Led Zeppelin: The Oral History of the World's Greatest Rock Band

by Barney Hoskyns

The definitive oral history of the iconic, bestselling rock band Led ZeppelinWith Robert Plant on lead vocal and Jimmy Page on guitar, Led Zeppelin is one of the most iconic, legendary, and influential rock bands in musical history. Tales of their indulgence in sex, drugs, and excess have swirled for decades. In this definitive oral history of the band, Barney Hoskyns finally reveals the truth about Led Zeppelin, paring away the myths and describing what life was really like for four young men on top of the world, enjoying fame on a scale that not even the Beatles experienced as a touring live act. Through fresh new interviews with the surviving band members, close friends, their tour manager, and scores of other fascinating characters, Hoskyns provides deep insights into the personalities of the band members and chronicles the group's dramatic rise, fall, and legacy.Based on more than 200 interviews with everyone from Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones to road manager Richard Cole, their late manager Peter Grant, and many others central to the Zeppelin storyFeatures striking photos of the band both on and offstage, many published here for the first timeTakes a fresh look at Led Zeppelin's music, cultural significance, and legend, as well as the highs and lows of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle on the roadAnalyzes the way the band wrote, arranged, and recorded, from how they created the stupendous sound and dynamics on "Dazed and Confused" and "Whole Lotta Love" to the group's folk-suffused acoustic side embodied in songs like "Friends" and "That's the Way"Written by Barney Hoskyns, contributing editor at British "Vogue" who is the author of the bestselling book "Hotel California" and the co-founder of online music-journalism library Rock's Backpages

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Led Zeppelin, Rock N Roll

576 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2012

Reviews

[Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Impeachable sources do not make for a credible oral history of Led Zeppelin. The author's decision to include claims from fringe individuals and known fabulists simply sullied an already overlong book and served to perpetuate the misinformation and myth surrounding Led Zeppelin. Enough of that sort of book is already in existence.

[David Rullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. If you've read anything about Zep before then you know most of the stories. Reading this book is like reading the source material for all of those other biographies. Most of the interviews seem like they're older, obviously the pieces from those who passed away are but there are new insights and stories I've never seen and a different perspective than the books featured. More than anything, the incredible darkness that surrounded the band, beginning with their Swan Song days through to the end of their career, is researched and talked about so much more than anywhere else. We all know that Page was a junkie and that Plant's family suffered great loss, the impact of this, the disinterest in their label, the broken friendships and relationships, the schisms, even how this darkness affected some of the other bands in their sphere of influence are all shown here. You come to the end of this book liking the band members a lot less than you do when you read Hammers of the God or any of the other bio's out there. Read all those other books first and then come to this. There's so much background, so many interviews coloring the stories that it's a great way to bookend all the other biographies that present the band as nothing more than a party on wheels (or on wings as the case may be.)

[Matthew Budman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up around two-thirds of the way through. An oral history cobbled together from a mixture of published and new interviews that, because the members of Led Zeppelin were deliberately evasive and enigmatic throughout the 1970s, leans heavily on outer-circle hangers-on. And Hoskyns makes no effort to differentiate or referee disputed anecdotes and assessments. (Was drummer John Bonham a sweet family guy with a drinking problem or a psychopathic madman who destroyed everything and everyone within a fifty-foot radius? You decide!) It's like a documentary composed of found footage with no talking heads or screen titles to fill in the gaps, and unfortunately the found footage is mostly glorified roadies or onetime studio engineers talking about how Jimmy Page dressed or that one time he said something mean during a contract negotiation or what a considerate lover he could be. Band manager Peter Grant is a far more significant character here than bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones.

What about the songs? You know, the reason we still listen to Led Zeppelin? The reason why they were (are?) "the world's greatest rock band"? The songs are barely present. If no one happened to mention a song title in an interview, that song may as well have never been recorded. There's almost nothing about how the band members wrote and arranged the dozens of tracks still in regular rotation in so many of our lives. Robert Plant makes a brief reference to writing "Communication Breakdown" with Page, but there isn't even a reference to his previous record contract barring him from getting songwriting credits on the whole first album. There's some discussion of the question of the band "borrowing" blues standards and then claiming songwriting credit but nothing about why Plant's lyrics so often simply cobbled together other people's phrases.

A real fan will find plenty of fresh factoids here. And there are long stretches at the beginning, focusing on the '60s music scene in English towns, with different bands playing together and trading members, that are delightful. But there's no insight here, and not much point.

[Alan Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The paranoia and the suspicion and all that stuff is part and parcel of who he is, and unfortunately it manifests itself in some weird ways."

I don't like Jimmy Page although I do like a lot of his music. I don't like that Page appears to be unable to share credit (unless legally enforced in doing so) - whether in stealing from Willie Dixon and other blues greats or taking full credit for every note, every sound on Led Zeppelin albums to the extent of changing engineers in case any of them had the temerity to claim they did anything other than position the faders exactly where Jimmy told them to. I don't like that he resurfaces every few years to repackage and resell the same 8 or so albums. 2018 being Zep's 50th, we can expect to go through the cycle again.

I don't like John Bonham. He was a good drummer, but he didn't invent drums. He was a thug.

I do like Robert Plant. He has had a musical life after Zeppelin and some of it has been good.

I do like John Paul Jones, a seriously under-estimated musician. He also seems like a nice man.

I do like Barney Hoskyns but I would have liked some commentary from him, an opinion. Trampled Underfoot is essentially a chronological arranging of various interviews and, while they tell a fascinating story, I expected at least some counterpoint to the likes of Mick Wall's "You are Jimmy Page and you are justified in robbing everyone blind because you are a genius and they would never have been as good as you anyway..." (see When Giants Walked the Earth) or the salacious Hammer of the Gods.

There is a fascinating story here but I think Hoskyns could have told it better.

[James Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating account of the rise from obscurity to superstardom of Led Zeppelin. Hoskyns constructs his account from interviews, both from existing sources and interviews that he conducted. This makes for a different biography as it is made up of direct comments from all of the main players from Bonham, Grant, Jones, Page and Plant to the staff who worked for Swansong Records and roadcrew, management and record company executives. This gives a flavour for the dynamic of the band. The author does not shy away exposing the conflicts between the leading band members. Hoskyns' account ultimately has the flavour of a tragedy as the band storms the heights of fame, but ultimately begins to consume itself because of the ravages of fame and substance abuse (tragically so in the case of John Bonham). John Paul Jones and, to a lesser extent, Robert Plant come out the best, Jimmy Page and Peter Grant less well. This is a much more well-balanced and immediate account of rock music's greatest band than Hammer of the Gods. Essential reading for all Zep heads!

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't listen to Zep for awhile after reading this. Really paints Page as a dumb disgusting lecherous bro-dude.

Not enough on the recording/writing.. too much yucky groupie stuff and depressing band politics.

[Vijay Chengappa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish it had gotten deeper into the music, the book instead focuses more on the off field antics and the complex relationships between the band and their associates.

[Leo Mcmullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Oral History of Led Zeppelin was quite the read, not going to lie. Before reading, I had only really heard one part of zeppelin which was the party fueled, everything positive side described by the song Immigrant Song. But this book has really opened my eyes to what every band and musician may face, which is really an interesting voyage. With many deaths, drugs, and corrupt labels, the band has gone through a lot, and you can tell how these relationships within the band mature as time goes on. Although it was a long read and a lot of information about Led Zeppelin, I would say this book will give you a new understanding and respect for the band itself, because it’s really more than just a rock band with a high pitch vocalist. So I would give this a 5/5 for being insanely detailed, while also always keeping you interested and developing your understanding of what Led Zeppelin really means.

[Elizabeth Roberts-Zibbel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know every Zep album backwards and forwards and have read “Hammer of the Gods” more than once, so that tells you what kind of fan I am. I first heard Stairway to Heaven in my parents’ car while I was waiting for one of them to run an errand inside some business or other. I was 15 and absolutely transported and never looked back. In 1988, the working class bad boy types definitely loved Led Zeppelin, which I didn’t know that day, but that fact certainly only made me like them more (both the boys and the band).

I couldn’t put this down and learned some things, but I don’t recommend it to non-superfans. And somehow I ended up reading two vastly different books right in a row that had blurbs from Chuck Klosterman profiled on their front covers.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible book. There's very little author-written narrative in the work - less than a page in some section beginnings - but that's fine, as the rest of the text is filled by quotes from those who were there.

Hearing the Zeppelin story this way - as opposed to the When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin approach (scholarly and good as it is) or the salacious Hammer of the Gods version - seems more natural. Given that they're a blues-rooted band, it's almost like an oral history, and it seems quite fitting.

The book covers the most recent developments in the story, including the changing power positions of Page and Plant, and the recent Olympics work. It's a very affectionate, very sad story, with more blow than anyone could possible use and live. If you like Led Zep, you have to read this.

[Chris Lilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despise Led Zeppelin but like Barney Hoskins, so this non-critical cut-and-paste collection of 'amusing' anecdotes is a dreadful disappointment. Zeppelin were (are?) hugely influential. They were also over-blown, monotonous, and serial thieves of other artists material. There's a book to be written about that, about the descent of white Blues into a six hour long dirge about fairies with four to the floor drum thumps. This isn't it.

[Cindy J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book by Hoskyns - done in an interview format. This type of book is more believable when you are reading accounts from different people. I could cross reference some of the facts with his other book - Led Zeppelin - An Oral History; I enjoyed this book/account of the band.

[Jeremy Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't stop talking about...
Barney Hoskyns adds to the steadily-growing mountain of Led Zeppelin books (which includes Hammer of the Gods and When Giants Walked the Earth, both of which I enjoyed reading) with an oral history. Assembled from interviews new and old with just about everyone who was involved with or worked for this monumental group (including its four members), it paints a detailed picture of its explosive rise at the beginning of the 1970s, its shuddering fall at that decade's end, and its gradual rehabilitation since - roughly - the start of the 1990s.

Although the author presents contributions from a variety of personalities without attempting to reconcile any contradictions, the picture that emerges of the members of the band is not uncritical, or even-handed. Indeed, this is signalled up front on p xx, where he cattily pays guitarist Jimmy Page the back-handed compliment of describing his hair as "so much better than the shoe-polish look he was sporting when I interviewed him in Covent Garden six years ago". The strong link between Page and the band's protective, unstable, violent manager is emphasised, whilst singer Robert Plant and bass-player John-Paul Jones are portrayed as comparatively level-headed characters (unlike drummer John Bonham, whose 1980 death brought the curtain down on the band).

The story of this much-loved band is is a well-tilled field, so novel insights are few (although p103's revelation that they'd originally considered asking Keith Emerson to play keyboards before John-Paul Jones said he'd fill that role too was a new one on me). Although a weighty tome, it's an enjoyable one, and it sent me back to the records - including their less-popular last two albums, which I'd never listened to all the way through before now. The ultimate importance of the music is memorably emphasised by the final comment by Page on p523:

"The music was never in fashion, in a way, and it was never *meant* to be in fashion. It was meant to be there, and it's still there, so that part of it is right and has triumphed. All the other things are relative to, "Oh, so-and-so did this in a hotel". But the bottom line of it is what the music is all about."

Originally reviewed 18 July 2016

[Andy]

  A Walter Benjaminesque collection of quotes from both new and old interviews, woven together to try and paint a cohesive picture of Led Zeppelin's career.
  Sometimes directly contradictory quotes are juxtaposed, often to comedic effect. Like when everyone describes Jimmy Pages deepening drug problem affecting the tour and album recording, topped by Jimmy Page claiming the drugs were never a problem because "when I really needed to focus I could"
  What I found really interesting was the extent Peter Green was involved in shaping their career. The whole project could be considered the collaborative brainchild of Green and Page. Also the extent he bucked the trend of agents being just another person ripping off the band. He conceived of himself as working for the band, not vice versa. His bullish personality was initially a way to protect them from getting scammed by venue operators, label execs, and the whole host that usually preys on up and coming entertainment acts.
  However once they were the biggest, richest act in the world, that kind of behavior turns from protecting a vulnerable group, to now they're the ones ripping off everyone else. Likewise the bands hijinks veer from comedic to horrifying.
  An interesting peek behind the curtain if you like heavy music or 70s excess.

[Daria · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, tell-all biography of one of the best hard rock bands of the 70s, as told by those that were actually there. I appreciate that the author didn’t try to inject his own comments or ideas into the narrative; he let the interviewees do all the talking and the reader can make up his/her own mind, as some accounts are contradictory. Obviously, some people may have an ax to grind and others may have viewed the same events differently. Definitely one of the better Led Zeppelin bios out there.

[PM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history of the band from differing perspectives, but there was too much emphasis on the management. I wanted more about the creation of the music and all that went into the stage productions. Still an addictive read but a sad one due to the band's implosion from personal tragedies, excess of ego and the darker side of the 1970s.

[Cindy Nix · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book done in interview fashion. I felt that it was honest and revealing, revealing in the sense of the workings of the band and not all of the nonsense. Although, it did contain a small amount of the mayhem that is rumored to have happened. Well written and a fast read.

[Cindy Nix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good book by Barney Hoskyns done in an interview form. This type of book is more believable when you are reading accounts from different people. I could cross reference some of the facts with his other book Led Zeppelin - An Oral History.....I enjoyed it.

[Cindy J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book done in interview fashion. I felt that it was honest and revealing, revealing in the sense of the workings of the band and not all of the nonsense. Although, it did contain a small amount of the mayhem that is rumored to have happened. Well written and a fast read.

[Teijo Paananen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kirja täynnä haastattelujen kautta silkkaa asiaa. Ilmalaivasta, jossa oli sisällä olevat ja ulosheitetyt. Sumussa ja hämmentyneenä. Good times, bad times - tässä järjestyksessä.

Zepukoita kuuntelevalle välttämätön kirja.

[Mona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. The interview format for old quick. Still entertaining.

[ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

bands these days just don't morph into mafia-esque drug-fueled fever dream monstrosities like this anymore

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid oral history with some quotes and perspectives that were new to me. The narrative is kinda non-existent and lots of overlapping of events but it got me thinking about the band so there's that.

[Dave Schwensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dazed, a little confused - but still rocks

Like the band Led Zeppelin, this is a monster book. I was going to use the word "heavy" since it seems the term could have been invented to describe Zep's sound and the way the band and their entourage laid waste to everything they came near, but that word doesn't quite work. I read this on Kindle and there's nothing heavy about electronic paper.
When I say monster, I'm talking about the length and depth of this book. I expected the story to end with the death of drummer John Bonham. For the fans, that was the death of the band. It could only live on after that as a memory. That's also the impact it had on the remaining members, their "heavy" handed manager Peter Grant, and the rest of the Zeppelin team. No one outside of possibly singer Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones came out of this without some type of mental, physical or financial damage - or in many cases all three.
But the book doesn't end with Bonzo's death. It continues up to the present time describing how they've dealt with the loss of Led Zeppelin, the rare reunions, and other personal and business issues. It also explores the many different rumors, truths and real life adventures of the band's founder, guitarist, songwriter and driving force behind the band and this book, Jimmy Page.
Like the title says, this is an oral history. The author took interviews with the remaining three Zeppelin survivors and older comments from Bonham (who died in 1980) and intertwined them with memories from a wide range of witnesses and participants in the Zep World. The end result is a bit disjointed and sometimes confusing since it was easy to lose track of who was who and sudden jumps between events, recording sessions, albums and tours. But the truth is that it really filled me in on the history and inner workings of the band.
It's pretty common knowledge that Led Zeppelin had a notorious reputation for sex, drugs and rock'n roll, and was the protype for the now almost cartoonish rock star lifestyle. A lot of that essence comes out in this book. Grant and Bonham come off as rude, crude, drunken and drugged-out bullies, while Page is the evil heroin addicted puppet master in the background egging them on to more and more outrageous behavior and demands. They're the poster boys for rock star bad behavior and that image comes out as loud in this book as any Zeppelin song you can remember.
Maybe if I had known more about Led Zeppelin's inner workings of various road managers, guitar techs, accountants, groupies and hanger-on's it would be easier to follow the story. But even with that said; I found it informative and enjoyable. It's allowed me to go back and listen to their songs again with a renewed sense of interest. The music speaks for itself; there will never be another band like Led Zeppelin and I feel fortunate to have been around during their reign as rock's biggest, baddest and loudest band. The big mystery is how they could have left such a great legacy of diverse and innovative music when they were so messed-up. A must read for Led Zeppelin fans.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always like Hoskyn's histories of pop music. I'm a casual fan of Led Zeppelin and this was a comfortable read. Seems to have a pro-Plant slant.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of Led Zeppelin, yet I admire the brilliance of Jimmy Page's guitar work and especially his talent as an arranger (along with John Paul Jones), but it is neither here or there for me with respect to their albums. Nevertheless they are always fascinating as a subject matter for a book, and Barney Hoskyns did a fantastic job in putting together an oral history of this horror show of a band. My only suggestion would have been to edit the last 50 pages, because in reality do we really care what happened after Zeppelin broke up due to their drummer's death? But that is a little thing, what you get here is a series of snapshots of life as a Zeppelin, and its not a pretty world or site. They treated a lot of people badly, and Jimmy Page doesn't come off that good of a man. At times a gentleman, but with a very dark streak or a stormy cloud over him. On that subject matter I wished he would do more music, like he did for Kenneth Anger. He seems to be in a rut where he just wants to re-invent Led Zeppelin, either by re-mastering the albums or starting groups in the 80's that were pale imitation of the mighty Zepp. Recently I heard his version of a Chopin piece that was really lovely. One would hope that he would do an instrumental album - but .... There is this book, and its ugly and fascinating at the same time.

[JT Dancer · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I am not really a Led Zeppelin fan, I did enjoy this oral history. The bulk of the book presents the recollections of band members, groupies, managers, family, roadies, friends, etc. Aside from a general progression forward from the early lives of the members to break up of the band and their Zeppelin careers, there is no real narrative flow; the tales jump from road exploits to manager Peter Grant and back again. At the front of the book, a handy list of all the interviewees and who they are is included; I flipped to that list a lot.

Led Zeppelin, while their music still appeals new generations, is a product very much of its time. The band's excesses, from drugs to groupies to violence, stem from the '70s zeitgeist of hedonism. Page and Bonham come off looking bad (Page with his obsession of the "dark arts" and dating little girls; Bonham just may have been a psychopath, but at the least he was a violent alcoholic).

Overall, the book offered an interesting view behind the scenes of lives dealing with fame, fortune, addiction and everything else.

[Nick McTaffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey, hey what can I do? I'll always be a Led Zeppelin fan. This thing is thicker than the Bible and a lot more rewarding read. It is a first person narrative style, which I like, and is painstakingly researched and documented. I didn't care for Hoskyns timeline but the Zepp stories do not disappoint! Richard Cole and posse must've been complete pricks but the suprise for me was how much I liked Peter Grant. Bonzo was one of the greatest drummers in the history of the sport but he had the mentality of a cow farmer and was a cow farmer. I recalled Peter Cook remarking on the New Order drummer guy as being 'daft as a broom' and Bonzo's life seemed to reflect something of that nature. This is a good toilet read and I had trouble putting it down. In the end I learned from this book no one can or should get as gigantic as Led Zeppelin cept Led Zeppelin, of course.

[Karl Øen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a oral history of Led Zeppelin as told by key-players and more or less peripheral members of The LZ Entourage. It covers the period from the early sixties to the O2-concert. It is, as we all know, a sad story of hubris and downfall. The cut-and-paste technique of bandmember's and others' reminicenses is both this book's strength and weakness. While it allows various sides of the story to be told, it leaves no room for analysis and the reader is left on his/her own in an exhausting maelstrom of events and incidents.
This book may serve well as a companion to Mick Wall's 'When Giants Walked The Earth' or even the infamous 'Hammer of The Gods', - or one of the other band-biographies -, but it is too unfocused to stand on it's own.

[Deia Skitalica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know that reading this massive book should be done cover-to-cover. I think it's well researched and well organised, and the info is relevant if you're looking for a comprehensive first-account collection of anecdotes and snippets from interviews of anyone who has ever found themselves in Led Zep's proximity at any one time or another.
I suppose it's a great reference book, and it would be a good go-to for anyone writing a Zepp bio.
Having said that, I found that it contained a lot of conflicting information: is it because people perceived them differently, remember it differently, have a vested interest in saying what they've said, or it was taken out of context, I couldn't tell.
Definitely a case of 'two sides to every story'.