Pageia Obscura: The Man Who Lead Zeppelin: Peter Grant

Peter Grant always had Jimmy's Back

After Jimmy's forays with a multitude of managers in the late 1960's, Mickie Most, Andrew Lood Oldham, and so on, he finally found a man who had his best interests at heart, and who would support him, and the rest of Led Zeppelin with every ounce of his being until the band broke up in 1980, that man was Peter Grant.

Grant was born on April 5th, 1935 in Surrey, England, the same neighborhood as Jimmy Page. In his earlier life Grant worked as a bouncer, an actor - he appeared in the films "Cleopatra" as a palace guard, and "The Guns of Navarone" as a British Commando. Grant even worked for a while as a professional wrestler under the name of 'Count Massimo' and 'Count Bruno Alassio of Milan. Thinking about it professional wrestling was a pretty good fit for Grant who was extremely charismatic and stood 6'5" tall and weighed well over 300 pounds.

Grant appeared as a palace guard in this 1963 film

Peter Grant began his career working artists under the care of legendary manager Don Arden. Arden hired Grant as a tour manager, and Grant set out on the road taking care of such acts as Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Brian Hyland, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, and The Animals. Around 1964, Grant began managing his own acts beginning with a small outfit known as the Nashville Teens. Grant eventually opened up an office in London with his friend and fellow producer Mickie Most. The two would partner up and open the highly successful company RAK Records which had produced a number of hits throughout the 1970's.

In 1966, Simon Napier-Bell had had enough of his act, The Yardbirds, and had asked Mickie Most to take over management of the group. Most offered his friend Peter Grant part ownership in the group which Grant accepted. Most was a pop singles minded fellow, and that is the direction in which he had hoped to take the Yardbirds, recording such songs a "Ten Little Indians" and "Ha Ha Said the Clown. The guitarist of the group bristled at the material, and the direction into which he was being led. Shortly thereafter Most sold his controlling interest in the group to Grant. Unlike many managers of that era, Peter Grant didn't have illusions of being a creative force for his charges, and let them make the music they liked; he was a Godsend for a young ambitious Jimmy Page.

Peter Grant made a boatload of money for his acts

Grant realized quick that a new strategy was in order for The Yardbirds who were sinking fast "When I started managing The Yardbirds, they weren't getting the hit singles, but were on the college circuit and underground scene in America. Instead of trying to get played on Top 40 radio, I realized that there was another market. We were the first UK act to get booked at places like The Fillmore. The scene was changing." Grant was extremely hands on with The Yardbirds, and accompanied the band to the venues they were due to play. Peter Grant was a no-nonsense fellow who didn't take kindly to promoters stiffing his clients, as a result of this approach, and his intimidating presence, The Yardbirds were taking in larger takes from touring than they ever had before.

When the Yardbirds dissolved in 1968, Peter Grant cast his lot with Jimmy Page, believing fully in his artistic vision, and admiring him for his canniness. Grant helped Page assemble the group that would become Led Zeppelin, and it was under his direction that Led Zeppelin broke a series of industry standards such as receiving 90% of the take from the door at a given venue, unheard of before in rock and roll when promoters had received the lions share of the profits. This was Grant's greatest contribution to musicians everywhere which Jimmy himself would later remark upon, "Peter had changed the dynamic that existed between bands, managers and promoters."

Grant was unafraid of telling the promoters what they could do

Grant also obtained for his group and unprecedented level of control of their music, the group's label, Atlantic Records, had virtually no say in what material the band produced. John Paul Jones, the groups bassist later commented about this, "[Peter] trusted us to get the music together, and then just kept everybody else away, making sure we had the space to do whatever we wanted without interference from anybody - press, record company, promoters. He only had us [as clients] and reckoned that if we were going to do good, then he would do good. He always believed that we would be hugely successful and people became afraid not to go along with his terms in case they missed out." Grant was even able to get a $200,000 advance from Atlantic for the group, an unheard of sum at the time.

Peter Grant, Jimmy Page, and Atlantic Records President Ahmet Ertegun shortly after signing Led Zeppelin

Under Grant's care, Led Zeppelin was able to reach heights that no one thought imaginable. They made more money, and played in front of larger crowds than anyone else had ever thought possible. They were also allowed to make the music they wanted to and put out to the world their true artistic vision. Shortly after John Bonham's death and the demise of the group he so very much loved, Peter Grant retired from the music business. He had been having marital problems, had developed diabetes, and had been suffering from an addiction to cocaine. Peter Grant's last public appearance was on July 1995 to witness the first night of the Page/Plant tour to see his old friends and charges on stage again. He died of a heart attack at the age of 60 years old November 21, 1995.

The Music Managers Forum (MMF) award for outstanding achievement in management would later be renamed the Peter Grant Award, in his honour.

Peter Grant and his boys