Led Zeppelin: 1973-05-13 Mobile, AL (FLAC_SB Source 2 Remastered_2 CD)

This is a superb copy of the Mobile, Alabama Led Zeppelin concert from 1973.  There have been many copies of this show shared over the years, and most time, they seem to sound similar to the Midas Touch label's Goin' Mobile which I have a silver CD set of.  And there is nothing wrong with that CD set.  But this is a much better sounding recording and I'll describe below why.

LINEAGE:
Unverified Gen tape > DAT > CD-R > Remaster > FLAC > me > TLH > WAV (to test for lossiness) > Audacity (to view waveform, embed metadata/track titles & info, and then to re-encode) > FLAC 8 > TLH (to check for SBE's and create and verify new ffp & md5 files) > you

DETAILS:
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Date: May 13th, 1973
Location: Mobile, Alabama
Venue: Municipal Auditorium
Title: US Tour 1973
Label: dadgad
Source: SB (Source 2 Unknown Gen)
Format: FLAC
CD's: 2
Artwork: Yes
Size: 599 MB
Length: 114:29:44

SETLIST:
CD 1:
101. Rock And Roll
102. Celebration Day
103. Black Dog
104. Over The Hills And Far Away
105. Misty Mountain Hop
106. Since I've Been Loving You
107. No Quarter
108. The Song Remains The Same
109. The Rain Song

CD 2:
201. Dazed And Confused
202. Stairway To Heaven
203. Moby Dick

LIN K:
(1) 1973-05-13 Mobile, AL (SB Remaster/dadgad)

In the vast majority of the excellent sounding copies of this show, all reportedly sourced from "sean_the_bootlegger" and the 2nd generation tapes he was able to obtain many years ago, the sound is very enjoyable but sounds as if the higher frequencies aren't really bright in the recordings.  The recordings have a sort of muted sound in the sense the high notes in things like cymbals, guitar, and vocals are not as crisp and clean sounding as we wish they were.  But in this copy, a copy shared by "dadgad" a while back, this is not the case.  The sound is much brighter and the recording has been remastered too.  The low end frequencies are also there for a clean and perfect balance too.  There is some slight audio clipping in the waveform but it is not anything to worry about and the sound is still a big upgrade in my opinion.  It takes the excellent sounding copies we've all had and gives us a superb sounding copy I feel.

In the original text file provided by "dadgad" he states this tape source did not come from the "sean_the_bootlegger" or "Presence" server source tape(s).  I was not really clear whether he meant a different transfer tape was used or he just did not use the copies on the "Presence" server over at R-O.  From what "dadgad" states it does look like a completely different unknown generation tape was what was used and as far as I know the "STB" tape is still a semi-verified second generation tape (written on the tape).  So it looks like that rules that source tape out if I understand what is being said right.  Here is a copy and paste of "dadgad's" exact wording:

"Remastered from an unverified gen analog tape>DAT>CDr transfer.  This is not Sean's tape nor Presence's direct download.  This flawless concert has one of the most untypical No Quarter ever played and one of the best ever recording of Bonham's drums both in terms of sound and performance.  Too bad the final section of the show is still missing."

Whatever the generation or source this tape being shared today came from, this is a very clean and superb sounding recording I have had for a while but finally got around to inspecting closely a week ago.  It was just after I finally got the "STB" 96 kHz/24 bit tape transfer over on R-O.  I'd had the 44.1 kHz/16 bit copy of the "STB" transfer but I always enjoy the higher sample and bit rate recordings and the possibility of making a DVD-A with those in the future (one day I will if someone doesn't beat me to it).  And as I did some comparisons between the various copies I have, I was really blown away by the "dadgad" shared copy.

I wish there was more detail by "dadgad" on how he remastered this show.  He didn't make mention of EQ'ing it but I imagine he likely did some at least.  I've uploaded another excellent-to-superb copy that was done as a group project in the past and claimed to have the first (out of five) discs being a remastered copy of the master tape.  But in that 5 CD set, there is the disc 1 master source remastered (sounds about like this but not quite as good) and it seems to have audio cut out between the songs when Plant talks.  The second two discs were a remaster of the raw, unaltered last two discs in the set.  So CD 1 is claiming to be a remastered master copy, CD's 2 and 3 are a remaster of the raw copy claiming to be a first generation transfer, and then CD's 4 and 5 are suppose to be the raw first generation audio.  And I am thinking that the STB source tape was used for discs 2 through 5 most likely.  However, Sean ("STB") and "pernod" both said (in 2012) that no matter what generation a copy claims to be, they were all sourced from Sean's second generation copy.

Here is what "pernod" wrote in 2012 when he posted the 2008 transferred copy of Sean's 96/24 audio:

"Incomplete but excellent+ sounding recording. This was at the time a brand new transfer done from Sean_the_bootlegger's cassettes which are the root set for every copy and bootleg source of this particular soundboard fragment in general circulation. These are as of July 2010 the lowest gen circulating set of cassettes for this particular sbd fragment. Concerning the generation of the cassettes they have been called everything from 1st gens to 3rd gens, I am calling them as they are stated by the documentation Sean provided me a copy of from the person he originally received the tapes from. Your actual generational lineage mileage may vary but the fact these cassettes are the root tapes are not in question. This is a hi-resolution version in it's raw form with only speed correction applied to the recording, phase correction to recenter the stereo signal and fades added at the beginning and end of the recording."

Here is the link to just the CD's 2 and 3 I uploaded in the past of the 5 CD set if you want to check it out.  I posted it in January of 2014 and you can find it in the posting of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down thread here.  It is a superb remastering job too I think.  But I believe the  "dadgad"  recording being uploaded now is even better.  I just cannot believe I've had this one for a couple of years and I finally realized how much better it sounds.

Whatever the story, the lineage, or your taste in audio, you're bound to love one of these recordings if you like Led Zeppelin's music!  I think I need to post the unaltered second generation copy too just for a full comparison by those who are interested in listening for themselves.  Leave a comment if you are interested and I'll get it up sooner than later.  Otherwise, I'll eventually get it up here.

As with all recordings circulating of this show, there is no "disc 3" so to speak.  In other words, the show is not complete and the recording reaches the end after the approximately 15 minutes, 30 seconds of John Bonham's "Moby Dick" drum solo.  There is no "Whole Lotta Love" or encores like "Heartbreaker" unfortunately.  At least not yet.

I've enjoyed listening to this "dadgad" copy so much that I have listened to it three times in the last week.  It really is a big sound upgrade to my ears.  And ironically, a few weeks ago I was talking to a fellow Led Zeppelin fan and collector and we were talking about this show too.  We talked about the topic of wishing a better sounding copy would surface.  And I just happened to be sitting on one and did not even realize it at the time.  A huge thank you goes out to "dadgad" for having shared this copy!

I trust the information that comes from "sean_the_bootlegger" and "pernod" (and "dadgad" too) much more than I do copies that have been shared and the information has been posted multiple times (like this post) over and over and sometimes even changed up :-)  I try and make sure I state the facts and keep them straight as I make my posts.  I don't claim to always get everything 100% right.  But I sure try to.  And the guys over at R-O usually know the facts and are even responsible for so many of the recordings we have too.  If not, they definitely seem to get the lowest generation and best sounding copies and are really the bible of Led Zeppelin related recordings and topics.

I hope you enjoy the show...
 
Bootradr

SPECIAL NOTICE TO ALL!!!

THESE DOWNLOADS ARE FOR FREE ONLY!  NEVER BUY OR SELL ANY LEGALLY RECORDED BUT ILLEGAL TO SELL SHOWS LIKE THIS ONE.  THIS IS FOR FANS AND FUTURE FANS WHO WANT TO HEAR THE ARTIST'S MUSIC RAW & LIVE BUT NOT OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE OR RELEASED.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SUPPORT THE ARTISTS BY BUYING THEIR OFFICIALLY RELEASED MATERIAL TOO.

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