The month of May has begun with a couple of Anniversary Releases of LED ZEPPELIN's Earl's Court 1975 concerts. First off, Empress Valley has just issued their first "official" Bootleg DVD Release with "Heavy Metal Kids"...a 3DVD set that is being touted as an upgrade of both, the May 24th, 1975 Pro-shot video that is likely to represent the most complete version to date with the addition of 39 minutes of "Moby Dick" which has been previously unavailable...Just that inclusion makes this release an important one to consider..."Heavy Metal Kids" also includes a slightly edited version of the the Pro-shot footage from the May 25th concert that has been released on Suga Mama's "London Calling" and Celebrations' "Latter Visions"...though this latest presentation from Empress Valley is also said to be of an upgraded quality even though it is missing "No Quarter", "Tangerine" and "Going To California". Also on the immediate release schedule from Genuine Masters is their next DVD-Audio/Picture Montage LED ZEPPELIN title, "Court Jesters" 30th Anniversary Edition of Earl's Court 5/24/75...the firm street is of course, May 24th and the superb soundboard audio recording will be given the meticulous GM transfer to DVD-Audio, with audience filler in the notorious spots - and will be accompanied by over 300 high resolution images over the 3 hour and 37 minutes of glorious PCM audio, all on a single disc...the title will also have the option of being ordered with 4CDR audio discs for those that want it all. Go here if you want to read more about some of the technical info that make this next GM title for '05 a bit of a "break through": http://www.geocities.com/gm_blackdog/CourtJesters.html




In other release news...Highland have a new PINK FLOYD title announced...it's called "Naniwa - Natural Dark In Osaka" and features their March 8th, 1972 show at Festival Hall...Mainstream has a new DAVID BOWIE single CD release coming soon titled "Ziggy Plays Velvets and Rock and Roll" which is recorded live at the Music Hall in Boston on October 1st, 1972...most of the other releases I stumbled across the past 6 days or so, have been released on CDR labels. Happyweed Productions has a couple JIMI HENDRIX collaborative recordings that became recently available...JIMI HENDRIX and JACK BRUCE "TTG -Studio Jam" was recorded in Los Angeles on October 17th, 1968 and JIMI HENDRIX and TRAFFIC "In The Studio" was captured at Electric Ladyland Studios in New York City on various occaisons between 1968 and 1970...The Coffee, Tea or Me Label never takes a break from production and really issues some unique titles...the latest batch to surface includes WILCO "Live At The Fillmore", a soundboard from their November 15th, 2004 show in San Francisco... BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD "California Daze" brings together an assortment of live tracks (1 of 2 such collections to mention this week)featuring their Smothers Brothers and Hollywood Palace TV appearances in 1967 and more...then there are 4 new RORY GALLAGHER titles: "Rock Life with Jack", a soundboard from Cologne, Germany on October 17th, 1990..."Burning Down the Tower" documents his Philadelphia Tower Theater show on November 17th, 1979 in soundboard quality..."Live At The Venue", also a soundboard, is from The Venue, London on September 20th, 1979 and the last one is "Kansas City Cradle Rock", an outstanding performance in soundboard quality from his August '74 appearance in KC...Coffee, Tea or Me also has a new WHO DVD-R called "Rock Odyssey", which is a Pro-shot video from their Yokohama, Japan concert last Summer on July 24th, 2004. Royal Command has a new QUEEN w/PAUL RODGERS release, "Silence For Pope" that combines 2 shows on 4CDRS...the recordings are taken from their Basel, Switzerland show on April 10th, 2005 and Milan on April 5th. BLue Cafe has a new YES title out called "Swedish Magical Evening" that documents the bands' Swedish Rock Festival appearance in Norje, Solvesborg on June 8th, 2003...the label released a PINK FLOYD title last month that I apparently failed to mention...it is "Absolutely Green" and it features the Capitol Theater, New York audience recording on April 20th, 1970. On an unidentified Japanese CDR Label comes another historical document from RONNIE SPECTOR & The RONETTES "Wonderwall Of Sounds By Phil Spector", which apparently cherry picks the best of studio sessions/outtakes from the early 60's...Sylph has just issued SONIC YOUTH "Shine All Alone", that captures the band live in Osaka on March 18th, 2005 on 2CDR's...on Fletless Wonder comes STONE ROSES "Begging You At Stockholm", a 2CDR live recording from Stockholm, Sweden on April 20, 1995.





Back to the Silver Disc releases...Look for a new NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE double-DVD "Hurricane Over The Mountain", a 155 minute Pro-shot video of their July 28th, 2001 performance at The Fuji Rock Festival in Japan!...From Hewson Enterprises comes the U2 DVD, "When Jesus Left Miami", a pro-shot/soundboard production of the December 2nd, 2001 video from American Airlines Arena in Miami in a nice DVD-digipack. In other U2 offerings...from the Out Of Mind Label comes "Into The Fire", a 3CD plus bonus DVD package that features the excellent Nantes, France performance & audio recording on October 23rd, 1984 with bonus live tracks from Bologna, Italy '85 and Atlanta '86 making their first appearance on bootleg CD...then there are assorted live video clips compiled on the bonus DVD...and The Godfather Records has 2 new U2 titles.."Neon Hearts" (March 28th, 2005 Tour Opener in San Diego + bonus tracks) and "Songs Are In Your Eyes", which is collection of "rarities" from 2003 to 2005 and includes their Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame 2005 performance. Finally, there is a new label to mention called Vague...and they have 4 new titles out now...The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND "Another Fillmore East Volume 1" which features the evening show from New York City on February 11th, 1970 and "Another Fillmore East Volume 2" features the evening show from Valentines Day February 14th, 1970...no indication if these are audience sources or soundboard recordings at this juncture...the other 2 releases from Vague are ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND & DELANY & BONNIE "Bramlett & Whippy Brothers", which is actually Delaney & Bonnie live with the Allman Brothers at A&R Studios in New York City on July 22nd, 1971...finally, there is BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD "Fallin' Bluebird", another interesting collection of rare audio snipets from Huntington Beach, California on August 11th, 1967, Hullabaloo Club in L.A. in January of '67, Dallas April 20th, 1968 and more.





That's all for now! Keep up with us via the HotWacks On-line News Ticker throughout the week and I'll meet you back here next Sunday for a wrap up in the week of Bootleg Release News. If you have any further info on some of the titles being mentioned, please shoot me an email at sb@hotwacks.com
Thanks!

Svengi
May 1st, 2005