Led Zeppelin II - The Greatest Rock Album of All Time Released 40 Years Ago Today

Anyone know how accurate this is?

1969.05.04-06 - Mirror Sound, Los Angeles, CA
-- Whole Lotta Love, The Lemon Song, Moby Dick

1969.05.10 - Vancouver, BC
-- Bring It On Home (harmonica)

1969.05.30-31 - A&R Studios, New York, NY
-- Hearbreaker

1969.06.xx - Mayfair Studios, New York, NY
-- Moby Dick (drum solo)

1969.06.xx - Juggy Sound Studio, New York, NY
-- Ramble On

1969.06.xx - Olympic Studios, London, England
-- Whole Lotta Love (center section), What Is And What Should Never Be

1969.06xx - Morgan Studios - London, England
-- Sugar Mama, Thank You, Living Loving Maid

1969.06.25 - Morgan Studios, London
-- We're Gonna Groove

1969.06.xx - Groove Studios, New York, NY
-- What Is And What Should Never Be (overdubs)

1969.08.05 - Mystic Studios, Los Angeles, CA
-- The Lemon Song (overdubs), Bring It On Home (verses, chorus)

69.10.22 - "Led Zeppelin II" released

 

Until this prior thread, I never really thought about who was on the cover of this album:

But who ARE those strange people on the cover of Led Zeppelin II?...
http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=192120

 

and in the darkest depths of Juggy...I met a girl so fair...

That whole of the brlliant track Ramble On was recorded in just one day at Juggy? Epic overdubs, solos and all? Maybe, but seems unlikely, and if so, one mighty fine day's work for Page and Co.

 

There were no Street-dates, but there were Release-dates. WEA didn't exist then, but Atlantic was distributed through about 20 regional distributors across the US. In my area, Schwartz Brothers Inc in Washington, DC had this new release. We got our LTL shipment from them the following morning, and got it to some local retail record stores that day. The out of town stores we supplied would be another day or two depending on their locations. So even the most rural of retail stores shouldn't have been more than 3 or 4 days behind their big city cousins. BTW, after WEA was formed a few years later, we often got drop shipments directly from the manufacturers, so we had the product before or the same day as their branches.

I may have saved some distribution documents for this release. I remember buying a bunch of radio spots for some of our rack accounts in Carolina with the label's co-op ad money.

 

Regarding "we're", I'm not sure what about the post indicates to you that I claim to represent a conglomerate or the "poor people of yore." References have been made to forum posters that reference copyright violations regarding some of Zeppelin's work, particularly the earlier albums. By "we're" I'm referring to forum members that have referenced uncredited work. It is that basic and simple.

I have not paid any tribes or Native Americans for the land I am living on or profiting from. To the extent that is a legal or moral violation, I am most certainly guilty. I'm not even sure what percentage of my federal income tax, if any, is apportioned for restitution.

Regarding your characterization of me as a "troll", I will send you a PM and explain why my identity was changed after a long membership and numerous posts. My profile was incredibly thorough up to the point. What I provide to you can be verified with the gorts. All I ask is that you have the courtesy to respect the circumstance that warranted the change. Unfortunately, we live in a society in which some people are unstable, vindictive, intrusive, and violent. This thread alone has resulted in name calling already, simply because it is offensive to even reference copyright violation as it relates to one of the most revered, successful, scrutinized albums in rock history. People take these matters very, very personally.

In addition to being a huge Zep fan, I am also a huge Dylan fan, and a huge Neil Young fan. Each artist has violated copyrights. One of Neil's most flagrant examples is Mr. Soul, which so blatantly lifted the Satisfaction riff that Stephen Stills tried to block the release of the single.

What separates me from other Zep, or Neil fans, is that when someone says "Neil stole the Satisfaction riff", I don't get upset about it. It does sound like he lifted it to me. That doesn't negate his legacy; the stigma is confined to the lifting of the riff. Neil himself has acknowledged at least 3 "borrowed" tracks in his catalog.

Jimmy Page has also referenced his borrowing. On one track, the name of which escapes me, Jimmy said he formally asked Plant to change the lyrics (he gave the original lyrics to Plant to go with the music Jimmy was covering as a guide) and Page says Plant just sang them verbatim, changing nothing.

I don't think you're an "idiot" or "snot head" or a "troll" or whatever other names are being hurled at the "we're" in this forum. Name-calling simply ups the emotional ante in a discussion that in my view should be unemotional.

I love Zep. They were great. Because they weren't perfect human beings doesn't ruin their legacy. The stigma of uncredited covers is limited to just that...the stigma of uncredited covers. It doesn't mean Jimmy wasn't a phenomenal guitar player. It doesn't mean Plant wasn't a great front man. It doesn't mean they don't have a large back catalog of original material. I could go on and on about how great Zep is.

Finally, as a fan of Zep, I personally wish they had done the right thing when covering songs. It was probably more greed than malice, but it is still disappointing. Music, for me anyway, doesn't exist in a vacuum. I associate it with humanity, and old girlfriends, and good times in college. I care about the "person" inspired to make music...their biographies, interests, influences, photos, lyrics, etc. I don't think being that close to the music, and discussing such nuance, means I'm an "idiot" or "snot head" or "troll."

 

As with the Beatles, I don't want to hear Led Zep outtakes. When the final product is perfect, why do you want to hear false starts or rehearsal versions?

I do agree that II has some of the sickest guitar sounds - that solo guitar break in "Heartbreaker" is raunchy - and whichever song it is that has the call-and-response guitar chords ping-ponging from the left speaker to the right speaker (sorry, it escapes me at the moment) is bad-***.

 

What Is and What Should Never Be

 

Well, false starts don't interest me much and I'll be the first to say a fair chunk of Anthology (Beatles) doesn't interest me. When I posted that I was thinking more along the lines of backing tracks and the (supposed) studio version of We're Gonna Groove. Stuff like this..

EDIT: posted the wrong link earlier. This is very short 30-45 second excerpts of alt mixes from LZII. Save for the bit Heartbreaker solo this is fascinating stuff. The groove on Ramble On is almost too much.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/h2yt5f

 

Because it's an incredibly interesting peak back into musical history. And it provides a different perspective on something that you've heard the same way for 40 years.

 

My favorite Zep album!!!

 

A nice response, and if you have reasons to not have a profile I respect that. No need to explain. I retract. Maybe I was too quick on the trigger. To me a post or response and its tone is a context thing - when a positive thread comes up and 'negative' posts not in the spirit of the OP start creeping in. The Debbie Downer stuff. Too much of that in the world, maybe keep those to a differently titled thread.

Your point about artistic 'lifting' is well taken. Everyone does it - some more objectively than others - but its always there. My issue is that art (e.g. music) is so inherently influenced by a multitude of sources - and such artistic endeavors are often in brutal conflict with commercial necessities and the need for protect what people start claiming as 'theirs'. (Meanwhile whats 'theirs' is itself just part of a chain of long time 'borrowing'. At some point the traceability or influence trail grows cold, and can't be followed but the borrowing was still there. Zep is repeatedly charged with this unfairly I think, due to their fame I suppose, and the rise of the modern era with its technology, economics and social construction - and the resultant legit need to start protecting intellectual property and so on. Yet they were part of a new wave of appreciation for blues that erupted in the 60's and were making it, in many ways, uniquely their own.

 

The British bands and their infatuation with U.S. blues may have contributed more to the original artists bottom line than anything else. I agree if credit is due, it should be given, but if you want to see thievery you should take a look at the original contracts, publishing and royalties their labels gave them…

 

Good to see we're on the same page. I sent you a PM.

Zep is one of rock's greatest achievements, and it isn't even Zep's best record, in my view.

I transferred the Classic LP to 24/96 and backed about 2 dB off of the top end. Hmmmmmmm.

For those debating the MFSL versus the Classic, they are unbelievably close. I sold the MFSL because I could get thre figures for it and the Classic cost me $30, IIRC.

I discovered Zep my junior year of high school ('82). I listened to Zep IV pretty regularly. A friend had Presence on 8 track my senior year, and I always begged him to throw it in when we were in his car. He hated it but put it on occasionally to pacify me. Nobody's Fault But Mine blew my doors off.

Got into Physical Graffitti my senior year also; I think I bought the cassette. After football season ended and I had some free time, I remember buying batteries for a jam box. My friend and I would track down some beer, and drive around in the country with the jam box blaring a compilation cassette he had that included Head East "Never Been Any Reason", Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze", and the latter portion of side 2 of Zep II (I remember Ramble On, Bring It On Home,etc.). Oh, to be young, buzzed, good looking, getting laid, and hearing Zeppelin songs when they sounded brand new and fresh...Nah nah nah nah naaah nah nah nah nah hah nah nah nah hah naaah nah nah nah!

 

I think I might have told this story here in another thread awhile back about first hearing Led Zeppelin II. I remember hearing Whole Lotta Love on AM radio - the full version. I thought it was a great song and bought the 45. Of course what I heard on AM and the 45 were in mono. So about a week later, I flip over to the local FM underground rock station and Whole Lotta Love comes on. WHOA!!!! WTF is this? I sat there for the whole 5 and a half minutes just totally blown away. I went out the next day and bought the album and proceeded to play it all the way through over and over. As a result of all this, I never went back to AM radio again.

Have you figured out that I think II is their finest work and best album?

 

Thanks, Chris.

 

Ahhhh ........ yes.

 

My first copy obtained December 1969. Anyone that listened could tell this was a masterpiece if there ever was one. The RL can't possibly be overrated. Depending on which side of the Atlantic you were this is what you got...

 

mmmmmmmmm ..... just love the plum label. So many memories.

That's the one I had.

 

Hmmmm the song credits on The Lemon Song/Killing floor are interesting!. A great,great record. BTW, paid 5 bucks for my RL!

 

Yo La Tengo.

 

I think, to look at it historically, no one (or few that is) were truly aware that rock would be as big (& revenue generating) as it would become. For the most part this was young people (rarely over 25 yet) interpreting some old blues riffs (and its feel) through modern amplified equipment - more for fun and a love of playing music than for visions of big money. In 1965-66 no one knew where this modern music would be in 10 years, let alone 5. The thing that strikes me about this era is how so many artists were essentially living for the day and the music. The notion that one could make a good living at it, and not have to get a 'real' job soon, wasn't on the radar for most. This was not a era of strategic long range planning for most. Its no surprise to me that these mainly young artists signed such poor contracts, and weren't thinking how and if they'd have to pay back some long dead guitarist who once lived half the globe away.

 

killing floor = lemon song?

 

Okay.

Q: What is the best Zeppelin compilation?
A: The Willie Dixon box set.

 

+1