Led Zeppelin, Masterclass
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Sunshine Woman; Jennings Farm Blues; Dazed & Confused - Yardbirds; Masterclass Question
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Sorry, I just cannot imagine Zeppelin without Plant. Just can’t do it.
I hear you Sister.Its just not the same... I can hear Robert’s vocals....♥️
No plant no Zep. Just like no Page no Zep
Elvis. Plant would have been glad to hear him in his place for a few songs anyway, everyone would. And Imagine JB drumming Hunk of Burning Love, ha! (yes, I know I changed to ??, this just came to mind).
Jimmy was 1 of 2 of the most sought after a sessions guitarists in England during the sixties (he and 'big' Jim Sullivan); Page took the rock gigs while Sullivan played on the country songs. Band such as Donovan, The kinks The Rolling Stones PJ proby , the list goes on and on. He was in the perfect position to gauge where popular music was headed. Page had influences that helped shape his playing style but I think Jimmy was a Pioneer when it comes to rock and roll. You have a wealth of subscribers with deep knowledge of the subject and l'm sure other will chime in with specifics to expand the discussion.
Yes I've always thought that Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man was a Heavy breakthough song ! He didn't play on the Kinks You Really Got Me but he thought it was a great sound.
That early Plant was just crazy how good his voice was.
His harmonica playing followed the same pattern as his vocal stylings. If you know what I mean.
yet he said in an interview that he was pretty awful then and was not happy with his voice then which in a way he is doing again what he has been doing for years putting down the LZ legacy the same way he says he does not like Stairway...
Truly unbelievable
70+ and still has pipes
Robert Plant sings better than ever these days. He’s awesome! His style is different, that’s all. I love his sound!
I think Jimmy Page was tired of the professional studio musician scene. He has mentioned in interviews that at his peak as a studio musician he was sometimes working 16 hour days. He was playing whatever music he was paid to play with no room for any experimentation. He pretty much begged Jeff Beck for a spot in the Yardbirds in order to get him out of the studio scene, he even started out as the bass player. It was always my impression that Jimmy just wanted room to experiment after having been boxed in as a studio musician. He wanted a unique sound based in the blues with distorted guitars and a sped up pace. Even the other members of the Yardbirds thought some of Jimmy's ideas were too far out there. In the end he just wanted to make unique and interesting music that wasn't tied down by traditional ideas and genres. Yes, Peter Grant was the manager of the Yardbirds before they became Led Zeppelin.
As you heard in Dazed and Confused, I’m gonna say Robert Plant brought his vision along with Jimmy. It was a collaboration. Bonzo’s drumming was BIG. Very loud. He was banned in some places for being too loud. Add to jimmy’s professional experience and John Paul Jones being the glue which married the music all together and you had the BEST BAND EVER‼️Btw, my favorite album is How The West Was Won( I was there!)
Wow that's cool you were at the 1972 concerts from How the West was Won. 😜👍 Which one you at, the Long Beach show or LA Forum ? Or both? Lol I am jealous
You should listen to the song Somethin Else, it's a great hidden gem on the bbc sessions album.
SOUL TRAIN BRO:
*HERE IS A PARTIAL ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION, ANSWERED BY A FAMOUS MUSICIAN WHO REALLY LIVED THAT TIME:* (This is an excerpt from an old interview, and it's very illustrative about the term Heavy Rock and its change in sound and progression to Heavy Metal.
I apologize for the long text.)
DEEP PURPLE Bassist Says He Learned Meaning Of 'Heavy' By Listening To LED ZEPPELIN
"Barbara Caserta of Italy's Linea Rock recently conducted an interview with DEEP PURPLE bassist Roger Glover. You can now watch the chat below."
_Asked if there is anything that he has envied about the other two bands that are considered to be part of the "holy trinity" of British heavy rock - BLACK SABBATH and LED ZEPPELIN - Glover said: "Not really. I didn't actually know much about BLACK SABBATH._ _I thought 'Paranoid' was a great single; I loved that. But the depths of the albums I never really got into. ZEPPELIN I heard before I joined PURPLE - just within a couple of weeks. And I loved it - that first ZEPPELIN album blew me away and changed my thinking about music, actually."_
_He continued: "The word 'heavy' was being used a lot in the mid-to-late '60s - heavy music. I mean, [Jimi] Hendrix and CREAM were, sort of, paving the way, if you like. I thought 'heavy'… The band I was in before PURPLE, we thought 'heavy' was just having more equipment and playing louder. It's not that. [Laughs] It's [not] the same old stuff but louder. But I'd suddeny realized, when I listened to ZEPPELIN, especially 'Dazed And Confused' and 'How Many More Times', 'heavy' didn't mean loud and big; it was an attitude. That was the key. And right on the heels of that came meeting DEEP PURPLE. So it was a meeting of disparate things that all of a sudden I actually got the knowledge of where I'm going a little bit as opposed to just shooting in the dark."_
(I should note here that there is a frequent misconception about the term Heavy Metal, which most young people today frequently confuse. Many say that Black Sabbath was the first Heavy Metal group, but this is wrong; they emerged after Led Zeppelin and they were influenced by Led Zeppelin,
and Deep Purple changed their style after listening to the first LZ album.
When Led Zeppelin came out with this album, it started a paradigm shift in rock music, and at that time this type of music was called Heavy Rock, and this term was used to define LZ's music, including Deep Purple and Black Sabbath later. Not Heavy Metal, as you can see in the interview, and this is something that I remember very well, since I lived that time, and it's something I insist on a lot, because apparently many people confuse these two terms and mistakenly say that the first Heavy Metal group was Black Sabbath, when in fact if we are strict to the dates and main influence for them, the change began with Led Zeppelin.
At that time they were never called as Heavy Metal groups, including Deep Purple and Black Sabbath.
The use of the violin bow and the dark and mysterious sounds that emerged in Dazed and Confused and How Many More Times was something new, never heard before, including the "Metal" song Comunication Breakdown, this songs were the main influence for Black Sabbath, And as you can see in the Depp Purple member's interview, it was something very important, decisive and different at the time as for the heavy sound of this new group called Led Zeppelin.
This Metal term came later; when Led Zeppelin I came up, to designate this new sound.
but it is enough to say that the first Heavy Metal group was Led Zeppelin, although they, due to their great versatility never stagnated in one style.
This change was initiated by Led Zeppelin and consolidated with the LZII album)
100%. That's how I remember it...
I didn't realize that Glover felt that way about LZ I. Very interesting interview. Thanks very much!
Good question. I think when Jimmy and Jeff beck were in the Yardbirds at the same time, and both were on lead guitars, those wild solos and the back and forth response thing started there. Probably that was why Jimmy went harder and louder. But other bands were also doing it too at the same time. I think Jimi Hendrix and Cream were probably big influences.
STB
I believe that Jimmy Page was influenced to go in the heavy/ scycodelic direction, of in my opinion the greatest electric guitarist of all time, Jeff Beck. I would highly recommend that you watch the BBC special on Jeff Beck titled STILL ON THE RUN. He influenced more guitarists than you realize.
Neil.
Upon joining the Yardbirds, Beck gave Page the Telecaster you see him playing
Jimmy page said in an interview that he knew what kind of band Zepplin would be once he saw John Bonham play. He had thought about making a folk band, acoustic based, as well as potential going in a heavy way. When he saw Bonham play with Tim Rose and realized that he was a phenomenally loud and awesomely funky drummer. Jimmy had played so many different styles as a session player even musak. He was looking to be excited and meeting a young cocky Robert Plant whose vocal range was unheard of then a absolute killer on drums and the glue to the wildness of JPJ was already on board. Jimmy said that there became no boundaries with the 4 virtuoso players.
This was a huge influence in where Jimmy steered the band - hearing Bonham in person. I think Cream was a blueprint as well....Cream was a pioneer in that heavy blues-based sound that Jimmy sought.
As of early 1968, the Yardbirds were already a rather heavy band, that is why two of their members, vocalist Keith Relf and drummer Jim Mccarthy decided to quit. Listen to their live album recorded in New York, March 23, 1968
Time to get the Led out!
Song 1 sounds like The Girl I Loved She Had Long Black Wavy Hair. Same guitar riff and the lyrics are sung in the same way.
vezna31 Yeah I was thinking either that song or Travelling Riverside Blues.
There’s another on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe called Key To The Highway/Trouble In Mind. Bluesy. And there is no Led Zeppelin without any one of them. You can’t drive a race car like that with 3 wheels or even with one flat tire. They made each other better musicians. IMHO
As good as the Yardbirds were, they just don't (as a collective) have that "telepathy" that Zeppelin did. The changes Jimmy does on the guitar, and they just don't follow what he is doing the same way JPJ and Bonham could.
These white dudes from the UK somehow had the blues infused into their soul.
It was a technical impossibility to have had that "hard" guitar sound in the early '60s as your educated guess would have you believe. The technology just wasn't there yet. '67/'68 the amplifiers finally had the power to achieve what you suggest. Along this same timeline, there was the advent of a couple of foot pedals. Basically Fuzz and Wah-wah. That went a long way of getting to the sound you thought was achievable earlier than possible. As for the specifics of when Jimmy decided to go hard, (my turn to guess now), I would just postulate that it was just organic. The result of the natural curiosity and evolution of using ever-evolving technology available to him.
Link Wray was a pioneer in this area with tracks such as "the Rumble", "Jack the Ripper", "the black widow" and "ace of spades", the first song recorded as early aa 1958. He was paid attention to by Page in the movie "it might get loud".
Wow I never heard any of these recordings before, thx STB.
Thanks for listening
I do so love hearing the early blues roots of these iconic masters ... Thanks!
Jimmy may have had inclinations to go "LOUD" - but he didn't full "see it" until partnered with BONZO during the rehearsals for LZ 1. It then turned into reality and became "obvious"...
Page, Beck, and Clapton all had the inclination to go heavy around the same time.
One of the reasons I heard for page selecting the name Led Zeppelin was that it was going to be heavy "Lead" and light "Zeppelin" so he obviously knew what sort of sound he was looking for from the very beginning.
Really excellent! Uh oh, don’t know the answer to your question about JP.
Many thanks!
I recommend you listen to their song Sugar Mama ua-cam.com/video/RnL_usrjBoE/v-deo.html
Can’t imagine why that first one didn’t make it onto an album. That was great! Do you have a feel for how much longer you’ll be doing these “lost” tracks? Just curious.. Anticipating the live stuff.....
Don't know. Depends on how many lost stuff is out there.
@@SoulTrainBro Hi, Soul Train Bro. Hope you can help me, there is a Video on You Tube, when Brian from AC-DC meets Robert Plant on a Bridge. In the Beginning ( the first 10 Seconds) plays for short a Song, hearing Robert Plant moaning.
What Song is it ???????
Btw. It drives me crazy for Weeks!😂
Hi if I’m correct it was a competition between jimmy page and Jeff beck who could form the best band so I think 1967 when he got the idea
I don’t have a precise answer to your question, but keep in mind that besides the folkish, rootsy tendencies, there was also a growing one towards heaviness rapidly developing in the second half of the 60’s, and Jimmy was part of that milieu of musicians and bands.
I heard traveling Riverside blues and a little bring it on home. Sunshine Woman.
Two Songs's I have not heard of in my life ! and I've been life long LZ obsessed,
What the hell?! Rory got blocked! You need to make a public statement about that.
Jimmy and Jeff Beck were friends. They influenced each other. Jeff Beck with Rod Stewart, & Ronny Wood put out "Truth" album August 1968 a very, very heavy sound. I hope you will listen to it and react. The Stones , Velvet Underground, Jeff Beck, Cream, Hendrix, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Doors , Jefferson Airplane and many other hardcore bands of that time left mainstream music on AM to playing on FM underground music. I saw Zeppelin January 13,1969 San Diego when they first came to America "Zeppelin 1" I was 20 years old ( I'm the same age as Robert Plant) I have gone through the entire era of rock music. Zeppelin has remained my # one of all time to this day. I've heard them all and have seen many of the greats. Each member of Zeppelin are masters of their craft. Everytime you listen to them you realize their versatility, professional playing , artistry and longstanding contribution to rock. They set such a high bar no other bands can come close to these gods of rock
I would pay money if Page would release their entire catalog with the vocals removed.
Same here 👍
Check out People’s Front of Zeppelin (PFoZ) on UA-cam. The group is comprised of the musicians formerly in Virtual Zeppelin, minus their singer, now associated with Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening (JBLZE). I believe you’ll like it. Cheers!
As far as Zep's blues background, we know Page and Jones were session musicians, so lots of exposure there. We also know that American blues was big with UK bands, and if you watch It Might Get Loud in Here, you'll see Jimmy's huge music collection. Page says, "As a kid, I listened to anything with a guitar on it."
m.ua-cam.com/video/KVcS7KDf60s/v-deo.html
I have a comment to make about Dazed and confused- Jimmy heard a popular local musician in a club that played Dazed and confused on acoustic guitar- Jimmy electrified it and added his bow and that's how that Song came about - Jimmy who first used the violen bow in the yardbirds had gotten the idea from his grandfather I believe who was himself an accomplished musician who asked Jimmy to try the violen bow on your guitar- and the rest is history - bless you sir
There was always a tradition of British blues bands eg The Rolling Stones, The Animals even bands like the Small Faces had a certain blues influence. There were bands such as John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Alexis Korner who had constantly changing lineups and many up and coming musicians came from that source. Around 1968 a musical phenomenon known as the British Blues Explosion came about which produced bands suc as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack. Savoy Brown and others. Combine this with the influence of Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Zeppelin's label mates Vanilla Fudge and the likes of Steppenwolf and you can see the progression to hard rock. I would argue that Zeppelin in their early days were more of a hard rock/blues band rather than a heavy metal band such as Black Sabbath who would follow shortly after.
Led Zeppelin is the GOAT
I would think discovering that whole violin thing would have influenced the direction of his music. It's a heavy sound, and maybe he wanted to build on it. Just speculation.
You should try to do it in chronological order . Most of the live BBC stuff was broadcast on the radio. Sometimes you could hear a track from s a live broadcast before it was released on an album. For example I heard and taped Stairway to Heaven several months before LZ IV was released. The BBC always employed very skilled sound engineers and the recordings were vastly superior to the bootleg albums that were circulating at the time many of which were recorded by someone in the audience with a cassette recorder and a mike. If you are lucky enough to possess one of the bootleg albums they are very much sought after by collectors and can realise high prices.
It's amazing how many steps Jimmy skipped going from yard birds to zeppelin
Love Kasmire🔥 Dont need to unwind IM RETIRED😂😂
Jimmy was inspired by Duane Eddy Scotty Moore from Elvis and of course a huge amount of blues players like Elmore James and too many to mention
Yup..The Yardbirds...and when Jeff Beck left...Jimmy was Bass playing...but now..Jimmy finished the Contracts..there is The New Yardbirds Love Jeff Beck..but Zeppelin... Would not have happened.. Except Mr Page..wanted to keep it going...genius yes and..crazy?..young Robert Plant...blows the harp..always best as I could research
1 word after seeing BONZO IT WAS CLEAR AS DAY !!!!!!!!
Here is an interview with Jimmy Page in Guitar World, May 1993: www.iem.ac.ru/zeppelin/docs/interviews/page_93.gw
Are you back Pal? Good deal😊👍👌👍😊💐💐💐💐💐💐💐
I think if after the song remains the same, start live at the beginning, Royal Albert Hall, 1969, from the 2003 dvd
It was prob an arms race of amplificacation and performance?
Started with the beatles,shea stadium,the fab four set up modern rock's reach,getting bigger and bigger,and needing more expertise and kit
Vox,fender,etc,worked on technical stuff
Beck did heavy album,truth,and bands at time would play musical tennis with each other,page and others
In essence,the development of amps gave bands more power and reach
Marshall started placing whole rigs,3 round the world,so jimi didn't need to lug kit and so he could get tech help on site
So the amps,bands getting bigger audiences and musical experimentation kicked it off?
Hows that!
You had a clip a long time ago, from the Documentary “It Might Get Loud”. In that Doc. he talks about and does air guitar to Link Wray. Check all hits from Link, I think you can see the early formation of hard blues based rock.
“Rumble”, “Jack the Ripper”, “Ace of Spades”, and many others.
Great point!
I recall Jimmy saying that "Rumble" had that certain 'attitude' that lit the spark in him, I think, and inspired him to go heavy.
Like someone else said on this thread, heavy didn't mean loud, fast, etc, it was an attitude that was dirty, dark and sexy as hell.
If you're ever interested and have some spare time in your hands STB, get a load of "I'm Confused" (aka "Dazed and Confused" from the Yardbirds live in NY, May 1968.
The version you played from the French TV show is pretty mild in comparison as it was a TV show ( though still great).
This version here has always thrilled the heck out of me :
🔥ua-cam.com/video/YI1Dbt9suSE/v-deo.html
Enjoy!
BTW, I love your shirt!
Loved Jennings Farm Blues ... and I thought I was hearing some old version of Traveling Riverside Blues in Sunshine Woman. Was I hallucinating?
Personally, I think it was a progression from blues / blues rock with Jimmie Page hanging around and having spent time playing at the Marquee Club in London as a guest/session guitarist starting with Amen Korner and shortly thereafter with John Mayall while at the same time Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton were also developing their skills at the Marquee. Quite sure they all listened to each other and learned riffs from each other.
The Marquee Club beginning around 1962 also had regular U.S. visitors such as Muddy Waters. Sonny Boy Williamson played there at end of 1963 and Feb 64. Backing him were the Yardbirds in 64. Exposure during 64/65 to Howling Wolf, Memphis Slim, John Lee Hooker T-Bone Walker, Buddy Guy so on.
Bands like Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, the Animals all started their careers there. Not long after followed by the Moody Blues, The Who, Rod Stewart, Hendrix, and the list goes on and on and on.
It's pretty certain that the Merseyside and Beatles success formula changed from the bands hearing each other at the Marquee.
Could be just me, but I tend to think that the long blues harmonica riffs were adopted by these electric guitar masters which resulted in the British blues and blues rock played by all these bands combined with the American Blues masters they had the privilege to listen to at the Marquee. as well as the continuously improving live sound technology.
Can you imagine them all gigging together and trying to outdo each other? The experimentation into new sounds must have been incredible.
Follow this with on occasion being lucky to meet the right people who add new ideas and sounds to your own ideas, and a super band is formed as in the case of Led Zeppelin with Jimmy Page.
STB, may I suggest you obtain a copy of the original TSRTS album on vinyl? I think you will appreciate the slight differences from the expanded CD version more widely known these days. The odd cut / splice about 5 or 6 minutes into the CD version of D and C will forever bug me. The other songs also have slight differences that would take too long to explain. ( with the recent resurgence of vinyl, I don't know if a more recently pressed copy would be like the old version, or like updated CD)
Jimmy had to have led Zeppelin. Jimmy in the Yardbirds is like watching the best pro basketball player playing on the Olympics team made up of college players, Jimmy with Led Zeppelin is like watching the Olympics team made up of the best pro players. The comparison of the black and white broadcast of Led Zeppelin in 1968 of Dazed and Confused and this back to back is like watching the pros vs college players with the pro Michal Jordon.
In case you don't have this here is some tunes from physical graffiti under construction.ua-cam.com/video/fR5YkFU3e0s/v-deo.html
I don’t think there’s a definitive answer to your question. Jimmy’s foundation was obviously the blues. Beyond that, getting into the technical aspects of guitar. Distortion started being used in the early 60s along with the advent of Marshall amplifiers. Combined with the fact you had Townshend, Clapton, Hendrix, and Beck all playing with a “heavier” sensibility. All those factors influenced Jimmy and lead to Zeppelin
My brother was a professional drummer in the city of Los Angeles during the 1960's. He thought the band, which started in the city of Los Angeles, was terrible.
My brother acted like a three year old kid when it comes to humor. He would love nothing better than to make people laugh all day long. One joke, that I remember him saying was:
First off my brother was clearly labeled as white and so am I. The reason this joke of his was so funny was based on the fact he was white.
He said that he had rhythm (because he had played the drums for most of his life)
His mothers maiden name is Williams
So therefore he is black
He thought Led Zeppelin was a fantastic band.
Jethro Tull was the opening act for Led Zeppelin during their tour in the U.S. in 1969.
My brother was very likely to have gone to a concert specifically to see the hottest band at that time "Led Zeppelin"
My brother told me when I came to California in 1975 to live with him and his wife that Jethro Tull.
You will realize why Jethro Tull became his favorite band when you see this musical review from a classical flutist who lives in Finland
The title on UA-cam is:
Classical Flutist Reacts: Jethro Tull--My God (Isle Of Wight 1970)
ua-cam.com/video/GpSQLOOCGzI/v-deo.html
This is a complex question containing many “best conclusions”. I read all the responses so far and collectively there are many parts that sound feasible, but none contain the holy grail you’re looking for.
Let me add a few more layers of fan based knowledge I’ve acquired.
First, let me comment on the guitar Jimmy is playing and where it came from. The Yardbirds had sought after Jimmy Page numerous times and he turned them down each time because he was making good money as a studio guitarist. One of those times he turned them down he referred his buddy to the Yardbirds as a worthy guitar player. That was Jeff Beck. Jeff Beck joined the Yardbirds because of Jimmy Page, not the other way around. Getting back to the guitar.
Jeff Beck rolled up to Jimmy’s home driving a new American car and gave Jimmy as a thank you gift for the Yardbirds gig, a brand new White, Fender Telecaster. At some point soon afterwards, jimmy decorated the white telecaster with small round mirrors glued on to it to mimic hip 60’s fashion. After that short era, Jimmy who was once an art student, stripped down the white paint and painted a dragon on that tele.
That is the famous dragon telecaster in that video.
The Dragon Telecaster isTHE Guitar Jimmy recorded Led Zeppelin I with. Soon after, Joe Walsh (yes, THE Joe Walsh) sold Jimmy his 1959 Gibson Les Paul and history was made for the rest of Jimmy’s Zep career. While Jimmy was on tour, a friend of his thought he was doing Jimmy a favor a stripped away the Dragon paint job from the telecaster, never to exist again. A couple of years ago Jimmy collaborated with Fender guitars and they recreated the Dragon Tele you can go buy for about $1,300. They did the white mirror version too but it’s a lot more money.
Jimmy said in an interview he had lots of songs ready he wanted to do with Zeppelin before they were together. John Paul Jones said the very first song they played together in a little room was Train Kept a Rollin played by the Yardbirds during the era when both Jeff Beck and Jimmy were with them. There is a video clip on UA-cam of a movie clip that shows the Yardbirds playing that song live. Aerosmith recorded Train Kept a Rollin. John Paul Jones said after they played that song they all knew something amazing just happened - Led Zeppelin!
Jimmy listened to a lot of American blues the same way lots of Brits did, like Clapton. Other hard bands were Iron Butterfly, Cream and Hendrix. Experimental bands were Pink Floyd before David Gilmour in the Syd Barret era.
Jimmy saw a lot of bands during his studio days and I believe he took it all in. Hard rock was unimaginable in the early 60’s so I don’t think it came to Jimmy until the mid 60’s when all that blues was transformed into rock and Sound was experimented with.
Vox amplifiers. Marshall amplifiers. Distortion. Effect pedals. Volume. That’s what gave birth to hard rock. Volume and distortion. Out came the bow, etc.
Most of Led Zeppelin I would have been recorded without Bonham and Plant, but our lives would all be void right now if those 4 guys didn’t get together.
Keith Moon thought that Jimmy’s vision of hard rock would go over like a “Lead Zeppelin”.
Reminds me and lyrics is why anyway reminded me of lemon song,. You shook me, page at this time felt he had his signature chops and he did, but still in the polishing stage. Page was always in a developing phase! One album per two years. He had plenty of material he just always wanting it better. [Special] .it took me a while playing his stuff he'd tune his guitars in a key of his own making.
I’d probably say Cream and Hendrix confirmed for him the direction to go in with Zeppelin. As for initial influences? Probably a mixture of things.
He liked changing tones and effects during phases of a piece. Vibrato, he love making a stroke of a chord sound cool like flanger,
Echo.
I must dig into KING CRIMSON pal as far as instrumental mind boggling trips
Electric blues, Hendrix, Cream, The Who, psychedelia, hippy folk, were all happening. You have a talented studio musician with a deep understanding of recording thinking I like that but this is what I would do with it. By the time he joined the Yardbirds I believe Jimmy had in his head the future Led Zeppelin, a band that would not be tied to a formula or a sound. It would do what ever it fancied. Jimmy might have hoped the Yardbirds would be that vehicle. He and Peter Grant gained control but the rest were not keen to follow. It had been their band. The Yardbirds split, giving Page a chance to create a new band to fulfill his dream. The rest was pure, unadulterated luck. Ex studio muso JPJ pushed to join by his wife, first choice singer Terry Reed saying no but go listen to Robert Plant. Plant brought in Bonham. It was always Page's band but what he had brought together was a collection of exceptional talent with wide tastes in music that overlapped at points. JPJ summed it up when he said most bands were formed by people with similar musical interests. LZ's secret was that it was made up of people with different tastes but with ability to master anything. Heavy blues was a great start in 1967 to establish Plant's iconic voice and Bonham's thunder. The band could not have started with LZIII. Like STB, fans had to make the journey.
you should start their live stuff with their royal albert hall performance: jan 9th 1970
one of their best performances
In 1966, Page, Jones, and Beck were recording 'Becks Bolero' with John Entwistle of the Who, and they kicked around the idea of creating a new band. Moon said that the idea would 'go over like a lead balloon', and Page remembered that joke when coming up with the name, 'Led Zeppelin', a couple years later. But I wonder if the imagery of something so heavy, soaring through the sky, began to inspire Page at that point as the icon for the kind of music he wanted to create.
I wouldn't exactly have your answer STB, but when you just asked your question, I was inclined to believe this was Jimmy's love for his style even before The Yardbirds. Lots of young artists play in a band that isn't suited to their liking before they come into their own. I'm in agreement with you about the early 60s. I just don't know where his inspiration came from.
So ,glad the Yardbirds had broken up LMFAO!!!
The Key was Bonham, that had that heavy , thunder , Powerful sound. He was a friend of Robert , when together with Jones and Page , that was searching musicians for the new band , and as soon he listened Bonham ,was captureted by his talent , they all four tried jammin the First Time , Rober said that had fear for what they sound like!!! Sometimes in Life , things are ment to be.... He said he felt immediatly ,that their sound was huge . I think the Zeppelin are master musicians each One. Together they reach that Power , It was naturally there. Thats my opinion. Ciao from 🇮🇹
Jimmy developed his genius in all styles by his studio work.. the more he played the better he got..but when he was employed to do the endless "elevator' music he had enough ..He was angry and wanted to improvise and experiment...blues ..he loved but he wanted to enlarge the emotion...when he formed Zeppelin it became his medium to experiment to the point they were so ahead of their time
you haven't done much from the Presence album that took 19 days to finish and it was simply brilliant brother
Bobby N. Hey man, he’s actually done the entire catalogue in chronological order. Have a look and you’ll find a reaction to each song from each album.......enjoy mate 👍👍
I saw an interview with Jimmy Page and he said he had this drive and knew one thing he wanted to be in your face with a totally new sound, aside from Blues renditions, and Folk or Psyhicodelic with the complexity & precision he mastered in Studio Work and even influenced from heavy Symphonic Music and he needed a Drummer like Bohnam to achieve.
But I believe he is a Musical genius, it's amazing what he has done for example like doing something in one take.
Page played rhythm guitar on The Who’s first hit as a session musician . Townsend was so laud that he went deaf very early. Kieth Relph the singer with YB had an cronic condition that affected his breathing. Geoff Beck had planed to make YB into a two lead guitar band, but took his leave.
A session violinist suggested that he experiment with a bow.
Perhaps Jimmy was drawn to heavier sounds in the same way that he was drawn to the occult - a liking for the dramatic, the dangerous and the darker sounds
my 2 cents: Jimmy didn't invent a new kind of music, so it's pointless to search for an "Evrika!" moment; the race to going harder and heavier already begun with Cream, Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, live Who . Jimmy probably saw the shift in the music taste of the new generation and felt that the hippy movement lost its relevancy, and took a business decision: to assemble the best lineup to go heavier than anyone else (stealing the thunder of the bands mentioned and earning the eternal hate of some of their members). He had a good nose to feel the shifting winds in popular music.
There are a lot of great answers to your question here.
I would add that a good portion of the inspiration came from the enormous talent of his peers. The spirit of competition is great inspiration.
Also, Jimmy has talked about this, when he was a studio musician he met the violinist David McCallum Sr. Who asked Jimmy if he ever used a bow on the guitar. He said no, I don't even think it would work. McCallum asked, do you want to try? Jimmy said yes. I believe that moment was very instrumental in getting Jimmy's juices, and imagination going, and solidified Jimmy's heavy bent.
And finally with the group that was formed, the four of them reinforced, broadened, and challenged each other to create the music we know them for. They had talent, they had instinct, and they had knowledge. Nothing held them back creatively.
They weren't afraid to be scared. So they could play heavy music without boring you to death, or being repetitive. Their heavy music was more than power chords and volume.
I think Jimmy and John Paul Jones's knowledge of music and experience in the studio helped with being able to craft a song. And when you are confident in that you can take a song anyway you want to go. You know you are in control, so being heavy is not quite as daunting as it would be for other people.
I really have no idea what the answer is, but Chuck Berry has been called the person who started rock. With the vast background Page has it could have come from several people.
I've always liked sound of Jennings Farm Blues. I wish they had fleshed it out into a new arrangement.
Interesting question. I don’t believe it was a single moment that inspired him to go heavy as much as it was a natural progression for him as well as the music of the time. Certainly one must take into consideration the advances in the amplification, the popularity of live performance as well as the population explosion that England saw after WWII. As a musician of the time you find yourself playing in clubs that keep getting larger until you’re in theaters and Halls playing to thousands. You’re playing louder, you find out just how satisfying the raw power of a dimed amp with a few simple effects can be to the point where you are actually playing the amp as much as your guitar. As far as the decision to get into the blues rock scene over the country scene it went with what he loved. By the time Zep formed, he was as we all know, a very successful studio and live player, he could at this point do whatever he wanted. If it flopped no big deal he had a fallback position in any studio of the time. As far as the heavy side to Zep. That too was a happy accident. Hello Bonzo!
Jimmy used the heavy sound during his session days where he had the equipment available to him. as well as many influences. he had time to experiment with many different sounds and a lot of experience working with other diverse groups.
Jimmy was definitely inspired by Link Wray’s Rumble, I’m pretty sure link slit a hole in a speaker to get a distorted sound. there is a video of Jimmy listening to it and talking about it.
Hey STB, I think Zeppelin would have success as an instrumental group, in so much as they would have been reduced to a novelty act of sorts. Instrumentals are more academic in nature, and the voice is what initially draws people in. Taking Plant out of the equation is taking away what the average listener relates to. Most people can’t play an instrument but they can hum a tune. A special moment I can relate was I was at a party where there were a bunch of people in a basement yelling drinking etc listening to Houses of the holy, specifically the ocean, the whole place stopped yelling drinking etc to sing the na na na refrain in the bridge of the song, collectively smiled and resumed partying! It was magical in a way because it connected so many people.
Bro the second song turned out to be Bron yr Stomp
Plant could hold his own with the other 3 on an all instrumental album no problem. I don't think I've heard a better harmonica player.
Blues traveler
Plant was a really good come Harmonica player keeping an eye on melody The whole time.
It still amazes me how so many bands from the UK grew with the black Rnb and soul music from the states and helped put their own stamp on it. There were so many good UK bands when I was teen in the 60s. One of the best blue eyed frontmen to come out of the UK, Steve Marriott had a huge record collection of Rnb from the states as a young teen in the East End of London. Plant was influenced by Marriott and reckoned he had the best white voice for bravado and balls.
Page was influenced from within himself. He looked at the guitar and said he will need to fasten his seat belt and drive it. I would say that live Cream /Clapton might have given him food for thought.
I don't know the answer,
but I do know ,Jimmy
page is a genius!
Plant is Zeppelin's only harmonica player, as far as I know. Yea, he is a great player!
Even if they were strictly instrumental, someone or many someones would be fighting to sing for them.
The moment the four members of what would become Led Zeppelin played together for the first time
Those first two songs sound like they reworked them into other songs. They incorporated a lot of songs into other songs.
STB cursing up a storm! He must love this shit...er, stuff! :)
Key to the highway on their 3rd album is amazing, like so STB can see
The heavy came from technology.
Beethoven was heavy.
So true STB about your comment that LZ is top class instrumental.
Thanks for the two unheard tunes, and yes, good to have JPJ get a bit of out front exposure.
Never heard first two songs, but really like them.
Jennings Farm Blues is just a jam on Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Do you have to be a paid subscriber to request reactions?
Always a pleasure to go through this journey again, with you, STB
Second song is Bron Yar Stomp
Cream, Hendrix and The Who ... Even Helter Skelter by The Beatles probably contributed to Jimmy's desire to go in that heavy direction. I don't think anyone has a definitive answer to your question other than Jimmy Page. And as far as I know he hasn't been that specific in interviews.
Live, the Yardbirds were a heavy band already in the beginning of 68, Beatles "White Album" was released in November 68 and to talk about Beatles as influence on the evolution of "hard rock" would be a vast exaggeration, there is really only "Helter Skelter"
Plant plays the harmonica