Led Zeppelin – ‘In Through The Out Door’ – all 6 sleeve variations…

6 people are in a bar (The Off Beat Lounge) watching a guy burning a ‘Dear John’ letter. The sleeves vary by changing the viewpoint from each of the watcher’s perspectives. Each of the 6 sleeves is identifiable by a letter code (A-F) at the top of the spine.

The Watchers:

Fat guy in the doorway

Blondie next to the bar

Barman

Black woman laughing at the end of the bar

Piano player

Brunette woman next to the jukebox

‘A’ SLEEVE

The front of sleeve A is shown from the fat guy at the door. The back is the black woman laughing. Brunette by the jukebox is the only watcher not visible in this combination.

‘B’ SLEEVE

The front of sleeve B is shown from Blondie’s viewpoint, the back is from the piano player’s. All 6 watchers can be seen in this combination.

‘C’ SLEEVE

The front of sleeve C is now the barman’s perspective (we are moving clockwise around the bar…), and the back is Brunette by the jukebox. Only 3 watchers are visible in this combination.

‘D’ SLEEVE

The front of sleeve D is from black woman laughing, the back is from fat guy at the door (which should therefore look the same as the front of sleeve A…). Again, as per sleeve A, Brunette by the jukebox cannot be seen.

‘E’ SLEEVE

The front of sleeve E is now from the piano player’s view, whilst the back is from Blondie’s viewpoint (so in theory the same as the front of sleeve B…). All 6 watchers are visible.

‘F’ SLEEVE

The front of F has now moved round to Brunette by the jukebox and the back has once again come round to being the barman’s view (which should be the same as the front of C…). Just 3 watchers in this combination.

A fascinating concept! There are some slight ‘continuity errors’ if we were being ultra picky; e.g. in the C front cover, the letter is already alight, whilst the back of F, the letter is unburned and still has the cigaretter lighter just below it about to set fire to it, and a few of the watchers’ poses are slightly different when you compare…but I suppose it proves that none of the shots were re-used and that a separate image was taken for all 12 fronts and backs.