Led Zeppelin broke barriers in more than one way. Their take on heavy electric blues helped spark the hard rock genre. Some of Zep’s long songs were foundational pillars of arena rock. Their songs endure decades later. Bassist John Paul Jones explained the remarkable side of Led Zeppelin’s creativity in their music.
Led Zeppelin was unlike any other band before they ever released a record. Founding guitarist Jimmy Page self-financed their debut album. Then he insisted that the band be on Atlantic Records (instead of an imprint) so they would have to share a label with Eric Clapton.
An upstart band calling the shots was unheard of. It still is.
Despite having the artistic freedom to create what they wanted at the pace they wanted, Led Zeppelin spent years grinding away like a band with something to prove. Jones found their work ethic to be almost unbelievable (per Light & Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page author Brad Tolinski):
“I think [our professionalism] was even more remarkable in light of the fact that we had no restraints over what we recorded. As we never had anyone from Atlantic looking over our shoulders, it would have been incredibly easy to coast. But we never did.”
John Paul Jones
Jones put it lightly when he said Led Zeppelin didn’t coast.
They pushed out two albums in 1969 (in early January and late October), then put out their third record less than a year after the second. Zep’s multi-platinum fourth album dropped in late 1971. We’ve only mentioned the time spent making records. In between the studio work, Led Zeppelin toured almost constantly from late 1968 through late 1970. Two longer-than-usual touring breaks in 1972 helped them write and record Houses of the Holy, their fifth record, which hit stores in early 1973. They spent the first seven months of that year on the road.
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That’s five albums released and hundreds of live shows worldwide in a little over four years together. Led Zeppelin had no one to answer to but themselves but still maintained a hard-driving work ethic. Jones wasn’t wrong to find it astonishing that the band never coasted.
Led Zeppelin made all the right moves with their creative control
Led Zeppelin earned the biggest advance ever when they signed with Atlantic. Part of the deal included creative control over everything. Both the band and the record label scored with the deal. Atlantic scored a group that churned out platinum records, and the band made all the right moves with their artistic freedom.
Imagine an A&R rep from Atlantic sat in on the recording session for “Whole Lotta Love” from Led Zeppelin II. Would they have steered the band away from a nearly two-minute psychedelic freakout in the middle? Would they have snuffed out Page’s laborious behind-the-scenes work on that section? Without interference, the band created a signature song unlike anything else of the era.
Zep pushed for a wordless cover on Led Zeppelin IV. No band name or song titles. No record label insignia or catalog number. Atlantic felt Led Zeppelin was setting themselves up for failure with that approach. It went gold in just over a week and has gone RIAA platinum 24 times over. Every studio album outside the debut and Led Zeppelin IV rocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
Even smaller decisions worked out for the best. Led Zeppelin held “Bron-Yr-Aur,” “Boogie With Stu,” and “Houses of the Holy,” which didn’t flow with their intended albums, for the Physical Graffiti grab bag. The extra songs helped them get the record to double-LP length and fit better with Graffiti’s diverse sonic palette.
Led Zeppelin’s work ethic never waned even when they were left to their own devices. John Paul Jones found it remarkable that the band hardly rested even though the label wasn’t driving them forward. The results were remarkable, too.
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