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SWAN SONG:
THE COMPLETE UK VINYL DISCOGRAPHY.

Details of every UK release on the Swan Song label from 1974 to 1983 with full colour, high quality photography throughout of labels, sleeves and inserts along with detailed analysis and identification of the crucial 1st pressing details of every album and single. Essential reading for collectors of Swan Song UK first pressing vinyl.

Swan Song was founded by Led Zeppelin in 1974 following the expiration of their original five-album deal with Atlantic Records.

Just as other major rock acts had founded their own ‘vanity labels’ to give them greater control over their output, Led Zeppelin established Swan Song to not only free themselves from outside interference on sleeve design and when to release their latest offering, but also to give other artists a chance to release their music. Especially those that might be struggling with other record companies, such as The Pretty Things, Detective and Dave Edmunds.

By 1974, Led Zeppelin were arguably the biggest rock act on the planet, smashing attendance records for single-act live concerts, achieving ridiculous numbers for advance orders of their impending albums and virtually guaranteeing No.1 status in worlwide charts after their LPs were released.

With great success often comes great controversy. Zeppelin’s reputation for debauchery and even ‘selling their souls to the devil’ continued to dog their press stories. Personal tragedies would hound their career, which naturally impacted on the amount of time, effort and finance they would devote to nurturing the acts they signed to the label.

Even the name ‘Swan Song’ hinted at Zeppelin’s farewell performance. The label, though, survived Led Zeppelin. Just. Following the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, Swan Song finally died in 1983, but not with Led Zeppelin’s “Coda”…