October 30, 2009
In this issue:
Happy 40th Led Zeppelin II
I guess there’ll be 40th anniversaries of all things Zeppelin right up until 2020! But it’s worth celebrating the October 1969 release of the band’s second album, Led Zeppelin II. Released on October 22, 1969 in North America and October 31 in the UK, LZII was an amazing achievement on many fronts.
 |
The material the band performed from LZI was very well received in the U.S. Jimmy Page and Peter Grant knew the band was on to something big and that they had to maintain the momentum. A second album as follow-up was a sound marketing strategy.
As Zeppelin continued to tour throughout the spring, summer and early fall of 1969, the concert stage became their crucible. Not only did the songs from LZI continue to expand as they improvised in concert, they were also developing and testing new musical ideas that would be captured on vinyl in Led Zeppelin II.
It was difficult to record that album, with the incessant touring. Between July and September, 1969, they largely did it while on the road, recording in the studios of their tour stops: Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles and London.
Eddie Kramer, who had worked extensively with artists like Jimi Hendrix, was the new sound engineer for this project. Glyn Johns had recorded the debut album. You only have to listen to the opening track of Whole Lotta Love with its chaotic mid-section to hear what a similarly great collaboration there was between Kramer and producer Jimmy Page!
Led Zeppelin I had done extremely well on the record charts, reaching #6 in the UK and #10 in the U.S. But Led Zeppelin II did even better, hitting #1 on the charts in both places! Zeppelin’s well-earned reputation for being great live and on record had spread like wildfire. Their fan base grew and sales of LZII skyrocketed.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways the band’s first two albums were unique and different.
All records are time capsules that freeze forever where a band is at a certain point of its career. When Led Zeppelin II was conceived and recorded, all four members of the band knew that they were making a huge impact on popular music. The energy and enthusiasm of LZI grew and carried over into LZII, which is even more urgent and jubilant.
The second album relied far less on covers of blues songs although there were a few. On Led Zeppelin II, the band fused rock and blues to create the bombast evident in Whole Lotta Love. They expanded lyrically, with Robert Plant starting to show his evolving talent in penning songs like Ramble On and Thank You.
Instrumentally, they made giant strides forward, showcasing the individual talents of every group member on this album. John Bonham’s technique and power in Moby Dick would become a textbook study for aspiring percussionists. John Paul Jones demonstrated his prowess and training in classical music on the Hammond organ in Thank You.
Jimmy Page switched from his Telecaster to his Les Paul guitar, as the main axe on this album, achieving a fatter, fuller sound. Nevertheless, the harsh and vicious attack of Page’s Telecaster on Communication Breakdown (LZI) is mirrored on the Les Paul’s driving guitar riffs in Heartbreaker and The Lemon Song on Led Zeppelin II. The timbre is still rich and raunchy, but its quality is quite different.
Robert Plant’s vocals were evolving as fast as his ability to write lyrics. On LZI, his voice was raspy. J.J. Jackson described him as “a marbles-in-the-mouth bluesman”. Because Led Zeppelin II was recorded on the run, this raspiness takes on a sense of urgency, power and raunch! It’s frenetic. Just listen to Whole Lotta Love and The Lemon Song.
Yet there are still moments of great clarity, as in passages of What Is and What Should Never Be, Thank You and Ramble On.
Here’s a quick look at each track.
Whole Lotta Love is riff-based rock at its finest, in the tradition of Communication Breakdown. Page and Kramer make supersonic music, manipulating the technology of the recording studio. One of my book interviewees told me that he was studying late one night. When Whole Lotta Love came on, he jumped under his desk because he thought a plane was crashing into his room!
Plant’s voice comes through here in a frantic, erotic manner in the tradition of How Many More Times on Led Zeppelin I.
What Is and What Should Never Be is a beautiful blend of acoustic and electric guitar. It develops strong images of living a free lifestyle while incorporating the mysticism of Tolkien lore. Musically and lyrically, this very poignant song demonstrates Plant’s development as a lyricist.
The Lemon Song stems from Howlin’ Wolf’s classic blues number, Killing Floor. With Page’s outrageous guitar work and Plant’s scathing, regretful vocals the song follows in the footsteps of You Shook Me from Led Zeppelin I and yet, as always, the band manages to make it their own in new and exciting ways.
Thank You shows the quieter side of Led Zeppelin, with John Paul Jones’ strong classical influence on the Hammond organ intro, Page’s hauntingly beautiful acoustic guitar work and Plant’s increasingly more sophisticated lyrics.
Heartbreaker kicks off Side Two. Yet another rocker, it takes advantage of a strong chromatic arrangement of notes that creates a hypnotically infectious main riff that would go on to thrill thousands in concert over the years. Jimmy Page’s scorching solo guitar work in the middle is unlike anything else on the album.
Living Loving Maid starts up so soon after Heartbreaker, it seems like another movement of the same song. All four band members make this straight, hard rocker pulse forward. Plant’s vocals are especially frantic in this one!
Ramble On is a welcome change of pace after the all-out attack we’ve just heard! It features another masterful blend of acoustic and electric guitar that complements the dramatic louds and softs of Plant’s idealistic “hippie” lyrics. This is an excellent example of how well Led Zeppelin’s songwriting is coming along at this point in the band’s career.
As mentioned earlier, Moby Dick is truly a textbook for would-be drummers. Based on an earlier Zeppelin creation called Pat’s Delight in honour of John Bonham’s wife, it leaves the listener breathless, wondering what Bonzo will do next. He even plays with his bare hands to create unique timbres of unusual aural interest – a technique that stunned concert audiences as early as when Zeppelin debuted at The Boston Tea Party in January ’69.
Page’s brilliant riff-based intro and outro are played with steely execution on his Les Paul guitar.
Bring it on Home is a tribute to Zeppelin’s earliest influences; in this case, to blues great Sonny Boy Williamson. Plant’s voice – and adroit harmonica playing – steal the show in this one! Page offers up another wealth of guitar riffs that stick in your mind’s ear like musical glue and with that, Led Zeppelin II is over.
Like its predecessor, the production techniques and arranging of songs on Led Zeppelin II convey the same sense of non-stop musical action that made the band’s concerts so exciting. There’s a split second between the pairings of Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid and Moby Dick/Bring it on Home.
We’ve just reviewed a few of the factors that made Led Zeppelin II so special and helped create an impact on the world of popular music. Many of the album’s songs that the band played live for the first time in 1969 evolved and endured right up until the end of Led Zeppelin’s career in 1980. Whole Lotta Love and Heartbreaker are great examples.
What better way to close this 40th anniversary of Led Zeppelin II than with one of the tracks? For giving us four decades of musical excellence, we Led Zeppelin fans say Thank You!
Frank Reddon, Author
Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin.
Volume 1 - Break & Enter
Reddon on Lewis on Knebworth. Frank Reviews Dave Lewis' Latest Book, THEN AS IT WAS: LED ZEPPELIN AT KNEBWORTH 1979. 30 YEARS GONE
In last month’s Enzepplozine, guest columnist Steve “The Lemon” Sauer mentioned that Dave Lewis has always been one of his heroes.
Anyone with an interest in Led Zeppelin and, especially, in the band’s music, can’t help but feel the same way. I know I do and always have! The man is cited in every reference book and Wikipedia stub on Zeppelin. His own published works crowd the bookshelves of collectors and fans worldwide.
When Dave asked me to review his latest book, written and compiled in celebration of the recent 30th anniversary of Knebworth, it was a thrill and a privilege. He couldn’t have known this, but it was those Knebworth shows that originally got me into collecting Led Zeppelin boots! To read first-hand accounts of those very concerts truly brought the experience to life.
Dave’s long tenure as one of the world’s foremost writers, researchers and chroniclers of Led Zeppelin is well deserved. His penchant for exhaustive research is evident in this work as he reveals to us “the good, the bad and the ugly” about those two historic Led Zeppelin concerts held one week apart in August of ’79 at Knebworth House, Stevenage.
This tale of two concerts begins with a foreword by premier rock photographer, Ross Halfin. By his own admission, Halfin’s behind-the-scenes perspective of the event improved with age. He concludes that, in spite of it all, he was ultimately glad to have been there.
His foreword foreshadows the tone and content of Lewis’ book. The stark contrast of Knebworth’s positive aspects and negative, good acts and bad recalls the very light and shadow embodied by Led Zeppelin’s music itself.
The author sets the stage for Knebworth by putting Led Zeppelin in the context of the times, when the band was mounting a comeback against the currents of punk and new wave. He provides new insights into the warm-up gigs held in July 1979, in Copenhagen.
Despite his insider status with the group as its chronicler and his devotion as the ultimate fan, Lewis maintains his journalistic objectivity when writing about the events before and during the Knebworth shows.
His evaluations of the aftermath and impact are equally factual. Yet Lewis’ ongoing passion and enthusiasm for the band’s music and accomplishments shine through here in his personal reminiscences of Knebworth.
As a reader, you feel as if you’re tagging along with him; his accounts and descriptions of the sights and sounds are that vivid and realistic! Plus he willingly shares the extensive collection of photos he took at the time.
When it comes to Led Zeppelin, we all seem to have our areas of particular interest. If you’re into memorabilia, Dave taps into the expertise of leading collectors like Brian Knapp and Cliff Hilliard. Knebworth boots? You’ll want to read contributions by Graeme Hutchinson and others.
Is the band’s fifth member, manager Peter Grant, your role model? Then you’ll be fascinated to read the intimate details of the business wheelings and dealings. Without the talents of Grant and promoter Freddy Bannister, the Knebworth show would not likely have gone on. Lewis tells us why – from supporting acts that didn’t, really, to the challenges of helping a “dinosaur rock band” survive and thrive musical trends threatening it with extinction.
There are media excerpts from people like J.J. Jackson who interviewed Robert Plant and John Paul Jones on August 12, the day after the final concert. Pertinent pieces from magazines like Mojo weave Plant’s quotes into the rich tapestry of research that has always been Lewis’ hallmark as a Zeppelin scholar.
Led Zeppelin premiered many songs from In Through the Out Door, an album that would be released immediately after the Knebworth concerts, on August 15, 1979. Lewis offers a close and candid examination of this music, again positioning it within the musical context of times that were dangerous for rock’n’roll. He asks the tough questions, so typical of his interviewing style, resulting yet again in rock solid research.
Perhaps of greatest interest is the collective memory of the fans who were there. Over forty first-person accounts – from the mundane to the magnificent - detail what people sacrificed and endured just to get there! And they describe how well worth the effort it was, rewarding readers with the palpable excitement of being a drop in rock history’s ocean.
The whole book is a wealth of information, much of it previously unpublished.
If there’s a downside to Lewis’ latest contribution to the Led Zeppelin literature, it would be that his book is too short at 265+ pages. That it’s in limited supply. And that Dave waited 30 years to publish it!
To purchase your copy, please visit
Reminders
Want to learn about Led? Visit Learn-about-Led.com
Order Sonic Boom Volume 1 at Enzepplopedia.com.
And don't forget to tell us what's YOUR favourite Led Zeppelin album!
Do you already own True Blues & Beyond, my e-book that explores Led Zeppelin’s earliest influences in the blues? It's free for Enzepploziners. Click here to download it.