Sunday Big Note – Listening Session #5

From the very start, Led Zeppelin was a band whose essential ingredients were a ”crushingly loud interpretation of the blues”, “heavy, guitar-driven blues-rock sound”, a style that crossed many music genres, and their unbound male sexuality. It pulsed beneath the surface of every Zeppelin album. Unlike the plethora of hard rock and heavy metal bands which would rise from their wake in the 1980s – none would possess any of the mystique of Led Zeppelin.
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Heavy Metal Britannia

Any metalheads in the audience? Oh there you are. Check out this wonderful BBC4 documentary on the rise (and fall?) of British Heavy Metal music, which aired on March 5th, 2010. Part One:

Continued: 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Now pardon me as I’m off to run to the hills in a slightly paranoid fashion, you sweet child in time you.

Led Zeppelin at Wolfgang’s Vault

Here’s some Led Zeppelin for us old coots at KUR from the second set of that final show (April 27) of their legendary four night run of shows at San Francisco’s Fillmore West in April, 1969, via Wolfgang’s Vault, before their massive success eliminated the possibility of their ever performing in such intimate venues again.

Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” kicks off the set, the song that would provide the basis for “The Lemon Song,” which was recorded in Los Angeles for Led Zeppelin II during this American tour. Switching to his Danelectro, the folk song “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” continues the mellower flavor of this set, before Page settles into a Yardbirds number, “White Summer.” The unreleased rarity, “Sitting and Thinking” is up next, followed by Plant’s typical introduction of John Bonham for “Pat’s Delight” (the song that eventually morphed in “Moby Dick“). They close this final night with a rendition of “Dazed and Confused.”

An excellent example of early Led Zeppelin. Click here to listen to the set.

Led Zeppelin is:

Robert Plant – vocals

Jimmy Page – guitar

John Paul Jones – bass

John Bonham – drums

Ann Wilson — Hope & Glory

Another CD which I recently picked up was Ann Wilson’s first-ever solo effort ‘Hope & Glory,’ from Zoë/ Rounder Records. Produced by Ben Mink, Hope & Glory features appearances from such artists as Elton John, Gretchen Wilson, Alison Krauss, Rufus Wainwright, Ann’s sister Nancy Wilson and others on unique renditions of songs made famous by Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Neil Young and more. In these two videos, Ann Wilson performs unique covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant song” (Track 5) and Pink Floyd’s “Goodbye Blue Sky” (Track 1).