The songs remain the same. No, this is not a reference to the
officially
released Led Zeppelin live album of 1976 but a characterization of
the
newly issued BBC sessions. Long bootlegged and finally legit,
here are two
discs of Led Zep performing live for various radio shows in 1969
and 1971
-- just before it achieved megastardom and subsequent legendary
status.
Wanna hear a live version of "Stairway to Heaven" without the
crowd going
berserk? It's here, because this version was recorded before
Led
Zeppelin IV was released, and the audience had never heard
of it. Wanna know what concerts were like when people still
applauded politely? How 'bout a medley of "Whole Lotta Love"
and some old Elvis tunes? Or three versions of "Communication
Breakdown"?
If any of this sounds novel to you, then some of the songs are a
little
different, after all; if not, well, you could end up dazed and
confused.
The set was compiled and mastered by Jimmy Page himself, who
has said in
interviews that these performances didn't seem particularly
memorable to
him. In fairness, that's probably because these recordings were
made when
the band was, quite simply, at its peak, duplicating complex album
performances at will. And, as if there were any question, Led Zep
was no
mere studio creation -- these guys were live, alright! Subtract a bit
of
echo from Page's ever-awesome guitar, add a bit of warmth to
Robert Plant's voice
as it kicks up and down the octaves, and boom, you get a sense of
what Zep
was about, stripped clean of classic-rock glitter and gold.
It's interesting to hear how the band perfected its style long before
it
knew what to do with it. Like lots of Brit bands of the period, Zep
started
with the blues, and disc one of this collection is full of those
irresistible blues workouts (properly credited this time), such as
"You
Shook Me" and "I Can't Quit You Baby" -- two versions of each! (As
time
went by, Zep was allowed to stretch out more on the air, so the
earlier
takes are much shorter; in essence, they're the same as, and in
the same
vein as, the studio versions.)
Lemon-squeezing abounds, needless to say,
especially on the mighty "How Many More Times." Having
perfected sexy blues
rave-ups, Zep also combined psychedelia and what was once
known as hard
rock. Hence, three, count 'em, versions of "Communication
Breakdown." You
also get a fine rendition of "Dazed and Confused," an eerie
leftover from
Page's Yardbirds days, plus a true oddity -- a tossed-off version of
Eddie
Cochran's "Something Else." Perhaps a bit much of a muchness.
But worth the
proverbial price of admission is "Whole Lotta Love," a top-notch
version
from the Top Gear show -- more than six minutes of timeless
razzle-dazzle
that transcends and, arguably, ends the post-Woodstock era of
blue-jeans
and long-hair sloppage from whence it came.
Disc two is more coherent and more satisfying. It's an unedited
performance
from the Beeb's Paris Theatre circa 1971 that's so prime it's
amazing
nobody thought to free it from the vaults until now. You get your
"Immigrant Song," your "Heartbreaker," your "Black Dog," your
aforementioned premiere of "Stairway," and a mammoth "Dazed
and Confused."
Not only that -- as the faithful have always known, Zep was as
great an
unplugged band as it was a sound blaster -- "Going to California"
is full
of magic. The set stumbles badly with a lame medley that
combines "Whole
Lotta Love" with some Elvis tuneage -- "A Mess of Blues" and the
King's
arrangement of Arthur Crudup's "That's Alright Mama," among
other things.
One might conclude that Messrs. Page and Plant were scarcely
the blues
purists we'd been led to believe they were. Still, the show bows
out
grandly with a dynamite version of "Thank You," so everyone can
leave the
house satisfied.
I remember a Village Voice headline from the '70s that
screamed,
"Led Zep Zaps Kids." True today as then. If you've spent years
seeking
bootlegs and Holy Grails, you'll find yourself on an upper rung of
the
famous stairway to heaven. For nonscholars, hold out for this
package as an
Xmas gift, because it's worth hearing but isn't essential. And it's
impossible not to mention that this collection does the band one
major
injustice: Zep album covers were exquisite, but the design of this
blast
from the past is unforgivably awful.