Led Zeppelin
The Forum
Inglewood, CA
June 27, 1977
Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 214
dadgad Mastered Edition
Recording Gear: AKG 451E microphones (CK-1 cardioid capsules) > Nakamichi 550 cassette recorder
Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Yamaha KX-W592 Cassette Deck > Sony R-500 DAT > Analog Master DAT Clone > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX > iZotope RX9 Advanced and Ozone 9 > Dadgad Mastering > FLAC
01 Intro
02 The Song Remains The Same
03 The Rover > Sick Again
04 Nobody’s Fault But Mine
05 Over The Hills And Far Away
06 Since I’ve Been Loving You
07 No Quarter
08 Ten Years Gone
09 The Battle Of Evermore
10 Going To California
11 I Can’t Be Satisfied
12 Black Country Woman
13 Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
14 White Summer > Black Mountain Side
15 Kashmir
16 Trampled Underfoot
17 Out On The Tiles > Moby Dick
18 Guitar Solo
19 Achilles Last Stand
20 Stairway To Heaven
21 Whole Lotta Love
22 Rock And Roll
Known Faults: “Trampled Underfoot” was unintentionally omitted from Rob’s early 2000s master to DAT transfer. The version patched in here is from JEMS’ transfer of Millard-made first generation cassettes.
Introduction to the Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Series
Welcome to JEMSí Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone series presenting recordings made by legendary taper Mike Millard, AKA Mike The Mike, best known for his masters of Led Zeppelin done in and around Los Angeles circa 1975-77. For the complete details on how tapes in this series came to be lost and found again, as well as JEMS’ long history with Mike Millard, please refer to the notes in Vol. One: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=500680.
Until 2020, the Lost and Found series presented fresh transfers of previously unavailable first-generation copies made by Mike himself for friends like Stan Gutoski of JEMS, Jim R, Bill C. and Barry G. These sources were upgrades to circulating copies and in most instances marked the only time verified first generation Millard sources had been directly digitized in the torrent era.
That all changed with the discovery of many of Mike Millardís original master tapes.
Yes, you read that correctly, Mike Millardís master cassettes, long rumored to be destroyed or lost, have been found. Not all of them but many, and with them a much more complete picture has emerged of what Millard recorded between his first show in late 1973 and his last in early 1993.
The reason the rediscovery of his master tapes is such a revelation is that weíve been told for decades they were gone. Internet myths suggest Millard destroyed his master tapes before taking his own life, an imprudent detail likely concocted based on the assumption that because his master tapes never surfaced and Mikeís mental state was troubled he would do something rash WITH HIS LIFEíS WORK. Thereís also a version of the story where Mikeís family dumps the tapes after he dies. Why would they do that?
The truth is Mikeís masters remained in his bedroom for many years after his death in 1994. We know at least a few of Millardís friends and acquaintances contacted his mother Lia inquiring about the tapes at the time to no avail. But in the early 2000s, longtime Millard friend Rob S was the one she knew and trusted enough to preserve Mikeís work.
The full back story on how Mikeís master tapes were saved can be found in the notes for Vol. 18 Pink Floyd, which was the first release in our series transferred from Millardís original master tapes:
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667745&hit=1
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667750&hit=1
Led Zeppelin, The Forum, Inglewood, CA, June 27, 1977
If there’s one band Mike “The Mike” Millard is synonymous with it is undoubtedly Led Zeppelin.
When his recordings of Zeppelin began to show up on websites, torrent hubs and YouTube, he became Internet famous for the quality of his work. This was also the time when many of the rumors and falsehoods about Mike began to propagate on message boards and fan sites. He was intentionally a man of mystery and his passing just before the dawn of the World Wide Web ensured he had no digital footprint or profile online. But that didn’t stop others from filling in the gaps largely based on assumptions.
While the primary goal of the Lost and Found series is to release Millard’s full body of audio work, we also want to set the record straight about the man himself. One question we’re frequently asked is if Mike always used his master tapes to make his first-generation copies, as many have presumed that in order to preserve his original cassettes, he would have made back-up safeties and dubbed the copies he shared from those to protect the actual masters.
We have it on good authority that in fact Mike did dub directly from his masters, so much so that his Led Zeppelin tapes in particular often needed “surgery,” code for moving the tape reels themselves into new, fresh cassette shells so they would run smoother. According to one Millard friend, his heavy playback of the masters would eventually wear out their housing, pressure pad and/or require splicing the tape and leader back onto the hub.
Given quality was Millard’s highest brand attribute, it makes sense that he would do transfers from his masters. However, that wear and tear may have had a bearing on this week’s release of Led Zeppelin’s final LA performance on June 27, 1977. As Jim notes below it is the final night of a six-show stand at the Fabulous Forum, Zep’s home court if there ever was one.
As is the case with all of Millard’s Led Zeppelin recordings, our source transfer was made by Rob S in the early 2000s directly from Mike’s cassette masters to DAT. Unfortunately, this time “Trampled Underfoot” went missing in action during the transfer and didn’t make it to Rob’s DAT. Rather than leave the show incomplete, we’ve gone back to cassette transfers JEMS made many years ago from Millard-made, first-generation cassettes and included “Trampled” from that source.
A rip of Rob’s master cassettes to DAT and “Trampled Underfoot” from the first-generation cassette transfers were provided as .flac files to esteemed LZ mastering engineer dadgad to again assist on this release. He prepared both a flat transfer edition (fixing only levels, pitch and phase issues, with no EQ or other mastering applied) and a second, “respectfully mastered” edition as he puts it, that fine tunes the sound for what we feel is optimum listening pleasure.
Because Rob’s LZ transfers were done cassette to DAT 20+ years ago, we don’t have the opportunity to fine tune playback azimuth as we do when we’re working from Mike’s actual master tapes. The 6/27/77 recording is the first Zep transfer where the azimuth misalignment is particularly noticeable, perhaps due to the aforementioned wear and tear contributing tape alignment issues. Most of the show sounds excellent, but there patches where it slightly degrades, the most pronounced of which is the section of “White Summer, “Black Mountain Side” and “Kashmir” which strongly suggestions an azimuth issue. Dadgad has done his best to mitigate the problem in his mastered edition. Samples provided.
Here’s what Jim R recalled about seeing the final night of Led Zeppelin at the Forum in 1977:
I attended the Led Zeppelin concert with Mike Millard on June 27, 1977. The band had played the previous two nights, so they were a bit tired for this one. It was also the end of the second leg of the tour; I think they had England on their minds.
The June 27 show was the final night of a six show in seven nights stand. Mike sat third row center if I remember correctly, or thereabouts, i.e. in our Sweet Spot. A great position capable of picking up the guitar amps, stage monitors and the huge PA as well.
The last night of the Forum stand was added after the first five shows went on sale and were then postponed from March to June. The first On Sale for the initial shows was a grueling seven-day camp out at the box office. The sale for June 27 was much shorter, only a couple of days. Mike and I had great spots in line. When they let the first wave of us up to the Box Office windows, I was the first one to my window and I got the old grumpy guy that we all knew about from previous On Sales. But as luck would have it, the first six tickets off his stack were Section B Row 1. Yep front row dead center. There was no way Mike was going to try to record from the front row, so we sat separately that night. I had to sit in the front row, darn the luck!
In hindsight, this would turn out to be the last time we were to see the Mighty Zep. Ever.
The June 27 set was a three hour and 40 minute marathon that left us drained afterward. Longer than the standard show, there were many extended solos and extra tidbits thrown in. “Over the Hills and Far Away” was played instead of “In My Time of Dying.”
Summer 1977 was at the tail end of the wheelchair era, but I pushed Mike in for this one. Security was getting wise to Mike’s covert recording, so he passed each completed cassette to me for safe keeping in case he got busted during the show. The corrupt security guards had been instructed to confiscate Mike’s tapes after the show in order to sell them to bootleggers themselves, but we were a step ahead. By the time the house lights came up, I had all the tapes, and would swiftly squirm my way out of the packed humanity near the stage and meet Mike at his car. Mike had a set of cheap blanks on him to give to security if needed. We were always thinking ahead.
I took some good pictures at the show, taking advantage of our awesome seats. I hope you enjoy the sights and sounds from this memorable performance.
Cheers to my buddy Mike. RIP.
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JEMS is proud to partner with Rob, Jim R, Ed F, Barry G, Jim Ri and many others to release Millard’s historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself.
We canít thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept Mikeís precious tapes under wraps for two decades, but once Rob learned of our methods and stewardship, he agreed to contribute the Millard DATs and cassettes to the program. Our releases would not be nearly as compelling without Jimís memories, photos and other background contributions. As many of you have noted, the stories offer an entertaining complement to Mikeís incredible audio documents.
Huge ups this week to Rob S for his original transfer and DAT rip; dadgad for partnering on another LZ collab and working with a more challenging source; Professor Goody for confirming proper pitch; Jim R for his show photos; and mjk5510 for taking care of post production and artwork.
Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.
BK for JEMS
themidnightcafe.org 