Great bootleg tracks

Great bootleg tracks that you may never hear

I have been listening to Led Zeppelin bootlegs for many years and I tend to forget that not everyone has heard some of the great tracks that never made it on to a commercial release. Here are a few gems that spring to mind. These are worth looking out for.

Led Zeppelin

As Long As I Have You - always on the setlist in early 1969. A great epic, often 10 - 15 minutes long. "Born in darkness, I fought my way out to the blue ..." Sometimes with a few lines from Mockingbird. Never appeared on a commercial album.

Train Kept a Rollin' - from early 1969, and then a set opener in 1980. A great shame this never appeared on a commercial album.

For Your Love, 10 January 1969. A full performance of this Yardbirds number, the only time you'll hear it in entirity from Zeppelin.

Suga Mama - a great rocking track recording in June 1969. There was another one off radio broadcast called Sunshine Woman which I don't care much for. Suga Mama is great. The Girl I Love was recorded around this time and it did make it onto the commercial box set.

I Gotta Move - performed twice in 1969, the best being Denmark 14 March 1969.

Killing Floor from 27 April 1969 with Sweet Jelly Roll - a great Hendrix like guitar intro and some great lyrics in Sweet Jelly Roll. A great performance some of which exists in soundboard (though soundboard quality in 1969 is probably 8 out of 10). This show also featured an acid version of Here Were Go Round the Mulberry Bush.

At the end of 1969 and early 1970 they were doing C'Mon Everybody, Something Else and Long Tall Sally. We're Gonna Groove was the standard set opener in 1970, which did make it onto a commercial album.

Truckin' Little Mama was standard in Whole Lotta Love medleys in 1970, along with Honey Bee ("I hear a lotta buzzin', Sounds like my little honey bee"). The Mess O' Blues in Whole Lotta Love fortunately made it out commercially when the Paris Theatre London (1 April 1971) live show was released.

Since I've Been Lovin' You went through a few iterations, initially being Sittin' and Thinkin' (Muddy Waters era). Some excellent performances in 1970 such as Vancouver 21 March 1970, as the lyrics were still evolving.

Fixin' to Die / Feel So Bad medley was recorded in May 1970. A superb medley along the lines of Hats off to Roy Harper (but much better).

Blueberry Hill - a one off performance to finish 4 September 1970 LA. This whole show is a must-have bootleg.

The Zeppelin Japanese shows were always something special. Osaka 29 September 1971 saw Bonham disappear from stage for a while, whilst the rest of the band did Tangerine, followed by Friends (their only live performance of Friends). High Heeled Sneakers was played a night earlier. Almost a year later on the Japanese tour they did a great performance of Stand By Me, and Sakura Sakura appeared in the Thank You medley on 5 October 1972.

Weekend finished many of the 1971 shows (though I personally found Communication Breakdown a great show ender), and sometimes It'll Be Me.

Sydney 1972 saw "The Wanderer" (or The Rover?) appear briefly in the Whole Lotta Love medley.

Bombay, India 1972 had an impromtu jam with some Indian musicians and great renditions of Friends and Four Sticks.

Seattle 19 June 1972 is probably the best Led Zeppelin performance ever. The bootleg recording isn't great, but the live performance was superb. Dancing Days was performed twice (the only time they ever played the same track twice in the same show).

Old MacDonald Had a Farm got a mention in Cardiff 12 December 1972.

In 1973 the standard set consisted of Misty Mountain Hop merging straight into Since I've Been Loving You. The transition is great, eg Mobile 13 May 1973.

A minute or two of Georgia on My Mind appeared in Salt Lake City, Utah 26 May 1973, and a few days later on 31 May Plant sung Happy Birthday to John Bonham (25).

When they arrived in Chicago on 6 July 1973 there was 45 minutes of soundcheck doing a variety of Elvis and related songs eg Love Me Like A Hurricane, Shakin' All Over, Reelin' and Rockin', Surrender, etc.

By the end of 1973 and early 1975 the Dazed and Confused medleys were getting interesting. San Francisco is well known (on The Song Remains the Same) but there was also longer reditions of Woodstock and Spanish Harlem.

Early 1974 saw the studio sessions for Physical Grafitti, and a great early version of In The Light (usually called In The Morning) with different lyrics.

Great full length video bootlegs exist of 24th and 25th May 1975 at Earls Court. They video is not good enough quality for a commercial release, but an excellent record for the era.

A "hootchie kootchie" version of Tea For One was recorded in Malibu in November 1975, along with Don't Start Me Talking / All My Lovin. In 1978 at Clearwell Castle in May there was a partial new track called Fire - some great guitar, but never made it to completion and full live performance or commercial album.

On the 1977 tour The Rover introduction was used for Sick Again.

A bit of the Lone Ranger appeared in Cleveland 28 April 1977 ("the Lone Ranger and Tonto were riding down the line ..."). The 1977 sets were superb, with 21 June 1977 (or the 23rd) being some of the most sought after bootlegs. The 21st June is the famous "Listen to This Eddie". The acoustic set was notable during this era with great performances of The Battle of Evermore. Keith Moon joins John Bonham for the encore on the night of the 23rd June.

During the short 1980 European shows, the live versions of In The Evening and All of my Love were much better than on the In Through the Out Door album. Money was performed in Frankfurt on 30 June 1980 with Phil Carson on bass.

You'll Never Walk Alone was briefly inserted during Knebworth 4 August 1979.

Robert Plant

During his solo years, Plant performed some of the Led Zeppelin catalog that were never played live, including Living Loving Maid and Wearing and Tearing, plus Your Time is Gonna Come in 1993. In The Light was standard in 1988 shows. Good Times Bad Times was not performed until 2005/2006 (and the opener at O2). A few lyrics of Do It If You Wanna (For Your Life) appeared in Little by Little in October 1990.

Little Sister was performed many times in 1981 and at various jams. Much better than Ry Cooder. Love Potion No 9 was performed at JB's, Dudley on 22 August 1982. The Young Ones was performed twice (26 February 1984 and 18 January 1985).

The Elmore James Look on Yonder Wall was performed a couple of times.

The setlist got interesting from 1988 onwards, with some great live performances of In The Evening, John Lee Hooker's Dimples, and Mirror in the Bathroom in 1990. Back in the USSR also featured during mid 1988. In my opinion the live performances of Ship of Fools was a better mix than the commercial album.

On 23 December 1989 Plant did a show in a Kidderminster shopping mall for charity, singing All Along the Watchtower, Spirit in the Sky, Every Breath You Take and Run To You. On the subject of "different" setlists, during the Newcastle soundcheck on 28 November 1983 there was Smoke on the Water!

Santa Claus is Back in Town was performed on a couple of Christmas occasions, first on TV on 15 December 1984, and a couple of times with the Priory of Brion in December 1999.

There is a great alternate mix/outtake of Sixes and Sevens (from the otherwise rather un-notable Shaken 'n' Stirred album).

In 1990 Plant would sometimes start Nirvana with a few lines from Lennon's Give Peace a Chance. I Cried was performed live several times, along with The Way I Feel in 1990, but these were uncommon additions to the setlist. Far Post was attempted a couple of times in 1983 but it was hard to play live (and once was aborted after less than a minute, the band clearly having trouble).

There is a great collectable acoustic set from Madrid, 19 June 1993 with Plant in great form "... and she's buying, a ticket, to Wolverhampton!" Some lyrics of Crimson and Clover appeared in Philadelphia 27 November 1993.

Plant does Southern Man on 29 October 1999. One of the rarest of all is Talking to Myself, a Plant/Gammond song performed only once on 8 December 1999 at Stourbridge. Goodnight Irene was performed at Shrewsbury Castle (for which there is an excellent video) on 9 July 2000.

There were some great Priory of Brion shows that were never released on a commercial album. Darkness Darkness was (IMHO) better than during Strange Sensation days, plus A House is Not a Motel, and great versions of Baby Please Don't Go and Gloria. I was disappointed Sitting By the Window never appeared on a commercial release - the guitar solo was excellent on a number of occasions receiving great applause from the audience.

There were some great performances of Hey Joe, both Priory of Brion and Strange Sensation (quite different versions).

The Boy who Wouldn't Hoe Corn is simply brilliant, the only version being the Crossroads video (CMT) with an annoying commentary in the guitar solo. I'd love to see a commercial release of this - it could be Plant's best since Led Zeppelin.

For the Alison Krauss fans, you must get a live version of Trampled Rose, and a version of In The Mood with Matty Groves.

Jimmy Page

Page did some interesting shows with Roy Harper in 1984.

Does Lucille, Surfin USA, Barbara Ann and Fun Fun Fun with the Beach Boys on 4 July 1985.

Tobacco Road with Safe Sex, Ibiza on 4 August 1986.

Prelude (Chopin's Prelude in E minor, Opus 28 no 4) was a standard in 1986 and 1988 shows, never released on a commercial Page/Firm album.

Stairway to Heaven was played at the end of the 1988 Firm sets, without vocals. However, the audience tapes prove that the crowd knew the lyrics from start to finish.

Page/Plant

Try and listen to Lullaby, performed during the start of the 1995 tour (Cure song). The House of the Rising Sun was used as the introduction on 11 March 1995 in New Orleans.

There were some good performances of Hey Hey What Can I Do during 1995, but Achilles Last Stand was only played a couple of times at the very start of the US tour. A few lines of Carouselambra was standard in In The Evening medleys throughout the 1995/96 tour.

Tea For One was played a couple of times during the Japan tour in February 1996, but it never really worked. Night Flight was performed a couple of times at the end of 1998 as they finished up the Page/Plant tour.

Its hard to find, but Rude World (Rainer Ptacek tribute) is a great little track and was released on a tribute album.