Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Day 51: 4/9/1970 Tampa, FL

4/9/1970 Tampa, FL  (master>dat>cdr)
Bring it on Home, White Summer/Black Mountain Side, Since I've Been Loving You, Thank You, What is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, How Many More Times, Whole Lotta Love

The tape begins in the middle of a duel between Page and Bonzo during Bring it on Home. Plant attempts to read some rather odd stage announcements before introducing a frenzied White Summer/Black Mountain Side. Page is on fire, his playing is wild and lightning-fast. Since I've Been Loving You is haunting and powerful, one of the best thus far. Page's solo during Thank You is excellent, adding an epic quality to the performance. Another one of the best.

A cut in the tape leaves us in the final chorus of What is and What Should Never Be. Bonzo is explosive during Moby Dick. How Many More Times starts off with an extended funky jam. The riotous medley includes excellent renditions of Elvis Presley's A Mess of Blues and Gene Vincent's My Baby Don't 'Low. There is a slight tape disturbance during the latter. The show ends with an excellent Whole Lotta Love, which includes the first appearance of what Luis Rey calls the Everybody Needs Somebody to Love reference at the end of the theramin freakout.

The tape is clear and well-balanced, a great document of an excellent performance.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

1970-04-09 1970-04-09 Curtis Hickson Hall, Tampa, FL "Who's Birthday" (Tarantura)
Looks like the taper must have got to his seats late, the first few songs look to be missing, with the show starting with Bring It On Home already going. The Tarantura release seemed to be a bit better than the Cobra release, or the tape source release, sounded a bit brighter in my quick comparison. Between Bring It On Home and White Summer, Plant makes an announcement for Carol Russel to go to the front box office, heh. White Summer - Black Mountain Side is quite impressive. The crowd at times seems a bit restless, but they get settled in after a bit. Since I've Been Loving You is followed by the Organ Solo and Thank You. What Is and What Should Never Be is missing the first half or so. The intro to Moby Dick is missing, but the tape picks up right at the start, though there is some tape issues for a bit. As things go on, there seems to be a few more talkers around the taper. How Many More Times has a cut about 5 minutes in, seems like quite a bit could be missing. There is another tape cut about half way in. Whole Lotta Love is the encore.

The sound is good most of the time, but unfortunately people talking and some tape inconsistencies take away from the overall enjoyment of this show.