Led Zeppelin

The Biography

By: Bob Spitz

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of the definitive New York Times best-selling history of the Beatles comes the authoritative account of the group many call the greatest rock band of all time, arguably the most successful, and certainly one of the most notorious.

Rock star. Whatever that term means to you, chances are it owes a debt to Led Zeppelin. No one before or since has lived the dream quite like Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. In Led Zeppelin, Bob Spitz takes their full measure, separating the myth from the reality with his trademark connoisseurship and storytelling flair.

From the opening notes of their first album, the band announced itself as something different, a collision of grand artistic ambition and brute primal force, of English folk music and African American blues. That record sold more than 10 million copies, and it was just the beginning; Led Zeppelin's albums have sold more than 300 million certified copies worldwide, and the dust has never settled.

The band is notoriously guarded, and previous books provided more heat than light. But Spitz's authority is undeniable and irresistible. His feel for the atmosphere, the context - the music, the business, the recording studios, the touring life, the whole ecosystem of popular music - is unparalleled. His account of the melding of Page and Jones, the virtuosic London sophisticates, with Plant and Bonham, the wild men from the Midlands, in a scene dominated by the Beatles and the Stones but changing fast, is in itself a revelation. Spitz takes the music seriously and brings the band's artistic journey to full and vivid life.

The music, however, is only part of the legend: Led Zeppelin is also the story of how the '60s became the '70s, of how playing clubs became playing stadiums, of how innocence became decadence. Led Zeppelin wasn't the first rock band to let loose on the road, but as with everything else, they took it to an entirely new level. Not all the legends are true, but in Spitz's careful accounting, what is true is astonishing and sometimes disturbing.

Led Zeppelin gave no quarter, and neither has Bob Spitz. Led Zeppelin is the full and honest reckoning the band has long awaited and richly deserves.

©2021 Bob Spitz (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A gossipy, readable account.” - New Yorker

“In this authoritative, unsparing history of the biggest rock group of the 1970s, Spitz delivers inside details and analysis with his well-known gift for storytelling.” - People

“★★★½ out of four . . . The good, the bad and the ugly coexist in the Led Zeppelin story, and Spitz knows well enough to report and tell it all.” - USA Today

Definitive Biography

Having read a few biographies about Led Zeppelin and also biographies which specifically focused on the different band members, I wasn’t expecting such a well written and thoughtful book. Bob Spitz pulls no punches, telling Zeppelin’s story from beginning to end. A must read for any Zeppelin fan. Spitz digs deep into the high highs and low lows. I was a bit concerned, after reading some reviews. I thought it might poison my perception of the band. There were some surprises but nothing too drastic considering it was the 1970’s. Different time, different place, and different zeitgeist. Plowed through it in a few days. Well worth the time and effort.

Engaging, informative and very interesting.

Definitely one of the best band bios I have read… and I’ve read quite a few. If you have any interest at all in Led Zeppelin, this book is well worth your time.

Upstage with Zep!!

Bob Spitz with Rob Shapiro has created a gut-wrenching thrilling narrative that struts and stumbles onstage with arguably the greatest rock and roll band in history.

Amazed and Bemused

Led Zeppelin was and still is one of my favorite bands of all time. This book was a great listen and I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I have to admit it was a shock to hear how the band ran themselves and others into the ground, and the thuggish behavior of their handlers.

Hooray! Very informative.

The whole story of a great band. Informative and nostalgic. It was a thrill to listen to it.

Some go twistin' everyday

A lot of great albums, despite themselves. While listening, I was getting angry at the band, wanting someone to step in and stop the alcohol and drugs, then remembering this is all in the past. The author did a great job of bringing out those emotions in me. The narrator kept me listening. Ultimately the book made me want more Zeppelin.

Great listen !

Puts you in the mood to pull out the vinyl and give a listen to all the albums. Very insightful as to the character of the. Members and gives a behind the scene account of things you couldn’t know. I really enjoyed it!

Great read about a great band

Powered through this audiobook, a really interesting and comprehensive recounting of a legendary band, the likes of which will most likely never be seen again.

Exhaustively well-researched and well-told

As someone who's been a Led Zep fan since the early 80s -- and I mean, a FAN -- I did not learn anything new here. But, it's like spending time with old friends, so I'm not complaining. The book starts off somewhat cut-and-dried and is told in a methodical, chronological manner. Then it does going into the groupies and drug use and interpersonal issues -- not in a salacious way, just telling it like it was. The narrator is rather flat, and he quotes British people with an American accent (I recently finished Sex, Ratt, and Roll, and I liked how that narrator used a mild British accent when quoting). He also mispronounces some names. I will concede, though, that almost everyone mispronounces these names: Crowley, as in Aleister Crowley, is supposed to be pronounced "cro-lee" -- the man himself explained how to pronounce his name a few times in interviews; also, for Vanilla Fudge's drummer, Carmine Appice, the narrator says "a-piece" ... it's actually "api-cee." He also flip-flops on his pronunciation (sometimes he says "Bee Bee" Buell, and sometimes "Beh-Beh" Buell). Other than that, the narrator is decent, if not very lively. This is probably a better book for people who don't know a lot about Led Zeppelin -- it is exhaustively well-researched and detailed in terms of everything from the business side to the creative process.

Great book!

This book gave me a very different perspective of Led Zeppelin, I first discovered Zeppelin as a child in the 70's but, didn't really start listening to them until well past their break up in the 80's. Their studio albums are something to not only listen to but experience. I am glad I got to listen to this book, it gave me the chance to once again experience Zeppelin not as gods but as just four regular blokes.