It’s been a while since I’ve talked about a Led Zeppelin set. I’ll still occasionally pick up new releases, but with the constant barrage of “new” boots on coming out all the time on vinyl, I try to only get the shows I really want, or stuff that’s really exciting in some particular way. This is in contrast to Ozzy and Sabbath material (and lots of Pink Floyd) where I will buy the good, the bad and straight up ugly. Pretty much whatever comes out. If I did that with every band that I collect, it just wouldn’t be sustainable. The Rhinestone Cowgirl set, however, ticks both the “really want” and “exciting” boxes, so I was very happy when this one showed up in my mailbox.
One thing that I’ll mention right out of the gate is that this is not a cheap set. I usually don’t mention prices for several reasons; the top two being that I don’t sell any of the material I write about on this site, and that what sellers charge for unofficial records can vary wildly. Since I think a lot of people will be interested in this one, I’ll warn you ahead of time that if you can find a copy, it will probably be in the 200 USD range. I realize that this is going to sound absurd to some people, and to be honest, it didn’t sound like a smokin’ deal to me at first either. Basically, it seems that we have reached a point where boot boxes routinely cost just as much as official releases. Sometimes the price can be justified, and sometimes it can’t be. Zeppelin fans and collectors will already know that a vinyl release of “Eddie” is a special case, and I think it’s going to be worth your consideration.
There is a ton of Zeppelin material out there, but knowledgeable collectors know which shows are good, which ones are great, which ones are garbage, and everything in between. If the subject were Ozzy, Sabbath or Floyd, there is very a good chance I would have knowledge like that off hand. Led Zeppelin is a different animal. Thankfully, there are a lot of knowledgeable Zeppelin collectors out there, and I’ve been fortunate that when I have a question, I can just ask one of them. In particular, my buddy Jon Snowcone has always graciously steered me in the right direction for all the best stuff, no matter what I’m looking for. I’d call him an expert, but I think he would prefer the title of “historian”, which I also believe is accurate. So, thanks, Jon, for educating me on the topic, and saving me lots of time, money and bandwidth by helping me avoid the not-so-great recordings and all the snake oil that’s out there.
The History
Most of you will know that Listen To This, Eddie! is probably the finest Zeppelin bootleg in existence. It was recorded by the legendary Mike Millard at the Los Angeles forum on June 21, 1977, which was the first night of a six-night run at the venue. Most great recordings are pulled from the soundboard, but this is an audience recording. Basically, Mike brought a Nakamichi tape recorder (very large at the time) into the venue and just open-air recorded the show from very near the stage. You might think an approach like that would have to yield bad results, but Mike was an artist who perfected his skills over the taping hundreds of shows in the LA area. To this day, it’s still probably the high-water mark for audience recordings in general, and I think it’s a show that every Zeppelin fan should hear.
I guess you can’t really talk about Eddie! without at least addressing how it may have gotten its name. So, in brief, there are two different stories, and you can believe whichever one you want.
This first one goes that the recording came out so well that even Eddie Kramer, who recorded the official Zeppelin live album The Song Remains The Same, should be impressed with its quality. So, I guess someone heard it, took it to Kramer was like, “this is really good!”. Then, the story would have to have gotten back to the bootleg crowd somehow, and they then decided to name the show after the incident. Interesting theory, but when you think about it that way, it just becomes a little unbelievable to me.
The version I tend to believe says that the title is a response to Eddie Van Halen, who talked a lot of trash on Jimmy Page’s live guitar playing abilities. This trash talk is well documented and wasn’t just limited to Page. He also made subtle digs at other esteemed players such as Jimi Hendrix and Steve Vai over the years. So, the legend goes that whoever came up with the name though Eddie should “listen to this” recording, and he would be proven wrong.
I think that the Van Halen story is more likely to be the true version. I think that fans would have certainly heard all this slanderous talk from Eddie and would have been eager to refute it. It’s possible some guys were nerdy enough to be reading liner notes and dig up Eddie Kramer’s name, but I think that’s a little extreme, even for sure fans. Remember, you couldn’t just Google stuff back then, and I’m not sure tech personnel listings on live albums were common knowledge.
As far as The Rhinestone Cowgirl name, that’s in reference to a moment in the show where Robert Plant calls John Bohnam a “Rhinestone Cowgirl”, for some reason. He also accuses him of eating rhinestones at one point… almost certainly a drug reference of some kind. Plant often liked to make pop culture references during shows, and it’s probably not a coincidence that “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell was a mega hit that year. It was #1 in the US and UK, and everyone would have heard it. Whoever pressed this set (it’s not on label, so we have no idea who made it) probably just needed something to make sure people could differentiate the release from others, so they used this memorable line.
Honestly, the most shocking part of this whole release is the fact that this is the first time that the full version of Eddie! has been pressed to vinyl. It doesn’t seem possible that no one has done it over the last almost fifty years, but as far as I can tell, this claim is accurate. It was only a few months ago that some of the best ever Black Sabbath audience recordings, also captured by Millard, made their way to vinyl. Fittingly, the release was titled Black Millard, and my review for that one, along with a little more history on Mike “The Mike” Millard, can be found in that article. It’s one of my favorite pressings in recent history, so Sabbath fans should take note.
As far as Listen To This, Eddie! goes, many fantastic sounding and lavish looking versions have been put out on CD by legendary labels like Empress Valley Supreme Disc and the like, but if you are into wax like I am, you’ll want to seriously consider adding this new version to your collection. There’s a ton that can be said about the performance itself, but my main focus is going to be on the actual physical set, and whether or not this box is worth the money. As almost always is the case, you can download this show for free or stream it on YouTube if you want to get an idea of what you’re in for performance wise, but I’ll cover a little of that as well.
Audience Recording – The Forum, Inglewood, Los Angeles, USA – 21 June, 1977
A1 The Song Remains The Same
A2 Sick Again
A3 Nobody’s Fault But Mine
B1 Over The Hills And Far Away
B2 Since I’ve Been Loving You
C1 No Quarter
D1 Ten Years Gone
D2 The Battle Of Evermore
D3 Going To California
E1 Black country woman
E2 Bron-y-aur Stomp
E3 White Summer / Black Mountain Side
E4 Kashmir
F1 Out On The Tiles / Moby Dick
F2 Heartbreaker
G1 Guitar solo
G2 Achilles Last Stand
H1 Stairway To Heaven
H2 Whole Lotta Love
H3 Rock And Roll
The Box
The Rhinestone Cowgirl is a 4 LP set pressed on yellow/greenish marble vinyl. I found the color choice to be a little bit strange, and it’s not the prettiest wax I’ve ever seen; that’s for sure. It doesn’t look bad though, and I think some people will probably be into it. The marbling itself looks nice, and the colors do blend well with the labels. Each label features different shots of the band members in action and they are clearly marked so you can tell which side is which. The LPs themselves are heavy, and none of mine had any defects or issues. The discs come in plain paper inners, but I cleaned them and replaced those with my usual rice paper ones. The new inners had no problems fitting into the box for storage, and the LPs shipped wrapped in bubble wrap, which also fits inside the box. I kept that in there for added protection during storage.
The box itself is a standard rigid box that most of these sets come in, and it is pretty heavy duty. The artwork isn’t printed on the box but has been printed separately and glued on. There is no artwork or wording on the side of the box, so it might be hard to tell what’s what when it’s on your shelf. The art is printed on heavy, high-quality paper and cut out and positioned to an exact fit. This version of the set is limited to only 300 copies, and each one has a hand numbered red sticker in the upper back right corner. There is another version as well in a different color, but I’m not sure about the details on that version. I know that there are far fewer copies, and I’m guessing it’s a lot more expensive.
The set also comes with some great extras, including a 1977 US replica tour book and another booklet that has liner notes and additional photos. The booklet is divided into four sections, including two on the background of the Millard recording, a lengthy review of the concert itself, and then a final section by a guy called Jim Reinstein, who apparently attended the concert with Millard. It’s a great read and easily surpasses most “liner notes” that come with modern day bootlegs. The concert review is written by David Swift and is dated 1977. I’m not sure if the other bits are brand new or when they were written. In the opening section, there is some wording which makes me believe that at least this portion must have been written by the label that pressed the set:
“For this release, we used Mike’s best known recording, transferred from the original master cassettes to DAT in the early 2000’s. This show has been bootlegged dozens of times but never completely on vinyl and from the original master.”
The back of the box refers to “DMM: Direct Metal Mastering”. According to the back of the box, this mastering is not standard mastering, but the type used to get a digital file ready for vinyl. This needs to be done for any files being pressed to vinyl, but apparently this process is unique:
“Direct Metal Mastering technique was used in order to allow having lengthy tracks (such as No Quarter) entirely on one side. This release had a verified lineage of master cassettes to DAT and we believe it represents the highest quality transfer of Mike’s master recording available.”
I have no idea what the specifics of this process could be. What I can say for sure is that most Zeppelin releases with long tracks end up with those tracks being broken up… usually into two pieces on two different sides of the LP. The fact that this problem doesn’t exist with The Rhinestone Cowgirl must be an indication that this process has worked… and without any sound degradation. Whatever it is, the results sound great. There are no spaces between tracks, and the in and out fading is perfect.
The Show
I was originally planning on writing a full review for the actual performance, but I don’t think that’s really necessary. This performance is legendary, and the recording speaks for itself. The setlist should give any Zeppelin fan a very clear picture of what this show offers. That said, there are some important highlights that I think bare mentioning, just in case (as I hope) there is a new generation of Zeppelin fans out there wondering what all this is about.
This is indeed a standout performance from Jimmy Page, and I believe some of his best recorded live work. I hope Eddie Van Halen got the chance to check it out. John Bohnman had been ill at the previous show, and by all accounts, his performance really suffered that night. On this particular recording, though, he’s back with a vengeance, and put down one of the best performances I can recall hearing from him, especially during this tour. As people who read my articles might remember, I’m not a fan of any drum solos, but this is one of Bonzo’s best. Even I liked this one, I was never bored of it at any point. It’s pure, loud, raw power from probably the second best (sorry, Keith Moon fan here) to ever do it.
John Paul Jones also has a standout performance, at one point bringing out a three necked guitar so the guys can play “Ten Years Gone”. His keyboard performance on “No Quarter” is also unique and outstanding, and one of the highlights of the show for me. Plant’s voice might not be as flawless as it was during earlier tours, but he sounds superb for this show. There’s no doubt he had a lot of vocal damage by this point in his career, but to me, he sounded pretty much like his old self this night. As the title suggests, Jimmy Page is on point pretty much the whole show. “The Battle Of Evermore” and “Going To California” are two of my favorite Zeppelin songs, and the versions from this “acoustic set” are incredible. I’m not sure how I feel about some of the more avant garde pieces of the guitar solo, but artists will do what artists will do. Especially when they are on some serious drugs.
There is a small section at the end of the show that’s patched from another recorder’s tape, but it’s small and you probably wouldn’t notice it unless someone told you about it. I won’t tell you where it is, so see if you can find it!
If you’ve only heard soundboards or rough audience tapes from the 1977 tour, this is the one that rewires your expectations.
The Verdict
Obviously, I have no way of knowing if any new standard mastering was done on the audio, but there are some things I can tell you for sure. Is this set worth the money? I think so… 100%. This pressing is flawless, and each disc is silent. I looked really closely for any defects I could find, but my copy is as close to perfect as any bootleg gets. It’s way better than the new David Gilmour Luck and Strange official box set that I recently purchased (which I have had to return TWICE now). Pressing for The Rhinestone Cowgirl is an easy 10/10, and the packaging is 9/10, considering the glue on artwork. It’s not in color and not printed directly on the box, but who really cares? The packaging is still high quality and makes for a fine collector’s piece. We all know the audio is 10/10 for an audience recording, so there’s really not even any further need to mention that. The bonus material of the liner notes booklet and tour book really round out the set and add to the overall value.
I rarely write reviews that are this long, but I think this set deserves special attention. Some people might skip it because of the price or the lack of flashy color artwork, but I think that would be a mistake. In the future, some other label might press this again, but it’s not going to sound better than this. With The Rhinestone Cowgirl being limited to such a small number of sets, now is the time to pick one up. There are still some out there and great rewards should only be a Google search away. Good luck, and happy hunting!