‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ is the first authorised documentary of the globe straddling rock monster that Led Zeppelin became. It ends in 1970 with a triumphant homeland gig at the Royal Albert Hall just a few weeks after the release of ‘Led Zeppelin II’. I suspect that some hardcore fans will likely be disappointed that the film ends then. But in my opinion it stops at the point just before they came the huge rock ‘n’ roll behemoth that flew around the world on the infamous Boeing 720 named the Starship. The film works in a slow building chronological order with some great interview footage with all three remaining members as they are now. There is also some clear and touching audio of a previously unheard interview with John Bonham. The reaction of Page, Jones and Plant as they hear it for the first time is quite moving.
It has some great footage of the band playing live on a Danish TV show on their first tour, this was when they were still called the New Yardbirds. All of the band felt quite good that they were able to develop the Led Zep sound away from the spotlight of the UK music press. Jimmy Page and worked on thousands of sessions for a wide range of artists and some of those were featured. Notably Shirley Bassey with “Goldfinger” and Lulu with “To Sir With Love”. Page also enthused about seeing Lonnie Donegan for the first time and recognising that this was the spark that lit his rock ‘n’ roll flame. Robert Plant was gushing in his praise for Little Richard saying that this was the moment that rock music was injected into him, never to leave.
The making of ‘Led Zeppelin’, the first album was predominantly down to Jimmy Page. Particularly in respect of production and sequencing. Page was accompanied by the band’s manager Peter Grant on a trip to the USA to meet with Jerry Wexler and sign with Atlantic Records. Page was insistent that the band would only make albums and not release singles. They started to take off in the USA when they were picked up by album heavy FM stations who played side one and then after a short message from their sponsors flipped the album and played the whole of side two. The footage from some of the US festivals from 1968 and 1969 is stunning. A lot of the clips are interspersed with news reel to add social commentary that includes the Nigerian civil war, the election of Richard Nixon and the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Some of my favourite parts of the film were Robert Plant speaking about raising his game to become a lyricist. Alongside that is the detail that Jimmy Page goes into when he talks about the creation of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ the opening track on ‘Led Zeppelin II’. The mid section warped psychedelic breakdown and the fading of the instruments, particularly the drums from one speaker to another was not just some clever use of music and the studio. It was also a plan to make it very difficult to release the song as a single. There are plenty of things to take away from this rather wonderful film. If I had to pick one it is being reminded of just how great a drummer John Bonham was. If you are a Led Zeppelin fan you will, I am sure, see this film. But if you are just a fan of great rock music you should definitely find the time to see it. I am not sure it will work as well on a TV screen as it does on the big screen. But however you access it you will enjoy it!
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