Led Zeppelin's self-titled debut turns 50 today

GR8 2B

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For the old and not-so-old . . .

Led Zeppelin’s self-titled debut album turns 50 on Saturday

This Saturday, January 12, marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Led Zeppelin‘s self-titled debut album, which introduced the world to arguably the most influential and beloved hard-rock band of all-time.



Produced by Jimmy Page, the album was recorded in September and October at Olympic Studios in London, reportedly in just 36 hours and at a cost of less than 2,000 pounds. The nine-track collection features original tunes mixed with covers and reworked versions of contemporary blues and folk songs.

After its initial release, Led Zeppelin peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell more than eight million copies in the U.S.

The Led Zeppelin album was poorly received in general by critics at the time of its release, with Rolling Stone panning the record. (Read the original review: Led Zeppelin I – Rolling Stone) The view of the album, of course, has been reassessed over the ensuing years. Case in point: On Rolling Stone‘s 2012 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, it ranks at #29.

Here’s the full track list of Led Zeppelin:

“Good Times Bad Times”
“Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”
“You Shook Me”
“Dazed and Confused”
“Your Time Is Gonna Come”
“Black Mountain Side” (instrumental)
“Communication Breakdown”
“I Can’t Quit You Baby”
“How Many More Times”
 
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crosscreekcooter

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I have 3 of those tracks plus Ramble On on a compilation cd that gets first play when on the road.=

Trying to cover Zeppelin is risky at best. Train did a pretty good job. No Jimmy Page guitarwork but who can.

 
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78

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Groundbreaking album, but not my fave. That would be LZIII with Celebration Day, Tangerine and That's the Way.

Saw them at the Amphitheater in Chicago in the fall 1971, right at the release of LZIV. You could hardly see the stage for all the smoke, most of it illegal. :)

Crappy video, decent concert. I keed. It was an incredible concert.

 

ThreatMatrix

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"The album was recorded in September and October 1968 at Olympic Studios, London, shortly after the band's formation. It contains a mix of original material worked out in the first rehearsals, and remakes and rearrangements of contemporary blues and folk songs. The sessions took place before the group had secured a recording contract and were paid for directly, and took 36 hours and less than £2,000 to complete."
Page said that the album took only about 36 hours of studio time (over a span of a few weeks) to create (including mixing), adding that he knew this because of the amount charged on the studio bill.[4]
For the recordings, Page played a psychedelically painted Fender Telecaster, a gift from friend Jeff Beck after Page recommended him to join the Yardbirds in 1965, replacing Eric Clapton on lead guitar.[9][10][a] Page played the Telecaster through a Supro amplifier, and used a Gibson J-200, for the album's acoustic tracks. For "Your Time Is Gonna Come" he used a Fender 10-string pedal steel guitar.[10][11]"

Wow, all these years and I had no idea that Page was playing a Telecaster instead of the most iconic Les Paul in R&R history.
 

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