When it
all started
In late 1968 a couple of California teenagers stumbled upon several
reels of tape that had been recorded in Bob Dylan's house. How they
came to acquire these tapes has never exactly been explained and is
the stuff of legend. Before the 1960's, record companies usually held
onto all tapes from artists' recording sessions. But artists like Dylan
and the Beatles took more control of the process of making records,
recording where they felt like it, in a house in Woodstock, for example
and the record labels lost control of the process.
The tapes these two teenagers stumbled upon contained some previously
unreleased Dylan songs and alternate versions of some songs that had
already been released. Open-reel tape decks were expensive at the time,
and beyond the budget of these kids, so they approached a record manufacturing
plant to master and press the tapes in the lowest quantity allowed,
which was 100 pieces.
In the 1960's, cassette tapes were not commonly available, and everyone
had a turn-table, so it was not unusual for people to make records to
pass on information as they do with tapes today. High school bands made
records of their annual concerts and church groups made records of their
favorite hymn performance. Pressing 100 records was considerably cheaper
than buying a tape deck and at the time there was nothing illegal about
it.
The kids made these 100 Dylan records, thinking of them more as novelties
rather than as albums per se. They gave them away to friends and soon
friends of friends began to inquire about them. People began to offer
money for the discs, which were packaged in a plain white sleeve. A
record store approached the kids to ask if they could have 100 copies
at $4 a piece. So the kids made 500 more, started to sell them for a
couple of bucks each, and the modern American bootlegging industry was
born.
The record became known as "The Great White Wonder" and over
the next decade it sold so many copies some claimed it should have made
it onto the Bill-board charts. The teenagers went on to form the Trade
Mark of Quality (TMQ) record label and to become the biggest bootleggers
in music history. Today we recognize The Great White Wonder as the first
significant bootleg album.
Bootlegging itself began back with the invention of the cylinder phonograph;
the earliest bootlegs were of opera legend Enrico Caruso. But bootlegging
didn't begin as an industry until the late 1960's and it continues to
this day as a quasi-underground record industry. And with the exception
of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, no other group in history has
interested bootleggers as much as Led Zeppelin.
Legal or
illegal
When bootlegging began in the late 1960's, it was not illegal. Those
first copies of The Great White Wonder were sold in legitimate record
stores over the counter and were stuck in the Dylan section in the records
racks. In the early 1970's, every hip record store in town had stacks
of bootlegs for sale, and many times they were cheaper and occasionally
better than the regular record company releases. The law changed in
February 1972, when the U.S. Congress passed a bill that outlawed the
exhumation of pet cemeteries for the purpose of road construction. In
an effort to quickly pass a law to deal with the increasing number of
bootleg albums, the recording lobby persuaded Congress to attach an
amendment to the pet cemetery bill making it a felony to manufacture
bootleg, pirate, or counterfeit sound recordings for the purpose of
resale. The law has been open to interpretation over the years and though
court cases are still occasionally fought over the specifics of copyright
infringement involving, bootlegging remains illegal.
What means
a bootleg
It is important to distinguish between the different forms of music
piracy. A "bootleg" is defined as an illegally manufactured
disc or tape that includes previously unreleased live or studio recordings.
A "pirate" is considered a copy of a commercially available
recording that has been repackaged in its own unique packaging. A "counterfeit",
finally, is a copy of a commercially available recording that duplicates
all aspects of the original official copy, including the packaging.
These distinctions are important because the perpetrators of each different
level approach the project with a different intention. Pirates and counterfeits
are usually made by professionals with the sole intent of high profits.
Most bootlegs are manufactured by fans. Even the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA), the body that actually takes bootleggers
to court) admits that bootlegging is small potatoes compared to the
millions of dollars in losses record companies face from pirates and
counterfeits. Usually the RIAA does not distinguish between the various
forms of bootlegging when they report on raids or actions they have
taken, so when you read about 100,000 records being seized they usually
aren't talking about copies of The Great White Wonder. Though the moral
question of bootlegging is one best answered individually, the debate
generally comes down to whether the buying of bootleg albums hurts the
sales of legitimate albums (as the record companies argue) or whether
anyone who would spend money on a bootleg is bound to have all the legitimate
releases already (as many bootleg collectors suggest).
Rolling
Stones Gather No Moss
Shortly after the release of "The Great White Wonder", the
Rolling Stones played a concert at the Oakland Coliseum that was the
talk of the West Coast. The show was taped and released in bootleg form
with the title "Liver Than You'll Ever Be." It was an outstanding
recording of a great performance and it was immediately recognized by
fans, and by critics, as far superior to the official Stones live album.
The record was reviewed in many publications and treated with all the
seriousness that a legitimate release would warrant. The record sold
even faster than The Great White Wonder and the legitimate record companies
began to take notice.
Two or three more titles followed in the next few months, a Donovan
disc and a couple more Dylan titles, and rumor began to spread through
the grapevine about a forthcoming disc from an exciting new live band
by the name of Led Zeppelin.
Peter Grant
The grapevine was something that Zeppelin manager Peter Grant stayed
in touch with he had virtually created all the excitement for his new
band by word of mouth to start with. Grant heard about this Zeppelin
bootleg and immediately thought it would take money out of his pocket.
The group's label, Atlantic, also was concerned since Zeppelin already
accounted for a high percentage of company profits. Grant set off to
stop the bootleggers before they got started. Grant reportedly traveled
extensively through England and America, went to every studio that the
band had recorded in and to every radio station that had done a broadcast,
and reclaimed any tapes he could find. Shortly thereafter Atlantic drafted
up a stack of cease and desist orders and made it known that they were
ready to deliver them to any stores that sold bootlegs.
In the October 3, 1970, issue of Melody Maker the headline read "Led
Zeppelin Hammer Bootlegs." The story reported that "two new
Led Zeppelin albums will shortly be in the shops, both unofficial, illegal
bootlegs. But Zeppelin's management immediately blasted back with a
denial that any tapes were in private hands, and added the threat that
anyone who tries to bootleg the group will be promptly sued. One Zeppelin
album is alleged to be studio recorded tracks, never released, and the
other is a live album from Germany. Phil Carson, European general manager
of Atlantic records told me, 'We will be taking positive legal action
against anyone who is found pressing, marketing or retailing these albums,'
and Zeppelin manager Peter Grant declared this week,' As far as I know
there can be no tapes of Zeppelin available. After hearing some time
ago that there was going to be an attempt at some tapes of the band,
I flew to America. We've managed to retrieve all the tapes and we know
of nothing in existence that can be issued.'" Perhaps no greater
misstatement has been uttered in music business history.
Live On
Blueberry Hill
It was an understandable mistake to make, though. Up to that time no
one believed that you could make a good tape of a band from a seat in
the audience. It was Led Zeppelin "Live on Blueberry Hill"
that changed that misconception forever. The Dylan bootlegs had been
recorded from either the famous "basement tapes", which were
studio quality recordings, or from television outtakes. The Stones'
"Liver" album was so good that everyone associated with the
band, perhaps straight from the mixing board. But there were no illusions
about "Blueberry Hill". This was definitely an audience recording,
complete with whistles and cheering, but despite that it sounded great.'
Legend has it that the recording was made using a two-track Nagra portable
open reel tape deck with a Sennheiser shotgun microphone. Some argued
that this recording from the audience actually sounded closer to the
experience of the show than the sterile sound on most legitimate live
recordings.
"Blueberry Hill" opened the floodgates. The bootleggers realized
that they could get as much material as they wanted, and more importantly,
they realized that there was a tremendous audience for these recordings.
"Blueberry Hill" is still recognized by many Zeppelin collectors
as being one of the very best Zeppelin bootlegs. It has several unique
features, it was the best recording from the era (recorded September
1970 at the L.A. Forum, one of the band's favorite venues), it is still
the only bootleg with a decent live recording of Bring It On Home, it
is the only bootleg with live versions of Out On The Tiles, Blueberry
Hill and I Saw Her Standing There, and the original tape included a
live version of Page's instrumental "Bron-Yr-Aur", which wasn't
released on the original vinyl bootleg, though it was included on the
CD releases. There have been literally hundreds of Led Zeppelin bootlegs
since that first one in late 1970. Even twenty five years after the
group's demise, Zeppelin bootlegs appear on the collector's market at
an astounding rate. The number of Zeppelin bootleg titles is unbelievable.
I have found nearly 4,000 titles. There were at least a dozen ten or
so album bootleg sets.
One infamous Zeppelin bootleg set contains a full 70 different discs.
About 325 shows with ten or more repressing on different labels. The
original TMQ bootlegs from the early 1970's are still some of the most
desirable and the most valuable. There were three original TMQ single
albums:"Mudslide", "BBC Broadcast" and "Stairway
To Heaven." The label originally issued five double albums: "Blueberry
Hill", "Going To California", "Bonzo's Birthday
Party", "Three Days After", and "V 1/2". "Mudslide"
was actually a reissue of another bootleg titled "Pb "(reissuing
bootlegs is a very common occurrence and something that you'll see confuses
the number of Zeppelin titles greatly) that had been recorded off the
radio in Vancouver, Canada, and is an exceptional mono recording of
a tremendous performance. "BBC Broadcast" was the first of
a multitude of bootlegs taken from the performance at the BBC's Paris
Theatre in 1971.
Going To
California
"Going To California" was issued right after "Blueberry
Hill " and was touted as being recorded in Los Angeles, though
it actually was from a show at the Berkeley on September 14, 1971. Bootleggers
frequently mislabel the date and place of the shows contained on their
discs, sometimes out of incompetence, sometimes to purposely throw off
authorities as to who recorded the show, and occasionally simply to
try to sell more copies since shows from the bigger markets usually
have more interest for collectors since the market is larger.
Bonzo's
Birthday Party
The next title of note went on to become legendary, perhaps because
the title itself was such a classic. It was called "Bonzo's Birthday
Party" and it featured the performance from the L.A. Forum on May
31, 1973. The album contains outstanding live performances of Heartbreaker,
Whole Lotta Love and The Ocean. It was followed up with the title "Three
Days After", recorded at the same venue on June 3, 1973. This release
also included some leftover material from the "Blueberry Hill"
tape. The next TMQ title was "V 1/2" which was recorded in
Seattle on June 17, 1973. The recording is not outstanding but the performance
makes up for it. These TMQ titles are considered to be the mainstays
of any Zeppelin bootleg collection, though not every release came out
first on TMQ. "Blueberry Hill" was originally issued before
the inauguration of the TMQ label, so the very first pressings were
on Blimp Records and were packaged in two single plain white sleeves
with two insert covers printed in two colors. It was later reissued
on TMQ innumerable times and on several different colored pressings
of vinyl. Colored wax in the early days was a good indication of a title
being an early pressing of a bootleg (and therefore having better sound
than a bootleg of a bootleg), though in modern times it is not always
the case, some first editions of bootlegs are on black wax while later
pressings are on colored wax and are mistaken for original pressings.
Other labels
The next major bootleg label on the scene was the Amazing Kornyphone
Record Label (TAKRL), a business that issued a ton of records though
only a few of their titles were Zeppelin discs (supposedly the people
behind the label weren't big Zeppelin fans). The label released three
single Zep albums; "Ballcrusher", a reissue of an album by
the same name from Flat Records and taken from the 1971 BBC concert",
Live In England 1976", a reissue of the excellent European bootleg
recorded at Earl's Court on May 24, 1975, and "Cellarful Of Noise",
a poor recording from the performance at Osaka Festival Hall in Japan
on September 29, 1971. The label released two double albums of Zeppelin
material: "Live In Seattle", a reissue of the TMQ "V
1/2" and "The 1975 World Tour", from Montreal, Canada,
on February 6, 1975. Kornyphone's releases were some of the most widely
distributed Zeppelin bootlegs and pop up in most collections, but they
are not known for being high quality recordings.
Another early bootleg label was Wizardo Records (WRMB). The only Zeppelin
titles put out by Wizardo were "Plant Waves" (the title was
a takeoff on the Bob Dylan album Planet Waves), and "Caution Explosive".
"Plant Waves" was a compilation of tracks from Detroit and
New York shows on the 1975 tour and the sound quality was variable.
"Caution Explosive" fared a little better since the source
material included, once again, the infamous Blueberry Hill material
along with some from the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco 1969.
By the mid 1970's a whole host of smaller bootleg labels had sprung
up including Rubber Dubber, Immaculate Conception Records (ICR), Contraband
Music (CBM), Dittolino Discs, Kustom Records, Idle Mind Productions
(IMP), K&S Records, Berkeley Records, Smilin' Ears, and Ze Anonym
Plattenspeiler. Their product was a thick, black record in a white jacket.
To simplify matters they are referred to in this text as White Cover
Folks (WCF). Most of these labels offered up Zeppelin titles that were
little more than reissues of the early TMQ stuff, though there were
a few notable new releases.
Idle Mind re-released a Japanese bootleg of the show from Osaka 1972
and called the album "My Brain Hurts", which should win an
award for best title of a Zeppelin boot. The release included a rare
and interesting version of the band covering Ben E. King's "Stand
By Me".
K&S was the first label to release the legendary Knebworth shows
on bootleg, and their version of these shows also included material
from the BBC studio sessions and Montreux 1970. Smilin' Ears distinguished
itself by being the first bootleg label to release a four-record Zeppelin
box set, titled "Destroyer". The set was originally listed
as a Seattle recording, though it actually featured a concert from Cleveland
in 1977. The set has become one of the best known and loved of all Zeppelin
titles and has been reissued many times.
In 1979 two new labels debuted with Zeppelin releases that stood above
the others available at the time. Phoenix and Toasted Records put more
effort into packaging their material than other labels had, with full-color
deluxe covers that rivaled the official album jackets. The labels issued
a whole slew of double albums, with four-color covers and featuring
artwork by the noted artist Ginger, including "Absence" (BBC
and Earl's Court 1975)", Spare Parts" (BBC and Copenhagen
1969)", "Knebworth II" (Knebworth August 11, 1979)",
Seattle 73", and "Knebworth 79" (Knebworth August 4,
1979). Most of the material on these labels had been previously released
but the packaging on these records made them desired collectors items.
Bootlegs
Forbidden
In 1985 the RIAA and the Canadian Recording Industry Association, in
conjunction with the FBI, mounted a massive campaign to put an end to
the bootlegging problem in North America. The publicity surrounding
raids staged all across the continent sent bootleggers even further
underground. Around this period most major bootlegging operations moved
to Europe or Japan, where bootlegs continued to come out and get imported
into the United States at ever greater cost to the collector.
The Song
Remains The Same
In 1985 a new bootleg label called Rock Solid/International Records
came into operation and in a very short time issued more Zeppelin work
than most other labels put together, most of it previously unreleased.
The single albums included a reissue of a Japanese album called "White
Summer" from a show in Hamburg 1970, a Honeydrippers show from
1981, and "John Henry Bonham: Session Man", a boot that included
all of Bonham's known recordings for other artists.
The multi-album sets included "Listen To This Eddie", "Duck-Walks
And Lasers", "In Person", "In Concert", "Live
On The Levee", "Custard Pie", "Alpha And Omega",
"Winterland". The label even issued two 10-record sets: "Strange
Tales From The Road" and "Led Zeppelin The Can", which
was a 14-inch film can numbered and stickered with live versions of
almost every original song the band ever played live.
1986 saw the rise and fall of Box Top Records. This label re-released
many old classics, most on colored vinyl, from original plates. These
came in a thin cover with a color snap-shot of the artist on the front
and a sticker with the song listings on the back.
1988 saw the short-lived return of Trade Mark Of Quality (TMOQ or TMQ)
and The Amazing Kornyphone Record Label (TAKRL) labels working together
to provide A High Standard Of Standardness. Records came in energic
covers in a variety of colors with the artists name and the album title
on the front and a jacket sized label logo on the back. These were two
separate batches of releases and each had the song listings for albums
in that batch on sheets enclosed in the record jackets.
One of the strange things you'll notice about Zeppelin bootlegs is that
the bootleggers weren't afraid to mix material from dramatically different
time periods on the same record (including a 1969 performance on a disc
of mostly 1977 stuff), which confuses many fans as to the original source
material. As if the material from Rock Solid/International wasn't impressive
enough, many of the original bootleggers got back into action in the
late 1980's again and Zeppelin was one of their favorite groups. TMQ
returned and, using the original master plates, repressed Blueberry
Hill, this time with a deluxe color cover. Toasted also returned to
the scene, this time with a number of titles made from unreleased soundboard
recordings of the band, and the quality was phenomenal. Available around
this time were rehearsals for "Physical Graffiti" and "In
Through The Out Door", and the legendary campfire sessions from
Bron-Yr-Aur cottage. Also released in this period were boots of the
legendary performance of "Friends" with the Bombay Symphony
Orchestra, Plant and Bonham's recordings with the Band Of Joy, outtakes
from the third record, and dozens of live concert recordings. On the
back of an album called "Last Stand", featuring the band's
Berlin 1980 show, Toasted publicly announced they would stop making
vinyl bootlegs, though other manufacturers have continued to press their
wares on vinyl.
The Final
Option
In 1986, Zeppelin bootlegs, and perhaps bootlegs in general, hit their
zenith with the release of the ultimate bootleg of them all, a package
titled "The Final Option". This set featured 70 different
albums of Zeppelin material and included pressings of almost every Zeppelin
bootleg previously made, all seemingly stamped from the original master
plates. This set included material from Rock Solid, Screaming Oiseau,
TAKRL, Toasted, Waggle, and other labels and represented a major organizational
effort on the part of the bootleggers. The set came in a black acrylic
box with black and gold stickers over it. Only 150 copies were pressed
and they sold out immediately. "The Final Option" is now considered
one of the rarest collectibles in Zeppelin record lore and commands
extraordinary prices on the collector's market.
A New Mark:
CD Bootlegs
"The Final Option" could hardly be topped and that together
with Toasted's announcement essentially spelled the end to Zeppelin
vinyl bootlegs since the compact disc soon became the format of choice,
both for legitimate record releases and for bootleggers. The first Zeppelin
CD bootleg was a European issue of the Zurich June 29th, 1980 soundboard
show titled "Tour Over Europe 1980" and though it was incomplete,
the sound quality was outstanding. New digital techniques brought a
brand new standard of records. Earlier available tapes are now reissued
and revamped due to the modern technique utilising a new standard of
quality. By early 1991, over 125 Zeppelin CD titles were on the market,
though most of them were reissues of material previously out on vinyl.
At least, their minimal limitation of one's run size for any type 5"
silver discs is 1,000 copies and only a couple of bootleg companies
released their efforts in highly limited editions. These causes made
CDs not only more compatible but also much more accessible to fans.
(Vinyl has been nearly limited to a few hundred copies.)
Early CD
Bootlegs
Neutral Zone and Condor were the CD labels and the producers of the
CD's only have a partial connection with the earlier producers of the
vinyl labels with almost similar names. All of these labels were US-based
producers. The CD producers used overseas connections to press their
titles and artwork and the vinyl producers mainly pressed their titles
in the US in the days when they could do it in a record pressing plant.
A well connected US collector acquired the various tapes and for some
of his labels like Neutral Zone and Condor he used a contact from Australia
who had connections in Korea and who speak their language to press the
titles. The Australian connection was the person behind the mid 1990's
Apple House/Black Cat labels. Since the tapes came from the US collector
and he was the one who organised the labels and paid for the production
of the titles it guess we would have to say the labels were US product
even though the discs and artwork were made in Korea. You then have
the situation where the Japs copied the Neutral Zone and Condor titles
in the mid 1990's and also later again someone from the EEC copied them
also in the late 1990's. Only the trained eye can pick the difference
between the original pressings and the Japanese copies but the EEC copies
stand out as they have inferior artwork.
The Neutral Zone label has won accolades from several Zeppelin fanzines
for their three discs series titled "Classics Off The Air".
This series features almost the complete BBC performances, all four
shows. As a set this represented for a long time the best way to get
the complete BBC catalog, before the legal release of "BBC Sessions"
and many Japanese releases. Condor, another bootleg business, produced
some good titles. Their pairs of "Zeppelin Express/Zeppelin Ediface"
or "World Tour/Wild Side" brought more complete versions of
material available before on vinyl and now remastered from the original
tapes.
Early European
CD Bootlegs
Silver Rarities (SIRA), UK label that produced a mass of Led Zeppelin
albums, released in the early 1990's a few dozen of titles, some of
which are still actual in the terms of both sound quality and completeness.
Their package was a standard jewel case with cover that utilized many
live photos. A fold-out insert was added to all of their 3CD sets. Their
most memorable record was famous "Listen To This Eddie", issued
for the first time from the first generation Mike Millard cassette tapes,
without any equalization (later rereleased).
What very interesting, Silver Rarities producer was the (in)famous Mr.
Langley aka Mr. Toad who was accused of bootlegging in Scottish trial
and sentenced to 20-month jail in 2007. As we know he is a UK resident
yet his Silver Rarities label was produced in Germany. (Mr. Toad used
to live in Perth, Australia in the early 1970's.) He made contact with
a German CD producer but it was Mr. Toad who had the tapes, artwork,
finances and distribution so we would have to say Silver Rarities was
a UK label or to make it easier a EEC label.
By the same time a couple of Luxembourg folks under the name of The
Swingin' Pig Records (TSP) issued few titles and with another bootleg
label named Oh Boy also from Luxembourg both produced some good material.
Oh Boy's "Texas International Pop Festival" is still in the
Top 10 of the best sounding bootleg releases ever made after more than
ten years after its release. Mentioned above Gold Standard or Great
Dane Records were another European companies that released some good
material. All that labels issued their titles in a standard jewel cases,
adding sometimes a booklet/fold-out insert (Oh Boy).
Flying Disc Music/Ghost were two German bootleg companies spliced together
that produced many releases in the early 1990's. Most of them are playing
with wrong speed and many of them were stolen in the late 1980's from
Jimmy Page's home studio. Wrong speed of most of their releases is probably
due to the copying with high speed dubbing machines. Their titles were
always issued in a standard jewel cases (with the exception only for
5CD deluxe set titled "The Trade Mark Of Quality Masters Volume
1", issued in a form of cardboard hinged open box that consistsed
of four different performances, included rarely reissued stereo audience
source tape for the legendary May 31, 1973 concert, earlier available
only on any of the old vinyl bootlegs), some with a nice artwork but
most titles have no stood the test of time. The tapes were released
often incompletely and sound didn't have the highest quality.
In Italy, where laws allow the bootlegging of concert tapes from performances
a decade old as long as royalties are paid to the performers, several
bootleg labels have been established, and they all started issuing various
titles, including either material copied straight from vinyl or newly
circulating shows. Great Dane Records and Gold Standard were on of dozens,
which were active at the start of 1990s.
Japan -
the land of bootlegs
In the mid 1990's the federal law of the European Union and the United
States (along with several other countries) forbade forever bootlegging.
All European labels such as Silver Rarities, Great Dane Records, Swingin'
Pig Records and a couple of more ended their activity very quickly.
But the bootleggers didn't want to waste the time and money. They had
been looking hard for the marker free of unprofitable prohibitions and
they found it in Japan.
Since the early 1970's Japan has had a very independent music market
with its own rights. Many records issued in Japan were unavailable anywhere
else. By the very end of the 1980's Japanese law allowed publishing
tapes above twenty-five years after its date of recording on their own
market without obeying any copyrights. That was something that bootleggers
had been looking for a long time. Because of these loopholes, and laxity
of enforcement of international copyright laws for sound recordings
over there, by the very early 1990's Japan was just flooded by many
unofficial releases, some of which are still remarkable and unforgettable
pieces. There are certain shops, for example, in certain districts there
which are legally permitted to sell 'illegal' recordings. It doesn't
apply in all parts of the country or to all retail outlets there.
Mr. Guru
With no doubt we can say that there was one person responsible for the
flood of bootlegs in the early 1990's in Japan. Mr. Guru aka Mr. BlackDog
is a long standing collector who has contacts all over the globe going
back to the early 1970's. Well known in the inner circles and very well
connected. He has his own home built professional studio and is a audio/video
digital engineer but music is his hobby. Mr. Guru aka BlackDog's first
title that he made was the famous 4CD "Australian Tour Pt. 1 &
2" on the Australian Black Cat label from the early 1990's. At
that time his moniker name was Mr. Guru as that was his nickname given
to him by his friends. Mr. Guru was impressed with the production of
his first title. He recently purchased a new bootleg title but found
that the audio on it only had 60 minutes when he knew the tape existed
as 90 minutes. (In fact this one and another set titled "Poles
& Sticks" on the Black Cat label was produced by the guy named
Gary and Mr. Guru was contacted by him to access the tapes for his label.)
He hated how some producers were bleeding the collectors with titles
that didn't feature the complete tape that was in existence. Mr. Guru
made contacts in Japan. He offered his tapes to a producer if they would
allow him to have complete control on the audio and artwork. He advised
Japan to respect the customer and start producing quality titles that
had correct artwork for the concert audio and correct track listing
and also not to EQ the audio. He suggested that Japan treat boot CD
production the same as any professional business and they will then
have a product that can be identified with quality. Mr. Guru suggested
that they should come up with a corporate logo and label name for each
artist so that customers would know which logo/label was for a certain
artist and also customers would know which label to respect if they
produced quality titles. He suggested a new label name of "Immigrant"
and sent them a logo for it to be for Led Zeppelin titles. This was
in the early 1990's. The first title sold out on day one and word got
out in Japan of what Immigrant was all about. Within three months Tarantura
was started up. Whereas Tarantura EQ'd all of their audio they of course
had superb artwork for each title. Immigrant label didn't EQ'd their
audio and made sure the audio on their discs was the lowest generation
available. Mr. Guru didn't ask or want money for his tapes from Japan.
All he asked for was a box of Japanese bootleg CDs every few months
of artists he liked. Within six months many labels were starting up
that were set aside for just one artist and the boot industry in Japan
exploded in the mid 1990's. This was all credited to Mr. Guru's foresight
to force Japan to treat their customers with respect and produce quality
titles. In the late 1990's the Japanese industry had turned on its head
and they were pumping out trash and volume of titles for the sake of
making money so Mr. Guru cut all ties with Japan.
The band
and bootlegs
As reported in 1999, the British Phonographic Industry released a survey
affirming something all Led Zeppelin fans already knew - that this band
is the most bootlegged act of all time. The record-industry report suggested
there were 384 unauthorized concert and studio recordings of Led Zeppelin
in circulation (no doubt most of them were produced in Japan), although
by Page's own count, that number would be a conservative estimate. An
exclusive interview with Jimmy Page, titled "Page battles the bootleggers",
was found on "Jam!" magazine from March 4, 2000 issue. Page
recalled: "I went to Japan, when we did the (1992) four-CD box
set, to promote it", he says. "I came back with 250 (bootlegs)
the first time ... I went over there again doing press for 'Un-Leded',
and I came back with another 250 to 500. They're all different. I wasn't
just taking things off the shelves, I was taking the ones I wanted.
That includes VHS copies (of live footage), as well ... I have actually
got thousands of bootlegs, plus things that have been sent to me by
anti-piracy people, as well. I have got thousands of them with different
covers and the rest of it ... six CDs from Japan for $1,200, that's
obscene. They've got no overheads whatsoever. Then it is a total ripoff."
During that interview, in later part Page said he has no problem with
devoted fans exchanging home-made concert recordings, he has little
sympathy for professional bootleggers, who he said have been brazen
in their attempts to get at his unreleased work. But he said he is opposed
to people and bootleg companies milking big money from the fans. "I've
had things stolen from my house for people to make money on and to basically
take the piss out of you. Well, I'm afraid I don't have any sympathy
for it, and I am not going to endorse it at all ... There are rehearsals
of Led Zeppelin that were stolen from my house ... It was a musical
rape, and I didn't enjoy it and I don't like it and I am not going to
condone it."
Page was also asked by officials from the British Phonographic Industry
to visit Glasgow following a raid at the city's SECC in May 2005. It
concerned a seizure of CDs and DVDs from Mr. Langley aka Mr. Toad, a
trader/bootleg producer who had been selling goods at the centre. Page
was called to give evidence as some of the material seized included
previously unreleased performances by his band, such as concerts at
Knebworth and in Japan. What was very interesting, during that trial
defence lawyer Murray Macara suggested that the rocker condoned the
practice of bootlegging because he thought it was all right for fans
to swap tapes they had made of the band's music. But the Led Zeppelin
star, dressed in black trousers and jacket with open neck white shirt,
said there was a crucial difference between making a recording for friends
and selling it commercially. "The legitimate part is where fans
trade music, but once you start packaging it up and you do not know
what you are getting, you are breaking the rules legally and morally
... There are some of these recordings where it is just a whirring and
you cannot hear the music ... If you have something like this that appears
legitimate then it is just not right."
A rather different opinion about bootlegs comes from John Paul Jones.
During one of some interviews, he explained his feelings about them:
"There are a lot of people out there paying a lot of cash for sub-standard
recordings. Most bootlegs sound terrible. You hear some of these things
and the sound is completely distorted, or the mix is off and all you
hear are the drums ... On the other hand, it's hard for me to dismiss
bootlegging outright. I haven't heard that many, but they usually remind
me of how tight and good the band really was. They also serve the function
of preserving history that would otherwise have been lost completely.
For example: Recently I was looking at a book that catalogued live performances
of Led Zeppelin, and I read about a lengthy mellotron improvisation
I performed in Nagoya, Japan, in 1972, during our encore of Thank You.
I hadn't thought about that particular performance in years, but as
soon as I read that, I remembered everything about it. Playing a mellotron
solo was a very strange thing for me to do, and it never happened again
in the band's history. It was great to be reminded of it, and I may
even look for the bootleg of it just to see if it was as bizarre as
I remember it to be. That kind of stuff is of interest - and it's fun,
too."
In that point it will be no mistake to say that every note the group
ever played in the studio and onstage has made it into the underground
bootleg network - either from purloined studio tapes or from recordings
made with recorders secreted into concert venues.
Tarantura
old and new
One of the first large bootleg CD companies was the heavier luxury Tarantura
label. Tarantura was a Japanese label dedicated almost exclusively to
the production of Led Zeppelin bootleg CDs. The original Tarantura was
one of the most prolific label producing Led Zeppelin CDs, having been
responsible for over one hundred titles. Whilst Tarantura's could be
bought from Japan by mail order, they were primarily sold from a shop
called Iko Iko, located in a suburb of Tokyo. Jimmy Page was a regular
visitor at the shop before it closed and would naturally be given copies
of all the titles available. It is said that he has two sets, one in
his house in London and the other in his house in the country.
Established in 1993, the label stopped the production in late 1997 (and
a big sigh of relief could be heard from all hard-core collectors bank
managers!). However in early 2000 production of a few, very limited
releases started up once again under the name Tarantura 2000 or most
simply, T2K. The first releases on the label were "Front Row",
"Tight But Loose" and "Long Tall Sally". The label
prided itself on producing CDs from the best possible source tapes,
though as has since been proved, this has not always been the case.
Production runs tended to be in batches of 300, sometimes 500 per title.
As the Japanese home market got the vast majority of the product, usually
only a few copies ever make it abroad to foreign markets. According
to Leo Ishac, he knows of only three collectors in the world who have
a complete set of all the Tarantura's released, one of whom is the person
who was behind the label and produced them, Poor Tom. His wife was called
Mrs. Stout.
Although the source tapes and the subsequent mastering of those tapes
has not always resulted in the best end-product when it comes to CDs,
generally speaking, original Tarantura was able to master their tapes
better than other labels at the time and this has resulted in some of
their releases being easily the best versions on the market. Tarantura
CDs tend to be brighter and have a clearer sound when comparing the
same concert with another label's version.
To illustrate this, here are some details from someone who is called
Mr.Cool MixMan, reputedly original Tarantura and Akashic Records' sound
engineer. "All mono recordings are treated and remixed in a stereo
environment to give them a false stereo feel. Most audio engineers and
recording studios currently only output 24-bit. Cool MixMan has been
mastering at 32-bit for several years due to the higher quality digital
working environment and final audio output that is achieved. Some say
32-bit is not possible. They are ignorant of the existing digital mastering
capabilities, the process involved and the higher audio quality that
is produced. The audio source is recorded to the computer at the above
line-input settings. Once the audio has been recorded to computer it
is then mastered within the 32-bit resolution environment.16-bit resolution
is the 'default' professional/audio compact disc setting required to
meet the International Red Book ISO Standard for compact discs. Most
compact disc players have a 16-bit resolution, and generally can only
playback audio that is 16-bit. Higher-end CD players can output audio
at 24-bit."
An understanding of 8-bit ~ 32-bit resolution: The number of bits used
in measuring amplitude for an audio sample is defined as resolution.
Choosing 8-bit resolution will provide 256 unique volumes. Choosing
16-bit resolution will provide 65,536 unique volumes, for a 96 dB signal-to-noise
ratio. Thus a much greater dynamic range can be reproduced at 16-bit
resolution than at 8-bit, which only has a 48 dB signal-to-noise ratio.
Obviously working in a 32-bit resolution environment will allow for
a substantially much greater dynamic range than at even 16-bit, thus
achieving a more professional audio output. It is best to remain at
the 32-bit resolution level while mastering the audio and when the final
mix is satisfactorily completed the 32-bit audio is converted down to
16-bit for output to the audio compact disc. Though the audio on the
final CD is at 16-bit resolution to comply with the Red Book ISO Audio
CD Standard the original audio has actually been digitally engineered
at 32-bit. 32-bit resolution is the highest possible bitrate capable
in today's digital audio mastering environment.
In the early days Tarantura were not averse to using noise reduction
and equalisation; however in the later years they have usually left
any recording untampered, to shine through very much as per the original
tape. Listeners will also find that Tarantura releases are generally
'louder' than other equivalent releases. This is down to better equalizing,
mastering and setting of recording volumes. They are, of course, not
perfect, and have been known to make an awful job of it from time to
time. Dedicated and fanatical collectors who want a particular release
however would not be swayed by any such arguments, the Tarantura packaging
alone being a collectable item in itself.
Tarantura scores heavily with their packaging. This has varied from
boxes to jewel cases to shuffle packs, extravagant fold-outs in slip-cases
and even guitar-shaped packaging. No doubt a high proportion of the
price you pay goes towards the cost of such elaborate covers. One thing
is for sure: no other label can match Tarantura for production of the
very best quality packages.
It is very easy to take the view that the prices are exaggerated in
view of the product. However they should be approached not only for
the music, but also for the packaging. When compared to Antrabata, another
luxury label, they are not that much more expensive and generally better
value. Also, most of the original Tarantura production runs are in fact
limited to the stated numbers, although certain titles have been over
pressed to meet demand. "Front Row" for example finally ended
up at 1,000 copies. Some of the second issues had a yellow or another
different colored cover to denote this.
Whilst it is easy to see which Tarantura's are the most valuable and
sought after, it is far more difficult to say which one is the best
all round production for sound and packaging. It is probably a tie between
the following three titles: "The Campaign 1972", "Get
Back To L.A." and "A Week For Badge Holders", all of
these sets being works of art and are truly beautiful artefacts, (hence
the staggering prices asked for them). The 6 CD set of "Knebworth
1979" should also be mentioned as another truly outstanding package,
in a large hardback book, complete with the poster and color photographs
from one of the concerts.
Perhaps the nicest single issue is "Bonzo's Birthday Party".
This title has one of the best covers ever, either for an official or
an unofficial release, although it is based on the original Trade Mark
Of Qquality vinyl. This goes to show how inventive and clever many of
the people behind the original vinyl bootlegs were. As a Desert Island
Disc the choice would have to be "A Week For Badge HHolders",
largely for the length, and very high standard of the performances,
together with the sound quality, throughout all six concerts (and except
that they not using all of June 22nd, 1977 performance for some reasons).
After four years of activity, the original Tarantura stopped their manufacture
in 1997. In 2000 they started once again, this time under a brand new
name Tarantura 2000, continuing their work in the old style but some
of the new titles are still not free of problems that plagued their
old issues. This time their products were strictly limited (100-300
copies per title, or even less) and packaged in beautifully issued box
sets or card sleeves, with the exception for few only, which were released
in standard jewel cases.
At the end of 2019, Tarantura initiated a series of releases bearing
the Enigma emblem. Rumour has it that the label has hired a professional
recording engineer this time, who has agreed to provide his services
to improve the sound quality. And indeed, when you compare the existing
versions with the latest titles, the difference is at least noticeable,
a huge plus of Enigma series. The first title to bear this emblem, "Bath
Of The Blues", and featuring a supposedly unreleased master tape
of the legendary Bath performance of June 28, 1970 comes with the pleasant
surprise of a much better sounding version of a show that has always
left a lot to be desired in terms of the sound quality. Another title,
already known from the label's catalogue, "Bootleg License",
appeared in three different cover variations, and contained significantly
improved versions of both shows from Long Beach on March 11 and 12,
1975. Another release worth mentioning is the set entitled "Stand
Up Sit Down Up There Settle Down", featuring great sounding audience
recordings of shows that took place in the famous Winterland Ballroom
on November 6 and 7, 1969, previously known from more fragmentary and
worse sounding versions. If it wasn't enough, to meet the expectations
of the market, Tarantura released a great-sounding and newly circulating
soundboard tape from Bloomington on January 18, 1975, entitled "Two
And A Half Finger Show", which includes extremely rarely played
live versions of When The Levee Breaks and The Wanton Song. Finally,
after many years of waiting, the massive set prophetically titled "How
The East Was Won (The Complete Japan 1971 Chronicles)" saw the
light of day in 2022, which masterfully collects all five shows in stunning
quality, as most of them are sourced from much better sounding or even
unreleased sources. The graphic design and the form in which this set
saw the light of day is really impressive - a massive cardboard box
with a lid opening, hiding inside six digipaks beautifully decorated
in the style of old Japanese woodcuts, a massive booklet, and a small
surprise in the form of a hanging scroll replica. It seems that Tarantura
after a momentary impasse has gained momentum again, and that in the
near future we can expect many more such releases.
In a few cases, very occasionally, Tarantura likes to issue their products
in very limited outfits under different names. Labels such Black Dog
Rekords, Boleskine House Records, Flagge, Night Hawk, Sharaku, Tattytura,
or TMQ (see below) sometimes re-released material known from original
Tarantura titles, sometimes adding different mixing of copied material,
or simply issuing shows that either have been not issued on Tarantura,
or have been released from a different sources, often attributing their
releases with high quality packaging.
Some labels just copied Tarantura titles, like Memphis' Productions
releases "Front Row" and "The Complete Geisha Tape".
European Whole Lotta Live company issued a couple of titles, which are
straight knock-offs copies of the original Tarantura sets as does Thin
Men. The affordable prices of these labels were also very attractive
to those, who didn't want to pay a small fortune for a title.
Akashic
Akashic is another luxury Japanese bootleg label that started releasing
their titles near the mid 1990's. Akashic and old Tarantura labels were
from the same stable and their packaging was a highly printed glossy
gatefold issues with sticker too. "P&C" are involved in
the production. The releases have almost always extremely high standard
in the aspect of sound quality (excluding "Going To Auckland",
where the sound was just destroyed heavily by equalization) but also
claimed to be from a completely new show or source tape (although some
of titles may be produced from much lower gen tapes than theirs previous
issues). Together with the Tarantura label, Akashic products are now
extremely expensive. After a few years of absence they released some
records near the mid 2000's.
The Diagrams
Of Led Zeppelin
The next historical Japanese label was The Diagrams of Led Zeppelin
(TDOLZ). It was probably the most prodigious bootleg label ever. Diagrams
produced a mass of titles, many of them are still the most complete
versions of concerts. The packaging varies from standard jewel cases
and glossy printed cardboard sleeves to hinged boxes. Their all titles
were limited to 1,000 numbered copies per title with the exception of
all their boxes, which were limited to a few hundred numbered editions.
The most remarkable boxed issue of this label was a beautifully printed
hinged box titled "Power & Glory", including six complete
concerts from the legendary June 1977 six-night-stand (a 20-page booklet
and poster were also added). At the time of its release it was more
complete than the ultra-expensive "A Week For Badgeholders".
The tape for June 23rd was now complete and there were no other limitations.
Sadly, it missed part of the original tape of June 22nd, removing "Ten
Years Gone" and replaced it by the same song from a different audience
source for the famous "Eddie" show of June 21st. Beside that,
that box remains probably the most ambitious project of this label.
Another of their most memorable works was the issue of an excellent
concert from Madison Square Garden on February 12, 1975, titled "Can't
Take Your Evil Ways". They put out their first issue of this show
in 1997 and after a year, they decided to reissue it under the title
"Can't Take Your Evil Ways Un-Cut Version", making this release
the definitive version of this concert. And although equalizing on these
both titles is extremely hard to accept (higher frequencies are just
blowing your ears), it remains the definitive version of an audience
tape from this evening. In November 2003, four years after their final
title, they reissued four titles previously available as "gold
CDs" edition box sets. The reissues were in standard jewel cases
and contained the following titles: "Rock Of Ages", "The
Lights Go Down ", "Copenhagen Warm Ups", and "Hand
On To Your Heads ". Some of the titles are easier to find, some
not - it depends on the title's editing limitation.
Antrabata
Reference Master
Antrabata Reference Master was another luxury label that issued some
of the finest releases. Near the mid 1990's this business produced some
nicely packaged and often good sounding titles. Mr. Toad for that matter
was once again the man behind this famous label which is attributed
to being a Japanese label. Similar to the Silver Rarities label, Mr.
Toad supplied the tapes, artwork etc. to his Japanese contact so we
would have to say this is another UK label. Antrabata was started by
Mr. Toad as direct competition to the original Tarantura as Mr. Toad
and Mr. Pb of Tarantura had a long standing dislike for each other going
back to the mid 1990's. This on-going dispute was a waste of talent
and energy for them both and should not have been. Antrabata's many
releases copied material known from the other labels or released a sort
of new sources (like five "Arabesque & Baroque" sets including
all five Earl's Court 1975 audience sources).
All releases were limited to 325 numbered copies except for "leftovers",
where the number of printed original CDs was much larger than its projected
limitation. (Most - if not all - Antrabata titles were created in 1,000 copies
per title. Only 325 copies of each title were issued and remaining 675
copies of each were expected to be destroyed. Evidently many of "leftovers"
were not destroyed. These "leftovers" are now available in
the following forms: as Antrabata label, as Theramin Music label, and
as an unnamed label that published only one title, "Rock Hour"
that in fact belongs to Theramin Music.)
The releases were printed as jewel cases housed inside highly glossy
printed slipcases with the exception of boxes. "79" was a
hinged box containing audience sources for all four 1979 shows (both
from Copenhagen and another two from Knebworth). In opposite to this
one, theirs "The Final Statements" (including famous "Blueberry
Hill" show mix of four different audience sources, New York July
28, 1973 and "Destroyer" soundboard sources) and "Grandiloquence"
(including both audience and soundboard of Seattle July 17, 1973, New
York July 27, 1973 and Chicago July 6, 1973 soundboards) were created
as the same type of "book", holding CDs in full color glossy
‘envelopes'. The only opening box from Antrabata to exist is "Sessions",
titled in Japanese and containing 11 CDs and a small book. Its material
is essentially studio outtakes from different periods. Now all four
sets are highly sought by the collectors.
Jelly Roll
Jelly Roll was another high quality Japanese label that produced some
excellent releases in standard jewel cases, sometimes using gold CDs.
Limited to 1,000 copies of each title this label was another luxury
gem and tapes released by these guys were always released in the highest
standards. Covers were printed on heavy cardstocks with a glossy finish.
Their highlight was "Listen To This Eddie Definitive Complete Edition"
of June 21, 1977 LA Forum concert. For a long time this was the most
complete version or so of this amazing performance. It uses a second
audience source making "Ten Years Gone" much more complete
and the sound is extremely superb. In 2002 they returned to the business
and issued "Knebworth Festival 1979" but there were some problems
with sound that distorted this title - similar to Tarantura 2000's "Knebworth"
soundboard.
Last Stand
Disc
Another label that came out from Japan was Last Stand Disc (LSD). Last
Stand Disc was once again a highly standard label that specialized in
utilizing their tapes to the highest standard. Their packaging varied
from standard jewel cases up to the hinged and beautifully issued box
sets. Limitation of their releases was often to 300 numbered copies,
claiming also that all tapes are true 24-bit mastered versions without
any equalization. Besides that, this label released some outstanding
versions. "Complete Live In Japan" box set (or two boxes titled
"Live In Japan 1971" and "Live In Japan 1972") were
the best moments for this company.
Image Quality/Immigrant
Image Quality (IQ) and Immigrant were other Japanese labels that released
many titles in the mid 1990's. Their packaging was standard jewel cases.
(IQ shared for all their releases the same style background of a film
black negative.) Both companies are still very overlooked due to the
releasing many complete and good sounding tapes. Image Quality's "A
Gram Is A Gram Is A Gram" is a tremendous release of second source
for L.A. Forum March 24, 1975 show. Also their "Fourthcoming"
and "Great Taste Last Night" sets are the only two to feature
the complete audience tapes for memorable May 24 and 25, 1975 Earl's
Court shows. Immigrant's "Lyceum Preview", although it was
copied directly from the old vinyl, is still better sounding than Empress
Valley's release of the same concert. Both labels have stood the test
of time. Image Quality was always limited to 1,000 copies per title
nor did Immigrant hadn't official limitation.
Cobla/Cobra
Standard Series
Cobla/Cobra Standard Series was a Japanese label that issued their titles
in glossy printed cardboard sleeves that copied the original vinyl artwork.
Limitation was 1,000 per title with the exception of all CD-R titles,
which were not limited. Between mid and late 1990's this label almost
always reissued material known before from vinyl and early CD releases.
Unfortunately, the heavy equalization distorted most of their items
so a big care must be taken before buying their products. (Beside that,
many titles are still worth having due to the completeness. Furthermore,
their "Lyceum" single CD of October 12, 1969 was taken from
an unedited tape and is a bit better sounding than any of the other
releases of this show.) For unknown reasons, few of the titles these
folks issued as CD-Rs were not original silvers (as mentioned).
Led Note
Led Note was a label that continued the work of Cobla/Cobra and was
made by the same persons whose were responsible for that label. Their
all releases were issued in a standard jewel cases and sleeves. Some
of their products are still worth having for their containing, such
as "Fallin' With Love With The Fallin' Angel", which consists
of one of the most complete release of soundboard tape for Bradford
January 18, 1973 concert. "Wild Beach Party" utilises the
complete compilation of three different sources for the legendary Long
Beach June 27, 1972 show and until this day it remains quite a good
title to get as it comes for this (now) immortalized show.
Celebration
Definitive Masters/Electric Magic
Celebration and its twin label, Electric Magic were other highly issued
Japanese bootleg labels that released some fine efforts in the late
1990's. Their packaging was the usual jewel case or gatefold sleeves
(some were also housed in slipcases). Celebration was specialized in
issuing soundboard tapes only and its twin brother, Electric Magic was
specialized in utilising audience tapes only. Some of them have stood
the test of time (like 12CD "Landover" box in hinged cover
issued by Electric Magic) but many of their titles were plagued by heavy
equalization as was Cobla/Cobra.
Other Japanese
labels
Between late 1990's/early 2000's in Japan there were a bunch of low
budget bootleg companies that released sometimes very good releases.
Equinox's 7CD hinged box titled "Thunder Down Under" consists
of four glossy gatefold sleeves that presents all four 1972 Australian
concerts. Although today most of these tapes had been successfully reissued
more completely, this box still remains a definitive tour-de-force of
Led Zeppelin's Australian 1972 period. Midas Touch also did a big care
with releasing their products. Mastered from the original tapes they
sound really good and for the most cases represent the most complete
versions. Labels such as Amsterdam, Apple Music, ARMS, Atlantic Ocean,
Baby Face, Balboa Productions, Blimp, Confusion Records, Crazy Dream,
Digger Production, Fire Power, Flagge (original Tarantura spin-off label),
Forever Standard Series, H & Y Records (by many called a 'real'
bootleg business 'cause they released titles only in cardboard sleeves
without any high printed artwork, similar to old vinyl albums), H-Bomb
Music, Holy, Holy Grail, House Of Elrond, Lemon Song, Mad Dogs (a continuation
of Mud Dogs label), Magnificent Disc, Mandala Records, Masterport, Midas
Touch, Missing Link, MMachine, Moonchild Records (Empress Valley's spin-off
label specializing in reissuing a dozens of titles in extremely cheap
form), Mud Dog Records, Nasty Music, Neptune, Neverland, Nighthawk,
Patriot, Pot, Power Archives, Power Chord, Rabbit Records, Rubber Dubber,
Sanctuary (which "Overture" beautifully long digipack gatefold
box is now very rare), Savage Beast Music, Scorpio (this label's name
was originally used back in the 1990's in Europe, since then its name
has been used by numerous labels; the real Scorpio series started in
2006 and ended up in 2012), Sharaku, Shout To The Top, (The) Symbols,
Tattytura (established bz Mr. Toad to spite Tarantura and Mr. Pb released
the "Plays Pure Bob" title as a pun against Mr. Toad because
his first name was Robert aka Bob.), Tecumseh (early incarnation of
Tarantura), Thin Men, Totonka, and Wisteria Records were responsible
for numerous titles that sometimes include material not present on other
labels at the time of their production. Flagge's all 1980 shows with
the exception of "Sudden Attack" were made to look like original
Tarantura products as they all have been released by the original Tarantura.
Tarantura's paper CD jackets were also used. Together with Equinox,
Flagge is still very worth getting due to the completeness and high
quality source standard of their products.
Thunder
Down Under - Australian labels
The most memorable Australian label was luxury Black Cat Records that
in the early 1990's issued five different titles. Australia, which just
recently became a steady source of supply, quite likely has runs as
small as Japan. The packaging was always highly printed, glossy heavy
cardstock long triple gatefold digipak. Although none of their releases
have stood the test of time, now all are very hard to find. At last,
this label still remains one of the most beautifully issued bootleg
labels that ever produced Led Zeppelin.
The person behind the 1990's Apple House/Black Cat CD labels was named
Gary. In the late 1970's thru to the early 1980's he got hold of the
original vinyl boot titles coming out of US and other parts of the world
and he copied (pirated) the albums including the slick artwork in his
new factory in Korea. He flooded the world with his vinyl boot copies
and to this day you can still find shrink wrapped/sealed vinyl boots
that folks think are new/mint originals when in fact they are Korean
copies! Gary made a mint from his vinyl copies then went legit in the
late 1980's. He then saw the opportunity to make more money when CDs
were invented and he again copied the original boot CD titles and got
back into Korea to make his CDs in the mid 1990's. He found a legal
loophole in Australian copyright law, he then tested that law in the
courts and won and he then quickly started Apple House/Black Cat Records/Joker
labels etc. and mass produced his CD titles copying as many bootleg
CD titles that he could buy and flooded the world market with his cheap
"official" CDs. That loophole only lasted for two years then
was closed but in that time he made a mint again and went back to being
legit.
As said above, Gary gave the access to Mr. Guru's tapes for his label
and "Australian Tour Pt. 1 & 2" and "Poles &
Sticks" boots were made in the early 1990's. Mr. Guru didn't deal
with Gary anymore as Gary was focused on money and not the music. Nothing
wrong with that but Mr. Guru wasn't into mass produced titles and money.
Red Devil
Although many reported to be from Japan, it was ephemerad outfit from
Europe that opearted at the first half of 2000s. "Stroke In Stoke"
and "Robert's Last Stand" have no mention of label credit
other than the familiar "P&C" (as on premium Japanese
labels such as Empress Valley) and both have the same artwork theme.
CDs are professionally labeled. The rest of titles credit Red Devil
as the manufacturer. "P&C" is not mentioned. They also
share the same artwork theme as the above mentioned two titles.
Empress
Valley Supreme Disc
Empress Valley Supreme Disc (EVSD) is a premium bootleg label out of
the Far East that came to life out of the ashes of one of the most sought
after and collectable Led Zeppelin bootleg labels of all time - an original
Tarantura. Being known for its premium packaging as well as its use
of the best available (at the time) source tapes, the original Tarantura
label had since its 1993 inception issued a prolific library of product
before operations ceased in late 1997. The founder of Empress Valley
also had his hands in the original Tarantura label. He is often referred
to as P+C on some of the online sites and as Poor Tom in the Tarantura
days. Not long after the closure of Tarantura, Empress Valley quietly
came to market in 1998 with the release of an Eric Clapton set titled
"Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert". It would be another year
though before a Led Zeppelin set would make a debut on this new label.
Empress Valley's productions, like those of the original Tarantura,
have become highly collectable presentations prized and admired for
their high quality audio content as well as the use of premium materials
in their packaging. Unlike other labels that exist only to rehash existing
concerts, Empress Valley is one of less than a handful of manufacturers
currently releasing new products. Concerts that have been published
by other labels in the past are usually treated to some form of an upgrade
by Empress Valley prior to release. This upgrade could entail any of
a number of things such an all new source tape, a combining of available
tapes to present a more complete release of a show, or possibly a re-equalization
of the existing audio. It's been Empress Valley's ability, however,
of unearthing and releasing completely new source tapes that has really
made them a hot commodity with tape traders and bootleg collectors alike.
The label's examples of upgraded shows would include "Lifetime
Guarantee" which contains one of the best available versions for
this concert by far and is a significant upgrade over the previously
issued titles and "Jamming With Simon Kirke!" which has had
the missing sections of the main source tape neatly filled with an alternate
tape. Some other sets debuted source tape, such as entire Soundboard
Revolution series with superb sounding 1975-77 board recording. While
their production techniques are not always appreciated by the critics,
many of their releases are regarded by collectors as the best available.
The only label that released sets that could rival the quality of Empress
Valley has been another Japanese bootleg publisher - Watchtower. While
these two labels had exchanged blows before with their back and forth
releases of the Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego 1973 shows,
the summer of 2002 saw an all out battle erupt between these two heavy
weight bootleg publishers. Almost identical releases from Salt Lake
City 1973, Earl's Court 1975 and Knebworth 1979 were released over a
short 4-month period sometimes within days of one another. As the battle
waged on, collectors were often held captive on the sidelines waiting
for the dust to settle to see which title would emerge in glory before
committing their vast sums of money to the winner. Hardcore buyers actively
collecting both labels were inflicted a massive hit to their wallet
in a very short time. Some were forced to jump into one camp and abandon
the other due to financial strains of buying essentially two copies
of the same show in different sleeves from the competing labels. Watchtower
even went so far as to release a free bonus disc of material in the
Salt Lake City and Knebworth sets in an attempt to woo potential buyers
away from Empress Valley. Individual victories would be claimed on both
sides but almost as quickly as it all had begun, it came to an apparent
end. Watchtower is quiet on the Zeppelin front since the fall of 2002
releasing only a reissue of the Los Angeles June 27th, 1977, "Coherence"
set and a Knebworth August 4th, 1979 DVD while Empress Valley still
releasing a many new sets including some new soundboard tapes that stunned
even longtime collectors.
Before getting into the glory, the rarity and the collectibility that
is Empress Valley, time should be taken to address some of the common
complaints and concerns surrounding the label. The Empress Valley catalogue
of releases has been somewhat marred over the years by questionable
and perhaps deceptive methods by the folks behind the label. While deception
is not a new concept amongst the bootleggers, Empress Valley has explored
new territory in this area. The pros and cons of the procedures described
below are to this day debated by those in the collector community. Some
of the points that will be covered in the sections below will address
their history of stretching concerts out over more discs than are actually
needed, patching gaps in source tapes with material from completely
different concerts, and the reissuing of titles several times over with
each release in unique packaging to milk the release for every penny
possible (this is especially hard on the wallet of the hard core Empress
Valley collector that collects the not only all of the separate titles
but also the package variations) - just to name a few. While these less
than admirable marketing tactics infuriate and annoy casual and hard
core collectors alike, the combination of unusually high quality source
tapes and premium packaging keeps the collectors coming back for more
with each new release. Even their scaled back budget minded sets packaged
in jewel cases are top-notch. One could argue that at least Empress
Valley correctly dates their releases!
Empress Valley's habit of releasing multiple versions of a show under
the same name or reissuing existing titles started almost at the label's
inception. The initial Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin releases - "Rainbow
Concert" and "Bonzo's Birthday Party" respectively, were
both released in two formats each. The Eric Clapton set would be offered
in a 4CD version and also as an ultra limited 8CD box set geared toward
the hard core collector. Led Zeppelin's "Bonzo's Birthday Party"
would eventually be released three times over as many years. The initial
two releases were put out back to back in 1999 and the last release
would be offered in 2002. The original release was a 9CD ultra rare
box set, like the 8CD Eric Clapton affair, this version was geared towards
the hard core collector market. The second issue came as a repackaged
3CD version titled 'version drei' that contained only the third set
of 3CDs from the original 9CD box set. Finally, three years later the
title would be put out as a 2CD sound board set that carried the added
title "Definitive Version". In the "Bonzo's Birthday
Party" example, the numerous reissues can partially be justified.
Not all collectors are going to want to shell out the big bucks needed
to acquire the rare, excessive and very expensive 9CD box set. Empress
Valley reissued the third set of 3CDs from the big box as a separate
set for those collectors that balked at the cost of the large set. The
collectors with deep pockets got the excessive 9 disc set and the more
casual collector could afford the revamped 3 disc version. The 2CD "Definitive
Version" was a more complete sound board tape released long after
the original box and 3CD reissue sets were released and was a worthy
reissue of this famous show. Alot of the reissued sets can be looked
at from different perspectives. Several of the individual concerts originally
issued as part of the huge 22CD box set, "Demand Unprecedented
In The History Of Rock Music: The 1975 Earl's Court Tapes", have
since been issued in quad disc jewel cases. One way to look at this
is that Empress Valley wanted to milk these sets for every penny knowing
that the hard core collectors and Empress Valley completists will buy
both the box set and the individual releases thus adding more coin to
the coffers. Another take on this would be that Empress Valley simply
released the individual sets to allow the average collector that wouldn't
(or couldn't!) spend the money for the large and costly box set a chance
to own copies of some of these shows without having to shell out the
cash for the big box version. The argument can go both ways. A more
recent example of releasing the same show in more than one format is
"Florida Sunshine". This title was the debut of a brand new
and almost complete soundboard tape. Empress Valley chose to simultaneously
release the show as both a limited edition 4CD set and also as a standard
2CD version. The packaging for both sets was nearly identical but the
limited 4CD set also included the audience tape source in its complete
form. The 4CD collector set sold out in Japan at an astonishing rate
and almost instantly skyrocketed in value while the 2CD version can
still be found quite easily for much cheaper price.
Another of the complaints among the label's critics centers around the
use of filling gaps in source tapes with filler tape from a completely
different concert. Case in point is the debut of the March 1971 tapes
from Ireland - "Black Velvet" - containing the first ever
live performances of Stairway To Heaven. The folks at Empress Valley
chose to fill the gaps in the source tapes with tape from the Ipswitch
concert in November 1971 causing an outcry from Led Zeppelin collectors
worldwide. If there is not an alternate source tape available from the
same show to fill in any missing sections, collectors argue that Empress
should leave the source tape intact and present it in its original form.
Why you would feel the need to use tape from another concert (especially
from one eight months later) to fill in the blanks is unknown. Empress
Valley would repeat this procedure in several releases including "Grand
Finale" and "Newcastle Brown Ale".
If all of this isn't enough, it's not quite over. The common theory
among the collectors about the unscrupulous practice of stretching shows
over more discs than are needed is that Empress Valley does this to
"artificially" inflate the issue prices of their releases
thus earning the label additional profit in return for the minor added
production cost. Hypothetically, let's say it costs Empress Valley $2
to manufacture a single disc when done in quantities of 300. The difference
in the retail price of a 3CD set vs. a 4CD set might be as much as $35
(or perhaps more - it really varies from release to release). By simply
adding a single (but completely unnecessary) disc to a set, the issue
price can now be bumped from, say, $125 that the original 3CD set should
have sold for to an inflated price of $160 for the artificially extended
4CD set. It only cost the label $2 in added manufacturing costs to add
this extra disc but it returned $33 in additional profit. Multiply this
by 300, which is the average production run of a premium label release,
and one can see why it benefits Empress Valley to perpetrate these kinds
of tactics. Some of the titles that employ this trickery include "Deep
Striker", "Feelin' Groovy Definitive Version", "Copenhagen
Warm-Ups", "Year Of The Dragon" and several of the sets
contained (and later reissued individually) in "Demand Unprecedented
In The History Of Rock Music: The 1975 Earl's Court Tapes" box
set.
On the flip side of all of the complaints, Empress Valley has somehow
also managed to release some exemplary titles. "Lifetime Guarantee"
presents the earliest known tape of a Led Zeppelin concert in one of
the best audio versions to ever surface for this concert. A number of
tapes never before known to be in existence have seen the light of day
through Empress Valley. Now considered to be one of the ultimate Led
Zeppelin soundboard recording in existence, February 12th, 1975 New
York show came out in 2002, packaged in a premium tri fold digipak case
housed in a card stock outer sleeve. Other sets worth mentioning include
the sound board tape from Orlando 1971 and rare soundboard recordings
from 1975-1977 era. None of these fantastic source tapes had been in
circulation prior to being released by Empress Valley, although the
New York 1975 show had been available in lesser quality in the past.
Perhaps the most lavish, over the top set produced to date would be
the limited edition release of "Demand Unprecedented In The History
Of Rock Music: The 1975 Earl's Court Tapes", a 22CD set that covered
all five performances in London in 1975. This massive boxed set is packaged
in a hard-shell cube box identical in format to the official "Complete
Studio Recordings" from Atlantic. The box houses the 22CDs in six
individual deluxe gatefold paper sleeve sets worthy of being released
without the box. Also included were replica concert tickets from all
five shows, a mini replica tour booklet and a T-shirt with the Earl's
Court program artwork. The source tapes used are some of the highest
quality tapes available for this string of shows being eclipsed only
slightly by the Watchtower releases for the May 24th and May 25th shows.
Not all of the jewels are massive or exceptionally packaged sets. The
Empress Valley version of the San Diego 1973 show, "Three Days
Before", contains more of the sound board tape and is by far more
complete with less tape cuts than the Watchtower version making it the
favored release by collectors.
When looking at Empress Valley, or any premium label for that matter,
a buyer must take into consideration that a part of the final price
that you are asked to pay reflects the added cost of the premium packaging
used on most releases. Even titles issued in plain jewel cases still
contain high quality package materials and not simply a flimsy paper
J-card. Although not as daring in their use of packaging as Tarantura
was in their heyday, Empress Valley has issued some absolutely stunning
presentations over their career. Packaging has included hard-shell hinged
boxes, hardcover books, replica LP sized gatefold sleeves, deluxe paper
sleeves, obi strips, elaborate fold out paper sleeves, digipacks, and
the standard jewel case. Promotional "gimmick" pack-ins include
T-shirts, lapel pins, replica tour programs and concert tickets to name
a few. The elaborate packaging is partially to blame for the staggering
asking prices of some of these sets and this should be taken into consideration
when premium label sets are being considered for purchase. Another selling
point used, but not advertised on any of the sets that I am aware of,
is the occasional use of gold CDs in some releases. Noteworthy sets
with stunning packaging are: "Grand Finale" (a large hardback
book with hard cardboard disc sleeves and a 17 page booklet were bound
to center), "Demand Unprecedented In The History Of Rock Music:
The 1975 Earl's Court Tapes" (came in a hard-shell cube box that
opens to reveal 6 individual deluxe paper sleeves holding 22CDs. Bonus
pack-in items included a mini replica tour booklet, replica tickets
from each concert, and a T-shirt with Earl's Court graphics), "Burn
Like A Candle" (the original release came in a large replica gatefold
LP sleeve and included a promo T-shirt with the cover art reprinted
on the front of the shirt), "Bonzo's Birthday Party" (the
9CD version came packed in a hard-shell hinged box that opens up to
reveal 3 individual trifold paper sleeves and a motion card insert affixed
to the inside of the box lid) and much more. One thing Empress Valley
can't be accused of is using cheap package materials. As noted previously,
even the Empress Valley titles packaged in plain jewel cases still ooze
class. The J-cards have been lavishly printed on heavy, expensive papers
using a variety of printing methods ranging from textured surfaces,
embossed text and graphics, high gloss finishes or even metallic like
foil processes that are rarely found on any of the other labels still
issuing Led Zeppelin sets.
Late in 2002 Empress Valley started to issue the occasional "budget"
title under the "Lifetime Achievement Award" banner. The sets
released under this moniker have so far been reissues with scaled back
packaging or have been compilations of tapes that probably wouldn't
have sold well on their own merit. The "Burn Like A Candle"
2nd version is a good example of a reissue with scaled back packaging.
They discarded the first pressing large LP-sized gatefold sleeve and
promotional T-shirt and placed the set in a more reasonable normal CD
sized gatefold paper sleeve with no gimmick pack-ins. Empress Valley
did bulk this set up from a 3CD release to a 4CD release with a bonus
disc containing a chunk of the sound board tape from the Long Beach
June 27th, 1972 show to tempt buyers into purchasing an additional copy
of this show. "Heavy Machinery/The Dirty Trick" is another
"Award" release. This 4CD set comprises two 1973 concerts
utilizing newly discovered fair/good quality audience source tapes.
These two tapes, while being previously unreleased, probably wouldn't
have sold well on their own merit as the quality of the audio wasn't
the best. Empress Valley keenly bundled these shows into one plain quad
jewel case set and slashed the normal 4CD asking price in half.
Unlike The Diagrams Of Led Zeppelin or even Watchtower, Empress Valley
cannot be so easily purchased outside of Japan or even online. Each
release is usually limited to 200-300 copies (some sources state that
these are generous numbers) and the vast majority of these go to collectors
in Japan. Of the few outlets that do offer Empress Valley sets to overseas
collectors, the prices tend to fluctuate a bit from one outlet to another
on available titles. Be aware that there is not a set price based on
the number of discs contained in a set. One 3CD set might cost $125US,
another 3CD set might set you back $155, while a 4CD "Lifetime
Achievement" release might sell for as low as $75. Some of the
more elaborate packages will command more money in part to cover the
added cost of that elaborate packaging. When shopping around for some
of the limited edition sets or titles now out of print, do so knowing
that certain releases are going to be harder to locate and generally
expensive. Be prepared to spend some time searching for that elusive
title and once you do find it, take a deep breath and crack open the
piggy bank. The "Bonzo's Birthday Party" 9CD set mentioned
earlier is one of the more difficult to find items, commanding in excess
of $700US in mint condition. "Deep Striker", a 4CD release
that contains one of the best releases to date of the final Los Angeles
concert from 1977 is incredibly difficult to obtain. Expect
asking prices to approach the $850-1000 range for this set provided
you can talk someone into selling. The 4CD limited edition version of
"Florida Sunshine" sold out in Japan almost immediately and
has already seen the low $700US price range on the Japanese aftermarket
only a few weeks after it was released. Demand for some of these sets
simply exceeds the available supply in most cases. A collector may spend
months trying to track down a single set as some titles were released
in quantities as low as 200 total copies for global distribution. Some
discs are impossible to locate while others command astronomical dollar
amounts well beyond the means of the masses. Unfortunately most of the
big money sets will never be seen in their original format by most collectors.
Ballpark figures were established around known worldwide selling prices.
It's worth to note that since the departure of label's co-founders,
Empress Valley started reissuing a lot from their catalog. They stopped
issuing lavish packages mostly, and started releasing simple jewel cased
sets. Also, they've been often criticized for supplying their Soundboard
Revolution with already existing audience sources, making these releases
very expensive, even for die hard collectors. Today, with no less than
1,000 different titles released, Empress Valley is probably the most
prolific label but it seems that the label has its golden era already
behind.
Eelgrass
Eelgrass is a label that came out from Japan that reissued a lot of
Empress Valley titles (mostly superb sounding soundboard recordings)
in a cheap form of a standard jewel case. It debuted in 2003 and the
first four titles were simply straight audio knock-offs of Empress Valley
releases bearing also the same names. In fact the only information that
this is a reissue not an original Empress Valley title is "e g"
printed on the discs of "Orlando Magic" release.
Watch Tower
Watch Tower from Japan started producing their releases in early 2000's
as a set up in competition to Empress Valley and was run by the same
people as Scorpio. It's the only true rival to Empress Valley in upgrading
releases. In 2003 both labels each released the same concert in opposition
to each other. In some cases, Watch Tower's version was more enjoyable
and great sounding than Empress Valley's, as on the last two Ear's Court
May 1975 nights. "To Be A Rock And Not To Roll" and "Conquistador"
are still definitive versions of these memorable performances. Also
their "Welcome To The 1979 Knebworth Festival" was a big improvement
over Empress Valley after as Watch Tower decided to fill the gaps in
soundboard by an audience sources to making these concerts more complete.
Sadly, some of their releases are marred by heavy digital mastering
and some "clicks" and "pops" can be heard. Overall,
this is another luxury label that brought many interesting discoveries.
Another
Japanese labels
By the early to late 2000's couple more Japanese bootleg companies started
to produce their items with the music of Led Zeppelin. Cannonball Records
issued in 2004 two Zeppelin titles: "MSG" and "Hampton
1971" and only their second title is an improvement. Amusingly
named Cashmere label also issued some very good titles. Live Remains
and Masterport added a few new titles to the Zeppelin bootleg collection
too, rereleasing material known from the older releases, but with a
high sound quality standard.
In contrast to these labels, the Magnificent Disc started releasing
their products as CD-Rs and then started producing original CDs at premium
prices. In a market only producing premium priced titles such as Empress
Valley or Tarantura 2000, news of non-premium labels going all the collectors.
However, the label has proved to be a total waste. Their efforts were
always been plagued by the metallic background sound and often these
folks just rereleased shows that have been presented before twice times
or more.
Badgeholders was another new Japanese label that released another good
sounding titles, which almost always reissued material known from the
earlier releases but - in the opposite to the Magnificent Disc - some
of albums released by this business are still a big improvement in the
collector's market (as Long Beach March 11 and 12, 1975 shows available
on "Taking No Prisoners Tonight" and "California Sunshine"
triple CD packages, where both of audience sources were spliced together
to make these concerts much more complete). Metallic sound is present
only on their first title", V1/2 Extravaganza".
One of the most notable newly established Japanese labels is Graf Zeppelin.
Founded in 2009 and specializing in re-issuing shows and sources known
from other releases, is a real surprise. Many of titles are considered
to be at the same level as Empress Valley and Tarantura and the mastering
stands the highest quality. Packaged in simple jewel cases, many of
them are strictly limited and numbered, and often they're much overlooked
by those, who cannot afford much more expensive products from aforementioned
premium labels.
The other low budget Japanese labels involved into production the music
of Led Zeppelin around this period were (or still are) as follows: Black
Dog Rekords and Butamark (both are Tarantura 2000's spin-off labels),
Boleskine House Records (another Tarantura 2000 spin-off label), Boogie
Mama, Bumble Bee, Magic Pyramid, Reel Masters (as reported, the label's
name implies the music is sourced directly from the masters but it turned
out to be not true.), Scorpio (a series started in 2006 and retired
in 2012), Sharaku (again Tarantura 2000's spin-off label), Singer's
Original Double Disc (SODD), Trade Mark Of Quality (TMQ - yet another
Tarantura 2000's spin-off label), and Wardour.
Wendy Records
Wendy Records is another Japanese label that started putting their releases
into the market in 2003. The releases of this label are in standard
jewel cases, some are also housed in obi. As for the sound the main
problem is "metallic" background noise present on their early
releases. As Watch Tower or Empress Valley Supreme Disc, Wendy utilizes
many released before shows and completes them adding some never before
released fragments or filled gaps by using other sources. Most of their
titles are not any improvements because they ripped off material known
from different sources.
Godfatherecords
An Italian label, founded around the mid-2000s, is focusing on multiple
artists, and extensively releasing Led Zeppelin tapes in quite excellent
fashion. Sometimes critized of heavy editing/equalization, in fact some
of Godfather titles are huge upgrades to many older releases and their
luxury produced boxes are warmly welcomed by many collectors, making
this label as a potentially true rival to exclusive Empress Valley and
Tarantura products.
Started as just another Italian-based record label, soon it was known
widely as one of premium European labels specilizing in releasing many
unreleased or upgraded sources, including Led Zeppelin. Their first
new titles are just reissues of material known from earlier titles (Paris
1969 FM broadcast, New Orleans 1973, Dallas 1969 etc.); however, from
2010 label had changes its profile and started issuing their products
with either previously unreleased material or much upgraded versions
of tapes, issuing their products in single gatefold gatefold sleeves
or large, beautifully designed boxes. Godfather's version of full run
of California 1972 dates, titled eponymeously "Welcome Back: How
The West Was Won Tapes Revisited (Complete Californian Summer 1972 Diaries)",
still remains as definitive collection for all three shows the band
did between June 22nd and 27th in the Bay Area. "Ascension In The
Wane: The January 1973 Soundboards" is another example of their
hard-dedicated work, collecting all available board tapes from group's
peak era in a really stunning quality and design. "Studio Magik
(Sessions 1968-1980)", as title reflects, contains literally everything
that has surfaced so far from studio vaults, presenting each session
in chronological order and adding some unique material (such as officially
released "Lucifer Rising" soundtrack and outtakes, previsouly
available only on limited LP via Jimmy Page's official site). Their
last large set, "Throwing The Wild Seeds (Nassau Coliseum 1975
Complete Tapes)" has two superb sounding soundboard recordings
recorded in February 13th and 14th, 1972 in New York. Originally released
by Empress Valley and plagued by many technical issues (such as unnecessary
heavy brickwalling), this set features fully restored and completed
versions, where alternate audience sources have been spliced to provide
most complete versions for each of shows included. The label retired
around 2014, and since then it started releasing some titles as Eat
A Peach and stopped at the end of 2017. However, none of their products
reached the same level and received the same popularity os the original
Godfatherecords.
The Chronicles
Of Led Zeppelin
An interesting and short-lived label from Japan. Established in June
of 2008, The Chronicles Of Led Zeppelin is well-designed as an original
successor to the now legendary The Diagrams Of Led Zeppelin label and
is set to release many uncirculated sources from the Led Zeppelin live
catalogue. From what is reported, the main intention of this newest
effort is to release all the tapes without any heavy equalization or
editing. The label is planning a big series of albums sourced directly
from the masters dedicated to the collectors that are looking for unaltered
and straight copies of low gen tapes. It seems that TCOLZ is interesting
to be a true rival to Empress Valley Supreme Disc and Tarantura. The
main intention of TCOLZ is to start at the point where TDOLZ have stopped
releasing their albums and indeed, TDOLZ's first two releases, "How
Many More Years Gone With The Wind" and "Long Drive To Seattle"
seem to proved that theory because both covered shows that were not
released anywhere else on silvers. (In fact, their second title contains
the entire alternate audience source of Seattle March 21st, 1975 show
that was previously used by H-Bomb Music on "No Quarter" set
to complete the encores.) The artwork is very simple and relating to
the old vinyl albums, where the band's name and album's title were stamped
on the jacket. Their few latest titles are well welcomed by the collectors
and always covered something yet unreleased, such as their massive six-disc
set "We're Playing Our Balls Out", where the complete, second
audience source for Los Angeles March 27th, 1972 mammouth show was presented
altogether with famous Millard tape or "One Night Stand In Paris",
where, for the first time, pre-FM source of Paris October 10th, 1969
was issued. For the first time in the history, after two years of activity,
because of rather poor sale and lack of good promotion outside of Japan,
the label disappeared, issuing "Final Winterland" (consisting
of all available sources for November 6th and 7th, 1969 appearances)
as their last title in early Spring 2010.
Graf Zeppelin
Graf Zeppelin is one of the newer labels, founded in 2009 and specializing
in re-issuing many shows and sources. Label's name is only mentioned
on what appears to be a last minute insert for the first two titles,
printed unprofessionally while "LZSC" is written everywhere
else. The other titles finally display label's name. Some of them are
considered to be at the same level as Empress Valley and Tarantura and
the mastering stands the highest quality. Packaged in simple jewel cases,
many titles are strictly limited and numbered, and often they're much
overlooked by those, who cannot afford much more expensive products
from Japan.
Lighthouse
This label took its name from the store selling its products. All titles
published by this manufacturer are completely void of any generic name
other than catalog numbers and simpel artwork. The discography of over
100 titles is largely based on re-releases of many concerts, and almost
all titles are strictly limited and come with a special sticker. The
disadvantage of many of them is that the sound quality leaves a lot
to be desired - many sets are usually copies of freely published torrents,
without any advanced editing or professional mastering. Except for Led
Zeppelin, this label produces almost all of the leading artists from
the turn of the 1960s and 1970s and is very popular in some circles.
A brave
new standard: DVD Bootlegs
By the mid of 1990s couple of bootleg companies started to releasing
their efforts in totally new way, copied many old 8 and 16mm cameras
as well as pro shots (which most of them were available only on home-made
VHS releases except for Holy Grail and Celebration Definitive Masters)
to DVD, making a brand-new standard. Labels such Akashic, Bad Wizard
(Scorpio spin-off label), Boogie Mama, Cashmere, already mentioned Celebration
Definitive Masters, Cosmic Energy (which started as DVD-R/VCD-R outfit
that published their 1969-1980 catalogue of various amateur and pro
shots), Dadgad Prod. (another DVD-R label), Digital Line, Empress Valley
Supreme Disc, Eye Thank You, Genuine Bastard, Hercules, Holy Grail,
Kanji Flying Dragon, New Depression Music, Room 101, Seymour Vision,
Silent Sea Productions, Sugar Mama, Tarantura2000, Condor (not a legendary
label from early 1990s), Watch Tower, Way Of Wizard, Wendy Records and
others done fantastic job in utilizing these important moments of Led
Zeppelin history. And although a couple of shots are still not available
in DVD format, most of the circulating video material is now available
in truly upgrading versions. (Empress Valley's five-disc set titled
"Lesson History" contains absolutely everything that has been
in circulation as to 2017.)
The main profit of a DVD format is the length also. The maximum length
of each CD is 80 minutes. This time we have for the first time a great
opportunity to listen to the whole concert without unnecessary disc
changes during playing. But not only the length is the main value. Since
all the CDs are 44.1kHz, the DVD format offers much more - 48kHz or
even 96kHz. It seems, however, that the popularity of this type of medium
has significantly decreased, and nowadays, you can only occasionally
see titles released in this way. It seems that the accustomed to traditional
sound carriers such as vinyl and Compact Disc is still much more popular
than DVD.
Future
After
all, what more could we want? Probably a lot more uncirculated tapes
Empress Valley and Tarantura sometimes put out. Let's hope that one
of these two labels will remain the leader in releasing the best quality
underground products. But there's one more thing we'd definitely like:
a lot of labels should realize that what matters most to any fan is
the music, not the packaging. Despite this, the popularity of the physical
medium does not seem to decrease, but to grow, as evidenced by the latest
Tarantura titles sold out on the spot, and the constantly growing popularity
of the black wax, which shines back its triumphs from the usual stereo
set of the average affluent fan to the audiophile salons of the richest
music enthusiasts. Even the huge popularity of Internet servers offering
the possibility of sharing and copying recordings for free does not
prevent this trend from changing too much.
Isn't this the calm before the storm, which is supposed to indicate
the end of an era? This does not seem to be true as Led Zeppelin seems
to be gaining a new fan base and the popularity of physical releases
lasts as long as the band is not interested in releasing official live
albums (and even if they did, bootlegs seem to be still would remain
the object of desire at least for the more ardent collectors and sympathizers).