LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES- OCT 5, 2019…FORTY NINE YEARS AGO TODAY LED ZEPPELIN RELEASED ALBUM LED ZEPPELIN ‘III.’ THIS RECORD WAS A DEPARTURE FOR THE GROUP THAN THE PREVIOUS TWO ALBUMS AS IT WAS MORE ACOUSTICAL IN NATURE. ZEPPELIN HAD JUST COME OFF OF TWO MONSTER SELLING ALBUMS AND FROM 1968-1970 WENT FROM GETTING $1,500 A SHOW TO ONE OF THE TOP DRAWING BANDS IN THE WORLD DEMANDING AS MUCH AS 6 FIGURES A CONCERT. PLUS, IN THE SPAN OF 12 MONTHS THEY HAD PLAYED OVER 150 SHOWS WITH RELENTLESS TOURING. AT THE END OF THE TOUR ROBERT PLANT WANTED TO DECOMPRESS AND GET AWAY FROM IT ALL. HE RETREATED TO WALES AND INVITED JIMMY PAGE ALONG FOR THE RIDE. ACCORDING TO PLANT:“It was time to take stock, and not get lost in it all. And what better way to keep it real than at a place with no electricity, candles for light, water from a stream and an outside toilet?”
JOHN BONHAM GAVE THE PRESS A LITTLE INSIGHT ON THE DIRECTION OF THE RECORD WHEN ZEPPELIN REGROUPED FOR III: ‘’We’ll be recording for the next two weeks and we are doing a lot of acoustic stuff as well as the heavier side. There will be better quality songs than on the first two albums.’’
THE ALBUM WASN’T ALL ACOUSTIC. THE OPENING TRACK ‘IMMIGRANT SONG’ WAS INSPIRED BY THE GROUP’S VISIT TO ICELAND IN MID 1970 AND IT ROCKED !! ‘OUT ON THE TILES’ AND ‘CELEBRATION DAY’ WERE GREAT SONGS AND ‘SINCE I’VE BEEN LOVING YOU’ BOASTS ONE OF PAGE’S BEST GUITAR SOLOS.
LED ZEPPELIN III HAS TO DATE HAS SALES OF CLOSE TO 14,000,000 COPIES.
HERE’S THE OFFICIAL LED ZEP VIDEO FOR ‘THE IMMIGRANT SONG’
