France
Simon was born in Newark, New Jersey to Jewish Hungarian parents Belle (died in 2007), an English teacher, and Louis Simon (died in 1995), a college professor, bass player, and dance bandleader who performed under the name "Lee Sims".[3] His family soon moved to Kew Gardens Hills, Queens in New York City. Simon's musical career began in Forest Hills High School when he and his friend Art Garfunkel began singing together as a duo, occasionally performing at school dances. Their idols were the Everly Brothers, whom they often emulated and/or imitated in their early recordings. Simon and Garfunkel were named "Tom & Jerry" by their record company and it was under this name that the duo first had success. In 1957, they recorded the single "Hey, Schoolgirl," on Big Records which reached forty-nine on the pop charts while they were still in their teens.
After graduating from high school, Simon attended Queens College, while Garfunkel studied at Columbia University in Manhattan. Simon was a brother in the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Though Simon earned a degree in English literature, his real passion was rock and roll. Between 1957 and 1964, Simon wrote, recorded, and released more than thirty songs, occasionally reuniting with Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry for some singles, including "Our Song," "That's My Story," and "Surrender, Please Surrender," among others. He also briefly attended Brooklyn Law School.
Most of the songs Simon recorded in the six years after 1957 were performed alone or with musicians other than Garfunkel. They were released on several minor record labels, such as Amy, ABC-Paramount, Big, Hunt, Ember, King, Tribute, and Madison. He used several different pseudonyms for these recordings, including Jerry Landis, Paul Kane (from Orson Welles's film Citizen Kane), and True Taylor. Simon enjoyed some moderate success in recording a few singles as part of a group called Tico and the Triumphs, including a song called "Motorcycle" which reached 99 on the Billboard charts in 1962. Tico and the Triumphs released four "45s." Marty Cooper, a member of the group, sang lead on several of these releases and was actually known as Tico. Bobby Susser, children's songwriter and record producer, and childhood friend of Simon's, co-produced the Tico "45s" with Simon. That same year, Paul reached 97 on the pop charts as Jerry Landis with the hit "The Lone Teen Ranger." Both singles were released on Amy Records.
During this period, Simon met Carole King, with whom he recorded several unreleased demos as a duo called The Cosines to be recorded and released by other groups. In addition, Simon's experience in the studio led him to produce many singles for other acts, including The Vels, Ritchie Cordell, The Fashions, Jay Walker and the Pedestrians, and Dougie and the Dubs. It was also at this time that he became attracted to the New York folk music scene and made his first forays into the folk-rock genre, as is evident in the songs "Carlos Dominguez" and "He Was My Brother" (1963), the latter of which he dedicated to a friend and former classmate, Andrew Goodman who had been murdered while working on the Freedom Summer project in Mississippi in 1964. During the mid-1960s, while living in the UK, Simon co-wrote several songs with Bruce Woodley of the Australian pop group The Seekers. "I Wish You Could Be Here," "Cloudy," and "Red Rubber Ball" were written during this period. However, Woodley's co-authorship credit was incorrectly omitted from "Cloudy" off the Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme album. When the American group The Cyrkle recorded a cover of "Red Rubber Ball," the song reached number two in the US. Simon also contributed his original composition to The Seekers catalogue, "Someday One Day," which was released in March 1966.
[edit]
Simon and Garfunkel
Main article: Simon and Garfunkel
In early 1964, Simon and Garfunkel got an audition with Columbia Records, whose executives were impressed enough to sign the duo to a contract to produce an album. According to a February 2001 writing from Bud Scoppa, Miles Davis was a member of the Columbia Records staff that offered the duo a record deal.[citation needed] Columbia decided that the two would be called simply "Simon & Garfunkel," which Simon claimed in 2003, was the first time that artists' ethnic names had been used in pop music.[4]
Simon and Garfunkel's first LP, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. was released on 19 October 1964 and comprised twelve songs in the folk vein, five of them written by Simon. The album initially flopped, but East Coast radio stations began receiving requests for one of the tracks, Simon's "The Sound of Silence." Their producer, Tom Wilson, overdubbed the track with electric guitar, bass, and drums, releasing it as a single that eventually went to number one on the pop charts in the USA.
Simon had gone to England after the initial failure of Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., pursuing a solo career (including collaborations with Bruce Woodley of The Seekers) and releasing the album The Paul Simon Song Book in the UK in 1965. But he returned to the USA to reunite with Garfunkel after "The Sound of Silence" had started to enjoy commercial success. Together they recorded several influential albums, including 1966's Sounds of Silence, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, Bookends in 1968 and Bridge Over Troubled Water (1969). Simon and Garfunkel also contributed extensively to the soundtrack of the 1967 Mike Nichols film The Graduate (starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft). While writing Mrs. Robinson, Simon originally toyed with the title Mrs. Roosevelt. When Garfunkel reported this indecision over the song's name to the director, Nichols replied, "Don't be ridiculous! We're making movie here! It's Mrs. Robinson!"[5]
Simon pursued solo projects after the duo released their very popular album Bridge over Troubled Water. Occasionally, he and Garfunkel did reunite, such as in 1975 for their Top Ten single "My Little Town," which Simon originally wrote for Garfunkel, claiming his work was lacking 'bite'. Garfunkel insisted they sing the song together, and release it on their respective solo albums; Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years, and Garfunkel's Breakaway. Contrary to popular belief, the song is not at all autobiographical of Simon's early life in New York.[6] In 1981, they got together again for the famous concert in Central Park, followed by an aborted reunion album Think Too Much, which was eventually released (sans Garfunkel) as Hearts and Bones. Together, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
In 2003, the two reunited again when they received Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. This reunion led to a U.S. tour, the acclaimed "Old Friends" concert series, followed by a 2004 international encore, which culminated in a free concert at the Colosseum in Rome. That final concert drew 600,000 people — 100,000 more than had attended Paul McCartney's concert at the same venue a year earlier.[citation needed]
[edit]
Solo career
After Simon and Garfunkel split in 1971, Simon began to write and record solo material. He released Paul Simon in 1972, which contained one of his first experiments with world music, the Jamaican-inspired Mother and Child Reunion, and There Goes Rhymin' Simon in 1973, which featured such popular hit songs as "Something So Right" (a tribute to his first wife, Peggy), "Kodachrome", "American Tune" and "Loves Me Like A Rock," the latter two obliquely referencing the dark cloud of the Watergate scandal involving the Nixon administration. His 1975 album Still Crazy After All These Years is considered to be among his finest work, particularly the title track and the hit single "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." Over the next five years, Simon dabbled in various projects, including writing music for the film Shampoo (a project which was eventually scrapped) and acting (he was cast as Tony Lacey in Woody Allen's film Annie Hall). He continued, though less prolifically, to produce hits such as "Slip Slidin' Away" (on Simon's final Columbia album Greatest Hits, Etc. in 1977) and "Late in the Evening," (on 1980's One Trick Pony album) while often appearing on Saturday Night Live. The One Trick Pony album, Simon's first album with Warner Bros. Records (which also took over distribution of Simon's solo Columbia recordings from 1972 on) was also paired with a major motion picture of the same name, with Simon in the starring role. Simon's next album Hearts and Bones, while critically acclaimed, did not yield any hit singles and marked a lull in his commercial popularity in the early 1980s. The album featured "The Late Great Johnny Ace," a song partly about Johnny Ace, a U.S rhythm and blues singer, and partly about slain ex-Beatle John Lennon.
In 1985, Simon lent his talents to USA for Africa and performed on the famine relief fundraising single We Are the World. In 1986 he released the immensely popular Graceland, for which he won a Grammy. The album featured the groundbreaking use of African rhythms and performers such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In 1990, he followed up Graceland with the commercially successful and consistent successor album The Rhythm of the Saints, which featured Brazilian musical themes. These albums helped to popularize world music as a genre. The importance of both albums allowed Simon to stage another New York concert, and on August 15, 1991, almost 10 years after his concert with Garfunkel, Simon staged another concert in Central Park with both African and South American bands. The success led to both a live album and an Emmy winning TV special.
His 2000 studio album You're the One, did not reach the commercial heights of previous albums but was considered by many fans and critics to be an artistic success and received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. A DVD of the same title, taped in Paris, was released in 2000. In 2002 he recorded the theme song for the animated children's movie The Wild Thornberrys Movie called "Father and Daughter." It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song
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"The Sounds of Silence" is the song that propelled the 1960s folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel to popularity. It was written by Paul Simon in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Simon conceived of the song as a way of capturing the emotional trauma felt by many Americans. It was originally recorded as an acoustic piece for their first album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. but was later overdubbed with electric instruments and released as a single. The single slowly climbed the charts until it reached number one on New Year's Day 1966. The song was included in the 1966 album Sounds of Silence.
The song features Simon on acoustic guitar and both Simon and Garfunkel singing.
The song was originally called "The Sounds of Silence", and is titled that way on the early albums in which it appeared and on the single. In later compilations, it was retitled "The Sound of Silence". Both the singular and the plural form of the word appear in the lyrics.
The song was used in the film The Graduate, played during the opening credits and the closing footage and in the film Bobby, a film about several people staying in the hotel where Robert "Bobby" Kennedy was shot, during the last 24 hours before the assassination. In this film, it is played after the assassination. Meanwhile, several authentic speeches of, and interviews with, Kennedy are shown. The song is additionally used in the movie Old School during a scene in which Will Ferrel falls into a pool after being hit by a tranquilizer dart.
The song features Simon on acoustic guitar and both Simon and Garfunkel singing.
The song was originally called "The Sounds of Silence", and is titled that way on the early albums in which it appeared and on the single. In later compilations, it was retitled "The Sound of Silence". Both the singular and the plural form of the word appear in the lyrics.
The song was used in the film The Graduate, played during the opening credits and the closing footage and in the film Bobby, a film about several people staying in the hotel where Robert "Bobby" Kennedy was shot, during the last 24 hours before the assassination. In this film, it is played after the assassination. Meanwhile, several authentic speeches of, and interviews with, Kennedy are shown. The song is additionally used in the movie Old School during a scene in which Will Ferrel falls into a pool after being hit by a tranquilizer dart.
After recording their first album, the duo split up, with Simon going to England for much of 1965. There he often performed the song solo in folk clubs, and recorded it for a second time on his solo LP in May 1965, The Paul Simon Song Book.
In the meantime, Simon and Garfunkel's producer at Columbia Records in New York, Tom Wilson, had learned that the song had begun to receive airplay on radio stations in Boston, Massachusetts and around Gainesville and Cocoa Beach, Florida. On 15 June 1965, immediately after the recording session of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", he took the original track of Simon & Garfunkel and Simon's guitar, and overdubbed the recording with electric guitar (played by Al Gorgoni), electric bass (Bob Bushnell), and drums (Bobby Gregg), and released it as a single without Simon or Garfunkel's consent or even consulting them.[1] The song entered the U.S. pop charts in September 1965 and slowly began its ascent.
Simon learned that it had entered the charts minutes before he went on stage to perform at a club in Copenhagen, Denmark, and soon afterwards he returned to the United States. By the end of 1965 and the first few weeks of 1966, the song reached number one on the U.S. charts. Simon and Garfunkel then reunited as a musical group, and included the song as the title track of their next album Sounds of Silence, hastily-recorded in December 1965 and released in January 1966 to capitalize on their success. The song propelled them to stardom and, together with two other top-five (in the U.S.) hits in the summer of 1966, "I Am a Rock" and "Homeward Bound," ensured the duo's fame. In 1999, BMI named "The Sounds of Silence" as the 18th-most performed song of the 20th century.[2] In 2004 it was ranked #156 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of the duo's three songs on the list.
[edit]
Single
"The Sounds of Silence" was released on Columbia Records as 45 rpm catalog number #4-43396. The single has several variations:
One variation was a promotional release on red vinyl. This copy was unique in that it featured the original acoustic version found on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. on one side and the electric overdubbed version later featured on Sounds of Silence on the other. This release was mainly distributed to radio stations and carries a white label. This version is rare to find today, and quite valuable to collectors.
The standard version of the single was released on black vinyl, with a red label the same Columbia catalog number, and backed with "We've Got A Groovey Thing Goin'." The now-passé adjective is normally spelled "Groovy", as it would be on their later issue, "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)".
"The Sounds of Silence" was later released in the 1970s on the Columbia "Hall of Fame" series, catalog number 13-3396, which featured back-to-back hits of a group on 45. This time the song was backed by "Homeward Bound."
[edit]
Quotations
"'The Sounds of Silence' is a major work. We were looking for a song on a larger scale, but this is more than either of us expected."
- Art Garfunkel[3]
"A societal view of the lack of communication."
- Paul Simon[4]
"The lyrics burst forth practically writing themselves."
- Paul Simon[5]
"The main thing about playing the guitar, though, was that I was able to sit by myself and play and dream. And I was always happy doing that. I used to go off in the bathroom, because the bathroom had tiles, so it was a slight echo chamber. I'd turn on the faucet so that water would run — I like that sound, it's very soothing to me — and I'd play. In the dark. 'Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again'."
- Paul Simon[6]
[edit]
Covers
"The Sounds of Silence" was covered by Icelandic singer Emilíana Torrini for a 1996 compilation.
Progressive metal band Nevermore also recorded their own rendition for their 2000 album, Dead Heart in a Dead World. While directly borrowing Simon's lyrics and vocal melody, musically, Nevermore's version barely resembles the original, lasting over two minutes longer, and with only the introductory guitar chords resembling the original melody.
The Bachelors released a cover version as a single (Decca F12351, 9 Apr 1966), hitting number 3 in the UK charts. The track has been included on many of their albums.
German metalband Atrocity covered this song for their album Gemini in 2000 (Motor Music).
The Canadian progressive rock band Rush alluded to the lyrics, "And the words of the prophets were written on the subway walls" in their song "The Spirit of Radio" ("For the words of the profits were written on the studio walls."). Rush intentionally changed "prophets" to "profits".
Metalcore band Shai Hulud also referenced the song, employing the words 'hear my words that I might teach you, take my arms that I might reach you' as the opening lyrics of their song 'Ending the Perpetual Tragedy'.
In 1971, during her solo career, Frida Lyngstad (later of ABBA) released a Swedish cover titled "En Ton Av Tystnad" ("A Note of Silence") on her album Frida.
The June 30, 2007 broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion featured a spoof called "Sounds of Sirens" about a 17 year old who sets off sirens for excitement in his boring town. [1]. A later broadcast featured another parody, "Sounds of Sickness".
Shaw Blades, consisting of Night ranger's Jack Blades and Styx's Tommy Shaw, covered the song on their 2007 album, Influences.
The song has also been covered on the flash website www.joecartoon.com with altered lyrics.
It was parodied once by Wayne Brady and Chip Esten on an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? as "The Sound of Stirrups."
Immortal Technique, a hip hop MC and political activist, sampled the original song in a track titled "Silence."
In November, 2007, the female British classical choral quartet All Angels of Universal Records released a cover of the song on their album Into Paradise.
It was covered in French by Gérard Lenorman under the title "Chanson d'Innoncence".
The Simpsons fith season episode: Lady Bouvier's Lover is ended by a parodied version of the song. "The Sounds of Grandpa
In the meantime, Simon and Garfunkel's producer at Columbia Records in New York, Tom Wilson, had learned that the song had begun to receive airplay on radio stations in Boston, Massachusetts and around Gainesville and Cocoa Beach, Florida. On 15 June 1965, immediately after the recording session of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", he took the original track of Simon & Garfunkel and Simon's guitar, and overdubbed the recording with electric guitar (played by Al Gorgoni), electric bass (Bob Bushnell), and drums (Bobby Gregg), and released it as a single without Simon or Garfunkel's consent or even consulting them.[1] The song entered the U.S. pop charts in September 1965 and slowly began its ascent.
Simon learned that it had entered the charts minutes before he went on stage to perform at a club in Copenhagen, Denmark, and soon afterwards he returned to the United States. By the end of 1965 and the first few weeks of 1966, the song reached number one on the U.S. charts. Simon and Garfunkel then reunited as a musical group, and included the song as the title track of their next album Sounds of Silence, hastily-recorded in December 1965 and released in January 1966 to capitalize on their success. The song propelled them to stardom and, together with two other top-five (in the U.S.) hits in the summer of 1966, "I Am a Rock" and "Homeward Bound," ensured the duo's fame. In 1999, BMI named "The Sounds of Silence" as the 18th-most performed song of the 20th century.[2] In 2004 it was ranked #156 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of the duo's three songs on the list.
[edit]
Single
"The Sounds of Silence" was released on Columbia Records as 45 rpm catalog number #4-43396. The single has several variations:
One variation was a promotional release on red vinyl. This copy was unique in that it featured the original acoustic version found on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. on one side and the electric overdubbed version later featured on Sounds of Silence on the other. This release was mainly distributed to radio stations and carries a white label. This version is rare to find today, and quite valuable to collectors.
The standard version of the single was released on black vinyl, with a red label the same Columbia catalog number, and backed with "We've Got A Groovey Thing Goin'." The now-passé adjective is normally spelled "Groovy", as it would be on their later issue, "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)".
"The Sounds of Silence" was later released in the 1970s on the Columbia "Hall of Fame" series, catalog number 13-3396, which featured back-to-back hits of a group on 45. This time the song was backed by "Homeward Bound."
[edit]
Quotations
"'The Sounds of Silence' is a major work. We were looking for a song on a larger scale, but this is more than either of us expected."
- Art Garfunkel[3]
"A societal view of the lack of communication."
- Paul Simon[4]
"The lyrics burst forth practically writing themselves."
- Paul Simon[5]
"The main thing about playing the guitar, though, was that I was able to sit by myself and play and dream. And I was always happy doing that. I used to go off in the bathroom, because the bathroom had tiles, so it was a slight echo chamber. I'd turn on the faucet so that water would run — I like that sound, it's very soothing to me — and I'd play. In the dark. 'Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again'."
- Paul Simon[6]
[edit]
Covers
"The Sounds of Silence" was covered by Icelandic singer Emilíana Torrini for a 1996 compilation.
Progressive metal band Nevermore also recorded their own rendition for their 2000 album, Dead Heart in a Dead World. While directly borrowing Simon's lyrics and vocal melody, musically, Nevermore's version barely resembles the original, lasting over two minutes longer, and with only the introductory guitar chords resembling the original melody.
The Bachelors released a cover version as a single (Decca F12351, 9 Apr 1966), hitting number 3 in the UK charts. The track has been included on many of their albums.
German metalband Atrocity covered this song for their album Gemini in 2000 (Motor Music).
The Canadian progressive rock band Rush alluded to the lyrics, "And the words of the prophets were written on the subway walls" in their song "The Spirit of Radio" ("For the words of the profits were written on the studio walls."). Rush intentionally changed "prophets" to "profits".
Metalcore band Shai Hulud also referenced the song, employing the words 'hear my words that I might teach you, take my arms that I might reach you' as the opening lyrics of their song 'Ending the Perpetual Tragedy'.
In 1971, during her solo career, Frida Lyngstad (later of ABBA) released a Swedish cover titled "En Ton Av Tystnad" ("A Note of Silence") on her album Frida.
The June 30, 2007 broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion featured a spoof called "Sounds of Sirens" about a 17 year old who sets off sirens for excitement in his boring town. [1]. A later broadcast featured another parody, "Sounds of Sickness".
Shaw Blades, consisting of Night ranger's Jack Blades and Styx's Tommy Shaw, covered the song on their 2007 album, Influences.
The song has also been covered on the flash website www.joecartoon.com with altered lyrics.
It was parodied once by Wayne Brady and Chip Esten on an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? as "The Sound of Stirrups."
Immortal Technique, a hip hop MC and political activist, sampled the original song in a track titled "Silence."
In November, 2007, the female British classical choral quartet All Angels of Universal Records released a cover of the song on their album Into Paradise.
It was covered in French by Gérard Lenorman under the title "Chanson d'Innoncence".
The Simpsons fith season episode: Lady Bouvier's Lover is ended by a parodied version of the song. "The Sounds of Grandpa
Led Zeppelin est un groupe de rock anglais, précurseur du hard rock et du heavy metal, né en 1968. Composé de musiciens virtuoses et novateurs, il est considéré comme l'un des plus grands groupes de l'histoire du rock. Parmi les titres les plus connus de ce groupe, on compte Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Since I've Been Loving You, Dazed and Confused, Kashmir, Heartbreaker, Immigrant Song, Rock and Roll, No Quarter, Black Dog, When the levee breaks....
Led Zeppelin a vendu plus de 300 millions de disques à travers le Monde1. Son double DVD rétrospectif sortie en 2003 est à ce jour le DVD musical le plus vendu au monde avec plus d'1,5 millions d'exemplaires écoulés.[Jimmy Page avait une conception particulière des concerts et a toujours su l'insuffler au groupe.
Tout d'abord, contrairement aux autres artistes de l'époque, Led Zeppelin n'avait pas de première partie. Leur prestation était en effet trop longue (jusqu'à trois heures) pour en intégrer une.
Ensuite, Led Zeppelin ne s'est jamais contenté de jouer ses morceaux tels qu'on les entendait sur leurs albums studios. Jimmy Page, particulièrement, retravaillait chaque morceau qu'il jouait durant la tournée afin d'en expérimenter chaque aspect, modifiant non seulement ses solos, mais aussi le corps des morceaux. Les différences vont du détail à de profondes modifications. Par exemple, le morceau Dazed and Confused du premier album, dure 6 minutes dans la version studio contre 25 lors de la tournée de 1973 et jusqu'à 45 en 1975. Ce n'étaient pas de simples rallongements d'un même thème mais souvent des medleys contenant le plus souvent des reprises, ou bien de nouveaux thèmes qui parfois devenaient par la suite des titres à part entière.
La version live du titre Whole Lotta Love a été augmentée de cinq ou six jam session ajoutés au contenu original. Jimmy Page a également modifié et prolongé son solo. Le batteur John Bonham faisait aussi parfois durer le solo de batterie de Moby Dick jusqu'à 40 minutes.
Ce travail peut être apprécié dans leurs albums live (voir leur Discographie) ainsi que dans les très nombreux bootlegs disponibles.En 1968, lorsque les Yardbirds se séparent, Jimmy Page est encore sous contrat et doit honorer des dates de concerts. Il recherche donc des musiciens pour former un nouveau groupe avec le manager des Yardbirds, Peter Grant. John Paul Jones apprend la nouvelle et contacte Page avec qui il a déjà travaillé lors de différentes sessions studio. Page, connaissant le professionnalisme de John Paul Jones, accepte tout de suite. Pour le chanteur, Jimmy Page pense tout d'abord à Steve Marriott, le chanteur des Small Faces, puis à Terry Reid. Celui-ci décline l'offre, mais l'oriente vers un jeune chanteur qui l'a impressionné : Robert Plant. Jimmy Page l'écoute en concert et est enthousiasmé. Il ne manque plus que le batteur. Robert Plant connaît un batteur surdoué avec qui il a joué au sein d'un groupe de rock : John Bonham. Ce dernier refuse d'abord l'offre, étant entré en contact avec Joe Cocker pour occuper un poste stable au sein de son groupe. Mais sous la pression de Jimmy Page et de Peter Grant, il accepte finalement l'offre et le quatuor forme les New Yardbirds, qui partent alors en tournée en Scandinavie. Ils empruntent un look très proche de celui des Who et un son similaire à celui du Jeff Beck's Group.
Pour ne plus s'afficher comme les Yardbirds et marquer un tournant musical, les New Yarbirds changent leur nom pour Led Zeppelin le 9 novembre 1968, lors d'un concert au London Roundhouse de Chalk Farm, en Angleterre. D'après la légende, après avoir hésité entre Mad Dogs et Whoopie Cushion, c'est Jimmy Page qui se souviendra d'une blague de Keith Moon et de John Estwistle de The Who, racontant qu'ils n'en pouvaient plus de la dictature de Pete Townshend et qu'ils rêvaient de monter un supergroupe : « le plus grand, puissant comme un ballon plombé... »
Led Zeppelin a vendu plus de 300 millions de disques à travers le Monde1. Son double DVD rétrospectif sortie en 2003 est à ce jour le DVD musical le plus vendu au monde avec plus d'1,5 millions d'exemplaires écoulés.[Jimmy Page avait une conception particulière des concerts et a toujours su l'insuffler au groupe.
Tout d'abord, contrairement aux autres artistes de l'époque, Led Zeppelin n'avait pas de première partie. Leur prestation était en effet trop longue (jusqu'à trois heures) pour en intégrer une.
Ensuite, Led Zeppelin ne s'est jamais contenté de jouer ses morceaux tels qu'on les entendait sur leurs albums studios. Jimmy Page, particulièrement, retravaillait chaque morceau qu'il jouait durant la tournée afin d'en expérimenter chaque aspect, modifiant non seulement ses solos, mais aussi le corps des morceaux. Les différences vont du détail à de profondes modifications. Par exemple, le morceau Dazed and Confused du premier album, dure 6 minutes dans la version studio contre 25 lors de la tournée de 1973 et jusqu'à 45 en 1975. Ce n'étaient pas de simples rallongements d'un même thème mais souvent des medleys contenant le plus souvent des reprises, ou bien de nouveaux thèmes qui parfois devenaient par la suite des titres à part entière.
La version live du titre Whole Lotta Love a été augmentée de cinq ou six jam session ajoutés au contenu original. Jimmy Page a également modifié et prolongé son solo. Le batteur John Bonham faisait aussi parfois durer le solo de batterie de Moby Dick jusqu'à 40 minutes.
Ce travail peut être apprécié dans leurs albums live (voir leur Discographie) ainsi que dans les très nombreux bootlegs disponibles.En 1968, lorsque les Yardbirds se séparent, Jimmy Page est encore sous contrat et doit honorer des dates de concerts. Il recherche donc des musiciens pour former un nouveau groupe avec le manager des Yardbirds, Peter Grant. John Paul Jones apprend la nouvelle et contacte Page avec qui il a déjà travaillé lors de différentes sessions studio. Page, connaissant le professionnalisme de John Paul Jones, accepte tout de suite. Pour le chanteur, Jimmy Page pense tout d'abord à Steve Marriott, le chanteur des Small Faces, puis à Terry Reid. Celui-ci décline l'offre, mais l'oriente vers un jeune chanteur qui l'a impressionné : Robert Plant. Jimmy Page l'écoute en concert et est enthousiasmé. Il ne manque plus que le batteur. Robert Plant connaît un batteur surdoué avec qui il a joué au sein d'un groupe de rock : John Bonham. Ce dernier refuse d'abord l'offre, étant entré en contact avec Joe Cocker pour occuper un poste stable au sein de son groupe. Mais sous la pression de Jimmy Page et de Peter Grant, il accepte finalement l'offre et le quatuor forme les New Yardbirds, qui partent alors en tournée en Scandinavie. Ils empruntent un look très proche de celui des Who et un son similaire à celui du Jeff Beck's Group.
Pour ne plus s'afficher comme les Yardbirds et marquer un tournant musical, les New Yarbirds changent leur nom pour Led Zeppelin le 9 novembre 1968, lors d'un concert au London Roundhouse de Chalk Farm, en Angleterre. D'après la légende, après avoir hésité entre Mad Dogs et Whoopie Cushion, c'est Jimmy Page qui se souviendra d'une blague de Keith Moon et de John Estwistle de The Who, racontant qu'ils n'en pouvaient plus de la dictature de Pete Townshend et qu'ils rêvaient de monter un supergroupe : « le plus grand, puissant comme un ballon plombé... »
L'année 2001 est celle de la sortie du cinquième et dernier album, « Wake Up and Smell the Coffee », en octobre. Il est produit par Stephen Street, qui était déjà présent pour les deux premiers opus du groupe. Il atteint la 46e et la 61e place respectivement dans les charts américains et anglais, devenant leur album le moins vendu. En France, l'album continue dans la lignée de ses prédécesseurs, et parvient à atteindre la 2e place du Top 50 français en octobre 20018. Mais son premier single, « Analyse », n'atteint pas le Top 75 au Royaume-Uni, devenant lui aussi un de leurs singles le moins vendu. Les 2 qui suivront, « Time Is Ticking Out » et « This Is The Day », n'atteindront même pas le Top 200 anglais. Suivra une tournée mondiale, de février à octobre 2002 et les ventes de l'album s'élèveront au final à 1 300 000 exemplaires.
L'année suivante sort une compilation des succès du groupe, « Stars - The Best of 1992 - 2002 », ainsi qu'un DVD du même nom, comportant des clips, des lives et un documentaire intitulé « 99 Love Life & Rock 'n' Roll ». La version CD atteindra la 20e place au Top 50 au Royaume-Uni et restera pendant 7 semaines dans le Top 10 des ventes de compilations en France 9. Trois pistes n'ayant jamais été sur un single apparaissent sur Stars : « Daffodil Lament », de No Need to Argue, choisie pour y figurer après un vote des fans, « New New York » et « Stars », toutes deux inédites. « New New York » a été écrite en réaction aux attentats du 11 septembre. Cette compilation leur vaut une récompense à Taïwan, où tout leurs albums ont été un succès, comme meilleur artiste étranger. Ils se lancent dans une nouvelle tournée en octobre 2002, qui s'achève en décembre. Cette courte tournée ne les fait se produire qu'en Asie et en Europe. Mi-2003, le groupe joue quelques dates, soit en première partie des Rolling Stones, soit en solo. Ils y joueront 2 nouvelles chansons : « Astral Projection » et « In It Together ».
L'année suivante sort une compilation des succès du groupe, « Stars - The Best of 1992 - 2002 », ainsi qu'un DVD du même nom, comportant des clips, des lives et un documentaire intitulé « 99 Love Life & Rock 'n' Roll ». La version CD atteindra la 20e place au Top 50 au Royaume-Uni et restera pendant 7 semaines dans le Top 10 des ventes de compilations en France 9. Trois pistes n'ayant jamais été sur un single apparaissent sur Stars : « Daffodil Lament », de No Need to Argue, choisie pour y figurer après un vote des fans, « New New York » et « Stars », toutes deux inédites. « New New York » a été écrite en réaction aux attentats du 11 septembre. Cette compilation leur vaut une récompense à Taïwan, où tout leurs albums ont été un succès, comme meilleur artiste étranger. Ils se lancent dans une nouvelle tournée en octobre 2002, qui s'achève en décembre. Cette courte tournée ne les fait se produire qu'en Asie et en Europe. Mi-2003, le groupe joue quelques dates, soit en première partie des Rolling Stones, soit en solo. Ils y joueront 2 nouvelles chansons : « Astral Projection » et « In It Together ».