Led Zepplin 101

[_Everybody Wang Chung]

Y'know, I like to rip on Led Zeppelin's tendency to sound pretty bad when they played live. And, indeed, back in their glory years, their road trips involved such legendary excess (alcohol, other chemicals, and men for Robert Plant) that in fairness they didn't always play as tightly as they could have and should have. (They also never, ever used supplemental road musicians on stage, which made reproducing some of their more complex, layered, and acoustic tracks more difficult.)

But I've listened to a lot of Zeppelin recently as I've tried to gain a new appreciation for their musicianship and compositions. Yeah, Plant's wailing can sure annoy sometimes, and whenever he was lost for a lyric, he would just write "baby". And Page's guitar sometimes sounds sloppy in comparison to someone like David Gilmour's crisp and precisely bent notes. But when Zeppelin was on, they could be incredibly moving.

I have two songs for you to listen to. The first one is the album version of "When the Levee Breaks". This was freaking 1971, yet the track sounds years ahead of its time. It's hard,  bluesy, and intentionally laconic in its tempo. Plants's layered vocals are relatively tame and he doesn't wail much. And his backwards harmonica sounds otherworldly. The pounding of the drums are relentless, and played loudly enough, it would shake the paint off the ceiling. Jones' bass is consistent and precise. (I love Roger Waters, but John Paul Jones is a far better bass player, in terms of technical ability.) And then there's Page's blistering, slightly sloppy, but carefully constrained guitar, layered to sound like a swirling tornado approaching.

http://youtu.be/WbrjRKB586s

The other song that deserves your attention is proof that Zeppelin can play well live. It's "Kashmir" from their 2007 one-off reunion. Not as intricate or delicate as on the album, but we don't expect that from live Zeppelin. But it's crisp, Plant still shows why he is considered one of the best rock singers ever, everything is just so automatic to Jones, and Page seems to be having real fun, and not laboring under a liquory mist.

http://youtu.be/PD-MdiUm1_Y

[_MissTish]

John Paul Jones is a far better bass player, in terms of technical ability.

Incredible musician. I'm guessing (based on your detailed post above) that you probably know his and Page's history as a session musicians. Jones did a lot of arrangements as well, notably on the Stones ' Their Satanic Majesties Request' and Donovan's hits.

I could talk music all day. My father was in the music business and raised me to be a complete music nerd. Thank you for posting the links. I'm listening now.

[_Some Schmo]

Well, you picked two of my all time favorites of theirs (although the studio versions; I agree, not great live. I'm generally not a fan of recorded "live" music from anyone. If I want to hear it live, I'll go to the concert. I suppose I've always kind of been cynical of live albums, now that I consider it. Why are you asking me to buy a worse recording of music I already have? It's a cheap way to make money).

Anyway, Zeppelin is, in my opinion, the greatest pure rock band ever. (I say that thinking that I don't consider the Beatles, Pink Floyd, or Queen "pure rock bands." They are my favorites in other categories, I suppose. Or just among my longtime favorites, period). Among my other favorites from Led Zepp are The Ocean (off my favorite of their albums, Houses of the Holy), Black Dog, and What Is and What Should Never Be.

But in reality, if any Zeppelin song comes on the radio, I'm just fine with it.

[_Everybody Wang Chung]

Incredible musician. I'm guessing (based on your detailed post above) that you probably know his and Page's history as a session musicians. Jones did a lot of arrangements as well, notably on the Stones ' Their Satanic Majesties Request' and Donovan's hits.

Thanks! I didn't know that about Page and Jones.

[_Mayan Elephant]

Page was a very accomplished sessions musician and his time with the yardbirds probably really sent him down the blues path.


Zep has to be viewed as a blues band. They were really two different bands in my opinion. One that had an incredible studio/sessions sense that produced the layers and layers of page's guitar work. Levee Breaks

And the other, the band that took a blues arrangement and lit it up like no other blues rock band with their live version of Nobody's Fault But Mine.

My 15 year old son plays with blues lightning in his bones and fingers and he says always that Nobody's Fault But Mine is their best work. Its also played on a very basic guitar with 2 lipstick pickups. Silvertone if i recall correctly.

I like trampled under foot the best. But i think the live version of nobody's fault takes you on a goddamn ride.