Led Zeppelin Celebrates 50 Years

New book of personal photos is an intimate visual history

by Edna Gundersen, AARP, October 2, 2018

NEAL PRESTON/REEL ART PRESS

Got a whole lotta love for Led Zeppelin? Put down your headphones and grab your spectacles.

The iconic British band that broke up 38 years ago, but still ranks as the third-best-selling band in history (after the Beatles and the Eagles), is the subject of a very personal 368-page photo book (see some below) that traces the group's career from its rowdy origins to reunions decades after its demise.

Out this month, Led Zeppelin By Led Zeppelin (Reel Art Press, $70), the first photography book published in full collaboration with the band, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the foursome’s founding. It's an elaborate visual history told in 350-plus color and black-and-white photos. Singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham are captured on and off stage, recording in studios and passing time on tour snoozing on planes and hanging at motel pools. The pictures were shot by photographers around the world and drawn from the band members’ personal collections. Many have never previously been published.

The book is a fitting salute to one of the most innovative and influential rock bands in history. Formed in 1968 after Page left the Yardbirds, Zeppelin helped pioneer and then dominated such trends as album rock, heavy metal, arena rock and debauchery. With a monstrous roar that tapped into blues, folk and psychedelia, the band owned the ’70s despite its refusal to release singles or indulge the media. Critics dismissed Led Zeppelin early on only to revise their assessments later and credit the band for creating a distinctive and powerful rock-metal sound with such classics as "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway to Heaven."

Take a look back at the iconic band

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Photos

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PHOTO BY: Jorgen Angel/Reel Art Press

Sept. 7, 1968

Teen Club, Gladsaxe, Denmark

The band, playing as the Yardbirds, head to Scandinavia for their maiden tour after only 15 hours of rehearsals. Their first show at Teen Clubs draws a glowing review from the venue’s monthly magazine, “Their performance and their music were absolutely flawless…They really succeeded and in particular the guitar solo by Jimmy Page created huge applause.” Immediately after the nine-show tour, the band heads into the studio to record its eponymous debut, with such songs as "Dazed and Confused," "You Shook Me," "Communication Breakdown" and "How Many More Times."
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PHOTO BY: Dick Barnatt/Reel Art Press

December 1968

Robert Plant
In the book’s prologue, Robert Plant reflects on his pre-Zeppelin days playing gigs with John Bonham. “John and I had been kicking around the dance clubs and halls together and apart, rolling and tumbling for what seemed years. Two big noisy fish swimming against the stream. John’s amazing technique and showboating, my relentless ceaseless wail. Our youth and confidence. A powerhouse. We could clear a dance floor in seconds. We were not an easy fit for other musical threads.”
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PHOTO BY: Dick Barnatt/Reel Art Press

December 1968

Jimmy Page
Considered one of the best and most imaginative guitarists of all time, Jimmy Page founded Led Zeppelin after playing with the Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968. In 1990, he described the band’s first rehearsal: “At the end, we knew that it was really happening, really electrifying. Exciting is the word.”
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PHOTO BY: Dick Barnatt/Reel Art Press

December 1968

John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones, born John Richard Baldwin, began playing piano at six, studied music formally and was doing constant studio session work before Page invited him to join the “new” Yardbirds. He contributed much of the band’s inventive shifting time signatures and teamed with Bonham to forge a strong danceable groove absent in most metal music.
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PHOTO BY: Dick Barnatt/Reel Art Press

December 1968

John Bonham
Ranked first in Rolling Stone’s list of 100 greatest drummers of all time, Bonham was hailed for his speed and power. In a 1971 interview cited in Led Zeppelin By Led Zeppelin, he says, “The playing was good, even the first time we played together. There’s a feeling, you know when you’re playing in a group whether it’s going to be any good or not and it was good, very good indeed.” Led Zeppelin disbanded after Bonham died in 1980 at age 32 of alcohol-related asphyxia.
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PHOTO BY: Bob Stinnett/Globe Photos/Reel Art Press

Jan. 14, 1969

San Francisco
This group photo was shot two days before the release of the band's debut album, Led Zeppelin. Many reviews of the album were stinging. Rolling Stone sniffed that “they will have to find a producer, editor and some material worthy of their collective talents.”
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PHOTO BY: Ron Raffaelli Collection/Reel Art Press

1969

Cover session for 1969 U.S. tour book
This shot was among many Ron Raffaelli took for a program to accompany the band’s 1969 U.S. tour. Several were used in a subsequent box set. Page notes in the book, “Ron Raffaelli was a super photographer. The photo captures the energy of the time. A brilliant photographer and great portrait shots of everybody. You want to look as strong and impassioned as the music that you’re playing.”
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PHOTO BY: Jimmy Page Collection/Reel Art Press

March 3, 1969

Top Gear, Playhouse Theatre, London
The band gathers at the Playhouse Theatre in London to tape their first BBC radio session for John Peel’s Top Gear program. They perform "Communication Breakdown," "Dazed and Confused," "You Shook Me" and "I Can’t Quit You Baby."
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PHOTO BY: Neal Preston/Reel Art Press

June 2, 1973

Kezar Stadium, San Francisco
More than 50,000 fans pack the football field and stands for a concert that grosses $320,000, one month after Led Zeppelin grossed $309,000 to break the Beatles’ 1965 record. CBS News notes, “The only casualties reported were some bad drug trips, a broken leg and a security guard accidentally wounded with his own revolver.”
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PHOTO BY: Neal Preston/Reel Art Press

Jan. 17, 1975

Met Center, Minneapolis
Led Zeppelin rehearses on the eve of the launch of their 1975 North American tour. The Free Press declares Zep “still the world’s premiere heavy-metal rock and roll band.” The set list includes "When the Levee Breaks," "The Song Remains the Same," "Kashmir," "No Quarter," "Black Dog" and "Moby Dick."
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PHOTO BY: Mythgem/Hipgnosis//Reel Art Press

1979

Knebworth artwork
Hipgnosis, a London art design group that created many iconic album covers for rock bands, delivers this to promote Led Zeppelin’s two concerts at the 1979 Knebworth Festival in Hertfordshire, England.
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PHOTO BY: Ross Halfin//Reel Art Press

Dec. 5, 2007

Shepperton Rehearsals
Plant, Page, Jones and Jason Bonham (song of John Bonham) rehearse in Shepperton, England, five days before a reunion concert on Dec. 10, 2007 at the O2 Arena in London. The Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert sets a record for the hottest ticket demand ever, after it generates 20 million requests online. The highly praised performance renews demand for a reunion tour and album. But it is not to be.