Atls & Takes LZI & LZ2 (Boogie Mama)
(79:42): Babe I’m Gonna Leave You (take 8), Babe I’m Gonna Leave You (take 9), You Shook Me (take 1), Babe Come On Home (take 1), Babe Come On Home (take 2), Babe Come On Home (take 3) (Olympic Studios, London – September 20th to October 10th, 1968), What Is And What Should Never Be (instrumental), What Is And What Should Never Be (alternate take), Ramble On (instrumental), Ramble On (alternate take), Heartbreaker (instrumental), Heartbreaker (alternate take), Whole Lotta Love (instrumental), Whole Lotta Love (alternate take), Moby Dick (intro/outro), Moby Dick (solo only)
Atls & Takes LZI & LZ2 Boogie Mama is the first of three volumes of collected Led Zeppelin outtakes. As the title suggests, it presents some of the best outtakes from the first two albums released in 1969. The opening tracks date from Zeppelin’s very first recording sessions in October, 1968.
“Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” was the track which Jimmy Page and Robert Plant bonded on in their first face-to-face meeting at Page’s home. The final product sounds much more restrained than these two takes, with Plant singing his guts out. “You Shook Me” is the very first take according to the voice of engineer Glyn Johns. It lasts for almost eight minutes and cuts out at the very end.
There are three takes of “Tribute To Bert Burns”, which surfaced in 1993 as “Baby Come On Home.” This dates from the final day of recording.
The next section feature instrumental and alternate takes of “What Is And What Should Never Be,” “Ramble On,” “Heartbreaker” and “Whole Lotta Love.” These surfaced earlier this year and are fascinating to listen to. They are in pristine sound quality and make this set worth having. The final tracks are the long circulating “Moby Dick.”
The sound quality for all the tracks is outstanding. Boogie Mama package the title in a digipack with glossy cardboard paper and early photographs including the amateur portraits taken of the band a week into their first tour as The New Yardbirds. The latter half of the disc with the newer tracks makes this one worth having.
