Led Zeppelin – In Through The Outdoor Sessions (Boogie Mama)

 In Through The Outdoor Sessions (Boogie Mama)

(73:59):  All My Love, Fire, Carouselambra, unknown song, Wearing And Tearing, Fool In The Rain, Hot Dog, In The Evening, Southbound Suarez, Darlene, Fool In The Rain

In Through The Outdoor Sessions is another excellent compilation of previously available outtakes from Led Zeppelin’s final studio sessions.  The sound quality on Boogie Mama is comparable to the best available versions of these tapes, and is packaged in an attractive digipack and very affordable to the average collector. 

The disc starts off with the amazing “All My Love” outtake recorded in Stockholm in November 1978.  This is the take used for the final version, but this lacks overdubs, the keyboard solo in the middle, and doesn’t fade out.  The ending section, which was unfortunately edited out, has a pretty little lyrical guitar solo by Jimmy Page.

The next two tracks date back to the May 1978 Clearwell Castle demos.  This was Zeppelin’s first band rehearsal since the abrupt ending of the tour the previous year due to Robert Plant’s personal tragedy.  It is an amateur recording containing the unfinished track “Fire.”  This sounds like the beginning of what would be an epic track written and dominated by Page. stands in contrast to the keyboard dominated numbers that would form the final album with Bonham’s loud drums and Page taking flight over the chaos.  It is similar to “When The Levee Breaks”,and it’s a shame Zeppelin never completed the song.

The number breaks down for some conversations before the tape cuts out. This song unfortunately never went past the rehearsal stage and, to the best of our knowledge, was never recorded in studio.

There are three takes of the John Paul Jones written “Carouselambra.” The three takes go as far as the first section. The other two, the slow moving bridge played on the double neck and the fast paced “disco” sections wouldn’t be written until much later.

It is claimed Zeppelin rehearsed this for the Knebworth concerts and the following summer tour of Europe but never made it to the set list. It is also said this was going to be featured on the North American tour in late 1980 and early 1981 but with the end of the band we’ll never know.  This is the closest we have to a live version of this piece and is enjoyable to hear them play it with abandon.

The rest of the disc is occupied with alternate mixes of songs from the Stockholm sessions in late 1978 that produced In Through The Outdoor starting with the “unknown song,” an eight second fragment of God knows what. 

“Wearing And Tearing” was going to be a special EP to commemorate the Knebworth concerts but was scrapped and wouldn’t be released until 1982’s Coda.  This is the final version of the piece with a count-in by Bonham and additional Plant interjections throughout the song.

“Fool In The Rain” begins with a count-in from Bonham. And Plant, referring to the Latin flavor of the song, shouts “quartro!” There is an additional “oh yea” by the beginning but the whistle, Plant’s vocals in the bridge and guitar solo are missing.

“Hot Dog” is the same as the final version except with the guitar solo missing and Plant throwing in funny interjections like “that’s my kind of music” and “c’mon Mr. Philips you can do it again.”

“In The Evening” sounds dull and fuzzy compared to the others. Since it has the vocals, guitar solo and vocal and guitar overdubs this is the final product but has a drone introduction rather than the one used for the final take.

This is a very strong release by Boogie Mama.  They’ve released several very good Zeppelin titles over the past couple years.  In Through The Outdoor Sessions, while having common material, gives it a very good presentation for those who may not have it already, or for those who can’t afford the pricey Empress Valley and Scorpio sets.