How the west was really won: the three months that changed everything for Led Zeppelin

As president of Atlantic Records in those days, I had been Led Zeppelin and Peter Grant’s go-to guy since the beginning. As a musician myself, I had built up a great relationship with the band, even playing bass on stage during an encore at a show in Germany, doing Whole Lotta Love. 

Zeppelin’s 1973 tour of America was their ninth over there, but it was clear right away that this one was different. For a start, the band looked different. Glam rock had seen bands like the Rolling Stones and The Faces taking on a much more glamorous look on stage, and Zeppelin were the same. This tour was the first time Jimmy wore his ‘moon and stars’ suit; Robert still went on bare-chested, but he’d be wearing a puffed-sleeve blouse; even Bonzo had a glittery star on his T-shirt. 

The show was more colourful too: their first to have a professional light show, with lasers and dry ice. They also had the Starship – a 40-seater Boeing 720 with the words ‘Led Zeppelin’ emblazoned down the side. Inside, the whole layout was totally over the top. It had lounge seats and dinner tables, a fully stocked bar and a TV lounge. 

There was also an electric Thomas organ which Jonesy would entertain the various guests with, and a cabin at the back with a double bed in it and a fireplace – a glowing electric pseudo-coal fire. The bed even had seat belts on it so you could take off and land in a horizontal position. 

Having a plane like that at their disposal, they could base themselves pretty much anywhere and just fly out to gigs. That said, the places they chose to base themselves were not necessarily geographically suitable. One base was in New Orleans. Because they wanted to get back to the Quarter by one o’clock in the morning, they would run out of venues with the last notes of the last song still ringing in your ears, then jump in the limos and race for the airport. 

I remember one show, in St Louis, they were supposed to be on stage at eight o’clock, but I remember still being in the bar at the Maison de Puis in New Orleans at about 10 to eight. Needless to say, we were somewhat late for that show. 

In those days there was no real airport security. The plane would taxi up to a predesignated point, nowhere near the terminal building, then this line of limousines would come. Everybody had a limo – I had a limo. Even the tour doctor had a limousine. He was there in case anybody needed a vitamin B shot – and that’s all I’m gonna say about him.

The rules hadn’t been written yet. And even where they had, we broke them. The band played an outdoor stadium in Tampa, Florida, and there were nearly 60,000 people there, breaking the record set by The Beatles at Shea Stadium. Don’t forget this was for one band, not even a headline act with support bands. This was just Led Zeppelin on their own. I’ll never forget the reaction when they came on stage. Mind-blowing! 

Of course, whenever Zeppelin hit LA, it was party time for everyone. We all went to the Rainbow club on Sunset Strip every night we were there. They were staying at the Hyatt House – the Riot House – and had taken over the entire ninth floor. I seem to recall we also had the entire 11th floor because it was close to the rooftop swimming pool. 

John Bonham celebrated his 25th birthday on that tour in LA. They had played the Forum that night, and afterwards a big party was thrown for him at this big place in Laurel Canyon. George Harrison was there. I remember lots of champagne, and no doubt other things. Then George stuck John Bonham’s birthday cake on his head, so John chased him and threw him in the pool. I remember George later saying that it was the most fun he’d had since The Beatles. For Bonzo’s birthday party the band gave him a motorbike, and I recall him riding it down the hotel corridor. That was when it started to get a little scary, so I ducked back into my room very quickly. 

The tour ended in July in New York, with three nights at Madison Square Garden. I was at the first show, but I wasn’t feeling well and I didn’t go to the other two shows. But there is something I distinctly remember about that first show. I got there late, and as I was coming in they were playing How Many More Times, and it was the most eerie feeling. 

The floor of the Garden was shaking. I’m talking about a concrete walkway, and the floor was actually shaking. Because the riff is such a powerful fucking riff, and the Zeppelin timing being what it was, right on it all the time, making the crowd stamp its feet, it set up this vibration. I was actually having trouble walking, it was moving so much. 

I do recall that I shared a two-bedroom hotel suite with John Bonham for those shows. It was quite a lot of fun, but it did spell for me the last time I would ever share a hotel suite with John. He had this propensity for ordering lots of stuff from room service. At one point there were about seven room service trollies lined up outside the door – and when the bill came it was split down the middle.

By 1973, drugs had started to come into the picture. I never did any drugs, so I wasn’t really part of that side of things. But things hadn’t changed radically. Away from the tour, I didn’t live that far from where Jimmy lived in those days, in Sussex, and a lot of time we would go to each other’s houses for lunch on a Sunday, that sort of thing. But it was a different Jimmy Page once you got on tour. That’s true of any artist, but magnified in Jimmy’s case because of the vastness of what Led Zeppelin had become by then. 

All of them were normal types when they were at home. John Paul Jones is still with the same wife now he had then. It was probably more difficult for Jimmy, though, to build a solid foundation of real friends, because he is by nature a little reclusive. Then becoming as big as they got, that sealed his fate, in a way. By 1973 they had built their empire, and now they were surfing the wave. It was a culmination of all the touring they’d done before and the quality of the records. 

There would be more huge tours, but I don’t think those peaks were ever achieved again after that particular tour. After 1973 the mould had been set. And what came after that was only to be expected, as it were. Certainly from a touring standpoint, I’m not convinced that it ever achieved those heights again. That was it. Led Zeppelin were a unique force of nature. And that is exactly what you got.

This feature originally appeared in Classic Rock 183.

Source: loudersound.com