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BBC Sessions
11/18/1997 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Mike Lipton
The vintage black & white photo on the tray card speaks volumes; no racks of drums or stacks of amps, just a quartet of gangly bell-bottomed Brits with drummer John Bonham sitting low in the saddle behind a small (and wonderfully resonant) drum kit. The only hint of later excesses is implied in Bonham's arsenal of cymbals and a full-sized gong. If this overrated grandaddy of supergroups ever had a heyday, it was clearly during its early years. The live tracks on this double-CD, long a favorite of bootleg tape traders, were recorded for British radio in 1969 and 1971, and were remastered by Zep guitarist Jimmy Page. The tunes sample songs from the band's first four LPs and offer a revealing and important snapshot of how one of the most influential rock groups to date sounded sans Page's usual trumped-up, overwrought production. The sequencing reads like a live set with the group warming up on a pair of well-documented Willie Dixon standards ("You Shook Me" and "I Can't Quit You Baby"). The band sounds like a tight and inspired, barebones British blues-rock outfit, although its bent for improvisation is clear. By the fourth track, the heady "Dazed And Confused," Page has whipped out the wah-wah and the violin bow. The six-minute "Whole Lotta Love" features the kind of excesses that translate better live, notably Robert Plant's hyper improvs. Some of the rarities include "The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair," a 12-bar blues that foreshadowed "Moby Dick," a rocking, attitude-heavy version of Eddie Cochran's "Somethin' Else" (later covered by the Flamin' Groovies). John Paul Jones fumbles on piano while, like it or not, Plant effectively makes the tune his own. JPJ redeems himself throughout on organ (notably on the Playhouse Theatre version of "You Shook Me"), but unfortunately, "White Summer/ Black Mountain Side," a medley of Page's showpieces recorded the same evening, were omitted. On disc two, recorded at London's Paris Theatre in 1971, the band is noticeably more mature, using blues as a reference point rather than a form, and the quality is greatly improved. Even the abysmal "Immigrant Song" fares better under the less-produced conditions, with Page turning in one of the set's best solos (with a guitar tone that sounds suspiciously like Eric Clapton's). The entire Paris show, which is one of the BBC's most-bootlegged sessions, is a showcase for Page, whose tone and fluid technique had improved dramatically. The disc's only 12-bar, the slow, powerful--and surprisingly sophisticated--"Since I've Been Loving You," is far and away the finest blues the band has ever recorded. An eight-minute version of "Stairway To Heaven," recorded long before it became an FM anthem, is fresh and relatively void of grand histrionics. Page switches to mandolin for "Going To California" and "That's The Way" before the "finale"--a 13-plus-minute "Whole Lotta Love" that detours through some rock and blues covers. Despite the duplication--disc one includes three versions of "Communication Breakdown" and two each of "I Can't Quit You Baby" and "You Shook Me"--the relatively clean, un-produced quality of the recordings (Bonham's drums actually sound like drums!) make this much more than just an essential for Zeppefiles. Cynics might say it's the band's best release since 1971.
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