Led Zeppelin-Presence-LP-Swan Songs-SS 8416 -1976-Recorded in W.Germany.

Led Zeppelin – Presence

• Record Company – Swan Song Inc.
• Recorded At – Musicland Studios
• Mixed At – Musicland Studios
• Mastered At – Columbia Mastering – COLUMBIA NY
• Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute – T2
• Distributed By – Atlantic Recording Corporation
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Atlantic Recording Corporation
• Copyright © – Atlantic Recording Corporation
• Published By – Flames Of Albion Music Inc.

• Design [Sleeve] – Hardie*, Hipgnosis (2)
• Engineer [Tape] – Jeremy Gee
• Engineer, Mixed By – Keith Harwood
• Executive-Producer – Peter Grant
• Producer – Jimmy Page

• Rights Society: ASCAP
• Matrix / Runout (Side A, Label): ST-SS-763559-R1
• Matrix / Runout (Side B, Label): ST-SS-763560-R1
• Matrix / Runout (Side A, Runout, stamped): ST-SS-763559-1A
• Matrix / Runout (Side A, Runout, etched ): XG
• Matrix / Runout (Side B, Runout, stamped): ST SS 763560-1B COLUMBIA NY
• Matrix / Runout (Side B, Runout, etched): T2

Presence is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released by Swan Song Records on 31 March 1976. While the record was a commercial success, reaching the top of both the British and American album charts, and achieving a triple-platinum certification in the United States, it received mixed reviews from critics and was the lowest-selling studio album by the band while they were still active.

The album was written and recorded in the last months of 1975, during a difficult time in the band's history. Singer Robert Plant was recuperating from serious injuries he had sustained earlier that year in a car accident; this led to tours being cancelled and the band booking studio time to record Presence instead. The entire album was completed in a few weeks, with guitarist and producer Jimmy Page putting in several long shifts to complete recording and mixing. The title came from the strong presence the group felt as they worked together. The LP's artwork from Hipgnosis featured several photographs centred round a mysterious black object, called "The Object".

Presence is dominated by compositions by Page and Plant, with only one track credited to the entire group; unlike other Zeppelin albums, it features no keyboards and little acoustic guitar. Because Plant was still recuperating, the band could not tour to capitalise on the release, and only two tracks, including the ten-minute opener "Achilles Last Stand", were performed live. However, the album has been re-appraised in retrospective reviews for its hard rock dynamics and simplicity compared to the group's other work.

Background

After touring in support of their previous album, Physical Graffiti, released in early 1975, Led Zeppelin took a brief break from touring that summer, intending to start a major US tour on 23 August. Critics had said they were at the height of their popularity at this time. However, singer Robert Plant sustained serious injuries from a car accident on the Greek island of Rhodes on 4 August,[4] which forced the band to cancel the tour and reschedule their activities.[5]

Because of their status as tax exiles, Plant was forced to recuperate abroad, initially in Jersey in the Channel Islands, then in Malibu, California, and wrote several sets of lyrics that reflected on his personal situation and wondering about the future. Guitarist Jimmy Page joined him in Malibu in September and the pair began to think about plans to make an album instead.[6] The two prepared enough material to be able to present to the rest of the band. The other two members, drummer John Bonham and bassist John Paul Jones, joined them at Hollywood's SIR Studio where they rehearsed the material throughout October 1975.

Recording

Once they had worked out arrangements, the group were eager to record. Page favoured going to Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, which he felt had state-of-the-art recording facilities.[8] Plant was still recovering from the accident during recording and sang his vocals in a wheelchair, which led to Page assuming most of the responsibilities at the sessions.[9] The album was recorded and mixed with longtime group associate and engineer Keith Harwood, and completed in just eighteen days, with the final mixes finished on 27 November.[10] This was the fastest recording turnaround time achieved by the band since their debut album.[5]

The rushed recording sessions were in part a result of Led Zeppelin having booked the studio immediately prior to the Rolling Stones, who were shortly to record songs for their album Black and Blue (released, like Presence, in the spring of 1976). Page negotiated with the Stones to borrow two days from their recording session time, during which he completed all the guitar overdubs in one lengthy session.[10] Page and Harwood then worked on the mixes virtually non-stop until they fell asleep; whoever woke up first went back to the desk to carry on. Page later stated he worked around 18–20 hours every day during the sessions.[11]

The recording sessions for Presence were also particularly challenging for Plant. The studio was in a basement of an old hotel, and the singer felt claustrophobic. He also experienced physical difficulties as a result of his car accident, and missed his family. He later said he was upset about Page and manager Peter Grant booking the Presence sessions and began to re-evaluate the priorities in his life.[12]

Because the album was completed one day before the American holiday of Thanksgiving, Plant suggested to the record company the album should be called Thanksgiving. This idea was quickly dropped in favour of a title that was thought would represent the powerful force and presence that the band members felt surrounded the group.

Songs

Six of the seven songs on the album are Page and Plant compositions; the remaining song, "Royal Orleans", is credited to all four band members. This is because the majority of the songs were formulated at Malibu, where Page (but not Bonham and Jones) had initially joined a recuperating Plant. With Plant at less than full fitness, Page took responsibility for the album's completion, and his playing dominates the album's tracks.[5]

Both Page and Plant had planned this album's recording session as a return to hard rock, much like their debut album, except at a new level of complexity. It marked a change in the Led Zeppelin sound towards more straightforward, guitar-based jams. Whereas their previous albums up to and including the previous year's Physical Graffiti contain electric hard rock anthems balanced with acoustic ballads and intricate arrangements, Presence was seen to include more simplified riffs, and is Led Zeppelin's only studio album that features no keyboards,[5] and with the exception of a rhythm track on "Candy Store Rock", no acoustic guitar.[13] The changed stylistic emphasis on this album was a direct result of the troubled circumstances experienced by the band around the time of its recording. Page later said the music came from this spontaneity.[5] Plant later described it as "a cry of survival" and speculated the group would not make another album like it.[14]

The ten-minute opening song, "Achilles Last Stand", was first recorded on 12 November, when the basic backing track was laid down. Jones played an Alembic 8 string bass on the track, giving it a distinctive tone.[15] Plant wrote the lyrics based on travelling across Africa in mid-1975 with Page.[5] Page added six guitars in the marathon overdubbing session at the end of the recording period.[15]

"For Your Life" was mostly arranged in the studio. Page played a Fender Stratocaster on the track, the first time he had used that guitar model for recording with the band.[5] "Royal Orleans" was written about life on the road; the title refers to the Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans while the lyrics refer to soul singer Barry White. It was the only track on the album credited to the entire band.[16][5]

"Nobody's Fault but Mine", though credited to Page and Plant, is a cover of on an old Blind Willie Johnson blues song called "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine", first recorded in 1928 and also covered by Nina Simone in 1969. The guitar, melody and lyrics come from the Blind Willie Johnson song. [17][18] "Candy Store Rock" was inspired by 1950s rock 'n' roll. "Hots On For Nowhere" was written about Plant's time in Malibu, while Page played the Stratocaster on the track. The closing number, "Tea For One", was a slow blues written by Plant about the problems he faced being separated from his family, and was an attempt to update their earlier "Since I've Been Loving You" from Led Zeppelin III.[17]

In contrast to earlier albums that contained several tracks that the band chose to play live at Led Zeppelin concerts, only two tracks from Presence were played in full on stage while the band was active. "Achilles Last Stand" and "Nobody's Fault but Mine" were added to the setlist for the 1977 tour of the United States and stayed on it through the band's final concerts in 1980.[19][a] "Tea For One" was performed live on the Page and Plant tour of Japan in 1996, where the main group was backed by an orchestra.[20] "For Your Life" was played in full by Led Zeppelin for the first (and only) time at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert on 10 December 2007.