Premiering February 2025, the documentary Becoming Led-Zeppelin depicts the formation and early years of the band. It represents the first time Led Zeppelin participated in a biographical film. Becoming Led-Zeppelin traces Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and Robert Plant through the British music scene of the 1960s, how they got together in 1968, and their meteoric ascendancy. The story is told by the three surviving band members with the late John Bonham represented by an audio interview. The film ends with the release of the LP Led Zeppelin II.
Like the Rolling Stones and The Who, Led Zeppelin have been loyal users of Shure microphones since their beginnings. Following are photos and posters documenting Led Zeppelin using Shure mics.
Because PA equipment was so limited, we tried to get as much sound coming from the stage as possible and just hope it went further. Robert had to sing over that, but he was a young lad with strong vocal cords.
From Led-Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin, page 202, ISBN 978-1-909526-50-1, copyright 2018
The following photo from March 1969 illustrates that Denmark was a bit ahead of the United States in employing the SM57 and SM58 for rock concerts. In the U.S., these SM models became popular for live sound around the early 1970s.
More Led Zeppelin photos and information will be in Tech Tip #577.
Related information: Led Zeppelin website
Heart performs “Stairway To Heaven” with Led Zeppelin in the audience
- Please watch this extraordinary performance. You will remember it.
To learn about the Unidyne IV Model 548, refer to Tech Tips #334, #548, #549
Arcana – mysterious or specialized knowledge
Your author highly recommends Becoming Led Zeppelin. Two hours in length, the film consists primarily of previously unseen concert footage, new video interviews with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Robert Plant, and a 1970’s audio interview with John Bonham. The documentary underscores that Jimmy Page was the driving musical and visionary force for Led Zeppelin. For me, the interviews were the most interesting aspect showing the musicians to be intelligent, modest, engaging, introspective…even shy at times. I learned more about the studio musician backgrounds of Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, e.g., both performed on Shirley Bassey’s 1964 hit Goldfinger. At the time of this recording, Page was 20 years old and Jones was only 18!
An alert if seeing the film in a theater. My local AMC Theater advertised the film began at noon. I arrived at 11:50 am. The screen was dark until 12:15 pm. Then I was subjected to 35 minutes of previews, advertisements, and infantile claptrap. Becoming Led-Zeppelin finally started at 12:50 pm – fifty minutes late. If one plans to see the documentary, I suggest calling the theater, asking what time the film ends, subtract 130 minutes, and enter the theater at that time. Also, ear protection is recommended.
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Some of the images above are found in an extraordinary book published in 2018: Led-Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin, ISBN 978-1-909526-50-1. It is a “must-have” for Zeppelin fans.
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February is Black History Month in the United States. In honor of the month, below is photo of singer, composer, and actor Isaac Hayes (1942-2008) with our UHF Series wireless microphone. Look closely to see SHURE on the side of the mic clip.
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As this Tech Tip is #576, let’s remember the Shure Model 576 Studio Dynamic microphone. Appearing first in the 1965 catalog, with a U.S. list price of $175 [$1,785 in 2025 currency], the omnidirectional moving coil Model 576 was designed for radio, television, and supercritical public address applications. Proved superior for ruggedness and performance under typical broadcasting conditions in advanced field tests. Available in matched pairs for stereo. Never establishing itself in the target markets, the Model 576 was discontinued by 1981.
