The Led Zeppelin Connection
When Robert Plant was about 10 years old, in 1958, he used to do an Elvis impersonation behind the curtains in his living room, arguably looking for a certain ambience that Elvis’ early records had. He used to have a quiff and spent hours in front of the mirror trying to emulate Elvis’ moves. Both him and Jimmy Page used to listen to Radio Luxembourg, a foreign radio station that at the time was the only way to listen to rock ‘n’ roll music in the UK. It couldn’t always be tuned in and it was staticky, but in their homes with ears to the speakers they would pick up fragments of Fats Domino, Buddy Holly or Elvis Presley. Robert’s parents were worried about the influence rock ‘n’ roll had on their son and one day, while he was listening to his favorite music, even pulled the plug off the radio. He didn’t desist of course and it was through Elvis that he learned about the Delta Blues. Rock ‘n’ roll and R&B records were only found in second-hand shops in the UK back then, left behind by Americans or discarded from jukeboxes, so that’s what Page and Plant focused on separately while Elvis was drafted into the army.
What sparked Jimmy Page musically, however, even before discovering Chuck Berry in 1956, was Elvis’ rockabilly classic “Baby, Let’s Play House”, which he heard first on that staticky radio. Even though the allusion in the lyrics about living in sin didn’t hit him until years later, that song, he confessed in an interview, turned him on and sent shivers up his spine, so much so that he decided to take up a guitar left behind at his house and learn to play it. Soon enough, he formed a skiffle band and started to emulate solos from guitarists he liked, especially James Burton (who played guitar in Ricky Nelson’s hits and would later play his famous pink Telecaster in Elvis’ TCB band). Like Elvis, Jimmy would bring his guitar to school and sometimes it got confiscated for the day. He bought a record player in 1960 and got the early Elvis records he liked, such as “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” and “Tryin’ to Get to You”. “That music was refreshing”, observed Page many years later, “when all you heard before was Rosemary Clooney”.
It was only in 1968 however that Page and Plant joined forces and with John Bonham and John Paul Jones formed Led Zeppelin. Rock music had evolved a lot from ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll to 70s hard rock, but Elvis’ influence can be heard everywhere in Robert Plant’s delivery, in some of his stage moves and in the lyrics too (“It's been a long time, been a long time / Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time” - “Rock and Roll” from Led Zeppelin IV). Having watched Elvis for years, Led Zeppelin also learned how to use their bodies on stage to emphasize the feel of the music – striking poses, shaking their hips, thrusting their pelvis and so on. In order to pay homage to how it all started for them, they semi-regularly included Elvis songs in their sets, especially in the long “Whole Lotta Love” medley. It included “That’s Alright, Mama”, “Heartbreak Hotel”, “A Mess of Blues” and others.
The members of Led Zeppelin went to see Elvis live several times over the years, including in 1972 at Madison Square Garden, but it was only in May 1974 that Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Bonham were invited to meet him after a concert. Elvis was not a fan of hard rock, but he knew about Led Zeppelin, as they were topping the charts at the time. He would say to his own entourage, “Well, I may not be Led Zeppelin but I can still pack 'em in”. He was actually amused that his step-brother Ricky was really excited that they were in the audience. During the concert that night in Los Angeles he acknowledged them before launching into “Funny How Time Slips Away” with his signature self-deprecating humor, stopping his TCB band and saying that they should all play as if they knew what they were doing because Led Zeppelin was in the audience.
After the concert they were invited to see Elvis and led into a room full of girls – all copies of Ann Margret, as Robert Plant humorously recalls. They were told by Elvis’ entourage not to discuss music with him, so initially they were starstruck and tongue tied. Elvis, who apparently only knew one of their songs, Stairway to Heaven, didn’t talk to them for a little while, until his interest was sparked by Bonzo mentioning his classic car collection. Elvis knew the band members were famous for the groupies and their libertine behavior on tour, so he asked about that and they hilariously denied everything. Jimmy joked that they rarely did sound checks, but if they did all Robert wanted to sing was Elvis’ songs. Elvis was amused by that and asked him which songs he liked and Robert said that he liked the ones with all the moods, like “Love Me”: “Treat me like a fool / Treat me mean and cruel / But love me”. When they were about to leave, Elvis swung around the door frame, looking quite pleased with himself, and started singing that song to them: “Treat me like a fool…” and Robert promptly replied “Treat me mean and cruel…But love me”. They actually talked and had fun for about 90 minutes together. Members of his Memphis Mafia even checked with him several times because Elvis usually saw people for only 10 minutes.
Another memorable meeting took place in his Monovale house, also in LA, this time involving John Paul Jones, the bassist of the band, and Richard Cole, the band’s tour manager, who was a friend of Jerry Schilling. When the two arrived with a bottle of Dom Pérignon, they were surprised to find Elvis in his pajamas and slippers watching TV with the MM. Cole, apparently a bit drunk, started to swear in front of everyone and Elvis didn’t approve, especially since his girlfriend Sheila Ryan was present. Accounts differ but one story says that Elvis jumped up in a karate stance and knocked off his watch and another that Elvis simply asked to see Cole’s expensive watch. What happened for sure is that they all started to swap watches, John getting a jewel-encrusted watch from Elvis in exchange for his Mickey Mouse wristwatch. The evening went on pleasantly, with Elvis quoting several Monty Python routines to his new English friends. Towards the end of the evening, Elvis suggested another exchange. He eyed John, who had been the quiet one all night, lowered his pajama pants beneath his robe and in perfect Monty Python fashion said “Let’s swap pants!”. According to Jerry, the more eccentric Cole was shocked into silence, while John and Sheila bursted into laughter.
The last time Elvis Presley and Led Zep crossed paths is bittersweet, as it happened shortly before Elvis’ death in 1977 when their jets met on the runway at the airport. His other step brother, David Stanley, asked Elvis if he could go with the band that night for their concert. Elvis just looked at him and said, “No.” When he asked Elvis why, he said, “Look at the bottom of your paycheck.” As he entered the limo with Elvis David said they sure have a nice jet. Elvis leaned over and reminded him, “They lease their jet from Caesar’s Palace, I own mine.”
Robert Plant kept singing Elvis’ songs on stage throughout his career. Here he’s singing “Little Sister” in 1979 with Rockpile.
Here he’s sitting on the floor with some records. Note Elvis’ first album is there (thanks Lucy for this).
You can find my other posts on Elvis connections with artists who followed him at this link. So far I’ve written about Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan/Andy Warhol, the Clash, Jim Morrison and Quentin Tarantino.
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