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
“Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language.”
Rather lovely outdoor work, IMHO.
When my grown son played it "for me" in his car one day, I was blown away by surprise and pride in his good musical taste -- LOL. He was born some years after my Led Zep period. I proceeded to embarrass him by singing along...
Wondered that as well. I think it is the walking stick on his left side driven up into the bundle.
Mr. Long is carrying a faggot of sticks. Did these form the first layer underneath the final (top) thatch layer?
Some interesting info on Wiki about thatched roofs:
Over 250 roofs in Southern England have base coats of thatch that were applied over 500 years ago, providing direct evidence of the types of materials that were used for thatching in the medieval period. Almost all of these roofs are thatched with wheat, rye, or a "maslin" mixture of both. Medieval wheat grew to almost 6 feet tall in very poor soils and produced durable straw for the roof and grain for baking bread.The availability of good quality thatching straw declined in England after the introduction of the combine harvester in the late 1930s and 1940s, and the release of short-stemmed wheat varieties. Increasing use of nitrogen fertiliser in the 1960s–70s also weakened straw and reduced its longevity.
In the UK it is illegal under the Plant Variety and Seeds Act 1964 (with many amendments) for an individual or organisation to give, trade or sell seed of an older variety of wheat (or any other agricultural crop) to a third party for growing purposes, subject to a significant fine. Because of this legislation, thatchers in the UK can no longer obtain top quality thatching straw grown from traditional, tall-stemmed varieties of wheat.
Now that I looked at it again, it seems that you could be right.
The story of their Final Shows at Earl’s Court in 1975 - Episode 3 - Led Zeppelin Documentary by JCM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et5hc8A4obs
Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains the Same - Bass and Drums Isolated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t4F20gRtM4
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