Led Zeppelin had it's humble beginnings as The New Yardbirds.
Jimmy Page was looking to put a band together after The Yardbirds
disbanded plus he still had a Scandinavian tour booked. He got
session bassist John Paul Jones in on the project. Page wanted
singer Terry Reid but he passed. Reid mentioned a singer that
was tearing up the club scene,Robert Plant. Jimmy was impressed
by Plant's bravado and stage presence. Plant joined and put in
a good word for his friend John Bonham. Bonham was making good
money in another band and didn't want to take the risk. Bonham
took the risk and the band was formed. They changed their name
to Led Zeppelin. The urban legend is that Keith Moon came up with
the name saying that band was going to crash and burn. Zeppelin
with the help of their manager, Peter Grant, landed a then very
lucrative deal with Atlantic Records. In early 1969 their debut
album, Led Zeppelin was released and did well. What attributed
to their sucess was their exhaustive touring schedule and the
quick release of their follow up Led Zeppelin II. This album's
energy and the lead off track "Whole Lotta Love" became
a huge hit selling a million copies. They took some time off and
in 1970 released the controversial Led Zeppelin III. It was contorversial
because it was mostly an acoustic album with most of the songs
been written while Page and Plant were vacationing at Bron-Y-Aur.
The critics hated III and thought the band was running out of
ideas. The band quickly went back to recording in 1971 at Headley
Grange. They released upon the world their Untitled album A.K.A.
Led Zeppelin IV, Zoso, Runes, etc. This album contains a lot of
Zeppelin classics including the song people love and love to hate,
Stairway To Heaven, arguably the most popular song in rock radio
history. With the success of IV Zeppelin was afforded the room
to be creative and to release albums their way, often with no
mention of their name or title on the sleeve. Zeppelin toured
like mad men again and released their first record with a title,
House of the Holy. It idi well but some of the material felt like
fillerm a rarity on a Zeppelin recording. In 1975 they made a
deal with Atlantic Records and created their own record label
Swan Song. Besides being Zeppelin's personal label, the band wanted
to sign bands that they personally liked. Bands like Maggie Bell,
Detectives and Bad Company were on Swan Song. Zeppelin's Physical
Graffiti was the first album releaed on the label. Graffiti was
a monsterous double LP.
Zeppelin cleared out the vaults but managed to make every song
seem essential to the record. It also contained the band's classic
track Kashmir. Zeppelin then played an incredible series of concerts
in England at the Earls Court Arena. Tragedy then began to plague
the band. Robert Plant and his family got in a serious car crash
in Greece. The band had to put touring on hold due to their singer
being in a leg cast. Zeppelin met in Germany to record Presense
a bare bones bo frills album played by a band with their backs
against the wall. Achiliies Last Stand is easily one of their
best tracks. In 1977 Zeppelin embarked in their final U.S. tour.
Everything went well until the Oakland show where Grant and Bonham
beat up a security guy. Two days later Plant got word his son
Karac had died from a viral infection. The rest of the tour was
cancelled and Zeppelin could have easily broke up. Plant and the
rest of the band reuntied in 1978 at Clearwell Castle to jam.
They then flew to Sweden to record what would be their last album
In Through the Out Door. It was a somber Jones and Plant dominated
record. All My Love and Fool in the Rain are the popular tracks
from this one. Zeppelin made a final apperance in England at the
Knebworth Festival in 1979. They undertook a European tour in
1980 and finished the tour in Berlin on July 7, 1980. While preparing
for a fall U.S. tour John Bonham died on Spetember 24, 1980 from
asphixation after an all day drinking binge. Led Zeppelin offically
called it quits in December of that year. rumors of reunios have
haunted the surviving members since the end of the band. Coda
was released putting a formal end to Zeppelin's recording career.
Jones kept a low profile and continued to do sessionwork. He released
his first solo recording Zooma followed by Thundertheif. Page
did some solo work with different artists including the Black
Crowes. Plant had a successful solo career and continues to have
a love hate relationship with his past. Zeppelin reunited a total
of four times for different reasons. In 2003 Jimmy Page released
How the West Was Won a live 3 CD set from a concert in 1972. Also
released was Led Zeppelin DVD an extensive video history of Zep's
greatest concerts. Led Zeppelin continues to be one of the greatest
rock bands in history.
