Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes have dug up a version of The Lemon Song that they recorded at a soundcheck 25 years ago.
The song – originally recorded by Led Zeppelin in 1969 and released on Led Zeppelin II – is one of a number of unreleased tracks that will be included on a reissue of Live At The Greek, a collab album that Page and the Crowes first released in 2000.
Live At The Greek was, as the title suggests, recorded at LA’s Greek Theatre across two nights in October 1999 at which Page and the band played a selection of old Led Zep and Black Crowes songs plus a smattering of old blues and rock n’ roll standards.
As you’d expect, the new expanded reissue has been remixed, remastered and thoroughly scrubbed up. Aside from The Lemon Song it also includes another 15 unreleased song, as well as exclusive photos, video and more.
In a press statement, Jimmy Page said of the reissued album: “The new mixes capture the collaboration of those historic encounters and provide the full explosive passion and exciting energy of those alchemical moments.”
For the Crowes’ part, the reissue obviously brings back fond memories of the event itself, and playing with one of their heroes. Frontman Chris Robinson said of the album: “The new Live at the Greek box set brings the whole experience of our work with Jimmy into a vibrant, electric, mystical and powerful perspective. Hail, hail rock ‘n roll!” while his brother and guitarist Rich Robinson added: “Going through the shows and putting together the new box set has been such an incredible dive back to that time in our history.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime thrill to play these amazing iconic songs with the man who composed them. The sound of the new mixes and extra songs blew me away when I first heard them.”
If you’re curious about what the actual gigs sounded like 26 years ago, have a look at this:
In other Black Crowes news, it was recently announced that the band are among the artists up for consideration for the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame this year. Others include Soundgarden, Oasis, Joe Cocker, Chubby Checker and, er Mariah Carey.
