Books

Product Description

If ever there were Satanic Majesties of rock their name was Led Zeppelin. The band that out-sold the Rolling Stones and made Robert Johnson's deals with the devil look like a playground game of conkers were as high, inflated and glorified as their namesake. In Stephen Davis' scorching account of their phenomenally successful career, no aspect - however disquieting - is ignored. The infamous encounters with willing groupies in hotel bedrooms, the narcotic, alcoholic and psychotic wreckage they wreaked, the disturbing influence of the notorious mage Aleister Crowley on lead guitarist Jimmy Page and the death of John Bonham are all recorded. Above all, the exultant, blazing charge of their music and its effects on Led Zeppelin and their fans is scrutinized. "Hammer of the Gods" is a fierce and fearless story about a band that remain a legend of musical, sexual and mystical power. It is the last word in rock 'n' roll savagery. 'The biggest surprise success of the year ...the Led Zep tale, drenched in sex, drugs and psychic abuse, demonstrated the validity of all the old adages about talent, power and corruption.

Product Description

The phenomenon that was to be Led Zeppelin started humbly in the session studios and local beat groups of Wolverhampton - in the heart of the British 'midlands' - and in London's 'home counties'. All four future members started their respective careers playing and singing for others, without so much as a label credit. But between them they played on so many pivotal recordings during that revolutionary period in the early, mid and late 1960s, that it has been estimated, individually, they contributed to more than 50 per cent of all British pop records released between 1963 and 1968. They were of course to become, arguably, the most important rock band ever and certainly have maintained the most loyal and dedicated fan base of any major act since the dawn of the rock n roll era [with the possible exception of The Beatles]. The era during which they shone brightest as a collective unit - the golden age of Zeppelin - has been documented numerous times, occasionally with insight and expertise, often with nothing of the sort - but the genesis of this most important of bands has rarely been investigated in depth.

For Led Zeppelin - "The Origins Of The Species - How, Why And Where It All Began", esteemed music historian and author Alan Clayson has traced every session, recording and live appearance made by each future member of Led Zeppelin and woven the results into a rich and insightful text containing a factually accurate 'family tree' of the future band and all their musical and professional colleagues. The book also serves as a staggering insight into the workings of the music industry, its 'big wigs' and its foot soldiers, during the period in question. With further enlightenment concerning the musical influences each member was absorbing during these formative years, which would later come together as a kind of satanic ritual infused with the hippie ideal, this work is insightful, exciting, revelatory and, above all, a bloody good read.

Product Description

Led Zeppelin may have disbanded in 1980, but their legacy lives on. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham always insisted that the music they made, onstage or in the studio, was the important thing. This meticulous book turns away from Zeppelin's well-chronicled antics on the road to explore what made them the biggest rock band of their day and an enduring influence on generations of musicians. With many rare and seldom-seen photographs, this is the definitive vindication of Led Zeppelin's place at the pinnacle of 20th century musical achievement.