“I knew exactly what I wanted to do in every respect”: How Jimmy Page built Led Zeppelin from the ashes of the Yardbirds

Jimmy Page (left) and John Bonham perform onstage with Led Zeppelin at the Gladsaxe Teen Club in Gladsaxe, Denmark on September 7, 1968

This feature on the launch and ascent of Led Zeppelin was originally published in the March 2009 issue of Guitar World.

It's been over 40 years since the U.S. release of the first Led Zeppelin album on January 12, 1969, but the record’s influence continues to be felt profoundly. Titled simply Led Zeppelin, the disc marked a pivotal moment in rock and roll culture, where the pop-oriented rock and roll of the Sixties started to give way to what would become the heavier-sounding, artist-driven orchestrations of early Seventies rock.