Led Zeppelin (album): Difference between revisions
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==History== |
==History== |
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In an interview for the ''[[Profiled|Led Zeppelin Profiled]]'' radio promo CD (1990) Page said that the album took only about 36 hours of studio time to create (including mixing), adding that he knows this because of the amount charged on the studio bill. One of the primary reasons for the short recording time was that the material selected for the album had been well rehearsed and pre-arranged by the band on Led Zeppelin's tour of [[Scandinavia]] in 1968. In addition, since the band had not yet signed their deal with [[Atlantic Records]], producer [[Jimmy Page]] and manager [[Peter Grant (music manager)|Peter Grant]] paid for the sesions entirely themselves, thus there was no record company money to waste on excessive studio time.<ref>Dave Lewis (1994), ''The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin'', pp. 3-4 ISBN 0-7119-3528-9</ref> |
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Despite the conceptual originality displayed on the album, it included three songs composed by others: "[[You Shook Me]]" and "[[I Can't Quit You Baby]]", both by [[blues]] artist [[Willie Dixon]]; and "[[Babe I'm Gonna Leave You]]". Regarding the last of these, at the time guitarist [[Jimmy Page]] mistakenly believed he was adapting a traditional [[folk song]] he had heard on a Joan Baez record, but this was corrected on subsequent rereleases after it was revealed that the song actually was composed by [[Anne Bredon]] in the 1950s. Dixon, on the other hand, received proper credit as the composer of his two songs on this album (although "You Shook Me" would later be additionally credited to [[J. B. Lenoir]]) but would go on to sue the band over the partial use of other material of his on the band's [[Led Zeppelin II|second album]]. |
Despite the conceptual originality displayed on the album, it included three songs composed by others: "[[You Shook Me]]" and "[[I Can't Quit You Baby]]", both by [[blues]] artist [[Willie Dixon]]; and "[[Babe I'm Gonna Leave You]]". Regarding the last of these, at the time guitarist [[Jimmy Page]] mistakenly believed he was adapting a traditional [[folk song]] he had heard on a Joan Baez record, but this was corrected on subsequent rereleases after it was revealed that the song actually was composed by [[Anne Bredon]] in the 1950s. Dixon, on the other hand, received proper credit as the composer of his two songs on this album (although "You Shook Me" would later be additionally credited to [[J. B. Lenoir]]) but would go on to sue the band over the partial use of other material of his on the band's [[Led Zeppelin II|second album]]. |
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The album cover features an artfully manipulated version of the most famous photograph (originally from [[United Press International|UPI]]) of the ''[[Hindenburg]]'' disaster. It is in fact an illustration of this photograph drawn with a [[Rapidograph]] pen and ink by graphic artist George Hardie, a student at the [[Royal College of Art]] who had been recommended to Led Zeppelin by photographer Stephen Goldblatt. The back sleeve contained a portrait of the band taken by [[Chris Dreja]], the former bassist in Page's previous band [[The Yardbirds]]. Such originality in album cover art and packaging would be developed on the band's subsequent releases. |
The album cover features an artfully manipulated version of the most famous photograph (originally from [[United Press International|UPI]]) of the ''[[Hindenburg]]'' disaster. It is in fact an illustration of this photograph drawn with a [[Rapidograph]] pen and ink by graphic artist George Hardie, a student at the [[Royal College of Art]] who had been recommended to Led Zeppelin by photographer Stephen Goldblatt. The back sleeve contained a portrait of the band taken by [[Chris Dreja]], the former bassist in Page's previous band [[The Yardbirds]]. Such originality in album cover art and packaging would be developed on the band's subsequent releases. |
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In [[Stephen Davis (music journalist)|Stephen Davis]]' biography of the band, ''Hammer of the Gods'', it is documented that Peter Grant put the cost of the album at £1,750 (including artwork).{{Fact|date=February 2007}} By 1975 the album had grossed $7,000,000.<ref name="Billboard">[http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=5047&aid=10331 Billboard discography]</ref> |
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In 2003 the [[TV network]] [[VH1]] named ''Led Zeppelin'' the 44th greatest album of all time. {{RS500|29}} |
In 2003 the [[TV network]] [[VH1]] named ''Led Zeppelin'' the 44th greatest album of all time. {{RS500|29}} |
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Revision as of 14:27, 6 April 2007
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Led Zeppelin is the first album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. Recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studios in London and released on Atlantic Records on January 17, 1969. The groundbreaking music and recording techniques displayed on the album are today widely considered as one of the most impressive and important debuts in rock, creating an entirely new interpretation of the rock and roll genre. The album established Led Zeppelin's unique dynamic, from their fusion of blues and rock to the integral contributions from each of the group's four musicians. Led Zeppelin also created a large and devoted following for the band, with their unique proto-metal and psychedelic rock sound endearing them to a section of the counterculture on both sides of the Atlantic.
History
In an interview for the Led Zeppelin Profiled radio promo CD (1990) Page said that the album took only about 36 hours of studio time to create (including mixing), adding that he knows this because of the amount charged on the studio bill. One of the primary reasons for the short recording time was that the material selected for the album had been well rehearsed and pre-arranged by the band on Led Zeppelin's tour of Scandinavia in 1968. In addition, since the band had not yet signed their deal with Atlantic Records, producer Jimmy Page and manager Peter Grant paid for the sesions entirely themselves, thus there was no record company money to waste on excessive studio time.[1]
Despite the conceptual originality displayed on the album, it included three songs composed by others: "You Shook Me" and "I Can't Quit You Baby", both by blues artist Willie Dixon; and "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You". Regarding the last of these, at the time guitarist Jimmy Page mistakenly believed he was adapting a traditional folk song he had heard on a Joan Baez record, but this was corrected on subsequent rereleases after it was revealed that the song actually was composed by Anne Bredon in the 1950s. Dixon, on the other hand, received proper credit as the composer of his two songs on this album (although "You Shook Me" would later be additionally credited to J. B. Lenoir) but would go on to sue the band over the partial use of other material of his on the band's second album.
Jeff Beck had previously recorded "You Shook Me" for his album, Truth, and accused Page of stealing his idea. With John Paul Jones and Keith Moon of the Who, Page had played on (and says he arranged) "Beck's Bolero", an instrumental on "Truth" that would be grooved into the mix of the "Led Zeppelin" jam "How Many More Times." This cross pollinization led to a long rift between Beck and Page, who played in the Yardbirds together and had been friends since childhood.[2]
Although several of Led Zeppelin's earliest songs were based on blues standards, others such as "Good Times Bad Times" and "Communication Breakdown" had a unique and distinctively heavy sound. Led Zeppelin also featured delicate steel-string acoustic guitar on "Black Mountain Side", and a combination of acoustic and electric approaches on the reworked folk song "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You." "Dazed and Confused" featured Page playing guitar with a cello bow (an idea suggested by the father of actor David McCallum, whom Page met while doing studio session work). The bowed guitar technique is also used on "How Many More Times". In addition to the aforementioned "Bolero" riff, the song breaks down to a noise section in which Plant howls Albert King's "The Hunter", a blues song popularized by singer Koko Taylor, and vocally mimics Page's guitar effects--a metallicised version of the 'call and response' blues technique.
"Dazed and Confused" is arguably the album's centerpiece: a foreboding arrangement featuring a descending bass line from Jones, heavy drumming from Bonham and some powerful guitar riffs from Jimmy Page. The bowed guitar in the middle section of the song brought psychedelic rock to experimental noise heights in the extended live versions, building on Page's early renderings of the song during the latter days of The Yardbirds. "Dazed and Confused" would become Led Zeppelin's signature performance piece for years to come.
The album was recorded on an analog 4 track machine which helped to give the record its warm sound. Page reportedly used natural room ambiance to enhance the reverb and recording texture on the record, demonstrating the innovations in sound recording he had learned during his session days. Up until the late 1960s, most music producers placed microphones directly in front of the amplifiers and drums. For "Led Zeppelin" Page developed the idea of placing an additional microphone some distance from the amplifier (as far as twenty feet) and then recording the balance between the two. By adopting this "distance is depth" technique, Page became one of the first producers to record a band's "ambient sound" - the distance of a note's time-lag from one end of the room to the other.
Another notable feature of the album was the "leakage" on the recordings of Robert Plant's vocals. In an interview Page gave to Guitar World magazine in 1998, Page stated that "Robert's voice was extremely powerful and, as a result, would get on some of the other tracks. But oddly, the leakage sounds intentional."[3]
Page would later favor a 1959 Gibson Les Paul as his guitar of choice, but on "Led Zeppelin" he played a psychedelically painted Fender Telecaster, a gift from Jeff Beck after Page recommended him to the Yardbirds in 1965 to replace Eric Clapton on lead guitar.
The album cover features an artfully manipulated version of the most famous photograph (originally from UPI) of the Hindenburg disaster. It is in fact an illustration of this photograph drawn with a Rapidograph pen and ink by graphic artist George Hardie, a student at the Royal College of Art who had been recommended to Led Zeppelin by photographer Stephen Goldblatt. The back sleeve contained a portrait of the band taken by Chris Dreja, the former bassist in Page's previous band The Yardbirds. Such originality in album cover art and packaging would be developed on the band's subsequent releases.
In Stephen Davis' biography of the band, Hammer of the Gods, it is documented that Peter Grant put the cost of the album at £1,750 (including artwork).[citation needed] By 1975 the album had grossed $7,000,000.[4]
In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Led Zeppelin the 44th greatest album of all time. Template:RS500
Track listing
Side one
- "Good Times Bad Times" (Bonham/Jones/Page) – 2:46
- "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (Bredon/Page & Plant) – 6:41
- "You Shook Me" (Dixon/Lenoir) – 6:28
- "Dazed and Confused" (Page) – 6:26
Side two
- "Your Time Is Gonna Come" (Jones/Page) – 4:34
- "Black Mountain Side" (Page) – 2:14
- "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham/Jones/Page) – 2:27
- "I Can't Quit You Baby" (Dixon) – 4:42
- "How Many More Times" (Bonham/Jones/Page) – 8:28 (listed as 3:30 on record sleeve deliberately by Jimmy Page in order to trick radio stations into playing the song.)
Robert Plant participated in songwriting, but wasn't given credit due to unexpired contractual obligations.
Some cassette versions of the album reversed the order of the sides. For these versions, side one began and ended with "Your Time Is Gonna Come" and "How Many More Times," while side two began and ended with "Good Times, Bad Times" and "Dazed and Confused."
Credits
- Led Zeppelin:
- Jimmy Page - Acoustic, electric, and pedal steel guitar, backing vocals, producer
- Robert Plant - Vocals, harmonica
- John Paul Jones - Bass guitar, organ, keyboards, backing vocals
- John Bonham - Drums, tympani, backing vocals
- Viram Jasani - Tabla
- Chris Dreja - Back liner photo
- George Hardie - Cover design
- Glyn Johns - Engineer, mixing
- Peter Grant - Executive producer
Charts
Album - Billboard magazine (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Pop Albums (Billboard 200) | 10 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | "Good Times Bad Times" | Pop Singles (Billboard Hot 100) | 73 |
| 1969 | "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" | Pop Singles (Billboard Hot 100) | 73 |
References
- ^ Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, pp. 3-4 ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
- ^ Stephen Davis (1995). Hammer of the Gods (LPC). pp. 44, 57 64, 190, 225, 277. ISBN 0-330-43859-X
- ^ Tolinski, Brad, and Di Bendetto, Greg, "Light and Shade", Guitar World, January 1998.
- ^ Billboard discography
See also
External links
- Led Zeppelin ⚠ "
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