After delivering a couple of hard rock, heavyweight blows in the form of their first two albums, which in no time nurtured a colossal worldwide following, Led Zeppelin advanced through 1970 with the most anticipated release of that year under development.
Just 18 months into their career this tumultuous, totemic English quartet comprising of Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (vocals), John Paul Jones (bass/keyboards) and John Bonham (drums) had set sail from the quayside to leave most of the competition floundering in a distant slipstream. The Who and the Rolling Stones remained dominant in terms of critical favour, but Zeppelin (whose uneasy relationship with the rock press was already prevalent), were, even at this stage, attaining sales figures neither of their main rivals could match.
Such was the burst of activity surrounding their launch, the two Led Zeppelin albums to date had been recorded during breaks through an intense touring schedule, not that energy levels ever faltered on either of these formidable L.P.s. But after cutting some initial tracks for a third release at Olympic Studios in London, Page and Plant decamped for a songwriting sortie to an 18th century cottage named Bron-Y-Aur in Mid-Wales, overlooked by the Snowdonia mountain range.
These pastoral surroundings inspired some acoustic-based music that while giving the band a new dimension was only partially successful in execution – LED ZEPPELIN III (October 1970), a daring, if uneven collection.
If there were still prime examples of Zeppelin in all their combustive glory, along with the blues-rock they had quickly gained renown for, it is the folk-orientated numbers that, at best, are the most revelatory – when not, however, the country connotations come across as forced, but inconsequential at the same time.
While even their sternest critics, of which several were noted rock scribes, would be hard pressed (and wrong) to say Led Zeppelin lacked conviction, the more varied song-construction approach now adopted by Page and Plant was worth commending simply for resisting temptation to revisit territory the band had already conquered.
While the relentlessly pounding ‘Immigrant Song‘ saw the group issue another definitive mission statement, the plaintive string-laden ballad ‘That’s the Way‘ evoked a more wistful mood. At a moment in time when hard-rockers Black Sabbath were striking gold with ‘Paranoid‘ and folk-rock configuration Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young saw their ‘Deja Vu‘ set go down a storm, Led Zeppelin managed to traverse the two mediums – not always with notable results, yet for sheer audacity alone Zep could not be faulted, their self-belief evident from the day they formed.
The songs concocted by Page and Plant at Bron-Y-Aur, were for the most part cut at Headley Grange, a country house in Hampshire, England, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Recording Studio (the Stones absent in 1970 with regard to releasing an album of new material). Yet wherever the tracks were committed to tape the sonic ambience never falters, no group before or since capturing their true essence on record with quite the aplomb of this outfit, testament again to the skills of Page as a producer.
The album could not begin in more striking fashion, ‘Immigrant Song‘ showcasing Led Zeppelin at their most fierce and frenetic. The propulsive nature of the track, distinguished not least by a pulsing guitar riff from Page, accompanies a Plant lyric that draws on battle-looming, Viking mythology – the vocalist setting the tone with a series of ominous war cry interjections that anticipate the coming conflict:
‘We come from the land of the ice and snow/From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow/The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands/To fight the horde and sing and cry/Valhalla, I am coming.’
Frequently referenced by those making the case to non-converts as to the magnificence of Led Zeppelin, for some among the unconverted ‘Immigrant Song‘ represents the band at their most confounding, the most forceful sound in rock coupled to fatuous lyrics, the music press equally divided in their reaction to this evocation of Norse folklore – ‘Ridiculous‘ (Rolling Stone)/’Extraordinary‘ (New Musical Express).
In contrast ‘Friends‘ has distinct CSNY overtones, the chiming acoustic guitars and bold percussion creating a framework decorated with a droning string arrangement which all combined creates a Middle Eastern resonance.
After an intriguing false start, (the count-in or studio background chatter can be heard at commencement on a number of tracks), the hypnotic guitar work of Page never allows the song to settle in one place. Atop of a swirling melody Plant, in somewhat simplistic terms, sings forcefully about the need for compassion and human connection:
‘The greatest thing you ever can do now/Is trade a smile with someone who’s blue now/ It’s very easy just…/Met a man on the roadside crying, without a friend, there’s no denying/You’re incomplete, they’ll be no finding looking for what you knew.’
Impressive more as an example of their outstanding ensemble playing rather than work of any great lyrical sophistication, by virtue of a brooding synthesizer passage (the instrument used on a Zeppelin album for the first time), ‘Friends‘ segues neatly into ‘Celebration Day‘ – Plant whipping up some amusing word play over a complex melody propelled by incessant drums and the innovative bass playing of Jones, who also receives a co-write credit.
The political content Plant has alluded to when talking about the song is not easy to spot, even if the expressionism is less self-conscious than typical Zeppelin fare (‘There is a train that leaves the station heading for your destination/But the price you pay to nowhere has increased a dollar more‘). Another effort to be carried along by momentum rather than any deep mulling over the lyrics, much the same can be said for side one closer ‘Out on the Tiles.’
Credited to Page, Plant & Bonham, the pop sensibilities of the chorus seem out of kilter with a thrusting track that whether by chance or design never appears quite sure where it is heading. The band, while apparently content to busy themselves just being Led Zeppelin, drew flak for this perceived complacency from seasoned rock writer Lester Bangs, who dismissed both ‘Celebration Day‘ and ‘Out on the Tiles‘ as:
‘Production line Zep churners that no fan could fault and no one else could even hear without an effort.’
Bangs also took Zeppelin to task for remaining side one cut ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You‘ which he derided for being ‘lethally dull.’
First mooted to be included on ‘LZ II‘, for devotees it was manna from heaven, this prolonged, slow burning blues-rock workout is infused with sterling keyboard work from Jones, strident guitar breaks by Page with Bonham wonderfully dexterous at the drums.
The chemistry between them as musicians is indeed remarkable and although the lyrics are no great shakes (baring close similarity, especially in the opening and closing couplets, to the 1968 Moby Grape track ‘Never‘), Plant produces his customary gut-wrenching vocal, the piece as an entity seven and a half minutes of peerless perfection – or one of interminable indulgence depending on your taste.
With the arrangement credited to Page and Plant (but with a nod to long deceased bluesman Lead Belly of which this is an accelerated version), the traditional folk tale ‘Gallows Pole‘ that opens side two also serves as an overture for the tracks that lay ahead.
The use of traditional instruments Page (acoustic guitar/banjo), Jones (mandolin), revealed the variety Zeppelin had to hand, the spirited playing conjuring a medieval atmosphere in keeping with the era (‘Friends, did you get some silver?/Did you get a little gold?/What did you bring me, my dear friends/To keep me from the Gallows Pole?’), depicted in the lyrics.
Credited solely to Page – although vocalist Keith Relf often lay claim to writing the lyrics – ‘Tangerine‘ dated back to his days in 1960s R&B outfit The Yardbirds. With Jones having continued presence on mandolin, the composer adds to the array of guitar sounds with some shimmering pedal steel lines that steer this version (it had previously been cut by his former band in 1968) toward the country-rock sound of acts such as Poco – the narrative based on a doomed love affair to which dreamscape imagery has been attached, not least in the chorus:
‘Tangerine, Tangerine/Living reflection from a dream/I was her love, she was my queen/And now a thousand years between.’
On occasion the track sounds on the verge of taking on an altogether more vigorous dimension, but Plant and the players show admirable restraint in keeping the song within the folk parameters they have set out to explore – Page returning to the chord template not long into the future when coming up with the structure for ‘Stairway to Heaven‘ that would appear on ‘LZ IV‘ the following year.
The two tracks which close out the album, ‘Bron-Y-Aur Stomp‘ and ‘Hats off to (Roy) Harper‘ are adequate enough without containing much in the way of real ballast. The former is an acoustic guitar themed hoe-down with a pleasant if slight lyric about enduring friendship, while the album closer is a frantic but quickly forgettable tribute to the folk singer named in the title – which could have named ‘Berets off to Bukka‘ given the arrangement owes much to ‘Shake ’em on Down‘, a blues composition written by Bukka White in 1937.
Neither of these tracks enhance the record to any degree, both an anti-climax after the serene ‘That’s the Way‘ that illuminates side two and on its own makes the foray into the realms of acoustic balladry worthwhile.
Going for broke in utilizing acoustic guitars, pedal steel, mandolin and dulcimer that provide light and shade to an affecting lyric from Plant, who with great poignancy describes two friends who are drifting apart (‘And when I’m out I see you walking/Why don’t your eyes see me?/How could it be you’ve found another game to play?/What did mama say to me?’), Led Zeppelin for the first time producing a song that truly touches the soul as opposed to saturating the senses.
When it appeared the album was greeted with a mixed yet predictable furore. Needless to say the faithful adored it, sending ‘LZ III‘ to top spot in both the U.K. and U.S. charts while wholeheartedly embracing the new diversity in evidence, citing it as proof there was no limit to what the band could achieve.
On the other hand there was no shortage of critical negativity and although some of the brickbats were justified, particularly those quick to point out how the album runs out of steam after ‘That’s the Way‘, the prejudice in some quarters missed the point that Page, Plant and co had set their ambitions higher than simply reheating ‘Whole Lotta Love‘ – for which, as the band members were quick to point out, they would have been chastised anyway.
Indeed, ‘LZ III‘ was the last Zeppelin L.P. cover to show the group name with any prominence, a move instigated from their inner sanctum to cock a snook at detractors. Not that the moniker was required in any form as Led Zeppelin albums would continue to sell by the truck load, irrespective of what was on the sleeve.
The non-believers, however, added this to a long list of litanies, some based on what they deemed was the inflated sense of importance the band had bestowed upon themselves – not that a touch of conceit ever did the Stones any harm.
So with their third offering Led Zeppelin had taken a first step into the 1970s – a decade that, more or less, they would go on to dominate.
LED ZEPPELIN – LED ZEPPELIN III (Released October 5 1970):
Immigrant Song/Friends/Celebration Day/Since I’ve Been Loving You/Out on the Tiles/Gallows Pole/Tangerine/That’s the Way/Bron-Y-Aur Stomp/Hats Off to (Roy) Harper;
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