In this issue:

• February Blues Worth Catching

Blues? What blues?

The members of Led Zeppelin were dealing with February blues in more ways than one, back in 1970.

Robert Plant had not sufficiently recovered from his car accident, so the band cancelled its February 7 show at Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland and rescheduled it for February 17. It was the finale performance of the group’s “Second Album UK Promotional Tour”.

Earlier on that tour, on January 9, the band had played at the Royal Albert Hall in London. That performance was recorded and officially released in 2003 as part of Atlantic Records’ Led Zeppelin: DVD. It clearly shows how sizzling hot the band was playing at the time.

The mighty Zeppelin had really started to take off by that time and the guys in the band were getting glimpses of just how crazy their lives were going to be. Already things were so crazy that Led Zeppelin II had to be recorded on the fly in four different studios along the band’s North American tour stops, as well as at Olympic Studios and Morgan Studios in London, England.

According to the official Led Zeppelin website, this is the list of songs Led Zeppelin is suspected of having played that night in Edinburgh!

We’re Gonna Groove (a song by Ben E. King/James Bethea that Zeppelin covered on that 1970 tour. The Royal Albert Hall recording of it I just mentioned was eventually released on both Led Zeppelin: DVD and Coda)
I Can’t Quit You Baby (from Led Zeppelin)
Dazed and Confused (from Led Zeppelin)
Heartbreaker (from Led Zeppelin II)
White Summer/Black Mountain Side (BMS was from Led Zeppelin)
Since I’ve Been Loving You (from Led Zeppelin III)
Thank You (organ solo from Led Zeppelin II)
Moby Dick (drum solo from Led Zeppelin II)
How Many More Times (from Led Zeppelin)
Whole Lotta Love (from Led Zeppelin II)
Communication Breakdown (from Led Zeppelin)

As you can see, the band’s set list relied heavily on the blues numbers they’d recorded on their first and second albums. One of Zeppelin’s hallmarks, right from the start in 1968, was the band’s phenomenal ability to improvise live in concert. Another was the group’s practice of testing out upcoming new material on their audiences. Note that Since I’ve Been Loving You is an original composition that debuted on the less bluesy, mainly acoustic Led Zeppelin III, which would not be released for another eight months, in October 1970.

On February 23, 1970, Led Zeppelin kicked off its Second Scandinavian Tour with a concert at the Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki, Finland. A live concert (bootleg) CD entitled Valhalla I Am Coming (Mandala MA 2112-1-2) identified the venue as “Kulturhuset”. The set list appears to be identical to what they played on the previous tour that ended in Edinburgh except that Communication Breakdown is missing from this performance. It will reappear for the other four stops on this short 5-concert tour.

We're Gonna Groove (from Led Zeppelin: DVD and Coda)
I Can’t Quit You Baby (from Led Zeppelin)
Dazed and Confused (from Led Zeppelin)
Heartbreaker (from Led Zeppelin II)
White Summer/Black Mountain Side (BMS was from Led Zeppelin)
Since I’ve Been Loving You (from Led Zeppelin III)
Thank You (organ solo from Led Zeppelin II)
Moby Dick (drum solo from Led Zeppelin II)
How Many More Times (from Led Zeppelin)
Whole Lotta Love (from Led Zeppelin II)

Although this boot was made from a rough audience recording, it’s very clear that Page’s guitar dominates the mix. He’s drowning out the rest of the group and his timing this evening isn’t quite as good as it usually is. Plant and the rest of the group are in fine form but it’s hard to tell without listening very carefully, because Page’s fierce guitar playing is so ’way out in front of them. Still, it’s a pleasure to hear and to study his guitar work on this amateur recording.

In Dazed and Confused, Jimmy’s guitar goes silent when he encounters technical difficulties. The rest of the band scrambles while he recovers. Ever the master improviser, Page always manages to surprise. Near the end of the piece, he comes out with a super-charged improvisation on Chuck Berry’s song, Johnny B. Goode. He jams on the intro bars for an instant and, just as you’re getting into it, he speeds off into something else. It must be so invigorating to his band-mates, never knowing what he’s going to play next.

Led Zeppelin continues to rip through its repertoire. But Page isn’t the only one improvising tonight.

John Paul Jones begins Thank You with the opening notes of Johann Sebastian Bach’s baroque composition, Toccata and Fugue. John Bonham does an improv of his own, behind the skins on Moby Dick. Then they let Robert Plant have at it vocally.

By this time in 1970, How Many More Times was an experimental hotbed of blues and rock’n’roll – a passing sonic reference to and homage that Zeppelin paid to the standards of the genre. Here on the Valhalla live concert CD, this piece became a medley of Boogie Chillen/Let that Boy Boogie, Move on Down the Line, Hideaway, Fixin’ to Die, Cocaine Blues, CC Rider, The Lemon Song and Be-Bop-a Lula.

The lead guitar is still miles out in front of all the other instruments and Page’s playing is mind-blowing during this rendition of How Many More Times. Of course, the whole piece is absolutely nothing like the album track laid down on the debut Led Zeppelin LP!

For the subsequent concerts in Goteborg and Stockholm (both in Sweden) and Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the band stayed with the above set list with the addition of Communication Breakdown.

The last tour stop, at K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen, Denmark, was unusual for a few reasons. For one, the set list grew to include C'mon Everybody, Something Else, Bring It On Home and Long Tall Sally in addition to Communication Breakdown.

For another, How Many More Times morphed again, by showcasing Boogie Chillen', Move on Down the Line, Cocaine Blues, Bottle Up 'n Go and Bye Bye Baby this time. And finally, Led Zeppelin had to perform under a different name!

Eva von Zeppelin, a descendant of the airship’s inventor, Count von Zeppelin, threatened legal action if the band performed in Denmark using her family name. The members of the band agreed to respect her wishes and adopted the one-time moniker of “The Nobs”. It’s kind of funny that the first time Led Zeppelin toured in Copenhagen, the band was called “The New Yardbirds” and now, this second time through, it was something else again.

It would be the last time the band ever performed under any name but Led Zeppelin.

Please note: The manufacture, distribution and sale of unauthorized and/or unlicensed recordings is illegal. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc. does not produce, distribute or sell such material nor endorse those who do. Any reference, discussion or image presented here is intended solely for the purposes of historical research and context.

This month's Enzepplozine was shorter than usual, but so is this month! Actually, I'd appreciate hearing from you about the length of the Enzepplozine. Too long? Too short? What kind of info would you like to see more of? Less of?

There are some interesting changes ahead for this year, so please use the Contact Us form on this website to let me know what you'd like to get out of the Enzepplozine.

Hope to hear from you soon. 'Til then, rock on and rock hard!

Reminders

Want to learn about Led? Visit Learn-about-Led.com

Order Sonic Boom Volume 1 at Enzepplopedia.com.

And don't forget to tell us what's YOUR favourite Led Zeppelin album!

Do you already own True Blues & Beyond, my e-book that explores Led Zeppelin's earliest influences in the blues? It's free for Enzepploziners. Click here to download it.