Led Zeppelin: Coda - LP

Led Zeppelin was formed from the remaining members of The Yardbirds, which released their latest album Little Games in 1967 and left guitarist Jimmi Page and other members uncertain about what would happen next. Jimmi Page, meanwhile, collaborated on Donovan' s LP Hurdy Gurdy Man project with John Paul Jones, who at the time asked Page to collaborate on other of his projects. Then Keith Reid and James McCarty left the Yardbirds and disbanded the band. The name copyright and several outstanding commitments remained with Jim and bassist Chris Drej. So Jimmi started looking for a new singer and drummer. Keith Reid suggested that he contact Robert Plant, who was currently in the band Hobbstweedle.

Robert Plant nodded at Jimmi Page' s offer, and outgoing Chris Dreja was replaced by new bassist John Paul Jones. All that remained was to find the drummer. Robert Plant recommended John Bonham, who originally played with him in Band Of Joy. They had to convince the drummer a bit, because at that time he had more offers from bands that offered more money. In this line-up, the band was called New Yardbirds and fulfilled the obligations of the original band at the end of 1968. Then they recorded their debut album in just thirty hours and changed their name to Led Zeppelin that month.

In early 1969, Led Zeppelin embarked on an American tour, paving the way for the release of their eponymous debut album. The album was simply called Led Zeppelin and climbed to the US Top Ten. The band continued to perform in the US and England, meanwhile preparing their second record, Led Zeppelin II. This record reached the top of the US charts and remained there for seven weeks. The band became very attractive especially as a concert ensemble. The quality of the music deepened even more on the Led Zeppelin III album, where we can already hear the influence of British folk. Similarly, there was another untitled album from 1971, where the inspiration of Led Zeppelin appeared in mythology. Called Led Zeppelin IV, the album was the culmination of their career, featuring cutting-edge rock songs such as Black Dog, the folk The Battle Of Evermore, and the famous Stairway To Heaven ballad that combined the two genres. Stairway To Heaven became the most played song in history on the radio, which focused on non-singing songs. The song was never released as a single, and even though it didn' t make it to the US charts, the album sold 16 million copies in two decades and became Led Zeppelin' s most successful record.