Audience 8.8 - Well here it is folks, the BEST early vintage ZZ Top recording to ever surface. We already gave up a long time ago that the band would dig into their archives for us, but now it’s been completely left up to the fans to provide the early documents…and for better or worse they have (mostly worse). After all this time a tape has surfaced that presents a powerful early testament to the rocking blues power of ZZ Top before they “made it” to the FM bigtime.  The hits were already in the repertoire, but only hinting at the massive success to come. This is the REAL DEAL – a clear, loud, balsy tape from very early in the bands career. ZZ Top Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA December 5, 1973 01 Thunderbird 02 (Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree 03 Chevrolet 04 Waitin' For The Bus 06 Jesus Just Left Chicago 06 Gonna Ride Away (?) 07 Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers 08 I Just Got Back From Baby's 09 Rattlesnake Shake 10 La Grange 11 Let's Go Get Stoned + Mellow Down Easy

Due to the complexity of this recording, more detailed notes can be reviewed below. As far as a number rating I can honestly give this a 9.0/9.4 due to the fact it is indeed a welcome upgrade to a great show that we can finally put away the countless other versions of! LED ZEPPELIN - 1973-03-16 - Vienna - NEW 4 SOURCE MATRIX Disc 1 01. Introduction [0:57] 02. Rock and Roll (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant) [3:48] 03. Over the Hills and Far Away (Page, Plant) [6:41] 04. Black Dog (Jones, Page, Plant) [6:18] 05. Misty Mountain Hop (Jones, Page, Plant) [4:27] 06. Since I've Been Loving You (Jones, Page, Plant) [9:09] 07. Dancing Days (Page, Plant) [5:53] 08. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp (Jones, Page, Plant) [6:26] 09. The Song Remains the Same (Page, Plant) [5:20] 10. The Rain Song (Page, Plant) [9:19] --- [* = board tape available / optional disc division @ 58:19] Disc 2 11. Dazed and Confused (Page, Holmes) * [28:30] contains: San Fransisco (Phillips) Mars, the Bringer of War (Holst) 12. Stairway to Heaven (Page, Plant) * [10:59] 13. Whole Lotta Love (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant) [25:36] contains: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love (Wexler, Berns, Burke) Boogie Chillun' (Besman, Hooker) * (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care (Leiber, Stoller) * Let's Have a Party (Robinson) * I Can't Quit You Baby (Dixon) * 14. Heartbreaker (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant) * [8:01] Jimmy Page - guitars John Paul Jones - bass, organ John Bonham - drums Robert Plant - vocals MATRIX NOTES: The general aim was to provide the whole concert in as consistent and upgraded a listening experience as could be stitched together from the various recordings which are all incomplete. While there are always some downsides to matrixing analog recordings that have been manually synchronized, it is hoped that the benefits, such as the improved stereo dimension, of the results outweigh those deficiencies. Further lesser quality audience sources than those described below also exist but were not used. AUD source #1: The master was reportedly a TDK SA 90 cassette, which matches the 45 + 45 minutes which are extant and captured tracks 2-8 & 12 and parts of 1, 9, 11, 13. Winston Remaster used for the first part (which is unmatrixed on that version). Best of the audience recordings overall, recorded close to the stage towards one side. The guitar is somewhat buried here. AUD source #2: A lower/medium quality cassette recording at a greater distance to the stage, used only to patch missing AUD sections of tracks 1 & 9-11 (and the encore break before 14). AUD source #3: Captured most of the concert except for the introduction and notably two gaps in DAC. The master reported to have been recorded with Sony mics to Uher Report reel-to-reel. Close to the quality of AUD.1 but with a different sound balance (guitar is prominent, vocals somewhat buried) and recorded towards the other side of the stage. Matrixing with AUD.1 thus allows reproducing the occasional stereo panning effects of the house mix (which are not present on the SBD): guitar break in Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, bow solo in DAC, Theremin in WLL. SBD source: Apparently a 60 minute cassette which contains most of tracks 11-14. However, several minutes of 11/DAC & 13/WLL are missing, as the tape was not flipped immediately when the side or reel A ran out. There was probably another cassette on which the first hour of the concert was recorded (or copied), including the beginning of DAC, with the engineer likely missing some two minutes of the song between the cassettes, after the first one stopped and until recording resumed on a fresh tape. The reason why only the second cassette is available (for this and also certain other dates) is perhaps that someone in or with the band wanted a listening copy of just the songs with improvisation. The mix that was recorded is not exactly the same as what was played over the PA, as some of the delay/reverb effects (particularly on the vocals), as well as the panning, heard on the audience recordings are not present. Track by track breakdown: tr.01: AUD.2+1. AUD.2 contains half a minute more of the pre-show compared to AUD.1, none of which is on AUD.3. 02-08: AUD.1+3. SBD not available for the first part of the show but AUD.1 & 3 run practically without breaks until the end of BYAS. 09: AUD.1/2+3. AUD.1 has breaks during the intro and its side A completely cuts out @ 1:30 into TSRTS; the taper evidently did not flip the tape and resume recording until well into DAC which gap has here been patched with AUD.2. 10: AUD.2+3. AUD.1 thus does not exist for The Rain Song; the lower quality tape of AUD.2 used to substitute. 11: AUD.2/1+3. AUD.1 continues recording @ 5:00 while AUD.3 cuts out around 6:45 for one minute. Both gaps in DAC have been patched by matrixing with AUD.2, except for the section between roughly 2:50 and 4:00 where that tape itself has a discontinuity. 11: SBD & AUD.1+3. SBD cuts in about 15 seconds after AUD.1, i.e., around 5:15 into DAC from which point on it is the main source for the matrix but augmented with AUD.1 & 3 - and some patching from AUD.2 - as far as they are available. 12: SBD & AUD.1+3. AUD.3 has short cuts in the introduction; SBD cuts out after STH ends as the tape side ran out. 13: AUD.1+3 / SBD & AUD.1+3. Side B of the AUD.1 cassette runs out around 10:15 into WLL but SBD continued recording 4 minutes before that. 13-14: SBD & AUD.3. The segment containing the last 13 minutes of WLL and nearly all of Heartbreaker is therefore a matrix of SBD and AUD.3 since AUD.1 was no longer recording. The encore break is largely cut on both sources between the songs: AUD.3 misses about 2:20 of atmosphere while SBD loses only 1:30 and has the first notes of Heartbreaker intact. For the sake of completeness the missing part has again been patched from AUD.2 although the change in sound is noticeable.    

Chicago 1971 FM Radio broadcast 8.9 - Some generation loss and general passing of time has degraded the sound slightly but this version received a “freshening” which helps a lot. So, it’s a bona fide solid addition to anyone’s collection. Memphis 1971 Audience 8.3 - I had the luxury of being able to hear this tape before it was remastered and that would be the only way you can really appreciate how that simply removed what sounded like a layer of muck and grime, and revealed a shimmering sound that leapt out of the speakers… I am talking of course about Duane’s guitar. So, if you want to appreciate again what the guitar playing of Duane Allman was really all about then this recording will still cause shivers down your spine. Is it a great recording?  Not really, but there’s something here that still pulls you in (mainly it’s Duane). Austin 1971 Soundboard 9.0 - A tape that, while incomplete (some songs fade in and fade out, mainly the first and last) still has to be carefully considered when examining the few remaining live recordings featuring Duane. There’s always something interesting and, hmmm, maybe even a little mystical about these vintage recordings. Allman Brothers Band Live Collection 1971 Disc 1 WXRT Chicago, IL, 1971 1. Statesboro Blues 2. Trouble No More 3. Don't Keep Me Wonderin' 4. Done Somebody Wrong 5. One Way Out 6. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed 7. Stormy Monday 8. You Don't Love Me Disc 2 Chicago Cont'd 1. Hot 'Lanta 2. Whipping Post Overton Park Memphis, TN May 9, 1971 3. Statesboro Blues 4. Trouble No More 5. Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’ 6. Done Somebody Wrong 7. One Way Out 8. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed Disc 3 Memphis Cont'd 1. Dreams 2. Stormy Monday 3. You Don’t Love Me Municipal Auditorium Austin, TX September 28, 1971 4. Statesboro Blues 5. Trouble No More 6. Done Somebody Wrong 7. One Way Out 8. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed 9. Hot ‘Lanta

Audience 8.7 - For me, this tape was completely unknown. So, hearing it for the first time I was very excited because it’s a very comfortable sounding tape. The dynamics may be a little bunched up right in the middle but the frequency range here, going from lows to highs, is very comfortable to the ears. It’s also taped somewhat close to the stage, unlike the Fresno tapes which are good but a bit distant. I compare because the dynamics are similar. A good one for sure! VAN HALEN CITY HALL NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND UK JUNE-26-1979 THE BAND EDDIE VAN HALEN GUITAR ALEX VAN HALEN DRUMS MICHAREL ANTHONY BASS VOCALS DAVID LEE ROTH VOCALS CD 1 1 -INTRO - LIGHT UP THE SKY 2 -SOMEBODY GET ME A DOCTOR - DRUM SOLO 3 -RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL 4 -DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY 5 -BEAUTIFUL GIRLS 6 -ON FIRE - BASS SOLO 7 -YOUR NO GOOD 8 -JAMIES CRYIN' 9 -FEEL YOUR LOVE TONIGHT CD 2 1 -OUTTA LOVE AGAIN 2 -ICE CREAM MAN 3 -AIN'T TALKING ABOUT LOVE 4 -GUITAR SOLO - JAM 5 -YOU REALLY GOT ME 6 -BOTTOMS UP 7 -ATOMIC PUNK