Led Zeppelin/Sweden 1969

ZEP in 1969 is a treasure trove of great performances. It was a legendary year in which they performed live after live, so much so that even the word “energetic” seems stale. We have released great performances and great recordings from the Fillmore in April and the Texas Pop Festival in August, but this time we are releasing two great performances and great recordings from the Scandinavian tour in March! For ZEP, the Scandinavian area was the place where they toured in September 1968, six months ago, as their first live performance after the group was formed, and at that time they were under the band name “New Yardbirds”. They were just starting out. However, the band changed their name to Led Zeppelin and thoroughly conquered America from the end of 1968. They experienced days of hard live performances that could be called a warrior’s training, and in March they were reborn as a much tougher band and toured Scandinavia again. Here too, ZEP seemed to be a band before their popularity exploded, and they were busy with media appearances, which was unthinkable for them later on. In particular, on March 14th, they finished recording the black and white lip-synced television footage of “Communication Breakdown,” which was included in the official “DVD” (come to think of it, will there be a “Blu-ray”?) in Stockholm, and then they performed two stages in one day, which was surprising. It was probably their youth that allowed them to easily digest such a busy schedule. The first live performance of the day was held at the Stockholm Concert Hall (Konserthuset). Moreover, since this was not only an opening act for Country Joe and the Fish, but also a recording for a radio station, they omitted “As Long As I Have You,” which they would normally play, and on top of that, each song was shorter in length, which was an interesting composition. The sound source broadcast by the radio station was less than 30 minutes long, mono, and boasted the best sound quality despite its strong bass balance, so it is counted as one of the standard sound sources of early ZEP live performances. Of course, this time the broadcast sound source was recorded in the best version, but it is famous that the other three played Otis Rush’s “I Gotta Move” in a hurry because Page’s Telecaster string broke. However, when listening to the broadcast, there is no sign of Page’s string breaking in “I Can’t Quit You Baby” (when a guitar string breaks, the tuning goes out of tune), and even though such a situation should be captured with a sound board, it does not sound like an incident occurred. The audience recording of the same show revealed this unnaturalness. This revealed that the radio sound source not only cut several songs during the broadcast and ended the broadcast at the beginning of “How Many More Times”, but also changed the order of the songs. The audience recording was not in a good condition at the beginning of the show, and the sound was distorted, so it cannot be said to be of high quality even if you tear your mouth. Rather, it is close to poor quality. Because of this, there are probably many enthusiasts who did not listen properly, or gave up only at the beginning, compared to the radio sound source part. Although it revealed the whole picture of the show that day, it may have been a high-threshold sound source in a sense. However, if you listen to this, you can clearly see that Paige’s string broke during the opening “Train Kept a Rollin'”, and because of that, he played “I Gotta Move” as a place-splitting. Furthermore, when listening to the broadcast sound source of “I Can’t Quit You Baby”, which was played after the strings were re-strung, it is also interesting that it sounded awfully thin, even if you take into account that Paige was using a Telecaster instead of a Les Paul at the time. This is speculated to be because he started playing after changing the strings and not being able to set it up. As a result, “I Gotta Move” was played, and you can’t miss the fact that it is a sound source that allows you to fully enjoy the strong blues-colored live sound unique to early ZEP. In particular, the audience recording part this time uses the best low-generation copy ever, achieving a more natural state than ever before (the hiss noise also sounds natural). In addition, the low pitch, which was neglected in all the previously released sound sources, has been thoroughly adjusted. That rough sound source has become much easier to listen to. And after “I Can’t Quit You Baby”, it becomes much easier to listen to, even though it is rough. And after all, it is ZEP from 1969. There is no doubt that you will be drawn into the light footwork performance even though it is rough. Please check again this time the wild performance of “How Many More Times”, which was only heard in the radio sound source! Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden 14th March 1969 (SBD/AUD)★The first half is 4 soundboard songs from the same live performance, and the second half is an audience recording (Genewaka) of the same show. Soundboard Reel Master　Pre-Broadcast FM Recording　(71:30) 1. I Can’t Quit You Baby 2. I Gotta Move 3. Dazed And Confused 4. How Many More Times Audience Recording　1st Generation Tape 5. Intro. 6. Train Kept a Rollin’ 7. I Gotta Move 8. I Can’t Quit You Baby9. Dazed and Confused 10. White Summer / Black Mountainside 11. How Many More Times 12. Outro.