Swan Song (1979)

Biography
Led Zeppelin formed out of the ashes of The Yardbirds.  Jimmy Page had joined the band in its final days, playing a pivotal role on the group’s final album, 1967’s Little Games, which also featured string arrangements from John Paul Jones.  During 1967, the Yardbirds were fairly inactive.  Whilst the band members decided the group’s future, Page returned to session work in 1967. In the spring of 1968, he played on Jones’ arrangement of Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” During the sessions, Jones requested to be part of any future project Page would develop. Page would have to assemble a band sooner than he had planned. In the summer of 1968, the Yardbirds’ Keith Relf and Jim McCarty left, leaving Page and bassist Chris Dreja with the rights to the name, as well as the obligation of fulfilling an upcoming fall tour. Page set out to find a replacement vocalist and drummer. Initially, he wanted to enlist singer Terry Reid and Procol Harum’s drummer B.J. Wilson, but neither musician was able to join the group. Reid suggested that Page contact Robert Plant, who was singing with a band called Hobbstweedle. They were Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin

Album & Cover
In Through the Out Door is the eighth and final studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded over a three-week period in November and December 1978 at ABBA’s Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, and released by Swan Song Records on 15 August 1979. In Through the Out Door was the band’s eighth and final studio release to reach the top of the charts in America, and was the last released by the band before the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. The album is a reflection of the personal turmoil that the band members had been going through before and during its recording. For example, frontman Robert Plant and his wife had gone through a serious car accident, and their young son, Karac Plant, died from a stomach illness. All four band members also felt weary of dealing with record companies and other associates. Despite this, the release wound up being a huge commercial success, particularly in the United States (sitting at the #1 slot on Billboard’s chart in just its second week on the chart). Lyrics of track B2 (All My Love) are a message from Robert Plant to his son, Karac.

The original LP release featured six different covers and came hidden in a brown paper bag. Each cover showed an alternate angle of the man at the bar burning a ‘Dear John’ letter. Inner sleeve of LP Album has moisture activated pastels Black and White at first and with moisture colours come been seen on the inside sleeve. Each Cover variant has it’s own variant inner sleeve friend of Storm’s, Dave Henderson, a painter, is the lone man at the bar in the six scenes. He did the typography for Pink Floyd’s album ‘A Saucerful Of Secrets’. The idea of putting the record in a brown paper bag came when an executive said the band would still sell millions of records even with a brown paper bag…and so it transpired.
As Richard Manning explains: Six different black and white sepia toned shots in the American bar. Each shot to include the man was taken from the viewpoint of six people in the bar from their respective positions. The area to be tinted was achieved at the photo printing stage. Peter Christopherson drew a black brushstroke on clear acetate that was positioned and the photographic paper exposed. After a given time the acetate was removed. The brushstroke received less exposure so printed lighter. This was repeated on all six views and then sepia toned. I then hand tinted the brushstroke with a Sable brush using Photo dyes. http://www.richardmanning.co.uk/hipgnosis-album-cover-art/led-zeppelin-in-thru-the-out-door–1980/9
This is one of my favourite if not THE favourite Hipgnosis album covers….

Cover Location: London Studio, a recreation of the Old Absinthe House in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Who Did What: Photography – A. Powell. Set Designer – Colin Andrews. Scenic Artist – Nick Pemberton. Styling & Propping – Camilla Garrett Jones. Design – Hipgnosis
Label: Swan Song SS16002(US), Swan Song SSK 59410(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art – The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue By Aubrey Powell

Credits
John Bonham – drums and percussion
John Paul Jones – bass, mandolin, keyboards, synthesizer, piano
Jimmy Page – electric and acoustic guitars, Gizmotron,
Robert Plant – lead vocals
Engineer – Leif Mases
Engineer [Assistant] – Lennart Östlund
Producer – Jimmy Page
Written-By – Page (tracks: A1, A3 to B1, B3), Jones tracks: A1, A3, B1 to B3), Grant (tracks: B3), Plant (tracks 1 to B2)
Peter Grant – Executive producer