Product Description

Led Zeppelin were the biggest band of the 1970s and one of the key bands in the history of rock. Yet to date the printed word has been anything but kind to their incredible musical legacy until now. Keith Shadwick, author of the acclaimed Jimi Hendrix: Musician, has written a detailed and insightful book about the how, where and why of Led Zeppelin's greatness. Formed around the ambitions of ex-Yardbird Jimmy Page in summer 1968, by the end of 1969 they were one of the biggest bands in rock. They remained such until their disbandment after the death of John Bonham in summer 1980. Since that time their stature in the music has only grown as the enduring quality of their music - and its influence on each successive generation of musicians - has won through. In an industry that to date has been much more concerned with chronicling the band's naughty-boy antics out on tour than about why anybody cared in the first place, this book is a refreshing in-depth assessment of the band's central position in rock history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #371832 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

The Guardian, October 22, 2005
This exhaustive and attractively presented history comes near to being definitive.

About the Author
Keith Shadwick is the author of numerous books, including The Illustrated Story of Jazz, The Gramophone Jazz Good CD Guide, Bill Evans - Everything Happens to Me, and Jimi Hendrix: Musician. He has written on jazz and classical music for London newpapers including the Daily Mail and Financial Times, and magazines such as The Wire and Jazzwise. He has contributed to the British radio stations Classic FM and JAZZFM. He trained as a saxophonist and is currently based in London.

Customer Reviews

Paste without haste...bringing the balance back
There's never been a really top-notch unarguably excellent biography of Led Zeppelin; unusual for a band with such a high public profile. Perhaps the problem lies with the band's reluctance to embrace the world of rock journalism, relying instead on word of mouth and the taste of their audiences to get their message across.
This has meant that there have been some very laudible attempts at career analysis - the live concerts have been well documented by Luis Rey, Dave Lewis et al, the albums have been much celebrated and dissected and there's been a couple of infamous "expose" accounts of the scurrilous nature of the seamier side of their carrer as rock music's top attraction (Hammer Of The Gods, Stairway To Heaven).
There's also been innumerable cash-in's which hope to sell because they mention the groups name (and generally the fourth album) in the title.
So I approached this as yet another "cut-and-paste" exercise, which, in fact it appears to be - but it's a very good one indeed, generally well researched and seemingly accurate. It's not definitive - the co-operation of the surviving band band members would have been needed to achieve that and would probably have compromised what has been written, as it's by no means a glowing account, nor is it a sensationalised romp.
What you get is a large paperback, generally well illustrated (a few mistakes in the captions, which reduces the credibility somewhat - a shame)although I would have liked some more dynamic live images and some colour to contrast with the numerous phot "studies". This would almost certainly added considerably to the price however. The book contains a comprehensive history of the band, their albums and the tours, together with contemporary quotes and reviews. The author contributes lengthy reviews of the albums, which themselves are generally pretty much on-the-money, showing he has both a decent knowledge of the music, the recordings and the song writing roots of the band. The format is easy to read yet informative, and despite having read far more books on Led Zeppelin than I ever need to, I found this to be a good read, especially for anyone looking for a single book on the band and an unbiased, balanced review of their recordings and career.
Recommended

Nice work, Mr. Shadwick!
I felt the same way after reading Michael Munn's biography of Duke Wayne: like Mr. Shadwick was there, backstage, talking to these fabulous musicians, to find their thoughts, their problems and their power to drive through the rough 70's.
OK, lots of their powerful songs were "borrowed" from other musicians, re-orchestrated, re-named and given their stage power. So? The Led Zep music and message remains so strong and vivid, after all these years.
Really nice work!