| Led Zeppelin - Feeling Groovy - Definitive Edition |
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| Recorded at St Matthew's Baths Hall, Ipswich, UK. Great audience recording. From the info file: Led Zeppelin - Feeling Groovy Definitve Edition St Matthew's Baths Hall, Ipswich, UK, 1971-11-16 Empress Valley Audience recording EVSD 52/53/54 lineage: My silvers>EAC>WAV>FLACFRONTEND>FLAC Level 8, tested encoded files and Checksum md5 generated by Traders' Little Helper Artwork included with scans, EAC log files included Disc 1 01 Immigrant Song 02 Heartbreaker 03 Black Dog 04 Since I've Been Loving You 05 Rock And Roll 06 Stairway To Heaven 07 Going To California 08 That's The Way 09 Tangerine Disc 2 01 Dazed And Confused 02 What Is And What Should Never Be 03 Celebration Day Disc3 01 Whole Lotta Love( includes Boogie Chillun', Hello Mary Lou, Mess'o'Blues, Honey Bee, Going Down Slow) 02 Weekend 03 Gallows Pole Complete concert, in very good/near execellent audience tape. Empress Valley made 3 releases of this show, the 1st being a 2 Cd Set without the Encores (Weekend & Gallows Pole), this one a 3 CD set and an limited edition of a 4CD set Review from Underground Uprising : Feelin' Groovy Definitive Edition (Empress Valley) Disc One (67:13) IS, HB, BD, SIBLY, R&R, STH, GTC, TTW, Tangerine Disc Two (41:16) D&C, WIAWSNB, Celebration Day Disc Three (36:54) WLL medley, Weekend, Gallows Pole This new release uses what is believed to be a fourth(!) source tape from the Ipswich, UK show of 17 November 1971. Previous versions of this show on bootleg included 'Two Penny Upright', 'Over the 12 Foot End', 'Ipswich 1971' (TDOLZ), and the original 'Feelin' Groovy' (Empress Valley). One or both of two original good/very good source tapes were used for the first 3 titles mentioned. 'Feelin' Groovy' used a near excellent third source tape. All sources were not complete, missing at least the last 5 minutes of the WLL medley and any encores.This new fourth source tape is very good in quality and is the 2nd best of the four. All instruments are very clear. Plant seems at bit low in the mix, but that may be the result of the PA system. The recording 'crumbles' with the band's sheer volume at a couple of points, mainly the first crashing notes of songs such as R&R and BD. What makes this source special is that the WLL medley is complete for the first time and two encore tracks are presented, the rarely played 'Weekend' and The even rarer 'Gallows Pole'. 'Gallow's Pole', like it's previous appearance on a bootleg recording at Copenhagen from the previous May, seems to be played by Page on his Gibson double-neck guitar. This version is similar to the Copenhagen one, with Bonzo underlining the end of each verse with drum crashes. The band seems rather confident with this version (which is amazing, considering how infrequently this song was played live) and Page's guitar noodling at the end of the song is shorter than that at Copenhagen. With the improved recording quality, compared to Copenhagen, this track is a real pleasure, IMO.As for the rest of the CD, STH, TTW, and Tangerine appear to be missing on the new source tape. Empress Valley used the near excellent source from its previous version of this show for STH and TTW, but inexplicably Tangerine is from one of the original source tapes and is distant and muddy sounding. It they tried, Empress Valley could have released this new source on two discs, as Plant's dialogue and the opening notes of WLL are included at the end of disc two and repeated at the beginning of disc three. This is a shame, considering the high prices charged by this 'premium' bootleg label. The packaging is similar to other Empress Valley releases, with the discs recessed in a heavy cardboard 'block' with a slipcover wrapping up the package. Photos from November 1969(!) were used on the cover. There has been some speculation that a third encore of 'Communication Breakdown' was played at this show, so stayed tuned for 'Feelin' Groovy Definitive Definitive Edition'. (Chris Gust, Nov 2000) Feelin' Groovy Definitive Edition Empress Valley - EVSD 52/53/54 - 3CD November 16, 1971 St. Mathew's Baths - Ipswich, England DISC ONE: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Going To California, That's The Way, Tangerine DISC TWO: Dazed And Confused, What Is And What Should Never Be, Celebration Day DISC THREE: Whole Lotta Love Medley, Weekend, Gallows Pole This release comes packaged in Empress Valley's unique 'long box' design case. The outer sleeve is open-ended on both sides and a heavy cardboard 'tray' slides in/out. The tray has an opening carved out of the middle that the 3 discs rest in. There's a small, credit card-sized insert that contains photos of the venue. Each disc is housed in a cream-colored paper sleeve with the Empress Valley logo printed in gold in the lower right corner. The source tape is a very good, clear audience tape but it is biased towards the higher frequencies. The sound becomes distorted on the high-end of the spectrum because the recorder can't handle what's being thrown at it. It is still a highly enjoyable release. The audience is very restrained, polite perhaps. In any event, they are quiet and applaud when appropriate and talking around the recorder is minimal. Stairway To Heaven is spliced in from an alternate, but near excellent sounding source tape as is That's The Way. The only downside to the alternate source is the amount of tape hiss present. Disc one fades out during the bass intro to Dazed And Confused. Disc two picks up repeating about 15 seconds of the end of disc one ensuring no tape is missed in the disc change. If you listen carefully to the Dazed And Confused medley, you can hear snippets of what will evolve into The Crunge. Dazed also features a tape swap lasting maybe 30 seconds or so before switching back. Disc two fades out just as Whole Lotta Love starts and disc three starts off repeating several seconds of disc two. The specialness of this show however, doesn't become apparent until the encores. Eddie Cochran's Weekend is played followed by the extremely rare live rendition of Gallows Pole. The audience was relentless in requesting Gallows and the band finally succumbs to the pressure. The tail end of Gallows has the smallest of a snip of alternate tape spliced in. The set should have been released onto 2CDs and not 3, but what's done is done. Worth the asking price if you're really into Empress Valley, if you're a diehard Gallows Pole fan and/or to fans of early Zeppelin and the 1971 tour in particular. (Steve Prendergast February 03) |