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 benn 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.
Bio written by: lookingfortrouble |
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