STACK October 2016 Issue 144

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16 OCTOBER 2016
W here oh where was Sunshine
Woman? To say the good
lady was conspicuous by
her absence back in ‘97 is to
underestimate the howls of outrage
from Led Zeppelin aficionados the
world over.
Back then, these UK radio
sessions from 1969 and 1971
represented the band’s first officially
released live recordings since
The Song Remains The Same,
the somewhat compromised film
soundtrack of ‘75.
Given that all six BBC studio and
theatre engagements had been
logged by jolly thorough chaps in
white coats, and apparently even
illegally taped and traded (yes,
really!), fans knew exactly
how much Jimmy the Satanic
gatekeeper was holding out
on us.
The good news is that
the “Sunshine” sheila and
all eight of her missing
companions have been
found this month,
extending the original 25
tracks to a fifth, lovely,
180-gram record in
this unambiguously
“Complete” white box.
How lovely? The first
four LPs are in glossy
white cardboard sleeves
featuring black and white photo
portraits of Page, Plant, Jones and
Bonham from the era. For maximum
mystery, the fifth could be none
more black, barring reversed type
and cover sketch portraits.
Content-wise, the Paris Cinema
gig of April ‘71 features mid-period
classics like Immigrant Song, Since
I’ve Been Loving You, Black Dog,
Going To California and Stairway to
Heaven. The bulk of the sessions
happened in March and June of
‘69, so selections naturally lean
heavily on the first two Zep albums
of January and October that year,
with half a dozen songs appearing
two or three times across the first
four LPs.
Yet more versions of most of
those – You Shook Me, Dazed
and Confused, Communication
Breakdown, I Can’t Quit You Baby,
What Is And What Should Never Be
– also turn up on the black record,
partly explaining Page’s reluctance
to gild the lily back in ‘97.
His sonic discernment can hardly
be questioned either. Master tapes
were unceremoniously erased after
the band’s Maida Vale Studio 4
session of March 19, 1969, so the
fabled Sunshine Woman arrives at
last via some fabulously crusty dub
of a tape of a tape. “There’s no
point pretending it wasn’t recorded
off the radio,” Page recently
shrugged.
There’s no pretending she’s
dispensable, though. She’s a fast
mover; all hammered bar piano and
nasty 12-bar boogie with blasts
of blues harp and little indication,
as legend has it, that she was
summoned from the ether on the
spot by a band clearly in the throes
of a decidedly purplish patch.
Where-and-when details are
meticulous, down to photos of each
venue concerned, but don’t expect
slabs of contextual pontification
about what it all means. The kicker
for collectors may be the little 3D
laser sticker of Storm Thorgeson’s
winged rock god logo on the back of
each LP. It’s the little things, right?
(Rhino/Warner)
Led Zeppelin
The Complete BBC Sessions
DAVID BOWIE
- WHO CAN I BE NOW?
[1974-1976]
The late great Duke’s
second box set covers
his dark American phase,
bookended by Diamond
Dogs and Station to
Station. Includes several
live albums, one of singles
and B-sides and, for the
first time, a scrapped early
draft of Young Americans
called The Gouster.
(Parlophone/Warner)
JANE’S ADDICTION
- STERLING SPOON
Who knows exactly
what anniversary Perry
Farrell has in mind but
this box commemorates
Nothing’s Shocking (1988),
Ritual de lo Habitual (1990),
and the first Lollapalooza
over six limited edition
LPs. Expect live recordings,
rarities, demos, and other
stuff to frighten your
children into just saying no
forever.
(Rhino/Warner)
Coming Up
Words Michael Dwyer