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| In Through The Out Door |
| This is just one of Six Diff Covers hidden under the brown paper wrapper |
| Move your mouse over the picture to see the brown paper cover |
| Released - August 15, 1979 Produced by: Jimmy Page Label - Swan Song Records side one side two In The Evening Carouselambra South Bound Saurez All My Love Fool In The Rain Im Gonna Crawl Hot Dog |
| On This Day In Led Zeppelin History Wednesday, December 18, 2002 On this day in 1978, the recording for Led Zeppelin's new album, In Through the Our Door, was completed. Having spent November and December at ABBA's Polar Studios in Stockholm, Led Zeppelin left Sweden to head for home. Jimmy Page took the 10 new songs to the studio in his Sussex manor home, Plumpton Place, where he worked on mixing the new material over Christmas. Seven of the 10 songs, including "In the Evening," "All My Love" and "Carouselambra," made it onto the album. The three others -- "Ozone Baby," "Darlene" and "Wearing and Tearing" -- were cut from the album but then mixed in 1982 for release on the posthumous Led Zeppelin album, Coda. The musical aspect of In Through the Out Door was getting done quickly, and it seemed to the press and the general public that the album would be out soon. The first mention in print to render this idea was a blurb in the New Musical Express on Feb. 24, 1979, which stated that the new album would be released within a month. However, as it turned out, it took another six months for the album to hit the streets. At first, the culprit was the cover art, something Led Zeppelin was used to hearing between 1970 and 1975. This time, the best of the best in design was saying the artwork would require some more time. It was Led Zeppelin's manager, Peter Grant, who devised a plan to ensure that the album would sell. He suggested that there should be six different album covers. Brainstorming with Jimmy Page, Grant further suggested that these six distinct covers should be hidden in identical brown paper bags, stamped with Led Zeppelin's name, the album title and the track listing. Grant and Page theorized that collectors would want to purchase all six for their distinct album covers, but they would have no idea which one they were buying until after they were purchased, when the brown paper bag was removed. It was the perfect strategy. Storm Thorgerson, of the renowned art design company Hipgnosis, took the idea from there. He suggested that each of the covers should be a variation on the theme of a man in a bar who has just received a "Dear John" letter. The staff of Hipgnosis took on the project, having in the past designed the covers for Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy and Presence. Aubrey Powell built a set to replicate bars in New Orleans. Peter Christopherson handled the lighting. Richard Manning transformed the images shot in the bar into prints and colored them, giving them a sepia tone so that they looked like vintage photos. The six different album covers are all of nearly the same scene but from the points of view of the six people in the bar, other than the heartbroken man who was the centerpiece of each shot. Grant said that the printers, who ultimately learned the concept as the album was being printed, were sworn to secrecy. Even executives at Atlantic Records didn't know about the six different album covers until just prior to the release of the album. One additional aspect that remained secret for long after the release had to do with the inner sleeve. They had watercolor images that would appear only when they became wet. Word of this slowly "leaked" but eventually prompted many Led Zeppelin fans to break out their paintbrushes, cloths and sponges to moisten the sleeve and see what happened. Once the intricate sleeves and jackets were ready, the band decided to withhold the album until just the right moment. That moment came in August 1979, following Led Zeppelin's two appearances at the Knebworth Festival in England. It was decided in three months ahead of time that Led Zeppelin would play Knebworth in August, and so the timing for the August album release was worked out soon. As the pair of Knebworth dates approached, the band considered using two of the outtakes from the In Through the Out Door sessions on a commemorative single to be handed out exclusively at Knebworth. According to the plan, the A-side was going to be "Wearing and Tearing," Led Zeppelin's best musical answer to the punk rock movement that had caught on in London. In a mere two-and-a-half minutes, the track had breakneck speed, bursting bass and crunching guitar. The B-side was to be "Darlene," a rock 'n' roll throwback blending incredible performances from Jones on piano, Page on electric guitar, Bonham on drums and Plant on vocals. Plant, in his songwriting genius, included a lyrical allusion to the "pink carnation and a pickup truck" in Don McLean's "American Pie," which was itself a reference to the 1957 No. 2 U.S. pop hit "A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation)" by country singer Marty Robbins. However, there was just not enough time before the Knebworth concerts to complete everything that goes into making a single. For instance, the mixing would have had to be done, because Page had not mixed those two songs at Plumpton Place over Christmas 1978. Left with inadequate time to follow through with the idea, it was discarded, and the two tracks remained unmixed and unreleased until 1982. Rock and roll, Steve "The Lemon" Sauer www.LZHistory.com |
| Fun Facts |
| now playing: "Hot Dog" |
| Note: I was torn in choosing a song, but finally chose "Hot Dog," a pure boogy if there ever was one, partly because its just plain fun, and partly, because I think it demonstrates the amazing versatility anf musicality of the band, and their ability to adapt any and all styles into their own unique visions. |