I came across this ‘tired’ copy of Barney Hoskyns look at the history of Led Zeppelin as told through those closest to the band as well as the band themselves, including the late John Bonham.

I much prefer these types of books in which those who were actually there give such compelling accounts of what happened. The band had probably the most notorious reputation of any rock band in the seventies. No doubt most of it was either completely untrue or embellished over the decades but there is seldom no smoke without fire.

They were viewed as the epitome of rock excess; cocaine (later heroin in Page’s case) drink and girls. But how true was it? I had long felt that John Paul Jones was happily married and too serious a man and musician to be a part of it and John Bonham was said to struggle being away from his wife and son when on tour. Jimmy Page has been forever linked with young groupies and the manager, Peter Grant was known to be an aggressive protector of the band, their reputation and their income.

John Bonham, who tragically died far too early was a big drinker, known for his binges, he comes across as a lonely man who clearly struggled being away from home but his drinking often turned him into an aggressive agitator who got away with dishing out both physical and verbal abuse to anyone in his firing line, along with Richard Cole, their notorious tour manager.

That more isn’t made of the decades long allegations of Page’s fondness for young girls is surprising. Lori Mattix was said to be fourteen when she met Page at the Hyatt House and began a two year relationship with him which ended when Page allegedly began seeing another groupie, Mattix’s friend Bebe Beull. Page is said to have gone to great lengths to cover up the relationship but there is enough in this book to give credence to the claims. There are quotes from the best known groupies of the time; I never want to be anything over fourteen years old. I’m just going to ignore the years from here on-Sable Starr in 1973. The sleaziness of that groupie environment is well balanced by Hoskyns, there were victims and opportunists and nobody interviewed comes across particularly well. With other well known names mentioned by witnesses it is curious how some evade closer inspection than others. What does seem clear is that those girls who were underage seemed to do little to deny it and those in receipt of the girls attention did less to ask.

The book shows how that excess subsided and how addiction and in Plant’s case, family tragedy, affected the band’s dynamic and artistic output both recorded and live. By the middle of the seventies that love of excess had subsided and by 1980, with the death of Bonham it was all over.

Zeppelin wasn’t the only band to suffer a hangover from earlier excesses, Plant had to be convinced by Bonham to return to the fold despite himself struggling with the lifestyle. Of the remaining three it has been Page who has struggled most to cut the umbilical cord, the tensions that surfaced between Page and Plant pre break up sufficiently healed to see joint studio and concert output in the 90s and their hugely successful London 02 concert finally made amends for their awful appearance at Live Aid.

This is an interesting book, Hoskyns is a seasoned musical journalist and has compiled a worthy collection of quotes from those who, one imagines, could tell more than they have.

Further reading

Jimmy Page and the Death of Philip Churchill-Hale

Jimmy Page and XYZ

Becoming Led Zeppelin

The Rover-Led Zeppelin Newsletter

Pure Blues Led Zeppelin Collectors Newsletter

Led Zeppelin Forty Six Years Gone…