This is a very fun and joyous performance by Robert Plant with the Honeydrippers, at the Blue Note in Derby, UK. on April 21, 1981. After Zeppelin but before the solo career. We hear Little Sister, Bring It On Home, and Queen of the Hop. A great rockabilly/rock n roll show.
You can download this complete show right here: https://mega.nz/folder/7olCkKYL#ND8FpnJ_aeU5XlApP59GiQ
We hear 4 songs from Joe Walsh’s July 18, 1981 show at the LA Forum, as recorded by Mike Millard. A great set of classic tunes from the prolific Joe Walsh. A great mellow night with many hits.
You can download this complete show right here: https://mega.nz/folder/L91ixAyY#DXhir0BYp3cNM6BDk_Umnw
We hear songs from the Kinks at the Hollywood Palladium Aug 19, 1981. This is a 1st gen Mike Millard recording from the Give the People What They Want tour, and it’s a great show.
You can download this show right here: https://mega.nz/folder/S5VFiYDT#JSrg9lpOuFMKRgoA4izqyg
This is wonderful recording of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the LA Forum, June 30, 1981. Stevie Nicks joins them onstage for a couple of songs, and Mike Millard was there to record it all for us. This is a great show from the Hard Promises tour. Not to be missed.
If you would like to own this complete show you may download it here: https://mega.nz/folder/GpsDnaCT#AVC9I2NN-GTXqH_4QkIGFA
A first gen Mike Millard record of Bruce Springsteen at the LA Sports Arena on August 23, 1981 has been released, and we’re going to give it a listen. This is a beautifully recorded high energy Bruce show from The River tour. Good stuff.
If you would like to download this whole show you may do so here: https://mega.nz/folder/X0kE2TQA#02z5XHcuVa5ZN4fH-0AMlw
This is an excellent recording of Stevie Nicks on her 12 date Bella Donna tour. She’s in Los Angeles, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on December 12, 1981. It’s great. She’s amazing as is her backing band.
You can download the entire concert here: https://mega.nz/folder/vtdBCISI#l1AcAxLH3tRz77pYzgW6EA
1980 was not a great year for rock. John Bonham died in September and Led Zeppelin disbanded in December. Yes had finally sunk despite trying to plug the leaks with Trevor Horn, and Geoff Downe (from the Buggles!), after the departure of Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. Here’s a peek at what Yes looked like in 1980.
The air was heavy, dependency issues were rampant, and music was changing.
Jimmy Page was emotionally devastated, at both the death of his friend and bandmate, but also at the death of his band. Led Zeppelin officially dissolved on December 4, 1980.
The sources for this info are, for the most part, people directly involved. Chris Squire has spoken of these sessions, as have Alan White, Jimmy Page, and the engineer Stuart Epps. He also engineered the posthumous Led Zeppelin album, Coda.
Here’s the thing with these sources. Some were from youtube and they’ve been taken down and are gone. Chris Squire’s is gone, as is (goddamn it I should have downloaded it when I had the chance) the Stuart Epps video. I read a lot of interviews, forum posts from knowledgable people (cough Steve A Jones… cough), and watched/listened to a lot of videos. Due diligence was performed.
The only tracks that I’ve seen around, in the trading circles, are from a cassette source. My recording lists 2nd or 3rd generation.
Track 1 is Mind Drive, which was used later by Yes on Keys To Ascension 2
Track 2 is Fortune Hunter, which was used later by the Firm. This one feels a lot like a Jimmy riff to me. Alan White is more straight on rocking, and Chris Squire is just laying a groove. Nothing proggy. Jimmy uses the Roland guitar synth in the background, and the b bender is all over this. He plays some pretty tight solos, which sound a lot like solos from Coda, Walter’s Walk in particular.
Track 3 is Can You See. This is all Chris Squire. I can hear Jon Anderson singing this on 90125. If it was a little brighter, and if Chris Squire wasn’t singing this (sorry, he’s not great on this). It kind of drags tempo wise. It feels like it should be just a hair faster.
This later came out in 2001 as Can You Imagine on the album Magnification.
This is a complete song, with overdubs, solos, etc. The first two tracks were more rudimentary and jamming, than finished product.
Track 4 is Telephone Secrets. This one suffers (imo) from Squire’s vocals. I can see Jon Anderson singing this, and with a little more upbeat vibe, it being at home on 90125. It actually appears on the Deluxe Edition of Drama as Song No. 4 (satellite)
Stuart Epps was Jimmy Page’s engineer, working in Jimmy’s SOL studio (formerly Elton John’s) and he ran the board for the XYZ sessions. According to him, “It was a week of sessions. It was mad.” He was there. These guys were all focused on creating good music, and I think it shows.
I only played excerpts from each track, during the podcast. Here, as promised, are the complete XYZ tracks. Enjoy.
No sooner had I posted this episode than a listener commented about a promo XYZ pen he won back in 1981, from none other than Tight But Loose magazine. I.. had no idea things progressed to the point of pen manufacturing. I am extremely skeptical that it’s an official Swan Song/Atlantic promo. I am putting my money on it being something that Dave Lewis (the TBL guy and avatar of Zep) had made up himself. They look like the cheap promo pens that small businesses have made up, plus John Paul Jones and Robert Plant’s names are on the pen. I reached out to Mr. Lewis and will update when I get word. In any case… it’s pretty damn cool!
UPDATE: They are neither official nor do they originate from Mr. Lewis. He thinks they might have been made up by
http://www.artisthead.com/lecturers/artisthead-audio-interview-producer-stuart-epps-legendary-led-zeppelin-engineer-joins-artisthead-team/