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Led Zeppelin: Good Times, Bad Times: A Visual Biography of the Ultimate Band
Good Times, Bad Led Zeppelin captures the public and private lives of rock gods Led Zeppelin through rare and iconic photographs. More than any other band, they embodied the rock-star lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock and roll and came to define the music and culture of the 1970s. Forty years after the release of their first album in 1969, Led Zeppelin—Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham— continues to fascinate and inspire legions of fans, young and old alike.
A general overview of the band’s history will introduce the core of the a gallery of more than 200 photographs, laid out in chronological order, more than half of which have never been published. Whether onstage, backstage, recording in the studio, on tour, or at home—the band is shown as never before. From their very first performance in Denmark on September 7, 1968 (as the new Yardbirds) to their last performance in London in 2007, this collection of images will remind die-hard fans why the group became, and remains, one of the greatest and most notorious bands in the history of rock and roll.
A general overview of the band’s history will introduce the core of the a gallery of more than 200 photographs, laid out in chronological order, more than half of which have never been published. Whether onstage, backstage, recording in the studio, on tour, or at home—the band is shown as never before. From their very first performance in Denmark on September 7, 1968 (as the new Yardbirds) to their last performance in London in 2007, this collection of images will remind die-hard fans why the group became, and remains, one of the greatest and most notorious bands in the history of rock and roll.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2009
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About the author
Jerry Prochnicky
6 books3 followersJerry Prochnicky is the co-author of Break on Through:The Life and Death of Jim Morrison (IT Books, “The most objective, thorough and professional Morrison biography.”—The New York Times), as well as the co-author, with Ralph Hulett, of Led Zeppelin: Good Times Bad Times (Abrams). He has been researching the Led Zeppelin story for over forty years.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 23, 2024
Really enjoyed this book while listening to a bunch of Zeppelin songs. They were and still are, the best band of all time.
April 30, 2010
The Rolling Stones aside, it’s hard to think of a rock band, and certainly not a hard-rock band, that exemplified the power, majesty and rock’n'roll excess that encompassed all that is Led Zeppelin. From their early days as ‘the new Yardbirds’ to their now current final show at London’s O2 arena, no band has ever combined both the sonic impact and global fame as the mighty Zeppelin juggernaut.
Author Jerry Prochnicky and photographer Ralph Hulett have great familiarity with the subject between years of research as well as their previous collaboration on ‘Whole Lotta Led: Our Flight with Led Zeppelin,’ and this photo-based volume captures the basic chronology of the band from beginning to end.
Having said that, the book is far from a completist work, nor does it represent a truly authoritative volume. To be a complete visual history of the band, one would expect at least screen shots from the early TV appearances of the band (as are ever-so-popular these days on YouTube) as well as a more professional selection of photos from various tours of America, Japan, and Europe and even the final U.S. performance at Philadelphia’s Live Aid concert. There are factual mistakes in this book as well – the famed Hyatt House is in Hollywood, not Pasadena, the Oakland Day-On-The-Green show was not the band’s final U.S. appearance, as just previously mentioned.
Overall the book makes a nice fan history of the band, and has a number of rare and never-before seen shots, but given the obvious stature of Led Zeppelin, it is ultimately disappointing that many major pictures were not included here (where is famed Zep photog Neal Preston’s work, for example?) Good for completists, but if you are expecting something resembling the entire Zeppelin photo history, this is not it.
Author Jerry Prochnicky and photographer Ralph Hulett have great familiarity with the subject between years of research as well as their previous collaboration on ‘Whole Lotta Led: Our Flight with Led Zeppelin,’ and this photo-based volume captures the basic chronology of the band from beginning to end.
Having said that, the book is far from a completist work, nor does it represent a truly authoritative volume. To be a complete visual history of the band, one would expect at least screen shots from the early TV appearances of the band (as are ever-so-popular these days on YouTube) as well as a more professional selection of photos from various tours of America, Japan, and Europe and even the final U.S. performance at Philadelphia’s Live Aid concert. There are factual mistakes in this book as well – the famed Hyatt House is in Hollywood, not Pasadena, the Oakland Day-On-The-Green show was not the band’s final U.S. appearance, as just previously mentioned.
Overall the book makes a nice fan history of the band, and has a number of rare and never-before seen shots, but given the obvious stature of Led Zeppelin, it is ultimately disappointing that many major pictures were not included here (where is famed Zep photog Neal Preston’s work, for example?) Good for completists, but if you are expecting something resembling the entire Zeppelin photo history, this is not it.
July 5, 2013
Oh, what a nostalgic treat this was. Mostly photographs, the snippets of text were informative and evocative. I still can't get over how beautiful Robert Plant was then. Wow. I loved revisiting the band and the times.
July 25, 2017
Excellent visual history of Led Zeppelin. The forward lays the groundwork and the photos provide the visual details. Fascinating story.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews