An amazing experience

On this day in 1969, Led Zeppelin made another return trip to Chicago, spending the weekend playing gigs at the Kinetic Playground for the third time this year.

This time, Zeppelin topped a bill over the British blues group Savoy Brown and American underground rockers the Litter.

A review in the Chicago Tribune heralded the talent of all four members of Led Zeppelin both individually and collectively. It hailed the accomplishments of each guy, especially making the point that John bonham's drum solo was not at all boring. And it said, "The ecstasy inherent in The Doors is due for the most part to Jim Morrison, but with Led Zeppelin it's all four of them; they all exude this tremendous energy force."

Led Zeppelin's encounters with the Chicago scene over four visits this year led Robert Plant to tell a grown-up Chicago audience in 2001, "The Kinetic Playground here in 1969 was truly an amazing experience."

In Cleveland on July 20, James Gang opened for Led Zeppelin at the Musicarnival. Near the venue was a house with a television set where the members of the band went to watch live coverage of the moon landing. Watch http://ledzeppelin.com/video/cleveland-7-20-69-slideshow for a slideshow marking this occasion.

On the following day, Led Zeppelin was back in New York, playing the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park along with B.B. King.

The band had just been to New York the previous week, when all but John Paul Jones appeared onstage at a Jeff Beck Group concert.

It was also during part of 1969 in New York, at Electric Lady Studios with the assistance of engineer Eddie Kramer, that the band managed to squeeze in some recording sessions for Led Zeppelin II. Recording and mixing of the album would be completed with Kramer the following month.