BARTLEMANIA! March 10 & 12 (WRFI) and 13 (WBDY-LP), 2022

Silicon Teens - Chip 'n' Roll - Music For Parties (Mute)
The Cellos - Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am The Japanese Sandman) - Rang Tang Ding Dong (Relic)

Groovie Ghoulies - Tunnel Of Love - Re-Animation Festival (Lookout)
The Kinks - Time Will Tell - The Kink Kontroversy (deluxe) (Sanctuary)
Parzival - Paradise - Barock (WEA)

The Rubinoos - Cissy Strut - The CBS Tapes (Yep Roc)
Jesse Colin Young - Four In The Morning - The Very Best of JCL (Sheridan Square)
Beanfield - Keep On Believing - Beanfield (Streetbeat)

Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura - Photospheric Composition - Interpenetrating Dimensional Express (https://desmadradossoldadosdeventura.bandcamp.com/music)

The Champs - Sky High - The Challenge Albums (One-Way)


Kraan - Head - Kraan (Intercord)

Glenn Branca - 1st Movement (Slow Mass) - Symphony No 2 (Atavistic)

Brad Mehldau Trio - Black Hole Sun - Brad Mehldau Trio Live (Nonesuch)

Here's a review I wrote for a great show that I saw 11 years ago.

I'd only heard a few of Acid Mothers Temple's recordings before I saw them last April [2009] in Philadelphia. One of them was a seven-inch which sounded much to me like the output of any number of Japanoise bands, such as The Boredoms or The Machine Gun TV. Another was a live recording from 2004 which had them sounding like Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd jamming with Blue Cheer with members of Pere Ubu sitting in. This turned out to be merely a fraction of a fraction of the output of this extremely prolific Japanese psychedelic-rock band One day while I was in Philadelphia visiting friends, I heard on the radio that Acid Mothers Temple's 2009 North American tour would bring them to a club in Philadelphia called Johnny Brenda's. So I decided to make the trip and check them out.

Johnny Brenda's has two levels. The first is a typical bar/restaurant, pool table next to the bar, tables in the back. The second level, the performance space, well, it's actually two levels. You go up a narrow staircase and arrive in what looks like a 1960's recreation room. That's where AMT and the opening act, Sonic Suicide Squad were selling their vinyls and CDs. Go a bit further, past the end of the bar and you're on an intimate (read:small) dance floor in front of the stage, itself an elegantly-appointed number with a backdrop of lights and reflective beads. Across from the stage is a staircase which takes you upstairs to yet another bar, and the balcony. This is the vantage point from which I watched and photographed the show (photos here).

The only clues we got that the main event was on was the wail of a lone, rising, then falling synthesizer note. Next came the microphone-check-like vocalizations of the band's bass player in front of the first tune of the evening, Are We Experimental? A sing-songish “Philly...Philly...Phillllllyyyyyyy!” is how he saluted the city which hosted them that evening. Immediately, the band broke into free-form freak-out mode, slipping into Sabbath-ish stoner-dirge-rock mode, then cranking up to speed-freak tempo before ending the piece.

In the middle of the whole thing, between numbers, the bass player asked the audience jokingly if former baseball manager and Phillies team member Pete Rose was still playing. That got a few laughs before the band launched into still another high-wattage jam. I must say, these guys sure learned a lot from their apprenticeship with Gong (whom they shared a stage with in 2003). At times I could almost picture Daevid, Gilli and the rest of the Gong crew on the stage with them. AMT have described their music as “extreme trip music”. Loud and fast rave-ups were punctuated by slow, languid stoner-blues with a Japanese-language speed-freak rap/poem in the middle of it all, followed by a distant, dream-like trip-to-the-center-of-the-power-spot drone, powered by the wail of an e-bowed guitar. The show was unusually long, clocking in at just under two hours.

There were many flavors in this mix. Permit me to drop some names - Hendrix from his Band of Gypsies period, Paranoid-era Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane circa ...Baxter's or Crown of Creation, (dare I say it?) The Grateful Dead in full Dark Star mode or Can's Soon Over Babaluma. But flavors are just what they are. AMT is no way a cover band or a nostalgia act. Youthful headbanger, aging acid-head and all in between are welcome in the presence of Acid Mothers Temple.

Wanna hear some live Acid Mothers Temple for yourself? For free?

https://archive.org/details/AcidMothersTemple

August 15-19, 2017

Want to listen to The Doctor on your phone? Check out the Podomatic app! http://podomatic.com


Cosmic Jokers - Galactic Supermarket - Galactic Supermarket (Hifly)

Joy of Disease - Paint It Black - Paintedblack (Tumult)
Can - Abra Cada Braxis - The Lost Tapes (Spoon)

Monks of Doom - Light In The Sky (Steve Hillage) - Europa, Brooklyn, NY, March 13, 2009
Ravi Shankar - Hollywood Dhun - In Hollywood, 1971 (Northern Spy)

Billy Cobham - Heather - Crosswinds (Wounded Bird)
Egba - The Black & The White - Egba (Europafilm)
K. Frimpong & Vis A Vis - Aboagyewaa -Ghana Soundz Vol 2 (Soundway)

The Daktaris - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose - Soul Explosion (Daptone)
Don Isaac Ezekiel Combination - Ire - Afro Baby (Soundway)
The Ogyatanaa Show Band - Ageisheka - Ghana Soundz (Soundway)
Edgar Broughton Band - Evil - The Harvest Years 1969-1973 (Harvest)

Essra Mohawk - I Cannot Forget - Revelations of the Secret Diva (Mummypump)

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Down By The River - Live at the Fillmore East March 6 & 7, 1970 (Reprise)
Randy Newman - Political Science - Sail Away (Reprise)

-------------------------------------------

R. Stevie Moore - E Not Laid - Saturday Singles Series (rsteviemoore.bandcamp.com)
Sugar - Tilted - Beaster (Ryko)
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story - Every Picture Tells A Story (Mercury)
Steve Goodman - Video Tape - Best of The Asylum Years Vol 2 (Red Pajamas)
Fapardokly - The Music Scene - Fapardokly (Fab Gear)

Cluster - From Osaka Muse Hall - Japan 1996 Live (Soul State)


Podcast Available HERE!

Playlist for August 1-5, 2017 - Fusion, Space and Krautrock

Want to listen to The Doctor on your phone? Check out the Podomatic app at http://podomatic.com.


Bevis Frond - 1970 Home Improvements - Bevis Through The Looking Glass (Rubric)
Bevis Frond - Walking In The Lady's Garden - Inner Marshland (Rubric)

Quiet Sun - Mummy Was An Asteroid... - Mainstream (Antilles)
Steve Hillage - Solar Musick Suite - Fish Rising (Virgin)

Can - Chain Reaction - Soon Over Babaluma (Spoon)

Einsturzende Neubauten - Perpetuum Mobile -  Perpetuum Mobile (Mute)

Faust - The Lurcher/Kraut Rock/Do So, March 1, 1973 - BBC Sessions Plus (Re Records)

Sun Ra - Strings Strange - Strange Strings (Atavistic)

Ginger Baker's Air Force - Aiko Biyae - Ginger Baker's Air Force (Atco)

-------------------------------------------------

John McLaughlin - What Need Have I For This... - South Hampton College, 7/5/75

Miles Davis - Stuff - Miles In The Sky (Columbia)

Fat Boy Slim - Don't Let The Man Get You Down - Palookaville (Astralwerks)


Podcast Available HERE!

Playlist for April 26-30, 2016

Special Bootleg Show

Faust - Oslo, Norway, April 18, 2009 (0:11), (0:27-28), (0:33)

Jaaa (Intro)
Faust Speaks Faust
The Bergen Drums
Es Ist Mir Kalt
Apart From The Good Times
Petits sons Appetisants
Rudolf
Roony Waernes
The Duchess of Hackney
Kraut Rock

Jonathan RIchman - Peppermint Lounge - July 25th, 1981 (excerpt)

Intro
Rockin' Rockin' Leprechauns
Bring Back Springtime
New England
That is Rock & Roll
Egyptian Reggae

Stara Rzeka - W szopie gdzie byly oczy - Zamknely sie oczy ziemi (https://stararzeka.bandcamp.com/)

Spirit - Like A Rolling Stone/1984 - Rockpalast 1978 (SPV)


Podcast Available HERE!

Playlist for August 26-29, 2015

The Itals
Owego, NY
9-15-2000 (excerpt)

Marshall Crenshaw - You're My Favorite Waste Of Time (7-inch) (WB)
Amon Duul II - Syntelman's March of the Roaring 70s - Tanz Der Lemminge (SPV)

Double Dee & Steinski - Jazz - Scratch Attack Vol 2 (Hip Hop Slam)
Frank Zappa - Zoot Allures, Tokyo 2-5-76 -FZ PLays FZ (zappa.com)

Winifred Atwell - Lazy Train (7-inch) (London)
Jean-Michel Jarre - Diva - Zoolook (Dreyfus)
Rick Wakeman - Catherine Parr - The 6 Wives Of Henry VIII (A&M)
Anonymous - Baby Come Risin' - Inside The Shadow (Machu Picchu)

Isotope - The Dancer (March 26, 1974) - Live at the BBC (Hux)
Steve Fisk - Express God - Excursions In Ambience, The Third Dimension (Astralwerks)
Tony Williams Lifetime - To Whom It May Concern, Them & Us - Turn It Over (Verve)
Adrian Sherwood - Paradise of Nada Remix - Never Trust A Hippy (Real World)

The Orb - U.F. Orb - U.F. Orb (Mercury)

Podcast Available HERE!

Playlist for July 21-24, 2015 - Krautrock (Dieter Moebius, RIP)

Jo Jo Gunne
Ultrasonic Studios
Long Island
1973

Jo Jo Gunne - Ready Freddy - Bite Down Hard (Asylum)

Neil Young - People Want To Hear About Love - The Monsanto Years (Reprise)
Nag Champayons - Combustible Huxtable - The Tropidelic Afrogalactic Sounds of Nag Champayons (www.nagchampayons.com)
Maria Muldaur - Midnight At The Oasis (Cuica remix) - What Is Hip (WB)
Fairport Convention - Matty Groves - Liege & Lief (A&M)
Cabinet - Caroline - This Is Cabinet Set II (Ropeadope)

Cluster & Eno - Oil - After The Heat (Sky)
Cluster & Eno - One - Cluster & Eno (Sky)
Cluster & Eno - The Belldog - After The Heat (Sky)
Cluster & Eno - Fur Luise - Cluster & Eno (Sky)

Cluster & Eno - Tzima N'arki (forward and backward)- After The Heat (Sky)
Neu - Hallogallo - Neu! (Astralwerks)
Holger Czukay - Der Osten Ist Rot - Der Osten Ist Rot (Virgin)

Nocturnal Sunshine - Believe - Nocturnal Sunshine (Kobalt)
Can - Safe - Inner Space (Mute)
Neu! - Fur Immer - Neu! #2 (Astralwerks)

Faust - Why Don't You Eat Carrots? - Faust (Mute)

Podcast Available HERE!

Feb 4, 2014 - Can All You Can

Gregory Taylor - Natanel Yang Jujur - Dua Belas (Palace Of Lights)
K. Leimer - Paper Telephone - Degraded Certainties (Palace Of Lights)

CAN (Unless otherwise noted):

Tony Wanna Go - The Peel Sessions (29-JAN-74) (Strange Fruit)
Paperhouse - Tago Mago (Spoon)

Don't Say No - Saw Delight (Spoon)
Father Cannot Yell - Monster Movie (Spoon)

Yoo Doo Right - Monster Movie (Spoon)

Up The Bakerloo With Annie - BBC, Anne Nightingale Show, 16-March-1972

Hunters & Collectors - Landed (Spoon)
Turtles Have Short Legs - 7-inch (Spoon)
Mother Sky (from the movie "Deep End) - Soundtracks (Spoon)

Nineteen Century Man - Delay 1968 (Spoon)
All Gates Open - Inner Space (Spoon)
Vitamin C - Ege Bamyasi (Spoon)
Bring Me Coffee Or Tea - Tago Mago (Spoon)

Outside My Door - Monster Movie (Spoon)
Can Can - Inner Space (Spoon)

Shikaku Maru Ten - 7-inch (Spoon)


Podcast Available HERE!

October 1, 2014

Aamon Duul II - Freak Out Requiem I - Phallus Dei (bellmuzik.de)
Drekka - Silent Duty - Take Care To Fall (drekka.bandcamp.com)
Electric Golem - Sky Snails, Part 1 - Sky Snails (otperiphery.com)

Ralph McTell - Zimmerman Blues - Not Till Tomorrow (Reprise)
Richard Thompson - Summer Is Icumen In - 1000 Years of Popular Music (Beeswing)
The Rugbys - Wendegahl The Warlock - Hot Cargo (Amazon Records)

Why The Wires? - Winter Lung - All Those Dead Astronauts (Rorshach)
Kris Delmhorst - Just What I Needed - Cars (Signature)
Ides Of March - Tie Dye Princess - Common Bond (WB)

Afro Funk - Farewell To Ibusa - Body Music (Secret Stash)
Chicago Afrobeat Project - Zambi - CAbP (chicagoafrobeatproject.com/)
Ikebe Shakedown - Refuge - Ikebe Shakedown (Ubiquity)
Hoyt Axton - The Pusher - First Vibration (Do It Now)

Spike Jones - Cocktails For Two - 36 All Time Greatest Hits (BMG)
Mick Farren & The Deviants - Let's Loot The Supermarket Like We Did Last Summer - This CD Is Condemned (Total Energy)
Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys - In The Steel Of The Night  - Night Tide (Hightone)


Podcast Available HERE!

June 5, 2013

John Fahey
The Jabberwock
Syracuse University
1975

Bevis Frond - 1970 Home Improvements - Bevis Through the Looking Glass (bevisfrond.bandcamp.com)
Rolling Stones - Sing This All Together (See What Happens) - Their Satanic Majesties Request (Abkco)

Freddie Roulette - Cause & Effect - Sweet Funky Steel (Janus)
Frank Zappa - The Purple Lagoon - Lather (zappa.com)

Neil Young - Words - Harvest (Reprise)
Timothy Leary - Live & Let Live - You Can Be Anyone This Time Around (Ryko)

DJ Food - The Aging Young Rebel - Kaleidoscope (Ninja Tune)
Steve Hillage - Pentagrammaspin - V (Virgin)
Tangerine Dream - Rubycon Pt I - Rubycon (Virgin)

The Cheebacabra - Exile In The Woods - Exile In The Woods (Mackrosoft)

August 1, 2012

Please note: Today's program has been pre-recorded for 

broadcast on Wed. August 1 at 7AM.

Man Forever

Live at DedKatHaus, 

Binghamton, June 20 2012

Ron Geesin - Hiding Haul of Voices Hail - Right Through (Headscope)
Masabumi Kikuchi - Alacalder - One-Way Traveler (CBS-SONY)

Tangerine Dream - Klangwald Part 1 - Koln Germany 11-25-1972
Expo 70 - Whisper of Ancient Oaks - Infinite Macrocosm (blrrecords dot com)
Burning Star Core  -The Universe Is Designed to Break Your Mind - Bloodlightning 2007 (No Fun)

Can - Unfinished - Landed (Spoon)
Pink Floyd - Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast - Atom Heart Mother (Capitol)
Faust - (track 4) - Hamburg Studio Session 2009
Gong - Allez Ali Baba... - Planet Gong Live Floating Anarchy 1977 (Charly)
Kraftwerk - Mitternacht - Fairfield Halls, Croydon, UK 9-21-75

July 4th, 2012

Ramones

CBGBs

Oct 27 1977

Pere Ubu - Heart of Darkness - Datapanik in the Year Zero (Geffen)
Jaill - I'm Home - Traps (Sub Pop)
Beck - Blue Randy - 7-inch (Third Man)
Japandroids - The Nights of Wine & Roses - Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)

MC5 - Back In The USA - Back in the USA (Atlantic)
The Hunting Accident - Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl - Trees and Parks 10-inch  (The New Black)
Frank Zappa - Dumb All Over - Have I Offended Someone? (Ryko)
Tweed Funk - A Real Mother For Ya - Love Is (Tweed Tone)
MC 900 Foot Jesus - Truth Is Out Of Style - 12-inch (Nettwerk)
Roger Miller - Space is the Place - Oh (Forced Exposure)

Beach Boys - I Just Wasn't Made For These Times - Pet Sounds (Capitol)
Parliament - Up For The Down Stroke - Up For The Down Stroke (Casablanca)
B-52s - Planet Clare - Time Capsule (WB)
R. Stevie Moore - Theme from AG - Phonography (rsteviemoore.com)
Can - Millionenspiel - The Lost Tapes (Spoon)

CAN Special

Set 1

All Gates Open - Inner Space (Spoon)

Call Me - Saw Delight (Spoon)

Return to BB City (Oct 8 1974) - Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit)

Set 2

I Want More - Flow Motion (Spoon)

Nineteen Century Man - Delay 1968  (Spoon)

Turtles Have Short Legs - (flip side of single 'Spoon')

Splash - Soon Over Babaluma (United Artists)

Set 3

Paperhouse (German TV - Beat Club - 1971)

Vernal Equinox - Landed (Spoon)

The Empress & The Ukraine King (Jan 1969) -Unlimited Edition (Spoon)

Can Can - Inner Space (Spoon) 

Playlist for June 22, 2011

Raglani, and
Outer Space
live at Delilah's, Ithaca, NY

Space Mix, by request
Contains (in whole or in part):

Tangerine Dream - Sunrise In The Third System - Alpha Centauri (Castle)
Edward Larry Gordon (Laraaji) - Bethlehem (excerpt) - Celestial Vibration (SWN)
Richard Teitelbaum & Anthony Braxton - Crossing (excerpt) - Time Zones (Freedom-Arista)
John Fahey - Eels - Womblife (Table of the Elements)
Ron Geesin - Sky High - KPM Library 1102 (KPM)
Bone Parade - The White Ship Has Sailed - Vollmondlieder (Wind & Fog)
Taiga Remains - Skyward - Wax Canopy (Digitalis)
Rhys Chatham - Crossing the Sword Bridge - Outdoor Spell (Northern Spy)
David Borden - For Laurie Spiegel - David Borden Anthology
Beanfield - Keep On Believing - Beanfield (Street Beat)

Ravi Shankar - Raga Yaman Gat Matta Tal - The Genius of Pandit Ravi Shankar (Oriental Records)
Brain Transplant - Sprockets of Destiny -Turn Your Shit Off (Pegasus Farm)
Aphex Twin - Grey Stripe - Selected Ambient Works Vol II (Sire)
Mark Vercoe - On The Beach - Iatrogenics (Creel Pone)
John Cage-Kenneth Patchen - The City Wears A Slouch Hat-1942 (excerpt) (Corti)
FSOL - It's My Mind That Works - ISDN (Astralwerks)
Secret Agent Gel - Pure Idiom - P as in Peter F as in Frank (Opiate)
Funky Porcini - Wicked Cruel Nasty & Bad - Hed Phone Sex (Ninja Tune)
Pink Floyd - Quicksilver - Sndtrk from MORE (Capitol)
Negativland - Time Zones - Escape From Noise (Seeland)
Can - Paperhouse - Tago Mago(Spoon)

Playlist for August 11, 2010

Billy Cobham & George Duke band
Hofstra Playhouse, Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY, USA
19-March-1976

Billy Cobham - drums
George Duke - keyboards
Alphonso Johnson - bass
John Scofield - guitar

Bevis Frond - Malvolio's Dream Journey To Pikes - The Auntie Winnie Album (Rubric)
Pink Floyd - Cirrus Minor - Soundtrack to More (Capitol)
Man - Alchemist (excerpt) - Man (Liberty)
Faust - Miss Fortune - Faust (Caroline)
Beach Boys - Cool Cool Water - Sunflower/Surf's Up (Capitol)

The United States Of America - American Way Of Love - Uinted States of America (Sundazed)
Frank Zappa - Brown Shoes Don't Make It - Absolutely Free (Ryko)
Miles Davis - Theme From Jack Johnson (excerpt) - Agharta (Columbia)
Funkadelic - Free Your Mind & Your Ass Will Follow - Free Your Mind & Your Ass Will Follow (Westbound)
Grateful Dead - The Other One - Dick's Picks Volume 8 (GD Prod)
The Rolling Stones - 2000 Light Years From Home - TSMR (Abkco)
The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset - Something Else (Reprise)

Tuff Darts - Your Love Is Like Nuclear Waste - Tuff Darts! (Wounded Bird)

October 14, 2009

FAUST Rehearsals,
Cloudhill Studios Hamburg,
Germany, Feb 2009

King Crimson - Red - Red (DGM)
Sea & Cake - Hotel Tell - Glass (Thrill Jockey)
Wire - Too Late - Chairs Missing (pinkflag.com)
Bevis Frond - Purtle Sline - BevisThrough The Looking Glass (Rubric)

Fat Boy Slim - Slash Dot Dash - Why Try Harder (Astralwerks)
Negativland - Moribund Music of the 1970's Part 1 - Dick Vaughn's Moribund Music of the 1970's - OTE Vol 4 (Seeland)
Negativland - You Must Respect Copyright/How Long Have You Been Waiting for U2? -
Fair Use (Seeland)
The Red Krayola - Microchips & Fish - Singles (Drag City)
Amon Duul II - Da Guadeloop - Hijack (Atco)

Theivery Corporation - Mandala - Radio Retaliation ((ESL)
Neu - Fur Immer - Neu 2 (Astralwerks)
Sigur Ros - Syndir Guds - Von (One Little Indian)
My Cat Is An Alien - Improv #2 - Through The Magnifying Glass of Tomorrow (Atavistic)
Black Feelings - Gails - Black Feelings (Alien8)

Garfunkel and Oates, "Worst Song Medley"

And just so you know, you can also hear the Doctor's podcasts on Itunes!

Playlist for July 30, 2008

Led Zeppelin, Sports Arena
March 14, 1975, San Diego, California
(Continued from last week)

Soundboard Recording
"Conspiracy Theory" Empress Valley

No Quarter
Trampled Under Foot
Moby Dick
Stairway to Heaven
Heartbreaker

Brought to you by
presence@royal-orleans.com
*****

Reviewers' notes:

From Underground Uprising:

I still can't believe that as I write this review I am listening to not only a completely new and unknown concert (from 1975 for goodness sake), but in addition it is a near complete and excellent sounding mono soundboard recording. Empress Valley's releases this year have been lacklustre regurgitations of already over released shows, but they then buck that trend and pull this amazing concert out of the hat. As Robert Plant introduces Over The Hills And Far Away, he says "Good evening. San Diego, good evening!". At the end of this song he apologises for the band being a bit late, blaming snow in Austria! Then he says: "which has a lot to do with San Diego, right?". Finally at the end of Stairway To Heaven he thanks San Diego. Many thanks for that Mr. Plant, you have convinced an old sceptic! The liner notes by the redoubtable Aquarius 11 are now much improved in translation from Japanese to English, and they make rather more sense than previous efforts. We are obliged to him for comparing this soundboard recording with the (very poor sounding) audience recording from this venue on the 10th March. He concludes that there are no similarities, and therefore this is a genuine new recording that has surfaced.

Unfortunately Plant's voice is not in good shape, on Rock And Roll he sounds decidedly rough. After blaming the snow for the delay (same excuse as at Long Beach on 12th March), he clears his throat (which sounds rather claggy). The invariably solid and dependable John Paul Jones is also not at his best, and he has problems with the Mellotron this evening (especially during The Rain Song, particularily near the end when it has a mind of its own). Talking of The Rain Song, Mr. Page takes a few seconds to realise that he should start playing this song immediately after The Song Remains The Same ends! Plant introduces John Bonham's Moby Dick drum solo by saying that Bonham is one of the finest trombone players that America's ever heard! This soundboard recording is punctuated throughout by various remarks by Bonham, especially during Moby Dick.

There still remains a big question as to whether Whole Lotta Love/The Crunge was played at this concert. It would be very strange if it was not, as they played it at all the other 1975 USA concerts. There is an edit in the audience applause on disc 3, track 2 (the end of Stairway), at 12.21, and then shortly afterwards the band are back on stage and Plant very forcefully says "Good evening! I said good evening!". Listening to the recording from the Long Beach show on the 12th, he says exactly the same for the second encore. Jimmy Page then goes into Heartbreaker. I strongly suspect that this was the second encore. Therefore either Whole Lotta Love/The Crunge was not played (most unlikely), or that song is missing from the soundboard recording. Looking at the previous three concerts, we find that at San Diego on the 10th March, and again in Long Beach on 11th March, the encores consisted of Whole Lotta Love/The Crunge, followed by Black Dog. At the second Long Beach concert on 12th March (two nights prior to this show), they also played Heartbreaker as a second encore. Bearing in mind that apart from this song the soundboard recording is complete with no cuts, this is very odd. One hopes that Empress Valley have not been stitched up (as they were with Requiem, Preston 30 January 1973).

So we have here an incredible find, and, for a change, full marks must go to Empress Valley for making this concert available. (Jules McTrainspotter June 04)

I have three main thoughts to offer about this excellent new release from Empress Valley:
1) for those of us (like me) who love imaginative and involved packaging, this release is a bit of a bummer.
2) for those of us (like me) who love an excellent soundboard recording of Zep, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and powerful concert and
3) for those of us (like me) who get a thrill listening to a smoking Zep 1975 performance, this ranks among the other keepers from that tour.

The recording, to me, is maybe the highlight of this release. I did not expect such clarity, and power, when this newly surfaced show was first announced. It's a very pleasant surprise to hear just how perfectly balanced everything is on stage with the audience. This is, then, a live recording that is not outdone in quality by Flying Circus, When We Were Kings, or any other 1975 board release. It's that good.

As for the performance, it's spotty, but not in a bad way. John Bonahm is providing a standard 1975 performance, with many fills mimicking those that he performed throughout the tour. Snare to tom types of bits that do not reflect the type of ingenuity that so incredibly set him apart on other nights. That said, he's still tearing it up in songs like Sick Again, OTHAFA, IMTOD, Trampled, and, in a very funky and entertaining section of Heartbreaker where he and JPJ are going it at unaccompanied, giving the audience a little extra. Robert's rough at the start, but really does improve as the show progresses, with a strong Stairway for a change. All in all, the songs are played as they were throughout the 1975 tour without any real surprises. Still, this is Zep, and the show's outstanding and entertaining from start to finish. I can only hope that concerts like this continue to make their way out of the clutches of whoever selfishly holds them for all of these years.

(Symmetry101, June 2004)

First up, when I heard of the new release being an unreleased 1975 show, I was a little disappointed. I wanted Bath soundboard or a 1972 soundboard. The date wasn't heard of and not confirmed yet! Then it was proven that it was indeed San Diego 3/14/75. So many times in the past Empress Valley has droped the ball with some of their shows. Not this time.

Well in anticipation I put disc one in and hit play...and it was(is) awesome. It has the feel of Flying Circus and Chasing The Dragon. The band is really tight, they nail Rock And Roll. Bonzo is on fire. He is really consistent night after night. Robert's voice was my main concern, how was it going to sound. Was it going to be really raspy...I think he sounds fine. Robert brings it. This is a great sounding show. I really love The Song Remains The Same and The Rain Song. The intro to The Rain Song is one of my favorite parts. Fans of No Quarter are going to love this one. No Quarter has some parts that are just unique to this show. What I mean by that is, there are some parts that I haven't heard used in any other No Quarter. It is an amazing No Quarter. Dazed And Confused is eerie and pulls you in. What is amazing about this band is that they know each other so well, they can improvise so well. Dazed And Confused is a highlight because of this fact alone. Will they pull off the improv? What songs or riffs with they throw in? and who is going to take the lead? This is one of those songs I wish I could see as well. Page's playing is solid. Now I know some people are going to say..."he was out of tune on this song or that song" the only thing I know is he sounds great. What I love about his playing is the emotion, he plays in the moment. And this show is no exception. Stairway To Heaven is great. This could be one of my favorite versions of it.

You just have to love soundboards. The whole band sounds great. All in all Empress Valley has given the Led Zeppelin community another great . Now they had better not go and re-release this show in 6 months with the rest of it (ie, the Whole Lotta Love encore). That is the only part that makes me wonder, where is the rest of the show? This is a great addition to anyone's collection. Thumbs up Empress Valley.

(Cleet68 June 04)



Arthur Brown - The Lord Doesn't Want You - Fire (Sanctuary)
Arthur Brown - Fanfare-Fire Poem - Fire (Sanctuary)
Arthur Brown - Fire (Die Krupps Remix) - Fire (Sanctuary)
Can - Outside My Door - Monster Movie (Spoon-Mute)
Gary Numan - Conversation - The Pleasure Principle (Beggar's Banquet)

Johnny Talbot - Pickin' Cotton - Bay Area Funk (Ubiquity)
Solis Lacus - Peace please - Solis Lacus (EMI)
Steely Dan - Chain Lightning - Citizen (also on Katy Lied) (MCA)
Dietrich Schoenmann - Autumn Ground - Hard Sessions (Shadow)
Human League - Tell Me When - Octopus (Warner Bros)

Richard Hell & The Dim Stars - Rip Off - Spurts (Rhino)
Jefferson Airplane - Spare Chaynge - After Bathing at Baxter's (BMG)
Faust - Krautrock - Faust IV (Caroline)

Funkadelic - I got a thing You Got A Thing - Funkadelic Live (Westbound)
Frank Zappa - Stairway To Heaven - Broome County Arena - 3-17-88
Little Joe Moseley & The Sequins - Lookin' For A Job - Honey For Sale (Del-Fi)
Doug Wimbish - Bedwood - Trippy Notes for Bass (On-U Sound)