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Monday, August 17, 2009

Zep's first two albums top Rolling Stone readers' favorite '69 albums list

Rolling Stone may have panned Led Zeppelin's debut album 40 years ago, but readers of the magazine have now voted it their favorite album of 1969.

And Led Zeppelin II, reviewed that same year without a straight face, was voted the year's No. 2 album.

Both LPs best the '69 releases by the Beatles, the Stones and the Who.

The list includes a total of 15 records from the year that yielded the Woodstock festival, and artists from that show are well represented: Woodstock performers Neil Young, the Band, and Sly & the Family Stone all have discs on the list, as do the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, Blind Faith, the Kinks and Captain Beefheart.

To read the complete list, click here.

The cover art for the current issue of Rolling Stone, shown at right, was designed by Shepard Fairey, who in 2007 lent his creative hand and pop-art stylings to the artwork of Led Zeppelin's best-of set, Mothership.

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About the author

Steve "The Lemon" Sauer is a writer and musician based in Boca Raton, Fla., who has dedicated a portion of his life researching the history of rock group Led Zeppelin and monitoring the ongoing careers of the band's surviving members. Although he was barely a year old when Led Zeppelin broke up and it took him until his teen years to appreciate the music, it didn't take long to make up for it.

Steve is currently a contributing writer and consultant for Get the Led Out, a weekly syndicated radio program hosted by Carol Miller and syndicated in 100 U.S. markets including New York and Los Angeles. He also provides content for a Web site associated with the radio show, www.LedZepOnline.com.

In 2007, Steve launched Lemon Squeezings: Led Zeppelin News to cover the lead-up to the band's reunion concert at the end of that year. Since then, he has closely examined every rumor of a followup tour since then, often dispelling or clarifying misinformation perpetrated by the mainstream media. Using his journalistic training, Steve has also uncovered some facts and accounts previously unreported elsewhere.

At age 18, he began publishing On This Day In Led Zeppelin History, a daily newsletter detailing the interactions of members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, and their manager, Peter Grant. The newsletter is located at www.OnThisDayInLedZeppelinHistory.com.

He enjoys uncovering stories and has employed various methods to communicate those stories to Led Zeppelin's vast fan base, utilizing terrestrial radio and the many facets of the Internet: from Usenet newsgroups to plain e-mail and now Facebook and Twitter. Steve also connects with live audiences when performing as a backup vocalist and keyboard player with various bands, including past onstage appearances with three cover or tribute acts performing the music of Led Zeppelin.

Do you have a news tip to share with Steve? Do you have something you would like him to write about? Would you like to book him for a speaking engagement? He can be contacted by e-mail at Steve at LedZeppelinNews.com.

Other Led Zeppelin information from Lemon Squeezings

Lemon Squeezings archive

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