By the time Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham formed Led Zeppelin, they were already seasoned musicians who’d been in and out of various recording sessions. Page had been a member of the original Yardbirds before they disbanded, while Plant and Bonham were together in Band of Joy. Jones, meanwhile, played with Page on Jeff Beck’s first solo recording ‘Beck’s Bolero’.
So it might seem surprising that the four members of the legendary blues and hard rock outfit only found themselves in a room together for the first time as late as August 1968. They were thrown together at the last minute by chance, as Page needed to fulfil The Yardbirds’ contractual obligations to tour Scandinavia and suddenly lacked bandmates to accompany him.
It was teenage songwriter Terry Reid who suggested Plant for the role of singer after he turned down the gig himself. Plant brought Bonham with him, and Jones volunteered to be bassist, having known Page for a few years. August 12th, 1968, was the fateful day they all got together for the first time in a small basement room in central London.
In a 1990 interview with the remaining band members, Jones recalled that the room was on Gerrard Street, near the offices of most music publishers in London at the time on Denmark Street in Soho. “There was just wall-to-wall amplifiers and a space for the door – and that was it. Literally, it was everyone looking at each other – ‘What shall we play?’”
So, what did they decide on?
“There was an old Yardbirds’ number,” according to Jones. To be more specific, the song they chose was ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’’, a rhythm and blues standard written and recorded by Tiny Bradshaw in 1951 and covered by The Yardbirds for their second album.
“All I can remember is that it was hot, and it sounded good,” Plant said of the session. Page was more effusive in his recollection of the moment. “At the end, we knew that it was really happening, really electrifying. Exciting is the word.”
The band emerged from the short session fully formed. “We went from there to start rehearsals for the album,” Page added. Zeppelin played their first gig less than a month later under the name “The New Yardbirds” before recording their first record in around 35 hours of studio time.
Donovan might claim to have been witness to the first Led Zeppelin song when Page, Jones and Bonham recorded ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ with him. But without Plant’s howling vocals, that claim hardly seems valid. Sorry, Donovan. The first song the band played together was Bradshaw’s blues number. And the rest is history.