A Film Review:
Becoming Led Zeppelin

I’m writing this review of the documentary film Becoming Led Zeppelin from the lobby of The Edgewater hotel in Seattle, Washington.

Why, you may ask?

Many a rock star has frequented The Edgewater, including the Beatles, who immortalized their stay in a 1964 photo of the band fishing out their hotel room window into Elliott Bay, part of Washington’s Puget Sound. However, no two incidents at The Edgewater are more infamous than those created by the band Led Zeppelin.

The first, in 1969, involved a small shark and a young female groupie that led to the band’s permanent banishment from the hotel. (I’ll refrain from sharing the sordid details, but suffice it to say it would not qualify for the Me Too Movement.) And then in 1977, despite the hotel ban, Led Zeppelin sneakily checked into The Edgewater before management and security realized who they were. During that brief stay, the boys hurled five TV sets into Elliott Bay, adding a few thousand dollars’ worth of restitutive compensation to their hotel bill.

Those incidents certainly capture quite well the lyric, “good times, bad times, you know I’ve had my share.”

Led Zeppelin promotional photo, 1971. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/public domain.

While the documentary film – available in both 35mm and IMAX formats – focuses on the band’s early formation and music, and not the debauchery that consumed them, it very much captures the rock star ethos that many bands from that era helped define. Yes, sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll was quite alive and well in the late 1960s.

Becoming Led Zeppelin represents a period of musical history that would be difficult, it not impossible, to replicate today. For starters, it was a period when English bands across the pond still had tremendous resonance and popularity in the States, rooted in the British Invasion that began only several years earlier. Also, the process of artist discovery in the late 1960s was quite selective and far, far different from what exists today, where old-school artist development has become almost nonexistent.

Radio, and particularly FM radio, functioned as the primary distribution outlet for listeners and progressive musicians lucky enough to secure a recording contract. They were the chosen few. If you were young and fortunate enough to live through this period of musical discovery, then you can appreciate how truly special it was.

The band’s meteoric rise from formation through the release of Led Zeppelin I (1969) and Led Zeppelin II (1969) occurred over a very short period of time. The documentary film tells the band’s story from the vantage point of each surviving member: Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar) and John Paul Jones (bass) are each interviewed individually.

Drummer John Bonham, who tragically died in 1980, is represented with archival film footage and very rare audio bites. It’s common knowledge that Bonham avoided interviews like the plague. He often would sit quietly during band interviews, contributing very little if anything. The film’s research staff had to cull through hundreds of reels of film and audio footage to find high-quality sound of Bonham talking about the band’s historic journey. A very touching part of the film is watching the surviving members listen to Bonham’s voice and band remembrances.

British director/writer/producer Bernard MacMahon discussed in an interview just how the film came to fruition. “I listened to every single recorded interview with the band, and from there I made a storyboard like a feature film, with pictures of every single scene. When I met with Jimmy Page, it turned out he was a big fan of American Epic (MacMahon’s acclaimed documentary film series about 1920s roots music in the US). After spending seven hours sorting through the storyboards that I had brought with me, Page turned and said, ‘I’d love for you to make this film.”

There’s a rawness, authenticity and (strangely enough) intimacy to the band’s early live performances showcased in the film. It’s a stark contrast to the highly stylized, large arena, frequently autotuned performances of many of today’s biggest artists. There’s no elaborate set design, lighting, pyrotechnics, choreography, etc., while most of the film’s concert footage takes place in relatively small venues where the audience is seemingly in the band’s lap.

Here’s a few interesting facts from the film that may be of interest to you:

— Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, both experienced session musicians in the 60’s, played on the title track to the film Goldfinger, while Jones additionally played on the title track of To Sir With Love.

— Led Zeppelin I was self-produced and recorded live in-studio with very little overdubs. The great Glyn Johns was the engineer behind the board.

— When Jimmy Page and manager Peter Grant shopped the band’s debut album in New York City to Atlantic Records (and other labels) it was with this caveat: take the album fully produced as is, or no deal. That’s a pretty unheard of demand for an unknown band’s debut launch, especially in 1968 – 69.

— Led Zeppelin I was released in the UK at a much later date. When the band returned to England after their short, yet massively successful initial US tour, they basically couldn’t share much because in England they were still relatively unknown. In so many words, Robert Plant said, “People would have looked at us in total disbelief if we shared what we just experienced in the US” It didn’t take very long for all to catch on.

— Guitarist Jimmy Page had a very clear vision and focus for the band and its music. His approach to the production of Led Zeppelin II was prescient. He knew he wanted diversity of sound, and he placed a large emphasis on the LP’s track sequencing. It wasn’t a concept album, and it’s a lot less bluesy than the band’s debut, but Page envisioned radio playing each side of the album in its entirety, dovetailing with the era’s recent surge in FM radio play.

For their initial 1968 US tour, Led Zeppelin opened for the group Vanilla Fudge. Fans in attendance got to hear two of the world’s best rock drummers in Bonham and the Fudge’s Carmine Appice, who instantly bonded with each other. Bonham was a huge admirer of Appice’s famously large Ludwig drum kit. When Appice reached out to drum maker Ludwig on Bonham’s behalf, he said, “Hey, this new band is opening up for us, and this guy, John Bonham, I think he’s gonna be big.”

From the band’s very first jam session together, the chemistry was immediate and undeniable. They all felt it. If was like a long simmering itch had been scratched.

The first time I saw Led Zeppelin live was in the summer of 1969 for $1.50 in New York’s Central Park. B.B. King was the opener. I remember there was this incredible buzz before the show, as the band was still blowing up a mere six months after the release of Led Zeppelin I. It was during this US tour that the band began recording Led Zeppelin II.

The 2-hour film is a time capsule and a fascinating, powerful look at Led Zeppelin’s early success. It will appeal mostly to hardcore rock and Zeppelin fans, while seeing the film on the big screen, with good sound, is a must!

As of this writing the film has grossed $12 million in worldwide box office ticket sales, a fairly decent amount for a music documentary.