Released 24 February 1975
Recorded July and December 1970 – March 1971, May 1972, January–February 1974 at multiple locations
Physical Graffiti is the sixth album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is a double album which was released on 24 February 1975. Recording sessions for the album were initially disrupted when John Paul Jones considered leaving the band. After reuniting at Headley Grange, the band wrote and recorded eight songs, the combined length of which stretched the album beyond the typical length of an LP. This prompted the band to make Physical Graffiti a double album by including previously unreleased tracks from earlier recording sessions.
The recording sessions for Physica` Graffiti ini|ially took placa in November 1973 at Headley Grange in East Hampshire, England. For these recordings, the band utilised Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio. However, these sessions came to a halt quickly and the studio time was turned over to the band Bad Company, who used it to record songs for their debut album, Bad Company. In an interview he gave in 1975, guitarist and album producer Jimmy Page explained the reason for this abrupt cessation of recording: "It took a long time for this album mainly because when we originally went in to record it, John Paul Jones wasn't well and we had to cancel the time . . . everything got messed up. It took three months to sort the situation out."
However, according to Led Zeppelin archivist Dave Lewis: "it later emerged that Jones had wanted to quit the band and take up a position as choirmaster at Winchester Cathedral. [Manager] Peter Grant urged caution, suggesting that Jones was overwrought from the incessant touring and should take a rest from Zeppelin for a few weeks. Jones changed his mind and sessions resumed at Headley Grange after the Christmas holidays."
Once they had reconvened, the band recorded eight tracks at Headley Grange in January and February 1974, which were engineered by Ron Nevison. Vocalist Robert Plant later referred to these eight tracks as "the belters": "We got eight tracks off ... and a lot of them were really raunchy. We did some real belters with live vocals, off-the-wall stuff that turned out really nice."
Similar to the sessions for the previous two albums, the decision to record at the informal surroundings of Headley Grange provided a welcome opportunity for the band to improvise and develop material along the way. As Plant commented: "Some of the tracks we assembled in our own fashioned way of running through a track and realising before we knew it that we had stumbled on something completely different."
Bron-Yr-Aur cottage
Because the eight tracks extended beyond the length of a conventional album, it was decided at some point to include several unreleased songs which had been recorded during the sessions for previous Led Zeppelin albums. The instrumental "Bron-Yr-Aur" was recorded in July 1970 at Island Studios, London, for Led Zeppelin III. It was named after Bron-Yr-Aur, a cottage in Gwynedd, Wales where the members of Led Zeppelin spent time during the recording of Led Zeppelin III. "Night Flight" and "Boogie with Stu" were recorded at Headley Grange and "Down by the Seaside" at Island Studios, all for Led Zeppelin IV. "The Rover" and "Black Country Woman" were recorded at the same sessions as "D'yer Mak'er" at Stargroves using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio in May 1972. "Houses of the Holy" was also recorded in May 1972, but at Olympic Studios. The group's fifth album, Houses of the Holy, took its title from this song despite the decision not to include the song on that album. Page explained: "We had more material than the required 40-odd minutes for one album. We had enough material for one and a half LPs, so we figured let's put out a double and use some of the material we had done previously but never released. It seemed like a good time to do that sort of thing, release tracks like "Boogie With Stu" which we normally wouldn't be able to do ... [T]his time we figured it was better to stretch out than to leave off."
According to engineer Nevison, the decision to expand the album to include songs from previous sessions was not part of the original planning: "I never knew that Physical Graffiti was going to be a double album. When we started out we were just cutting tracks for a new record. I left the project before they started pulling in songs from Houses of the Holy and getting them up to scratch. So I didn't know it was a double [album] until it came out."
Additional overdubs were added and the final mixing of the album was performed in October 1974 by Keith Harwood at Olympic Studios, London. The title "Physical Graffiti" was coined by Page to illustrate the whole physical and written energy that had gone into producing the set.
In the opinion of Lewis, Physical Graffiti "was a massive outpouring of [Led] Zeppelin music that proved to be the definitive summary of their studio work ... Given the luxury of a double format, Physical Graffiti mirrors every facet of the Zeppelin repertoire. The end result is a finely balanced embarrassment of riches."
Spanning several years of recording, the album featured forays into a range of musical styles, including hard rock ("The Rover", "The Wanton Song", "Sick Again". "Houses of the Holy"), eastern-influenced orchestral rock ("Kashmir"), driving funk ("Trampled Under Foot"), acoustic rock and roll ("Boogie With Stu", "Black Country Woman"), love ballad ("Ten Years Gone"), blues rock ("In My Time of Dying") and acoustic guitar instrumental ("Bron-Yr-Aur"). The wide range of Physical Graffiti is also underlined by the fact that it contains both the longest and shortest studio recordings by Led Zeppelin. "In My Time of Dying" clocks in at 11 minutes 5 seconds and "Bron-Yr-Aur" is 2 minutes 6 seconds. It is also the only Led Zeppelin album to feature bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones playing additional guitar on some tracks.
Several tracks off the album became live staples at Led Zeppelin concerts. In particular, the songs "In My Time of Dying", "Trampled Under Foot", "Kashmir", "Ten Years Gone" and "Sick Again" became regular components of the band's live concert set lists following the release of the album.
According to vocalist Robert Plant, of all the albums Led Zeppelin released, Physical Graffiti represented the band at its most creative and most expressive. He has commented that it is his favourite Led Zeppelin album. Similarly, guitarist Jimmy Page considers this album to be a "high watermark" for Led Zeppelin.
Side one
1. "Custard Pie" January–February 1974
2. "The Rover" May 1972
3. "In My Time of Dying" January–February 1974
Side two
1. "Houses of the Holy" May 1972
2. "Trampled Under Foot" January–February 1974
3. "Kashmir" January–February 1974
Side three
1. "In the Light" January–February 1974
2. "Bron-Yr-Aur" July 1970
3. "Down by the Seaside" February 1971
4. "Ten Years Gone" January–February 1974
Side four
1. "Night Flight" December 1970–January 1971
2. "The Wanton Song" January–February 1974
3. "Boogie with Stu" December 1970–January 1971
4. "Black Country Woman" May 1972
5. "Sick Again" January–February 1974
* Some cassette versions of the album place "Bron-Yr-Aur" immediately after "Kashmir", presumably to make each side of the cassette last approximately the same amount of time.
* The running times listed for "Kashmir" and "Ten Years Gone" on original LP pressings of the album were significantly in error; "Kashmir" was listed at 9:41, "Ten Years Gone" at 6:55.
* "Boogie with Stu" is credited to "Mrs. Valens, mother of Ritchie Valens". The credit came about after the band had heard Valens' mother never received any royalties from any of her son's hits.
Additional personnel
* Ian Stewart – piano on "Boogie with Stu"
* George Chkiantz – engineering
* Peter Corriston – artwork, design, cover design
* Mike Doud – artwork, design, cover design
* Elliot Erwitt – photography
* B. P. Fallon – photography
* Peter Grant – producer, executive producer
* Roy Harper – photography
* Keith Harwood – engineering, mixing
* Dave Heffernan – illustrations
* Andy Johns – engineering
* Eddie Kramer – engineering, mixing
* Ron Nevison – engineering