song Remains The Same, featuring a supercharged John Bonham who is hell bent on making up his sub par performance two nights earlier. In fact the whole band displays a superhuman amount of energy tonight, but the star of the night has to be Bohnam, who really went out of his way to throw extra fills wherever he could and keep the show moving at a furious pace. The song segues into  the Rover bridge, which experiences guitar troubles but it is handed professionally and the show carries on smoothly into Sick Again which features some great work from Page. After a brief introduction from Plant they start on Nobody's Fault But Mine, which features some of the best call-and-response singing from Plant. Next comes a a very good Over The Hills And Far Away, which since the NY shows has been alternating in the setlist with In My Time Of Dying, and while the page's playing in the solo may not be as articulate as earlier tours it is still a good showcase for his skills. Plant introduces Since I've Been Loving You  as a "urban blues from the United Kingdom...", which receives a very emotional rendition and some excellent singing from Plant particularly near the end. One of the highlights of the show comes next, an excellent No Quarter that features some very inspired playing from all four band members, from the beginning of jones' eerie piano solo, to the rockabilly jam, to the dramatic end of the jam right before the last verses Bonham's performance in particular features some very creative and dramatic drumming that really make this piece stand out as among the best from the whole tour. The show then takes a looser turn with the acoustic set, which is very relaxed and intimate. From the eerie Battle of Evermore (featruing Jones on backing vocals) to country-jamming Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp the acoustic set is a nice contrast to the main set. After a meandering White Summer/Black Mountainside they launch into a powerful Kashmir, here the recording perfectly captures the wall of sound that attacks the audience and this combined with the really inspired playing really gives the song a epic and majestic feel to it. A short pause ensues as the roadies get Bonham ready for his drum solo, and while they are waiting plant decides to take the chance to humorously introduce the drummer as
"....the man who fought against the elements. The man who fought food poisoning. The man who drinks Heineken. The man who doesn’t get out of bed. The man who hasn’t got a cymbal. The man who’s having a chat with his man who knows the man who tunes Jimmy’s guitar who comes from Scotland, and doesn’t know the man they call Tim, but does know Audrey from Dallas. The man who now learns how to construct his own drum kit. The man who’s not very professional. The man who said he could go back to a building [construction] site, and we all agreed. The man who’s holding up the show.  The rhinestone cowgirl. Come on Bonzo, get on with it. That’s what the Quaalude stagger is. The man who played the Los Angeles Aztecs and beat them 10-1 by himself. The man who one wonders is he worth waiting for, and doesn’t really realize there’s a curfew here. A childhood friend. A man who many people once said, never heard of him."
Afterwards there comes the surprise of the addition of Heartbreaker to the setlist, which quite ironically has been the song request of one drunk audience member throughout the show, who probably sat close to Millard, and thus whose orgasm is perfectly captured on tape as he freaks out as the band launch into the song. Jimmy's effects solo comes next, which is all that remained of the infamous Dazed Confused jam, but by 1977 the jam has merely become a showcase for Zeppelin's visual effects and it really lacks in musical substance, but nevertheless it provides a good eerie backdrop that builds up tension for Achilles Last Stand. Definitely a highlight of the show, Achilles (along with Kashmir) really sums up the power of their music and the effect it can have in a live setting, (as evidenced by the fact that it overloads the recorder at times) tonight's version is really exceptional  as is most of the LA run versions. The set ends with Stairway to Heaven, which even though is not as techincally proficient as in earlier tours, it still remains a crowd pleaser and jimmy manages to pull off a nice coherent solo. To finish off the show the band gives the audience a small snippet of Whole Lotta Love and the very good encore of Rock and Roll before the band calls it a night after a fantastic three hour-long performance. In a nutshell, my opinion can be best summarized by this quote taken from Blackmikito from over at Royal-Orleans.com
"Like it or hate it...the significance, the sound, the history....Sure, 6/22 may be better performed, 6/23 may be more fun, 6/25 may be looser, but none of that matters.
The bottom line is that 6/21 is a swansong to so many things...Los Angeles, John Bonham, Mike Millard...LED ZEPPELIN. An amazing concert captured by an amazing concert taper.
End of story.
P.S. If "The Song Remains The Same" from this show doesn't give you chills, nothing will. "
Enjoy!!!


Download from MediaFire


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing! Superb version of this show, probably definitive!

Anonymous said...

1st part no longer there

Black Dog said...

Thanks for the Heads up, i've been having problems with mediafire, im going to try and re up on Hotfile, it will take awhile though...sorry