Thursday, July 17, 2008

Just so you know...

...Led Zeppelin's rendition of "When The Levee Breaks" is why rock and roll was invented.

It is to rock what Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is to music in general.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your showing your, err, vintage.

Tam said...

Hell, that song was fricken' ancient when I was a kid. So was Beethoven's 9th...

Alan said...

I remember when it was new.

Holds up good for a 37 year old song.

Who was it that said rock and roll was a fad?

Anonymous said...

John Bonham is a force of nature. He's why that thing works as well as it does.

If I never had to hear "Kashmir" again, I'd get to the end of this life with a minimum of misery.

Anonymous said...

To bad XM dropped XM-LED. That was a great station while it lasted.

Led Zep all day long at work.

Life was good.

Anonymous said...

It was new when I was a kid. Even then it took me a decade to really appreciate it (along with several viewings of The Song Remains The Same(for the band, not the song)).

Funny thing: growing up in L.A., Led Zeppelin was a big deal among the Mexican/Chicano/Low Rider culture. I always thought it odd for Chicano Low Riders to be into an English band.

Anonymous said...

BB,
Agree re Bonham. Paige, however, by some inside accounts, was a female beating jerk. My wife toured with a many bands, and Connie Hamzy told her that Page smashed her face in after having his way. Wife says others had the same experience. Wife still won't listen to Zeppelin because of that.

Tam said...

Ugh.

Part of me says that takes some of the shine off it.

Part of me says that Ty Cobb isn't in the Hall Of Fame because he was a nice guy and good with kids.

I hate not knowing which part of me to listen to at times like this...

Anonymous said...

That song brings back memories. I was with a company of EMTs in Maine during hurricane Katrina, and as we watched the devastation on TV, one of them got up and went to the stereo. Moments later, the strains of "When the levee breaks" filled the room as we watched the flooding wreak its havoc.

I don't know if enjoying that experience makes me a bad person or not, but luckily I stopped caring a long time ago.

Rabbit said...

http://www.vikingkittens.com/

Sorry, but you're missing the best one ever.

Regards,
Rabbit.

Anonymous said...

I've been listening to Zeppelin damn near my whole life. I am rediscovering them, but I still can't stand listening to "Stairway to Heaven".

phlegmfatale said...

Did you ever see that quiz "which Led Zep song are you?"

I was just a fool waiting on the wrong block.

loved that viking kitteh thing, btw, rabbit! rathergood.com totally gets it.

Anonymous said...

LZ wuz howcome R&R wuz invented?

Hu wuz Bill Haley? Hu wuz Elvis?

:-), Art

Hunsdon said...

The first time I heard Killing Floor I screamed at my friends, "Dudes, they totally ripped off Howling Wolf!"

That was the start of everyone looking at me strangely.

Anonymous said...

I'm still patting myself on the back for collecting pennies and buying the Zep four disc box set in high school. John Bonham was a force of nature, and my inner D&D geek perks up every time I catch the LoTR references scattered about.

Anonymous said...

ninth stage: I know Connie. (Haven't seen her in some years, though.) I didn't get details, but I knew that she'd had a problem with Page.

My own problem with Page was that I was never that knocked out with him as a guitarist. He was a much better producer. I could think of any number of guitarist who I would rate above him.

J.R.Shirley said...

Well, yeah. Of course, the furious bumblebee doesn't have a stereo system yet...

Matt G said...

Trigger of the memory:

My best friend and I, ca. 1989, driving along in a 1979 Dodge Omni, blasting Zeplin out of after-market Pioneer speakers that he and I installed that year, to the point of causing cone separation. Heads bobbing to the organic machine of Bonham's drums, Page's guitar, Jones' synth and bass, and Plant's elastic vocal chords, whining up to a crescendo of wonderful noise. Above it all is somebody (who? Plant?) playing a blistering harmonica.

Damn fine.

Matt G said...

Art, I don't think that Bill Haley and Elvis knew, yet.