LED ZEPPELIN: The Gig That Broke America 

The greatest band to ever grace the planet! They were so in synch...they were magical! Each of them were pure talent and genius!

I was there! When I was in high school a date took me to see an unknown band at the Tea Party - out came Led Zeppelin!!! We knew we were witnessing music history - it’s one of the best memories of my life

Thanks James for this Story of Led Zeppelin's 'Breakthrough Gig' at the Boston Tea Party!! I myself was a Witness to Led Zeppelin's Awesomeness on: Feb 6th, 1975 !!! In Montreal Canada !!

You did such an awesome job on this video. You captured all of the excitement that surrounded this landmark event in Led Zepp's history. Watching this, you can truly feel the incredible thrill of what it was to be there. Thanks! Chuck

I've lived in Boston, absolutely rabid rock n'roll town. Love their rock and their beer, the crowds there are incredible

Boston born I was 9 that year and already a huge rock fan, WBCN was my favorite station, I can't remember teachers names but I remember all the DJ's full names, their voices etched in my brain.

I’ve never heard this story before. Thank you so much for the telling. The thread about Steven Tyler was a great way to weave in that intersection in rock history. I was a tad too young to have been able to attend. A few years later in ‘73 at age 16 I saw Zeppelin in Vancouver, BC, CA. Do I need to say it was an experience right up there with birthing my children? Didn’t think so.

Thanks, James. This is an excellent presentation!

I was only 8yrs old... I was just out of reach to see this band live....DAMN !

Great story well told

I’ve heard of a multiple song encore, I’ve never heard of a multiple set encore. They were probably playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” by the end. I’m sure it sounded bad ass too.

I was at that Gig! A few mon later they were at the carousel ballroom in Framingham mass. Aa few mon after that Boston Garden.. The second album was on sale at the venue! They went from 700-3000-20000 in 8 mon or so!

What an amazing documentary, thank you!

Truly excellent job! I really enjoyed this, especially being a longtime huge Zeppelin fan. I assumed Steven Tallerico would inevitably become Steven Tyler. Funny account from him as well!

This a great, great video about a truly epic story. Thank you thank you.

Another fine film Jimothy

I love this story, & so glad my favorite band, became the greatest band ever.

Dear Sir, you have such a nice guy demeanour and you speak and present well!! Thanks for this enjoyable document!!

And the magic began.....only wish I was old enough to have been there.

I remember shaking Jimmy's hand as he left the stage saying "You're gonna be famous, man!" He said, "Thanks Buddy"...

There were so many legendary shows at the tea party, another being the Velvet Underground opening for The Myddle Class & completely clearing the venue by the time they had finished. Same sorta thing happened again except reversed when the MC5 caused a riot opening for VU. Side note, I couldn’t imagine playing 4 hours in one night. Must’ve been completely insane for everyone to stay for 4 hours with no breaks.

Crazy but I was there! I saw a bunch of breaking bands. Zeppelin, James Gang ( Lansdowne Street), Jethro Tull (Lansdowne Street), Jeff Beck and a lot more. The Tea Party was an amazing place.

Well, I was on the opposite coast and only eight years old when those 4 Gigs Took Pl. in Boston but when he flash that list of their first tour, the fourth town on that list was my hometown of Salem Oregon, which it looks like it was on January 1 and it was canceled But not to worry eight years later when I was 16 I got my second crack at bat and knocked it out of the park when I was able to tagalong with my older brother and his girlfriend and see them live in Seattle at the kingdom on July 17, 1977, which was their second to the last show ever in the states played Sacramento a couple nights later and then Robert Plant son died and they never made it back here after that so it was proper book ending to their touring. They started out, playing their gigs in Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and my hometown, and then they ended eight years later just happy I got a chance to see them live.

if you listen very carefully the gaps between this man's words are filled with pure rock n roll

Wow . Excellent post ! Steven Tarrarico would later become known as Steven Tyler , of Aerosmith fame . This definitely spawned an Age of Rock , untouched by most , to this day .

The message here is "persevere" 16:42---not just for bands and musicians. If I'd followed the advice and predictions of those who said "forget it" I'd have never gotten into--let alone out of--medical school.

Led Zeppelin was the rock band ever !!!!!!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven goes way higher than you know. It's like Boston's More Than a Feeling. Sometimes words have two meanings. There's a lady who knows all that glitters is gold, And she's buying a stairway to heaven. I would NOT be too hard on her. I'd probably be tempted to pinch her ass. Her heart's definitely in the right place. Self-centredness is NOT "self-care". Promises are only as strong as the actions that follow them. Tesla once said, "If your hate could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world." Replace hatred with chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility and light up the world for our Lord. This is what authentic free energy is all about. "If your chastity could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world." "If your temperance could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world." "If your charity could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world." "If your diligence could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world." "If your patience could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world." "If your kindness could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world." "If your humility could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world." Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary. -Saint Francis of Assisi ❤ Don't be surprised when you see an "Auroral Fan" over the Yosemite National Park. Yosemite already has a large crack. When Yosemite goes off we are going to see a strange day, much like that strange day over 200 years ago -- it's been over 200 years since the day the sun just never showed up in New Brunswick. That's how Sunday, Nov. 7, 1819, became known as "Dark Sunday." As Steven Spielberg noted in Super 8 (2011), it will have "Production Value" - Every 5,125 Years the System Resets within the Large Cycle of 26,000 Years. Besides that, I think San Andreas (2015) got "the cause" all wrong. The first stage of this NEXT apocalypse will weep magnetic tears from the Marianas Trench. And the wandering North Pole’s synchronization with the South Atlantic Anomaly will reflect the strangest Earth Lights for all to see. The Vikings were happy when the thunder came because they thought the God of Thunder was happy. They would actually go out in the stormy waters and celebrate with what they perceived to be Thor throwing lighting about. And they rode through some mighty storms all the way across the Atlantic. Likewise the Almighty calls us in the same way to count it all joy as we ride out these storms of social change. When we see someone in pain, suffering, or destitute, we need to recognize this as God’s calling us to help them. When we help each other, we are helping Christ manifest in the world around us. And it’s not as if we are earning our salvation. We are making Christ known. WE HAVE TO COUNT IT ALL JOY! Magically beautiful, Emmylou. May I have this dance with you? Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, & Linda Ronstadt "In My Hour of Darkness" Some have learned over the years that the ways they express empathy can sometimes be misconstrued as narcissistic. For example, when someone is telling someone about a hard time they're going through, and they've experienced something similar, they may tell them about their own experience. And I had learned the hard way that this can be seen as narcissistically trying to shift focus onto myself. But in my mind, it’s empathetic because I'm trying to comfort them and show them that they're not alone in their struggles. 40 Days of Hope Illuminate the Darkness - Eliminate Death - Choose Life - While Jesus was in Mary's Womb, the Heart of Christ was beating in unison with the Heart of Mary. It needs to be strongly cautioned that this is going to be the most painful event in human history. And it is going to require the strongest labor of love we have ever given. But we will get through this -- if we but live by the Spirit. I believe this is what the Early Church meant when they spoke, both male and female, about being Pregnant with Christ. ❤ To the Africans, the Sacred Virgin Mary appears African. To the American Indians, the Sacred Virgin Mary appears American Indian. To the Asians, the Sacred Virgin Mary appears Asian. To the Australians, the Sacred Virgin Mary appears Australian. To the Europeans, the Sacred Virgin Mary appears European. To the Indians, the Sacred Virgin Mary appears Indian. To the Melanesians, the Sacred Virgin Mary appears Melanesian. To the Micronesians, the Sacred Virgin Mary appears Micronesian. To the Polynesians, the Sacred Virgin Mary appears Polynesian. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me- holy is His name. His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. - Luke 1:48-50 ❤ This is related to an essay Gram Parsons submitted to briefly become a theology student at Harvard. Parsons was accepted into Harvard University in 1966, largely on the strength of his application essay since his grades were sub-par. I suspect if Gram were still alive today he would have been just as influential as John Lennon. In his interview with Playboy in 1980, Lennon specifically criticized the romanticization of artists. Based on the beautiful lyrics in Gram's song, I wrote something 'universal' that I think Grams' theology would have submitted to Harvard. The song, "In My Hour of Darkness" by Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, & Linda Ronstadt is so very holy in my opinion. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KzuSeaMy-aU.html ❤

That was great thank you 😊

Excellent story.

The greatest band in the history of the universe, since the beginning of time.

NOBODY will ever experience a gig like that ever again, teenagers have become soft, listening to overproduced hip hop and drivel and they have forgot their roots instead of embracing them like that generation did

Is this the show that bonham played part of with a double bass drum?

Moment s like this were rare in the past and nonexistent in the present. But hey, there's always Taylor Sift...

In 1978 I went to a concert in Denmark. "CV Jørgensen" band played 2 sets every 45 min. - After that, the audience went absolutely crazy, and the band came out to play 3 encores. They had already played the 3 songs but the crowd didn't care and wanted more. After several minutes and cheers and stomping of feet from the audience, the lead singer came out and said that they would like to play more, but it was impossible because the drummer, who had a very hard-hitting technique, was completely exhausted. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uPVEQlT3TfM.html

Glad you're covering bands like led zeppelin! I'm a huge Queen fan and have a pretty good knowledge of them, but would love to see you do a video about them!

Admission: $3.50…unreal

Same kind story different band. Allman Brothers in Tampa shortly after Duane's death. The bro's did their set and a coupla encores. Some kind of curfew and the po-po had to clear out Curtis Hixon. Not a seat was vacated. Greg A. came back onstage and said" We gonna play every song we know. They did exactly that. Hope the cops aint bitchin cause they all got OT! And no violence or hate involved.

He's right.

The greatest.. end of.

you imply Tyler was really young then and yet Bonham was younger than Tyler

This gives a taste. The Scandinavian tour before US tour ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k-WSbMW7BPc.htmlsi=cKnhcXtNn9NYldzU

I heard about this show many times from my dad. Turns out I was there - my parents were 19 and my mom was pregnant with me, but they didn’t know yet. Pretty epic “first show”.

Loved this James you really brought the story to life. ... Imagine being in a situation where you have to play 12 encores just to stop the crowd from ripping the place apart!. That said Led Zep were probably the perfect band to pull material out of thin air and pull it off. Planty and Bonzo would have had a lot of experience of playing covers from their time together in the Band of Joy and Jimmy and Jonesy would have played on half the hit records of the last five years between them. Lucky lucky crowd.

I assume the DJ was JJ Jackson. He had already been playing the first album on his show in preparation for the gigs, but when he saw them, he was blown away by how different the songs were from the album, the level of improvisation they were doing. On his radio show the next day, JJ told his audience that they needed to go see this band live. Zeppelin knew how much this did for their career, and were always grateful to JJ for his promotion of those gigs.

LZ also played at the Tea Party in May of 1969 at the end of that first US tour. I was there. My friend and I hitchhiked from RI to Boston without even knowing where the Tea Party was. Fortunately some hip guy picked us up, got us completely stoned on some really good reefer, and drove us into Boston and dropped us off about a block from the TP. Tickets were about 5 or 6 dollars at the door. Another fantastic show when they were really trying to make their initial mark in America. They definitely succeeded. They played the whole first album. We hitchhiked back to RI after midnight, still high on the whole event.

there will not be and cannot be another Led Zeppelin. Hearing their first album was life changing.

A band such as Zeppelin Will never happen again. I’m just glad I lived on this Planet at the same time They did… RIP Bonzo.

This little doc was SO well done. 👍 I had goosebumps on my arms during most of it out of excitement. I would happily give away one of my arms just to be able to go back in time to witness this gig myself (I was only 6 months old at the time lol) and count myself blessed to own a bootleg of the event. I've often wondered about this particular gig for decades now, only reading bits and pieces about it, hearing rumors about the wild crowd, the headbanging guys in front of the stage, Tyler and Hamilton being present, the 4 hour length, Grant breaking into tears - everything. This video sorted it out for me mostly. I will be coming back to revisit this one often. It was thoroughly enjoyable to watch and listen to. Thank you! 👍

Excellent video, actually quite surprised you've covered Zeppelin! They are the G.O.A.T.

Could you imagine seeing and hearing this iconic band live at their beginning for a mere $3.50?

Thank you for covering some Zeppelin, James! I was hoping this would happen. Very well covered as you do!

That was really a great presentation. All credit to the monster that Led Zep was. But, you gave one helluva presentation representing them. Thank you!!!

Steven Tyler's story at the end is priceless!

If ever there was a glitch in the matrix, is when we all got the album Physical Graffiti, and played that sucker over and over again until the groves were warn.

Hard to believe this was 55 years ago.

Outstanding analysis as per usual, James. Plse do more Zep & also Stones if poss. Lovin' your work ❤

I grew up on WBCN. The whole attitude of that station was about the music. It’s amazing how all the threads came together for that magical night.😊

This was a day that forever changed my life. To add a bit of color to this great story... They had one roadie hauling the equipment. His name was Clive Coulson. Henry, Richard Cole and others were doing other things. I was asked by the club to help Clive load in a van's worth of gear up a huge flight of stairs, and help set it up too. One factoid. If memory serves me well, John Bonham, under pressure by all around him allowed us to set up his two bass drums (instead of one plus a back up) for this added night. He kept pushing back saying he didn't need two... and he didn't. So this was rare indeed. Bonham's energy drove the whole evening too. You can hear it clearly in the pre-Moby Dick drum solo Pat’s Delight on the bootlegs from this night which I believe was fan recorded. His pedal work is insane!!! One more thing... The Tea Party, WBCN and the Phoenix were owned at the time by Ray Riepen, a true visionary who foresaw the cultural moment. Amazing. Don Law, another visionary was the manager. Also, the DJ host was the one and lonely Charlie Daniels, the Master Blaster. JJ came on board weeks later and was a huge influence and cheerleader for the band all the way to his MTV days.

This is a great video. If you have any interest in Zeppelin at all or even if you don’t you should watch this. Very professionally done. 👍🏻

Legends indeed.

WBCN should go down in history as one of the greatest all time influential radio stations. They helped break not only LZ, but J Geils Band, the Cars, Springsteen and U2 to name a few. They played a lot of early Oasis iirc and helped anchor their popularity stateside as well.

I'm from Boston and know a couple of people that were there. They say OH YAH SO AWESOME!✌

Bravo James! Now that was a great review of Led Zeppelin's first gig in the USA. The Boston Tea Party and the first F.M. Radio station in Boston WCBN helped make this new band from England a big success in America! What a great post and presentation James! Well done. DD. 😃💕🔊💥🥁🎸🎸🎤🎶🎵🤘

Thanks for that. I knew all along you were talking about Tyler but, it never quite hit me when he was at their RnR hall of fame and he talked about the beautiful girl on Jimmy's arm. But, listening to the story full on here it really made me laugh out loud where before it would just get a smile. You really made the story come alive

How the industry has changed... the pace of their releases and development was insane... totally different times of course...

If I've run across this story before, it was never in such detail. I thank you, kind sir, for this presentation!

Just to wonder if there would ever be Aerosmith if it wasn’t for this show. Listening to the entire show is incredible and gives hope that somehow the entire recording exists somewhere.

My mate rang me up and held the telephone handset through the door into the lounge, where he had his father's expensive Hi-Fi playing Led Zep I. The downtown record shop I hastened to had abandoned the usual top shelf display of the current Top Twenty album covers and just had Led Zep I repeated all around the display. The person before me bought Led Zep I, and the person after me bought Led Zep I. Definitely a smash hit!

Eddie Phillips, with the band The Creation, was the first to use violin bow on his guitar in 1967. Jimmy Page started using one the next year with The Yardbirds. ✌️

Excellent job pulling this together and presenting it. I'm a huge fan and learned a lot from this. Thank you very much.

Great Great Job James! You captured the night so well.

Wow what a great documentary! Thank you so much!

Okay this has me absolutely roaring 🤣🤣!! As a musician I am somewhat jealous that I am extremely unlikely to get that kind of reaction from a crowd but also cannot admiring the level of enthusiasm they provoked, thank you for making this video James, it's made my day!

Very enjoyable James, thanks so much!

I'm 69 years old, and I am so happy I watch your video. Outstanding job putting it together. I am glad I got to listen to it before I leave this world!

I would not say "they" self funded an album. Page did, the others were basically employees of Page. He formed the band.

James that was Fantastic!!!! Thank you for this Story!! Made me Smile! Best Band Ever!!!

Thank you for posting this 🙃I am just reading the book by Bob Spitz, it´s all in there ... definetely worth buying, it´s amazing

Loving your classic rock vids. I have to be honest I'm not an Oasis fan at all but I've watched all your vids because of how interesting you make the topics. So selfishly I do love seeing you cover some of my favourite bands.

My brother is a year older than me and was there that night! I saw them the next few times they came to Boston. Great band!

...and what do we get today? Taylor Swift, Billy Eyelash, and all manner of iPad-generated tripe.

#TomHulett #CEO #ConcertsWest #RockStar #Live #Concert #Promoter #GOAT #Music #Rock #Band #LedZeppelin #LedZep #USA #World #Tour #JimmyPage #JohnPaulJones #JohnBonham #RobertPlant #PeterGrant #TheBostonTeaParty #BostonTeaParty #Rock&Roll #History #Loyal #Fan #HollywoodRockStars #Entertainment

FM Radio which was just burgeoning with lots of potential at the time, was in Jimmy Page’s sights. He talks about it in the fantastic book: “Light and Shade, Conversations with Jimmy Page.” it was no accident that they broadcast that concert on FM radio.

Best band ever!

Communication breakdown i think was the first Punk sound....

July 6, 1969 Led Zeppelin played the world famous Newport(Rhode Island, USA) Jazz Festival. just an hour, south of Boston

Never got to see them live, but saw Page/Plant when they came to Boise Idaho. Most memorable concert I've ever seen. I actually got high and felt like I was floating, but I wasn't doing drugs. Their music was the drug. Magic filled the air. Just to be in the same room with them, was incredible. Now being a composer myself, my dream is to collaborate with each one of them. I can dream, can't I? World's greatest rock band, bar none.

Henry Smith “the living myth” went on to tour with Aerosmith through the seventies as a road manager. I live not far, about 1/2 hour from Berkeley St., where the Tea Party was. My problem though is that I was only a year old at the time of this gig…and just couldn’t make into town. 😁

Had the great opportunity to see Led Zeppelin in 1971 LA Forum,72 Tucson Az,1973 Albuquerque NM,and fourth and final time 3/5/75 in Dallas and believe it or not still have the LA,Tucson,and Dallas 🎟️ ticket stubs.

Communication Breakdown sounds like punk before there was punk.

Awesome, always loved the story of this gig. More Zepp content please!!!

It was easy for them to do what they did with their first two records maybe 3-4.. they nicked all the music. Zep were really great, but they were a collage band. It's cool nothing wrong with being a cover band. I had a cover band back in the 90s when I was in my 20s. The violin now page nicked from Eddie Phillips (the creation) see where I'm going yea..

During that same tour, or soon after, I saw the Zeps, live in Columbia Maryland (1 hour north of my pad in Washington DC). An hour earlier, I hadn't planned to go , but a party girl named Vail called me and asked if I could get my mom's car. I was 17. I said yea. The girl's dad owned a radio station and was given 2 second row tickets for the show. I was already an R&B guitarist with my own band, so it was a doubly fun gig for me. The Zeps weren't even the headliners. They opened for The Who, who I'd seen before in London. After the show, I was backstage and ready to go into the backstage room with the musicians and groupies, but I couldn't find my date, so I had to search for her - to take her home - the gentlemanly thing to to. Darn.

Wow. I was lucky to see them twice. Once in Tampa in 73. The biggest or largest attendance for a concert to date. The second was again in Tampa in 75 which turned out to be a disaster due to the unforgiving weather and unforgivable fans that attended. The rest is a long story which ended in a riot and Zep being banned from Tampa, never to return again.

I never knew you were a LZ fan thought you only were into britpop nuff respect

Terrific story. LZ: THE best band of them all.

I love this clip. Beautiful Jim Jam copping off as we say in Britain, with no less than Steve Tyler's live in lover. Jimmy was never too tired for a bit of nookie so I am told but hey ho, he's Jimmy Page and he was white hot 🔥 ❤❤

Cool, thx for using my clip...long live Led Zepp

Boston broke Zeppelin, The Police,U2, Tom Petty,Aerosmith, J.Geils and The Talking Heads.