A rare record from Led Zeppelin, which the band ordered to be recalled and destroyed, has been found on Antiques Roadshow.
The rarity was found as the hit BBC show headed to Wales for a recent episode. When at Caerphilly Castle, a man brought in a copy of a seven-inch single, and told antiques expert Marc Allum about how he managed to get his hands on it.
The seven-inch contained the legendary group’s classic single ‘Whole Lotta Love’, which was certified gold in the US and had a rare single pressing of 500 copies made by Atlantic Records.
Led Zeppelin had a strict no-single rule throughout their career, and only wanted their music to be released as full albums. As a result, their manager Peter Grant ordered all copies of the single to be recalled and destroyed.
Not everyone returned the singles, however, and the man who brought his copy in on Antiques Roadshow had his copy since the early ‘70s.
“I was looking for records to start a disco and out of his bag came a couple of records and he went ‘you can have those’,” he told Allum, to which the expert said that the vinyl was only ever released in the US and “shouldn’t really exist” in the UK.
“There are a lot of myths and stories that build up around these things, and I heard that 500 were pressed and they went out,” he continued. “This came about apparently because there was a kind of disparity between the relationship between the band, the management and the record company, and Led Zeppelin the band hadn’t agreed to have any singles released.”
He also noted that there were some finger marks and light scratches on the vinyl, and while it was “difficult to put a value on”, he estimated that it could fetch around £1,000 at auction.
The owner of the record also said that despite its rarity, the people who came to his disco were not “impressed” with it, and that “it cleared the dance floor” when he would put it on.
“It’s been with me for 55 years and I will probably give it to my daughters to do what they want to do with it,” he added. “I don’t think I will play it again as it will devalue it.”
‘Whole Lotta Love’ was the opening track for the band’s 1969 second album ‘Led Zeppelin II’, which also featured big hits including ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’, ‘The Lemon Song’ and ‘Ramble On’.
As for other Led Zeppelin rarities, earlier this year guitarist Jimmy Page shared the “original home demo” version of their song ‘Ten Years Gone’. Before then, high-quality rare footage of the band playing live in Amsterdam in 1972 emerged online.
In 2023, Page shared a previously unreleased Led Zeppelin instrumental demo, ‘The Seasons’. This recording would eventually form the basis of ‘The Rain Song’ from the group’s 1973 album ‘Houses Of The Holy’.
Last autumn, Led Zeppelin marked the 50th anniversary of ‘Physical Graffiti’ with the release of ‘Live EP’ on 12″ vinyl, CD and digital formats. A deluxe edition arrived in 2015 to celebrate the LP’s 40th anniversary.