The man on the cover of the 1971 Led Zeppelin IV album was photographed Ernest Howard Farmer who lived from 1856 to 1944. His name is Lot Long (or Longberry).
The image used on the Led Zep cover came from a photograph purchased by Robert Plant in an antique shop in Pangbourne, Berkshire, near where Jimmy Page lived in the early 1970s.
The image shows a Wiltshire thatcher, a person who instals thatch, the dry vegetation used to make roofing on houses of the 1800s and early 1900s.
Led Zeppelin colourised the photo for the cover of Led Zep IV from the original photo is black and white.
According to the BBC, Brian Edwards of the University of the West of England, discovered the photograph in an album. An inscription had the photographers first name ‘Ernest’.
As the photograph appeared to have been taken by a professional photographer that Ernest must have been a Chemist at that time, as that was the skill required for early photography. He looked at records Chemists named Ernest around the area and era and through handwriting comparisons tracked down a man named Ernest Farmer from Salisbury.
The photograph was in a photo album titled “Reminiscences of a visit to Shaftesbury. Whitsuntide 1892. A present to Auntie from Ernest.” The photograph was titled ‘A Wiltshire Thatcher’ and believed to be Lot Long (or Longyear) who lived from 1823 to 1894. Long lived in Mere.
Ernest Farmer was an innovator of the early days of photography. The exhibition of his work, “The ‘Wiltshire Thatcher: a photographic journey through Victorian Wessex’ will be on display at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes in 2024.
The fourth Led Zeppelin album is commonly known as ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ although it was untitled. As it followed ‘Led Zeppelin’, ‘Led Zeppelin II’ and ‘Led Zeppelin III’ the ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ title became the albums common use name (although another commonly used name is ‘ZoSo’ from the symbols used on the album cover.
‘Led Zeppelin IV’ was the biggest album for the band. It contained:
Side One:
Black Dog
Rock and Roll
The Battle of Evermore
Stairway To Heaven
Side Two:
Misty Mountain Hop
Four Sticks
Going To California
When The Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin IV has to date sold over 24 million copies in the USA. It is the fifth biggest selling album of all-time in the USA after Eagles ‘Their Greatest Hits’ (38 million), Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ (34 million), Eagles ‘Hotel California’ (26 million) and AC/DC ‘Back In Black’ (25 million).
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE.com’s newest interviews and special features on YOUTUBE and updated regularly. See things first SUBSCRIBE here: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE
