Maps of Music

Physical Graffiti (1975)

Where the lyrics of Physical Graffiti take you, and where it was really made.

The cover's die-cut windows spell out the album title only after the inner sleeves are slid into place.

Key places

Eight songs recorded in the country house (1975)

Recording site Headley Grange — The band wrote and recorded eight new songs for the album in early 1974 at this country house in Hampshire. The sessions were informal, and the band could improvise and develop material while recording. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Where the final mix was done (1975)

Recording site Olympic Studios — Olympic Studios in London hosted a 1972 recording of the title track of Houses of the Holy, which was left off that album. The final mixing of this album was performed there in July 1974 by Keith Harwood. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Garden recording at Stargroves (1975)

Recording site Stargroves — 'Black Country Woman' was recorded in the garden at Stargroves in 1972 as part of the band's wish to work in off-the-wall locations outside a traditional studio. An airplane passing overhead nearly led to the track being abandoned. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Solo acoustic piece recorded at Island (1975)

Recording site British Grove Studios — 'Bron-Yr-Aur' is a solo acoustic piece by Page, named after the cottage where much of Led Zeppelin III was composed. It was recorded at Island Studios in mid-1970 and later served as background music in The Song Remains the Same. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Tenement facades on St. Mark's Place (1975)

Album cover Record Plant Studios — The album's die-cut cover was based on two five-storey buildings photographed at 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place in New York City. The cover shows a tenement block through whose windows various cultural icons can be seen. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Physical Graffiti: sixth studio album by Led Zeppelin
• Released as a double album on 24 February 1975 in the US and 28 February 1975 in the UK
• First album released on the band's own Swan Song Records label
• Eight new songs written and recorded in early 1974
• Seven previously unreleased tracks from earlier sessions added to fill the double album
• Styles include hard rock, progressive rock, rock 'n' roll and folk
• Mixed over summer 1974; release delayed because the die-cut cover was hard to manufacture

Background

• Recording first attempted in November 1973 at Headley Grange in Hampshire, England
• Studio time at Headley Grange was handed to Bad Company during that visit
• John Paul Jones had grown tired of touring and considered quitting
• Manager Peter Grant asked him to reconsider and take the rest of the year off

Recording

• Group reconvened at Headley Grange in January and February 1974
• Ron Nevison engineered the eight tracks from those sessions
• The eight songs nearly filled three sides of an LP, so the band expanded it to a double album
• Bonham regularly suggested ideas and arrangements during the sessions
• Final mixing in July 1974 by Keith Harwood at Olympic Studios, London
• Jimmy Page coined the title to reflect the physical and written energy of the set
• A track called 'Swan Song' was left off the album

Cover

• Die-cut sleeve shows a New York City tenement block
• Two five-storey buildings photographed at 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place
• Windows show American icons and Hollywood ephemera
• Album nominated for a Grammy Award for best album package in 1976

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1968 from the remnants of the Yardbirds, originally as the New Yardbirds.
• Jimmy Page recruited Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones; the first full performance was in Denmark in September 1968.
• The name was changed to Led Zeppelin after a cease and desist letter from Chris Dreja, with the 'a' dropped from 'lead' at Peter Grant's suggestion.
• Atlantic Records signed them with a large advance and gave the band artistic and publishing autonomy.

Members

• Robert Plant on vocals and harmonica; Jimmy Page on guitar; John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards; John Bonham on drums.
• Page wrote most of the music and Plant most of the lyrics; Jones often originated keyboard-based songs.

Career

• Released eight studio albums in ten years, achieving eight consecutive UK number-one albums and six US Billboard 200 number ones.
• Led Zeppelin IV, with 37 million copies sold, is among the best-selling albums in history.
• Set attendance records on tours in the 1970s, including 56,800 fans at Tampa Stadium in 1973.
• Disbanded in December 1980 after John Bonham's death; surviving members reunited only sporadically, including the 2007 Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995; estimated to have sold 200 to 300 million records.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• NME's Nick Kent reviewed the album three months before its release
• Kent speculated it could be the group's best work to date
• Billboard's reviewer called it a tour de force through a number of musical styles
• Jim Miller in Rolling Stone called it the band's Tommy, Beggar's Banquet and Sgt. Pepper rolled into one
• Village Voice critic Robert Christgau kept his long-held ambivalence about the band
• Christgau wrote that the material often wanders except on side two

Reappraisal

• Robert Plant later felt the album represented the band at its creative peak and named it his favourite Led Zeppelin album
• Page called the album a high-water mark for the group
• BBC Music's Chris Jones, reviewing in 2007, called it a towering monument to the glory of Zeppelin

Records

• Reached number one on the UK album charts
• Debuted at number three on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart, then rose to number one the following week
• Stayed at number one on the US chart for six weeks
• Certified 16 times platinum in the US by the RIAA in 2006, for over eight million shipped copies
• First album to go platinum on advance orders alone
• Rolling Stone ranked it 70th in its 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums
• Re-ranked 73rd in 2012 and 144th in 2020

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The front doorway and stoop at 96 St. Mark's Place was later used by the Rolling Stones for the video for 'Waiting on a Friend'.
• Bron-Yr-Aur was used as background music in the film The Song Remains the Same.
• 'Boogie with Stu' led to a lawsuit, and half of the award went to Valens' mother even though she was not part of the suit.
• The studio banter at the end of 'In My Time of Dying' was kept, because Bonham's off-mic cough was the take he chose.
• 'Black Country Woman' was recorded in the garden at Stargroves, and the track was nearly abandoned when an aeroplane passed overhead.
• Five nights at Earl's Court supported the album's promotion after the US tour.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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