::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

Music

Taking the Led Out

Farjad Ahmed

Spearheaded by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who in the 60's, the British rock n roll invasion ( and subsequent unequivocal domination) across the Atlantic to the US lasted well into the '80s without any serious threats from American bands. After the deluge of the '60s, the '70s saw the following three bands: Led Zeppelin, Genesis and Pink Floyd taking over the helms of rock music. Representing three very different forms of rock music, they were the quintessential bands of the time and at the vanguard of rock music of the '70s decade--the post Woodstock, post Vietnam era that introduced the word "inflation" to the common person.

To begin with, Led Zeppelin sold more albums than any of their rivals (Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Whitesnake) and broke concert attendance records throughout the '70s (their attendance record at the Madison Square Garden in 1976/77 remained unbroken for many years). Though heavily influenced by blues music, Led Zeppelin had seminal influence on the genre of music known as heavy metal or hard rock.

As a band, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham--were all brilliant musicians; as a unit, Led Zep was synergy par excellence. Jimmy Page, in particular, was the lead guitarist, co- songwriter, co-composer and most amazingly, the producer of ALL the Led Zeppelin albums. From their debut album in 1968, Led Zep stoked the heavy metal fire that became an inferno. To be fair, Led Zeppelin did not single handedly "create" or "invent" heavy metal/hard rock music, but was undoubtedly an intrinsic part during its embryonic stage.

Led Zeppelin's music had depth and diversity-- from the highly rhythmic "Whole Lotta Love", the raw guitars of "Black Dog", the haunting nine minute "Kashmir", and lest we forget the classic ballad "Stairway To Heaven", LZ greatly enriched rock music. Their first album, the eponymous Led Zeppelin I (one) became one of the top 5 selling albums of the year in the US. This is no easy feat considering the stellar competition at that time: The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Doors, Crosby Stills-Nash-Young etc.

In the late '60s, Jimmy Page, already a veteran guitarist who had made his mark with The Yardbirds (Yardbirds alumni also included Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck two great guitarists), and bassist John Paul Jones, set out to form a new band. As the story goes, Jimmy Page saw Robert Plant singing for a local band at a club, and when approached, Robert Plant insisted on bringing his hitherto unknown drummer John Bonham on board. Up until that point, Ginger Baker (who went to join Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce to form Cream) was tipped to be the drummer of this new band. Reluctantly, Page agreed to take John Bonham and the four thus formed The New Yardbirds. Then when the late Keith Moon (legendary Who drummer) commented that this band " will go up like a lead balloon" the name was changed to Led Zeppelin. LZ's second album (simply titled Led Zeppelin II) was also a top 5 seller. Their third album received lukewarm reviews but then in 1971 they came up with Led Zeppelin IV (also known as "four symbols") containing such tunes as "Black Dog", "Rock'n'roll", Battle Of Evermore, and the timeless classic ballad "Stairway To Heaven", etc. This was to be their milestone and the album remained in the charts for more than 5 years! Led Zeppelin had come of age and they were ready to rock the world. They remained a dominant force throughout the '70s-- becoming one of Atlantic Records' money-spinners while receiving innumerous accolades from the leading rock critics and magazines (Creem, Kerang, Rolling Stones etc.). Unbeknownst to many, Led Zeppelins' vast portfolio of fans also included such luminaries like the late great Ananda Shankar (nephew of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar).

Another striking feature of the band was their album covers. Done by the legendary Hypnosis (of Pink Floyd, Yes fame), LZ's album covers were works of art. An example of Hypnosis' famed creations can be seen in Led Zeppelins 1975 classic double album Physical Graffiti - one of the most expensive album covers in the history of music. Notwithstanding the great music, one could easily spend hours just toying with the album cover. Incidentally, Physical Graffiti debuted in #1 in the album charts of UK and became one of the fastest selling albums of all time.

Tragedy struck the band with the premature death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. Eleven years and 9 albums later, Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1981. However, the band's music still reverberates across the radio airwaves, for any self respecting rock n roll station worth its name will regularly play Led Zeppelin tunes while leading rock clubs from London to New York are always paying tribute to them. At one time, some critics even labeled some bands (notably Whitesnake) as "Zeppelin clones" - disparaging perhaps, but true, nevertheless.

As for the heavy metal/hard rock aficionados, there were a number of US bands who, perhaps not as forceful as their UK counterparts, did contribute significantly towards the development of heavy metal/hard rock music. Bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Aerosmith, Steppenwolf, Grand Funk Railroad, Lynyrd Skynynrd, Ted Nugent, Iron Butterfly, Van Halen did have their outbursts of creativity in this realm of music in the '70s.

I grew up to the sounds of these bands and their music still invokes sweet memories from my bygone days. I am not ashamed to admit, that a quarter century later, I still get goosebumps and feel the adrenalin rush every time I hear Led Zeppelin's crashing intro of the track Rock'n'Roll.

It has, in the words of Led Zeppelin, "Been a long time since I Rock'n'Roll..."

[Farjad Ahmed is an audiophile and works for Delta Brac Housing Fin. Co. (DBH)]