Jimmy Page Looks Back at 50 Years of Led Zeppelin 12., with the album trickling into stores across the country on whatever days it arrived in the mail.

More likely, the release was set for the week of Jan. 12, but that was a Sunday in 1969, and blue laws - in which some commerce and leisure activities were restricted on Sundays on religious grounds - pretty much ruled out Sunday retail in the U.S. In fact, the date of their debut is usually cited as Jan. 26, and the first album, Led Zeppelin I, came out in January. They launched their first American tour in Denver on Dec. Zeppelin’s first album was recorded in October and November, and the latter month also saw the announcement that their first album would come out on Atlantic in early January. 7, 1968 as The New Yardbirds, fulfilling the obligations that were booked for a Scandinavian tour by then- Yardbirds manager Peter Grant before the original band broke up. There are a number of days that could claim that distinction, their first rehearsal was in the late summer of 1968, while their first show together was Sept. The cluster of notes that make up the string synth solo have a definite Bach baroque influence another example of Jones’s eclectic musical leanings.It was 50 years ago that Led Zeppelin launched. Jones adds all manner of keyboard embellishments, from brass like riffs to funky struts, holding the show together throughout this impressive latter era epic.Īll My Love (In Through The Out Door, 1979)Ī Jones and Plant creation, this gentle ballad – a tribute to Plant’s late son – gave Jones the scope to showcase his classical leanings. This ten-and-a-half minute opus benefits greatly from his then new toy, a Yamaha GX1, at the time one of the biggest analog and polyphonic synths. Note the way he plays off Bonham’s frenzied fills, interlocking to form a relentless, rhythmic groove.Ĭarouselambra (In Through The Out Door, 1979)Īrriving at the ABBA studios in Stockholm before the other members enabled John to cast a mighty shadow over their final studio album In Through The Out Door. Page’s performance here is one of his finest, but the way John Paul Jones underpins the main structure of the song with a pummelling bass attack (courtesy of an eight string Becvar 1 Triple Omega model) is equally inspiring.

John first acquired a mandolin in 1970 when Led Zeppelin inserted an acoustic set into their live act. Marvel here at Jones’s delicate finger picking technique as he perfectly complements Page’s playing on this acoustic beauty, as performed live during Zep’s five night stint at Earls Court in 1975.Īnother bass bonanza. Going To California - (Led Zeppelin DVD, 2003)Īnother string to the bow – in this case the mandolin. The clavinet is back in evidence on the climatic final fade, cascading around Page’s multi-dubbed guitar solo. A rock equivalent of the bagpipes, and, as bizarre as that sounds, it works perfectly in the hands of Mr Jones. Kool And The Gang never sounded as cool as this.Īn eight-minute Zepic built around an inspired rotating John Paul Jones keyboard drone. Inspired by the likes of Stevie Wonder’s Superstition and Billy Preston’s Outta Space, Jones’s incessant Honer clavinet playing adds the necessary funk to Page’s relentless riffing and Plant’s captivating word play lyrics. Trampled Under Foot (Physical Graffiti ,1975)

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