For a dozen years from 1968-1980, Led Zeppelin were Titans of rock & roll, putting out eight albums (not counting the posthumous outtakes collection, Coda, nor the live The Song Remains the Same) and filling the playlists of AOR FM radio stations until the tragic death of drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham in 1980 just ahead of a massive stadium tour, their first in three years, after consuming about 40 shots of vodka in a 24-hour period and choking on his vomit at the age of only 32. (Drink responsibly.) The band disbanded with singer Robert Plant launching a successful solo career, guitarist Jimmy Page briefly having a band called The Firm with Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers, and bassist John Paul Jones continuing with producing and arranging including string arrangements on R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People album.
But that's how they ended, how did Led Zeppelin begin? That's the story told by Becoming Led Zeppelin, the first documentary project produced with the full cooperation of the band. Comprised of new interviews with the surviving members and a previously unheard interview with the usually press-shy Bonham and a wealth of never before seen concert footage, it briskly summarizes the members' memories of how they got into music leading to the rapid career ascendance of Page and Jones as they worked as session musicians including both playing on the iconic Shirley Bassey Bond theme "Goldfinger."
After his stint in The Yardbirds - with fellow guitar heroes Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck - Page wanted to strike off into new directions and the seeming fairytale ease with which the players came together in 1968 and instantly melded into a fully formed group with killer songs - their debut's nine tracks included "Good Times Bad Times", "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", "Dazed and Confused", "Your Time Is Gonna Come", and "Communication Breakdown"! - beggars belief. Page produced the entire album then shopped it to labels with a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum meaning no label interference, shut up and sell it. Oh, and it's not going to be called The New Yardbirds, but Led Zeppelin.
Considering how modern record release schedules often result in YEARS between albums, it's especially mind-blowing that the Led Zeppelin debut began recording a MONTH after their first rehearsals in August 1968 (and a quick Scandinavian tour as The New Yardbirds, footage of which is included), was released in January 1969, followed by a grueling seven months of tours of North America and Europe, writing and recording Led Zeppelin II in various studios on the road, culminating in its release in October 1969. (And contrary to the "sophomore jinx" trope, it's arguably got even more bangers than the first album.) For those of you keeping score, that's two albums of classic rock created, recorded and released within 14 months of the blokes first getting together.
The live footage is both revelatory and a bit of a drag. It's funny seeing early audiences kind of staring blankly at them, seemingly unimpressed by what they're witnessing, but after a time and the songs which lean more heavily on jamming running longer, it gets a bit tedious. (The missus fell asleep and I was tempted to fast-forward through them.) If you're a Led Zep fanatic, feel free to ignore this comment, but there's a reason why when I used to be a soundman in clubs and I told bands that when I gave the "two songs" warning to wrap up their sets I added, "And I don't mean do the live versions of "Free Bird" (which ran 14-15 mins) and "Dazed and Confused" (27 mins on The Song Remains The Same)."
At times the members are shown archive clips and their reactions are fascinating, like Page seeing a 13-year-old him appearing on a TV show strumming an acoustic or their reacting to Bonham's interview. It's also nice to have a documentary with only the subjects talking about themselves and not surrounded by various Rolling Stone hacks or some combo of Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, and/or Questlove talking about Led Zeppelin.
But while it's not wholly sanitized, it doesn't delve much into how the songs were created, what lyrical inspiration Plant drew from (to be fair, we all know it's Tolkien the way Rush's Neil Peart was all about Ayn Rand), or square how a band where most of the members were married dealt with the friendly women they met on the long, yet rapid road to stardom.
The speed of their ascendency cannot be understated either. On Jan. 9, 1969, just four days before their debut dropped they were playing San Francisco's Fillmore West, desperately trying to make an impression in America. Exactly one year later, touring Led Zeppelin II, they took to the stage of London's Royal Albert Hall as conquering rulers of the rock world. And this is where Becoming Led Zeppelin ends, so anyone wanting to hear about Led Zep IV and "Stairway To Heaven" are out of luck.
If you approach Becoming Led Zeppelin with the proper expectations, you're likely to quite enjoy it. The concert footage is terrific even if I thought it dragged on at times. (I'm a power-pop fan who'd rather have four songs in 13 minutes rather than a wanked-out blooze jam.) The members are fairly forthcoming in their recollections, though it's not as deep as one could wish for and they are filmed separately depriving the audience of seeing them interact. Production of this doc was announced in 2019 and a work-in-progress cut was screened at the Venice Film Festival in 2021, so it's unlikely follow-ups covering the rest of their career are in the offing.
I must single out director Bernard MacMahon for doing one thing right that most documentary filmmakers militantly refuse to do to my endless annoyance: He provides dates for the events we see so we're never confused as to what year it is when recapping their lives. It's a small detail so often ignored.
Score: 8/10. Catch it on cable/streaming. (Currently on Netflix)
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