Led Zeppelin – Listen To This, Eddie (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-621NEWA/B/C)

Listen To This, Eddie (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-621NEWA/B/C)

The Forum, Inglewood, CA, USA – June 21, 1977

Disc 1 (71:12) Introduction, The Song Remains The Same, The Rover – Sick Again, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Over The Hills And Far Away, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter

Disc 2 (56:52) MC, Ten Years Gone, The Battle Of Evermore, Going To California, Black Country Woman, Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp, White Summer, Black Mountain Side, Kashmir

Disc 3 (74:57) MC, Out On The Tiles – Moby Dick, Heartbreaker, Guitar Solo, Achilles Last Stand, Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Rock And Roll

Disc 4 (75:18) MC, Out On The Tiles – Moby Dick, Heartbreaker, Guitar Solo, Achilles Last Stand, Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Rock And Roll

Back in September 2020 when JEMS unleashed Volume 50 of The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes series that featured one of Mike Millard’s most famous recordings, June 21, 1977, it unleashed a multitude of releases. Many of these releases used the alternate source 3, the Erik source, to fill the gap in Ten Years Gone and the other sporadic non music cuts throughout the Millard tape. I reviewed the Graf Zeppelin Listen To This, Eddie (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-621A/B/C) title over a year ago and things finally settled down, perhaps we all have enough versions of the Eddie concert on our shelves to last a lifetime…enter The Dogs Of Doom.

Early this year they released Volume 20 of The Dogs Of Doom Liberation Series, the mysterious source 2 of June 21, 1977 from the collection of Bill B. For many years the cut in the Millard source during Ten Years Gone was filled by a source that most collectors have never heard with that short snippet and often wondered if that source even existed or if it was taken from another concert. Well it does exist and it has made its way out to the collectors circle. The recording clocks in at 170 minutes and is the worse of the three known sources and is incomplete ending with Achilles Last Stand. It does have the complete Ten Years Gone, as does the Erik source which is much better, thankfully it has the complete guitar solo, the Millard source is missing a scant 20 seconds. Long story short, between all three sources we now can hear the June 21, 1977 performance complete.

This has not gone unnoticed from the collectors market and there are a few current releases featuring this material. The No Label gives us a three source mix using the Millard recording as their basis, Listen To This Eddie The Best & Longest (No Label). Graf Zeppelin used their second edition of their Eddie release referred to as the “New mastering” version and added a fourth disc with the extra content and the subject of this review, Listen To This, Eddie (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-621NEWA/B/C). It is only the Wendy label that has given homage to all three recordings with their 9 disc Listen To This Eddie Erik And Kenny The Complete Edition (Wendy WECD-418-423) set that collects all three sources in one set. Wendy has also released a set with the same three source merge as Graf and No Label as Listen To This Eddie Remaster From The Flat Transfer (Wendy WECD-418/419/420). I am waiting on the excellent Bootledz site to post their review of the 9 disc set and it looks to be the end all of this concert, just want to make sure it was mastered well.

When I compare the sound of this “new” title from Graf to their 2020 Flat Transfer title Listen To This, Eddie (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-621A/B/C), the difference is minimal. To my ears I hear less of a top end hum and has a more even sound that, while is slightly lower in volume, it is more consistent. Overall the differences are very minimal, I do prefer this new mastering but if I was not very focused on listening to the differences, certainly would not have noticed. The main selling point to this new title is the inclusion of the small amount of tape to complete the guitar solo. I have a complete set of the Graf Zeppelin catalog in my collection so the purchase of this title was needed. I am more intrigued by the Wendy title, it seems like a logical release of the Eddie concert would be to have a set of each individual sources in one set, perhaps present them on their own without filling the gaps.

The packaging here is very similar to the Listen To This, Eddie (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-621A/B/C) with only a few differences, the interior front tray featured a couple different pictures and the pictures on the CD’s themselves are slightly different. So this new title from Graf Zeppelin is the new mastering title that was released in late 2020 and is considered the 2nd press. The first three discs are the exact same, there is a bonus fourth disc with the addition of the 20 second fragment in the guitar solo. Many dealers are offering the fourth disc free to customers who bought the Listen To This, Eddie (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-621NEWA/B/C).