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''Led Zeppelin'' is the first album by the English Rock band Led Zeppelin . It was recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studios in London and released on Atlantic Records on January 17 , 1969 . Because of the groundbreaking music and recording techniques displayed on the album, it is widely considered one of the most impressive and important debuts in rock, creating an entirely new interpretation of the Rock And Roll genre. The album featured integral contributions from each of the group's four musicians and established Led Zeppelin's unique fusion of Blues and Rock . ''Led Zeppelin'' also created a large and devoted following for the band, with their unique Proto-metal and Psychedelic Rock sound endearing them to a section of the Counterculture on both sides of the Atlantic . RECORDING HISTORY In an interview for the '' Led Zeppelin Profiled '' radio promo CD (1990), Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page said that the album took only about 36 hours of studio time (over a span of a few weeks) to create (including mixing), adding that he knows this because of the amount charged on the studio bill. One of the primary reasons for the short recording time was that the material selected for the album had been well rehearsed and pre-arranged by the band on Led Zeppelin's tour of Scandinavia in September 1968. In addition, since the band had not yet signed their deal with Atlantic Records , Page and Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant paid for the sessions entirely themselves, thus there was no record company money to waste on excessive studio time.Dave Lewis (1994), ''The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin'', pp. 3-4 ISBN 0-7119-3528-9 MUSIC The conceptual originality of the album was displayed on tracks such as "'s inspiration for - and basis of - his punk-defining, strictly downstroke guitar strumming. ''Led Zeppelin'' also featured delicate Steel-string Acoustic Guitar by Page on " Black Mountain Side ", and a combination of acoustic and electric approaches on their adaptation of " Babe I'm Gonna Leave You ". ", whom Page had met while doing Studio session work). The bowed guitar in the middle section of the song brought psychedelic rock to experimental new heights, especially in extended stage versions, building on Page's earlier renderings of the song during the latter days of The Yardbirds . "Dazed and Confused" would become Led Zeppelin's signature performance piece for years to come. The bowed guitar technique is also used on " How Many More Times ", a song which features a "Bolero" riff and a broken-down noise section in which Robert Plant howls Albert King's "The Hunter" (a blues song popularized by singer Koko Taylor). On this track, Plant vocally mimics Page's guitar effects - a metallicized version of the " Call And Response " blues technique. Many of Led Zeppelin's earliest songs were based on blues standards, and the album also included three songs composed by others: " You Shook Me " and " I Can't Quit You Baby ", both by Blues artist Willie Dixon ; and " Babe I'm Gonna Leave You ". Regarding the last of these, at the time guitarist Jimmy Page mistakenly believed he was adapting a traditional Folk Song he had heard on a Joan Baez record, but this was corrected on subsequent rereleases after it was revealed that the song was composed by Anne Bredon in the 1950s. Dixon, on the other hand, received proper credit as the composer of his two songs on this album (although "You Shook Me" would later be additionally credited to J. B. Lenoir ) but would go on to sue Led Zeppelin over partial use of other material of his on the band's Second Album . Jeff Beck had previously recorded "You Shook Me" for his album, ''Truth'', and accused Page of stealing his idea. With John Paul Jones and drummer Keith Moon of The Who , Page had played on (and says he arranged) "Beck's Bolero", an instrumental on ''Truth'' that would be grooved into the mix of the ''Led Zeppelin'' jam "How Many More Times". These cross-pollinizations led to a rift between Beck and Page, who had played in the Yardbirds together and been friends since childhood. 1 ISBN 0-330-43859-X PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES ''Led Zeppelin'' was produced by Jimmy Page and engineered by Glyn Johns . The album was recorded on an analog 4-track machine, which helped to give the record its warm sound. Page reportedly used natural room ambience to enhance the reverb and recording texture on the record, demonstrating the innovations in sound recording he had learned during his session days. Up until the late 1960s , most music producers placed Microphone s directly in front of the Amplifier s and drums. For ''Led Zeppelin'' Page developed the idea of placing an additional microphone some distance from the amplifier (as far as twenty feet) and then recording the balance between the two. By adopting this "distance equals depth" technique, Page became one of the first producers to record a band's "ambient sound" -- the distance of a note's time-lag from one end of the room to the other. Another notable feature of the album was the "leakage" on the recordings of Robert Plant's vocals. In an interview Page gave to '' Guitar World '' magazine in 1998 , Page stated that "Robert's voice was extremely powerful and, as a result, would get on some of the other tracks. But oddly, the leakage sounds intentional."Brad Tolinski and Greg Di Bendetto, "Light and Shade", ''Guitar World'', January 1998. On "You Shook Me" Page used his " Backward Echo " technique, which involved hearing the echo before the main sound instead of after it, achieved by turning the tape over and employing the echo on a spare track, then turning the tape back over again to get the echo preceding the signal. Page had originally developed the method when recording the single "Ten Little Indians" with The Yardbirds in 1967 .Brad Tolinski and Greg Di Bendetto, "Light and Shade", ''Guitar World'', January 1998. ALBUM SLEEVE DESIGN The album cover features an artfully manipulated version of the most famous photograph (originally from UPI ) of the '' Hindenburg '' disaster. It is in fact an illustration of this photograph drawn with a Rapidograph pen and ink by graphic artist George Hardie, a student at the Royal College Of Art who had been recommended to Led Zeppelin by photographer Stephen Goldblatt. The back sleeve contained a portrait of the band taken by Chris Dreja , the former bassist in Page's previous band, The Yardbirds . Such originality in album cover art, as well as the band's control over artistic concept and packaging, would distinguish subsequent Led Zeppelin releases. Hardie originally offered the group a design based on an old club sign in San Francisco , depicting a multi-sequential image of a Zeppelin airship in the clouds. Page turned down the idea, but it was retained as the logo that adorned the back cover of both the first and Second Album s and a number of early press advertisements.Dave Lewis (1994), ''The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin'', p. 4 ISBN 0-7119-3528-9 Interestingly, during the first few weeks of the album's release in the United Kingdom , the sleeve was printed with the band's name and Atlantic Records logo in turquoise, before it was switched to the common orange print later in the year, creating a much sought-after Collectors Item . SUCCESS AND CRITICAL ACCLAIM The album was a massive fiscal success. In chart. In 2003 the TV Network VH1 named ''Led Zeppelin'' the 44th greatest album of all time. It is widely regarded as marking a significant turning point in the evolution of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal . Review by All Music Guide MISCELLANEA
TRACK LISTING Side one #" Good Times Bad Times " ( John Bonham , John Paul Jones , Jimmy Page ) – 2:46 #" Babe I'm Gonna Leave You " (Bredon, Page, Robert Plant ) – 6:41 #" You Shook Me " ( Willie Dixon , J.B. Lenoir ) – 6:28 #" Dazed And Confused " (Page) – 6:26 Side two #" Your Time Is Gonna Come " (Jones, Page) – 4:34 #" Black Mountain Side " (Page) – 2:14 #" Communication Breakdown " (Bonham, Jones, Page) – 2:27 #" I Can't Quit You Baby " (Dixon) – 4:42 #" How Many More Times " (Bonham, Jones, Page) – 8:28 (listed as 3:30 on record sleeve deliberately by Jimmy Page in order to trick radio stations into playing the song.) Robert Plant participated in songwriting, but wasn't given credit due to unexpired contractual obligations. Some cassette versions of the album reversed the order of the sides. For these versions, side one began and ended with "Your Time Is Gonna Come" and "How Many More Times", while side two began and ended with "Good Times, Bad Times" and "Dazed and Confused". PERSONNEL
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