Classic Rock
Led Zeppelin Music and Album Guide-Rock and Roll
Led Zeppelin was one of the first hard rock supergroups and a band that enjoyed unprecedented popularity in the hard rock arena.
The band came together from the ashes of the last incarnation of the Yardbirds, which featured the young guitar hero, Jimmy Page. Page teamed up with bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham, but the new band needed a lead singer to round out its line-up. Terry Reid was considered at first, but when he proved to be unavailable, Robert Plant was brought in.
The new band was initially called, “The New Yardbirds,” but changed their name to “Led Zeppelin” as a response to one observer who predicted their doom by stating, “They’ll go down like a lead balloon.” Like most other early hard rock bands, Zeppelin had a solid grounding in the electric blues of Chicago, especially where Hubert Sumlin, Otis Rush and Howlin’ Wolf were concerned.
The band’s debut album, “Led Zeppelin” (1968), clearly revealed that influence as the band recorded revolutionary takes on a number of Chess standards such as “You Shook Me,” “I Can’t Quit You,” and “How Many More Times” with over-amplified bass, guitar and drums and the banshee-like vocals of Robert Plant. The album remains today one of the all-time classics of hard rock.
