Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest rock bands ever. They hardly need an introduction. Anyway, it was Jimmy Page who got John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, and John Bonham together. However, what started as a fulfillment of a contractual obligation to perform in Scandinavia, ended up forming an iconic British rock band. Of course, there’s a lot millions of their fans never knew about them. Honestly, a lot of the rock and roll secrets only came out much later…
Plant Wrote A Song For Joni Mitchell
One of their greatest songs, “Going to California” was initially supposed to be about California earthquakes. However, Robert Plant was infatuated with Joni Mitchell and ended up writing about her. He even told Spin in 2002 that the song “might be a bit embarrassing at times lyrically, but it did sum up a period of my life when I was 22.”
Plant Wrote A Song For Joni Mitchell
Robert Plant Didn’t Let His Wheelchair Stop Him
Tragically, Robert Plant got injured in a terrible car crash in Greece just before they were to record an album in Munich, Germany. Jimmy Page told The Guardian, “Robert was really keen to do the recording, and we all were because there wasn’t anything else that we could do.” Robert Plant remembered trying to navigate in crutches but falling in the studio and Page running from the control room to get him. He claimed, “He was like an Olympic athlete! I’d never seen him move so fast in my life!” So, Plant recorded the 1976 album while in a wheelchair and in awful pain. They ended up recording the album Presence in only 18 days.
Robert Plant Didn’t Let His Wheelchair Stop Him
Name Origin
Back in May 1966, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, fellow Yardbirds guitarist, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon recorded an instrumental of “Beck’s Bolero.” They loved the recording so much they joked about forming some sort of supergroup. Apparently, Keith Moon said the potential band would go over like a lead balloon. Then, Entwistle joked, adding, “a lead zeppelin!” That’s the alleged story, and then they decided to change it from lead to led so Americans could pronounce it properly.
Name Origin
First Name
In case you were wondering, the Yardbirds was actually the first name the band used. Back when Page, Jones, Plant, and Bonham first performed at a teen club in Gladsaxe, Denmark, they only had 15 hours of practice. That first performance was on September 7, 1968. Some songs from their first set include, “Dazed and Confused,” Train Kept-A-Rollin” and “You Shook Me.”
First Name
Terry Reid Passed On The Band
Terry Reid, the singer from Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, decided to pass on joining the band when he was 19 years old. At the time, he just got signed by a producer who wanted to launch his solo career. Thus, he turned down Jimmy Page’s offer and even suggested that they offer the spot to Robert Plant, saying he looked “like a Greek god.”
Terry Reid Passed On The Band
Joan Baez Brought Them Together
Although she never intended for this, American folk singer Joan Baez helped bring Led Zeppelin together. She was a catalyst of sorts for Jimmy Page and Robert Plant bonding. When the two met in 1968, they bonded over the song “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.” Actually, they later reworked the song and used it for their band’s debut.
Joan Baez Brought Them Together
No Lessons
You may have thought that arguably the best drummer in history needed lessons to achieve such a high skill level. However, John Bonham never had a formal lesson for drumming a day in his life. Bonham started drumming at age five. Well, at five he mostly used coffee tins and containers as drums. Alas, when he turned ten, his mother bought him a snare drum and then a real drum kit at fifteen years old.
No Lessons
Tricky Guitar Solo
Like any young aspiring musician, nailing a song can be tricky. Jimmy Page had some difficulties getting the “Stairway to Heaven” guitar solo, so John Paul Jones tried to help in the studio by saying, “You’re making me paranoid!” To which, Page responded, “You’re making *me* paranoid!” The two laughed, and a few takes later, he got it down. Of course, you know the song became a huge hit, but in 1988 Robert Plant admitted, “I’d break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show. I wrote those lyrics and found that song to be of some importance and consequence in 1971, but 17 years later, I don’t know. It’s just not for me.”
Tricky Guitar Solo
Just One Television Appearance
Surprisingly, Led Zeppelin only made one appearance on television. They performed in June 1969 for a French station. The reason they only had one appearance is because of what they learned during that taping. The band realized the video and audio quality is low and even if they performed at their best, their fate was in the hands of the studio engineers.
Just One Television Appearance
Creative Props
When you listen to their song, “Ramble On,” you may notice a bongo-type sound. In order to get this unique sound, some claim drummer Bonham drummed on a garbage pail! However, others say it was simply the soles of his shoes. Yet, in the book, John Bonham: A Thunder of Drums, it says that he used a guitar’s hard case, improvising with his hands.
Creative Props
Tribute To Tolkien
The guys were big fans of J.R.R. Tolkien. Don’t believe us? Just look to their lyrics. Specifically, if you listen to “Ramble On,” you hear a paraphrased version of one of his poems in the opening. Oh, also there’s the references to Gollum and Mordor in the next verse. In case you didn’t know, “Misty Mountain Hop” was a reference to the Misty Mountains in The Hobbit. In addition, their song, “The Battle of Evermore” is also full of references to both The Lord of the Rings and The Return of the King.
Tribute To Tolkien
Their Plane
Led Zeppelin had a plane called The Starship that they paid $30,000 for! They used it for part of the 1973 tour in America, and it was the very first ever Boeing 720-022. In the main cabin, they had an electronic organ built into the bar, TV, den with a couch and floor pillows, revolving armchairs and bedroom with a fur bedspread. They also used it for their 1975 American tour. Other bands like the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, and Peter Frampton leased the plane for $30,000.
Their Plane
Not Taking Chances
In order to prevent others from taking credit for their sound, Jimmy Page came up with an interesting strategy. He did not let any engineer work on more than one album. Additionally, he decided to produce all the records himself.
Not Taking Chances
Tragic Death
Sadly, drummer John Bonham died on September 25, 1980. The band had rehearsed the day before, but Bonham had way too much to drink at Page’s house and then passed out. They put in on his side in the spare bedroom. Tragically, he died after choking on his vomit and Led Zeppelin disbanded. Apparently, they found the equivalent of forty shots of vodka within Bonham’s system.
Tragic Death
Stage Name
When Andrew Loog Oldham, who went on to be the director of the Rolling Stones, met John Paul Jones, Jones was going by the stage name John Baldwin. So, Andrew told him to take a different name. Then he suggested the name from the Robert Stack film, John Paul Jones. The drummer had no clue who that was but liked the sound of the new name. The rest is history.
Stage Name
First Deal
Before forming Led Zeppelin, all the band members built solid reputations as talented musicians. Thus, when they signed with Atlantic, they negotiated a decent deal. They got full publishing rights and an unprecedented $20,000 advance!
First Deal
Close But No Cigar
Former President Bill Clinton attempted to bring the surviving members of Led Zeppelin back together for a charity concert in 2012. Unfortunately, the band turned him down. Everyone knows Bill Clinton is an avid sax player, but maybe it’s best they didn’t come because he might have tried to collab with them! Not sure how well a sax would fit with their sound…
Close But No Cigar
Love For Only John
Apparently, the late, great Jimi Hendrix wasn’t a huge fan of Led Zeppelin. One of his former band-mates said that Jimi claimed the band “stole” from other music groups. Despite this, he was a big fan of the drummer, John Bonham. Some say he even tried to take John Bonham for his own band a number of times, even if it meant he would have two drummers on stage!
Love For Only John
Possible Frontrunners
Apparently, Led Zeppelin and the amazing Fleetwood Mac have been named as the frontrunners to head for Glastonbury in 2019. Of course, there’s been a lot of talk about Led Zeppelin since they’re about to celebrate their 50th anniversary! The last time Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones played together was in 2007 at London. John Bonham’s son took the place of his father during that reunion. In October, Robert Plant explained, “You can’t ever really go back. It’s tough enough repeating yourself with something that’s a year old, never mind 49 years old. I’ve got to keep moving.”
Possible Frontrunners
Coolest Guitar
Guitar or guitars! Yeah, Jimmy Page was known for his famous Gibson double-necked guitar. He was one of the early adopters of it. The Gibson EDS-1275 got named the coolest guitar in rock back during a 2012 poll.
Coolest Guitar
Aspirations
Believe it or not, Jimmy Page didn’t always want to be a rock star. Back in 1957, he appeared on a U.K. children’s show called All Alone. He was only 13 at the time and told them he wanted to grow up to work in “biological research,” studying germs.
Aspirations
Second Album
Led Zeppelin’s second album took eight months to finish. The reason Led Zeppelin II took so long was because the band was on an intensive tour. While it only took a few hours to write and record the songs, the band needed to find time in between concerts and touring to work. Also, that’s why some note their sound has some urgency and spontaneity to it.
Second Album
Hidden Affair
Back in the early 70’s, Jimmy Page fell for a young 14-year-old girl, Lori Maddox. Over the next few years, they began a secret affair. They needed to keep it hidden so he wouldn’t end up in jail. Eventually, Jimmy Page left Maddox for the older model/singer Bebe Buell.
Hidden Affair
Multi-Talented
Naturally, we all know John Paul Jones for his bass skills in Led Zeppelin. However, not many realize that he can play many instruments. Jones plays the sitar, ukulele, violin, mandolin, guitar, koto, cello, organ, lap steel guitars, autoharp, violin, continuum, and mellotron. WHOA! That’s a mouthful.
Multi-Talented
Temporary Name
A descendant of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin named Frau Eva von Zeppelin was angry about the band’s name, which she saw as dishonoring her family name. Thus, she requested they change their band’s name. For one night, on February 28, 1970, they played in Copenhagen as The Nobs. However, critics and fans alike preferred their previous name, and therefore, they switched back Led Zeppelin permanently after this night.
Temporary Name
Footing The Bill
Back when they recorded their first album, Jimmy Page decided to pay for the recording himself. The total recording and mixing time came out to 30 hours and cost him about $4300 or £1782. Luckily, that album made more than £3.5 million! Apparently, Jimmy Page wanted all the artistic control “in a vise grip.”
Footing The Bill
Whoops
Now, this one we couldn’t see happening today with all of the intensive editings. So if you listen to “The Ocean,” you can actually hear a phone ringing. At 1:37-8 and 1:41, this sound is heard. When questioned if this was an actual phone, producer Eddie Kramer claimed ignorance. He said there’s a chance it could be an actual phone ringing since they recorded the song in a house, but at the time, they didn’t hear anything.
Whoops
Crowley’s Old House
In 1971, Jimmy Page moved into the former home of occultist and British philosopher Aleister Crowley. In fact, Page said the home was haunted, but not with Crowley. He said the previous owners haunted it, telling Rolling Stone, “It was also a church that was burned to the ground with the congregation in it. Strange things have happened in that house that had nothing to do with Crowley. The bad vibes were already there. A man was beheaded there, and sometimes you can hear his head rolling down.” Page had a bit of an obsession with Crowley and collected a lot of his memorabilia.
Crowley’s Old House
No Singles
Apparently, for “Whole Lotta Love,” the original 5:33 got cut to 3:12 single thanks to Atlantic Records. When Page heard the single version he abhorred it and never wanted to listen to that short version again. Thus, in the UK, the band and manager Peter Grant had better authority over their songs and the runtime in the 1997 UK single 4:50.
No Singles
Untitled
Despite fans calling it “Zoso,” the fourth album is technically untitled. The band tried to release this album in an anonymous-looking way after facing negative reviews on their albums. They just picked four symbols to represent each of the members. However, fans thought they spelled out “Zoso.”
Untitled