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Man on Led Zeppelin IV Cover Identified 52 Years After Album’s Release
pitchfork.com ^ | November 8, 2023 | By Madison Bloom

Posted on 11/13/2023 1:03:29 PM PST by Red Badger

Exactly 52 years after the release of Led Zeppelin’s fourth studio album—widely referred to as Led Zeppelin IV—the identity of the man gracing its cover has been revealed, The Guardian and The New York Times report. The cover artwork famously features an elderly man hinged at the waist, weighed down by a bale of long twigs strapped to his back. Now, a research fellow in South West England named Brian Edwards has discovered that the original source of the scene: a late Victorian era photograph of a Wiltshire thatcher named Lot Long.

A visiting research fellow with the regional history center at the University of the West of England, Edwards came across the photograph while he was perusing a Victorian photo album at an auction house, per The New York Times. He instantly recognized Long as the mysterious man on the cover of Led Zeppelin IV, an album to which he’s been listening since it was released in 1971. The photograph was captured by Ernest Farmer, who is now the subject of an exhibition at the Wiltshire Museum, which includes the image of Long.

Edwards’ discovery is notable not only because it reveals the identity of the bearded thatcher, but also because, for many years, the image was widely believed to be a painting. Led Zeppelin’s record sleeve depicts a re-colored version of the image hanging in a frame on a wall, which Robert Plant and Jimmy Page found in an antique shop in the village of Pangbourne, as legend has it. The source photograph is black and white, and the colorized version has never been recovered.

Additional research into Lot Long suggests that he was born in Mere in 1823 and died in 1893, as the Wiltshire Museum point out on their website. At the time the photograph was taken, he was a widower living in a cottage in Shaftesbury Road, Mere.

The Wiltshire Museum’s upcoming exhibition of Ernest Farmer photographs will focus on other images that Edwards came across during his research, including portraits of rural workers from the period.

Led Zeppelin IV album cover


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; History; Music/Entertainment; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: brianedwards; britishinvasion; ernestfarmer; heavymetal; history; jimmypage; ledzeppelin; ledzeppeliniv; lotlong; mere; music; pangbourne; plagiarism; robertplant; rockandroll; shaftesburyroad; stairwaytoheaven; wiltshire
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L_sT_EPM0YU


61 posted on 11/13/2023 4:30:06 PM PST by Disambiguator
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To: Red Badger

Today, it is very politically incorrect to show a man carrying a faggot.


62 posted on 11/13/2023 4:32:05 PM PST by Dr. Franklin ("A republic, if you can keep it." )
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To: central_va
There used to be a radio station in va that played an hour of Led Zep. at 10:00 pm. They called it “Led before bed”.

Ours called it, "Get The Led Out".

63 posted on 11/13/2023 4:35:59 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Vermont Lt
Probably one of those albums you would take to the proverbial “desert island.”

If I hadn't already heard each song about a thousand times already.

64 posted on 11/13/2023 4:37:18 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Robert DeLong

“we & the Brits, yet so different at the same time”

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, the British and Americans are diverse peoples separated by a common language.


65 posted on 11/13/2023 5:33:51 PM PST by Afterguard
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To: Red Badger

I remember looking at the picture when I first bought the album and wondering, what’s holding the bundle on to his back? It doesn’t look like there is a strap around his body.... And why is there a knee protector on just one side? I guess that is explainable if he is on a roof....

https://deadline.com/2023/11/led-zeppelin-iv-cover-photo-1235596856/ Here’s a bit more information on this story....


66 posted on 11/13/2023 6:06:51 PM PST by hecticskeptic
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To: central_va

Because they are

small sticks, for burning.


67 posted on 11/14/2023 1:37:04 AM PST by ExGeeEye (For dark is the suede that mows like a harvest.)
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To: dfwgator

6 Pork Faggots?

English is such a versatile language...................


68 posted on 11/14/2023 5:43:33 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Paal Gulli

Why? This is news of great import and history is being rewritten even as we speak!.................


69 posted on 11/14/2023 5:50:01 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: TribalPrincess2U

He’s been dead for 130 years!..................


70 posted on 11/14/2023 5:50:55 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: libertylover

He died in 1944 at the ripe old age of 88................


71 posted on 11/14/2023 5:56:03 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: nickcarraway

They found the photograph in a thrift shop..................


72 posted on 11/14/2023 5:58:07 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Larry Lucido

I thought that was just a cartoon.................

73 posted on 11/14/2023 5:59:58 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: PGR88

Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant designed the album cover................


74 posted on 11/14/2023 6:10:14 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

Kate Murtagh (October 29, 1920 – September 10, 2017) RIP

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Murtagh


75 posted on 11/14/2023 6:44:52 AM PST by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: Larry Lucido

96 years! She had a good run....................


76 posted on 11/14/2023 6:50:02 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger
Look at the raggedy edges of his work clothes. Hard but rewarding work. God bless him where he is.

How to Thatch a roof -- 1973

77 posted on 11/14/2023 7:49:51 AM PST by Albion Wilde (Either ‘the Deep State destroys America, or we destroy the Deep State.’ --Donald Trump)
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To: Red Badger
[Page]... designed his own symbol[5] and has never publicly disclosed any reasoning behind it. It has been argued that his symbol appeared as early as 1557 to represent Saturn.

Sounds possible. He was born January 9 (1944). Saturn is the ruling planet of Capricorn, which covers the last week or so of December and the first three weeks or so of January.

78 posted on 11/14/2023 8:03:11 AM PST by Albion Wilde (Either ‘the Deep State destroys America, or we destroy the Deep State.’ --Donald Trump)
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To: Albion Wilde

So, Prince wasn’t the first to do such!..................


79 posted on 11/14/2023 8:04:29 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger
A fifth, smaller symbol chosen by guest vocalist Sandy Denny represents her contribution to “The Battle of Evermore”

Such a great piece of music. This video shows the four symbols, but not Sandy Denny's:

Led Zeppelin - The Battle Of Evermore

80 posted on 11/14/2023 8:07:14 AM PST by Albion Wilde (Either ‘the Deep State destroys America, or we destroy the Deep State.’ --Donald Trump)
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