In a recent interview with BBC Radio 6, Robert Plant revealed that he has unearthed some previously unreleased Led Zeppelin recordings. When the DJs asked him about “hidden gems” on the forthcoming remasters of the band’s catalog, he said he had found a few.
“I found some quarter-inch spools recently,” he said. “I had a meeting with Jimmy [Page] and we baked ’em up and listened to ’em. And there’s some very, very interesting bits and pieces that probably will turn up on these things.”
Among them are some recordings featuring the group’s bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones on lead vocals. “So far, he’s going to give me two cars and a greenhouse not to get ’em on the album,” Plant said with a hearty laugh. “Oh, John, wherever you are with your opera, John, you can’t wait to hear yourself singing all over the world.” (Jones is writing an opera with Robyn Hitchcock and the Norwegian group Supersilent.)
Last year, Page told Rolling Stone that he’s been working on an extensive remastering of Led Zeppelin’s archives. “The catalog was last remastered 20 years ago,” the guitarist said, referring to the 1990 release of the four-CD box set Led Zeppelin. “That’s a long time. Everything is being transferred from analog to a higher-resolution digital format. That’s one of the problems with the Zeppelin stuff. It sounds ridiculous on MP3. You can’t hear what’s there properly.” He also revealed that while the group didn’t record many additional songs when making records, they did record “different versions of things, different approaches to the mixes.” He said the band would include “the substantial stuff” in the reissues.
Currently, there is no release date for the remastered catalog.
source: Rolling Stone
14 Responses
jimmy page the greatest
the greatest what?
How about we concentrate on full live shows from back in the day, Robert? Let’s get those cleaned up and out there to the public! Instead of the pieces of shows that comprised the awesome How the West Was Won, how about just getting those full shows released? I love Zep, but hearing Black Dog with one alternate lyric is not my idea of a gift from Zep to the fans.
Robert looks like a wino. Rose Bowl, 4 nights.
Rose Bowl? Please, if it ever happens keep it to nothing bigger than an arena and please play for at least three hours even if it means an intermission in the middle of the show. Pick six or seven cities in the states and do four or five nights in each so these elderly “jaded old farts” don’t have to travel to much.
The scalpers would eat those seats alive at the new L.A. Forum. Rose Bowl or Coliseum….give the people at least a shot to see em. I got nothing on the regular sale MSG NYC run in ’77. I had to pay 40 big ones outside….big money back then. It will happen, the pay-day will be a monster after DVD/CD/Pay Per View. An LP a night in full then 1.5 hours of stuff. Nobody wants to hear John Paul Jones running through 1974 arrangement on piano and vocal, please Robert.
I agree that the ticket situation would be ridiculous for the average fan. The “legal” scalpers would charge thousands just to sit in the back of an arena. If Led Zep could somehow control the ticket sales themselves, then maybe it could be great.