Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

's 1968/1969 tour of North America was the first

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

of the United States and Canada by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

. The tour commenced on 26 December 1968 and concluded on 16 February 1969. It was important for the band, as their popularity grew substantially because of the concerts and helped them reach significant commercial success in the US, which translated to sales elsewhere.

Overview

The genesis of this tour was the cancellation of a concert tour by the Jeff Beck Group, which happened to be managed out of the same office occupied by Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant. Grant contacted the promoters and convinced them to take on Led Zeppelin instead.Liner notes by

Cameron Crowe Cameron Bruce Crowe (born July 13, 1957) is an American filmmaker and journalist. He has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Grammy Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award. Crowe started his career a ...

for '' The Complete Studio Recordings'' To help publicise the band in America before the tour, Grant sent

white label White label may refer to: * White-label product, a permitted replication and rebranding of a product * White label record, records with plain white labels attached. * White Label Music, an independent record label based in the United Kingdom * ''Wh ...

advance copies of the band's debut album to key

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...

stations. The album itself was issued on 13 January, almost mid-way through the tour. According to tour manager

Richard Cole Richard Cole (2 January 1946 – 2 December 2021) was an English music manager, who was involved in the rock music business from the mid-1960s to 2003. He is most known for having been the tour manager of English rock band Led Zeppelin from 19 ...

, the tour was underwritten by Grant, guitarist

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

, and bass player

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

, while singer

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

and drummer

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...

were paid a salary.''A to Zeppelin: The Story of Led Zeppelin'', Passport Video, 2004. For this stint of concerts, Led Zeppelin initially played as the support act for bands such as

Vanilla Fudge Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of the Supremes' " You Keep Me Hangin' On". The band's original line–up was vocali ...

and

Iron Butterfly Iron Butterfly was an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are best known for the 1968 hit " In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal m ...

(both of which were also contracted to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

) and Country Joe & the Fish. However, as the tour progressed, it became apparent that Led Zeppelin was easily outshining the headline acts.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London:

Omnibus Press Omnibus Press is a publisher of music-related books. It publishes around 30 new titles a year to add to a backlist of over 300 titles currently in print. History Omnibus Press was launched in 1972 as a general non-fiction publisher to complem ...

. , p. 15."Their Time is Gonna Come", ''

Classic Rock Magazine ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 196 ...

: Classic Rock Presents Led Zeppelin'', 2008, p. 17. Guitarist

noticed that by the time the group reached

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, other groups were not turning up, and Led Zeppelin were then headliners.

Nick Kent Nick Kent (born 24 December 1951) is a British rock critic and musician, best known for his writing for the ''NME'' in the 1970s, and his books ''The Dark Stuff'' (1994) and ''Apathy for the Devil'' (2010). Early life Kent, the son of a forme ...

, "Bring It On Home", ''

Q Magazine ''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...

'', Special Led Zeppelin edition, 2003 Bassist

believed the reason their concerts were popular was because they played tightly and quickly without many delays, saying "we would just go on and go 'bang bang bang' with three driven songs with solos", which other groups did not do.Dominick A. Miserandino
Led Zeppelin – John Paul Jones
, TheCelebrityCafe.com. In one famous concert, Led Zeppelin's final of four nights performed at the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a seminal American protest, political and Mercantilism, mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, during the American Revolution. Initiated by Sons of Liberty activists in Boston in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colo ...

, the band played for more than four hours with only one album worth of material. Grant was delighted with the group's performance, and the band then realised then that they would be a very successful rock band. It was during this tour that Led Zeppelin's drummer,

, developed a close friendship with the drummer of Vanilla Fudge,

Carmine Appice Carmine Appice ( ; born December 15, 1946) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is the older brother ...

.Mat Snow, "Apocalypse Then", '' Q'' magazine, December 1990, pp. 77, 79. Chris Welch (1994) ''Led Zeppelin'', London:

Orion Books Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connell ...

. , p. 34. The average fee charged by Led Zeppelin for a concert during this tour was around $1,500. It has been stated that for one show they performed for a mere $320. Figures like these would soon be dwarfed by the six-figure sums routinely demanded, and received, by Led Zeppelin on subsequent tours as their popularity skyrocketed. Peter Grant recalled that "

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

had been getting $2,500 a night but people like Bill Graham had faith in us and so did the kids who saw it." Grant, who was unable to attend the tour with the group, also stated:

Tour set list

Although there was some variation, a fairly typical

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

for the tour was: #"

Train Kept A-Rollin' "Train Kept A-Rollin'" (or "The Train Kept A-Rollin'") is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. Originally performed in the style of a jump blues, Bradshaw borrowed lyrics from an earlier son ...

" ( Bradshaw, Kay, Mann) #" I Can't Quit You Baby" ( Dixon) #" As Long As I Have You" ( Mimms) #" Dazed and Confused" (

Page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

) #" You Shook Me" (Dixon, Lenoir) #" White Summer"/" Black Mountain Side" (Page) #" Pat's Delight" (Bonham) #" Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (

Bredon Bredon is a village and civil parish in Wychavon district at the southern edge of Worcestershire in England. It lies on the banks of the River Avon on the lower slopes of Bredon Hill. Location and geography Bredon is located northwest of the ...

, Page,

Plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

) #"

How Many More Times "How Many More Times" is the ninth and final track on English rock band Led Zeppelin's 1969 debut album ''Led Zeppelin''. The song is credited in the album liner to Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham, but Robert Plant was later added to ...

" (Bonham, Jones, Page) #" Killing Floor" ( Burnett) #"

For Your Love "For Your Love" is a rock song written by Graham Gouldman and recorded by the English group the Yardbirds. Released in March 1965, it was their first top ten hit in both the UK and the US. The song was a departure from the group's blues roots ...

" ( Gouldman) #"

Communication Breakdown "Communication Breakdown" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their 1969 self-titled debut album. It was also used as the B-side of the group's first single in the US, " Good Times Bad Times". A promotional video was release ...

" ( Bonham,

, Page)

Tour dates

References

External links

Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Led Zeppelin North American Tour 1968-1969 Led Zeppelin concert tours 1968 concert tours 1969 concert tours 1968 in North America 1969 in North America

Overview

Tour set list

Tour dates

See also

References

External links