Led Zeppelin Story of a Legend

Derek Shelmerdine, author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
is one of the guests on Tony Higginson’s Book Club

Led Zeppelin – How they came together, rise to fame, plagiarism, mud sharks, classic songs, it’s all here in – Led Zeppelin Story of a Legend.

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…7.30 to 10.30 pm (UK) Monday 20 September
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Led Zeppelin Story of a Legend – Tony Higginson’s Book Club

Led Zeppelin was one of the most influential bands in rock’n’roll history. This podcast looks at the band’s story, from session musicians to legends.
PLEASE NOTE that due to a technical fault the songs do not play until 35 minutes 40 seconds into the show. The story is all there but the music works after the first half hour.
Its a three and a half hour show – there’s lots of great music that can be heard after the first half hour…

What they were up to before joining together…

Guitarist Jimmy Page was in a number of bands in the early days including, Neil Christian and the Crusaders, Cyril Davies and the R&B All Stars and Carter Lewis and the Southerners. In January 1963 he made his first appearance as a session musician on Jet Harris and Tony Meehan’s hit record, Diamonds. By coincidence, Led Zeppelin’s bassist, John Paul Jones, was in Jet Harris and Tony Meehan’s touring band.

Singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham were in a number of bands together including, Crawling King Snakes and Band of Joy. Following the demise of Band of Joy, John Bonham joined Tim Rose’s touring band.

The early days…

Led Zeppelin recorded the material for their first album before securing a record deal. The deal followed shortly afterwards, when they signed to Atlantic Records in November 1968.

They had a number of hit singles in America but decided on a no-singles policy in the UK.

On to become rock’n’roll legends…

The band courted controversy, with a number of legal actions against them for plagiarism. They are also at the centre of one of the greatest urban myths in rock’n’roll history – the Edgewater Inn Mud Shark Incident…

Eight of their ten albums made #1 on the UK album charts.

The end came unexpectedly with the Berlin gig on 7 July 1980, at the end of their European tour. The band was back in rehearsal for an upcoming American tour when drummer John Bonham suddenly died, on 25 September 1980. Consequently, on 4 December 1980 the band issued a press statement saying that they could “not continue as they were”.

Derek Shelmerdine presents the outline of the story, with Tony and his other guests adding their own Led Zeppelin stories and observations. There will also be live music, poetry readings and some very lively conversation. Not to forget the recorded music including, Tim Rose, Spirit, Dread Zeppelin and, of course, Led Zeppelin, to punctuate the story.

Tony Higginson’s Beyond Books Book Club

Every week Tony Higginson hosts his Beyond Books Book Club, which goes out live on Zoom and Facebook at 7.30 to 9.30 pm (UK) on Monday Evenings.
If you are watching the show live on Facebook – join in the conversation.

Author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled, Derek Shelmerdine is a regular monthly guest on the Beyond Books Book Club.

The Book Club has a regular panel of writers, poets, musicians and book-lovers in general. The discussion is wide ranging with readings, poetry recitals and live performances from the musicians.

A signed copy of Derek Shelmerdine‘s book Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
is available from Tony Higginson’s online bookshop.