Peter Grant (music Manager) - The Led Zeppelin Era

The Led Zeppelin Era

In 1968 the Yardbirds dissolved, with all band members departing except guitarist Jimmy Page, who promptly set about constructing a new group consisting of himself, Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones. Originally dubbed the "New Yardbirds" the group chose the name Led Zeppelin, with Grant assuming the role of their manager. His trust and loyalty to Led Zeppelin was such that his managerial arrangement with the band was via a gentlemen's agreement.

It is doubtful whether Led Zeppelin would have been as successful without Grant as their manager. He negotiated the group's sizeable five-year record contract with Atlantic Records, and his business philosophy would eventually pay off for the label. Grant strongly believed that bands could make more money, and have more artistic merit, by focusing their efforts on albums rather than singles. Live performances were deemed more important than television appearances – if one wanted to see Led Zeppelin, one had to experience their performances in person.

Led Zeppelin's particular success in the United States can partly be credited to Grant's keen sense of US audiences and the vast underground movement that was sweeping the country. It was his sound knowledge of the American touring scene that thrust Led Zeppelin into the forefront of the burgeoning American rock market, and under his stewardship the great majority of Led Zeppelin concerts were performed in the United States, resulting in massive profits for the group. He ensured that the vast bulk of ticket profits wound up in the hands of the band rather than in the hands of promoters and booking agents., and is reported to have secured 90% of gate money from concerts performed by the band, an unprecedented feat. By taking this approach he set a new standard for artist management, "single-handedly pioneer the shift of power from the agents and promoters to the artists and management themselves."

Grant's determination to protect the financial interests of Led Zeppelin was also reflected by the sometimes-extraordinary measures he took to combat the practice of unauthorized live bootleg recordings. He is reported to have personally visited record stores in London that were selling Led Zeppelin bootlegs and demanded all copies be handed over. He also monitored the crowd at Led Zeppelin concerts in order to locate anything which resembled bootleg recording equipment. At one concert at Vancouver in 1971 he saw what he thought was such equipment on the floor of the venue and ensured that it was destroyed, only to later learn that it was a noise pollution unit being operated by city officials to test the volume of the concert. On another occasion, at the Bath Festival in 1970, he personally threw a bucket of water over unauthorised recording equipment. Grant's famous dressing room scene in the film The Song Remains the Same, where he demands an explanation from concert staff about the sale of illegal posters, was typical of his no-nonsense dealings with people who tried to profit at the band's expense.

Grant is also recognised for the complete and unwavering faith that he placed in Led Zeppelin. Unlike some other managers of the era, he never compromised his clients by exploiting them for short-term profit, instead always putting their interests first. This was demonstrated by his decision to never release the popular songs from Led Zeppelin's albums as singles in the UK, out of respect for the band's desire to develop the concept of album-oriented rock. As was explained by Jones:

trusted us to get the music together, and then just kept everybody else away, making sure we had the space to do whatever we wanted without interference from anybody - press, record company, promoters. He only had us and reckoned that if we were going to do good, then he would do good. He always believed that we would be hugely successful and people became afraid not to go along with his terms in case they missed out.

Grant's past experience in handling stars such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent also provided him with an excellent grounding in managing the pandemonium which frequently surrounded Led Zeppelin, particularly whilst the band was on tour. Grant himself said that "Led Zeppelin looks after the music and I do everything else - and if it takes some strong measures to get our way, then so be it." According to rock journalist Steven Rosen:

Peter Grant, former bouncer and wrestler, was, in many respects, the physical embodiment of a Led Zeppelin. Standing over six feet and weighing over 300 pounds, he used his intimidating presence to maintain order and to keep his charges safe and worry-free ... His raison d’etre was simple - protecting his band and their finances. When a bootlegger or unauthorised photographer was identified, it was the lucky infringing party who was let off with merely a severe verbal reprimand and confiscation of unauthorised T-shirts and film.

However, although there were several reports of his heavy-handed, intimidating tactics, Grant's biographers Lewis and Pallet suggest that "he was generally held in high esteem by those with whom he came in contact." In the words of John Paul Jones, "Peter was a very sensitive man. He was a very, very smart man. People just think of his size and his reputation, but actually he never had to use his size. He could out-talk anybody ..."

Grant was instrumental in setting up Led Zeppelin's publishing company, Superhype Music in 1968. He was also the driving force in establishing Swan Song Records in 1974, which gave Led Zeppelin further financial and artistic control over its products. Although initially he solely managed Led Zeppelin, in later years he additionally assumed management of other bands signed to Swan Song, such as Bad Company and Maggie Bell. In 1975 he turned down a lucrative offer to manage Queen. When he was once questioned on what was the single most important thing a manager could say, Grant's response was "Know when to say 'no'." In 1977, he was asked by Colonel Tom Parker to manage a proposed concert tour of Europe by Elvis Presley, but Elvis died on 16 August 1977, just as negotiations had commenced.