Led Zeppelin’s Flying Rock Carnival 1971 Complete (no label)
Budokan, Tokyo, Japan – September 23rd, 1971
Disc 1 (69:08): Introduction, Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Black Dog, Dazed And Confused, Stairway To Heaven, Celebration Day
Disc 2 (37:50): Bron-Y-Aur Stomp/That’s The Way, Going To California, What Is And What Should Never Be, Moby Dick
Disc 3 (42:41): Whole Lotta Love, Communication Breakdown
This is a copy of the no label released in Osaka several months back, containing the complete tape source that first surfaced in fragment on the Watchtower label. The sound quality is very good to excellent with some distortion present. Some of the gaps in the tape are plugged using alternate tape sources in seamless edits. The sound quality isn’t as bad as previously thought and this is a good title to seek out. The label also translated the Japanese liner notes into English explaining the origins of the tape. The notes read:
“This 3-disk CD set in your hands is the « Rock Carnival » long-length gold version that was previously released in 2004. Only the first half part was released which the lacking part of sound sources have been compensated by other sources. The left sound source of course was the source of the pioneer rock group at that time. It was the most wanted rock group which everyone aspired to go to its live concerts. Since the debut in 1969, Japanese fans were impatient to attend its first visit to Japan. It may be clear that the first live concert had influenced the sources today. Although there are thousands of recording sources of that day left by ardent fans, the sources used in this CD are the best of all.
“As this CD recording offers extremely excellent sound quality, it has become a hot topic on internet websites, magazines and so on. In fact, when this CD was produced, nobody knew where the liner note had gone. Some say that a man working for music industry who lived in Kobe had given it to an American Japanese who lived in Arizona. On the other hand, some say that the master tape was lost about 10 few years ago during the Great Hanshin Earthquake. The truth is not yet clarified. However, before reaching your hands, the sources were almost completely collected from the current master tape and this is the way how it was recovered and reproduced. The sound quality of the opening part is not good. A recording studio had spent 3 days and used the left master (data storage device) which had been used last time and the newly discovered master with a little inferior sound quality for editing. This work was done politely.
“Furthermore, as I mentioned before, these sound sources have not spread among the people who mainly related to the bootleg communities. Since the last CD has been released until today, there is no newly reissued CD being produced. After the release of this CD, it is declared that there is no more reissue CD from the master tape. If any source of this is released, all must be declared as its digital copy. About the performance, since 2004 there are more and more underneath sources and remarks so that their fans can approach their real image through the official video and so on.
“Whereas, ZEP (Led Zeppelin) in 1971, just a little ahead before drug spreading among the group to digest severe tour, “something” was needed but the performance was still under control at that time. The accuracy of breaks, solos’ picking and the voice of the vocal, the pitch and others at that time was the most attractive period. No one can impersonate 4 of them about the originality of the combination and their improvisation and so on. Even though the UK tour in 1973, US tour in 1975 and the last half part tour in Earls Court were not as good as before, but generally the touch of ZEP were still there. What a long introduction I’ve made. Anyway, now I would like you to go back to 23rd Sep 1971, beside Jimmy, the seat a little behind Bonzo (John Bonham)…”
8 Comments
And the newly established Japanese label called Beat & Beat released familiar version and used just couple of seconds taken from different source to make some edits and this title is very similar in content to one you already want to get.
Also Pedro, this one reviewed here isn’t the infamous $250 edition but is an exact duplicate at a very reasonable price.
The problem is that the guys whose hoarding this source are not interested to put (sell) it to anyone else and the only what we can expect is EV revolution for about $$$ with this. Speaking in the other words, no one else label has it yet. I guess maybe TCOLZ will be able to issue it since they comes from Japan too. What’s worse, non labelled version is spliced with another sources and equalized to death.
It’s me again asking at the end of March 2009 when will this title be released by a “regular” company???
What’s the problem??
Thanks Hager for your answer. I will save the money.
Have you heard yet of anyone else releasing this title??
It seems very strange to me that in this age and time when titles are copied and released almost immediately by other companies this one hasn’t been released by someone else yet.
My suggestion, without dropping any names, is to avoid any offers by pirates looking to skin you alive, and $250 is a perfect example of just that. That’s a ridiculous, criminal number to demand for something like this, although well within the selfish intentions of a certain well-known rip off artist.
When will this title be “made” by a regular label and sold at a reasonable price???
$250 is a little too much for 3 cds!
I have obtained this title and am of the opinion that it’s an excellent release. The recording of this landmark show is superb, with definition and separation in the instruments and vocals, as bolstered by what I consider to be wonderful range between low, mid, and high frequencies. Its volume also has been boosted, which adds to the listening experience because now, as compared to prior releases of this show, there is a better ability to hear more of the performance. As compared to the crazy show in Osaka that would happen 6 days after this concert, I have to say that hearing Robert’s vocals on the 23rd enhances the recording over some of the surpressed moments in Osaka (like “Immigrant Song”, for example). I also find the packaging in this Flying Rock Carnival title to be tasteful, with the insert in English closing by welcoming the listener to an experience close to Jimmy and Bonzo on stage. Although I’m not yet sure about how it compares, my initial impressions are that this title surpasses (for me) the great Empress Valley title “First Attack of the Rising of the Sun”, and is clearly superior to the “Rock Carnival” fragment Watchtower released a few years back. So, for me, this no label production is truly a no brainer as the definitive presentation (to date) of this incredibly powerful concert.