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Led Zeppelin

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Led Zeppelin
File:Led Zeppelin flippedcorrect.jpg
An early picture of Led Zeppelin, from left to right: John Paul Jones, John Bonham (Top), Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
Background information
Years active1968 - 1980
(Reunions: 1985,1988,1995)
MembersRobert Plant
Jimmy Page
John Paul Jones
John Bonham


Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, described by the BBC as "one of the most influential bands of the rock era."[1]. Led Zeppelin consisted of four members; Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (lead vocals), John Bonham (drums), and John Paul Jones (bass guitar).

Formed in 1968, Led Zeppelin were innovators who never lost their mainstream appeal. While the band are perhaps best known as pioneers of hard rock and heavy metal, their music also included disparate elements from an eclectic spectrum, including blues, rockabilly, soul, funk, Celtic, Indian, Arabic, and Latin music.

The group disbanded in 1980 (following the death of John Bonham) and are still highly regarded for their artistic achievements and for their influential role in rock music. More than 300 million Led Zeppelin albums have been sold worldwide,[2] including 109.5 million [3] in the United States.

History

The early days (1968-1970)

Led Zeppelin was formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page. Page had joined the Yardbirds in 1966, first playing bass guitar (while rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja became comfortable with that instrument), then switching to lead guitar. Following the departure of Jeff Beck in October 1966, the Yardbirds, tired from constant touring and recording, were beginning to wind down. There was talk of forming a supergroup, with Page and Beck on guitar, and The Who's Keith Moon and John Entwistle on drums and bass.[4] Vocalists Donovan, Steve Winwood and Steve Marriott were also considered for the project.[5] The group never formed, although Page, Beck and Moon did record a song together in 1966, "Beck's Bolero", which featured on Beck's 1968 album, Truth. The recording session also included bassist John Paul Jones, who told Page that he would be interested in collaborating with him on future projects.

The Yardbirds played their final gig in July 1968, and Keith Relf and Jim McCarty left the band, wishing to pursue an interest in folk music. However, The Yardbirds were still committed to perform several concerts in Scandinavia, and so McCarty and Relf authorised Page and Chris Dreja to use the Yardbirds name to fulfil the bands' obligation. Page and Dreja began putting a new line-up together. Page's first choice for lead singer, Terry Reid, declined Page's offer, but suggested Robert Plant, [6] who accepted the position. Plant recommended drummer John Bonham,[7] with whom he had played in Band of Joy. When Dreja opted out of the project to become a photographer (he would later take the photograph that appeared on the back of Led Zeppelin's debut album), John Paul Jones contacted Page about the empty position. Page, being familiar with his credentials, gladly accepted him as the band's new bassist. The first tune that the band ever played together was "Train Kept A-Rollin'."

The band completed the Scandinavian tour as the New Yardbirds and then set about coming up with a new name. The name Lead Zeppelin had been suggested by Keith Moon when Page was considering forming a supergroup with the drummer. Keith Moon himself got the phrase from John Entwistle's term for a bad gig, describing it as "going over" (some sources say "going down") "like a lead zeppelin".[8] The group adopted the name, deliberately dropping the 'a' in Lead to prevent people from pronouncing it as "leed". [9]

Shortly after their first tour, the group's eponymous first album was released on January 12, 1969. Its blend of blues and rock influences with distorted amplification made it one of the pivotal records in the evolution of heavy metal music.[10] Although several of Led Zeppelin's earliest songs were based on blues standards, others, such as "Communication Breakdown" had a unique and distinctively heavy sound. Led Zeppelin also featured delicate acoustic guitar on "Black Mountain Side", and a combination of acoustic and electric approaches on the reworked folk song "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You."

The immediate success of the first album kick-started the band's career, especially in the United States, where they would frequently tour. The second record, simply titled Led Zeppelin II, followed in similar style later that year: the album begins with the bludgeoning riff of "Whole Lotta Love," which, driven by the rhythm section, defined their sound at the time. Led Zeppelin II was an even greater success for the group, reaching the Number one chart position in both the US and the UK. [11]

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were blues fanatics; their first album had included "I Can't Quit You Baby", a song written by bluesman Willie Dixon, and "You Shook Me", by Dixon and J. B. Lenoir. Jeff Beck also recorded "You Shook Me" for his album, Truth. Since the Led Zeppelin version was released six months after Beck's, he accused them of stealing his idea. This led to a long rift between Beck and Page, who had been friends for years at that point.

Led Zeppelin II also included songs which bore striking similarities to Willie Dixon's work, though Dixon was not credited. "Bring It on Home" was very similar to Dixon's "Bring It on Back", and "Whole Lotta Love", was lyrically very similar to Dixon's "You Need Love". In the 1970s, Arc Music, the publishing arm of Chess Records, brought suit against Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement over "Bring It on Home", winning an out-of-court settlement. Dixon himself did not benefit until he sued Arc Music to recover his royalties and copyrights. Years later, Dixon filed suit against Led Zeppelin over "Whole Lotta Love", and a generous out-of-court settlement was reached. Later pressings of Led Zeppelin II credit Dixon for his work.

Page was once quoted in an interview as saying: "I've often thought that in the way the Stones tried to be the sons of Chuck Berry, we tried to be the sons of Howlin' Wolf."[12] A version of Howlin' Wolf's song "Killing Floor" featured prominently in Led Zeppelin's early live performances; "Killing Floor" was also the inspiration for "The Lemon Song" on Led Zeppelin II.

The quartet also loved American rock and roll: the exuberant styles of Fats Domino and Little Richard were inspirations, and Led Zeppelin would perform rockabilly songs originally made famous by Elvis Presley and Eddie Cochran. Led Zeppelin concerts could last more than three hours; expanded, improvised live versions of their song repertoire often incorporated elements of James Brown, Stax and Motown-influenced soul music and funk (favorites of bassist Jones and drummer Bonham).

For the writing of the music on their third album, Led Zeppelin III, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant retired to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in Wales. This would result in a more acoustic sound (and a song, "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp", misspelled as "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on the album cover) strongly influenced by Celtic and folk music, and it also revealed a different side of guitarist Page's versatility. Led Zeppelin III also ushered in an era of unique album covers, this one featuring a wheel which displayed various images through cutouts in the main jacket sleeve when rotated.

In November of 1970, Led Zeppelin's record label, Atlantic Records, released "Immigrant Song" as a single against the band's wishes (Atlantic had earlier released an edited version of "Whole Lotta Love" which cut the 5:34 song to 3:10). It included their only non-album b-side, "Hey Hey What Can I Do". Even though the band saw their albums as indivisible, whole listening experiences — and their manager, Peter Grant, maintained an aggressive pro-album stance — nine other singles were released without their consent. The group also resisted television appearances, which would have reduced their ability to control their presentation and sound quality. Lack of TV exposure also enforced the band's preference that their fans hear and see them in person.

File:LedZeppelin-Symbols.jpg
The 4 symbols each standing for a Led Zeppelin member. From left to right: (Top) Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, (Bottom) John Bonham, Robert Plant.

“The biggest band in the world” (1971–1975)

Led Zeppelin's fourth album was released on November 8, 1971. There was no indication of the band's name on the original packaging, and the title of the album was given as four symbols - . It is variously referred to as The Unnamed Album, Untitled, Led Zeppelin IV, Zoso, Runes, Sticks or Four Symbols. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2005, Plant said that it is simply called the fourth album. [13]

The album included hard rock, such as "Black Dog" (supposedly titled in tribute to a dog which loitered around the recording studio) along with gentler, acoustic folk-style tracks such as "Going to California" (a tribute to Joni Mitchell). These genres are fused together in the lengthy, suite-like "Stairway to Heaven", which became a massive album-oriented rock FM radio hit even though it was never released as a single.

"The Battle of Evermore" (with some of its lyrics based on J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings) is the only Led Zeppelin song to feature a guest vocalist, Sandy Denny.

concludes with a radically altered version of a Memphis Minnie/Kansas Joe McCoy blues song, "When the Levee Breaks". Led Zeppelin's version opens with a distinctive, pounding drum beat, which has been sampled for use in many modern rock and rap releases.[14]

As of May 4, 2006, has sold 23 million copies in the US, making it one of the top four best selling albums in the history of the US music industry. [15]

Their next studio record, 1973's Houses of the Holy, featured further experimentation: powerful melodies, longer tracks and expanded use of synthesisers and Mellotron orchestration. With "The Song Remains the Same", "No Quarter" and "D'yer Mak'er", Led Zeppelin was again expanding the limits which defined their music. Their 1973 tour of the U.S. again broke records for attendance: at Tampa Stadium, Florida, they played to 56,800 fans (more than The Beatles' 1965 concert at Shea Stadium). Three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York were filmed for a motion picture, but the theatrical release of this project would be delayed until 1976.

In 1974, Led Zeppelin launched their own record label, named Swan Song after one of only five Led Zeppelin songs which the band never released commercially (Page later re-worked the song with his band, The Firm, and it appears as "Midnight Moonlight" on their first album). The record label's logo, based on a painting called Evening: Fall of Day (1869) by William Rimmer, features a picture of Apollo (although it is often misinterpreted as a picture of Icarus, Lucifer, Satan, or Daedelus). The logo can be found on much Led Zeppelin memorabilia. In addition to using it as a vehicle to promote their own albums, the band expanded the label's roster, signing artists such as Bad Company, Pretty Things, Maggie Bell, Detective, Dave Edmunds, Midnight Flyer, Sad Café and Wildlife.

February 24, 1975 saw the release of Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin's first double-album, on the Swan Song label. The band again showed its impressive range with songs such as the complex "Ten Years Gone", the acoustic "Black Country Woman", the driving "Trampled Under Foot" and the thundering, Indian/Arabic-tinged "Kashmir". A review in Rolling Stone magazine referred to the album as Led Zeppelin's "bid for artistic respectability", adding that the only competition the band had for the title of 'World's best rock band' were the Rolling Stones and The Who.[16]

Shortly after the release of Physical Graffiti, all previous Led Zeppelin albums simultaneously re-entered the top-200 album chart.[17] The band embarked on another U.S. tour, again playing to record-breaking crowds. In May 1975, Led Zeppelin played five sold-out nights at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London (footage from these concerts was released in 2003, on the Led Zeppelin DVD). This series of concerts is widely considered by fans to be amongst the best of the band's career.

If the band's popularity on stage and record was impressive, so too was its reputation for excess and off-stage wildness. Led Zeppelin traveled in a private jet (nicknamed The Starship), rented out entire sections of hotels (most notably the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles), and became the subject of many of rock's most famous stories of debauchery. Tales of trashed hotel rooms and groupies have become more extraordinary with each passing year. Several people associated with the band, such as tour manager Richard Cole, would later write books about the wild escapades of the group.

The latter days (1976-1982)

Led Zeppelin took a break from touring in 1976, and began filming "fantasy" segments for the concert film "The Song Remains The Same". During this break, Robert Plant and his wife were in a car crash while on holiday in Greece. Plant suffered a broken ankle; Maureen Plant was very seriously injured, and only a flight back to London and a timely blood transfusion saved her life.

Unable to tour, the band returned to the studio and, with Plant sitting on a stool during the sessions, they recorded their seventh studio album, Presence. A highlight of the album was "Achilles Last Stand", a ten minute epic featuring a driving bass line, thundering drums, melodic guitar riffs and a guitar solo that is regarded by many as one of Page's best. However, the album marked a change in the Led Zeppelin sound, with straightforward, guitar-based jams such as "Nobody's Fault But Mine" outnumbering the intricate arrangements typical of previous albums. Presence was a platinum seller, but the album received mixed responses from critics and fans; while some appreciated the looser style, others dismissed it as sloppy, and some critics speculated that the band member's legendary excesses might have caught up with them at last.[18] [19] The time "Presence" was recorded marked the beginning of Page's injecting heroin, which may have interfered with Led Zeppelin's later live shows and studio recordings, although Page has denied this.

October 21, 1976 finally saw the release of the concert film The Song Remains the Same, and the soundtrack album of the film. The recording had taken place during three nights of concerts at Madison Square Garden in 1973, during the Houses of the Holy tour. Due to its flawed production, The Song Remains the Same is not generally considered to be a great live album, but it would be the only official live document of the group available until the release of the BBC Sessions in 1997.

In 1977, Led Zeppelin embarked on another massive U.S. tour, again selling out up to five nights in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Many shows from this tour were the sources of bootleg recordings prized by fans.[20] Following a show at the "Days on the Green" festival at Oakland Coliseum in California, the news came that Robert Plant's five year old son, Karac, had died from a respiratory infection. Other problems during the tour included the arrest of several members of the band's support staff (including manager Peter Grant) after a member of promoter Bill Graham's Oakland concert staff was badly beaten during the concert. A member of the staff had allegedly slapped Peter Grant's son when he was taking down a dressing room sign. When Grant heard of this, he went into the trailer, along with some of the roadies and John Bonham, and beat the man senseless. [17] This resulted in the rest of the tour being canceled. Malicious critics and superstitious fans imputed the bands' misfortunes to a "curse", said to be related to Page's supposed interest in the occult. The band scoffed at such charges.

The summer of 1978 saw the group recording again, this time at ABBA's Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. The resultant album, In Through the Out Door, features "All My Love", a tribute to Plant's late son. The album was released with several different cover designs, each having the viewpoint of a different person in a bar watching a man burning something, which is revealed inside to be a Dear John letter.

After a decade of recording and touring, Led Zeppelin was now considered obsolete in some quarters, as mainstream musical tastes had moved in favour of disco, and critical focus had turned to punk rock. Perhaps in response to shifting trends, In Through the Out Door features a great deal of sonic experimentation, making much use of Jones' keyboard skills, notably in synthesizer driven sections of the ten-and-one-half minute long "Carouselambra", and in "Fool in the Rain", which exhibits a Latin feel. These departures from the band's usual style once again drew mixed reactions from fans and critics. Nevertheless, the band still commanded legions of loyal fans, and the album easily reached #1 in the UK and the US (where it became the first album by a rock band to debut at #1 on the Billboard album chart).

In August 1979, after two warm-up shows in Copenhagen, Led Zeppelin headlined at the Knebworth music festival. Close to 400,000 fans witnessed the return of Led Zeppelin and, with the release of In Through the Out Door on August 15, they were ready to tour again, planning a short European tour followed by another American tour.

The 1980 American tour was not to be, however. On September 25, 1980, shortly before embarking on the U.S. leg of the tour, drummer John Bonham died of accidental asphyxiation after a day-long alcohol binge at one of Jimmy Page's houses. For two months the remaining band members considered whether to continue with a replacement, but decided that because of Bonham's death, they could not continue as Led Zeppelin. In December 1980, they announced that the group had disbanded. For many years afterwards, there would be rumours of a reunion, and plans for various collaborative projects. One short-lived project, which included former members of Yes and Led Zeppelin, was called XYZ, for Ex-Yes/Zep. Other than a brief demo recording (which was later circulated among collectors), nothing came of it.

Two years after Bonham's death, Led Zeppelin released Coda, a collection of outtakes from previous recording sessions. In the years to follow, a steady stream of boxed sets and greatest hits collections would keep the band on the charts, as Led Zeppelin continued to garner heavy airplay on rock radio.

Reunions and ongoing success (1982-present)

After embarking on a successful solo career in 1982, Plant teamed with Page in 1984 for the commercially successful EP The Honeydrippers: Volume One, which also featured another former Yardbirds guitarist, Jeff Beck. Plant also made an appearance in 1982 at the Prince's Trust Concert in London, sharing the stage with numerous other British acts.

In 1983, Page embarked on a short tour with the ARMS project, a charity event for multiple sclerosis. The tour also included former Yardbird guitarists Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Each artist performed separately, with Page performing tunes from his Death Wish 2 soundtrack along with an instrumental version of Stairway to Heaven. For the finale, all three guitarists shared the stage, trading blues solos. The event is available on video. During the tour Page looked extremely thin and frail. According to the book "Hammer of the Gods," Page reportedly told friends that he'd just given up heroin after seven years of use. In a 1988 interview with Musician Magazine, Page took offense when the interviewer noted that heroin had been associated with his name, and insisted that "I'm not [an addict], thank you very much."

In 1984, Page teamed up with Paul Rodgers (of Bad Company and Free fame) to record two albums under the name The Firm. The first album included an epic song called "Midnight Moonlight" which had originally been intended for Led Zeppelin.

Plant toured in '83 and '85, but refused to perform any Led Zeppelin songs. Similarly, The Firm refused to perform any Led Zeppelin or Bad Company tunes, though Page played part of the "Kashmir" riff during "Midnight Moonlight", as well as his trademark violin bow solo.

On 13 July, 1985 Page, Plant and Jones reunited at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, for a short Led Zeppelin set featuring drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins. The performance, which included three songs ("Rock and Roll", "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway to Heaven"), was marred by such factors as bad broadcast sound, poor drumming, Plant's sub-standard vocals and Page's apparent inebriation and badly tuned Gibson Les Paul guitar (the Gibson EDS-1275 was in tune). When Live Aid footage was released on a four-DVD set in late 2004, the group unanimously agreed not to allow footage from their performance to be used. However, Page and Plant donated proceeds from their Unledded DVD to the Live Aid charity, and Jones donated a portion of the profits from his United States tour with the Mutual Admiration Society. [21]

In 1986, Page, Plant and Jones gathered at Bath, in South West England, for rehearsals with Thompson with a view to playing as a group again, but a serious car accident involving Thompson put an end to that plan.

1988 turned out to be a significant year for Led Zeppelin, with much talk about a reunion tour. A Rolling Stone critic commented at year's end that "1988 was the biggest year Led Zeppelin ever had, and they only played once." A newer band, Kingdom Come, had a hit single called "Get It On", which sounded so much like Led Zeppelin that many listeners thought that the band had reformed, and the song received heavy airplay. Additional excitement was generated by Page's appearance on Plant's album Now and Zen, where he performed on the tracks "Heaven Knows" and "Tall Cool One" (the latter also featuring samples of Page's guitar riffs from the original Led Zeppelin recordings). Plant later sang on track four ("The Only One") of Page's album Outrider, released in June.

For the first time since Bonham's death, Plant began performing Zeppelin tunes on his solo tour. When Plant's European tour visited London's Hammersmith Odeon on April 17, 1988, Page joined Plant on stage for several numbers. Both Page and Plant mounted tours in the United States later in the year, each performing Led Zeppelin numbers to ecstatic audiences.

Led Zeppelin reunited again in May of 1988, for Atlantic Records' 40th Anniversary concert, with Bonham's son, Jason Bonham, on drums. The performance was again flawed, this time by a lack of keyboards in the mix, and by Page's poor performance during "Heartbreaker". Page and Plant performed with Jason Bonham again at the 21st birthday party of Plant's daughter, Carmen, and at Jason Bonham's wedding. The media published countless articles about Led Zeppelin, with speculation about a reunion tour.

On June 30, 1990, while Plant was touring in support of his album, Manic Nirvana, Page joined him for a brief set at the Knebworth music festival. The set included "Wearing and Tearing", "Misty Mountain Hop" and "Rock and Roll". The concert was broadcast by radio stations around the world, and highlights of the event, including the entire Page/Plant set, were later shown on MTV. On other dates of the tour, Plant performed wearing a Jimmy Page t-shirt.

Page and Plant reunited in 1994 for an MTV Unplugged performance (dubbed Unledded) which eventually led to a world tour with a Middle Eastern orchestra, and a live album entitled No Quarter. The bass player was Charlie Jones, who had been the bassist with Plant's own band for several years (and was now his son-in-law, having married Carmen Plant). Many see this as the beginning of discord with John Paul Jones, who was upset with Page and Plant for touring without asking him first. Tensions were further increased when Plant was asked at a press conference where Jones was, and he jokingly replied that Jones was parking the car [1]. Jones later commented that he was unhappy about Plant and Page naming the album after a Led Zeppelin song which was largely his work. In a 1995 interview with Spin magazine, Page kicked the interviewer out of the room simply for mentioning Jones.

On January 13, 1995, Led Zeppelin was inducted into the United States Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the induction ceremony, the band's inner rift became apparent when Jones joked upon accepting his award, "Thank you, my friends, for finally remembering my phone number," causing consternation and awkward looks from Page and Plant. The three jammed with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on "Bring It On Home" and "Baby Please Don't Go", and with Neil Young on "When the Levee Breaks." This would be the last time that all three surviving Led Zeppelin members would perform in public together (as of 2006).

November 11, 1997 saw the release of Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions, the first Led Zeppelin album in more than fifteen years. The two-disc set included almost all of the band's recordings for the BBC.

In 1998, Page and Plant continued their collaboration with Walking into Clarksdale, the pair's first album-length collaboration on entirely new material since Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980. The subsequent tour featured Led Zeppelin songs (including the epic "How Many More Times") along with a few songs from the new album.

On May 30, 2000, Atlantic released a single edit of "Whole Lotta Love", making it the only Led Zeppelin CD single.

In October 2002, The British press reported that Plant and Jones had reconciled after a 20-year feud which had kept Led Zeppelin apart, and rumours surfaced of a reunion tour in 2003. [2] This was later denied by Plant and Page's management company. [3]

2003 saw a resurgence of the band's popularity with the release of a live album, How the West Was Won, and a video collection, Led Zeppelin DVD, both featuring material from the band's heyday. At the year's end, the DVD had sold more than 520,000 copies.

Around Christmas 2004, "Stairway To Heaven" was voted the best rock song of all time by Planet Rock listeners, in a poll conducted on the station's website. Two other Led Zeppelin songs featured in the top ten - "Whole Lotta Love" at number six and "Rock and Roll" at number eight. [4]

In 2005, Led Zeppelin received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, they were ranked #1 in US cable channel VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" special, and readers of Guitar World magazine voted the guitar solo from "Stairway to Heaven" to be the best guitar solo of all time in rock history. [5] In Rolling Stone magazine's tabulation of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, Jimmy Page was ranked number nine.

On the cover of their February 2006 issue, Guitar World magazine called Led Zeppelin the "world's greatest band." The band, and Jimmy Page especially, have been featured in the magazine numerous times, whether in articles about the band itself, about topics that include the band, or in articles where other musicians cite the band as a powerful influence.

In November 2005, it was announced that Led Zeppelin and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev were the winners of the 2006 Polar Music Prize. The King of Sweden presented the prize to Plant, Page and Jones, along with John Bonham's daughter, in Stockholm in May, 2006. [6]

Page and Plant are slated to appear on June 30th, 2006 at the Montreux Jazz Festival for a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, Atlantic Records' founder. They had previously performed at this venue in 2002.

Samples, covers, and tributes

Beginning in the 1980s, the iconic nature of many Led Zeppelin riffs made them a popular target for sampling, initially unauthorised, but later sanctioned by the surviving band members, to mixed reactions from fans. Hip-hop group the Beastie Boys sampled two Led Zeppelin songs for their Licensed to Ill album; they used Bonham's drum introduction from "When the Levee Breaks" (which was also used by Mike Oldfield and Erasure) for the song "Rhymin' and Stealin'", and parts of "The Ocean" for "She's Crafty".

For the 1998 movie Godzilla, guitarist Jimmy Page collaborated with Puff Daddy, reworking the famous riff from "Kashmir" in the song "Come With Me"—Page also has a brief vocal part in this song.

Many artists have recorded cover versions of Led Zeppelin songs:

  • Tina Turner released "Whole Lotta Love" as a single in 1975.
  • Beginning in 1985, American stand-up comedian Wayne Federman included the main riff plus the solo from "Whole Lotta Love" in a medley of hard rock tunes played on his ukulele (through a Marshall amplifier). A version can be seen on Comedy Central.
  • Little Roger and the Goosebumps released a single called "Stairway to Gilligan's Island" in 1978. The song puts the words to the theme of the television show Gilligan's Island to an adapted and condensed "Stairway to Heaven". This song became popular, especially through heavy play (and many listener requests) on the Dr. Demento Radio Show. Legal action by representatives of Led Zeppelin soon followed, and the single was withdrawn from sale. Many Led Zeppelin tribute bands perform the song.
  • Soundgarden covered hits such as "Stairway to Heaven" and "Communication Breakdown" during tours in the early 1990s.
  • Iron Maiden released a cover of the song "Communication Breakdown" on their single "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter", released on December 24, 1990.
  • A cappella group The Bobs included "Whole Lotta Love" on their 1991 album 'The Bobs Sing the Songs Of...
  • The New York hardcore/metalcore band Judge recorded a version of "When the Levee breaks", originally released on the CD version of their 1991 EP, There Will Be Quiet.
  • In 1993, Rolf Harris recorded a cover version of Stairway to Heaven which reached No.7 in the UK charts [7]. Not long afterwards, an album called Stairways to Heaven was released, featuring Australian artists' interpretations of the classic song.
  • Ofra Haza recorded a version of "Kashmir", which appeared on her 1994 single, "Mata Hari".
  • In 1995, a tribute album entitled Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin was released. The album featured covers performed by modern rock acts, including a hit version of "Dancing Days" by Stone Temple Pilots. Robert Plant sang on the album, duetting with Tori Amos on "Down by the Seaside". Big Head Todd and the Monsters covered "Tangerine". This song has become one of the staples of their set list and was included on their 1998 live album "Live Monsters".
  • Incubus performed a cover of "Immigrant Song" live on the The Howard Stern Show on October 24, 2001, with Howard Stern trying to emulate Robert Plant's signature high note.
  • The rock/comedy duo Tenacious D used pieces of "Stairway to Heaven" in the original version of their song "Tribute".
  • Tool covered "No Quarter" for the soundtrack of the 1997 film Private Parts, but withdrew from the project. Their version was released in 2000, on the Salival box set.
  • 2pac has sampled the riff from Ten Years Gone on the unreleased original version of "Life's So Hard".
  • Heart covered "Rock & Roll" in their 1980's album "Greatest Hits Live".
  • Phish has performed covers of "Good Times, Bad Times," "Dazed and Confused," "Communication Breakdown," "Misty Mountain Hop," "Moby Dick," and "Ramble On."

Other Led Zeppelin tribute bands include Fred Zeppelin and Dread Zeppelin, a band who perform Led Zeppelin covers in a reggae style, and with an Elvis Presley impersonator on vocals. Robert Plant has publicly stated that Dread Zeppelin is his favorite Led Zeppelin cover band. [9]

Discography

Further information: Led Zeppelin discography

Albums

Album Cover Date of Release Title
File:LedZeppelinLedZeppelinalbumcover.jpg
 January 12, 1969 Led Zeppelin
File:LedZeppelinLedZeppelinIIalbumcover.jpg
 October 22, 1969 Led Zeppelin II
File:Ledzeppeliniii.jpg
 October 5, 1970 Led Zeppelin III
November 8, 1971 * (Led Zeppelin IV)
March 28, 1973 Houses of the Holy
File:LedZeppelinPhysicalGraffitialbumcover.jpg
 February 24, 1975 Physical Graffiti
File:LedZeppelinPresencecover.jpg
 March 31, 1976 Presence
File:LedZeppelinTheSongRemainsTheSamealbumcover.jpg
 September 21, 1976 The Song Remains The Same
File:LedZeppelinInThroughTheOutDoorcover.jpg
 August 15, 1979 In Through The Out Door
November 19, 1982 Coda
File:Led zeppelin bbc sessions cover.jpg
 November 11, 1997 Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions
May 27, 2003 How The West Was Won

Other releases

Compilations

‡ Contains some tracks not available elsewhere


Filmography

Led Zeppelin has been very protective of its catalogue of songs, and has seldom allowed them to be licensed for other uses. In recent years, this position has softened somewhat, and Led Zeppelin songs can be heard in movies such as One Day in September, Almost Famous and School of Rock. On the DVD release of the latter movie, a special feature shows star Jack Black and an auditorium full of extras videotaping a plea to Led Zeppelin for permission to use "Immigrant Song" in the film. In a singular concession for commercial use, the Led Zeppelin song "Rock and Roll" has been used in Cadillac television and radio ads. One Tree Hill was the first television show to be licensed use of a Led Zeppelin song (using "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" for the Season 3 finale).

Trivia

  • At a February 28, 1970 gig in Copenhagen, the band was billed as "The Nobs" as a result of a threat of legal action from aristocrat Eva von Zeppelin, who, upon seeing the group's first album cover of a Zeppelin (the Hindenburg) crashing in flames, threatened to have the show pulled off the air.
  • Led Zeppelin covered a song called "Nobody's Fault But Mine", which was first recorded in the late 1920s by Blind Willie Johnson.
  • The beginning and ending of Led Zeppelin's "Bring it on Home" was a version of Sonny Boy Williamson's 1963 song of the same name, though the main central part and guitar riff was Jimmy Page's.
  • As of 2006, Led Zeppelin remains one of the few bands which has refused to license its songs for download from online music stores.
  • In Through The Out Door was the only Led Zeppelin album to debut at number 1 on the Billboard Charts, despite being less popular than earlier albums.

See also

References

  1. ^ BBC Music, Artist Biography, "Led Zeppelin"; accessed July 25, 2006
  2. ^ "Valery Gergiev and Led Zeppelin share Polar Music Prize". monstersandcritics.com. November 7, 2005. Retrieved 2006-06-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ RIAA. "Top Selling Artists".
  4. ^ Greg Prato, All Music Guide. "Guitar Legends, Jimmy Page".
  5. ^ Led-Zeppelin.org. "Led Zeppelin Assorted Info".
  6. ^ Billboard. "Led Zeppelin Biography".
  7. ^ Digital Graffiti. "Led Zeppelin FAQ".
  8. ^ One Way Magazine. "Behind the Names of Rock".
  9. ^ Jimmy Page Online; accessed August 2nd, 2006
  10. ^ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=5047&aid=10331; Billboard discography, accessed August 2nd, 2006]
  11. ^ [http://www.connollyco.com/discography/led_zeppelin/led2.html; Connollyco, Led Zeppelin discography, accessed August 2nd, 2006]
  12. ^ Jimmy Page, interview quoted in Robert Palmer's liner notes to Led Zeppelin's 4 CD boxed set (1990).
  13. ^ Rolling Stone Magazine; Q&A with Robert Plant, May 05, 2005; accessed August 2nd, 2006
  14. ^ [Artofmix.com; accessed August 2nd, 2006
  15. ^ RIAA best selling Albums; accessed August 2nd, 2006
  16. ^ Rolling Stone Review, Mar, 27 1975, accessed August 2nd, 2006
  17. ^ a b Stephen Davis (1995). Hammer of the Gods (LPC). pp. 225, 277 ISBN 033043859. Cite error: The named reference "Hammer of the Gods" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  18. ^ ;Rolling Stone Magazine Review, Published May, 20
  19. ^ Rock's Backpages review , Published April, 10 1976
  20. ^ Stryer.de, accessed August 2nd 2006
  21. ^ BBC news story, Published 4 August, 2004

Sources

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