Rare Zeppelin Recording Found
Legendary Ipswich gig bootleg unearthed at car boot sale
A rare bootleg of a 1971 Led Zeppelin concert has been found at a car boot sale.
Classic Rock Magazine reports that Zeppelin fan Vic Kemp stumbled across the recording of the band’s St Matthews Bath Halls gig at a car boot sale in Ipswich.
The St Matthews Baths Hall show took place on 16 November 1971 and was essentially a tour warm up. The converted indoor swimming pool was renowned for its "bouncing floor”.
The East Anglian Daily Times spoke to Mr Kemp who revealed how he had come across the recording.
"I was going through a stand of CDs at the car boot at Portman Road and the guy who was selling them said 'you might be interested in this',” he said.
"It doesn't have a proper cover and the title is just written in felt-tip pen. I think the date of the concert is wrong, as it says 1972, but the recording is not too bad at all. It's on a double CD.
"It must have been recorded by someone standing at the front with a microphone. You can hear Robert Plant talking to the audience quite clearly.
"It only cost me two or three pounds. I've no idea how many other copies there are or if it's worth anything. It's just incredible that they played such a small venue - and it sounds an amazing gig.”
The recording is quite a find for Zep enthusiasts. It had been thought that no recordings of the full concert existed, and only partial recordings had been released in the past in various bootleg form – with the bootleg album Internationally Famous the most renowned of these.