Zeppelin Man
"Simply put, no other band has done more to ignite my passion for music than Led Zeppelin."
So begins the post at Mainstream Isn’t So Bad … Is It? and I could not agree more. My own passion for music burst into flames in the early Seventies when I first heard Led Zeppelin at a friend’s house. My life would never be the same.
I was privileged to see Led Zeppelin perform three times - once in 1975 and twice in 1977 on back to back evenings. I saw Jimmy Page during a solo tour after the band dissolved in the Eighties and took my then very young children to see Page and Plant circa “Unledded” during the Nineties.
Over the years my musical tastes have grown substantially but I still come back to my roots – which will always be Led Zeppelin. And while mass popularity has never been my personal gauge for great music, in this instance I am one with the vast unwashed.
David Browne in a recent article for The New Republic tries to make sense of why this band has had such a hold on us for almost forty years. While I think he makes some good points I believe it all still comes down to three very basic things – that guitar, that voice and those drums.
4 comments:
The December issue of Guitar World appeared in our mailbox yesterday. Jimmy Page is on the front cover. It was much easier to identify his Les Paul than the rest of him. He kind of looks like Bill Murray. Guitar World
While I can be thankful my father took me to see Star Wars in the theaters, unfortunately, he never took me to a Zeppelin concert. To see the energy in their recorded performances hints at what I missed.
Sean,
While I didn't "technically" take my children to see a Led Zeppelin concert it certainly seemed as if it was one. Page and Plant were every bit as good then as they were back in the day. And more importantly, I got to share something of that meant a lot to me with my children. Besides - how would you have liked your very first concert to have been Jimmy Page and Robert Plant?
Meg,
You’re right – Jimmy does look like Bill Murray. But you need to take into account that he still has his hair and he’s older than Murray. All in all, he doesn’t look bad considering he spent most of his life living the rock and roll lifestyle.
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