Led Zeppelin/TX,USA 1973 Upgrade

The first leg of the 1973 US tour, where soundboard recordings from the PA out were overflowing. Strictly speaking, the LP final item “FRACTURED RIBS”, which recorded the Dallas performance SBD, for which our shop released the best version, could be said to be the starting point of the excavation, but for many enthusiasts, it can be said that the excavation continued for 20 years in the CD era. Because of this favorable situation, many items have been produced since the sound source was excavated. In this situation, the items were surprisingly not blessed, and on the contrary, the brand new items were discontinued for more than 10 years, and this is the SBD sound source of the Fort Worth performance, which will be released this time. This was the performance that took place after Dallas mentioned earlier, and it saw the light of day with the release (separated into two titles) from the nostalgic flying disc that released a lot of cassette sound sources that fell into the generation. However, while the incomplete recording of the show peculiar to SBD at this time was inevitable, the muffled sound quality and hiss noise throughout were a major minus point that were more harsh on the ears than the SBDs of other performances. In the 21st century, upgrade items suitable for the new era such as “FORT WORTH EXPRESS” and “I’M WITH THE BAND” finally appeared, but due to the limitations of technology at the time, the hiss noise was amplified due to equalization, or the muffled sound could not be completely eliminated. Both items were released more than 10 years ago. Perhaps even enthusiasts gave up on the idea that further upgrades could no longer be expected, and even when a copy of the low-generation version finally appeared in 2009, it did not attract much attention. This time, it is based on the overlooked low-generation version. This sound source was uploaded in 2009 by a person calling himself Weedwacker. As for ZEP releases based on his version, the recent “LA FORUM 1977 2ND NIGHT 4 SOURCE MIX” is still fresh in my memory. His Fort Worth SBD is a clear generation, and the original sound itself is clearly better than previous releases. However, at the end of “No Quarter”, the left channel was turned off as soon as Bonzo’s timpanis stopped, and this continued until the middle of Plant’s MC, and this situation remains the same. In past items, this part was processed to make it as inconspicuous as possible (recently, some items have appeared with this part left as it is), but this time it has been repaired to a more natural state. You should not feel any discomfort when listening normally. The bigger problem with the Fort Worth SBD was the muffled sound in the left channel that occurred in the latter half of the tape, or in the songs corresponding to the back of the cassette. It is speculated that this was caused by the aging of the master cassette. The song that suffered from this problem was “Stairway To Heaven”. Because of this, there was a dilemma that the sound quality of this song was not good enough for past items, but the equalization applied for this release has greatly solved the problem. This is in addition to the fact that the original sound source was better than the past items, so this upper feeling is considerable. And above all, the phenomenon of hiss noise as a whole was well processed by the original Weedwacker, and further measures were taken with the latest mastering technology, so this also improved the ease of listening. And yet, the overall balance was adjusted without compromising the state of a strong natural feeling while being a bit muffled. Above all, the performance of “Stairway To Heaven” on this day was very good, so it was a pity that only one song had a noticeable deterioration until now. However, since you can listen to the whole thing without any discomfort with this release, you will be able to enjoy this hidden masterpiece even more. The secret is that Plant’s singing voice has changed and he was forced to change his singing style, but now he has started to change into a dignified atmosphere. “Stairway To~” became the biggest standard in ZEP history, but on the other hand, the “sense of convention” gradually began to sprout in Plant’s songs from around 1975. In that respect, I was touched by the way Plant tried to sing the song carefully and with care, especially since his voice had changed. On the other hand, although Page had momentum, there were interesting ways of missing notes here and there. Even in this “Stairway To~”, when he repeated a different riff than usual in his solo, he played a way that made his hand slip on the guitar frets even more (he was starting to get sweaty). However, this was not due to a disturbance from a physical condition like his later ones, but rather to ZEP’s lack of familiarity with the large venue staging where they had entered uncharted territory (he was not able to use the monitors properly), and furthermore, the PA troubles that occurred everywhere seemed to be the problem. In fact, there were scenes where Plant complained about equipment malfunctions. The best example would be the scene where Paige played an extra note at the beginning of “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. With SBD, you can clearly understand these scenes, so it’s interesting to listen to them. However, when it comes to “Dazed And Confused”, Paige also recovers at once, and together with Bonzo, he shows the thrilling tactics unique to this song. Overall, it feels like the usual standard development, but before entering the “San Francisco” part, or before returning to the song at the end, it shows a slightly different development at this time, and in particular, the teasing that seems to return but does not return in the second half is wonderful. At first glance, the first leg of the 73 USA, which is often thought to be a standard sound source and a set of items. Furthermore, it is a southern schedule that makes you think it is an SBD tournament, but the upper version of the Fort Worth SBD, which was the most overlooked of them all, will be released. This is a wonderful finish that you can understand by listening to it again. In addition, it was a day with many interesting scenes in terms of performance. I can confidently recommend this as a standard “first disc” among the southern SBDs in May. Live at Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX. USA 19th May 1973 SBD Disc 1 (61:56) 1. Intro. 2. Rock and Roll 3. Celebration Day 4. Black Dog 5. Over the Hills and Far Away 6. Misty Mountain Hop 7. Since I’ve Been Loving You 8. No Quarter ★10:43 – 11:17 The extreme sound drop in the left channel has been improved as much as possible. 9. The Song Remains the Same 10. The Rain Song Disc 2 (43:49) 1. MC 2. Dazed and Confused (incl. San Francisco) 3. Stairway to Heaven SOUNDBOARD RECORDING