Orlando Empress Valley have pulled off another new discovery, a large chunk of an excellent soundboard recording from Orlando on 31 August 1971. The audience tape has been used to fill the gaps in the SBD recording, and we have an almost complete concert. It has been released as two seperate packages: a 4CD set with the first two CDs being the SBD/AUD combination, and the last two CDs being the AUD recording. And also as a 2CD package, with the complete show from SBD/AUD. The packaging is a thick card folding case, with the CDs housed inside in card sleeves. The 4CD release has an Obi, where we learn that this set was released on 25 January 2003, and costs Yen 11,800 in Japan (thats £60 or US$100). The SBD is extremely sharp and clear, and is a pleasure to listen to. The gaps are sadly the acoustic section, from Celebration Day to half way through What Is And What Should Never Be, when the SBD tape returns. Jimmy Page is in top form, and even plays a few bars of the Kinks You Really Got Me before What Is. After Robert Plant has introduced Black Dog to the audience, John Bonham says to Page in a thick Glaswegian accent: Are ye alright Jimmy?, to which Page replies in a similar accent: yeah Im alright!. Great moments in sport! It is a really good concert overall and one that fans should seek out to acquire. The 4 CD release sold out very quickly and a 4CD set sold recently on Yahoo! Japans auction site for Yen 80,000 (US$680 or £430)! This must be a prime candidate for Empress Valley to re-release ad nauseam (like Burn Like A Candle) (Jules McTrainspotter Feb 03) Florida Sunshine 2CDs (Empress Valley)Set list:- Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since Ive Been Loving You, Dazed And Confused (includes White Summer ?)*,Black Dog,Stairway To Heaven, Celebration Day*,Thats The Way**,Going To California**,What Is And What Should Never Be*,Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love (includes Boogie Chillun, My Baby Left Me, Mess Around With You (?),Mess OBlues), Organ Solo/Thank You.Comments: * part SBD, part audience/ ** only audienceWe start with the audience tape for the announcer, a cut, more audience tape and than the SBD. Theres a little jam as a kind of soundcheck, a count-in from Bonzo and off with the Immigrant Song. The SBD has lots of bass and lowend, very much like the Hampton Roads SBD tape a few days later. Robert starts a bit lazy and low but loses up quickly. The guitar is not pushed away by all the bass and low frequencies. The drums are a bit buried in the sound, but Bonzo is there for sure. The crowd sounds very close by, not somewhere on Mars like some other SBDs. The solo spot in Heartbreaker is performed with all the usual attachments, not entirely smooth, but very nice. The keyboards warming up Since Ive... rumble even more than the bass in the first two songs. Robert voice in not in top shape, he loses control a few times in this song. Great solo from Page here. Page is in a playful mood, he constantly plays bits and pieces between songs. Then Dazed & Confused instead of Black Dog, the usual song during this tour. Plant goes very high in the second verse. The first switch to the audience tape happens after the 25 hours a day bit, switching back to the SBD just before the bow solo. A very thin bit of Bouree is played during the bowing part. From here to the return of the main theme is very enjoyable, one of the better versions from 1971. Page wah-wah part with Bonzos syncopated drums during the end is great. I couldnt quite hear White Summer as Rey describes, but...Even when Robert speaks theres echo on his voice. Black Dog follows, with Plant making up words on the spot as it seems. They manage to perform this song, but just !! Page saves it in the end with an excellent solo. Before Stairway To Heaven Bonzo says something about (not playing ?)Moby Dick. Stairway is very impressive, with Robert getting the lyrics right. The solo is still under construction I believe, because the playing is a bit flat. The audience likes the new song a lot. Celebration Day is also played on the double neck, because it follows in seconds. Celebration Day is almost complete from the audience source, which sounds good, with also lots of bass. The instrumental ending is quite a mess. Empress Valley make their usual fault with the end of disc I, with the introduction of the acoustic set, which starts on disc II. The acoustic set is totally from the audience source, with the tape recorder getting messed up with the minute with lots of clicks, bumps and cuts. Normal 1971 versions of the acoustic songs, nothing special. Rey mentions Tangerine in his book, but this song wasnt played during the American tour of 1971. What Is... is part audience and during the guitar solo it switches back to the SB. Robert is need of contact and manage hardly according to himself. Moby Dick lasts about 16 minutes. Whole Lotta Love begins with a jam while Robert still looks for contact. Page is singing his ass of during the choruses. The Theremin comes through loud and clearly. Before returning to the chorus theres a complete stop, before Bonzo counts in again. Robert found contact last night according to the intro to Boogie Chillun. Then someone is invading the stage I think, because Clive Coulson (a roadie) is called. Boogie Chillun continues with a perfect solo from Page, greatly extended. My Baby Left Me and Mess Around With You (?) follow. Mess OBlues is next on the bill. And then theres a wonderful beginning and some lyrics that i cant match with a song and suddenly theres a cut and were into the organ solo. Shame ! The organ solo sounds like an introduction to a religious TV show. Thank You is dominated by the organ. Jimmys solo is just coming through, but it is a very good one. Bonzo is also hammering away quite nicely. The ending is very mysterious. As a separate track number we get a bonus, an announcement that William (the stage invader ?) wallet is up here. Well, its not Flying Circus, but its a lot better than most of those sterile 1973 SBs. (Pieter Feb 03) Florida Sunshine-Empress Valley Where to begin? This was my first bootleg purchase in over 3 years. The soundboard, is a step below Flying Circus, but well above the dry, and sterile 73 board tapes. Some of the AUD splices I can tolerate, because they are so minute. But what really drove me nuts is that Celebration Day started out with this really nice intro, and then in comes the AUD tape. (Honestly the AUD portion is bass heavy, and does tend to overload sometimes.) I really love Celebration Day from 1971. I really love the bands sound from 1971 because they are SUPER tight, and Plant still has his voice. I mean there are a few mistakes here and there, but over all its a good performance, and how often do you get to hear the band circa 1971, in SB quality anyway? Not often enough! Future buyers should only get the 2 CD SB/AUD combo edition of this title. (James Sirigos Feb 03) Florida Sunshine - Empress Valley) Im offering this as my first review submission. I bought the 4CD set that sold so quickly. Only 200 copies -- theres a marketing ploy I cant resist. Im a 14-year collector of Zeppelin bootlegs (a true sickness), and Ive been reinvigorated by the recent surge in Japanese luxury titles. I love a good package with quality photos, layout, and typesetting, and the Japanese can usually operate a printing press like nobody else. Orlando Magic is particularly nice in this respect, and I feel it was worth the price I paid ($110). As an aside, I dont understand why EV gives the deluxe treatment to some titles like the awful 7/29/73 source and then packages the 2/12/75 material in a relatively careless manner. 2/12/75 should have come packaged in a Steinway replica with blow-up dolls of the band members. Anyway, the book-style package is substantial, similar to, but smaller than, the 7/29/73 release. As mentioned, the SBD source here is similar to the Hampton 71 recording, presumably due to the use of the same PA and recording device. Isnt this why most SBDs from a given tour sound similar? However, this recording doesnt have the minor clipping problems that Hampton did. Its very very enjoyable recording, even if bottom heavy. Sonically, the snare drum has that compressed sound typical of the era, a problem solved by Showcos system for the 75 shows. The 4 CD set contains the same editing described on the previous review of the 2CD set but with the audience portion as extra discs. The audience source misses the end of the show, cutting off perfectly at the end of Moby Dick -- highly suspect. Some people will be irritated that this wasnt presented as 2CDs of unedited SB and 2CDs of unedited audience. I have no comment about this. I love the sound of the band in 1971, and even a relatively off-night is preferable to me to most shows from the later years. I also love that this was before the audiences had any idea of the significance of the forthcoming (fourth) album. The material had so much baggage in later years, but in this context is doesnt ever sound cliche. The instrumental jam at the beginning of Whole Lotta Love, while not as ferocious as the same from 9/29/71, is still the kind of moment that justifies Led Zeppelin live collecting. The same can be said for the You Really Got Me riffing before What Is And What Should Never Be and the intro to Celebration Day. Ill leave evaluative details of the performance to others, but suffice it to say this is an important release. Finally, I sincerely hope someone does the LZ bootleg collecting community a favor and kicks the person who translates EVs liner notes into English. (Carter van Pelt Feb 03) Orlando You Really Got Me (Genuine Masters GM-LZ-31.08.71-DVD-A-13) 1 DVDR-Audio Civic Auditorium, Orlando, FL, 31 August 1971 Set list (132 mins): Intro/Immigrant Song/Heartbreaker/Since Ive Been Loving You/Dazed And Confused/Black Dog/Stairway To Heaven/Celebration Day/Thats The Way/Going To California/What Is And What Should Never Be/Moby Dick/Whole Lotta Love/Organ Solo/Thank You The Empress Valley release Florida Sunshine (in both 2 and 4 CD guises) was an extremely important one when it came out two years ago at the start of 2003. It made available a newly surfaced soundboard recording (albeit incomplete) for much of the concert. Combined with the audience recording we got almost the entire show. Two years later Genuine Masters brings out their version of the SBD/AUD matrix, on a single DVDR-Audio (and on two CDRs if so desired). The sound on this release is more natural, ie the sources have not been EQd to the extent that Empress Valley like to do it. The screen printed disc is in full colour, as is the very attractive DVD case insert. The opening menu gives easy and quick access to all the songs. It is an excellent concert too, and on the soundboard part we are treated to several exchanges between the band members (the best being the exchange between John Bonham and Jimmy Page just before Black Dog (both spoken in a pronounced broad Glaswegian accent). Bonzo: are ye alright Jimmy?, and Mr. Pages reply: yeah Im alright!. Priceless, what a terrible and irreplaceable loss John Bonhams passing is to the World. The images used come from 1971 and early 1972, having a psychedelic or solarized theme to many of them. The sound, as previously mentioned, has more natural feel to it, and the blend between the two sources is seamless. There is also excellent stereo seperation between both left and right speakers, quite distinct in What Is And What Should Never Be. If you like powerful in your face and punchy audio, then the Empress Valley version will suit you. However if you prefer a more balanced sound then this new offering from Genuine Masters will appeal to you. As is often the case it all depends on individual taste. (Jules McTrainspotter March 05) Orlando You Really Got Me (Genuine Masters GM-LZ-31.08.71-DVD-A-13) 1 DVDR-Audio Civic Auditorium, Orlando, FL, 31 August 1971 Track list: Band Intro (Audience/Soundboard)/ Immigrant Song (Soundboard)/Heartbreaker (Soundboard)/Since Ive Been Loving You (Soundboard)/Dazed And Confused /(Soundboard/Audience/Soundboard)/Black Dog (Soundboard)/Stairway To Heaven (Soundboard)/ Celebration Day (Soundboard/Audience)/Thats The Way (Audience)/Going To California (Audience)/ What Is And What Should Never Be (Audience/Soundboard)/Moby Dick (Soundboard)/Whole Lotta Love w/Medley (Soundboard)/Organ Solo (Soundboard)/Thank You (Soundboard) Let me first highlight the fact that we are enjoying a Soundboard/Audience mix here and the sound quality rating for each breaks down to a solid 9 for the Soundboard and a 7 to 8 for the much more palatable version of the mono audience recording that Genuine Masters presents to us with Orlando-You Really Got Me - versus what Empress Valley and Eel Grass offered up initially with Florida Sunshine. Genuine Masters has all along been about the naturalness of a given recording and I for one couldnt wait to hear what they present to us with this 1971 Led Zeppelin gem. Folks, they didnt let us down. I should probably re-iterate for those looking into GM releases for the first time that this is not a DVD video. It is a unique DVD with audio accompanied by a deliciously blinding psychedelic photo slideshow. The quality of the photo treatments is always breathtaking. Back to the recordings. This show is a current favorite of mine and its just an awesome experience to listen to the band so full of confidence. The soundboard recording is excellent, with monaural qualities to start but is outstanding by Since Ive Been Loving You. In previous releases, the gradual improvement wasnt as dynamic as it is here on the GM version. The REAL improvement to this effort though is how Genuine Masters has cleaned up the transitions in-between the 2 sources. Plus, it isnt such a harsh transition into the audience source because it sounds so much better! This makes for an incredibly pleasant journey through a very solid and relaxed performance by the band. (You cannot help but wish that the precious acoustic section was available from the soundboard. Its just one of those things). The slideshow aspect of Orlando is produced on par with previous GM releases and the label continues to keep a nice pace with the changing visuals. Again, they have sourced some shots I havent seen before -which always amazes me...but they also recycle some of the familiar images that we can term as common. One interesting and welcome nuance that GM has made a concious effort to program is that during tracks like Dazed And Confused and Moby Dick, we get an array of images through the years of moments in those actual song performances - or at least represent what we think of while listening to those epics. Such as Jimmy with the violin bow and Bonzo playing with his hands, etc. Just a nice touch to go along with the whole experience. As usual, the standards of navigation through the menu and its general presentation is tops. The cover art also solid GM high resolution design in a clear DVD clamshell case. This title can also be obtained on audio discs through GM and they also hold true to being an improvement over earlier titles of this 2 source show. I know Zeppelin fans will be more than appreciative to have this excellent release in their collections and Im ecstatic to have 1971 represented solidly in the GM format and glad they included this Orlando show in their catalog of releases. They have served collectors well with the production value this title brings. (SVENGI HotWacks On-Line March 05) Orlando You Really Got Me (Genuine Masters GM-LZ-31.08.71-DVD-A-13) 1 DVDR-Audio Civic Auditorium, Orlando, FL, 31 August 1971 Set list (132 mins): Intro/Immigrant Song/Heartbreaker/Since Ive Been Loving You/Dazed And Confused/Black Dog/Stairway To Heaven/Celebration Day/Thats The Way/Going To California/What Is And What Should Never Be/Moby Dick/Whole Lotta Love/Organ Solo/Thank You It is truly nice to at last have a title from Genuine Masters featuring one of the concerts in 71, which I believe was throughout the golden year of the band! As most of you know, Empress Valley first made the soundboard tape of the concert available to us in its title Florida Sunshine. I compared the sound of this title from GM with that of EVs title. On my first hearing of GMs title, I thought EVs title might sound more gutsy and solid, probably being affected by the labels technical equalizing. However, as I turned up the volume, I soon realized I was wrong! Naturally, the range and depth of the sound featured in the DVD version of GMs title, especially in its lower end, are greater than EVs. For instance, if we follow Johnseys bass line backing up Jimmys fast guitar solo in Heartbreaker that we can now clearly hear in GMs title, we cannot help but feel amazed to know what creative and incredible phrases he was playing! Moreover, in EVs version, Bonzos drum sounds very tight but... probably too tight. Although I unfortunately never had a chance to experience his drumming live, judging from the drum sounds as recorded in Led Zeppelins official albums, et al., his drums must have sounded not so tight but rather sounded somewhat fat with lots of ambience. GMs title more naturally and faithfully revives such fat sound of his drumming. Of course, we can also enjoy Jimmys wonderful guitar sound and Roberts powerful voice of their most glorious days, in a good balance with the rhythm sections in this title from GM. The fillers from the audience tape used in both titles are apparently from the same source. However, as it is especially clear in the silent portions of the tape, GM has made efforts to neatly suppress the hiss noise which existed in EVs title. Accordingly, the audience tape as we hear in GMs title is also of better sound quality than EVs. The slide shows accompanying the sound are, as usual with any of GMs titles, very artistic and of high quality, providing us with some extra joy. Another nice and highly enjoyable work presented by the masterful producer of the label! (Takemi Hiramatsu April 05) OrlandoYou Really Got Me(Genuine Masters GM-LZ-31.08.71-DVD-A-13) 1 DVDR-Audio Civic Auditorium, Orlando, FL, 31 August 1971 Credit is given, and rightly so, for some of the new sources and/or spot-on remastering Blackdog brings to his Genuine Masters line, giving us the definitive versions to date (and arguably beyond) of established classics like Blueberry Hill or Watch and Listen to this Eddie. But as was the case with The Devils Blues, GM may be at its very best when it takes recordings that were near misses and turns them into something special. Near miss might seem a tad harsh, but there was always *something* about the San Francisco 4/27/69 soundboard tape that frustrated, good as it was. Same for the Orlando 71 board tape when it first made the rounds a couple of years ago; very good to be sure, but somehow not wholly satisfying. Orlando You Really Got Me restores that source to the finest possible degree (a little light on airy highs, but strong down the middle and on the bottom end) and layers in the missing pieces of the show from a very credible (for the era) audience recording. The fill-ins are primarily from the acoustic portion of the show, which helps, as the diminished din was undoubtedly easier to capture for the primitive gear of the taper. The seamlessness of the source switching is, like Devils, strikingly transparent (try matching audience levels to board levels yourself without introducing lots of noise; it aint easy). The performance is a pleasure, too, from the cracking intro to Celebration Day to the stereo-sweeping guitar on What Is and What Should Never Be to the entrancing organ solo that precedes the lovely, show-closing Thank You. Orlando, you really did get us this time. (Butterking April 05, an expanded Review from Going Underground, ICE Magazine, June 05)
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 19:44:34 +0000
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