The Jon Wizardo Interview link
Adrian Leonard
ZoSo The Zephead
Did you ever record Led Zeppelin?
I recorded Zep at the Inglewood Forum in 1977. It was a fantastic stereo tape done on my Uher CR 112 with a Sony stereo Mic. I mastered it for Andrea as a two record set which I believe she called 'For Badgeholders Only'. It was a wild show. A drunken Keith Moon wanders on stage at one point and is reluctant to leave. The other thing I remember about the show, was that it took place the same day as my FBI interview at The Federal Building in Westwood. I was depressed after that meeting and went over to my friend Mike Fisk's apartment.
He made me a cheese sandwich, we listened to records and he reminded me we had tickets for Zeppelin that night. Suddenly the idea of recording a concert on the same day I was questioned by the Fed's, appealed to my sense of humor. It really cheered me up and turned into a great day.
Caution Explosive was supposed to be epic but turned into the ultimate dud. At some point in late 1968 (or early 1969?), Led Zeppelin opened a show for Lee Micheals at the University of California - Irvine. A student who worked on the concert had gotten his hands on a soundboard recording of the performance. It was just incredible. The band opened with Train Kept a Rollin' and did a bunch of other early stuff. I loved it and planned on putting it out immediately. Larry was temporarily home from Goddard, so I got him to design the cover. It was a beautiful satire of the "colorful" packaging used by chinese firecrackers. Where firecrackers bear the warning:
Caution Explosive: Set on level surface, light fuse and get away.
Larry's cover read: Caution Explosive: Set on turntable, drop needle and get away.
Anyway, the original cover artwork was gorgeous but ended up never getting used because the guy who had the tape got cold feet and asked me to kill the project, which I did. BUT... as so often happened back then, we had already put the damn thing on the 'order forms' so Jimmy demanded that I come up with something. The 'something' I came up with was an abysmal audience recording from Germany. Larry and I got the tape from Brian Izen, as I recall. It was garbage, but at least the band opened with 'Train Kept a Rollin' which no other bootleg had at the time. I was pretty ashamed of it, so of course it sold well, just to taunt me I think. Jimmy did a crude 'cut and paste' of Larry's original artwork and the rest is part of (the sometimes unflattering), Wizardo history.
ross martini
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2024 4:18 AM
To: zeptrade <zept...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: The Jon Wizardo Interview link
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pje...@charter.net
That was a very entertaining read! It was like Wizardo was the Forest Gump of bootleggers. Random meetings with Jagger, Maureen McCormick, The Rubber Dubber..
Thanks for that link Adrian!
Jerry
From: zept...@googlegroups.com <zept...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Adrian Leonard
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2024 4:18 AM
To: zeptrade <zept...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: The Jon Wizardo Interview link
well worth a read imo
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