Having a sister seven years older certainly has its advantages, especially later in life. As a teenager, you’re not interested in your sister’s music and her friends’ music. In fact, you rebel against it. Then suddenly there comes a moment when you hear a song on the radio and think to yourself "that’s quite good". That’s how I got to know Led Zeppelin’s albums at a time when they had long since split up. Not all are gems, but with the gems you can still fill a decent basket.
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin was a former English rock band founded in 1968 by guitarist Jimmy Page, after he was the only remaining member of the Yardbirds. Besides Page, Led Zeppelin consisted of Robert Plant (vocals), John Paul Jones (bass and keyboards) and John Bonham (drums). One of Led Zeppelin’s best-known songs is Stairway to Heaven, an LP track that was never released as a single. The group also became known for improvisations during performances: different versions, meaning the songs as they performed them were not identical to how they were recorded on the album, which contributed to the popularity of official white live albums.
In 1985, there was a special performance by the three remaining band members (together with Phil Collins and Tony Thomson from Chic on drums) at the charity concert (Live Aid) in America; they also performed once more at the 40th anniversary of their record label Atlantic Records in 1988, with Jason Bonham, John Bonham’s son, on drums.
In October 1968, the group recorded their first album. Keith Moon, the drummer of The Who, however, had little faith in this new band. He predicted that the band 'would go down like a lead balloon'. This inspired the band members to name their band Led Zeppelin, and under this name the group toured England. Afterwards, an American tour followed from 26 December 1968 to 8 February 1969. The setlist mainly consisted of songs from the first album. Additionally, the group played Killing Floor, a blues number by Howlin’ Wolf that later appeared in a reworked version as The Lemon Song on Led Zeppelin II, and Pat’s Delight, a drum solo by John Bonham that also appeared as Moby Dick on the same album.
On 12 January 1969, the first album Led Zeppelin was released, an LP with both hard blues and acoustic songs. In the same year, Led Zeppelin II was released, an album whose songs were recorded at various locations during the tours. English folk influences can be heard on Led Zeppelin III, a sound that was strengthened on Led Zeppelin IV. The fourth album, due to its title written in runic symbols, was also called The Runes Album. This album includes, among others, Stairway to Heaven. Drummer Bonham died on 25 September 1980. At the end of 1980, a few months after Bonham’s death, Led Zeppelin ceased to exist. Posthumously, the album Coda was released, containing several previously unreleased songs from the period 1969-1978.
On 10 December 2007, there was a one-off performance, again with Jason Bonham on drums, at the O2 Arena stadium in London as a tribute to their late discoverer, Ahmet Ertegün. For the 20,000 available tickets, there were approximately 20 million requests worldwide. The press was very positive about this reunion concert and there were rumours afterwards about a world tour. Early 2009 made it clear that Led Zeppelin would not tour again.
Led Zeppelin has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, of which 111.5 million were in the United States alone. These high sales figures are remarkable because the band only existed for about ten years and was not a hit machine, but relied on albums. Led Zeppelin is still seen as an example or source of inspiration by numerous new musicians.
source: Wikipedia photo: public domain
