Led Zeppelin ("Lead Airship") is a British rock band founded in London in 1968. The music project is one of the most successful and influential in history. Originality and innovation of creativity are in their own unique style and sound. The history of the rock band, discography and composition of the legendary Led Zeppelin are presented in the article.
Foundation History
One of the founders of Led Zeppelin is guitarist Jimmy Page. In 1965, he was already a very experienced musician, regularly moonlighting as a session guitarist. We can say that at that time, Page was the most famous six-stringed instrument master in London. However, Jimmy did not want to "play along" all his life, but thought about a real professional career as an independent musician. In the same year, he joined the beginning rhythm and blues band Yardbirds as bass player. The role of the leader was played by the famous Jeff Beck, after the departure of which Page took his place. At the end of 1966, the post of the new ensemble manager was taken by Peter Grant, renowned not only in the UK, but also in the USA, with whom Jimmy quickly found a common language. In 1968, the Yardbirds broke up, but the manager did not want to miss the opportunity to work with a talented guitarist and invited Page to assemble a new band called New Yardbirds, which was the beginning of the story of Led Zeppelin.
The first guest musician to join was John Paul Jones, a brilliant bass player with extensive experience in studio work. In English Birmingham, Jimmy found the role of drummer John Bonham, and the position of vocalist - Robert Plant, who at that time were very young, but had already managed to demonstrate their promising talent by playing in several local ensembles. The newly minted band New Yardbirds gave their first concert three weeks after the first rehearsal.
Title
Before a series of new concerts, the team decided to change the name of New Yardbirds. The new name of the group Led Zeppelin has a hidden irony, recalling one English stable expression, which means "fail miserably." The quartet, as it were, contrasts this phrase with its clear sense of future success.
There is a story that the involuntary author of the name Lead Zeppelin ("Lead Airship") is the drummer of The Who. He criticized this name, saying that there was no success behind these words. Then Paige removed the letter “a” and got Led Zeppelin. Manager Peter Grant suggested doing so, saying that many would pronounce the name incorrectly.
The title was also expressed by the bassist of The Who, claiming that this idea originally belonged to him, because he was going to name his personal solo project. This was learned by tour manager Richard Cole, who told Page.
Jimmy page
Jimmy Page was born in the London suburbs of Heston on January 9, 1944. His father worked as a manager, and his mother worked as a doctor’s secretary. The future rock star first picked up the guitar at the age of 12 years. The basis of the music school for Jimmy was self-education. Page had a great influence on the taste of guitarists who played with Elvis Presley. The boy not only listened to good music, but also surrounded himself with a decent society, because among his friends there were such rock legends as Eric Clapton and Jeff Back. At the beginning of the 60s, the musician got quite professionally, speaking at a popular radio station, and also taking part in the first tour of his career with the Neil Christian & The Crusaders band. Jimmy also worked with The Kinks and as an independent session musician until he joined The Yardbirds, which he later renamed Led Zeppelin. Page songs and music written by Page are now known all over the world.
Robert Plant
Robert Plant is from West Bromwich. The musician was born on August 20, 1948 and got acquainted with the blues early, being carried away by the recordings of Robert Johnson and Sonny Williamson. Gradually expanding his musical horizons, the future rocker absorbed new influences, including such directions as jazz and soul. The first performance of young Robert on stage was with the Crawling King Snakes, in which he met John Bonham. A little later, Plant was invited to the place of vocalist in the band New Yardbirds, where he became friends with its founder Jimmy Page. At the first concerts, Robert conquered with his voice not only fans, but also colleagues on the stage. The lyrics of Led Zeppelin's songs from their second album owe much to their writing to the soloist.
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones was born January 3, 1946 in the city of Sidkap, Kent. The future multi-instrumentalist began studying piano at the age of six with his father. He received his first musical impressions while listening to such musicians as Big Bill Brunzi, Charlie Mingus and Sergey Rachmaninov. Switching from electric guitar to bass helped John the impression of Phil Apcherch's solo part. The musician entered the first rock group at age 15. In 1963, Jones had already taken part in hundreds of studio sessions, and even released a solo single. John continued to work as a keyboard player and arranger with various teams, including Jeff Beck, Shirley Bassey, and even the Rolling Stones. Acquainted with Jimmy Page, who invited him to his musical project, Jones left the work of a session musician and took part in the story of the take-off of Led Zeppelin.
John bonham
John Bonham was born in English Redditch, Worcestershire. For the first time, the future best drummer of all time sat down at a set of five years old - home-made drums were made of boxes and cans. John received this professional installation at the age of 15. Bonham did not attend music school and did not take instrument lessons. Prior to working with the Lead Airship, the drummer played in more than ten bands, perfecting and perfecting his skills. Thanks to the tough manner of playing John, Led Zeppelin found an original and unique drum sound. During the solo concerts, Bonzo could stretch to thirty minutes, which enthralled the fans. Being recognized as one of the best drummers, John Bonham tragically died in an accident at the age of 32.
Decay
On September 25, 1980, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham was discovered dead. It was later established that the musician died early in the morning from suffocation, choking on the vomit. The report also indicated that Bonham had consumed more than two liters of vodka the night before.
The accident put an end to the creative activities of the Lead Airship. The remaining participants were not going to seek a replacement for the deceased comrade and two days after the farewell ceremony officially announced that they would not be able to continue to work as a group - everyone continued to perform solo.
Since 1980, the group has reunited more than once. In 1988, the place of the late father behind the drums of Led Zeppelin was taken by John's son - Jason Bonham, who repeatedly performed with senior comrades. So, for example, in 2007 the group gave a big concert in London, performing their favorite songs from an early period.
Studio albums
The official Led Zeppelin discography includes nine studio albums. The group rarely released single songs in single format, and tried to follow the given concept of "landscape" rock. For twelve years of productive creative existence, the quartet has released the following records:
- The debut studio self-titled album was released in January 1969. Initially, the collection was coldly received by the press and even received negative reviews, but it was a huge commercial success. To date, the record is highly regarded by critics and lovers of rock music, and the authoritative magazine Kerrang! marked the release date of the album as a heavy metal birthday.
- The second studio album, Led Zeppelin II, was released on October 22, 1969. The collection was recorded in several studios in the UK and America. The work took place during a major tour on two continents. The second disc demonstrates the evolutionary musical development of the collective in terms of versatility of style. Many critics call the compositions from this collection the most "heavy" in the entire work of Led Zeppelin. The album was the first in the discography of the group, which took the top positions of the charts of Great Britain and America.
- The third Led Zeppelin III album was released on October 5, 1970. Work on the creation of the collection took place in Wales, during the rest after the tour period. The record is dominated by acoustic instruments, the sound of which was not characteristic of many hard rock bands familiar to many. The album is one of the most unsuccessful commercially, and after the release received very diverse reviews. Despite this, according to many, the composition Immigrant Song is one of the best songs of Led Zeppelin.
- The official discography of the group is complemented by the album Led Zeppelin IV, released on November 8, 1971. On its cover, instead of the name, four symbols are depicted, each of which was invented by a separate member of the quartet.The record was sold in the amount of thirty-seven million copies, which makes this album one of the most commercially successful in the history of music. Rolling Stone magazine awarded the collection 66th place in the list of greatest albums, and Stairway to Heaven ranks 31st in the ranking of the best songs according to the same publication.
- The fifth studio album is Houses of the Holy. The collection was recorded in August 1972, and was released in late March 1973. The album has taken high positions in international music charts.
- Physical Graffiti is the sixth-studio studio album in the official Lead Airship discography. The album was released on February 24, 1975, and almost immediately the album took off on the first line of the national hit parade. Video Led Zeppelin on one of the most recognizable creations in their work Kashmir can be seen below.
- The seventh studio album Presence was released March 31, 1976. The record received very mixed reviews and a poor commercial result. Nevertheless, Jimmy Page has repeatedly called this album his favorite. He connected this with difficult circumstances, during which work was carried out on the creation of the collection. In this regard, the songs received a particularly hard guitar riff.
- The eighth album of Led Zeppelin In Through the Out Door was released on August 15, 1979. The album is also notable for the special severity of the recording in connection with the death of his son Robert Plant, as well as tax exile. Despite this, the album set a record for speed of reaching the first line in the national chart. The album was the last released during the life of John Bonham.
- Coda’s ninth and final studio album was released November 19, 1982, two years after Led Zeppelin ceased to exist as a band. The disc is a collection of songs recorded years earlier, but not included in previous albums. For example, Bonzo's Montreux, John Bonham's drum solo recorded in 1976, was included in the collection.
Criticism
During the creative existence, Led Zeppelin never found a common language with the press. Just as the group received mostly negative reviews during its first tour in America, so the following comments were disapproving, despite the absolute purchase of tickets and the love of fans. In the UK, rockers immediately after the release of their debut album were almost named the best group. And only after its collapse did critics around the world recognize Led Zeppelin as innovators, leading musicians, and one of the most influential music groups.
The quartet takes the leading place in the list of the hundred greatest hard rock performers according to the VH1 channel. Rolling Stone weekly recognized the ensemble as the best band of the 70s. In 1995, the quartet took pride of place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Accusations
The group was often accused of plagiarism. So, for example, after the release of the first Led Zeppelin album, Rolling Stone magazine announced that the musicians were excessively free to use “classics” (it was about Babe I'm Gonna Leave You and other folk ballads). Also, guitarist Jeff Back accused Page of using his musical ideas in the famous song You Shook Me. Allegations of copyright infringement followed after the release of the second album. The authorship of some songs has been edited. One of the last claims was addressed to rockers in 2016 because of the popular song “Stairway to Heaven” - “Lead Airship” was accused of stealing a musical fragment from a certain band Spirit.
Influence
Led Zeppelin made a huge contribution to the development of modern rock music. Their work, as a kind of "heavy metal" institute, was expressed by many representatives of the alternative scene, including Foo Fighters frontman, Mastodon guitarist, and Sepultura vocalist. Their love and affection for the songs of the Led Zeppelin group was expressed by such musicians as Ozzy Osbourne, Brian May, Jack White. The English quartet played an important role in the creative development of ensembles such as Kiss, Metallica, Judas Priest.
A unique role was played by Led Zeppelin in the development of rock culture not only in England or in the USA, but also in Kazakhstan. The Lead Airship in Karaganda is not just a club where good music plays. This is a society of caring people, which is engaged in the promotion and, it can be said, careful preservation of the true traditions of rock and roll. The organizers regularly delight residents of Kazakhstan with large-scale concerts of famous performers. So, for example, the poster of the “Lead Airship” in Karaganda was supplemented by the performances of such musicians as “Spleen”, “Chayf”, “BI-2”. The founders of the company consider the concert of the American band Limp Bizkit to be a special achievement. Kazakhstan’s rock movement has a lot of tasks and plans ahead that will surely appeal to a true connoisseur of good music, such as Led Zeppelin.