Happy Monday everybody, it seems we have a few more things to talk about this week...quite the variety too!  That's always nice. 

Some of the latest news out of Japan....available soon on the Zipperman Label will be FRANK ZAPPA "Texas '73" 2CD capturing his performance at Texas Hall Auditorium in Arlington on March 11, 1973...Power Gate's next release will be RAINBOW "Gone Wild" 2CD with yet another wonderful recording from The Budokan - this one taken from a May 9th, 1980 performance and comes with a bonus CDR titled "Roger's Birthday Party Definitive Version" which features a November 30th, 1979 appearance at Caldrone Hall in New York City on ROGER GLOVER's birthday...Sirene is releasing the KING CRIMSON set, "Rainbow 1973" 2CD + bonus disc...the core title presenting an excellent recording from London's Rainbow Theater on October 26, 1973, the bonus CDR is called "Torontobound" and contains their Massey Hall show in Toronto on November 11, 1971.

...some other Euro Bootleg oddities to mention this week...on a Generic Japanese Label comes MARY HOPKINS "Spirits + The Welsh Words Of Mary Hopkins" 1CD  of gospel-oriented material + bonus CDR of Welsh hymns of some sort!...yikes...from the Robber Soul Label is THE BEATLES "Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away" 1CD of Abbey Road and Let It Be outtakes...BOB DYLAN & THE BAND "Forever Young" compiles a "best of" their live collaborations 1966-1976, plus a 1988 live track of Bob with LEVON HELM, all in a very nice trifold jacket chalk-full of photos...the German Import WHO title, "Electric Proms 2006" is a stunning pre-broadcast version of their London Roundhouse performance last year.

In LED ZEPPELIN boot news this week...Seymour Vision has produced their very own version of a ZEP video compilation, "Days And Confused: Rare Video History 1969-1977"...which isn't unlike the Hercules Labels' "Film Noir" set released last month...but Seymour Visions' is a double, Dual-Layer DVD silver disc production and only goes to 1977 vs. Hercules DVD-R production and takes us all the way through to 1980...both contain virtually all the same material originally compiled by Cosmic Energy over the last 5 years, of course.  To each their own, every ZEP fan should have a set.  The Hercules set has some rare Hamburg "70 footage that I don't believe is available anywhere else...too bad they didn't go the silver disc route with that set.  In other things ZEPPELIN...the old bootleg label, Condor, is getting resurrected for the next conversation piece in ZEP trading circles..the DVD, "Unstoppable Metal Machine" - which will contain a near-complete version of the bands' final concert from Earl's Court on May 25th, 1975.  Until now, only the first third of the proshot source has been available, which makes this another, very desirable release.  Tarantura will be releasing the 6CD set, "The Witch Queen", which will likely pair up both the soundboard and audience recordings from New Orleans on May 14, 1973...Look for an upgraded box set of LED ZEPPELIN Studio Outtakes coming from Scorpio...the set is slated to be 12CDs and a contemporary upgrade to the ambitious and benchmark setting 11CD from Antrabata in the early 90's.

The Godfather Records latest batch of announcements for the month are typically varied, and they include...TOM WAITS "At The Civic Center", a single disc that features a soundboard from Akron, Ohio on August 13, 2006, plus bonus tracks from his fairly recent appearances on both David Letterman and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart..."From The Dark Heart Of A Dream" 2CD is a stellar BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND title that contains one of the best (another one!) shows, recorded at Boston Music Hall on March 25, 1977...both of these titles feature superb trifold cardboard packaging with outstanding photography, the SPRINGSTEEN one in particular utilizes one of my favorite rock n' roll  live photos (above), just great stuff.  Also from The Godfather Label comes yet another NOEL GALLAGHER & GEM release called "Little Things That Make Me So Happy", a single CD of a semi-acoustic performance in Toronto on November 7, 2006 and bonus tracks from those widespread AOL Sessions last October, this too in a very classy digipack.  Keeping it all in the family...Apocalypse Sound DVDs for March...THE CLASH "Riot Acts", some pre-Combat Rock era proshot vids that are seemingly previously unreleased and includes Paris, February 27, 1980 at the Palais Des Sports and Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo on January 2, 1982...PEARL JAM "Endless Run" DVD is a Proshot/Soundboard production from Santiago, Chile on November 22, 2005 at San Carlos Apoquindo and is said to be absolutely stunning in quality...BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN "Soul Fever" is another proshot/soundboard release that was apparently slated for official release but has yet to see the light of day, until now...it contains an abbreviated, 16 song version of his Verona, Italy performance at Stadio Bentegodi on April 11th, 1993...NOEL GALLAGHER "Sitting Here In Silence" features 4 excellent performances of he and Gem on tour in Union Chapel on Novembe 26, 2006, The Chapel in  Melbourne on December 11, 2006, Milan on November 29, 2006 and then Paris on June 8, 2006 at Taratata...in other stray bootleg DVD news, look for LEONARD COHEN "First We Take Austin" on Wonderland Records which pairs up some fantastic performances from the Austin City Limits show in October of 1988 and a "Leonard Cohen Live Rock Special" with the vintage of 1978...The Boys Next Door Label has again assembled a very interesting collection and this time the subjects are THE BEE GEES...titled "Tales Of Brothers Gibb - A History In Film", it pieces together TV clips from 1963 through 1987 and also broadcast performances from Melbourne 1971, Japan 1973 and the excellent Soundstage show from Chicago 1975.

Some ROLLING STONES bootleg news this week...that ALTAMONT 1969 Deluxe Edition is back on the release schedule from Idol Mind Productions and will feature opening sets by CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG and SANTANA...SODD has announced two new titles this week, "Welcome To New York" 1CD plus bonus disc - featuring the classic July 26, 1972 soundboard on the main release, and a transfer of the vinyl boot "Nasty Music" on the bonus disc..."Welcome To Chinese Restaurant" 2CD will contain the excellent July 9, 1975 Mike Millard recording from The Great Western (L.A.) Forum and features a bonus DVD-R of the July 11th, 1975 abbreviated proshot video ("Hot As Hell")...

Some of you may be seeing some of those Wolfgang's Vault soundboards surfacing on the Bit Torrent sites and subsequently being jumped on by some of the Japanese CDR Labels.  The Bit Torrent sites are clamping down on these because they are not what is termed "lossless" sources.  These boards are very strict for collectors by requiring lineage or source identification/verification with the postings by individuals.  This is to insure integrity of transfer on both ends.  Ever since people have figured out a way to download the live concert soundboards over at the Vault, they have started sharing them.  The problem is, the Wolfgang's Vault administrators aren't posting them to be shared, thus the actual files are of "lossy" nature.  Meaning you aren't getting "all the sound" of the recording.  It's merely a hollow shell that over the net sounds alright but try converting to .wav files and they basically sound pretty rough.  Anyway, just thought I'd share what I have learned.  If anyone has picked up releases sourced from Wolfgang's Vault please post your comments.

Thanks for tuning in for the latest scuttlebutt on our hobby.  Have a great week!

Svengi, March 5, 2007