Led Zeppelin Bio
When the Yardbirds broke up in 1968, guitarist Jimmy Page and bass player Chris Dreja were left with rights to the name and an obligation to fulfill commitments for an upcoming fall tour. Page approached vocalist Terry Reid as a possible replacement for Yardbirds frontman Keith Relf, but Reid was still with Procol Harum and not inclined to leave. He suggested Robert Plant, who was then singing with Hobbstweedle, as an alternative. Page was impressed by Plant's style and stage presence and asked him to join the Yardbirds. When Dreja left the group, Page replaced him with John Paul Jones who he had worked with previously. Page's quest for a drummer led him to John Bonham who, despite initial resistance, decided to come aboard. After playing the previously booked engagements as the "New Yardbirds" in September of 1968, Page decided it was time for a name change since this new band bore no resemblance to the Yardbirds. Led Zeppelin was born.
Feeling that Brits would still view them as "the old Yardbirds," Led Zeppelin brought their act to the US. In October, 1968, they signed with Atlantic Records.¹
¹ Complete bio with quotes at Ace's Bio-Farm.
Led Zeppelin Quotes
"I can remember Bonzo, Plant, Page and Jones out on the lawn listening to playbacks of "D'Yer Mak'er" and "Dancing Days" all walking like Groucho Marx in sync, with back steps and forward steps in time to the music like kids." ~ Recording Engineer Eddie Kramer
"Jimmy is the man who is the music. He goes away to his house and works on it a lot and then brings it to the
band in its skeletal state. Slowly everybody brings their personality into it. This new flower sort of grows
out of it." ~ Robert Plant on `Physical Graffiti', from the first boxed set's liner notes
"I always believed in the music we did and that's why it was uncompromising." ~ Jimmy Page
"I realized what Led Zeppelin was about around the end of our first U.S. tour. We started off not even on the bill in Denver, and by the time we got to New York we were second to Iron Butterfly, and they didn't want to go on!" ~ Robert Plant
