Yeah, I know it’s Zeppelin. And I know it’s rather iconic. And it certainly is an incredible album.
But the cover just never did anything for me. I mean, all it is is a picture of an old guy carrying some sticks, on a wall that is badly coming apart.
And, believe it or not, that’s exactly what it is. The picture is a painting of what appears to be a wood gatherer that Robert Plant found in an antique shop in Reading. It was affixed to the interior wall of a suburban home in Birmingham in the process of coming down (both Plant and Bonham were from the area). The only thing that really makes it interesting is when the cover is all unfolded:
I think there was some thought about a contrast between the city and the country, though it reminds me more of Britain after the Blitz.
Here’s what it looks like today (roughly – the old home is long gone, and they weren’t exactly sure which side it was taken on):
The tower at least is quite definitely Salisbury Tower, in the Ladyway section of Brum. To be honest, I think this one does a better job with all that city/country stuff than the original:
The idea may have been Jimmy Page’s, who was actually involved in the design of a number of the group’s covers. Not sure who took the photo. Graphreaks gets credit for “design (coordination).”
The real interest for this one may lie more with other bits of the album. Take, for example, the interior illustration, called “The Hermit” and by Barrington Coleby. I particularly remember the one cool kid in junior high with long hair – Greg Butler? – trying to make a copy of it in art class.
Coleby took it from a Tarot card:
He had only one other album credit, and appears to be something of a genuine mystery man.
And then there are the icons:
Clockwise, from top left, we’ve got Page, Jones, Plant, and Bonham
They were meant to represent the four band members (and were picked out by themselves), and were to stand in for a title. Indeed, the album is famous as one of those that had neither title, nor band name, nor much of anything. It’s been variously called “IV,” “Zoso,” “Runes,” and “Untitled.” You can read all about the arcane possible meanings of the whole thing right here.
As for the actual music … Well, this just so happens to be Zep’s best selling-album of all time. Having “Stairway to Heaven” on it certainly helped.
Classic Rock ranked it the best album ever (I don’t know if I’d go that far), and the RnR HoF ranked it #4 (ditto, I’m afraid).
The band have won some additional awards themselves:
Parodies? Why, of course:
I’ll let Wikipedia do the talking here for that second one: “Dread Zeppelin is an American band best known for performing the songs of Led Zeppelin in a reggae style as sung by a 300-pound (140 kg) Las Vegas Elvis impersonator.” I actually saw them once. The first one is from the band Four Non-Blondes.
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