Led Zepellin is another of the so called, ‘Godfathers of Heavy Metal’, with Black Sabbath and Deep Purple running a strong, first and second. You could argue that most of Zep’s material was acoustic-based and world music influenced, but their contributions to Metal, as a genre, are rock solid. Listen to ‘Communication Breakdown’ from their debut release. British TV music shows were always LIVE, so players had to be in top form, not edit-splice-cut like we did in America!
Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones (aka John Baldwin) were sessions guys in the 1960’s. They played on everything and anything, which would later explain the diversity of Zepellin and the incredible production, arrangement, and film scores the two would create.
Led Zepellin II featured ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Immigrant Song’ from Led Zepellin III took the band down another road. Each recording was another step in the evolution of the band. My personal favorites were LZ 1-4, the fourth album cementing their hold on chart success AND listeners hearts and minds. The 4th album has ‘Stairway to Heaven’, but ‘Black Dog’ got almost as much radio play.
Jimmy was a member of the Yardbirds, replacing Jeff Beck (who replaced Eric Clapton) while using the name, ‘The New Yardbirds’ and touring Scandinavia, they took the name ‘Led Zeppelin’… said to be Keith Moon’s idea. ‘Moonie’ was the first choice for the newly formed LZ, but that was not to be. John Entwistle of The Who, almost became the bass player for the new band. In fact, Jimmy originally brainstormed the Led Zep idea with him and Jeff Beck on guitars. Page, Beck, and Moon later did record together on ‘Beck’s Bolero’.
Page played on The Rolling Stones’ song ‘Heart of Stone’, Petula Clark’s ‘Downtown’, Donovan’s ‘Sunshine Superman’, and 5 tracks on Joe Cocker’s debut album, ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’.
Jones played variously with Donovan on ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ and ‘Mellow Yellow’, the string arrangements for The Rolling Stones’ ‘She’s a Rainbow’, as well as bass guitar for, Cat Stevens, Jeff Beck, Lulu, Tom Jones, and Rod Stewart.
John Bonham turned down an offer to play with Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen to join Led Zepellin. Bonzo played with Paul McCartney and Wings on the song ‘Rockestra Theme’ and drums in the film ‘Son of Dracula’ with Harry Nilsson (who played Count Downe) and his band. He used Ludwig drums (recommended by Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, and Jeff Beck) and the heaviest sticks ever, which culminated in the ass-kicking drum sounds we all know and love.
Though Robert Plant went on to become a household name in rock-n-roll, his experiences prior to Led Zepellin have little to do with music, but his LZ history and solo career since has shown him to be a genuine talent. Jimmy contributed guitars on his recording, ‘Now and Zen’.
