Over 50 years ago, Led Zeppelin released their album Led Zeppelin IV with this picture and nothing else on the cover, not even printed words or the band's name. The story went that Robert Plant found the hand colored photo in an antique store near his country home in Berkshire. Many, many people, including yours truly were taken by the picture and wondered about who it might have been. Well, after all this time the Wiltshire Museum found an original print and solved the mystery. The man was Lot Long (sometimes shown as Longyear) a Wiltshire thatcher who built and maintained those iconic thatched roofs. He lived from 1823 to 1893 and was a widower living in a small cottage when the photo was made. The photographer is believed to have been the well known Ernest Howard Farmer. The record sold 37 million copies, and now Lot Long is immortal. Here is the original:
Interesting. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSB Dan
Really fascinating after all this time.
ReplyDelete