Jimmy Page Once Said Led Zeppelin’s Debut Album Came Together in an Astonishing Amount of Time
Unlike some of their contemporaries, Les Zeppelin arrived on the music scene fully formed and ready to rock. Some bands take time to build a following and achieve album sales success. The first album Zeppelin played on wasn’t theirs, but when they slapped their name on Led Zeppelin I, fans were ready and waiting to hear it. It was an impressive opening salvo, and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page once said the debut album took almost no time to put together.
Jimmy Page put Led Zeppelin together and started recording the debut album almost immediately
It didn’t take long for Page to grab the title of guitar legend.
He started as an anonymous session guitarist, but his ascension to lead guitarist happened quickly. He got a last-minute call to play bass in the Yardbirds, an established group in England. Then he shifted to lead guitar in 1966, but the band disintegrated by mid-1968.
Page wasn’t without a band for long. He synced up with vocalist Robert Plant, who ensnared John Bonham to play drums. The trio became a quartet when Page looped in multi-instrumentalist and arranger John Paul Jones on bass.
It took almost no time for Page to go from the Yardbirds to Led Zeppelin. It took even less time for Led Zeppelin to crank out their debut album.
Page once said ‘Led Zeppelin I’ took 30 hours to make because the band recorded during studio downtimes
With the four members in place, Zep didn’t waste any time charting its course. After gigging around Scandinavia and rehearsing a few times, Led Zeppelin entered the studio to make their debut album. All told, it took a little over a day of work to make Zeppelin’s classic album.
Page summed up the creative process in a sit-down at the Fender guitar factory (via YouTube):
“We have a rehearsal in London, and then I get them to my house to rehearse everything we’re going to need for a set and everything we’re going to need for ‘Led Zeppelin I.’ So when we went in the studio, we were going in on the downtime of the studio. The first [session] was at 11:00 at night, then the second one was at 10:00 at night. And you know, it’s definitely the downtime. We were going in there, and collectively, the whole album was done in 30 hours.”
Jimmy Page on how Led Zeppelin recorded their debut album
When Page says 30 hours, he’s not just talking about recording the music on Led Zeppelin I. That includes editing and mixing the album into a finished product.
The album famously depicts the Hindenburg disaster on the cover, and the image works on multiple levels. It shows a zeppelin exploding, just as the band was about to explode onto the music scene. And the flames could also represent a band recording its debut as if the studio were ablaze.
Zeppelin’s debut album was a statement of purpose and a microcosm of everything that came later
Led Zeppelin I landed in the United States in January 1969. The Recording Industry Association of America certified it gold six months later. The album’s sales were impressive, and so was how Led Zeppelin I’s nine songs telegraphed the rest of their career.
“Good Times Bad Times” and “Communication Breakdown” predate the casual, catchy rock of later cuts such as “Misty Mountain Hop” and “Houses of the Holy.” The instrumental “Black Mountain Side” proved Zep weren’t all about volume. They displayed that gentle side later on songs such as “Going to California,” “The Rain Song,” and “Bron-Yr-Aur.”
Album closer “How Many More Times” showcased the band’s ability to stretch what is essentially a simple blues song into something otherworldly. That tactic resurfaced on “The Lemon Song,” “When the Levee Breaks,” and “In My Time of Dying.”
We didn’t even mention the plaintive yet muscular “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” which Page said was the key track.
Led Zeppelin I was a fully formed debut album, and it all came together in 30 hours from start to finish.
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