Library Rock's Backpages

Stairwell to Headley: Led Zeppelin's Fourth Album

Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2006

THE SCENE IS Atlantic Records' HQ in New York City, the date early September 1971. The event is a tense standoff between, on the one hand, the company's co-founder Ahmet Ertegun and – on the other – the ectomorphic guitarist and behemoth manager of a band who've just hit town for a show at Madison Square Garden. Sitting in are legal representatives for both sides.

Total word count of piece: 10146

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.