Happy Anniversary: Led Zeppelin, LED ZEPPELIN III

46 years ago today, Led Zeppelin released their third full-length studio album, an effort which established the band’s willingness to switch up their sound and expand their musical palette beyond straightforward rock and/or roll.

A good chunk of the songs included on LED ZEPPELIN III first began their existence while Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were ensconced in an 18th-century Welsh cottage called Bron-Yr-Aur, the name of which – as you’re undoubtedly already aware – provided the title of a certain stomp on Side 2. Page and Plant opted to hang out at the low-tech cottage, which had neither power nor running water, as a way to wind down after being so drained by their US tour, but the rustic setting led the duo to go in a more acoustic direction.

From there, the band as a whole regrouped in East Hampshire to rehearse the new material at Headley Grange, after which they shifted into recording mode and proceeded to lay down the tracks in a few different places, including Headley Grange as well as Olympic Studios and Basing Street Studios, both in London. In August, while the band was in the midst of their 1970 tour of the US, they mixed the album at Ardent Studios in Memphis, and within a few months it was sitting on record store shelves around the world.

Interestingly, LED ZEPPELIN III actually came out in America a few weeks before it was released in the UK, where it didn’t arrive until October 23, but the end result was ultimately the same – it hit the #1 spot on both sides of the pond – and thanks to tracks like “Immigrant Song,” “Since I’ve Been Loving You,” “Gallows Pole,” and “Tangerine,” it’s still beloved by millions of fans even now.