Happy 36th!

Led Zeppelin's sixth album, Physical Graffiti, was released February 24th, 1975, and it's arguably the band's finest. Double albums were--and to some degree still are--a badge of honor in the music world. Led Zep were quite late to the double-vinyl party, as all their contemporaries had already released double albums prior to 1975--some more than once. Bob Dylan probably started the trend--like many others--with Blonde on Blonde in 1966, which opened the sonic floodgates. Cream (Wheels of Fire), Jimi Hendrix (Electric Ladyland) and The Beatles (White album) followed in 1968, The Who (Tommy) in 1969 (and also 1973 with Quadrophenia), George Harrison in 1970 (All Things Must Pass), Dylan again (Self Portrait) in 1970, Eric Clapton again only with Derek and The Dominoes (Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs) in 1971, Allman Brothers (Live at Fillmore East) in 1971, Rolling Stones (Exile on Main Street) in 1972, John & Yoko (Some Time in New York City) in 1972, Elton John (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) in 1973, Deep Purple (Made in Japan) in 1973, Yes (Tales from Topographic Oceans and triple-live Yessongs) in 1973, Genesis (Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) in 1974. And of course there were the first three Chicago studio albums and various double-live sets from everyone from The Band with Bob Dylan to Grand Funk.

Jimmy Page said after the initial sessions in late '73 and much of '74 they had enough material for an album and a half, so they went back and mined the vaults for leftovers from the Led Zep III sessions (Bron-Yr-Aur) in 1970, the Led Zep IV sessions (Night Flight, Down By The Seaside and Boogie With Stu) in 1971 and the Houses of the Holy sessions (Houses of the Holy, Black Country Woman, The Rover) in 1972. It's truly the band at their most varied, most complex and, at times, most stripped-down. The perfect alchemy of light and shade, as Jimmy has often described the band's music.

A few fellow Murray (Kentucky) High School heads and myself were fortunate enough to preview live a few tracks prior to PG's release. On February 16th, 1975, we witnessed Led Zeppelin in concert at the then-called Checkerdome, ye olde Arena, in St. Louis, Missouri. While Sick Again was kind of a "what the hell was that" number, I thought (wrongly) that Trampled Underfoot sounded too much like a Doobie Brothers song. But Kashmir? An instant classic. In My Time of Dying? A religious experience, indicative of the entire performance.

Eight days later, when we all got our copies of Graffiti from the Big K department store or the Murray State campus bookstore or Chuck's Music Center, the needle dropped on Custard Pie and the ante got upped. Not just for double albums, but for rock records, period. Song for song, has another rock album--double or otherwise--really topped it since? I'd love to read your take.