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You are here: Home / Records / Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes- Live at the Greek

Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes- Live at the Greek

January 22, 2016 by Bill Hart

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Led Zeppelin fans have long tolerated less than ideal recordings to enjoy moments from the band during its heyday. I’ve considered doing an extensive shoot-out of some of the original Zep albums in my quest to obtain the best sounding copies, but while I’m still pondering that, here’s one that is worth the coin- cheap, in fact, for what you get: Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes- Live at the Greek.

These performances, recorded in the post-Zeppelin era, are well worth owning. Although touted as the first release of these recordings on vinyl (not true, a vinyl set was released in Germany in 2008), I’m not sure you’ll be impressed with the sonics: the recording at times sounds distant and alternates between congested and threadbare. But, the performances more than make up for that; it’s Zep revisited, with Page out front, and very similar, but not “cover band” arrangements of the originals. What brings it home isn’t the star power, or even the re-treading of some time-worn Zep “standards”; instead, you get a slightly different take on these classic songs by a band that sounds like they are on fire.

For the tidy sum of $26 U.S., courtesy of Amazon, you get three records, mostly of Zep standards with a few bonus tracks thrown in. “ Shape of Things To Come” has the same raw power as the version on Jeff Beck’s Truth, and may better it in tune.

 

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We should explore The Black Crowes repertoire at some point: I have a very nice older UK copy of The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion that is still in my pile to be cleaned. I still need to track down a decent pressing of Amorica. It has been reissued recently, and that may be a better alternative (though I have not listened to the reissue yet) than the older American Recordings copies, which now command some coin.

While we’re at it, I’ll throw in another Zep-inspired record or two: Ben Harper’s White Lies for Dark Times. Harper, better known for his ‘roots’ orientation, worked with a group that was at one time a Zep cover band to deliver some real electricity. It isn’t quintessential Ben Harper (if there is such a thing), but it is worth buying if you don’t own it.

 

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And, Vanessa Fernandez, whose Use Me album, on the Groove Note label (which contains a marvelous cover of the great Curtis Mayfield tune, “Here But I’m Gone”) struck an audiophile chord for its sonics (as well as gutsy performances) is now cooking up a new album of Zep covers, which will include acoustic pieces as well as full band numbers. That one promises to sound good, and is worth keeping an eye out for.

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Records

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