Led Zeppelin split up today 40 years ago

MrCostington wrote: »

Thank you OP for remembering the date! I did not have time to add to this yesterday apart from a quick post, so a lot of my points have been covered already, notably by keyzer (post 58) and jupiterkid (73).

Firstly, the music. Let's look at the individual members, if you look at any lists of the top 10/100 greatest rock guitar/drum/bass/singers, each of the 4 will be very near the top,or at the top. This is in basically any list I've seen from any source. As jupiterkid mentioned they hit the gound running. The band was Jimmy's and he hand picked the rest of the band, who were already accomplished musicians in their own right. A supergroup if you will. But we have seen many times this is no guarantee of success, but with Zep they gelled, like The Beatles did for example.

It's pointless to try to convince another person to like a band or song, it's personal taste, but I will say they had a huge range from the soft and beautiful like Tangerine to the loud and visceral Heartbreaker, to intricate compositions like Rain Song and using instruments like the mandolin, mellotron, theremin, Jimmy's bowing etc. They did not settle on one style, never afraid to experiment, yet, every song had a distinctive Zep DNA in it.

In terms of influence, musically, there is no shortage of bands after them that will cite their influence, and that (along with others of course) paved the way for another genre, metal. Listen to 1969's Dazed and Confused for example. They had an equal influence on the music business. As already mentioned, they came to Atlantic Records with there first album ready to go, paid for by Jimmy (don't forget, he was already a big star in The Yardbirds) and that and Peter Grant (the manager) where able to negotiate unheared of levels of creative control. Want to buy Whole Lotta Love? Too bad, you gotta buy the album. Want to see the band perform? Not on your TV mate, you gotta go to a gig! Who in the right mind would form a band and the never release singles (bar a very few after Atlantic begged enough!) or go on TV (apart from a handful of early appearances)? But they made it work, they were that good. And as mentioned bands that followed can be thankful with their pay cheques after a gig because of them.

Some have mentioned they were over indulgent or self centered, Well, firstly, you owe the band nothing, you don't have to like them. In return they perhaps don't owe us much either. They made music for themselves, as did bands of the time. I'll trade a 10 min drum solo any day of the week for all the One Direction designed by committee hits. In any case, the studio work was mostly very tight and disciplined. So what if some of it was 8 min long, more enjoyment for your ears! It was a journey of discovery.
Others have mentioned the excess and debauchery. OK, transport yourself back to the 70's, you are a 20 something red blooded rock god, social media and the PC brigade had not been invented. It would be rude not to...... yes? In any case, it seems a lot of the stories are either untrue, wrongly attributed or embellished in some way. And yes, I'm thinking of THAT thing! But, the past is a foreign country and they do things differently there....

As for the occult, that was Jimmy's personal hobby/interest, nothing more. True, being the wealthy man, he was able to take his hobby a bit further than you or I, sure he bought Aleister Crowley's house, but I don't recall any influence in the music. Much more Tolkien than Crowley!

I will concede that it appears Jimmy made some other choices that were questionable, at the time.

But anyway, to quote the philosopher Homer Simpson, after his visit to Rock n Roll camp, “You're supposed to be reckless and destructive... and be celebrated for behaviour that would land normal people in jail.”

To make this a balanced post I cannot neglect the P word, I cannot bear to type it so will say forgetting to give credit to others whose work was the basis for Zep work:) This is something I never understood on many levels. The band had more than enough talent, not to need to lift stuff and write their own things, there was simply no need for it. And, also, there is no shame in saying this is our version of a Dixon or whatever track. They made them their own, superior versions. Like Hendrix and All along the Watchtower. If there are any F1 fans here, I liken it to Senna and more so Schumacher, they were head and shoulders above in driving talent, could have driven clean and fair, but just could not, had to win at any cost. I think it's ego in play and maybe same with Zep.

For me though, the treatment of Jonesy was their worst sin. Again, why? Shakes my head.

In summary: Was the band comprised of flawed human beings? Possibly. Was the mighty Zep the greatest rock band ever, and for of all time? In my opinion, hell yes!

Itssoeasy wrote: »

He had a great line at the Rock n roll hall of fame I think it was, when he remarked something like that it was nice to see his friends had remembered his phone number. The looks between plant and page were gold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htG6i5XBtzg