The moment Jimmy Page knew Led Zeppelin would be massive
The Beatles may have been the first globally successful rock band, but in all aspects but the music, Led Zeppelin did it better.
That may sound like a controversial statement, but hear me out here. This makes sense to me, since The Beatles came so early on in the life cycle of rock ‘n’ roll that no one had any idea how to make a band that big and that popular work. Elvis was one thing, but The Beatles were an entirely different level of popularity. Take the famous “they couldn’t hear themselves play live over the screaming thing”. Now, that was partially because of how hysterical Beatlemaniacs were at the time, but there was also a practical reason for it.
Quite simply, this happened because promoters and record labels were forcing the band into venues that rock bands had never played before like arenas and stadiums. Sound systems capable of making rock bands work in venues that big quite simply didn’t exist even before you took the screaming into account. Thus, the Fabs’ days as a touring band were always going to be numbered. However, once Led Zeppelin began their unlikely ascent into becoming the biggest band in the world, that wasn’t a problem anymore.
Led Zeppelin graduated into a world specifically built for a band like them to become massive. The music world was ready for hard rock to become the biggest genre of music on the planet. The live circuit was ready for a band that loud. Most of all, people’s tastes had developed to the point that a band that didn’t release singles could still become the biggest on the planet. Despite that, the rise of Led Zeppelin did not begin in their home country.
Where did the rise of Led Zeppelin begin?
In their native England, Led Zeppelin went down like… well, a lead zeppelin. They were a bit too aggressive and tasteless for a rock culture that felt like it had danced this dance with the Jimi Hendrix Experience not too long beforehand. They’d moved from raucous psychedelic blues to a more cerebral form of psychedelia on the back of Pink Floyd and late-period Beatles, so Zep’s blunt force trauma take on blues rock fell on uncaring ears.
Fortunately, this wasn’t an issue for the band. They, as did every band managed by Peter Grant, had a plan and theirs had absolutely nothing to do with their home country. Their plan was best summed up by an interview Jimmy Page gave to Metro about the moment he knew that Led Zeppelin would be massive. “Well, I knew what the momentum was from the point where we hit the States.” After all, the US was where Led Zeppelin became a phenomenon more than anywhere else.
He goes on to say, “The first record was just about to come out in January 1969, and by that time we were on the West Coast, playing the Fillmore… yeah, it was just sort of meant to be. When they say, ‘Led Zeppelin selling five million records’, it doesn’t mean anything to me. What it meant to me was each night going on the stage and being able to improve on what I’d done the night before.” Which sums up the band perfectly.
This was a band that didn’t become massive because they were friends with the right journalists and DJs in London’s incestuous rock scene of the time. They became massive by touring every moment they could. The moment their live shows became legend, so would Led Zeppelin.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter
All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.