Who is Charles Obscure on the Led Zeppelin III?

There have been several instances of mysterious names appearing on the sleeves of iconic rock albums. The Rolling Stones duo Mick Jagger and Keith Richards adopted the production pseudonym of ‘The Glimmer Twins’, George Harrison disguised himself as L’Angelo Misterioso on an Eric Clapton track, and Paul McCartney released under all kinds of whacky secret names like Country Hams and Percy Thrillington. But on the sleeve of Led Zeppelin III, the name in question is Charles Obscure.

After their first two albums arrived to major success, Led Zeppelin were quickly one of the most revered rock acts around. The band themselves seem to know this would happen. When they went to record their debut album, Jimmy Page personally footed the bill, betting on his group to make all of that back and much more. It didn’t take them long to do just that as record labels fought over them, and tracks like ‘Dazed and Confused’ became new anthems for the era after its release in 1969.

They wasted no time in keeping the ball rolling. They followed it up with their second album that same year, building on the hype with tracks like ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Ramble On’. By then, they were in the big leagues, and Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham were four of the most famous names in rock music.

So when a mysterious new name appeared on the sleeve of their third album, it was a puzzle to their fans. On the final track, ‘Hats Off to (Roy) Harper’, the credits read, “Arranged By Charles Obscure.” But who is Charles Obscure?

The answer is simple—Jimmy Page. As the producer of the record, Page not only played guitar, steel pedal guitar, banjo, and some bass and provided some backing vocals but also sat behind the mixing desk. On the album’s final track, he also added arranging to his resume as he took an old traditional 1920s blues track and tore it up, turning it into something else and altogether trippier.

It’s an odd track in the band’s discography, with fans having mixed feelings about whether it’s a masterpiece or a failed experiment they instantly skip. Either way, the band’s homage to British musician Roy Harper, with the track merging classic blues sounds with more psychedelic details as arranged by Page, attracted attention due to the guitarist’s mysterious moniker.

But why did Jimmy Page call himself Charles Obscure?
In short, no one knows why Page gave himself a nickname here. It’s the only time he did it, and the name appears only once.

However, it’s not the only time that Page adopted a fake name. On Roy Harper’s own album, Stormcock, released in 1971, the name S Flavius Mercurius appeared, credited for lead guitar. This was Page again, adopting a fake name in order to get around contractual rules about playing with and for other people.

Contractual obligations and sneaky loopholes is the same reason why George Harrison concealed his identity on Eric Clapton’s work, so the adopting of a nickname was found out to be a great way to collaborate on the sly.

However, when it comes to their own album, no one knows why Page decided to go undercover for that one song.