The Record Store Years (Side Trip): 'Becoming Led Zeppelin' Film Review

A memoir of 25 years (1975-2000) spent working in the world of records & music in Seattle, with occasional side trips into writings on Led Zeppelin and other adventures from my musical life.

It’s been a long time since I published my Led Zep fanzine Proximity, but now that we have Substack I get to pontificate about my favorite band in public again – lucky you! Some level of spoiler alert may be necessary for the following, but unless you’re a true trainspotter – and if you are I’m sure you’ve seen it by now - it probably won’t make much difference.

First and foremost: I really enjoyed the film. I had watched Bernard MacMahon’s “American Epic” series and though it was excellent, so I was hopeful for the Zeppelin project. The film moves along nicely and does a good job telling the story – of course the music is great and two hours went by in a flash. There was nothing in it that pissed me off or really missed the mark in my view as a ‘superfan.’

One of Becoming Led Zeppelin’s strengths is that it is not a film aimed at hardcore idiots like me who will notice that a mid-1969 BBC version of a song is being semi-synched with some bootleg footage from months earlier, or that some snippets of off-stage footage are from 1972, well after the ‘becoming’ period.

In the big picture these things matter not a whit - the handful of people in the theater when I saw it (on Superbowl Sunday, a great time to go to a movie!) obviously enjoyed it and even applauded and whooped at the end. Long live the Zep!

Unfortunately the film underlines the paucity of film & video that exists of the band, especially from the early years. Led Zeppelin was well-known for avoiding TV and film performances, and for years even bootleg film footage was hard to find. The band itself partially corrected this in 2003 with the release of Led Zeppelin DVD which contained large chunks of the only professional quality footage that exists. The performance centerpieces of Becoming Led Zeppelin – Danish TV, Paris TV and Royal Albert Hall – are all things that have been previously released but of course they’re prime examples of what made the band great, and so are perfect for the film.

The ‘new’ home movie footage with synched audio from the Atlanta, Newport and Bath Festivals is pretty fun to see, but let’s face it – high quality it ain’t. I really enjoyed the Page solo clip of “White Summer” from the Julie Felix UK TV Show, but it’s a shame that they couldn’t improve the footage more with AI or something.

All that said, I did really enjoy the movie! As a one-time student of the pre-Zep session years, some of the footage in the first half was mind- blowing – Page showing up at Olympic Studios with his guitar case in hand, and Glyn Johns at the mixing board. The band interview sequences are great, especially when they’re describing their musical influences and early years. Jimmy Page in particular is a striking figure with a sparkle in his eye at age 80, and the new Bonzo interview stuff is priceless. John Paul Jones is characteristically down to earth, and Robert Plant shows honest affection for the story of the band – his and Page’s comments about the development of their songwriting partnership are enlightening.

If you have any interest in Led Zeppelin as an admirer of their music and you enjoy Rock Docs, I give this one a solid recommendation. If you’re looking for the great lost Zep footage or an objective overview of their reign in 1970’s rock. . . we’re still waiting.