Led Zeppelin / Final Winterland 1969 2nd Night Source 2 / 2CD

Led Zeppelin / Final Winterland 1969 2nd Night Source 2 / 2CD / Non Label
Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA, USA 7th November 1969


Play sample :

Click Image To Enlarge

I’m just surprised that new ZEP sound sources are constantly being discovered this year, but I think enthusiasts from all over the world are working to organize the sound sources as they spend more time at home. Speaking of the new sound source in 1969, “ATLANTA POP FESTIVAL 1969” is a new place in my memory, but this time the winter land on November 7 was excavated. As any enthusiast knows, audience recordings have existed for a long time on this day, but they are completely different recordings. The conventional sound source “recorder 1” has a vintage audience that the sound is muffled even though the sound image is close, and even if you are a maniac, the sound quality makes you think “If the sound is a little better …” .. Because of that, the number of items released was limited. On the contrary, there have been no releases since the 2010s, and the sound source has fallen into a completely overlooked situation.
However, the recording status of “recorder 2” excavated this month is completely different. Instead of the closeness of the sound image like “recorder 1”, it is a deep sound image, yet it has a freshness and clear texture that you can’t imagine sleeping for more than 50 years. What’s more, surprisingly, it was recorded in stereo, which, combined with the depth and clearness, makes it very easy to hear. Even though “recorder 1” was closer to the details of the performance, the sound source this time was the overwhelming victory for the total ease of listening.

Also, “recorder 1” has many cuts, and there was a big drawback that the recording ended when the plant started singing the “The Hunter” part at the end of the live “How Many More Times”. The sound source this time has few cuts, and “How Many More Times” is finally completely recorded. It was before the full-scale release of “Whole Lotta Love” as a repertoire, so the medley development of this song escalated by that amount, a performance that seems to be in the latter half of 1969. The recording time is almost double that of “recorder 1”, which exceeds 20 minutes.

The complete recording of “How Many” was a feat enough to surprise enthusiasts all over the world, but the true value of this sound source was elsewhere. After finishing the same song, another song was being played as the finale. Speaking of the last American tour in 1969, Winterland on the previous day is recognized by enthusiasts as the sound source that has the longest recording time and is easy to hear. Eddie Cochran’s cover was played at the finale there, and I thought that the cover would end on this day as well, but what was shown was “Bring It On Home”! Until now, there was no live performance in 1969, and a song that was thought to have been added to the stage repertoire the following year was being performed within 1969.
From the autumn tour, new songs were gradually released with the release of the second album, but from the beginning it was treated as regular, “Heartbreaker”, “What Is And What Should Never Be”, and “Moby”. Only three songs of “Dick”. “Whole Lotta Love,” which later became a staple of the live performance, was being considered for how to incorporate it into the repertoire, and it was hard to imagine that “Bring It On Home” was released in 1969.
I cannot help but be surprised at the performance. The live arrangement has already been completed, and that style that seeks the clapping of the audience as soon as the intro begins, and above all, the development that will be a dialogue between Bonzo and Jimmy in the latter half of the performance has already been completed. I guess from that, this song was played on the stage before this day.
This is because the autumn American tour has a rare sound source from the beginning, and it is only the winter land on the 6th that I mentioned earlier that it will be a sound source that captures even the live finale. There will be a total of 11 performances, including sound sources that did not exist in the performances before that, or sound sources that were not recorded until the finale. It’s no wonder that “Bring It On Home” has been tried for any one day. The oldest live performance excavated this time was so complete that it made me want to think about it like that.

Since there was such a big topic, I touched on the contents of the end of the live earlier, but this recording started with a fragment that is trying to record from the audience with the performance of Isaac Hayes who was the undercard of ZEP. It is also valuable to be there. ZEP was also a short period of time, but there was a time when he later incorporated his “black jaguar theme”, so in a sense it can be called a valuable encounter.
Also, when he was touring the United States in early 1969, the band that was performing with a strong blues color including the cover changed to a hard rock-oriented repertoire and sound with the release of the second album. The point is that it captures the beginning with stereo and clear sound quality. As if to represent such a change, “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” was not only the last performance on this day, but also the fact that it was played clearly harder than the performance at the beginning of 1969 is also an evolution of the sound. Is telling.
And the new repertoire from the second album such as “Heartbreaker” and “What Is And What Should Never Be” is a really fresh performance, especially the former has such a high sound quality that there is no “promise” at all. It’s really valuable to be asked. Fortunately (laughs), it is unfortunate that the cut that occurred in this sound source, which was good not only in sound quality but also in terms of few cuts, was the drum solo “Moby Dick” in another new repertoire, but that is “recorder”. 1 ”has been patched, so you will be able to experience the outstanding freshness and clearness of this sound source. Not only the excavation of “new sources” that surprises enthusiasts around the world, but also the excavation of shocks that capture even historically valuable scenes with good sound quality. It is also the birth of the classic “First of all” from the last American tour in 1969, which was not blessed with sound sources!

今年に入ってからZEPの新音源がコンスタントに発掘される状況には驚かされるばかりですが、家で過ごす時間が増えた分、世界中のマニアが音源整理に勤しんでくれているのでしょう。1969年の新音源と言えば「ATLANTA POP FESTIVAL 1969」が記憶に新しいところですが、今度は11月7日のウインターランドが発掘されたのです。マニアならご存じの通り、この日は古くからオーディエンス録音が存在していましたが、それとはまったくの別録音。従来の音源「recorder 1」は音像が近い割に音がモコモコにこもっているというビンテージ・オーディエンス丸出しな状態で、マニアをもってしても「もう少し音が良ければ…」と思わせるような音質でした。そのせいでアイテムのリリース数も限られていたほど。それどころか2010年代を迎えてからは一切のリリースがなく、完全に見過ごされた音源という状況にまで堕ちてしまいました。
しかし今月発掘された「recorder 2」は録音状態がまるで違う。「recorder 1」のような音像の近さの代わりに奥行きのある音像であり、なおかつ50年以上に渡って眠っていたとは思えない鮮度とクリアーな質感。しかも驚いたことにステレオで録音されており、これがまた奥行きやクリアーさと相まって非常に聞きやすく感じる。演奏のディティールだけなら「recorder 1」の方が近かったにもかかわらず、トータルな聞きやすさは今回の音源が圧勝。

また「recorder 1」はカット個所が多く、中でもライブ終盤の「How Many More Times」でプラントが「The Hunter」パートを歌い始めると録音が終わってしまうという大きな欠点がありました。今回の音源はカットそのものが少ない上、「How Many More Times」は遂に完全収録。まだ「Whole Lotta Love」がレパートリーとして本格投入される前の時期ですので、その分この曲のメドレー展開がエスカレートするという69年後半らしい演奏。それは「recorder 1」と比べて倍近い収録時間となっており、20分を超えるもの。

この「How Many~」完全収録というだけでも世界中のマニアを驚かせるに十分な快挙だったのですが、今回の音源の真価は別のところにあった。同曲を終えた後にフィナーレとして別の曲が演奏されていたのです。69年最後のアメリカ・ツアーと言えば前日のウインターランドがもっとも収録時間が長く、なおかつ聞きやすい音源としてマニアに認知されています。そこではエディ・コクランのカバーがフィナーレに演奏されており、この日もカバーで締めくくり…かと思いきや、披露されたのは何と「Bring It On Home」!これまで69年のライブ演奏が一切存在しておらず、ステージ・レパートリーに加えられたのが翌年だとばかり思われていた曲が何と69年の内に演奏されていたとは。
秋のツアーからはセカンド・アルバムのリリースに伴い新曲が徐々に投入されていったのですが、始めからレギュラー扱いだったのは「Heartbreaker」に「What Is And What Should Never Be」、そして「Moby Dick」の三曲だけ。後にライブを締めくくる定番と化す「Whole Lotta Love」はどのようにレパートリーに取り込むかの思案中であり、「Bring It On Home」まで69年に投入されているとは到底考えられなかったのです。
その演奏にも驚きを禁じえません。既にライブのアレンジが完成されていて、イントロは始まるとすぐに観客の手拍子を求めるあのスタイル、そして何より演奏の後半でボンゾとジミーの掛け合いとなる展開が既に仕上がっている。そこから推測するに、本曲はこの日より前からステージで演奏されていたのではないか。
というのも秋のアメリカ・ツアーは元から音源の存在が希少で、なおかつライブのフィナーレまで捉えた音源となると先に触れた6日のウインターランドだけ。それ以前の公演で存在しない音源、あるいはフィナーレまで録音されていない音源を合わせるとトータルで11公演となります。それらのどれか一日でも「Bring It On Home」が試されていたとしても何ら不思議はない。そんな風に勘ぐってしまいたくなるほど今回発掘された最古のライブ演奏の完成度は高いものでした。

こうした大きなトピックがあったことからライブ終盤の内容を先に触れてしまいましたが、今回の録音はZEPの前座を務めたアイザック・ヘイズの演奏で客席からの録音を試している断片から始まっているのも貴重。ZEPも短期間でしたが後に彼の「黒いジャガーのテーマ」を盛り込んだ時期があった訳で、ある意味貴重な邂逅と呼べるのでは。
それに69年の初頭にアメリカをツアーしていた時期にはカバーも含めてブルース色の強い演奏を披露していたバンドがセカンド・アルバムのリリースを機にハードロック寄りなレパートリーやサウンドへと変化し始めた様子をステレオかつクリアーな音質で捉えてくれているのもポイントが高い。そうした変化を表すかの如く「Babe I’m Gonna Leave You」はこの日が最後の演奏となっただけでなく、69年初頭の演奏と比べ明らかにハードに演奏されている点もサウンドの進化を物語っている。
そして「Heartbreaker」に「What Is And What Should Never Be」といったセカンド・アルバムからの新レパートリーは実に初々しい演奏ぶりで、特に前者は「お約束感」のまったくない雰囲気をこれほどの高音質で聞かれるのが実に貴重。音質だけでなくカットが少ない点でも長けた今回の音源に生じたカットがもう一つの新レパートリーでドラムソロの「Moby Dick」だったというのは不幸中の幸い(笑)ですが、そこは「recorder 1」をパッチしてありますので、なおさら今回の音源のずば抜けた鮮度とクリアーさを実感してもらえるでしょう。世界中のマニアを驚かせる「新ソース」の発掘というだけでなく、音質が良くてしかも歴史的に貴重な場面まで捉えた衝撃の発掘。なかなか音源に恵まれなかった69年最後のアメリカ・ツアーから「まずはこれ」という定番の誕生でもあります!

 

Disc 1 (58:25)
1. Walk On By (Isaac Hayes)
2. Intro
3. Good Times Bad Times (intro)/Communication Breakdown
4. I Can’t Quit You Baby
5. Heartbreaker
6. Dazed and Confused
7. White Summer/Black Mountain Side

Disc 2 (63:48)
1. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
2. What Is And What Should Never Be
3. Moby Dick
4. How Many More Times
5. Bring It On Home

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.