"Listen To This Eddie" & Other Top Led Zeppelin Bootlegs

[Nickdfresh]

6. Listen to This, Eddie
The Forum, Los Angeles, June 21, 1977

Considered by many to be one of Led Zeppelin’s best performances, Listen to This, Eddie was a bootleg from the first of six nights at The Forum in L.A. when the concert lasted over three hours. The “Eddie” in the title allegedly refers to Eddie Van Halen, who criticized Jimmy Page in an interview around this time saying, “As a player, [Page is] very good in the studio [but] I never saw him play well live. He’s very sloppy. He plays like he’s got a broken hand and he’s two years old.”

Another great bootleg from the 1977 run of L.A. shows was For Badgeholders Only. “Badgeholder” was a slang term for a groupie, and on the record you can hear Plant asking if anyone can “find us a badgeholder?” For Badgeholders Only is also a great bootleg because that concert featured multiple sit-ins by The Who’s drummer, Keith Moon.

The Rest Here.

[FORD]

You know Kristy's got both of these in her massive Zeppelin collection.

[chuckjitsu]

Quantity isn't a substitute for quality. At least that's how I feel about a lot of these marathon gigs, especially from the '77 tour. I've been a big Zeppelin fan for years, but a 30 minute long version of No Quarter? No thanks. Amusingly, the audience agrees in parts as you can hear grumbling from the audience in places (I believe it was this bootleg if memory serves). At one point during Jimmy's solo you can clearly hear somebody saying something like "We get it- enough already!".

I will say that Bonham seriously gets it done on this bootleg.

[Kristy]

Ghey.


By that time the only thing Page was listening to was an endless barrage of plagiarism lawsuits. Schepply went belly up in 1980. Let sleeping dogs with parasitic worms die.

[chefcraig]

Quantity isn't a substitute for quality. At least that's how I feel about a lot of these marathon gigs, especially from the '77 tour. I've been a big Zeppelin fan for years, but a 30 minute long version of No Quarter? No thanks. Amusingly, the audience agrees in parts as you can hear grumbling from the audience in places (I believe it was this bootleg if memory serves). At one point during Jimmy's solo you can clearly hear somebody saying something like "We get it- enough already!".

I will say that Bonham seriously gets it done on this bootleg.

Not only that, but Page's playing was so erratic from heroin use you never knew what shape he'd be in, one night ok, the next a toxic waste of discordant and flubbed notes. (Things only got worse on the "Over Europe" tour in 1980, where he'd play a single bent note over and over and think it was a solo. And don't be fooled by the Knebworth footage on the live DVD. A casual listen any bootleg reveals how touched up it is.)

Yeah, the 1977 shows sound superior to other, earlier boots. Page's performance on the other hand, blows chunks all over the dashboard.

[78/84 guy]

Not only that, but Page's playing was so erratic from heroin use you never knew what shape he'd be in, one night ok, the next a toxic waste of discordant and flubbed notes. (Things only got worse on the "Over Europe" tour in 1980, where he'd play a single bent note over and over and think it was a solo. And don't be fooled by the Knebworth footage on the live DVD. A casual listen any bootleg reveals how touched up it is.)

Yeah, the 1977 shows sound superior to other, earlier boots. Page's performance on the other hand, blows chunks all over the dashboard.

I like all the 75 soundboard stuff. Page is still playing well enough & they are doing Graffiti tunes. Four Blocks In The Snow is killer. M.S.G. N.Y. And Chasing The Dragon from Texas both sound great. The only newer shows worth a shit is Badgeholders & Eddie. The first night of Knebworth is o.k. I think Page shoot up for the 2nd show ! Early show ? Texas pop 69 or Paris which Page just put on the first c.d. remaster.

[chefcraig]

And of course, the lucid thinking that led to dressing up as a fucking Nazi onstage...on the 1977 tour...

<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2qrztkh" target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.tinypic.com/2qrztkh.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

Knebworth is weird. The rehearsals beforehand available via the Copenhagen Warm Up boot series shows a band of teen aged beer drinkers, incapable of playing. By all accounts this was a disaster of a rehearsal, yet the band plowed on. Look closely at the Knebworth footage, particularly during "Whole Lotta Love"...you'll see Plant grimacing at Page, deliberately ignoring cues and generally feeling uncomfortable to be there in the first place.

Plus, the version of Achilles Last Stand has been drastically altered from the 1977 tour version. Some segments are missing completely, and one get's the general impression that Page could not master them any more or eliminated them out of indifference..

Out of duty or conscience, after 1978 John Paul Jones got stuck holding the band together at that point, which explains why In Thru The Outdoor sounds like a bad Moody Blues/Emerson Lake & Palmer album.

[Kristy]

Out of duty or conscience, after 1978 John Paul Jones got stuck holding the band together at that point, which explains why In Thru The Outdoor sounds like a bad Moody Blues/Emerson Lake & Palmer album.

Sounds like Jethro Tull meets a garbage truck to me. By far, the worst mixed and produced Scheppley album of them all. Sheer listening alone of that abysmal slug literally hurts my ears.

[chefcraig]

Sounds like Jethro Tull meets a garbage truck to me. By far, the worst mixed and produced Scheppley album of them all. Sheer listening alone of that abysmal slug literally hurts my ears.

The thing is...at the same time, Tull (IE Ian Anderson) produced several albums of merit (basically from 1976's Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! through a poorly recorded live album called Bursting Out . And somewhere in the middle, ya got the stunningly brilliant Songs From The Wood record.

Anderson went on to be an environmentalist, a salmon farmer and a defender to farmer's rights.

And here we are standing outside Best Buy...with a belief that if we hear the exact same tracks from a song (which one could easily do once wasted on purpose or by accident at home or in somebody's van during lunch break, all them years ago, and just happened to get an accidental REMIX...).

Folks, please: 80 t0 95 % of this shit you already own. Enough already. There are only some amount of mushroom soup ya need in the pantry, and how much deodorant, toothpaste and shaving shit ya can afford in the shitter.

For crying out loud, ya can get a rotisserie chicken w/potato salad at Publix (with Kings Hawaiian Rolls) fer less money and feel more fulfilled

And I am a hardcore Zep fan. Sort of telling at this point, ya know?

[kwame k]

Having gone through my Bonham phase in my late teens early 20's, working jobs where a radio is on the entire day and converting from vinyl to CD............I can't get into all this remastered/reissued cash grab bullshit.

The Beatles Anthology was pretty cool and as a songwriter it's an interesting glimpse into the creative process but at some point it's ridiculous...........man, lets listen to take 37 again!

The original version is what we've come to know and love......with very few exceptions does a reissue make a drastic impact on the listening experience. The one exception I can think of, I'm sure there's a ton more, is the Beatles Let it Be Naked.

The remasters, if released on CD, is still releasing something to an inferior medium, no matter what studio enhancements you're doing! So while you may get a different mix or added parts you're still getting a CD quality product......which is shit!

The trend of putting so much extras on a CD to entice you to re-buy a product you already have purchased is wearing thin, IMHO! I agree, Craig!!

At this point in the game.......I'm not really excited to re-purchase something to get a new mix of a song I've heard a million times or an enhanced mix where you can really hear the mandolin up front and center!

Page seems to only live in the past now and remastering seems to be the only creative outlet he has........sad, really!

[Kristy]

Folks, please: 80 t0 95 % of this shit you already own. Enough already. There are only some amount of mushroom soup ya need in the pantry, and how much deodorant, toothpaste and shaving shit ya can afford in the shitter.

That's a valid point and I have yet to hear these latest Scheppley "remasters" knowing there isn't much that will surprise the hard core fan base other than a clarity to the many shitty previous CD pressings (most made in the 90's). The problem with mass production of CD's is that many do sound terrible no matter how the artist is. Seems recently the technology has caught up with the proper remastering process so I can see why Page & Co. are now taking advantage of this to keep themselves relevant and to keep royalty checks coming in.

Problem is the CD industry (if you want to call it that) is dying. Not many are buying "physical music" anymore due to instantaneous downloads on smart phones and simple YouTube videos and that prices remain to be high. I have always stated Scheppley production was awful. Rarely does a member in a band who can be regarded as a qualified musician also become just as good behind the board. It's like representing yourself in a court trial. Jimmy Page did hire some highly qualified and experienced engineers but in the end it was him who had the final say in the instrumentation and mixes. He made some bad choices.

According to Allmusic.com Ian Anderson did produce many a Tull record and I'm not sure they are much better than any Scheppley offering. Aqualung has been heavily criticized for sounding like absolute shit, has it not? But there are many stories as to why with that record. To me, many recording from the 70's were brilliant with somebody else taking the production wheel. Tony Visonti did excellent work on many a Bowie and T. Rex album. Bob Ezrin was another (although he did work with shit acts like KISS and Pink Floyd). Look at what George Martin did with Jeff Beck. Did he not make a record any better then the ones Martin produced?

[chuckjitsu]

Not only that, but Page's playing was so erratic from heroin use you never knew what shape he'd be in, one night ok, the next a toxic waste of discordant and flubbed notes. (Things only got worse on the "Over Europe" tour in 1980, where he'd play a single bent note over and over and think it was a solo. And don't be fooled by the Knebworth footage on the live DVD. A casual listen any bootleg reveals how touched up it is.)

Yeah, the 1977 shows sound superior to other, earlier boots. Page's performance on the other hand, blows chunks all over the dashboard.

I've never purchased a "live" album and I never will because they aren't truly live. For a more truly live experience, you're better off finding a bootleg somewhere. I've heard Zeppelin mess up Achilles and Kashmir live and there's no way in hell Page would release something like that as is. He'd burn every existing copy of the "Zeppelin" Live Aid show if he could.

I don't know if you've heard of this site or not, but there's a site that delves in to the Zeppelin "live" releases and documents all the changes/corrections. It's pretty interesting and just reinforces why I think live albums are useless. The site is called The Garden Tapes.

I wonder how their US tour in '80 would've turned out if Bonham had lived. Probably not well playing wise since JP wasn't exactly in top form at that time.

[chuckjitsu]

And of course, the lucid thinking that led to dressing up as a fucking Nazi onstage...on the 1977 tour...

<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2qrztkh" target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.tinypic.com/2qrztkh.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

Knebworth is weird. The rehearsals beforehand available via the Copenhagen Warm Up boot series shows a band of teen aged beer drinkers, incapable of playing. By all accounts this was a disaster of a rehearsal, yet the band plowed on. Look closely at the Knebworth footage, particularly during "Whole Lotta Love"...you'll see Plant grimacing at Page, deliberately ignoring cues and generally feeling uncomfortable to be there in the first place.

Plus, the version of Achilles Last Stand has been drastically altered from the 1977 tour version. Some segments are missing completely, and one get's the general impression that Page could not master them any more or eliminated them out of indifference..

Out of duty or conscience, after 1978 John Paul Jones got stuck holding the band together at that point, which explains why In Thru The Outdoor sounds like a bad Moody Blues/Emerson Lake & Palmer album.

I read an interview with Plant where he described the late 70s & 1980 version of Zeppelin as "trying to hang on". Sounds about right. Unfortunately, by that time Page had devolved in to an H ravaged mess, Bonham was 32 going on 52 with a liver that probably could've exploded at any time, Plant was increasingly tired of the circus/car wreck that was Zeppelin at that time and Jones was, as you mentioned, the guy that had to come up with the musical ideas as Page wasn't exactly functional at that level.

Page was quoted as saying that ITTOD was "soft" and that their next album would've been much more hard hitting. Considering the state of the band at the time, I have my doubts that they could've pulled off this harder hitting album. I've always been of the opinion that if Bonham had lived, Plant would've left Zeppelin, either officially or unofficially.

[ODShowtime]

I love Cleveland 4/28/77; it's a thunderous performance on par with the LA shows and is available in a very good audience tape. Too bad the previous night's the perfect-sounding Destroyer bootlegged show doesn't have half of the thunder or lightning of the next night.

I'm also partial to Seattle '73. Half of it is available in a thin soundboard and the whole thing is documented on a huge-sounding audience tape. I've never heard the B-man bring it that hard.

Southampton '73 is professionally recorded and has an amazing setlist. The mix is off here and there but it's a classic in a very small theater.

The MSG 2/12/75 show is another killer as is mentioned above. Amazing sound quality and performance.

Tokyo '71 and Osaka '71 are also pretty awesome. Also Berkley '71. Great audience tapes of stunning performances.

It gets very hit or miss after '73 I will admit.