Led Zeppelin biography
Following the second album's release, Led Zeppelin completed several more US tours. They played initially in clubs and ballrooms, then in larger auditoriums as their popularity grew. Some early Led Zeppelin concerts lasted more than four hours, with expanded and improvised live versions of their song repertoire. Many of these shows have been preserved as Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings. It was during this period of intensive concert touring that the band developed a reputation for off-stage excess. One alleged example of such extravagance was the shark episode, or red snapper incident, which is said to have taken place at the Edgewater Inn in Seattle, Washington, on 28 July 1969.
For the third album, Led Zeppelin III, Page and Plant retired to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in Wales, in 1970. The result was a more acoustic sound that was strongly influenced by folk and Celtic music, and showcased the band's versatility. The album's rich acoustic sound initially received mixed reactions, with critics and fans surprised at the turn from the primarily electric arrangements of the first two albums, fuelling further hostility to the musical press. It reached number one in the UK and US charts, but its stay would be the shortest of their first five albums. The album's opening track, "Immigrant Song", was released in November 1970 as a single in the US against the band's wishes, reaching the top twenty on the Billboard chart.
"The Biggest Band in the World" (1971-75)
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In the 1970s Led Zeppelin reached new heights of commercial and critical success that made them one of the most influential groups of the era, dwarfing their earlier achievements. The band's image also changed as members began to wear elaborate, flamboyant clothing. Led Zeppelin began travelling in a private jet airliner (nicknamed
The Starship), rented out entire sections of hotels (including the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles, known colloquially as the "Riot House"), and became the subject of frequently repeated stories of debauchery. One involved John Bonham riding a motorcycle through a rented floor of the Riot House, while another involved the destruction of a room in the Tokyo Hilton, leading to the band being banned from that establishment for life. Although Led Zeppelin developed a reputation for trashing their hotel suites and throwing television sets out of the windows, some suggest that these tales have been exaggerated. Music journalist Chris Welch argues that "Led Zeppelin's travels spawned many stories, but it was a myth that they were constantly engaged in acts of wanton destruction and lewd behaviour".
Led Zeppelin's fourth album was released on 8 November 1971. There was no title or conventional band name on the original cover, as the group wished to be anonymous and to avoid easy pigeonholing by the press. The album remained officially untitled and is most commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, though it is variously referred to as Untitled, IV, or after the four symbols appearing on the record label, as Four Symbols, Zoso or Runes. Led Zeppelin IV is one of the best-selling albums in history and its massive popularity cemented Led Zeppelin's status as superstars in the 1970s. By 2006 it had sold 23 million copies in the United States alone. The track "Stairway to Heaven", although never released as a single, is sometimes quoted as being the most requested, and the most played album-oriented rock FM radio song.
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