Led Zeppelin: The Biography

Bob Spitz has done a commendable job of capturing the story of one of the greatest Rock and Roll Bands that ever existed: Led Zepplin. Four men from England, took the blues and injected their own brand of electric mayhem into the mix, and rocked the world. I can recall being fascinated by the cover of Physical Graffiti when I saw it in the record store. It's not like now when thousands of reviews are available through the internet. No, back then there were a few reliable sources that published reviews, most notably Creem magazine, and you were lucky to have bought the latest issue off the newsstand. Otherwise, you paid your money and took your chances. I am happy to say that I still have the album on vinyl and that it still rocks just as hard as when I first played it. This book is thorough and covers the band from the beginning all the way to the tragic demise after the death of drummer John Bonham. An interesting insightful look at one of the major forces in music. Rock On!

it’s zeppelin, good read

Disturbing look at their lives on the road. What a bunch of pigs. Still like their music but hate the men.

After reading Bob Spitzer’s Beatles bio, I turned to this one. Led Zeppelin has always been one of my favorite bands and the bio was a testament to their greatness. We learn the backstory of the band, a brain child of guitar prodigy Jimmy Page who brought together three other uniquely talented musicians. The bio then swings back-and-forth between the making of their legendary albums and their equally legendary tours and concerts. We follow with fascination and disgust as this phenomenal quartet conquers the world, only to fall prey to all of the vices and clichés that characterize rock ‘n’ roll bands. They wallow in drugs, sex, alcohol, and pure unadulterated narcissism. We learn a great deal about band manager Peter Grant, a mafioso type figure who managed to keep the band together and on tour by assembling a cast of villains to support their drug habits and strong arm anybody who was in their way. The bio is terribly bloated with repetitive descriptions of overindulgence in cocaine, sex and ultraviolence. But in between these are marvelous passages illuminating the genius of the band as they cut album after album. Finally there is the inevitable break up after a long slide into the sewer of drug abuse and alcoholism ending with John Bonham’s untimely and sad death. Page also ends up a sad parody of himself unable to maintain the high standards of his guitar playing after many years of drug abuse. Meanwhile Robert Plant and John Paul Jones watch as the band descends and their partners struggle with their abusive behaviors. Plant especially comes out as a lyrical and vocal genius, while Jones is the musical genius behind the orchestration of some of the band’s best songs including Kashmir. He’s also the mastermind behind the most underrated album In through the out door, which in my opinion is far better than it is given credit for. While as bloated as the band itself, this bio is a worthy slog through the career of the best rock band ever.

Like other reviewers have stated the first thing I usually go to is the pictures. Right off I noticed a lot of the dates are not accurate. Since I knew their last tour of the states was in 1977 (at the St. Louis show) no way they played in 1979. While the book does have some interesting items in it, nothing I did not know before. Book might have received more claims of being accurate if they would have at least got the dates right in the pictures. Wonder what else is not accurate, Oh it makes me wonder!!!

What a story and hard imagine how the band got on, with Peter Grant managing the logistics of the band and just how much money they were making and the drugs. Can't believe law enforcement didn't raid their plane and hotels, and homes. What a story. This could never happen in todays world.

Bought this for a friend as a gift. The book is really nice.

I've just received my copy of the book. I headed to the photo sections immediately and noticed right off the bat that many of the pictures included have incorrect dates attributed to them.Photos taken in Oakland, 1977 are mistakenly listed by the author as taken in 1979. A famous pic of Jimmy in his storm trooper garb from Chicago 1977 is listed as 1975...I'll not bore anyone with all the other glaring errors just in the photo sections alone, but this is NOT a good sign.As a mega Zep fan for 40 yrs, how can I take this book seriously when it's already loaded with BS before I've even picked it up to read it?! Are we to assume that the rest of this book is full of innacuracies as well? I think so.Though I may waste my time reading the whole thing at some point, I'm really put off by multiple errors already for things this author could have so easily looked up. These are lazy mistakes, and this author's credibility is now in the toilet.**To say that there is a plethora of misinformation out there regarding Led Zeppelin is a gross understatement.**The internet has become a stinking cesspool of false information - especially on this band in particular - and here we have yet another new book to add to a VERY LONG line of others that include fake "myths" and innacuracies (yeah, I'm looking at YOU, 'Hammer of the Gods' and 'Stairway To Heaven').Zeppelin fans know better and deserve much more than...well, more of the same.* if somehow this book is mostly accurate with LZ history, I will edit my comment here and happily praise this author.

Great read, full of information, dealt with the myths and legends, only downside is the darkside wasn't addressed enough. That doesn't diminish the quality of the delivery though.

En lysande biografi över ett av världens bästa band. Allt man kan tänkas behöva veta om Zeppelin.

I was excited to hear about this book coming out and looked forward to reading it. Its packed full with details on each member and the history of the band. However being a long time fan I really didn't find much new here. Still a great read though for all those Zep Heads out there !!

I heard about the book back in May but could never seem to find it. Amazon had it for a good price and it was a gift for my partner who just loves it, even though he is not much of a reader this book change the rules. Well Done

Bob Spitz has a unique writing style that teleports you to a different time and puts you beside the person or group in the bio...Great insight into the life & process from early days to fame. As a huge Zepp fan that saw them perform live in 1971 I really enjoy discovering the back story. Love it! ♥️😎👍