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
I agree. Would rather see more live stuff put out. Not right to expect fans to keep buying the same LPs reissued ad nauseum.
The Beach Boys have put out Pet Sounds on what, 7 CD versions. Doors catalog has been ramped up so many times you’d think the late Manzarek was a reel of tape going round and round with the same words about the group for 40 years of packages. Live At Leeds CD….is it 4 versions now? UMG might try for 5. Wait’ll the Van Halen boxes come out…..so much stuff to milk plus live ’76 stuff. Zeppelin’s catalog will sonically be almost the same on the analog transfer. WMG loves it. Live unedited ’73 MSG tapes would be great….and the film though I hear it was a jack ass union film crew they hired and Page blew his top.
Van Halen boxes? Whoa. Hold on there. Those boxes contain the basis for the next “new” Van Halen albums! EVH’s brain is fried, but at least he had 100s if not 1000s of hours of jams to go through and milk. Sad truth is that EVH’s throwaway old jams are probably better than 99% of the new riffs metal bands are creating now. Maybe he can sell a few old jam tapes to the Winery Dogs!
The last VH album was old cassette guitar riffs from 30+ years ago….he can’t hook & riff anymore.
I know nothing about nothing, but I kind of get the feeling that Plant is getting more serious about doing some Zep shows in the USA. The window isn’t going to be open forever, and the demand is certainly there. It would be too big to pass up the opportunity. Plus, the one off show in London went very well.
He looked in a mirror and said I’d better get that hanger in London ready for the staging/rehearsals for the L.A. Colseum or Rose Bowl. It will happen…..remastered CD’s out as well.