Through the years, Led Zeppelin has remained among the ten most avidly collected artists, and for that reason the value of their memorabilia has remained stable. However, there are some other factors that determine the value of an item like a program. For example, if a program comes from an area where the band hasn't toured much, such as Australia, where they went only one time and performed only six concerts, what is available becomes extremely sought after by both Australian and overseas collectors. This explains why the Australian tour program has sold for as much as $800.

The value placed on each program in this article is what I am aware to be the current asking - trading price in 1996, and is quoted in U.S. dollars.

Armed with the tips and information in this article, I hope you'll be able to make better choices in your future purchases, or perhaps just satisfy your curiosity.
Many thanks and Enjoy!

- Alain Blais 1996

1970: THE BATH FESTIVAL OF BLUES & PROGRESSIVE MUSIC

The Bath Festival took place on June 27 and 28, 1970, with Zeppelin performing on the second night. The program is a 52-page black and white booklet with a little bit of yellow on the cover. Inside, there is lots of writing about almost every band who played, including Jefferson Airplane, Frank Zappa, Santana, Pink Floyd, Steppenwolf, Fairport Convention and of course. . . Led Zeppelin, who are given over a page for their bio and photo spread. Due to the fact that so many well known bands were present, this item is sought after by many different collectors, and in good condition can sell for over $225. It has not been reproduced to date.

1971: JAPANESE TOUR

This magnificent item is one of the rarest and most expensive Zeppelin tour books (along with the Australian and Japanese programs from 1972). Unlike the Knebworth '79 program which tends to surface from time to time and throughout the years has stayed at an affordable price, these items are ultra hard to find in good condition, and their prices rise every time they're offered for sale or auction. The program of Zep's legendary first tour of Japan is a 28-page, oversized booklet (approximately 10" by 14") with a vividly colored front cover which folds open to show a double-spread posed picture of the band circa 1969. Inside, the book is black and white except for a beautiful large center spread onstage shot from the Bath Festival in 1969. Included are the tour's schedule, a biography (in Japanese) and some publicity from tour promoters Kyodo Presents. The inside back cover features an ad for Zeppelin's album catalog and three intriguing Japanese picture sleeve singles, now major rarities in their own right! If you really want to add this piece of memorabilia to your collection, don't expect to pay less than $400 to $450 for one in good condition. It's almost unbelievable how many people are interested in collecting items like this one, even if it's selling at a silly price.

1972: JAPANESE TOUR

If I had to choose my favorite among all the Zep concert books, I'd go for this one. It's a great item; an oversized format (approximately 10" by 14," like the Japanese '71 book) with lots of color and black and white photos, and contains everything a concert book needs to be interesting as well as historical. The program was done by tour promoters UDO Artists, Inc. In place of the traditional biography, this book has an interview with Plant, Page and John Bonham, all in Japanese of course. The advertising in the program largely centers around music and musicians. Fender guitar, Folk Blues harmonica, ELK Musical Instruments, Pearl drums and Greco guitar all have their own spot to reach the youth of the day. Like the Japanese '71 book, this program can pop up sometimes, but it is among the rarest. Recently, it was sold for $400 in not very good condition, which gives an idea of how scarce and desirable this item is.

1975: EARLS COURT

This glossy book, produced for the Earls Court concerts of May 1975, is a 14-page A4 sized color program. It has a weird intro - biography stating that Zep is a mixture between the Rolling Stones, Cream, Bo Diddley, Burt Bacharach and even Kool and the Gang. Contained within are individual bios of each band member along with some surprisingly poor quality color photos, as well as an article from The Observer about Swan Song. The original item is valued between $125 and $150. It has been pirated, however, and the replicas go for about $15.

1979: KNEBWORTH FESTIVAL

This 26-page program was produced for Zep's last UK concerts on August 4 and 11, 1979. It features a one-page biography on Zeppelin by Paul Gambaccini along with color photos of the individual members on the inside front and back covers. In addition there are bios and photos of the other bands who played at the two dates supporting Led Zep. There are color and black & white photos, information about the festival (transport notes), a look back at previous Knebworth Festivals, and advertising. Through the years, the price of this program has not changed much. It can be found fairly easily in good condition for about $75. There is also a bootleg program that was sold at the Knebworth Festivals, which is the same as the original except the cover is different. It has an orange cover with 'Knebworth' on it, and the Swan Song logo. Asking price for this item is around $80.

1988: ATLANTIC RECORDS 40th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

The Atlantic program is a beautiful and very colorful 12" by 12" 24-page book that was sold at Madison Square Garden in New York on May 14, 1988, where Plant played a solo set with his current band and Page, Plant and Jonesy came back together as Led Zeppelin, once again. Atlantic Record's history plus short write-ups and photos of the artists scheduled to perform (including Robert Plant) are featured. Images of Led Zeppelin are shown in two photo collages at the front and back of the book, but there is no formal bio on the band since again, their performance at the show was unscheduled. Value on this item is probably around $40 to $50.

Write Hugh Jones, Proximity Editor:mrprox@mindspring.com