How Many More Times is arguably Led Zeppelin’s most underrated song. Almost no one mentions it. To me, this is the greatest song on their first album, and one of their greatest songs, period. I’ll take this over Dazed And Confused, any day.
This song isn't usually ranked high by Zeppelin fans because lyrically Plant cribs from multiple old blues songs--mainly "The Hunter" by Albert King. It didn't remain long on their live set playlist. Dazed and Confused would become Page's primary violin bow showcase. They would close their shows with HMMT until around the fall of 1970, when they replaced it with Whole Lotta Love (which had been played as an encore & was becoming massively popular).
Led Zeppelin was an unknown quantity when this album came out. Zep was actually a musician's band. Jimmy Page was highly respected as a session musician and had gained some notoriety when he joined the Yardbirds in their final days. JPJ was a highly sought-after studio musician and Plant and Bonham were complete unknowns. Page had secured full artistic control from Atlantic records and decided that if people wanted Zeppelin's music they would buy albums. Although Atlantic did release some singles in the US, Led Zeppelin's success was based on their albums. "How Many More Times" features Jimmy Page using the cello bow on his guitar to produce the strange guitar tones in the slow, middle part of the song.
Saw them in Cleveland in '69 between the first and second albums. They played all of the first and most of the second! My friend and I were stage high, aisle seats, 25' from Robert Plant. Truly a night to remember. Now I'm 74 and love seeing young people discover REAL MUSIC!😂
It was like NOTHING anyone had experienced before. Caught everyone off guard. You couldn't dance to it well because of all the transitions, but people spun the Vinal 24/7 !
This live in 1969 is fantastic! They offer EVERYTHING! Every genre was done by Zeppelin! Wait til Zeppelin II...you will love it! They do not make a bad song!
They didn't do singles. Jimmy and Peter Grant their manager headed off to US with album in hand and crunched a deal with Atlantic and HUGE advance, and more importantly, full artistic control, which was unprecedented at the time. They had an air of mystery around them with no singles tv appearances or interviews. You had to buy the album's or go to concerts to get your Led Zep fix which added to their mystery and allure even more. Very clever our Jimmy !!
No they weren't expecting America to go crazy...they didn't make singles. The record company gave Jimmy full reign over everything since they knew what a virtuoso he was...and Jimmy mixed and produced all the albums himself!
It was ... We're a new band, here's these songs, we hope you like them. All four of them had strong blues influences so they went with their strength. This album was very well like in America as soon as it was released. They had a very successful tour of America and returned home to England to find hardly anybody knew who they were.
The first album was: "Wake up, World! We're about to knock you out!". The second album was Zep taking their rightful place at the top of the rock world, which they held until John Bonham left us in late 1980. Jimmy Page, the guitarist, was originally one of the greatest session musicians in London, having played on hundreds of songs as a hired gun. He later joined the Yardbirds as the guitarist. He was the last man standing when The Yardbirds disbanded. He needed to form a new band to fulfill concert commitments. Page was contacted by a friend and fellow session musician, John Paul Jones (bassist and keyboardist), about joining his band. Jimmy was given a tip by vocalist/guitarist Terry Reid about a young blues singer named Robert Plant who Reid thought would be a great choice for lead singer. Plant's best friend was drummer John Bonham. They met in late 1968, and their first rehearsal together was said to be an earth-moving experience. Jimmy brilliantly self-financed the recording of the first album. With all the tracks recorded and the album completed, Led Zep was able to procure the largest advance for a record contract from Atlantic Records. In exchange for the completed album, Page required that Atlantic allow the band COMPLETE ARTISTIC FREEDOM of choice for songs, singles, album cover design, everything. Atlantic agreed, and this fact allowed Zep to completely control all aspects of their evolution for their entire run. Page was famous, so the album was highly anticipated....but no one was quite expecting the degree to which this album shook the world. With the release of this album and subsequent albums, Zep went from playing small clubs and social halls in early 1969 to stadiums by 1971. They released 4 albums in that time, and eclipsed the Beatles as the biggest band in the world by late 1969/early 1970.
I was in high school at the time. They just introduced the album and really burst into the scene. People were sharing and talking about it, more grass (ha ha) roots. Back then the record stores couldn't keep the album in stock. Good times.
Two friends of mine and I saw Led Zeppelin perform at The Forum arena in Los Angeles in the fall of 1969. We had seen The Who and the Moody Blues earlier that fall. But this band blew the roof off the arena. People looked at each other asking what just happened. It was the most unexpected mind-blowing event ever. I'm 79 and it feels like yesterday. The music sounds as fresh as it did in 1969.
Jimmy Page, Peter Grant (the manager) were confident they had a great album. The whole band knew they were exceptional from the first rehearsal. HOWEVER……Jimmy had been to America before as part of the Yardbirds. He knew the underground music scene, and knew that FM radio was just taking off, where songs could be longer than 3 minutes. Zeppelin NEVER deliberately released a single in the US! They counted on FM radio exposure and live concerts and word of mouth. They started rehearsing as a band in July/August of 1968. After a few small gigs in Scandinavia, they recorded this debut album in October of 1968…..in 30 hours of studio time. They started their first US tour in January of 1969 as an opening act for Vanilla Fudge, a big band at the time. They played at The Whiskey A Go Go in LA, a small club that was the center of the rock music scene in LA. They then hit The Fillmore in SanFrancisco, which was THE center of the West Coast hippie scene. They killed it. It soon happened that no big band wanted to share a gig with them…they were too good. They did four tours of the US in 1969, grabbing studio time in various cities to record their second album on the road. By the end of 1969 Zeppelin was huge. Venues for their gigs had to be changed to larger venues as demand for tickets soared. By 1970 they had moved into arenas. And in 1970, they were acknowledged as the biggest rock band in the world. Their rise, based solely on FM radio and concerts, was meteoric. Not one member of Zeppelin expected THAT. If you listen to interviews with them, they all say that they knew they were something new and incredible, but they all also express shock at how quickly they dominated the rock world. It was crazy. They could never satisfy the demand for tickets, even with multiple nights at arenas. And the lifestyle that went with it was crazy too.
I could not have given a better synopsis. I guess you lived it the way I did. I don't believe there was a better time to be young. Music ruled our life. I remember when they came out. I never heard anything like it before. They are the greatest band ever. I still have every album. Its a shame that music today for the most part is so bad. No talent needed just just have computer create the music and auto tune your voice. There is no creativity in today's music. I thank God every day that I grew up in the time I did. Sorry for the RANT!!!!
@@bobleek6975 Helene here. I was in college when they hit. It was a mindf**k. I’m glad you qualified your statement to “almost no” creativity in music now…because there are some amazing young artists out there. You have to look. Which I do. I spent the pandemic lost in TH-cam land, discovering whole genres I hadn’t known about. BUT…my heart totally belongs to Zeppelin…(especially Robert) . Close second is Pink Floyd.
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 : You forgot to mention that Jimmy deliberately printed on the album a three minute time for HMMT to trick the radio into including that song in their programming. Very clever guy. 👍
Yah, Zeppelin pull from so many musical influences that just one song can feel like much more. This song was actually influenced by at least two songs, Howlin' Wolf's How Many More Years and Albert King's the Hunter. You'll definitely want to watch their live performance of this for Denmark radio in 1969. It was their television debut and it was epic to boot.
No one had heard music like this before them. No other band even sounded close. They opened the door to metal and so much more music in the rock genre!
This song was a reworking of a Howlin' Wolf song but had bits of other blues songs thrown in. Jimmy used a bow on his guitar for the haunting sounds. Zep had no hype to start, no singles, etc. Jimmy had been in a band called The Yardbirds and when they broke up, he created Led Zeppelin. He knew bassist John Paul Jones because they'd both been studio musicians. He found singer Robert Plant via recommendations and Robert recommended his mate, John Bonham because they'd kicked about in other bands together already. Before they broke up, the original Yardbirds group had been contracted to perform a few dates so Jimmy's new band were called the New Yardbirds temporarily so they could honor those commitments. They knew they sounded phenomenal, so Jimmy paid to record this debut album out of his own pocket, then produced it himself and with finished product in hand, he and manager Peter Grant found a deal with Atlantic Records. Atlantic gave them an unheard of (for the time) amount of money and artistic freedom. All aspects of the music creation, from album covers, to track order, to not releasing singles, etc. resided with the band, Jimmy specifically. The Yardbirds had enjoyed a respectable following before they disbanded and Jimmy was known as a fantastic guitar player so originally people came to see what Jimmy was up to with the new band. No one expected Led Zeppelin. Audiences were left "dazed and confused" but they loved it. Critics...less so. For some, hearing about the fat Atlantic deal made them think they were in it only for money and not the music. Some thought they were a "hype" meaning all flash but no talent and would disappear to the sands of time. Some thought they were derivative of other bands at the time. Some didn't like Plant's caterwauling vocals. Some thought the music too loud and self-indulgent. Needless to say, critics of the day rarely had good things to say, and this would play into the "untitled" 4th album.
@@williamcabell142 he may have used a fuzz box, however, he did use the bow for the middle part. You can watch him bow the guitar during the performance of this song in the Denmark concert from 1969.
When the 1st album came out I had been used to Beatles, Doors, The Who, Hendrix. But this was different than anything (in Rock) that we'd heard. Took me a minute to catch on. 😁
When Led Zeppelin recorded this album, they knew it was good but they had no way of knowing just how successful the album and themselves, would be in a short amount of time . There was some hype for music journalist as Atlantic, the record company that Zeppelin was signed to, said the recording featured amazing songs that’d be just as revolutionary as the first Hendrix record. However when it came to building a following for the band, it was really because of their first tour and the word of mouth from the gigs and how 🔥 they were that got the album buzzing . Led Zeppelin embarked on their first tour of the states starting at the end of December 1968. The album came out in the US on January 12th, 1969 and their tour ended in February. After that tour and subsequent tours of the states and parts of Europe, the album reached peaked at number 10 on the billboard top 100 and became one of the greatest and most successful debut albums in music history .
When this album premiered in early 1969,the rock world was taken aback.Shocked.You either couldnt get used to this,or you were just amazed and infatuated with this album,this band. I chose the latter.
I think you need to listen to the whole song through without pausing too much , then if you want to go back and explore specific parts to gain a better appreciation, do it. I've listened to these songs hundreds if not thousands of times for more than fifty years and I'm still discovering new things...facts.
You really do have to watch some live performances as you proceed to see what Zeppelin was all about. The live performances are all different than the studio versions and you can witness the unbelievable improvisational sequences. They became the biggest concert draw ever on word of mouth alone. They did things musically that no one else did before or since.
Led Zepplin essentially set their own course. Jimmy Page funded the first album, and they promoted album sales. Not singles. They had kids like me in early high school spreading the news. I can't think of another band that became a phenomenon in about a years time.
Glad you enjoyed their first album. I can tell you that it blew our socks off when it was released. ;) There is another song they recorded that they initially intended to include on the first album, but for some reason it never made it. That recording wasn't actually released until 1993 for a "box set" release of a compilation of recordings. Since you've been enjoying the blues tunes, and even though it's more "soul" than blues, I think you'd like it. It's called, "Baby Come on Home" and you can find it on TH-cam. Definitely worth a listen. :)
Next album will be even more enjoyable to watch your reactions!... get ready, it's a joy to listen to! Hope you are still working on getting the live reactions up on TH-cam.
We enjoy your genuine reaction, when it's honest you can make it as long as you like. You will notice a difference in each album, but they're all good! You will also notice the creativity as bands like these were breaking a lot of ground being experimental which that art form is lost today.
2 huge grungy songs not found on regular albums are a must. Girl with long brown wavy hair. And traveling riverside blues. You want dirty gritty. Check these ou before you go to album 2. They dont dissapoint
You mentioned liking the blues, you should react to the live version of ‘I can’t quit you baby’ from royal albert hall 1970. Time to see them live before you start diving into their second album.
There are better guitarist that are technically better than Pagey but there is nobody that moves my soul like he does with his guitar playing...he grabs your heart and it moves you, which is why to me he is the GOAT! LZ signed one of the biggest contracts ever before they even released an album because Jimmy was already pretty famous having played with the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin actually toured as the New Yardbirds for a year before they officially became LZ and they exploded right away...people went nuts for them
My favorite Zep piece is this one. The grand finale. So extreme. But I love so many others of theirs. As far as hype before this album, I was too young to be aware what came first, the singles or the album. All I recall was the album just being everywhere all of a sudden.
in a nutshell... zep was formed out of the ashes of the group "The Yardbirds". The yardbirds were breaking up from being tired of touring and on which direction musically the band should go. Page was the only one left and the yardbirds still had touring dates to fulfill, so page formed a group to fulfill the touring obligations. he didn't feel right calling themselves the yardbirds since he was the only one left so he called themselves "the new yardbirds" and finished up the tour dates. Keith Moon (drummer for the who) had joked that this new band page was forming would go over like a lead balloon which later morphed into led zeppelin. Within in 6 months of them first getting together and playing they released their first album and dethroned the beatles has the #1 band in the world
Not to nitpick, but they formed in July of 1968……toured madly in 1969, releasing two albums that year. In 1970 they were voted in Britain as greatest rock band, dethroning the Beatles. So…..not six months but more like a year and a half. Still utterly amazing.
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 in july of '68 they were known has The New Yardbirds to fulfill contract obligations, they didn't become Led Zeppelin until the end of '68. At one time they even called themselves "The Nobs" after the "Zeppelin" family tried to sue then for using their namesake as the band name. The "WORLD" is / was much larger than Great Britain.
I drink Tea too......so I have my tea here watching you react to this incredible debut album......and your emotional reaction are sooooooooo similar to our reactions when we heard Led Zeppelin in 1968......Thank you....You are going to witness their evolutional process which my generation made into the gods of Rock n' Roll. Enjoy going down this Rabbit Hole and just let yourself GO!!!!
The answer to your first question.. The sound is the bassist JPJ.. To understand Led Zeppelins music.. you need listen to the music of 1969. A lot of bands were experimenting with new sounds. Hence Jimmy Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and many more others. Many were more psychedelic blends. When Led Zeppelin came out.. it was so very heavy due to its blues base.. It floored people.. they never heard any thing like it.. The critics hated them.. They didnt have anything to compare them with. They were Guitarist based band. They went to the top fast due to there album sales. They are the only band to have 6 of there albums in the top 200 at one time. Only band to break the world record on ticket sales for one concert, 27 years after they called it quits . ( 20 million request in the first 2 weeks.. that shut down ticket servers world wide) for a one off reunion concert.. not bad!
Like you said, “It’s not just a song,”…IT’S A VIBE!!! Enjoy your journey. After this trip, you NEED to explore The Who’s rabbit hole. They’ll blow your sox off, also. (I like the chronological aspect of your ride. After all, music “evolves.” Might as well evolve with them…we did!!!)
4:43 This is music from an era when the question of whether you could make a lot of money with your music did not arise. In the late '60s and early '70s, the good and important bands made music with the motto, "Here you go. Like it or dislike it! Buy it or don't buy it. It's definitely the music WE WANT to make.” Of course, the musicians of that time also hoped that they could become famous and make money from it. But this consideration was not central. Later, up to the present, it was only about the questions: “Does that go down well with the audience? Will enough people buy it?”
keith moon said they'd go down like a lead balloon, hence the name but they did'nt. From the start jimmy page was creating riffs and sounds from his guitar no one could match, still all these years later they sound fresh no one has bettered them
This release of this album was a bit before my time. I am old but not that old. LOL. But Jimmy Page was a well known session guitarists that played on a lot of albums for more famous groups. So maybe the average fan didn't know about Zepp but the people in the industry all knew about Page. he also was in a group called the Yard Birds. he formed Zeppelin out of the ashes of the Yard Birds. So I guess Yard Bird fans would have known him. Zeppelin one and two came out the same year and Zeppelin 3 came out the next year. And Zepplein 4 the year after. So they started in 69 and by 71 they had released 4 albums. By the way. Zeppelin was universally panned when they came out. The critics hated them. Especially Rolling Stone magazine. They almost seemed like they were on a personal vendetta to make sure they failed. But they got recognition from their killer live shows and eventually broke through that way. Also, their manger, Peter Grant, might be the most important manager in rock history. He is actually in some sort of Hall of fame for managers. He was a huge man that maybe had mob ties in Britain and used his size and connections to intimidate the music people to get what was best for Zeppelin. There are plenty of stories about Grant, a few of the tougher roadies and even sometimes John Bonham going around and threatening people. In the 1973 concert, "The Song Remains the Same," you can even see Grant calling some of the Madison Square Garden people names and being tough with them over a concession stand issue. Zeppelin, because of Grant, was the group that started getting the performers a much bigger chunk of the money instead of the record companies. Before then, the record company got almost all the money. After Zeppelin, the performers started getting a much bigger %. Also, after the 4th album, Zeppelin formed their own record label. Swan Song. And had several groups under it. The most famous being Bad Company and themselves of course. If you look, the first four albums say Atlantic. Everything after says Swan Song. Zeppelin wasn't big on releasing singles. Thats one reason they don't have many number one songs. But their albums sales made them a top 3 or 4 all time in sales.
jimmy page was famous from the yardbirds before he formed zeppelin so people knew something was coming from him but no one quite knew what they were gonna get needless to say they topped charts despite receiving bad reviews at first which was pretty common for bands at that time music was changing really fast back then and this new heavier sound caught allot of people off guard they are notoriously known for being the band the knocked the beatles out of first place by zeppelin II the band were absolute super stars and regularly topped the charts
Some of your fellow reactors are symphonic musicians and they compare the virtuosity of each LZ musician as symphonic in quality. There have been so many great musicians throughout rock history. But no other group has been compared to symphonic musicians. Sometimes it sounds like a symphony playing hardcore rock & roll.
That was not a regular guitar. It started out as a regular guitar but ceased to be such when Jimmy page picked it up. This happens to all guitars when Page picks them up. They become special guitars
It's amazing how younger generations today have lost touch with what an electric guitar sounds like. In that main riff it's simply an electric guitar plugged into an amp, with some overdrive. I guess it's not so common these days. And this album changed everything.
Led Zeppelin released no singles before their debut album. Nothing. And almost no promotional work for the album either. And yet sales went through the roof when this monumental debut album was released in early 1969. People couldn't get enough of it.
How Many More Times is arguably Led Zeppelin’s most underrated song. Almost no one mentions it. To me, this is the greatest song on their first album, and one of their greatest songs, period. I’ll take this over Dazed And Confused, any day.
This song isn't usually ranked high by Zeppelin fans because lyrically Plant cribs from multiple old blues songs--mainly "The Hunter" by Albert King. It didn't remain long on their live set playlist. Dazed and Confused would become Page's primary violin bow showcase. They would close their shows with HMMT until around the fall of 1970, when they replaced it with Whole Lotta Love (which had been played as an encore & was becoming massively popular).
I agree, this song and "Hots on for No Where" are my choices for two most underrated Zepp songs.
probably my favorite track
out on the tiles and the rover are grossly underrated too
And why they took this song out of their live sets after 1970 is beyond me.
Led Zeppelin was an unknown quantity when this album came out. Zep was actually a musician's band. Jimmy Page was highly respected as a session musician and had gained some notoriety when he joined the Yardbirds in their final days. JPJ was a highly sought-after studio musician and Plant and Bonham were complete unknowns. Page had secured full artistic control from Atlantic records and decided that if people wanted Zeppelin's music they would buy albums. Although Atlantic did release some singles in the US, Led Zeppelin's success was based on their albums. "How Many More Times" features Jimmy Page using the cello bow on his guitar to produce the strange guitar tones in the slow, middle part of the song.
Saw them in Cleveland in '69 between the first and second albums. They played all of the first and most of the second! My friend and I were stage high, aisle seats, 25' from Robert Plant. Truly a night to remember. Now I'm 74 and love seeing young people discover REAL MUSIC!😂
It was like NOTHING anyone had experienced before. Caught everyone off guard. You couldn't dance to it well because of all the transitions, but people spun the Vinal 24/7 !
It’s more than just the songs it’s a chemistry between four individuals that has not been surpassed Led Zeppelin
This live in 1969 is fantastic! They offer EVERYTHING! Every genre was done by Zeppelin! Wait til Zeppelin II...you will love it! They do not make a bad song!
imo the 1970 royal albert hall version is the best
They never miss! Jimmy plays the guitar with a cello bow in this too...yes a regular guitar!
They didn't do singles. Jimmy and Peter Grant their manager headed off to US with album in hand and crunched a deal with Atlantic and HUGE advance, and more importantly, full artistic control, which was unprecedented at the time. They had an air of mystery around them with no singles tv appearances or interviews. You had to buy the album's or go to concerts to get your Led Zep fix which added to their mystery and allure even more. Very clever our Jimmy !!
No they weren't expecting America to go crazy...they didn't make singles. The record company gave Jimmy full reign over everything since they knew what a virtuoso he was...and Jimmy mixed and produced all the albums himself!
Jimmy Page is absolute master of his craft . I've really enjoyed listening to your comments....can't wait for the next one
It was ... We're a new band, here's these songs, we hope you like them. All four of them had strong blues influences so they went with their strength. This album was very well like in America as soon as it was released. They had a very successful tour of America and returned home to England to find hardly anybody knew who they were.
6:35 that eerie sound is jimmy playing electric guitar using a cello bow!
The first album was: "Wake up, World! We're about to knock you out!". The second album was Zep taking their rightful place at the top of the rock world, which they held until John Bonham left us in late 1980.
Jimmy Page, the guitarist, was originally one of the greatest session musicians in London, having played on hundreds of songs as a hired gun. He later joined the Yardbirds as the guitarist. He was the last man standing when The Yardbirds disbanded. He needed to form a new band to fulfill concert commitments. Page was contacted by a friend and fellow session musician, John Paul Jones (bassist and keyboardist), about joining his band. Jimmy was given a tip by vocalist/guitarist Terry Reid about a young blues singer named Robert Plant who Reid thought would be a great choice for lead singer. Plant's best friend was drummer John Bonham.
They met in late 1968, and their first rehearsal together was said to be an earth-moving experience.
Jimmy brilliantly self-financed the recording of the first album. With all the tracks recorded and the album completed, Led Zep was able to procure the largest advance for a record contract from Atlantic Records. In exchange for the completed album, Page required that Atlantic allow the band COMPLETE ARTISTIC FREEDOM of choice for songs, singles, album cover design, everything. Atlantic agreed, and this fact allowed Zep to completely control all aspects of their evolution for their entire run.
Page was famous, so the album was highly anticipated....but no one was quite expecting the degree to which this album shook the world. With the release of this album and subsequent albums, Zep went from playing small clubs and social halls in early 1969 to stadiums by 1971. They released 4 albums in that time, and eclipsed the Beatles as the biggest band in the world by late 1969/early 1970.
I was in high school at the time. They just introduced the album and really burst into the scene. People were sharing and talking about it, more grass (ha ha) roots. Back then the record stores couldn't keep the album in stock. Good times.
Two friends of mine and I saw Led Zeppelin perform at The Forum arena in Los Angeles in the fall of 1969. We had seen The Who and the Moody Blues earlier that fall. But this band blew the roof off the arena. People looked at each other asking what just happened. It was the most unexpected mind-blowing event ever.
I'm 79 and it feels like yesterday. The music sounds as fresh as it did in 1969.
Jimmy Page, Peter Grant (the manager) were confident they had a great album. The whole band knew they were exceptional from the first rehearsal. HOWEVER……Jimmy had been to America before as part of the Yardbirds. He knew the underground music scene, and knew that FM radio was just taking off, where songs could be longer than 3 minutes. Zeppelin NEVER deliberately released a single in the US! They counted on FM radio exposure and live concerts and word of mouth. They started rehearsing as a band in July/August of 1968. After a few small gigs in Scandinavia, they recorded this debut album in October of 1968…..in 30 hours of studio time. They started their first US tour in January of 1969 as an opening act for Vanilla Fudge, a big band at the time. They played at The Whiskey A Go Go in LA, a small club that was the center of the rock music scene in LA. They then hit The Fillmore in SanFrancisco, which was THE center of the West Coast hippie scene. They killed it. It soon happened that no big band wanted to share a gig with them…they were too good. They did four tours of the US in 1969, grabbing studio time in various cities to record their second album on the road. By the end of 1969 Zeppelin was huge. Venues for their gigs had to be changed to larger venues as demand for tickets soared. By 1970 they had moved into arenas. And in 1970, they were acknowledged as the biggest rock band in the world. Their rise, based solely on FM radio and concerts, was meteoric. Not one member of Zeppelin expected THAT. If you listen to interviews with them, they all say that they knew they were something new and incredible, but they all also express shock at how quickly they dominated the rock world. It was crazy. They could never satisfy the demand for tickets, even with multiple nights at arenas. And the lifestyle that went with it was crazy too.
Good synopsis!
I could not have given a better synopsis. I guess you lived it the way I did. I don't believe there was a better time to be young. Music ruled our life. I remember when they came out. I never heard anything like it before. They are the greatest band ever. I still have every album. Its a shame that music today for the most part is so bad. No talent needed just just have computer create the music and auto tune your voice. There is no creativity in today's music. I thank God every day that I grew up in the time I did. Sorry for the RANT!!!!
@@bobleek6975 I agree with everything you said. Yes, I was in high school when the first album came out. I’ve been listening to them since.
@@bobleek6975 Helene here. I was in college when they hit. It was a mindf**k. I’m glad you qualified your statement to “almost no” creativity in music now…because there are some amazing young artists out there. You have to look. Which I do. I spent the pandemic lost in TH-cam land, discovering whole genres I hadn’t known about. BUT…my heart totally belongs to Zeppelin…(especially Robert) . Close second is Pink Floyd.
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 : You forgot to mention that Jimmy deliberately printed on the album a three minute time for HMMT to trick the radio into including that song in their programming. Very clever guy. 👍
Yah, Zeppelin pull from so many musical influences that just one song can feel like much more. This song was actually influenced by at least two songs, Howlin' Wolf's How Many More Years and Albert King's the Hunter. You'll definitely want to watch their live performance of this for Denmark radio in 1969. It was their television debut and it was epic to boot.
Love that 4 song set from ‘69 Denmark 🔥🔥
No one had heard music like this before them. No other band even sounded close. They opened the door to metal and so much more music in the rock genre!
Jimmy Page was already a Legendary studio musician guitar teacher and famous Yardbird everyone in the know then knew Led Zeppelin was about to Explode
You had the same reaction that many people had back in ‘69……Amazed,in awe,and wanting to hear more.
This song was a reworking of a Howlin' Wolf song but had bits of other blues songs thrown in. Jimmy used a bow on his guitar for the haunting sounds. Zep had no hype to start, no singles, etc. Jimmy had been in a band called The Yardbirds and when they broke up, he created Led Zeppelin. He knew bassist John Paul Jones because they'd both been studio musicians. He found singer Robert Plant via recommendations and Robert recommended his mate, John Bonham because they'd kicked about in other bands together already. Before they broke up, the original Yardbirds group had been contracted to perform a few dates so Jimmy's new band were called the New Yardbirds temporarily so they could honor those commitments. They knew they sounded phenomenal, so Jimmy paid to record this debut album out of his own pocket, then produced it himself and with finished product in hand, he and manager Peter Grant found a deal with Atlantic Records. Atlantic gave them an unheard of (for the time) amount of money and artistic freedom. All aspects of the music creation, from album covers, to track order, to not releasing singles, etc. resided with the band, Jimmy specifically. The Yardbirds had enjoyed a respectable following before they disbanded and Jimmy was known as a fantastic guitar player so originally people came to see what Jimmy was up to with the new band. No one expected Led Zeppelin. Audiences were left "dazed and confused" but they loved it. Critics...less so. For some, hearing about the fat Atlantic deal made them think they were in it only for money and not the music. Some thought they were a "hype" meaning all flash but no talent and would disappear to the sands of time. Some thought they were derivative of other bands at the time. Some didn't like Plant's caterwauling vocals. Some thought the music too loud and self-indulgent. Needless to say, critics of the day rarely had good things to say, and this would play into the "untitled" 4th album.
That is not what he used on this song...Yikes! Fuzz tone!
@@williamcabell142 he may have used a fuzz box, however, he did use the bow for the middle part. You can watch him bow the guitar during the performance of this song in the Denmark concert from 1969.
Good times, bad times has always been my favorite song. First one released as a single,
My first love
When the 1st album came out I had been used to Beatles, Doors, The Who, Hendrix. But this was different than anything (in Rock) that we'd heard. Took me a minute to catch on. 😁
Page's guitar on this is a Fender Telecaster.
When Led Zeppelin recorded this album, they knew it was good but they had no way of knowing just how successful the album and themselves, would be in a short amount of time . There was some hype for music journalist as Atlantic, the record company that Zeppelin was signed to, said the recording featured amazing songs that’d be just as revolutionary as the first Hendrix record. However when it came to building a following for the band, it was really because of their first tour and the word of mouth from the gigs and how 🔥 they were that got the album buzzing . Led Zeppelin embarked on their first tour of the states starting at the end of December 1968. The album came out in the US on January 12th, 1969 and their tour ended in February. After that tour and subsequent tours of the states and parts of Europe, the album reached peaked at number 10 on the billboard top 100 and became one of the greatest and most successful debut albums in music history .
You’re deep into the Rabbit hole my man. They only get better! The GOATS!
They were 19 n 20 in the studio
my favorite track off the album, absolutely classic solo and riff and drums and vocals!
When this album premiered in early 1969,the rock world was taken aback.Shocked.You either couldnt get used to this,or you were just amazed and infatuated with this album,this band. I chose the latter.
I think you need to listen to the whole song through without pausing too much , then if you want to go back and explore specific parts to gain a better appreciation, do it. I've listened to these songs hundreds if not thousands of times for more than fifty years and I'm still discovering new things...facts.
You really do have to watch some live performances as you proceed to see what Zeppelin was all about. The live performances are all different than the studio versions and you can witness the unbelievable improvisational sequences. They became the biggest concert draw ever on word of mouth alone. They did things musically that no one else did before or since.
This song is an absolute masterpiece. I'm glad you dug it!!!
THEIR FIRST ALBUM AND #2 SOLD MULTI-MILLIONS, WERE ON RADIO ALL THE TME!!!!🎶🎸🎶🎸🎵🎸🎶🎸🎵🎸🎶🎸🎵🎸🎶💋💋💋💋
Led Zepplin essentially set their own course. Jimmy Page funded the first album, and they promoted album sales. Not singles. They had kids like me in early high school spreading the news. I can't think of another band that became a phenomenon in about a years time.
Album two is heavier but still bluesy. Album two was recorded while they were still on tour in the US, in various studios.
theres a britlliant live version of this from royal albert hall 1970, 20 minutes of improv
Glad you enjoyed their first album. I can tell you that it blew our socks off when it was released. ;)
There is another song they recorded that they initially intended to include on the first album, but for some reason it never made it. That recording wasn't actually released until 1993 for a "box set" release of a compilation of recordings.
Since you've been enjoying the blues tunes, and even though it's more "soul" than blues, I think you'd like it. It's called, "Baby Come on Home" and you can find it on TH-cam. Definitely worth a listen. :)
i LOVE the drums at 9:20
Next album will be even more enjoyable to watch your reactions!... get ready, it's a joy to listen to! Hope you are still working on getting the live reactions up on TH-cam.
Why they stopped doing this song live after 1970 is beyond me. Great tune.
Sing it Robert!! Many more times!!!! I love the bass and the guitar riff!! Not to mention Bonzo on the drums!!! Fire!🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
We enjoy your genuine reaction, when it's honest you can make it as long as you like. You will notice a difference in each album, but they're all good! You will also notice the creativity as bands like these were breaking a lot of ground being experimental which that art form is lost today.
They knew they had something special from the start. Unfortunately, many critics didn't have a clue.
Very few actually saw it coming. Which was part of the fun. And we wanted more. :)
Led Zeppelin didn't give sh*t bout singles, they just made their music and released the album.
Top five drummer, guitar, and bass!!!!!
Bass guitar on fuzz mode. Not sure if they released singles. They just knew what was needed🤘❤️
Album came out took off like a bat out of hell
2 huge grungy songs not found on regular albums are a must. Girl with long brown wavy hair. And traveling riverside blues. You want dirty gritty. Check these ou before you go to album 2. They dont dissapoint
You mentioned liking the blues, you should react to the live version of ‘I can’t quit you baby’ from royal albert hall 1970. Time to see them live before you start diving into their second album.
you must do the live version of this at royal albert hall 1970 it is crazy good
There are better guitarist that are technically better than Pagey but there is nobody that moves my soul like he does with his guitar playing...he grabs your heart and it moves you, which is why to me he is the GOAT! LZ signed one of the biggest contracts ever before they even released an album because Jimmy was already pretty famous having played with the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin actually toured as the New Yardbirds for a year before they officially became LZ and they exploded right away...people went nuts for them
SEEN THEM LIVE....OMG!!!!!!🙏😎🙏😎🙏😎🙏😎
No grunge, sheer genius 👍
My favorite Zep piece is this one. The grand finale. So extreme. But I love so many others of theirs. As far as hype before this album, I was too young to be aware what came first, the singles or the album. All I recall was the album just being everywhere all of a sudden.
Acid rock at its best. I can still see the visions fifty plus years later. LZ wasn't a radio band until AOR came out.
in a nutshell...
zep was formed out of the ashes of the group "The Yardbirds". The yardbirds were breaking up from being tired of touring and on which direction musically the band should go. Page was the only one left and the yardbirds still had touring dates to fulfill, so page formed a group to fulfill the touring obligations. he didn't feel right calling themselves the yardbirds since he was the only one left so he called themselves "the new yardbirds" and finished up the tour dates. Keith Moon (drummer for the who) had joked that this new band page was forming would go over like a lead balloon which later morphed into led zeppelin. Within in 6 months of them first getting together and playing they released their first album and dethroned the beatles has the #1 band in the world
Not to nitpick, but they formed in July of 1968……toured madly in 1969, releasing two albums that year. In 1970 they were voted in Britain as greatest rock band, dethroning the Beatles. So…..not six months but more like a year and a half. Still utterly amazing.
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 in july of '68 they were known has The New Yardbirds to fulfill contract obligations, they didn't become Led Zeppelin until the end of '68. At one time they even called themselves "The Nobs" after the "Zeppelin" family tried to sue then for using their namesake as the band name. The "WORLD" is / was much larger than Great Britain.
They were together for 3 weeks when they put this album out.
I think that they were just rocking out and letting their talent and music do the rest
I can feel it.....you are enjoying it like me!!!!! 😜🤘👌💚🎸
I drink Tea too......so I have my tea here watching you react to this incredible debut album......and your emotional reaction are sooooooooo similar to our reactions when we heard Led Zeppelin in 1968......Thank you....You are going to witness their evolutional process which my generation made into the gods of Rock n' Roll. Enjoy going down this Rabbit Hole and just let yourself GO!!!!
This is not a song, it's a journey.
You made it! Bravo.
Critics hated it, other bands were envious of it, the "kids" couldn't get enough of it.
Love the Beck's Bolero segment!
Try this song live Earls Court ... unforgettable 💪✨️🤟 as Robert said " our psychedelic time". Live in Paris is another trip, outstanding.
Jimmy page using a bow on his guitar
Best Rock Group Ever!!!😍😍😍😍😍
The answer to your first question.. The sound is the bassist JPJ.. To understand Led Zeppelins music.. you need listen to the music of 1969. A lot of bands were experimenting with
new sounds. Hence Jimmy Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and many more others. Many were more psychedelic blends. When Led Zeppelin came out.. it was so very heavy due to its blues base.. It floored people.. they never heard any thing like it.. The critics hated them.. They didnt have anything to compare them with. They were Guitarist based band. They went to the top fast due to there album sales. They are the only band to have 6 of there albums in the top 200 at one time. Only band to break the world record on ticket sales for one concert, 27 years after they called it quits . ( 20 million request in the first 2 weeks.. that shut down ticket servers world wide) for a one off reunion concert.. not bad!
Like you said, “It’s not just a song,”…IT’S A VIBE!!! Enjoy your journey. After this trip, you NEED to explore The Who’s rabbit hole. They’ll blow your sox off, also. (I like the chronological aspect of your ride. After all, music “evolves.” Might as well evolve with them…we did!!!)
4:43 This is music from an era when the question of whether you could make a lot of money with your music did not arise. In the late '60s and early '70s, the good and important bands made music with the motto, "Here you go. Like it or dislike it! Buy it or don't buy it. It's definitely the music WE WANT to make.” Of course, the musicians of that time also hoped that they could become famous and make money from it. But this consideration was not central. Later, up to the present, it was only about the questions: “Does that go down well with the audience? Will enough people buy it?”
keith moon said they'd go down like a lead balloon, hence the name but they did'nt. From the start jimmy page was creating riffs and sounds from his guitar no one could match, still all these years later they sound fresh no one has bettered them
Led Zeppelin was loved by fans and hated by critics
This release of this album was a bit before my time. I am old but not that old. LOL. But Jimmy Page was a well known session guitarists that played on a lot of albums for more famous groups. So maybe the average fan didn't know about Zepp but the people in the industry all knew about Page. he also was in a group called the Yard Birds. he formed Zeppelin out of the ashes of the Yard Birds. So I guess Yard Bird fans would have known him. Zeppelin one and two came out the same year and Zeppelin 3 came out the next year. And Zepplein 4 the year after. So they started in 69 and by 71 they had released 4 albums.
By the way. Zeppelin was universally panned when they came out. The critics hated them. Especially Rolling Stone magazine. They almost seemed like they were on a personal vendetta to make sure they failed. But they got recognition from their killer live shows and eventually broke through that way. Also, their manger, Peter Grant, might be the most important manager in rock history. He is actually in some sort of Hall of fame for managers. He was a huge man that maybe had mob ties in Britain and used his size and connections to intimidate the music people to get what was best for Zeppelin. There are plenty of stories about Grant, a few of the tougher roadies and even sometimes John Bonham going around and threatening people. In the 1973 concert, "The Song Remains the Same," you can even see Grant calling some of the Madison Square Garden people names and being tough with them over a concession stand issue. Zeppelin, because of Grant, was the group that started getting the performers a much bigger chunk of the money instead of the record companies. Before then, the record company got almost all the money. After Zeppelin, the performers started getting a much bigger %. Also, after the 4th album, Zeppelin formed their own record label. Swan Song. And had several groups under it. The most famous being Bad Company and themselves of course. If you look, the first four albums say Atlantic. Everything after says Swan Song.
Zeppelin wasn't big on releasing singles. Thats one reason they don't have many number one songs. But their albums sales made them a top 3 or 4 all time in sales.
No singles. They were the first band to be given carte blanche by the record company.
jimmy page was famous from the yardbirds before he formed zeppelin so people knew something was coming from him but no one quite knew what they were gonna get
needless to say they topped charts despite receiving bad reviews at first which was pretty common for bands at that time
music was changing really fast back then and this new heavier sound caught allot of people off guard
they are notoriously known for being the band the knocked the beatles out of first place
by zeppelin II the band were absolute super stars and regularly topped the charts
it is a guitar,Jimmy on his Fender, bow included
dazed and confused live at msg 1973 is very psychedelic. It’s 30s minutes, but it’s a 30 minutes worth while, i’ll tell you that!
Watch the A&E Biography of
"Led Zeppelin" , 2004. Very comprehensive.
this track feels very jazzy to me
Check the studio version of NO Quarter and In The Light
People in late 60's and early 70's tripped on their music, had sex to their music, they were everywhere!!!🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸❤❤❤❤
I can't help seeing vast gloomy echoing airship hangars with engines being run up in preparation for evil. Led Zeppelin indeed - perfectly named!
Kinda a medley of famous blues songs, highlighted by a screaming banshee at the end.
Jimmy Page played double fretted guitar
Some of your fellow reactors are symphonic musicians and they compare the virtuosity of each LZ musician as symphonic in quality. There have been so many great musicians throughout rock history. But no other group has been compared to symphonic musicians. Sometimes it sounds like a symphony playing hardcore rock & roll.
PENTATONIX AND LED ZEPPELIN! WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE!
@Doug Haviland No Jeff Buckley?
Sometimes they're Shakespeare, sometimes Chekov.
That was not a regular guitar. It started out as a regular guitar but ceased to be such when Jimmy page picked it up. This happens to all guitars when Page picks them up. They become special guitars
It has been said that every track on album one, was a cover! I can not attest to this however.
It's amazing how younger generations today have lost touch with what an electric guitar sounds like. In that main riff it's simply an electric guitar plugged into an amp, with some overdrive. I guess it's not so common these days. And this album changed everything.
It’s actually sad, the same what a B3 organ sounds like, very sad.
The Mighty Zepp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't think they ever released a single in the US.
It is a guitar 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Led Zeppelin released no singles before their debut album. Nothing. And almost no promotional work for the album either. And yet sales went through the roof when this monumental debut album was released in early 1969. People couldn't get enough of it.
Don't forget the bass
super muza.
They never put out a single... that's how good they knew they were. On rent from God !
Don't rate them, experience them.
Dude they used a fuzz tone!