A Book Of Led Zeppelin

LED ZEPPELIN III

- Led Zeppelin III is generally known as 'Led Zeppelin's acoustic album'. Ignoring that fact that both their previous albums included at least two acoustic songs and the following albums many more, it is true that III was way more acoustic and folky than any of their others. 

- It was released on 5th October, 1970

- It definitely got people to believe Led Zeppelin weren't afraid to do whatever music they wanted and weren't a conventional rock band.

- Most of the songs on this album were written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at Bron-Yr-Aur, an isolated cottage in Wales after an exhausting tour of North America. The place had no running water or electricity (so definitely no amps etc) and this coupled with the peacefulness of the surroundings played a large part in the sound of III.

"After the intense touring that had been taking place through the first two albums, working almost 24 hours a day, basically, we managed to stop and have a proper break, a couple of months as opposed to a couple of weeks. We decided to go off and rent a cottage to provide a contrast to motel rooms. Obviously, it had quite an effect on the material that was written... It was the tranquility of the place that set the tone of the album. Obviously, we weren't crashing away at 100 watt Marshall stacks. Having played acoustic and being interested in classical guitar, anyway, being in a cottage without electricity, it was acoustic guitar time... After all the heavy, intense vibe of touring which is reflected in the raw energy of the second album, it was just a totally different feeling."
~ Jimmy Page

"Bron-Yr-Aur was a fantastic place in the middle of nowhere with no facilities at all--and it was a fantastic test of what we could do in that environment. Because by that time we'd become obsessed with change, and the great thing was that we were also able to create a pastoral side of Led Zep. Jimmy was listening to Davey Graham and Bert Jansch and was experimenting with different tunings, and I loved John Fahey. So it was a very natural place for us to go to."
~ Robert Plant

- After Bron-Yr-Aur, the album was rehearsed and recorded by the whole band at Headley Grange, a run-down mansion in rural Hampshire, and at Olympic Studios in London.

- The song Gallows Pole on the album is an updated arrangement of a traditional folk song called "The Maid Freed from the Gallows"

- Another song, Hats Off to (Roy) Harper, is a track dedicated to their influential musician friend, Roy Harper

- Led Zeppelin III was one of the most eagerly awaited albums of 1970, and advance orders in the US alone were close to the million mark.

- Although the albums different styles were appreciated by many, critics attacked the heavier tracks, calling them 'mindless noise'. In a Rolling Stone review, a writer categorised the band's heavier songs as 'crude and little differentiated from each other'. Others criticised the acoustic material for apparently imitating the music of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Page's response to that is very blunt:

"When the third LP came out and got its reviews, Crosby, Stills and Nash had just formed. That LP had just come out and because acoustic guitars had come to the forefront all of a sudden: LED ZEPPELIN GO ACOUSTIC! I thought, Christ, where are their heads and ears? There were three acoustic songs on the first album and two on the second."

- Page also said that all the bad press and criticism Led Zeppelin III received caused him to refuse to give press interviews for 18 months after its release. This was also one of the reasons why the band's next album had no written information on it at all.