Untitled Zeppelin post (take 11)

I know, I know – I’m a lazy sod and it’s been another two weeks since the last installment of my temporarily recurring feature here at the Licorice Pizza: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Sessions disks. I’d like to think that the gaps would keep people checking in to see if I’ve posted the latest chapter, but things don’t seem to work that way in the blogosphere.

But here we are, with the penultimate disk, this one covering a little of Presence and a lot of In Through the Out Door. Sessions for both of these albums took place during tumultuous times in the Zeppelin camp. Recording for Presence started while Robert Plant was recovering from injuries sustained in a 1975 car accident. Plant was convalescing in Malibu, Calif., and writing lyrics when Jimmy Page joined him. The two fleshed out the music Plant was working on, before being joined by John Paul Jones and John Bonham at SIR Studios in Hollywood for rehearsals. The album would ultimately be recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany.

The first three tracks of today’s post are from the sessions in Hollywood.

By late 1978, when Zeppelin set about recording In Through the Out Door, the band had divided into two camps: Jones and Plant, who were actually trying to record an album; and Page and Bonham, who were both reportedly battling addictions. Often Plant and Jones would record during the day and Page and Bonham would show up at night to record their parts. In Through the Out Door is the only Zeppelin album with original compositions (“South Bound Suarez” and “All My Love”) that Jimmy Page had no part in writing. The resulting album was much more keyboard-oriented than any of the previous Led Zeppelin disks.

These sessions took place during November and December 1978 at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Some things to note: This version of “All My Love” has an alternate ending with a “twangy” guitar solo and additional vocals. Plant also did all of the vocals in one take, so, other than the ending, this is the same version as on In Through the Out Door.

The title of “South Bound Suarez” seems to be a point of contention among Led Zeppelin fans. Some think the title contains a typographical error; it is thought by some that “suarez” is a misspelling of the French word for an evening party, soirée. More likely, though, is that it’s just a play on words, as the lyrics reference “flying down” (southbound), being happy to have his feet on the ground again, watching a woman walk and talk, heavy rhythm, and “con carne,” a Spanish dish prepared with beef.

Since there are only 14 songs on this disk, I posted them all, but also Zipped them all up for you. And I’ll try to get to the final disk sometime before Christmas!

1. Royal Orleans.mp3
2. Tea for One (aka Hootchie Cootchie version.mp3
3. Don’t Start Me Talking / Blues Medley / All My Lovin’.mp3
4. Carouselambra (inst).mp3
5. unknown song (intro only).mp3
6. Wearing and Tearing.mp3
7. Fool in the Rain.mp3
8. Hot Dog.mp3
9. In the Evening.mp3
10. South Bound Suarez.mp3
11. Darlene.mp3
12. Fool in the Rain.mp3
13. Carouselambra.mp3
14. All My Love.mp3

Unzip it here.

Labels: classic rock, guitar heroes, Led Zeppelin, outtakes

posted by aikin @ 4:12 PM