Led Zeppelin ("Lead Airship"): history, composition, albums

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Led Zeppelin ("Lead Airship") is a British rock band formed in London in 1968. The musical project is one of the most successful and influential in history. The originality and innovation of creativity lies in its own unique style and sound. The history of the rock band, discography and composition of the legendary Led Zeppelin are presented in the article.

Founding History

One of the founding members of Led Zeppelin is guitarist Jimmy Page. By 1965, he was already a highly accomplished musician, working regularly as a session guitarist. It can be said that at that time Page was the most famous studio six-string luthier in London. However, Jimmy did not want to "play along" all his life, but thought about a real professional career as an independent musician. That same year, he joined the up-and-coming rhythm and blues band the Yardbirds as bass player. The role of the leader was played by the famous Jeff Beck, after whose departure Page took overhis place. At the end of 1966, Peter Grant, famous not only in Great Britain, but also in the USA, took the post of the new ensemble manager, 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 form a new band called the New Yardbirds, which was the beginning of the Led Zeppelin story.

The first guest to join the line-up was John Paul Jones, a brilliant bass player with vast experience in the studio. In Birmingham, England, Jimmy found drummer John Bonham and 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 New Yardbirds gave their first concert three weeks after the first rehearsal.

Name

Before a series of new concerts, the band decided to change the name of New Yardbirds. The band's new name Led Zeppelin has an undercurrent of irony, reminiscent of an English expression that means "to fail miserably." The quartet seems to counter this phrase with their clear sense of future success.

There is a story that The Who's drummer is the unwitting author of the title Lead Zeppelin. He criticized this name, saying that there is no success behind these words. Then Page removed the letter "a" and it turned out LedZeppelin. Suggested by manager Peter Grant, saying many would mispronounce the name.

The rights to the name were also claimed by the bassist of The Who, claiming that this idea originally belonged to him, because that is how he intends to name his personal solo project. Tour manager Richard Cole found out about this and told Page.

Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page was born in the London suburb of Heston on January 9, 1944. His father was a manager and his mother was a doctor's secretary. The future rock star picked up a guitar for the first time at the age of 12. The basis of the music school for Jimmy was self-education. The guitarists who played with Elvis Presley had a great influence on Page's taste. The boy not only listened to good music, but also surrounded himself with a decent society, because among his friends were such rock legends as Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. In the early 60s, the musician became quite strong professionally, speaking on a popular radio station, and also taking part in the first tour in his career with the Neil Christian & The Crusaders band. Jimmy also worked with The Kinks and as a solo session musician until joining The Yardbirds, which he later renamed Led Zeppelin. 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 was introduced to the blues early on, fascinated by the recordings of Robert Johnson and Sonny Williamson. Gradually expandingmusical outlook, the future rocker absorbed new influences, including such trends 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 the vocalist in the New Yardbirds, where he became friends with its founder Jimmy Page. At the very first concerts, Robert conquered with his voice not only the fans, but also his colleagues on the stage. The lyrics of Led Zeppelin's songs from their second album owe much of their writing to the singer's pen.

John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones was born on January 3, 1946 in Sidcup, Kent. The future multi-instrumentalist began studying piano at the age of six with his father. I got my first musical impressions by listening to such musicians as Big Bill Broonzy, Charlie Mingus and Sergei Rachmaninov. It was the impression of Phil Upchurch's solo part that helped John switch from electric guitar to bass. The musician joined the first rock band at the age of 15. By 1963, Jones had already taken part in a hundred studio sessions, and even released a solo single. John continued to work as a keyboardist and arranger with various bands, including Jeff Beck, Shirley Bassey, and even the Rolling Stones. After meeting Jimmy Page, who invited him to his musical project, Jones left his job as a session musician and took part in the history of the rise of Led Zeppelin.

John Bonham

John Bonham was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, England. For the first time, the future best drummer of all time sat down at the age of five - home-made drums were made from boxes and cans. John received a real professional installation at the age of 15. Bonham did not go to music school and did not take instrument lessons. Before working with Lead Airship, the drummer played in more than ten bands, honing and improving his skills. Thanks to John's tough playing style, Led Zeppelin found an original and unique drum sound. During concerts, the solo "Bonzo" could stretch up to thirty minutes, which delighted the fans. Considered one of the best drummers, John Bonham tragically died in an accident at the age of 32.

Decomposition

On September 25, 1980, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham was found dead. Later it was found that the musician died early in the morning from suffocation, choking on vomit. The report also states that Bonham drank over two liters of vodka the night before.

The accident put an end to the creative activity of the "Lead Airship" group. The remaining members were not going to look for a replacement for the deceased comrade, and two days after the farewell ceremony they officially announced that they would not be able to continue working 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 withsenior comrades. So, for example, in 2007 the band played a big concert in London, performing their favorite songs from the early period.

Studio albums

The official discography of Led Zeppelin includes nine studio albums. The band rarely released individual songs as a single, but rather followed the predetermined concept of "album" rock. For twelve years of productive creative existence, the quartet has released the following records:

1. The debut studio album of the same name 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 disc is highly regarded by critics and rock music lovers, and the authoritative magazine Kerrang! celebrated the release date of the album as the birthday of heavy metal.



2. 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 large tour on two continents. The second disc demonstrates the band's evolutionary musical development in terms of style versatility. Many critics call the compositions from this collection the most "heavy" in all the works of Led Zeppelin. The album became the first in the band's discography to top the charts in the UK and America.
3. 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 aftertour period. The record is dominated by acoustic instruments, the sound of which was not typical of the hard rock band familiar to many. The album is one of the most unsuccessful commercially, and received very mixed reviews upon release. Despite this, according to many, Immigrant Song is one of the best Led Zeppelin songs.
4. Complementing the band's official discography is Led Zeppelin IV, released on November 8, 1971. Instead of a name, its cover features four symbols, each of which was invented by a separate member of the quartet.



The record was sold in the amount of thirty-seven million copies, making this album one of the most commercially successful in the history of music. Rolling Stone magazine honored the collection as the 66th greatest album, and Stairway to Heaven is ranked as the 31st best song by the same publication.

5. The fifth studio album is Houses of the Holy. The collection was recorded in August 1972 and released at the end of March 1973. The record took high positions in the international music charts.
6. Physical Graffiti is a studio double album that occupies the sixth line in the official discography of "Lead airship". The release of the disc took place on February 24, 1975, and almost immediately the album took off to the first line of the national hit parade. Watch Led Zeppelin's video for one of their most recognizable creations, Kashmir, below.



7. Seventh studioThe album Presence was released on March 31, 1976. The record received very mixed reviews and poor commercial results. Nevertheless, Jimmy Page has repeatedly called this album his favorite. He associated this with the difficult circumstances during which work was carried out on the creation of the collection. In this regard, the compositions received a particularly hard guitar riff.
8. Led Zeppelin's eighth album, In Through the Out Door, was released on August 15, 1979. The album is also notable for the heaviness of the recording due to the death of Robert Plant's son, as well as for the tax exile. Despite this, the album set the record for the fastest time to reach number one on the national chart. The record was the last released during the life of John Bonham.
9. The ninth and final studio album Coda was released on November 19, 1982, two years after Led Zeppelin ceased to exist as a group. The record is a collection of songs recorded years earlier, but not included in previous albums. For example, the compilation includes Bonzo's Montreux, a drum solo by John Bonham recorded in 1976.

Critic Opinions

During the creative existence of Led Zeppelin did not find a common language with the press. As for the first tour in America, the group received mostly negative reviews, and for subsequent comments there were disapproving comments, despite the absolute buying of tickets and the love of the fans. In the UK, the rockers, immediately after the release of their debut album, were practically named the best group. And only after its collapse, critics around the world recognized Led Zeppelin andinnovators, and leading musicians, and one of the most influential musical groups.

The quartet ranks 1 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The Rolling Stone weekly recognized the ensemble as the best band of the 70s. The quartet was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

Accusations

The band has been accused of plagiarism very often. So, for example, after the release of the first Led Zeppelin album, Rolling Stone magazine declared that musicians were too free to handle "classics" (we were talking about Babe I'm Gonna Leave You and other folk ballads). Also, guitarist Jeff Beck accused Page of using his musical ideas in the famous composition 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 latest claims was addressed to rockers in 2016 because of the most popular song "Stairway to Heaven" - "Lead Airship" was accused of stealing a musical fragment from a certain band Spirit.

Influence

Led Zeppelin have made a huge contribution to the development of modern rock music. Many representatives of the alternative scene spoke about their work as a kind of "institution" of heavy metal, among which were the frontman of Foo Fighters, and the guitarist of Mastodon, and the vocalist of Sepultura. Such musicians as Ozzy Osbourne, Brian May, Jack White expressed their love and affection for the songs of the Led Zeppelin group. Importancethe English quartet played in the creative development of such ensembles as Kiss, Metallica, Judas Priest.

Led Zeppelin played a peculiar role in the development of rock culture not only in England or the USA, but also in Kazakhstan. "Lead airship" in Karaganda is not just a club where good music is played. This is a society of caring people who promote and, one might say, carefully preserve the true traditions of rock and roll. The organizers regularly delight the people of Kazakhstan with large-scale concerts of famous performers. So, for example, the poster of the "Lead airship" in Karaganda was supplemented by performances by such musicians as "Spleen", "Chayf", "BI-2". The founders of the society consider the realized concert of the American band Limp Bizkit to be a special achievement. There are many tasks and plans ahead for the rock movement of Kazakhstan, which will definitely appeal to a true connoisseur of good music, such as Led Zeppelin.