Naming of Led Zeppelin rears its ugly head :-)

[Alan McKendree <AI.amck@mcc.com>]

Hi bunch,

You old-time subscribers out there (well, more than 3 months) may
remember this from Rachael Robins that read in part:

   Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 08:58 CDT
   From: "Rachael Robins, SIG Services" <ROBINS%ACMVM.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
   Subject:      The naming of Zeppelin
   To: thewho@cisco.com
   
   A while ago there was a thread about how Led Zeppelin was named.  I just
   picked up a book called _Rock Talk_ edited by Joe and John Kohut that just
   came out.
   
   It is actualy a good read.  It's all quotes from mostly rock stars, with
   some critics and regular people thrown in.  One of the chapters is about
   the naming of bands and this is a quote from John Entwistle:
   
   "Led Zeppelin is a good name, isn't it?  I made it up.  Everybody says
   Keith Moon made it up, but he didn't....
   
   [more quote deleted - AM]
   
   So, this puts the Keith Moon rumor to bed.
   
   Rachael

Well, I finally got around to sending that (in full) to Thor Iverson,
the Keeper of the Led Zeppelin FAQ, (we had discussed this a little
prior to Rachael's message) and he responds:

------------begin included message-----------
Subject: "Led Zeppelin"
To: Alan McKendree <amck@geryon.mcc.com>
 Sun Dec  7 12:10:24 PST 1997
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 17:51 CDT
From: Thor Iverson <tiverson@lynx.dac.neu.edu>
In-Reply-To: <9407261918.AA16598@geryon.mcc.com> from "Alan McKendree" at Jul 26, 94 02:18:50 pm


I've heard/read bits of this particular answer before, but never the whole
thing.  And no, (grin), I don't find it convincing.  It's _still_ John's
word against everyone else's.  I made a note of the discrepancy in the FAQL:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
     7 - When and where was Led Zeppelin formed?

[...]

In March of the same year, Jeff Beck releases a solo single entitled "Hi
Ho Silver Lining," which is backed with a Page composition entitled
"Beck's Bolero".  This song is recorded by Page, Beck, Nicky Hopkins,
John Paul Jones, and Keith Moon.  At this session Moon and John
Entwistle, who are tired of The Who's infighting, discuss forming a band
with Page and Beck. It is here that Moon announces that they should
call the group Lead Zeppelin, because, "...it'll go over like a ***in'
lead balloon!"  (The "a" was later removed from "Lead" so that
Americans would pronounce it correctly.)  (John Entwistle claims that
it was _he_, not Moon, who invented the name.  All other sources claim
otherwise, but in the absence of definitive proof either way this
version will stand.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

> Let me know what you think of the above.  If you like, I'll post your
> response to thewho.

Please feel free to post my response.  This is the crux of the issue:
John quite eloquently states his case, but it is _still_ simply his word
against many others' (Page, John Paul Jones, Peter Grant, and Richard
Cole (the least trustworthy of the group)).  Until someone else comes
forward and says, "Yes, you're right, it _was_ John who named the group,
not Moon," I have to go with the bulk of informed opinion on the origins
of the name.  Anyone is _still_ free to try and convince me, as they
were the last time we discussed this. ;-)

At this point, I am semi-inclined to excerpt this quote for the above
section of the FAQL, but I still won't give it equal weight with the
Moon theory.  OK?  Thanks again for fighting the good fight--it really
_is_ possible to change my mind, so don't give up! ;-)

Thor Iverson	    	    	    	    	tiverson@lynx.dac.neu.edu
Author, Led Zeppelin FAQL   	      I don't _have_ "humble opinions"...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
_Entertainment Weekly_ is _not_ allowed to reprint anything I've written.

-----------end included message---------

So informed, dispassionate scholarship still recognizes differing
evidence on the question.

Alan