Led Zeppelin - "Sonic Youth"
November, 6th, 1969, San Francisco, California, The Winterland Ballroom + April, 25th, 1969, San Francisco, California, Fillmore West
Remastered Audience Recording, (A Group/Personal Project)
Lineage:
Main Recording: "Winterland Ballroom, Master Reel > CD-R", (No Label), Master Reel > CD-R > EAC > WAV > FLAC > TLH, Decode > WAV > Remaster > Flac Frontend, Level.8, Align On SBE's > Flac (All Tracks Tested With TLH, No Errors Occured)
Bonus Material: "Fillmore West, 2nd Gen > DAT > CDR", (Presence), 2nd Gen > DAT > CDR > TLH, Decode > WAV > Remaster > Flac Frontend, Encoding Options, Level.8, Align On SBE's > Flac (All Tracks Tested With TLH, No Errors Occured)
Label: N/A
Original Taper: N/A
This is a Group/Personal Project by those guys that are "working for the Clampdown", The 7th Son, Joel, Porgie, Mark, Mike, And Acapulco Gold
We hope that everyone who picks this project up will enjoy it, and will pass it along and share it with others, or just pass, the choice is yours.
This is not meant to be a "definitive"recording.
Cheers and thanks go out to:
- The tapers for taping and sharing their recordings with everyone in the community, and everyone who shared these recordings with the community, if you're out there, and happen to pick this up, we hope that you'll enjoy the work we've done on it.
- My mate Porgie for helping me out with the project, always appreciate your input and advice.
- My mate Mark for putting together the artwork for this release, thanks again for doing it, always enjoy working with you.
- My mate Mike for making the coffee runs.
Disc One:
1) Introduction
2) Good Times,Bad Times/Communication Breakdown
3) I Can't Quit You Baby
4) Heartbreaker
5) Dazed And Confused (Includes: "San Francisco" (Tease) )
6) White Summer/Black Mountain Side
7) What Is And What Should Never Be (Cuts In, Cut, Incomplete Song)
8) Moby Dick
Disc Two:
1) How Many More Times (Medley)
Includes:
- Over,Under,Sideways,Down
- The Hunter
- Boogie Chillen
- Move On Down The Line
- Trucking Little Mama/High Flying Mama
- Bottle Up And Go
- The Lemon Song
2) C'mon Everybody
3) Something Else
4) Introduction (Cuts In) *
5) Train Kept-A-Rollin' (Cuts Out) *
6) You Shook Me (Cuts In sightly) *
7) Communication Breakdown (Cuts Out) *
8) As Long As I Have You (Cuts Out, Cut, Incomplete Song) *
9) Applause/Thank You And Goodnight (Cuts In) *
Legend:
*: Bonus Material, "Fillmore West, 2nd Gen > DAT > CDR"
Enjoy!
Please Do Not Convert To Lossy Formats
Please Do Not Sell
Please Share With Others
Notes:
There really isn't any other word I can use to describe this show except "intense", I had forgotten how great this show is until I started working on it, and I really think it's one of their best.
Opening for the group at this show were Roland Kirk and Isaac Hayes (who's set was probably just as good).
It's just a shame that the show isn't just a bit longer, the show feels sort of "incomplete",(Which is part of the reason why we decided to add some bonus material on to this project).
It would've been great if they did at least one more encore, something that the band would've played during the era (like "Long Tall Sally"), or something that they really could've torn up (i.e: "Great Balls Of Fire" or "Let's Dance").
I personally think that the perfect song to conclude the show (if it had existed at the time, and if they actually liked the song) would be Teenage Head's "Some Kinda Fun".
If you do a youtube or google search for that song, you might see why I think it would've suited them, or you may not, and if you don't agree, that's cool.
I personally think that if they had played that song, they would've done it beautifully, and it woudld've tied in nicely to the whole vibe of the show.
This show is so unbelievably punk rock, there's no pomp, and hardly conversation between Plant and the audience, just music.
There's even an old Tarantura boot of the 1st tape source called "Punk!" to back up this claim.
As for the concert at the Fillmore West, it's also another excellent performance from the group, and this recording does capture the show quite nicely, although it does pale in comparison to their performances at the Fillmore on (4-24-69), and (4-27-69).
I think there are a few reasons why this show isn't as well recieved as the concerts on the 24th and 27th.
One issue is the quality of this recording compared to those dates, this show has a decent sound and distribution of instruments, but sounds like it was taped at a slight distance, while the 24th was recorded with mics right on the stage, and the 27th has an excellent soundboard, and FM radio broadcast.
You can't get any closer to the band then taping them right on the stage, and you can't get a better experience than a soundboard tape.
Another reason why this show isn't as well recieved as the 24th and 27th is probably due to the tapes incompleteness, this recording is missing the majority of the show, and even what is here is incomplete (the taper caught the song "As Long As I Have You", but didn't capture it all).
So completeness is probably a factor as well.
Finally, I think this show isn't as well recieved as the other concerts could be the fact that there is some speculation about the date of this performance, and if this recording is from the Fillmore.
To quote from Argenteumastrum.com about the history of this performance:
"Sounding very similar to the tape from January 9th at Fillmore West, this tape from the band's second gig of their second visit to the city (and their first performance at the Winterland Ballroom), is much longer in length, being just under 25 minutes.
The taper was close to the stage, likely on the floor of the venue, and the resulting recording is a nice listen of an excellent performance.
Unfortunately, the last song on the tape, As Long As I Have You, ends after only six minutes.
Cuts are present between all four songs, which masks the fact that there are almost certainly songs missing in-between these cuts.
This is a given for the simple reason that the entire tape is less than half an hour long, yet it starts with Bill Graham introducing the band, and ends with Plant giving the audience a sincere farewell for the evening.
Whether or not the Graham introduction is from the beginning of the 1st set or the beginning of the 2nd set isn't known.
But given Plant's farewell, we can assume that the taper was present from the start of at least one of the sets through to the end of the night, save for any additional encores the band may have done.
Again, just like that January 9th Fillmore West tape, there is also confusion as to what the actual date of this recording is.
And, again, the confusion here is caused by the words that Plant says to the audience.
Just before that incomplete version of As Long As I Have You, he says the following: "Last time when we came here was the first ... it was the second gig we ever did in America ... and ... we'd been together about three months, and we were really pleased with the way we went down. If we hadn't have done well here I think we would've shitted ourselves and ran home. And you've done the same for us this time as you did last time. We'd like to say thank you very much, and good night." A simple fact-checking of his statement about the town being the second gig the band ever did in America would effectively rule out San Francisco. The first US gig was on December 26th, 1968 in Denver, with the second in Seattle on December 27th. After those first two, the band played Vancouver and Spokane, with Portland said to have been played as well during that week. From there, in the first week of the new year, the band headed south to California for four nights at the Whisky in Hollywood, before heading up to the Fillmore West in San Francisco the following week. So, unless this tape is from Seattle, Plant's words don't make sense.
Thankfully, the mystery here is helped by the fact that this tape starts with that aforementioned introduction by Bill Graham: "...welcome them back from England, this is Led Zeppelin." Graham's introduction on the tape weighs in heavy on this debate. In fact, so heavy, that even though we can never be entirely sure about these types of things, it pretty much settles the date. During this era, Graham had yet to begin promoting concerts outside of his own venues in the Bay Area and New York. So, for his voice to appear on this tape immediately identifies San Francisco or New York as the location. However, the sound of Page's guitar on this tape matches with the echo-heavy and fuzzed-out sound he used in San Francisco in April. By the time the band reached New York in May, Page will have gotten rid of that constant echo and fuzz sound, and will have switched over exclusively to his Les Paul. So, that's two points for this tape being from San Francisco. Not definitive proof, but pretty close. As for which day in San Francisco, April 26th and 27th are automatically out due to the fact that we already have complete recordings from both nights. As well, the first night back in town, April 24th, is also out, as that show starts with As Long As I Have You, which the band can be heard playing on this tape from April 25th. Unlike shows at other venues on the tour, where the band played to separate audiences at separate early and late shows, at Fillmore West and Winterland, the band played to the same audience the entire night. And during this period, we have no record of them repeating any songs within the same night at any of the other dates they played in town. Which ultimately asks the question as to why Plant would make such statement. The easiest answer probably being that he was merely being sentimental and appreciative to the audience. San Francisco was an important town for the band during this period. The gigs that the band gave there, especially during that week of April, are among the finest that they ever gave. So, given that connection, what's wrong with a little white lie amongst friends? So, I think this recording is indeed from San Francisco, at Winterland, April 25th, 1969. Even though the recording is so short and fragmentary, it is still a wonderful slice, highlighting a caliber of playing that is right up there with the other nights of the run. Plant's voice is fantastic, in glorius high range, and Page's playing actually sounds even better than it would the next night. Hopefully, one day more of this tape will circulate (if there indeed is any more).
What we've done to make this project:
This is what we've done to the Winterland tape:
- We've tried to balance the instruments as best we could.
- We've tried to bring out some of the acoustics of the venue to give the listener an experience of being in the audience.
- We've fixed some issues regarding the volume of the show, the 1st disc of material was too loud, and the 2nd disc was a little too low, so we've tried to make the volume of both discs even.
- We've reduced as much tape hiss as possible.
- We've taken out the tape cuts in the recording, and have tried to make the transitions from song to song as smooth as possible.
This is what we've done to the Fillmore tape:
- We've tried to balance the instruments as best we could.
- We've tried to bring out some of the acoustics of the venue to give the listener an experience of being in the audience.
- We've fixed some issues regarding the volume of the show, the volume of this performance was a little too low, so we've given the files a gentle volume boost to make the sound stand out a little more.
- We've reduced as much tape hiss as possible.
In regards to the title of the show, the title name just kind of hit me, I found it to be suitable to the feel of the performances, and that's why it stuck.
We had other ideas, the 2nd most popular choice was "Bay City Rollers", we thought it was suitable because San Francisco is called "The Bay City", but it didn't stick as much as our choice.
Hope everyone here will enjoy this.
The Winterland Ballroom
November, 6th 1969,
Fillmore West
April 25th, 1969
Remastered Audience Recording, (A Group/Personal Project)
Lineage:
Main Recording: "Winterland Ballroom, Master Reel > CD-R", (No Label), Master Reel > CD-R > EAC > WAV > FLAC > TLH, Decode > WAV > Remaster > Flac Frontend, Level.8, Align On SBE's > Flac (All Tracks Tested With TLH, No Errors Occured)
Bonus Material: "Fillmore West, 2nd Gen > DAT > CDR", (Presence), 2nd Gen > DAT > CDR > TLH, Decode > WAV > Remaster > Flac Frontend, Encoding Options, Level.8, Align On SBE's > Flac (All Tracks Tested With TLH, No Errors Occured)
Label: N/A
Original Taper: N/A
This is a Group/Personal Project by those guys that are "working for the Clampdown", The 7th Son, Joel, Porgie, Mark, Mike, And Acapulco Gold
We hope that everyone who picks this project up will enjoy it, and will pass it along and share it with others, or just pass, the choice is yours.
This is not meant to be a "definitive"recording.
Cheers and thanks go out to:
- The tapers for taping and sharing their recordings with everyone in the community, and everyone who shared these recordings with the community, if you're out there, and happen to pick this up, we hope that you'll enjoy the work we've done on it.
- My mate Porgie for helping me out with the project, always appreciate your input and advice.
- My mate Mark for putting together the artwork for this release, thanks again for doing it, always enjoy working with you.
- My mate Mike for making the coffee runs.
Disc One:
1) Introduction
2) Good Times,Bad Times/Communication Breakdown
3) I Can't Quit You Baby
4) Heartbreaker
5) Dazed And Confused (Includes: "San Francisco" (Tease) )
6) White Summer/Black Mountain Side
7) What Is And What Should Never Be (Cuts In, Cut, Incomplete Song)
8) Moby Dick
Disc Two:
1) How Many More Times (Medley)
Includes:
- Over,Under,Sideways,Down
- The Hunter
- Boogie Chillen
- Move On Down The Line
- Trucking Little Mama/High Flying Mama
- Bottle Up And Go
- The Lemon Song
2) C'mon Everybody
3) Something Else
4) Introduction (Cuts In) *
5) Train Kept-A-Rollin' (Cuts Out) *
6) You Shook Me (Cuts In sightly) *
7) Communication Breakdown (Cuts Out) *
8) As Long As I Have You (Cuts Out, Cut, Incomplete Song) *
9) Applause/Thank You And Goodnight (Cuts In) *
Legend:
*: Bonus Material, "Fillmore West, 2nd Gen > DAT > CDR"
Enjoy!
Please Do Not Convert To Lossy Formats
Please Do Not Sell
Please Share With Others
Notes:
There really isn't any other word I can use to describe this show except "intense", I had forgotten how great this show is until I started working on it, and I really think it's one of their best.
Opening for the group at this show were Roland Kirk and Isaac Hayes (who's set was probably just as good).
It's just a shame that the show isn't just a bit longer, the show feels sort of "incomplete",(Which is part of the reason why we decided to add some bonus material on to this project).
It would've been great if they did at least one more encore, something that the band would've played during the era (like "Long Tall Sally"), or something that they really could've torn up (i.e: "Great Balls Of Fire" or "Let's Dance").
I personally think that the perfect song to conclude the show (if it had existed at the time, and if they actually liked the song) would be Teenage Head's "Some Kinda Fun".
If you do a youtube or google search for that song, you might see why I think it would've suited them, or you may not, and if you don't agree, that's cool.
I personally think that if they had played that song, they would've done it beautifully, and it woudld've tied in nicely to the whole vibe of the show.
This show is so unbelievably punk rock, there's no pomp, and hardly conversation between Plant and the audience, just music.
There's even an old Tarantura boot of the 1st tape source called "Punk!" to back up this claim.
As for the concert at the Fillmore West, it's also another excellent performance from the group, and this recording does capture the show quite nicely, although it does pale in comparison to their performances at the Fillmore on (4-24-69), and (4-27-69).
I think there are a few reasons why this show isn't as well recieved as the concerts on the 24th and 27th.
One issue is the quality of this recording compared to those dates, this show has a decent sound and distribution of instruments, but sounds like it was taped at a slight distance, while the 24th was recorded with mics right on the stage, and the 27th has an excellent soundboard, and FM radio broadcast.
You can't get any closer to the band then taping them right on the stage, and you can't get a better experience than a soundboard tape.
Another reason why this show isn't as well recieved as the 24th and 27th is probably due to the tapes incompleteness, this recording is missing the majority of the show, and even what is here is incomplete (the taper caught the song "As Long As I Have You", but didn't capture it all).
So completeness is probably a factor as well.
Finally, I think this show isn't as well recieved as the other concerts could be the fact that there is some speculation about the date of this performance, and if this recording is from the Fillmore.
To quote from Argenteumastrum.com about the history of this performance:
"Sounding very similar to the tape from January 9th at Fillmore West, this tape from the band's second gig of their second visit to the city (and their first performance at the Winterland Ballroom), is much longer in length, being just under 25 minutes.
The taper was close to the stage, likely on the floor of the venue, and the resulting recording is a nice listen of an excellent performance.
Unfortunately, the last song on the tape, As Long As I Have You, ends after only six minutes.
Cuts are present between all four songs, which masks the fact that there are almost certainly songs missing in-between these cuts.
This is a given for the simple reason that the entire tape is less than half an hour long, yet it starts with Bill Graham introducing the band, and ends with Plant giving the audience a sincere farewell for the evening.
Whether or not the Graham introduction is from the beginning of the 1st set or the beginning of the 2nd set isn't known.
But given Plant's farewell, we can assume that the taper was present from the start of at least one of the sets through to the end of the night, save for any additional encores the band may have done.
Again, just like that January 9th Fillmore West tape, there is also confusion as to what the actual date of this recording is.
And, again, the confusion here is caused by the words that Plant says to the audience.
Just before that incomplete version of As Long As I Have You, he says the following: "Last time when we came here was the first ... it was the second gig we ever did in America ... and ... we'd been together about three months, and we were really pleased with the way we went down. If we hadn't have done well here I think we would've shitted ourselves and ran home. And you've done the same for us this time as you did last time. We'd like to say thank you very much, and good night." A simple fact-checking of his statement about the town being the second gig the band ever did in America would effectively rule out San Francisco. The first US gig was on December 26th, 1968 in Denver, with the second in Seattle on December 27th. After those first two, the band played Vancouver and Spokane, with Portland said to have been played as well during that week. From there, in the first week of the new year, the band headed south to California for four nights at the Whisky in Hollywood, before heading up to the Fillmore West in San Francisco the following week. So, unless this tape is from Seattle, Plant's words don't make sense.
Thankfully, the mystery here is helped by the fact that this tape starts with that aforementioned introduction by Bill Graham: "...welcome them back from England, this is Led Zeppelin." Graham's introduction on the tape weighs in heavy on this debate. In fact, so heavy, that even though we can never be entirely sure about these types of things, it pretty much settles the date. During this era, Graham had yet to begin promoting concerts outside of his own venues in the Bay Area and New York. So, for his voice to appear on this tape immediately identifies San Francisco or New York as the location. However, the sound of Page's guitar on this tape matches with the echo-heavy and fuzzed-out sound he used in San Francisco in April. By the time the band reached New York in May, Page will have gotten rid of that constant echo and fuzz sound, and will have switched over exclusively to his Les Paul. So, that's two points for this tape being from San Francisco. Not definitive proof, but pretty close. As for which day in San Francisco, April 26th and 27th are automatically out due to the fact that we already have complete recordings from both nights. As well, the first night back in town, April 24th, is also out, as that show starts with As Long As I Have You, which the band can be heard playing on this tape from April 25th. Unlike shows at other venues on the tour, where the band played to separate audiences at separate early and late shows, at Fillmore West and Winterland, the band played to the same audience the entire night. And during this period, we have no record of them repeating any songs within the same night at any of the other dates they played in town. Which ultimately asks the question as to why Plant would make such statement. The easiest answer probably being that he was merely being sentimental and appreciative to the audience. San Francisco was an important town for the band during this period. The gigs that the band gave there, especially during that week of April, are among the finest that they ever gave. So, given that connection, what's wrong with a little white lie amongst friends? So, I think this recording is indeed from San Francisco, at Winterland, April 25th, 1969. Even though the recording is so short and fragmentary, it is still a wonderful slice, highlighting a caliber of playing that is right up there with the other nights of the run. Plant's voice is fantastic, in glorius high range, and Page's playing actually sounds even better than it would the next night. Hopefully, one day more of this tape will circulate (if there indeed is any more).
What we've done to make this project:
This is what we've done to the Winterland tape:
- We've tried to balance the instruments as best we could.
- We've tried to bring out some of the acoustics of the venue to give the listener an experience of being in the audience.
- We've fixed some issues regarding the volume of the show, the 1st disc of material was too loud, and the 2nd disc was a little too low, so we've tried to make the volume of both discs even.
- We've reduced as much tape hiss as possible.
- We've taken out the tape cuts in the recording, and have tried to make the transitions from song to song as smooth as possible.
This is what we've done to the Fillmore tape:
- We've tried to balance the instruments as best we could.
- We've tried to bring out some of the acoustics of the venue to give the listener an experience of being in the audience.
- We've fixed some issues regarding the volume of the show, the volume of this performance was a little too low, so we've given the files a gentle volume boost to make the sound stand out a little more.
- We've reduced as much tape hiss as possible.
In regards to the title of the show, the title name just kind of hit me, I found it to be suitable to the feel of the performances, and that's why it stuck.
We had other ideas, the 2nd most popular choice was "Bay City Rollers", we thought it was suitable because San Francisco is called "The Bay City", but it didn't stick as much as our choice.
Hope everyone here will enjoy this.