Table Of Content

Cover Page: i Also by Bob Spitz Page: i Title Page Page: v Copyright Page: vi Dedication Page: vii Epigraph Page: ix Contents Page: xi Prologue Page: xiii Chapter One: A Case of the Blues Page: 13 [1] Page: 13 [2] Page: 24 [3] Page: 34 Chapter Two: Getting Down to Business Page: 42 [1] Page: 42 [2] Page: 49 [3] Page: 61 Chapter Three: Reinventing the Wheel Page: 64 [1] Page: 64 [2] Page: 70 [3] Page: 78 Chapter Four: Front Page: 85 [1] Page: 85 [2] Page: 90 [3] Page: 97 Chapter Five: The Black Country Page: 107 [1] Page: 107 [2] Page: 115 [3] Page: 126 Chapter Six: Don’t Tread on Me Page: 133 [1] Page: 133 [2] Page: 147 [3] Page: 158 Chapter Seven: Breaking Through the Sound Barrier Page: 164 [1] Page: 164 [2] Page: 170 [3] Page: 180 Chapter Eight: The New Normal Page: 186 [1] Page: 186 [2] Page: 195 [3] Page: 206 Chapter Nine: Into the Distant Past Page: 217 [1] Page: 217 [2] Page: 223 [3] Page: 231 Chapter Ten: Invoking and Being Invocative Page: 243 [1] Page: 243 [2] Page: 249 [3] Page: 265 Chapter Eleven: Just Boys Having Fun Page: 270 [1] Page: 270 [2] Page: 277 [3] Page: 285 Chapter Twelve: A Law Unto Themselves Page: 296 [1] Page: 296 [2] Page: 304 [3] Page: 310 Chapter Thirteen: The Land of Mondo Bizarro Page: 324 [1] Page: 324 [2] Page: 335 Chapter Fourteen: Led Zeppelin Was Otherwise Engaged Page: 344 [1] Page: 344 [2] Page: 352 [3] Page: 366 Chapter Fifteen: Flying Too Close to the Sun Page: 371 [1] Page: 371 [2] Page: 380 Chapter Sixteen: Home Away from Home Page: 395 [1] Page: 395 [2] Page: 405 [3] Page: 413 Chapter Seventeen: The Year of Living Dangerously Page: 422 [1] Page: 422 [2] Page: 428 [3] Page: 437 Chapter Eighteen: The Other Side of the Spectrum Page: 446 [1] Page: 446 [2] Page: 455 [3] Page: 463 Chapter Nineteen: Their Own Private Sodom and Gomorrah Page: 472 [1] Page: 472 [2] Page: 480 [3] Page: 486 Chapter Twenty: A Transition Period Page: 500 [1] Page: 500 [2] Page: 513 [3] Page: 521 Chapter Twenty-One: Swan Song Page: 528 [1] Page: 528 [2] Page: 536 [3] Page: 543 Chapter Twenty-Two: Coda Page: 554 [1] Page: 554 [2] Page: 564 Photos Page: 576 Acknowledgments Page: 577 Notes Page: 581 Bibliography Page: 645 Photo Credits Page: 651 Index Page: 652 About the Author Page: 673

Description:

From the author of the definitive New York Times bestselling history of the Beatles comes the authoritative account of the group many call the greatest rock band of all time, arguably the most successful, and certainly one of the most notorious Rock star. Whatever that term means to you, chances are it owes a debt to Led Zeppelin. No one before or since has lived the dream quite like Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. In Led Zeppelin, Bob Spitz takes their full measure, separating the myth from the reality with his trademark connoisseurship and storytelling flair. From the opening notes of their first album, the band announced itself as something different, a collision of grand artistic ambition and brute primal force, of English folk music and African American blues. That record sold over 10 million copies, and it was just the beginning; Led Zeppelin's albums have sold over 300 million certified copies worldwide, and the dust has never settled. The band is notoriously guarded, and previous books provided more heat than light. But Spitz's authority is undeniable and irresistible. His feel for the atmosphere, the context--the music, the business, the recording studios, the touring life, the whole ecosystem of popular music--is unparalleled. His account of the melding of Page and Jones, the virtuosic London sophisticates, with Plant and Bonham, the wild men from the Midlands, in a scene dominated by the Beatles and the Stones but changing fast, is in itself a revelation. Spitz takes the music seriously and brings the band's artistic journey to full and vivid life. The music, however, is only part of the legend: Led Zeppelin is also the story of how the sixties became the seventies, of how playing clubs became playing stadiums, of how innocence became decadence. Led Zeppelin wasn't the first rock band to let loose on the road, but as with everything else, they took it to an entirely new level. Not all the legends are true, but in Spitz's careful accounting, what is true is astonishing and sometimes disturbing. Led Zeppelin gave no quarter, and neither has Bob Spitz. Led Zeppelin is the full and honest reckoning the band has long awaited, and richly deserves.