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Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 – Break & Enter is based on our interviewees’ fascinating personal recollections and, in some cases, their professional expertise as musicians, authors and educators.

Some of these accounts go back forty years or even longer!

Author Frank Reddon started his research over a decade ago; all the interviewees whom we were still able to contact were given the opportunity to review their interviews and make appropriate changes. They have consented to our expression of the information they gave us, as presented herein.

While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, some errors will be inevitable, although unintentional on all our parts.

In furtherance of the above, Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc. retained the services of a leading Canadian legal firm with expertise in intellectual property and entertainment law and together, every reasonable effort was also made to secure all permissions and licences for both the text and graphics used throughout this book.

If anyone’s permission has been inadvertently missed, we urge you to contact us immediately in writing at the address shown below. We shall correct any such omissions at the first available opportunity.

Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc. owns the copyright to all the interviews in this book, with the exception of two which are appropriately referenced as appearing herein under licence. All trademarks, registered trademarks and brand names used throughout this book are the intellectual property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

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Fort Erie, ON L2A 1B1 CANADA

My first recollection of Led Zeppelin was in the summer of 1970. My family had a favourite restaurant we frequented in the South End of our little town. Walking there on summer evenings, the scene had changed starting in 1968. Brightly dressed, long-haired kids hung out all over the streets, in doorways and on the sidewalks. You had to step over them at times to get where you were going. My parents were less than thrilled and somewhat perplexed, as we picked our way through the youthful throng. But Mom and Dad took it all in stride, thankful that their kids weren’t part of it.

As a nine year old, I was fascinated by these teenaged kids – disdainfully dubbed “hippies” by everyone who wasn’t one of them. Our family haunt’s clientele had definitely changed complexion in recent times. It was obvious, even to me, that whatever this “hippie” thing was, it wasn’t going away anytime soon. And neither was the music they liked to listen to and play.

In the corner stood a jukebox that played constantly. This night would be my introduction to Led Zeppelin. Some kids had selected Dazed and Confused. I couldn’t believe how strange the sounds were. I had never heard anything like this music. It was unsettling, yet exciting!

Up until then, I’d been listening to my father’s music – stacks of English brass band records like Earl’s Court Citadel Band, Black Dyke Mills Band and various Salvation Army bands. Obviously, Led Zeppelin had taken a completely different approach to its music than had its brass-blowing countrymen! I knew nothing about rock’n’roll but, that summer night in 1970, Led Zeppelin registered as unique. Nothing I had ever listened to before had prepared me for what Led Zeppelin was churning out on that record machine during Dazed and Confused.

That was thirty-eight years ago. The restaurant, jukebox and hippies are long gone. The only thing that has remained unchanged from those days is my memory of the electrifying excitement and eerie wonderment I first heard in Led Zeppelin’s music.

How could I have known then that I would come to spend over 18,000 hours researching Led Zeppelin’s music and legacy? The experience has brought me countless hours of enjoyment and I want nothing more than to take others down that research path of discovery.

Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 – Break & Enter, is the first of three planned publications celebrating Led Zeppelin’s 40^th anniversary. I conducted over forty primary source interviews to find out the “where, when, how and why” Led Zeppelin became a pioneer in the world of popular music. Many of these people were on the scene to help the band “break and enter” in 1968. Their knowledge, expertise and personal recollections will provide fascinating information you’ve never seen in print before. If you’re ready to rock, let’s roll!

Frank Reddon, Author

June 2008/updated September 2011

Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada