Led Zeppelin I,II,III, IV, Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti were recorded between October '68 and spring '72. Physical Graffiti was released in '75, but most of the album was leftovers from previous sessions (mostly '72).
Nothing much to this post except I found it interesting that a rather large amount of work that is part of classic rock canon was recorded in such a brief time period.
(I’m purposely excluding Presence and ITTOD. I dont hate Presence, but honestly, it’s a fanboy album).
I’m a huge Zeppelin fan, and I really had never thought of how brief a period that the band’s peak years encompassed… It’s crazy that so much of their work was done in such a short time! (Who knows, maybe some drugs were involved? :D)
My favorite Led Zep story (completely unrelated to the OP, except for the fact that it involves the same band ) About a decade ago, my eldest stepson “discovered” a great new band. He found the music on Napster, to give you some idea how long ago. Stepson insisted that I had to hear this great band he had “discovered.” Yep, Led Zeppelin (who recorded their best stuff around the time I was born.) Insult to injury? Stepson’s dad and I are/were at the time deejays for a classic rock radio station. Naturally, we had never heard of these guys!
I’m often surprised at how short the glory years are for many artists. Bob Dylan is another example: Freewheelin’ to Bonde on Blonde covers three years. (I know that this could be contentious, but nothing since then reached the heights or changed the world as those albums did.)
The Beatles released seven albums between March 1963 and August 1966–Please Please Me, With the Beatles, Hard Day’s Night, Beatles for Sale, Help, Rubber Soul, Revolver. That means they released some of the best, most influential albums at the rate of every seven months! And that doesn’t even factor in the numerous non-album 45’s they released.
Bob Dylan released his first three rock albums between April 1965 and Aug 1966, including the double LP Blonde on Blonde. All his own songs, all worthy of being called the greatest album ever, all totally changing what rock could be.
And the entire Doors catalog (except the post-Morrison stuff) was recorded in just under four and a half years (August 1966 to January 1971). And Hendrix’s was less than 4 years… and then there’s Buddy Holly.
I’ll disagree only to the point that *Blood on the Tracks *is often considered one of his best works. Otherwise, he did have some long stretches of mediocrity.
I’m currently reading Moon, by Tony Fletcher, and it amazes me to see all of the changes that were happening in popular music in the short period of time from 1962 - 1969. You have the tail end of 50’s era rock, the British Invasion, the California sound, on into psychedlia and hard rock (and probably some I’m leaving out.) Jimmy Page went from being a teenage session musician to the Yardbirds, to Led Zeppelin in that time.
No different with any situation where there is new technical innovation and everyone figures how to use it and the new rules get set.
1st generation Internet businesses - Amazon, eBay, etc.
2nd-gen - Myspace, Facebook, Twitter
With rock during that period:
Amplification power caught up with the electric guitar - and crunchy, overdriven guitar tones became acceptable
Folk and blues became stronger influences on commerical pop
the first Boomers became teenagers - and rock was established as a point of separation with parents
Studios / recording became both easier to use - more studios were cropping up - and were first being used as a form of expression themselves
It became practical for an artist to write, record and perform songs - the first example of what we are experiencing today, when everybody can now write, record and share their music through the internet.
I am sure there are more, but you get the idea - there was a huge convergence of change factors representing uncharted territory. The Beatles and Zep were among the first to recognize how to take advantage of that and “set the rules” used by everyone after them…
The thing that always makes me feel like an underachiever is that if you think of all the albums the Beatles made and all the great songs, it is super impressive. Then you think that when they broke up, half of them weren’t even thirty years old yet. Man… I gotta get to work.
Or, rather, you can, but no one would want to read or listen to it. Try reading vanity press books if you don’t believe me – that’s the model for Internet distribution.
I once read an interview with Dave Grohl where he talked about how Nirvana was this huge phenomenon and life-long obsession to so many people, but to him it was just a band he was in for 4 years. I think he had been in the Foo Fighters for well over a decade at that point.
Similarly, I think The Doors were only together with Jim for about 4 or 5 years.
) About a decade ago, my eldest stepson “discovered” a great new band. He found the music on Napster, to give you some idea how long ago. Stepson insisted that I had to hear this great band he had “discovered.” Yep, Led Zeppelin (who recorded their best stuff around the time I was born.) Insult to injury? Stepson’s dad and I are/were at the time deejays for a classic rock radio station. Naturally, we had never heard of these guys! 