And while it’s the ’80s that is usually pinpointed to as the peak “Led Clones” period (i.e., artists that modeled their sound after Led Zeppelin), if you really think long and hard about it, it was way back in the early-mid ’70s that others began pulling inspiration from the first few Zeppelin albums, and continued to do so for the remainder of the decade.
In my 2024 book, Led Clones: The Led Zeppelin Imitator Craze of the ’80s…and Beyond, this subject is thoroughly explored and analyzed, and covers all Zep disciples throughout each decade starting in the ’70s up to modern times. And below are excerpts that focus on the particular decade that gave us Star Wars, pet rocks, bell bottom jeans, afros, and punk rock – in addition to several bands motivated by Plant, Page, Jones, and Bonham.
Rush
With Led Zeppelin unquestionably one of the most popular and successful rock bands by the early ’70s, the first bands cropped up that had a sound that was decidedly Zep-heavy. And certainly at the top of the list would have to be Rush. Although they would eventually find their own unique sound (peaking with one of the best one-two punches ever in hard rock, 1980’s Permanent Waves and 1981’s Moving Pictures), there is no denying that the Canadian trio’s self-titled debut from 1974 is pretty much just one giant Zep-ism. Case in point, the Robert Plant-esque vocal wailing courtesy of Geddy Lee on such tunes as “Finding My Way” and Alex Lifeson‘s Jimmy Page-like riffing on “Working Man.”
And unlike some artists who fib and pretend as if it’s just one big “happy accident” that they sounded similar (an easy way to wiggle out of a tight spot in an interview has always been, “We share the same influences…so, of course we sound similar”), the Rush lads were always honest about being influenced by Zeppelin. And Lee even made sure to admit as much in his superb 2023 autobiography, My Effin’ Life.
However, when I had the opportunity to ask Lifeson about Rush’s Zep-like track “Working Man” for my 2023 eBook, The 100 Greatest Songs of Heavy Metal (oops, guess I just gave away one of the list’s lucky selections!), he explained that it was not Zeppelin that inspired the track, but rather, another legendary British band. “‘Working Man’ was written in the early 1970s when we were 17 years old. Influenced by our love for Cream, it became one of our longer jam songs and an opportunity to stretch out and exhaust our teenage fingers. Working kids, indeed!”
Heart
And while most of the artists influenced by Zeppelin past and present turned out to be male, there was at least one exception. Of course, the artist in question is Heart. Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia (boy, Zep certainly left an impression on Canadians, eh?), the group was led by sisters Ann Wilson on vocals and Nancy Wilson on guitar, and like Montrose, issued a classic debut straight away, with 1975’s Dreamboat Annie – which spawned such hits as “Magic Man” and “Crazy on You.”
And unlike the aforementioned Montrose, Heart’s music overall was not an obvious tip o’ the cap to Zeppelin…until you came across a specific track. And that track was “Barracuda,” off their third offering, 1977’s Little Queen, which contained more than a passing resemblance riff and groove-wise (as well as sonically) to Zeppelin’s “Achilles Last Stand.”
Triumph
And yet another Canadian band that also got “Zepped” was Triumph. And their singer/guitarist, Rik Emmett, has clear memories of Zeppelin’s early influence on him as a musician. “I can remember sitting in the living room with the Zeppelin albums – moving the needle, moving the needle – trying to figure out, ‘How do you play that intro to ‘Black Dog’?’ Which now, everybody knows what it is. But back in those days, nobody knew – ‘How do you count that thing? That’s just weird.’ Everybody played it wrong. To model ourselves after Zeppelin was the thing that allowed us to get our foot inside the door and have a professional career.”
As a result, there are certain early Triumph tunes that have an unmistakable “Led flavor” to them. “If you listen to the first Triumph album [1976’s self-titled], there were ‘riff rock’ songs. Songs like ‘Be My Lover,’ there is an amalgam of influences that show up. But the riffs would be ‘Be My Lover,’ ‘Easy Life’ – that’s Zeppelin. And the proof in the pudding was in those days, we were still a bar band, and we still played two sets of Led Zeppelin every night.”
Moxy
Now, at this point, how about we discuss one of the more obscure Zep replicators of the ’70s – another Canadian band, that went by the name of Moxy. Never heard of them? Don’t feel bad, neither did I – until I heard a couple of their tunes nestled within the 1989 Tommy Bolin box set, The Ultimate (as Bolin was hired as a session guitarist to lend his six-string skills to several tunes on their 1975 self-titled debut). And upon giving the entire album a listen, tunes such as “Can’t You See I’m a Star,” “Still I Wonder,” and “Out of the Darkness – Into the Fire” contain undeniable Zep elements. But one tune in particular, “Train,” is the group’s most obvious swipe.
Speaking to Moxy guitarist Earl Johnson for the 2008 book, Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story, he explained how the late/great guitarist (best known for short stints in the James Gang and Deep Purple, plus playing on the jazz-fusion classic Spectrum by Billy Cobham) got involved with the band in the studio. “I loved his playing, but never met him personally, and wish I had. I wrote about 95% of Moxy’s first album as the guitar player. I got into a fight with the producer about the guitar solos I was playing at the time – more like Page and Beck – and Tommy was brought in one night when I was thrown out of the studio by the producer.”
Looking back years later, Johnson figures it all worked out for the best. “It actually made me a better player, as I felt challenged, and knew I had to improve my playing. Tommy had a great feel and style, and I admired him for that. Moxy went on to record two more albums, and by the third album, I was ripping and completely confident – much of that was derivative from the first album. I was lucky in that our two biggest songs from the first album were songs that I played all the guitar tracks on – ‘Sail On Sail Away’ and ‘Can’t You See I’m A Star’.”
So…Why So Many Canadian Zep Disciples in the ’70s?
Looking back upon Canadian rock bands of the ’70s, it seems like the majority were equally influenced by Zep rock and also, prog rock. And Triumph’s Rik Emmett explained why/how this occurred. “I think the prog thing came just a tiny bit later. But if you look back on Zeppelin, their first album came out in North America in ’69,
their second album came out in ’69, their third album came out in ’70, their fourth album came out in ’71. So, in two years you got four albums. That’s like a blizzard of stuff.”
“And at the same time, you had all these other acts that were doing stuff like, the Jeff Beck Truth album was ’68 – that was a very influential album here. Pink Floyd albums were happening at the same time. Right around then I was discovering Yes, Genesis, and Pink Floyd. Canadian radio – that was a lot of the stuff they played. So, there was a big market for that stuff in Canada. But the thing of course was…it was a little harder to play. [Laughs] You needed more gear, you needed more musicians. It was a long haul between gigs in Canada, so that’s why it was more like, ‘Keep the band small. Make it be a trio – you can all fit in the van with the gear’.”
“I think it’s fair to say that the whole idea of ‘riff rocking’ was kind of the thing that Zeppelin figured out. I liked Deep Purple a lot, but you had to lug around a Hammond B3. If you were trying to get in at the grass roots and you were a power trio, it was just a question of having amps on the backline – and you didn’t have to have a fourth guy to pay. So, Zeppelin, Hendrix, and Cream – that was the triumvirate of heavy bands that everybody said, ‘We can do this. The least amount of mouths to feed, and the most amount of noise you could make’.”
Led Clones: The Led Zeppelin Imitator Craze of the ’80s…and Beyond is available as paperback, hardcover, Kindle, and audio versions. Click here to order. Source
