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LED ZEPPELIN IV (UNITLED) FIRST US PRESSING 1971 SD-7208 'PORKY' MIX  BROWN SLEEVE
LED ZEPPELIN LED ZEPPELIN 'UNTITLED' ( LED ZEPPELIN IV, ZOSO, RUNES) LABEL: ATLANTIC SD-7208 ~ NO SUFFIX ON LABEL CATALOG NUMBER RELEASED: NOVEMBER 8, 1971 EDITION: US FIRST PRESSING: BROADWAY ADDRESS, GATEFOLD, BROWN INNER SLEEVE RECORDED: DECEMBER 1970 to FEBRUARY 1971 RECORDED AT: ISLAND STUDIOS LONDON & HEADLEY GRANGE HAMPSHIRE MASTERING/LACQUERS: GEORGE 'PECKO' PECKHAM AT ALTLANTIC MIXED AT SUNSET SOUND LOS ANGELES AND OLYMPIC STUDIOS LONDON ENGINEER/MIXING: ANDY JOHNS PRESSING PLANT: COLUMBIA PRESSING PLANT ~ WHERE? ('PR/SRC' IN MATRIX) PRODUCER: JIMMY PAGE PUBLISHER: SUPERHYPE MUSIC ALBUM DESIGN: GRAPHREAKS MATRIX (SIDE A): ST-A-712285-E AT/GP PR-CK 'SRC LOGO' "PORKY" MATRIX (SIDE B): ST-A-712286-E 'SRC LOGO' "PECKO DUCK" AT/GP
CONDITION: VINYL: VG (but 2nd 'clean' LP Included) JACKET: VG++
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I'm offering up this rare, original, 1971 First U.S. Pressing of Led Zeppelin's classic fourth album.
This is an original Atlantic SD 7208 pressing, with mastering engineer George 'Porky' Peckham's initials etched in the deadwax.
This is my original copy, purchased back in the early 70's, shortly after it's release, that I've taken good care of for many years. See details on Condition below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A legendary album like this deserves to be heard on a First Pressing copy, the way the band intended it to be. This record sounds rich, dynamic, thick, punchy and terrific. 
This 1971 First Pressing reveals just how deeply layered, dynamic and intense Led Zeppelin's music is. Page's production and studio mastery on this album is simply amazing. 
The instruments are well separated, Plant's vocals are crisp & clear, Jimmy's guitar tones are amazing, and there's a real sense of space and depth. The overall sound is both warm, intimate, as well as powerful, punchy and dynamic.
This album has been repressed, re-released, and remastered over the years, but as a Led Zeppelin fan and Zeppelin vinyl collector, this is the copy you want; First U.S. Pressing, original SD 7208 catalog number, George 'Porky' Peckham mastering, clean gatefold, and the original 'textured' brown inner sleeve. All original.
If you like Led Zeppelin and collect their records, this is a fantastic original record to add to your collection.
The 'problem' is that this 50 year old original pressing has a beautiful clean jacket, a crisp inner sleeve, and is all original, but the vinyl has play wear, scratches, and is only VG. Therefore what I did is add a second disc, a very clean, crisp, early, but later, pressing, so you get the original vinyl, but a 2nd very clean record to play. 
Best of both worlds. The 2nd disc is an early 70's, Rockefeller, Record Club pressing. It comes in it's original brown inner sleeve. The last 2 pictures in my listing show this 2nd additional LP.
So, a rare, complete original First Pressing, with an 'extra', later, much better condition, pressing of the record included.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth studio album, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, was released November 8th, 1971 by Atlantic Records. The album was an instant critical and commercial success and continues to be Led Zeppelin's best-selling album.
Spin magazine's Chuck Klosterman called it "the most famous hard-rock album ever recorded, Billboard magazine called it a "powerhouse album," and it's ranked very high on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time."
This fourth album is where it all came together for the band, with the confluence of the different themes and styles that Zeppelin had explored through their first three albums. It includes the first album's heavy blues, the 2nd album's guitar-driven hard rock style, and the 3rd album's folk influenced ideas. It also added Plant's post-hippie mysticism and mythological lyrics.
This album is where all four group members contributed their ideas, compositions and musical expertise to create a classic rock masterpiece that changed the face of rock forever. The collective strength of every band member can be heard on every track.
Nowhere is Led Zeppelin’s carefully balanced blend of eardrum-bursting heavy rock and delicate folk strains better realized than on this untitled fourth album. It's a perfect example of the “light and shade” dynamics Page strove for with the band.
There's a lot of magic, mystery and lore buried inside Led Zeppelin IV. It contains the classic songs "Rock and Roll," "Black Dog," and "Misty Mountain Hop" but this album was glorified for one track, the eight-minute-long "Stairway to Heaven", one of the most popular and most widely known rock songs in history.
Led Zeppelin IV literally rocked the world of music when it was released in November 1971. Few albums in the history of rock can rival its influence and importance. 
"My personal view is that the album is the best thing we've ever done. I love it." ~ John Bonham 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Led Zeppelin's fourth studio album is technically 'untitled' but it has been called 'Runes', 'ZoSo', 'Four Symbols', 'the fourth album', and 'Led Zeppelin IV'.
Page refers to the album as "the fourth album" and Plant thinks of it as "the fourth album, that's it".
'Led Zeppelin IV' seems to be the best name, as it follows the numbering system of the first 3 albums.
When they released their Fourth album in November 1971, they did so without any title, name, song titles, or band credits on the outside jacket. No words or lettering at all, just 4 'runes' or symbols on the inside that represented each member of the group.
In place of an album title and band member names, Page decided that each member could choose a personal emblem for the cover. Initially thinking of a single symbol for the band, he then decided there could be four, with each member of the band choosing their own.
Jimmy Page explained that "After all this crap that we'd had with the critics, I put it to everybody else that it'd be a good idea to put out something totally anonymous". "At first I wanted just one symbol on it, but then it was decided that since it was our fourth album and there were four of us, we could each choose our own symbol". 
The mysterious runes didn't appear on the album cover, just on the inner sleeve and on the labels of the record itself.
Each member of the group picked their own symbol.
They all had their own personal meanings, but the exact meaning of the “four symbols” has never been revealed by the band members, especially Page, who came up with the idea for the album.
Bonham and Jones simply chose theirs from Rudolf Koch's 'Book of Signs', a collection of primitive and medieval symbols that just happened to be in Jimmy's possession.
Jones claimed: "There was a really nice little book of signs and symbols, so we decided to choose our symbols from this book." "Bonzo and I just picked out ones we liked".
Bassist John Paul Jones' symbol is a single circle intersecting three oval shapes, a triquetra. It's intended to symbolize a person who possesses both confidence and competence.
Drummer John Bonham's symbol, the three overlapping and interlocking rings, was picked from the same book. It represents the triad of the Mother, Father and Child, but also symbolizes Strength in Unity.
Page and Plant went a different route and opted to design their own. 
Page designed his own odd symbol and has never publicly disclosed any reasoning or meaning behind it. 
It has been argued that his symbol appeared as early as the 1500's to represent Saturn or the Constellation Capricorn.
Page was known to be a devotee of Aleister Crowley and his sign was felt to have some dark occult imagery. It contains what appears to be a word, written in an odd script, that appears to spell out “Zoso", though Page has explained that it was not in fact intended to be a word at all. According to Page, "It's nothing satanic or anything like that."
Plant's symbol of a feather within a circle was also his own design.
It's a reference to the civilization of Mu, a legendary lost continent which has been said to be the birthplace of the Egyptians and the Mayans. It's a nod to Plant's fascination with Ancient Mythology and just one of those hippie things at the time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A fifth, smaller symbol was chosen by guest vocalist Sandy Denny, representing her contribution to "The Battle of Evermore."
Sandy Denny's symbol consists of three downward-pointing equilateral triangles, and appears on the inner sleeve of the album.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The "Four Symbols" add a mystical element to the untitled album, and people have read so much into them over the years, trying to figure out their true inner meaning. In reality, the symbols were selected or created rather quickly, so they likely don't mean as much as people think, but they are kinda cool and part of Zeppelin folklore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE STORY OF THE 'SONGS' ON LED ZEPPELIN IV
Despite the album featuring many fantastic songs, Led Zeppelin IV became glorified for just one track: 'Stairway To Heaven'. 
THE STORY BEHIND 'STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN'
By late 1970, Jimmy Page was brimming with ideas. One of the earliest things he worked on for the new album was a song to replace their extended, live showpiece “Dazed and Confused.” That song was popular, but it was an older song, mostly a slow blues and becoming 'stale'. Page wanted to write a new song that started out slow and bluesy, but built up power and energy as it developed, similar to 'Dazed/Confused'.
Page put together a couple of instrumental pieces he had been working on, written on both 6 and 12 string guitars, and the music of 'Stairway to Heaven' soon started to come together.
By the time the band settled into Headley Grange, Page had the chord sequence pretty much worked out, and had some rough demo versions of the music ready to work up.
Robert Plant recalls: "I was sitting next to Jimmy in front of the fire at Headley Grange. He'd written this chord sequence and was playing it to me. I was holding a pencil and paper and suddenly my hand is writing the words 'There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold...' 
Plant just came up with about 60 per cent of the lyrics on the spot and the basic song came together very quickly.
“The lyrics were a cynical thing about a woman getting everything she wanted without giving anything back.”
Additional lyrics, based on Welsh folklore, were written by Plant after he was inspired by a dream he had at Headley, in which he climbed up a stairway into a mystical world.
It was Jones who came up with the memorable, melodic, opening sequence: “We always had a lot of instruments lying around so I picked up a bass recorder and played along with Jimmy.”
Page’s finger-picked, folky acoustic guitar, accompanied by Jones' recorder, mixed with Plant's mystical lyrics sounded perfect. Exactly the kind of 'new' sound they were after.
They took the finished rough mixes to Island Recording studio in London to cut the track, while it was still 'fresh'.
The song starts out, folky and mellow, with a few mystical, poetic verses, then after a few minutes transitions into a new 'electric' section, played on 12-string, with ever increasing energy, as Plant sings “and it makes me wonder...”
Suddenly, there's a new, ascending chord progression that starts as Plant sings “There’s a feeling I get...”, and the song builds.
Finally, after 4 minutes of building, drummer John Bonham perfectly appears, introducing the song's infectious groove. The band churns along with Jones playing electric piano, until Bonham hits a hard cymbal crash to announce another change, as Page launches into his iconic solo.
Page famously laid down 3 separate takes of his classic heavy guitar solo, which became the crescendo of the song, and carefully selected the proper, best, one for the final mix.
"I winged that guitar solo, really...I did three of them. They were all quite different from each other.The one we used was definitely the best.”
Instead of using his trusty Gibson Les Paul, which he used on most songs, he used his battered old Fender Telecaster instead, a gift from fellow Yardbird Jeff Beck, which he used on the first two Zeppelin albums. Jimmy's fantastic guitar work is the thread that holds the whole song together.
After Jimmy's solo, for the last minute or so, the band brings the song to a full-on, heavy, climax, before the intensity subsides, and Plant lets out one last, sighing, acapella line “and she’s buying a stairway to heaven...”
A perfect way to end the song and the album side.
The 8-minute-long song, the fourth track from the fourth album, "Stairway to Heaven" was the band's masterpiece and is nothing less than one of the greatest rock songs ever written. It was a song that Page, Plant, and the band were immensely proud of. 
'Stairway' became the centerpiece of the group's live act from 1971 onward. Jimmy had to use a double-neck Gibson EDS-1275 guitar when performing the song live, to capture all of the different guitar sounds in the song. It was an amazing sight to see, hear and experience.
Jimmy Page said: “I thought (Stairway) crystallised the essence of the band. It had everything there and showed us at our best as a band and as a unit. Every musician wants to be able to do something of lasting quality.” 
Over the years, both fans and critics have projected their own thoughts and ideas into the song’s odd, poetic, metaphysical lyrics.
Contrary to rumors, there are no backwards Stanic messages on "Stairway," although critics claim to hear them. The song does have backwards guitar and other backwards sounds, which give it strange aural effects, but they weren't trying to put any secret messages on there.
The band were obviously proud of the song back in 1971. When this album was released, it was the very first time the band had put the lyrics to one of their songs in the album packaging. It's also the only song on the album to have it's lyrics printed out, dedicating a whole side of the inner sleeve to them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ After 'Stairway' became popular, Page had another fight with Atlantic Records, who desperately wanted to release the hit song as a single, but the band steadfastly refused to allow it. 
To make it fit on a 45, it would have to be drastically compressed and edited from its running time of 7:50, and this was completely unacceptable to Page. “We wanted them to hear it in the context of the whole album,” he said.
The song only works, and sounds best, as the long multi-part masterpiece, tucked away as the closing song on side One. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ROCK & ROLL
Once the band was settled into their new surroundings at Headley Grange, and the Rolling Stones recording truck was ready to go, the band started to perform some loose late-night jams.
In the middle of an early session, John Bonham began banging out the cymbal-led introduction to Little Richard’s 'Keep A-Knockin’. 
Ian 'Stu' Stewart jumped on the beat, playfully adding a Jerry Lee Lewis style roadhouse piano riff. Page and Jones picked up on the groove and played some riffs based on old Sun Records-era Scotty Moore guitar lines. 
It was a fun, fast, jam, based on several different styles of early rock & roll, but it blended perfectly.
After a bit, Robert Plant jumped in with lyrics off his head from 50's groups such as the Diamonds and the Monotones. He then started to improvise, singing lyrics off his head, belting out the rowdy, bluesy line ‘It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled...'
Jimmy remembered: "We had the tape running...it ground to a halt after 12 bars but we knew we had something. Robert came in with the lyrics and within 15 minutes the song was virtually complete.” 
When they first performed the song live, before the album's release, Plant introduced the song as 'It’s Been A Long Time'. It would soon be called "Rock And Roll", Zeppelin's nod to Rock's golden age. 
That signature, roaring introduction on drums by John Bonham is classic Zeppelin and instantly recognizable. Bonzo continues a relentless steamroller that plows on thru the song. Jimmy plays great riffs and Jones keeps the rhythm going with fantastic thick bass lines.
Every member of the band turns in a stellar performance, and their attitude makes the track work. The band is clearly having a blast, churning through the style of music that inspired them during their formative years. 
The song is just fantastic and keeps the momentum of the album opener, “Black Dog” going strong.
This classic song would become the opener to Zeppelin’s live shows  from late 1972 through the 1975 tour. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BLACK DOG
Another song that got it's title from the strange surroundings of Headley Grange is "Black Dog."
"Black Dog" was named after a lovely old black Labrador that was wandering around the mansion's grounds during the sessions. "We just used to call him Black Dog,” Jimmy recalls. 
An album as heavy and powerful as Led Zeppelin IV needed a brash, intense, ear-grabbing opener, and 'Black Dog' fit that need perfectly.
The album, and the song, opens with a few seconds of studio noise, then the disembodied voice of Robert Plant drops in out of nowhere...“Hey hey Mama, said the way you move / Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove”. 
Then, Wham, Page, bassist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham come blasting out of the speakers with enough force and power to knock the listener over.
It's a raw, heavy rocker, but it's a cleverly produced song and has a lot of detail that is often overlooked.
The strange opening sounds of "Black Dog" are a byproduct of the limited studio technology of the early 70's.
The opening riff to "Black Dog" is triple tracked guitar, spliced together by Page from several different passages. They all had to be lined up and synched together, so the sounds you hear at the start of the track are multiple tape players all starting up at different times.
What you hear at the beginning is the sound of the tapes rolling. He could have cut it out, but Jimmy left it in, thinking it sounded like "the massing of the guitar armies."
“Black Dog” has a 'call-and-response' style that contrasts Plant’s acappella vocals against the band’s heavy metal riffage. Page 'borrowed' that style from Fleetwood Mac's "Oh, Well", a popular song at the time. 
Written by Jones, the “Black Dog” riff is carefully crafted to add a measure in 5/4 time, instead of standard 4/4, for extra punch. Page and Jones also play the same notes an octave apart, to create a massive sound, and Bonham adds displaced accents to his earth-shaking drums for a catchy groove.
“Black Dog is definitely one of my favorite riffs,” recalls Jones. 
It's a master class in how to write a powerful, heavy Rock song. It’s easy to be heavy, but doing it with style is another matter entirely.
With those sweaty, thrusting rhythms, Bonzo's drumming, Jimmy's riffs and Plant’s great vocals, “Black Dog” is one of the most swaggering, sexy, rockers in the Zeppelin catalog.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BATTLE OF EVERMORE
Led Zeppelin was strongly influenced by English Folk music right from their start, and “The Battle of Evermore” is a nod to the band's love of the vibrant British folk scene of the late 1960s, and people like Bert Jansch, Roy Harper, and Fairport Convention. 
John Paul Jones used a mandolin on several songs on Led Zeppelin III, to supplement Jimmy's acoustic guitar, and Jones brought his mandolin with him again to Headley Grange to use on the 4th album.
“The Battle of Evermore” is another of the unplanned, spontaneous songs on this album that emerged from the vibe of Headley Grange.
Jimmy Page would often pick up Jones' Mandolin late at night and try to pluck out some melodies. Jimmy claims that he was just sitting around, late one night, with Robert Plant and “These chords just came out" for what would become "The Battle Of Evermore." Plant and Page wrote most of the tune on the spot. 
On Led Zeppelin III, Page encouraged Robert Plant to handle more of the lyric-writing himself, and that trend continued with this fourth album. "The Battle of Evermore” is a fine example of Plant's writing, based on his love of Fantasy, Tolkien and English Folk history.
In the song, Plant is essentially describing the Battle of the Pelennor Fields from 'The Return of the King', name-checking the Tolkien characters Aragorn (“The prince of peace”), Eowyn (“The queen of light”), and the villainous Sauron (“The dark lord”), but Plant also mentions the “Angels of Avalon”, a distinct reference to King Arthurian lore. 
Plant took all these interests and references to craft a mythic battle story of his very own.
Plant realized that the story needed multiple voices to be told, and to have full impact, so he thought about adding another vocalist to the song to act as a foil.
The band called on friend, and ex-Fairport Convention singer, Sandy Denny to provide that rare cameo. Plant knew Sandy Denny thru a mutual friend, Fairport bassist Dave Pegg. 
Plant has said "while I sang the events in the song, Sandy answered back as if she was the pulse of the people on the battlements. Denny was playing the town crier urging people to throw down their weapons". Denny’s voice is angelic and mournful, yet very powerful, and she matches Plant every step of the way.
Sandy Denny was the only guest singer to ever appear on a Led Zeppelin song and her vocal contribution earned her a 'Rune' of her own, just like the other band members used. Her Rune is shown on the album's inner sleeve.
"The Battle of Evermore” has beautiful acoustic guitars, mandolins, Celtic-tinged melodies, and Plant's imaginative lyrics.
The soft, slow, fade-in at the start of the song sets the mood, and makes the listener feel as if they're about to learn of an ancient tale obscured by the mists of time. 
There’s no percussion of any kind on this track, but Page maintains the groove on mandolin, adding rhythmic thrusts and sharp chord stabs at pivotal moments.
This melancholic Celtic folk tune is a very unique Zeppelin song and acts as a breath of fresh air after the first two upbeat rockers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP
"Misty Mountain Hop" is another song that has strong Tolkien references. The title comes from J. R. R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit'.
"Misty Mountain Hop" is a song about the clash between students and police over drug possession, set with strong lyrical imagery of Tolkien's 'The Hobbit.'
Jones plays fantastic electric piano against Page's acoustic guitar.
John Bonham famously drops off the beat about 4 minutes into the song, one of the album's nods to the medicinal properties of good, strong weed, and whatever else Bonzo was lubricated with.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOUR STICKS
'Four Sticks' is another song that developed out of seemingly random and spontaneous events at Headley Grange.
The band was trying to work up a song based on an analog synthesizer riff that Jones was tinkering with. They were having a hard time getting the abstract feel and proper rhythm of the song captured until Bonham set down a can of Double Diamond beer, picked up two drumsticks in each hand and, as Jimmy Page remembers, “just went for it. It was magic". 
The sound of 4 drumsticks on the empty beer can nailed the complex rhythms they were looking for. In a nod to Bonzo's genius, the band decided to call the song 'Four Sticks'. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEVEE BREAKS
Led Zeppelin IV contains only one cover song, a bluesy, hard rock re-interpretation of the Memphis Minnie song "When the Levee Breaks".
It perfectly closes out the album.
Led Zeppelin radically rearranged the old song into a narcotic, bluesy classic, which contains one of the most sampled drum sounds of all time.
Bonham’s performance on 'When The Levee Breaks' is yet another example of how Headley Grange shaped the sound of Led Zeppelin IV. The band found many ways to use the acoustics of Headley Grange to their advantage.
Engineer Andy Johns and Bonham weren't getting the 'sound' they wanted. Then Johns got an idea....  While most of the band were out at the local Pub, Bonzo and Johns put the drums out in the formal entrance hall of the house, near the grand stairway, and then hung two mikes from the staircase pointed towards the kit. 
“I remember sitting there thinking it sounded utterly amazing."
Bonham was thrilled, as was the rest of the band, when they heard the new drum sound of the echoey stairwell. 
Engineer Andy Johns tweaked the sound, adding more echo, reverb, and slowing it down, creating the iconic, massive, booming, "Levee" drum sound.
The track "When the Levee Breaks" opens with Bonham's heavy unaccompanied drumming and it sounds amazing. "It's almost physical when you listen to it." says Page.
It remains one of the most startling percussive statements ever committed to vinyl and has been sampled countless times by artists across multiple genres.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GOING TO CALIFORNIA
"Going to California", a quiet acoustic number, was first thought about and toyed with during their 2nd visit to Bron-Y-Aur Cottage in October 1970.
It was written by Page and Plant about going to California and trying to find the perfect woman. It was heavily inspired by the music and lyrics of Joni Mitchell, of whom both Plant and Page were fans. 
The track was originally titled "Guide To California" but when Page went to Los Angeles to mix the album, there was a sudden, unexpected Earthquake there, making him think about the lyrics of the song, which mention "mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake". He changed the title to "Going to California," which is exactly what he was doing at the time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LED ZEPPELIN IV PACKAGING AND ALBUM COVER DESIGN
After the band's previous album 'Led Zeppelin III' received lukewarm, confused and sometimes dismissive reviews from critics, Jimmy Page decided that the next Led Zeppelin album would not have a title, but would instead feature four hand-drawn symbols on the inner sleeve and record label, each one chosen by the band member it represented.
It would be released with no name, title, text, or any other details on the cover. A very radical idea at the time. 
The band wanted to show the world that Led Zeppelin was more than media created 'hype.' They wanted to let the music speak for itself, and it did.
Page said; "After all this crap that we'd had with the critics, I put it to everybody else that it'd be a good idea to put out something totally anonymous...to actually put out an album with no information on it at all...and see how it would sell."
Atlantic Records was furious when they found out the album would have no name or title. The record label tried to convince the band that they were “committing professional suicide”, especially since the band hadn't toured or released a record in a long while. 
Atlantic were strongly against the idea, but the group stood their ground. Page was adamant in his quest to “let the music do the talking”, and refused to hand over the master tapes until his decision had been agreed to.
Led Zeppelin's odd strategy also included avoiding any of the normal publicity associated with releasing a new album, especially press releases and interviews.
Manager Peter Grant had also decided to let the band avoid the rock press and traditional promotional channels and go “directly to the fans.” 
Atlantic was forced to promote the album with a series of teaser advertisements showing the individual symbols on the album artwork. Ads with the Four Symbols were distributed to the trade magazines.
It was released in November 1971 exactly how the band wanted, with original pressings having no information at all on the cover. Later pressings added information on the spine, and then later on the cover, but first pressings, like this one, are totally 'naked'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LED ZEPPELIN IV's COVER ART
Led Zeppelin's prior success allowed Atlantic Records to give the band full creative control over every aspect of their music, including the album covers, but Atlantic had strong concerns about this album’s unusual cover art.
Led Zeppelin IV's final cover design shows an antique photograph of an old, bearded, hunched-over man, toting a big bundle of sticks.
On the cover, the vintage photograph hangs on the peeling, papered wall of a partially demolished house in Birmingham.
To the left of the photograph, you can see the missing, demolished wall of the house, revealing some new, modern apartment buildings in the distance, Salisbury Tower in the Ladywood district of Birmingham.
The cover art is actually a fairly interesting piece of mixed media. 
It juxtaposes the natural world of the old man against the modern era of the 70's, where we tear things down to build up something new, just to tear it down again. It represents the “destruction of the old” and moving on, something LZ was trying to do with this album, jumping from the folky LZIII to the heavy rock of LZIV.
Page explained that he wanted to create a visual motif that showed the City/Country dichotomy that the band were exploring in their music. A blend of the new and the traditional.
The late 19th-century picture of an old man carrying a thick bundle of sticks on his back was found in an antique shop in Reading, Berkshire, near London, by Robert Plant. He knew nothing about the photo or the man, but it 'spoke' to him and he purchased it.
Some recent research has revealed that the 1892 photo shows a hard-working, stooped, roof thatcher named Lot Longyear, who worked in rural Wiltshire, a county in southwestern England.
The photo was taken by Ernest Howard Farmer and was tinted, hand-colored, possibly by Farmer himself, who taught photography at a local college.
The strange cover art of Led Zeppelin IV has long been a source of mystery to LZ fans. Page later said that he wanted to give fans something to think about.
"The cover means whatever people want to read into it," said John Bonham
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The record's inner sleeve has a vintage Arts and Crafts look and feel to it. It's made to resemble an old piece of brown parchment paper. Original sleeves are very tactile, almost 'textured', and have the text in a chocolate brown color. Later 70's sleeves are black text. The brown color returned on modern pressings.
One side contains the classic Runes or 'Four Symbols', as well as the song listing, credits, and production information. The other side of the inner sleeve contains the lyrics to “Stairway to Heaven.”
The unique typeface for the lyrics to "Stairway to Heaven" was Jimmy Page's idea. He discovered the interesting type font in an old arts and crafts magazine called 'The Studio' which dated from the late 19th century. He had an artist recreate an entire alphabet, from the sample he found, and used the typography to print out the lyrics to 'Stairway'.
The sleeve has an old, antique, almost medieval feel to it, which fits perfectly with this albums themes and music.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The inside gatefold artwork is just as fascinating and mysterious as the outside artwork.
The inside illustration, entitled "The Hermit" is credited to Barrington Coleby MOM, and was influenced by the ninth card of the Rider Waite tarot pack. The card represents prudence and authority.
Earliest versions of this gatefold art feature a small bearded figure in the bottom corner, preparing to climb the mountain, and a six-pointed star inside the Hermit's lantern. Later pressings alter the art work slightly.
Also, if you hold the gatefold art vertically, against a mirror, a man's face can be seen hidden in the rocks below the Hermit.
The Hermit, an ancient figure used in Tarot, it is meant to represent “a seeker aspiring to the light of truth.” The Hermit lives a quiet solitary life, like Page did at the time, and he shines a light so that others can find their way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE RECORDING HISTORY OF LED ZEPPELIN IV
The real genius of Led Zeppelin IV is just how unique and unconventional this album’s creation was. There was nothing fabricated, it all just happened organically and the result is pure rock n roll. 
Led Zeppelin IV was recorded between December 1970 and February 1971. Atlantic Records gave the band full creative control over every aspect of their music.
Manager Peter Grant took the band off the road during the latter half of 1970, in order to allow them the space and freedom they needed to come up with new fresh material. The band was in need of a rest and vacation, not only from themselves, but from the road, and from the record industry 'machine' they were turning into.
By late 1970, Jimmy Page was brimming with ideas. After the Zep III backlash, they were eager to lay down some fresh new material, but they sensibly took their time recording the crucial fourth album. 
In late October 1970 Page got together with Robert Plant, Zeppelin’s dynamic vocalist and chief lyricist, to work on some of these new ideas. They returned to Bron-Yr-Aur, the idyllic cottage in Wales where they had conceived many of the songs for Led Zeppelin III. 
They sat around the fire, with acoustic guitars in hand, playing, singing, and discussing new ideas for the next record. They still had a backlog of half-finished songs and fragments of ideas from the LZIII album to continue working on. The only 'new' song to be worked out there was an early version of 'Going to California'.
Meanwhile, John Paul Jones, back in London, had been working on an eerie majestic  keyboard piece that would later emerge as ‘No Quarter.'
Page was also developing ideas for what would become 'Stairway to Heaven' at this early stage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the trip to Bron-Y-Aur, the group reassembled, and in December they booked initial studio sessions at Island Studios, the most in-demand studio in London. They had recorded much of Zeppelin III there the previous May and felt comfortable there. 
Recording sessions for the album started off well, working on the song that would become 'Black Dog', but the studio was packed with other artists and bands trying to record there as well. 
Island was a high tech, state of the art studio and in constant demand. Jethro Tull's entourage was in the studio at the same time, recording 'Aqualung', and Led Zeppelin wanted a little more space to be creative. 
The group had considered Mick Jagger's home, Stargroves, as a recording location, but based on Fleetwood Mac's recommendation, they found an old estate in the English countryside called Headley Grange and moved there for better atmosphere and more freedom. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The band decided to “retreat” to Headley Grange, a two-hundred-year-old mansion in the English countryside. Free from any distractions at the remote, derelict, crumbling house, the band used the creative seclusion and natural acoustics at Headley to experiment with new sounds.
Headley Grange soon took up its role in the making of the most famous and most imitated rock record in history. Most of the new album would be recorded there. 
Page loved the idea of living together and recording on location with a remote studio available 24/7. "It was ideal. As soon as we had an idea we put it down on tape.”
On a bitterly cold morning in January 1971, guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/ keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham, accompanied by a handful of roadies, plus engineer Andy Johns, brother of Glyn, who had worked on the first Zeppelin album, arrived at Headley Grange, Hampshire.
When they arrived, they found the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio already waiting for them in the driveway.
The portable professional recording studio was the very latest technical innovation, and had already been used to record some classic albums. Andy Johns had just used it to record the Stones 'Sticky Fingers', which Led Zeppelin loved the sound and production of.
Along with the Stones’ mobile studio came Ian 'Stu' Stewart, piano player and jack-of-all-trades for the Rolling Stones.
Stu was there to monitor the mobile recordings, but he was an accomplished pianist, and his battered old upright piano was packed alongside all of Zeppelin's gear in preparation for the likelihood of a jam session or two. 
Stu quickly assumed the same role he had with the Stones: a terrific, bluesy piano player with a particular feel for old-style rock’n’roll. He would ultimately contribute to the songs “Rock and Roll” and “Boogie With Stu” during these sessions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The group began to settle in at Headley Grange and convert the house into a personalized recording studio. Page and Plant loved the rural atmosphere, which was so different from the 'sterility' of a normal studio. 
They were clearly affected by their new, relaxed, natural surroundings, which allowed many “creative accidents” to happen, shaping this fourth album.
The setting gave the band absolute musical freedom to do as they wished, and the rural English Country surroundings encouraged them to blend both acoustic and electric influences into their music.
Aside from “Stairway to Heaven”, the band did not have any other fully developed songs worked out when they arrived at Headley, but the sessions developed quickly and organically, and the band wrote and recorded the bulk of the new album there.
The band also recorded many songs at Headley that would be left off the album, like “Down By the Seaside”, “Night Flight”, “Black Country Woman” and the afore mentioned “Boogie With Stu”. These would be sprinkled over their next few albums.
The relaxed, informal recording environment at Headley inspired the band, allowing them to try different arrangements of material and create songs in various styles. They were able to capture spontaneous performances and moments of inspiration on tape immediately, as well as capture the communal jamming, which led to new songs.
Plant reflected: "The mood was incredible.”
The recording sessions at Headley were wrapped up by late February, 1971. Then the band returned to Island Studios in London, to record "Stairway To Heaven" and add overdubs to the Headley material.
Page, and manager Peter Grant then flew to Los Angeles, to work on the initial mix of the album at Sunset Sound studios, a facility suggested by Engineer Andy Johns.
Mixing would take ten days, but the mixing did not go as planned as they were forced to use an alternative studio setup at Sunset. 
Page took the mixed tapes back to London and the group had an album playback at Olympic Studios. The band unanimously hated the results.
Page was forced to remix the whole album, but that would have to wait until July, to accommodate the band’s spring and summer live tours, where they debuted some of the new material.
Final mixing took place in July, but the album was delayed even further due to arguments with Atlantic over the album art and packaging.
Although recording was done by February, and mixed by July, the album would not be released until November.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In retrospect, Led Zeppelin IV has become a classic, containing some of the greatest Zeppelin songs ever recorded.
Today, Led Zeppelin IV is generally praised and acknowledged as representing an important milestone in the band's history, and in Rock history.
Add this original First Pressing to your record collection today. It's a classic and belongs in any vinyl collection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
I purchased this copy back in the early 70's, 50 years ago, and have taken good care of it since.
VINYL: As mentioned, the Vinyl is a little rough. There is play wear and some light scratches. Not horrible, but not minty clean.
As mentioned, I added a second, clean, crisp, 70's pressing so you have both an original pressing, but a clean copy to play as well.
The Deadwax has the first pressing indicators with the stamped catalog number ST-A-712285/86. It has both a 'PR' for Presswell and the Specialty Recording Studio's 'SRC' logo on it. 
Side one has ‘’Porky’’ etched into the run out groove and side two has ‘’Pecko Duck’’ etched into the run out groove, which are the signature marks of English cutting engineer George Peckham. There' also a small "ck" etched after the 'PR' stamp, turning it into "Pr*ck", likely Peckham's doing as well.
I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how it looks up close. 
I haven't messed with it or cleaned it, other than my trusty 'DiscWasher' brush, in 50 years, since Nixon was in ofice. It could really use a good deep cleaning to make it better looking and better sounding than it already is.
LABELS: This is pressed with the 'classic' 70's green, white, and orange Atlantic labels, with the early, original, '1841 Broadway' address. Catalog number SD-7208.
This pressing does not have any Suffix after the catalog number on the label signifying where it was pressed. There seems to be both a 'PR' and a 'SRC' in the matrix.
The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are still decent, with minor wear, suggesting minimal playing and careful handling over the years.
JACKET: As you can see from my pictures, this still looks great for a 50 year old OG copy. This jacket is in fantastic condition. This is the original gatefold jacket, which is very clean on the inside. The all-black gatefold on this album is often found scuffed and dirty, but this one is terrific.
No names or catalog numbers, and the spine is totally 'blank', something unique to the very early pressings.
No ringwear and the artwork is still clean and bright. The edges and corners are sharp, and the spine is straight. A beautiful, clean, bright, jacket. A nice survivor.
INNER SLEEVE: This has it's original brown, thick, tactile inner sleeve. The originals had chocolate brown text, not black, and the paper is thick, almost textured. This has the brown 'inside' as well. Later pressings had brown outer surface and a white inside. Originals also did not have a 'thumb notch' top, like later pressings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overall, I'll call the whole record a very strong VG+: The Jacket and inner sleeve are beautiful, but the record is only VG. Again, I included a crisp, clean 70s pressing of the vinyl, so you have a nice copy to play and crank up loud. The only way to listen to Led Zeppelin.
This record has been sleeved and stored properly for decades, and is still decent for an original pressing. This copy is all original, and a real gem. I'm sure you'll love it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
My grading is fair and honest. I have had over 3,400 happy and satisfied EBay customers over the years, with 100% positive feedback, and I have been buying/selling on EBay for well over 25 years, so please bid with confidence!
I'm a 0ne-man operation, this is a hobby, not my job. I do this for fun. I do this because I love music, love collecting vinyl and want others to share in that same experience. I take my time listening, researching, grading, listing and packaging. I will NOT sell any record that I personally would not want in my collection.
As you well know, packing and shipping rare records requires special care and attention, therefore, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $5.00 on this item. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Media/Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!
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All items are packaged with sturdy cardboard mailers and appropriate padding. I take pride in my packaging and shipping and package all my records as if I were sending them to myself. I refuse to use cheap flimsy packaging material when sending my vinyl. I treat them as if they were my own and mail them the same way. 
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN