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Texas International Pop Festival, Dallas International Motor Speedway, Lewisville, TX, 8-31-1969, Part 4: Led Zeppelin

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Here is the fourth and last album I have of music from the second day of the 1969 Texas International Pop Festival. This time, it's Led Zeppelin. According to die-hard fans, this often ranks in the top five in polls of their best live recordings, due to both sound quality and performance.

Led Zeppelin had only released their debut album at this point (in January 1969), but it was such a smash that they were one of the biggest stars of the festival. The two music acts that were paid the most, $10,000 each, were Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin, so that's a good sign they were the two most anticipated performances. That can also be seen in the fact that they had the prized closing spot on the second day. (I think they went on right after B.B. King, but I'm not sure.)

In 2024, the band's lead guitarist Jimmy Page posted some photos of himself at this festival. He also wrote a little bit about it, which I include here: 

"Festivals were starting to become well-established in the US and the Texas Pop Festival offered a substantial bill of performing artists. I watched Sam & Dave perform and hung out with Janis Joplin, whom I had hung out with at Steve Paul's Scene Club in New York in the Yardbirds days. Led Zeppelin played a good set on this day."

There also is an interesting story about events that led up to this performance. They played Fair Park Coliseum, in Dallas, Texas, on August 4th, a mere three weeks before the festival. Angus Wynne III, promoter for this festival, saw a chance for some publicity. Wynne later said, "We found [Led Zeppelin's] road manager, and we said we wanted to make sure the band recognized the festival from the stage. And he said, 'Well, the fellows think they're going to be on vacation then. They don't know about it.' The band gets on stage, and after a couple of songs, [lead singer] Robert Plant says, 'Anyone heard of the Texas International Pop Festival? We got into town today and saw the posters with our name on them. We've never heard of it. It's a classic ripoff, and if you have tickets, you need to get your money back.'"

Wynne had recently signed the band to perform at his festival, so he was furious. He found the road manager locked inside a limousine. He and some friends pounded on the windows and almost tipped the car over before the manager emerged. Wynne said, "He ran out there [on stage] and he pulls Plant over to the side and whispers in his ear. Then Plant grabs him by the lapels and starts shaking him. At the end of the song, Plant goes to the microphone and says, 'Yeah, we're going to play [at the festival]. Our weasel road manager just told us.'"

So that's why, if you listen to the banter between songs in this album, Plant says: "It's very nice to be back in Texas. Last time we were here, it was a near disaster when we said we weren’t doing the festival and everything. We'd like to, this is the last date before we go back to England. So we really want it to be, have a nice time."

It seems likely to me that the band was supposed to be back in England by the time of this festival, but the band's management couldn't resist the $10,000 prize for doing this festival, so they signed a contract for it without consulting the band members first. The band members were pissed because it meant their trip back home was cut short. Happily though, it all worked out in the end, and the band happened to perform one of their best concerts.

This performance was professionally filmed. Unfortunately, nothing was done with it, and it seems most of it was lost or destroyed. There are some short clips you can find on YouTube. Also, in the 2025 documentary "Becoming Led Zeppelin," a minute or two of "Dazed and Confused" can be seen from this film. But that supports the suggestion that most of the film no longer exists, because most of that song cuts to a different performance at a different concert. (One can tell by a sudden change in the clothes, and other factors.) 

If you want to know more about this performance, the website ledzeppelin.com has a webpage about it. It includes excepts from reviews in newspaper articles, as well as photos of the band, memorabilia, and photos of more newspaper articles about the whole festival. Here's a link:

Texas International Pop Festival - August 31, 1969 / Lewisville | Led Zeppelin Official Website 

Although this is the last of only four albums from the second day of the festival, I have ten albums for the third and final day of the festival. Those will be coming soon.

This album is an hour and four minutes long. 

01 talk (Led Zeppelin)
02 Train Kept A-Rollin' (Led Zeppelin)
03 I Can't Quit You Babe (Led Zeppelin)
04 talk (Led Zeppelin)
05 Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin)
06 talk (Led Zeppelin)
07 You Shook Me - Rock Me Baby - You Shook Me (Led Zeppelin)
08 How Many More Times (Led Zeppelin)
09 The Hunter - The Lemon Song - Bye Bye Baby (Led Zeppelin)
10 How Many More Times [Reprise] (Led Zeppelin)
11 talk (Led Zeppelin)
12 Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/1kXJhtqa 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/oyVob9ClcUWrBAx/file 

I found two photos from this concert that I really liked, one of Jimmy Page and one of Robert Plant. Instead of picking one over the other, I used Photoshop to include both of them. Page is the one in the purple shirt.



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