Tag: Led Zeppelin

Becoming Led Zeppelin

On By bigbadburchIn Movies5 Comments

Earlier this month we got a real rarity – a Led Zeppelin documentary with the full cooperation of the surviving members. Becoming Led Zeppelin was filmed a few years back and, after some theatrical screenings, hit streaming services earlier this month.

The film was put together by Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGoutry, who had previously worked on a music series called American Epic. The series had attracted the attention of the former Zep members, two of whom can be famously prickly about discussing their past. But everyone was on board for this specific treatment, which as far as I know is the first and only Zep documentary done with the participation of Page, Plant and Jones.

This documentary is not a tell-all that follows the band’s entire career. This focuses on what the members were doing in the years before Zeppelin and then runs through the release of Led Zeppelin II and a few landmark gigs from that time frame. And I’ll say that I prefer it this way – I honestly was not terribly familiar with Jones, Plant or Bonham’s pre-Zep days and this was a nice deep dive into their early musical forays. Page I had more knowledge of but it was still nice to have the run down.

What we get is the three surviving members saying their pieces in separate interviews. Some people lament the lack of interaction between the participants but I wasn’t concerned about it. John Bonham is represented by archival interview recordings from 1980, not long before his death. While the three living members don’t speak with each other, they do seem to listen to Bonzo’s parts at times.

I don’t know if this film is for people not familiar with Zeppelin – the pre-Zep days are covered fairly in-depth, but then the film moves fairly quickly through the key events of the band’s formation and rise to success. I do feel like some knowledge of the band’s progress might be warranted to fully appreciate this doc, but it’s entirely possible that folks who aren’t that familiar with the band might still get something out of this.

The main criticisms of the film I see are the separate interviews and also that the film ends “abruptly” without continuing on through their whole career. I’m personally fine with how it was done and I don’t share these criticisms. The only negative point I have to mention is that the audio is kind of hosed – the music performances are LOUD and the talking audio is very, very quiet in comparison. This might work well in an IMAX theater setting, but my humble home TV is not an IMAX. It can be a bit tough to pick up what British people are saying when the audio is super quiet, and the subtitles don’t always help because they are white and fairly often display on very light backgrounds, rendering them unreadable. I had to actively work my volume control through the film to keep things on the level.

That is my only real criticism. Beyond that, this is a very well-done film that offers a lot of lore for the pre-Zep days and hits the highlights of their first few years. There are several live clips in the film well worth checking out. I don’t know the ins and outs of how previously available some of the music footage is, some of it is billed as available for the first time (at least officially).

I do highly recommend this film for anyone with any kind of interest in Led Zeppelin. It’s wonderful to hear the guys talk about their upbringing and the band’s formation, especially the interview with the long-departed John Bonham. We also get plenty of Jimmy Page showcasing his drive to push for more success and John Paul Jones being along for the ride despite having a successful career as a session musician. And while Robert Plant has at times been reticent to lean on past glories, here he is fully willing to revisit his early days and the formation of the band. His recounting of his tough go of it before Jimmy Page found him is compelling, and his tales of working with Bonzo despite John’s wife totally not being into Robert is funny and heartwarming.

There isn’t much more for me to say – this is a great film on one of rock’s biggest bands, and we get the most compelling part of the story with the early years. This is well worth the watch.

Picking Five Songs From 1975

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year2 Comments

My job has been absolutely kicking my ass this past week or so. Between it and me desperately trying to find a new job, I haven’t had as much time to work on the site. But I can bang out these five songs from 1975 real quick.

Nothing much to note here, I was still two years away from being born so I have no great memories of ’75. Let’s check out the music.

Heart – Crazy On You

I’m altering the timeline again with this one. This song was released on album in 1975 – in Canada. It wasn’t released as a single or in the US until ’76, but here it is on my list for this year anyway because guess what – 1976 is when things get super crowded on these lists.

Anyway – great blast of a song here. Heart were at times part folk, part psychedelic and part heavy metal – this tune fits the first two more. Very groovy guitar and keyboard passages here and Ann Wilson gives a super smooth performance throughout. Plus a great mix of acoustic and electric guitars here, not something you get all the time, at least to this great of effect.

As we go through these, you’re going to find out that Heart is one of my favorite bands, in all their phases. We’re just getting started here.

Led Zeppelin – Kashmir

So Robert Plant drove through the desert in Morocco and was inspired to write this song about a disputed region between India and Pakistan. Regardless of the geographic blasphemy, it helped Zep record one of their most epic movements. This song is totally majestic and awe-inspiring. Not much else for me to say about it.

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

While this song is full of subtle twists, especially the full album version (which should be posted below), this one is actually pretty straightforward for a Pink Floyd track. It is a somber affair looking back on lost dreams, set against minimal acoustic passages. The song is popularly regarded as being about troubled former bandmate Syd Barrett, though Roger Waters has discounted that idea before. Regardless, it’s a masterpiece of a song.

Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion

We’ll just ignore all of the things this song could possibly be about and focus instead on how kick ass of a tune it is. Aerosmith added a few psychedelic elements to their hard rock groove and came out big winners for it. An electric jam all the way through.

What I posted is the 1991 remix video, which brought Aerosmith up straight up against grunge, and Aerosmith won that unlikely battle.

Waylon Jennings – Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?

Every genre of music has its formulas for success and acts that were herded into the spotlight, used for a hit, then discarded for the next. But no music scene had its formula down quite like Nashville and country. While that machine keeps plugging away today, it was a group of artists in the ’70’s, spearheaded by Waylon and the creative freedom afforded to him contractually, that sparked a whole new movement in country. The outlaws were riding, and they would reshape country through the decade.

Here Waylon pokes fun at the establishment and highlights how far they’ve drifted from the spiritual father of their genre, Hank Williams. It’s not a comedy tune but some of the lyrics are low key pretty funny, like the one about the five piece band looking at his backside. But the song does carry its weight and then some, directly targeting the tired old formula of Nashville and offering a refreshing change.

That’s all for 1975. Next week will be ’76 so I’ll have to pick some really patriotic stuff to celebrate the bicentennial of my great nation. I’ll get right on that.

Picking Five Songs From 1971

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year8 Comments

The “Five Songs a Year” series rolls on into 1971. As always, these are five of my favorite songs from a year as opposed to “my five favorites,” nothing here is too definitive.

This year was really easy for me to throw together, I saw a few things that got released that year and had my list together real quick. I’m sure I could have done a more exhaustive review of the music from ’71 but this is supposed to be a quick and easy thing so I’ll leave it at that. Things start getting really crowded in a few years’ time so I’ll enjoy these easier ones.

Alice Cooper – Under My Wheels

The Coop has arrived on this list, for the first and likely not last time. This was the classic band formation of Alice Cooper on their fourth album Killer. This one is a fun old-school boogie that also gets into a bit of sensory overload at points. They are going completely off here and it’s a crazy experience.

T. Rex – Get It On

A song and album so influential that just about everyone who’s made music since has a copy of the record. The song is a very simple jam but adds enough to stand out from the other happenings in rock at the time. Even 53 years later the song lives on in rock immortality.

Black Sabbath – Children Of The Grave

And here is another signature track from the masters of metal. This one has some crazy bass and percussion on it, and is even a bit bright musically. But the song is a dire warning yet again about the ills of war and its possible apocalyptic consequences. Another one of Sabbath’s finest songs.

The James Gang – Walk Away

While this group never got the traction they might have been after, this song would become a fairly solid hit for them over the years. It was another Joe Walsh composition and performance, and the amount Walsh had to put into writing for the group led him to do just what the song’s title states not long after release. The James Gang would go on for several more years before sputtering out. Never heard how it panned out for Joe Walsh…

Led Zeppelin – The Battle Of Evermore

All of the other songs here are uncomplicated, there’s nothing to get in a fuss over about them. But this one? We have a guest singer! Mandolin! Lord of the Rings AND King Arthur! The song’s overall structure is not complex but man there’s a lot going on here. I’ve heard this practically my whole life and I still can’t wrap my head around it. Not sure what that says more about – the song or me.

That does it for 1971. Things stop getting quick and easy real soon as more of rock and metal’s immortal acts show up on the scene through the next several years.

Picking Five Songs From 1970

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year7 Comments

I’m moving on through the years and now I’m picking songs from 1970. As always, this is me picking five of my favorites of a year rather than me picking an absolute top five.

We’re still in years before I was born, it’ll be seven more posts before I “show up.” While I wasn’t around for 1970, this is the year stuff I’m into really got going, as we’re just about to see. Not all of the songs I pick every year are going to revolve around heavy metal, but this year it’s an almost constant theme given the acts and songs involved.

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

And here we are – heavy metal is in full force now. The Birmingham foursome mucked their way into a record deal and mutated the blues into an assault on the ears. This song is totally down in the dumps, being the herald of a subgenre of metal that would be known as doom years later.

And what a song this is. Just so morose, creepy and excellent. And while Sabbath were often accused of Satanism, here they don’t depict Satan and Hell as some kind of party – rather it’s a horrifying experience to be cast down below. Heavy metal is here, and damn is it wicked.

Mountain – Mississippi Queen

A fun, heavy cut that became the biggest hit for the US group who were also responsible for the rise of heavy metal. This had guitar loaded with purpose and was a curb-stomping song about a riverboat and of course a woman on said boat. This song still gets airtime 54 years later, a pretty wicked accomplishment.

Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song

Here the titans of rock went about also contributing to heavy metal – this brief blast of music would combine loud, brash music and Viking themes, something that runs amok through metal to this day. Also Robert Plant’s wail on here is just ungodly, good luck finding anyone else on the planet to replicate that. While tales of Viking raids are fantasy in the modern age, the song’s origin is mundane – Zep were booked to play in Iceland and put on a crazy show at a last-minute venue after their original booking got axed by striking workers. And this is what they came up with out of that. Just crazy.

Santana – Oye Cómo Va

Fun fact – decades before Carlos Santana conquered the world with his accomplice Rob Thomas, his band was quite successful already. This was a cover of a cha-cha-chá song by Tito Puente from 1962. Puente was not originally happy that a rock band was doing his song, he changed his mind when the first royalty check came in.

The song is really fun with a nice groove and simple yet crazy organ from Gregg Rolie. It’s easy to see why this one caught on so well, including with me who wouldn’t have heard it until years after it was released.

Black Sabbath – War Pigs

There won’t be very many instances of one act getting two songs on the same year. But this is a rare instance since it marks the first works of heavy metal’s fathers and they happened to put out two albums in 1970.

This was an anti-war song, getting more into the evil nature behind the powers that be sending the poor off to die for a nebulous cause. It’s often discussed as one of Sabbath’s best songs and with good reason, it’s an intense jam and the speed up at the end just slides everything off the rails and into a total frenzy.

That covers it for 1970. Heavy metal is here now and it does inform a large part of my listening. But there is plenty beyond metal to go over as well as these years wind on. Until then.

Picking Five Songs From 1969

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year5 Comments

On again with this long-running series where I pick five songs from a year. As always, this list should be taken as “five of my favorite songs from 1969,” as opposed to “my five favorite songs from 1969.”

1969 was apparently a hell of a year. I wasn’t personally around for it, I still have eight years before I showed my pretty little face. But this was the big one – the Summer of Love, Woodstock, all of that jazz.

Now, I don’t know if music from ’69 really leapt out and grabbed me the same way stuff from ’67 did. But that could be more about that year than this one. It was no real problem finding five songs for this year.

Led Zeppelin – Communication Breakdown

First off is one from Zep’s debut. I do very much love the album and this song specifically is a huge selling point. A short blast of heavy metal from them, which is honestly a rare treat as they influenced the genre for sure but didn’t actually play it much. I’ve always loved the power and insanity of this track.

Credence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son

I guess one way to achieve musical immortality is to release three freaking albums in one year, which CCR did in 1969. This track was a shot at the elite, who kept their children out of the Vietnam War while the sons of the working class were shipped off to face death. It’s a fantastic song and an enduring protest anthem to this day. While CCR had a number of great songs in their career, which was apparently mostly in 1969, this song stands out to me as their magnum opus.

The Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog

What would become punk rock took shape in no small part thanks to this track from Iggy Pop and company. This is a pretty groovy track with piano from John Cale of The Velvet Underground and the simple, distorted three chord guitar structure which would become the anchor of punk. The song isn’t literal, Iggy Pop doesn’t want to be a dog. In part it’s the word God turned backwards because Iggy was bored one day and came up with it. The other part is naughty stuff, I’ll let you dwell on that.

Merle Haggard – Okie From Muskogee

Up next is a song written as a counter to the Vietnam protests. Haggard was in full support of the US troops and composed this ode to American life. Haggard later said his views changed after learning new information about the war but the song was an enduring hit and also a tribute to the small town folks of his home state so the song remained in play through his life.

And, while the song is politically charged and in a way I’m not personally inclined toward, it is a fair assessment of that “simpler” kind of life. I can appreciate that side of things, especially the more “small town” stuff. I also fondly recall Willie Nelson playing this live in tribute just after Merle died in 2016, nothing says irony like Willie playing this song.

The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter

And this year caps off with yet another song about the Vietnam War, though Keith Richards actually started it based on a far more mundane thunderstorm. But the anti-war sentiment rings strong through this excellent song. I’m not a massive Stones fan, I don’t have any of their albums or anything, but their top tracks do stand out and this is certainly one of them.

That does it for this edition and also wraps up the 1960’s. Things really kick off once I get rolling into the ’70’s. See you then.

Led Zeppelin (Album of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week8 Comments

Time to go all the way back into ancient history for the debut of one of rock’s most titanic bands. There’s plenty of blues, a bit of heavy metal and a whole lot of rock.

Led Zeppelin – self-titled

Released January 12, 1969 via Atlantic Records

My Favorite Tracks – Communication Breakdown, Good Times Bad Times, Dazed And Confused

I’ll sum this up as quickly as Page and company recorded the record – Jimmy Page had an obligation to tour with the Yardbirds but needed a band. He brought in Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham to do it. After the tour the band self-financed a record and recorded this debut album in 36 hours of studio time. Page was the producer as well as guitarist. The band changed their name from The New Yardbirds to Led Zeppelin and got a major label deal with Atlantic Records that included creative freedom without even being heard.

Today’s album is 9 tracks with a 44 minute runtime. The album is a mix of originals and covers, and Jimmy Page’s long history with music copyright battles would begin on this very debut record.

Good Times Bad Times

The opener is a great introduction to Led Zeppelin – a noisy rocker that showcases bits of each band member at their strengths. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones both leave some great embellishments through the song, pretty slick bass work from Jones especially. This is a general summation of the good and bad of relationships and it’s a pretty accurate look at things.

Babe I’m Gonna Leave You

This was originally written by Anne Bredon, Page and Plant were inspired to do the song based on a recording by Joan Baez. Zeppelin would not ply their trade in folk however, they doubled the length of the song and kicked up the ferocity several thousand times over. It shows that Zeppelin had more atmosphere to them and weren’t going to be a hard rock one-trick pony.

This one has an odd bit of trivia to it in regards to Anne Bredon’s proper royalties – Page was unaware of who originally wrote the song and Bredon was unaware of Zeppelin’s version for many years. Eventually she was properly credited and paid. This was more an honest mistake and a lot less messy than other “Who wrote this Zeppelin song?” fiascos.

You Shook Me

This is an early ’60’s blues tune written by Willie Dixon and originally performed by Muddy Waters. Again, Zeppelin take the original song and double its length and also run it through their own Zeppelin filter to distinguish it quite a bit from the original. It’s a pretty fun jam and Robert Plant really gets up to some vocal gymnastics here.

Dazed And Confused

This trippy jam was something Page did with the Yardbirds and wanted to bring to Zeppelin. Call it psychedelic, maybe, or perhaps acid rock, this song is a total journey. It keeps a fairly standard and slow pace for a bit, then starts jumping off the rails with crazy riffs and drum fills, and also Robert Plant sounding like he’s having an orgasm. This was a sterling showcase from Zeppelin and a song they would extend to a massive jam live, it also marks the band’s most-played live song.

This one has a contentious writing history – it was originally written by folk artist Jake Holmes, who opened for the Yardbirds in New York. Holmes would eventually have to sue Page in 2010 to get proper attribution. The case was settled out of court, so no specifics on how it played out.

Your Time Is Gonna Come

This is a bit of folk hard rock here with a jamming organ and acoustic guitar. The song has an uplifting and almost spiritual chorus, but is also admonishing a two-timing woman. It’s a study in contrasts to a degree. This song never got busted out much by the group but it’s a track I like quite a bit.

Black Mountain Side

This is a short instrumental piece that has the prior song bleeding into it. It’s a pretty standard acoustic thing up until a bit of Jimmy Page magic in a brief spot. It’s worth a listen.

Communication Breakdown

Here we get a very early example of an outright heavy metal song. Zeppelin’s blues-based rock would be a foundation on which heavy metal was built, but here they actually recorded the next step in the process. This brief song could also be considered a precursor to punk with its fast, static riffing along with all the damn noise Bonham is making. This song was an inspiration for future metal and punk bands, Iron Maiden and The Ramones among many others.

I Can’t Quit You Baby

This is another blues tune and another written by Willie Dixon. It was first performed by Otis Rush and Zeppelin’s interpretation is pretty faithful to the original. It does add a few minutes of space for Jimmy Page to get up to a few things on guitar but it’s otherwise a standard blues rendition.

How Many More Times

The album closes with a blues-based rocker that is an original band composition. This song is pretty jam packed with action for its 8 minutes. It gets a pretty long interlude before picking up the jam back into a whole other space and then revisiting the song’s beginning structure to close out on. The guitar tone here and song structure are a pretty good showcase of what Led Zeppelin would get up to on future albums.

Led Zeppelin was a pretty hot ticket right out of the gate. The album would hit number 10 on the US Billboard 200 and get number 6 on the UK Albums chart. It did pick up number 1 in Australia and Spain. Zeppelin would have a very successful US tour that kicked off just as the album launched and their interest in America and abroad grew quickly. All told the debut would be certified platinum 8 times in the US, 2 times in the UK and get a diamond certification in Canada. Nothing from Zeppelin has really stopped selling since they hit the scene, though of course exact sales figures from this era in music are difficult to track.

This one has always been one of my favorite Zeppelin albums. There’s something a bit different about this one before they really nailed down their winning formula. They’re credited with recording the perfect rock album, but there’s a charm to this one with its meandering through styles and clash of sounds.

I don’t see much point in getting into the legacy of Led Zeppelin – they’re one of rock’s most important bands. This was the start of their decade of domination and circumstances came together to make quite a debut.