Whole Lotta Led



Cover Letter

Thesis – not bad, referred to throughout

Motive – really obvious, has a paragraph, I tried to make it on a grand scheme and all-encompassing

Intro – not bad

Conclusion – Pretty good

Musical Evidence – Good. Lots of close listening. Aiya.

Written Evidence – lots out there, really helped my argument

Weaknesses – The usual suspects. Thesis (probably) length (maybe)

Strengths – Writing style.

Reason for brief cover letter – It’s late, I’m tired

Whole Lotta Led

In the beginning there was the blues, and (depending on who you asked,) the blues was with God, and the blues was God. The same people expressed their love for blues master Eric Clapton by spray-painting “Clapton is God” in public places in the late 1960s. Clapton, along with Jimi Hendrix, early Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple, Jeff Beck, and other British musicians, helped bridge the gap between the American-based electric blues of the 1950s and 60s and the American-driven hard rock of the 1980s. Although these bands have all been deified over the years to varying degrees, many people during those transitory years saw the blues as the devil’s music. They saw it as causing rebelliousness, disrespect, promiscuity, and a general deterioration of morals. As it turned out, while all the artists mentioned above contributed in some part to this metamorphosis between genres, it was a band frequently associated with Satanism, promiscuity, and wild shenanigans of epic proportions that contributed most to the shift. The band contributed the most to the future of hard rock, and did the best job of incorporating their roots while not being constrained by them. In September 1971, journalist Richie Yorke approached the microphone before a delirious crowd of 18,000 in Toronto, and introduced them simply by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest rock and roll band in the world, LED ZEPPELIN.” (Yorke 2)

They may have been considered the greatest, but like any band, Zeppelin had plenty of their own influences. One shared background common to many of the groups coming out of Britain in the middle decades of the last century was the blues. One of the earliest forms of “contemporary” music, the acoustic blues originated from American slave songs. From there, the genre branched into electric blues, jazz, and rock and roll. By the 1980s, the continuing evolution of the blues family tree had morphed into heavy metal. Between the “Chicago-style” electric blues of the 1950s and ‘60s, which in truth extended to all of the United States, and the guitar-heavy American hard rock of the 1980s though, there was a gap, which spanned most of the 1970s. The transition was bridged by an unlikely source: the British.

Over the course of history, the British have traditionally been the ones being invaded, as opposed to the other way around. The fact that there were two “British Invasions” in contemporary music within just over a decade of each other in the middle of the 20th Century seems quite remarkable. The transitory blues groups mentioned above would be included in the second wave; the first took place in the early 60s, and included the Beatles, the early Rolling Stones, and the Kinks.

Besides the shared bond of citizenship, another common thread between all the aforementioned artists was that they grew up listening to the blues and to the new rock and roll of Elvis Presley. The musical progressions, lyrics, and themes in songs by Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, and Buddy Guy all “struck a chord” with the white Englishmen who would carry on the blues tradition in the years to come. When this style of music was played on the radio, it attracted young kids to the instruments, and they grew up playing the blues. Regardless of what was on the radio, if bands wanted to get a start, though, they had little choice in the matter. Audiences wanted to hear blues, and by playing that music, bands could get gigs. “As everyone who cared about good music knew, London had the best club scene in the world.” (Platt 1) Getting a gig in London could be the big break every band dreamed about. The decision to start out with the blues was one brought about purely by social climate.

“What [audiences] wanted was something with the excitement of mid-‘50s rock and roll, but with more depth and perhaps more genuine ethnicity. Electric Chicago blues, along with the music of early black rockers with blues roots like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, fit the bill.” (Platt 8)

Part of what made the blues so appealing was that it was so unlike anything the British, and white Americans, for that matter, had ever heard before. For them, the electric blues was that same “foreign bridge” between eras in British music that the British invasions were to the Americans. In all facets of life, not just music, the unknown posses a strangely alluring capacity; because something is unfamiliar to us, human nature is to explore it further. It is for this reason that musicians, artists, and writers, for instance, and really “dig” the ideas coming from abroad; because the material hasn’t been stripped of its intrigue through overexposure, it is easier to “get into.” After travelling in Italy, for example, poets Wyatt and Surrey introduced the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet form into English; this foreign bridge changed literature forever. One can look at what was happening in the music scene in the 1970s at a similar situation. Were it not for the influence of the blues, music as we know it today would not be the same.

Unfortunately, though, out of the many British bands that were influenced by this genre, very few managed to grow away from these beginnings. Whether through choice or through inability to change, most bands that started out based in the blues ended up being limited and restricted by their roots. While Eric Clapton was an amazing guitarist, he simply felt more comfortable playing the blues, to the point where he couldn’t not play the blues. The following passage was taken from Guitar Player Magazine:

“Blues echos [sic] throughout Eric’s work, whether he is trying to play blues or not – but it is a different style of blues, Eric’s own style. ‘Everything I play is structurally blues,’ he says. ‘If you ask me to play baroque or Indian music, or something except blues, I wouldn’t be able to.’” (Rock Guitarists, 37)

When Clapton, who Platt describes as “a guitarist craving a strict blues diet,” (15) left The Yardbirds to join a group called the Bluesbreakers, his goal was to “shift the band toward a stricter Chicago sound with its heavier reliance on guitar.” (Platt 15) When he later formed Cream, Clapton could not play purely blues because of the diverse backgrounds of the other band members. “As a result, Cream quickly abandoned the idea of being a pure blues outfit. Nonetheless, the blues became, however skewed and altered, the backbone of their repertoire.” (Platt 22) A fine example of this can be heard on the main riff of “Sunshine of Your Love,” (0:00 – 0:17) which is also played by itself as an introduction, and gives the song a strong bluesy feel. Although Clapton can safely be regarded as one of the great blues guitarists of all time, his dependency on that genre really restricted his potential for diversity, and thus limited his influence on later musicians, because while he perfected styles that already existed, he failed to make any significant innovations in the way the instrument was played. In the words of Yardbirds bassist Chris Dreja, who was lucky enough to play with Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck on lead guitar at one point or another, “When Eric was with us, the whole scene was hung up on City [Chicago] blues and so Eric mainly stuck to that.” (Yorke 55)

Led Zeppelin refused to be confined to a single genre, and even when they did play the blues, they played them better than anyone else. Part of what made them so appealing to later bands was that Zeppelin knew they were good. “At our very worst, we were better than most people. And at our very best we could wipe the floor with the lot of them,” says bassist John Paul Jones. (Cross 26) On their debut album, they played a combination of original tunes and blues covers, but with an upbeat tempo, blazing electric guitars, and searing vocals.

“It was white man’s blues – ‘contemporary blues’ is how Page liked to describe is – but it wasn’t that far removed from the gutsy authentic blues then in vogue and being performed almost every weekend at these same rock clubs by Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King, Freddie King, and the Butterfield Blues Band.” (Yorke 74)

While Zeppelin was far from the only band playing blues-based rock in Britain in the late ‘60s, they quickly drew rave reviews from the press. “Led Zeppelin have carried the British bass-drums-lead guitar format to an extreme,” said Variety magazine, (Yorke 78) and Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler, described as the “spiritual Godfather of rock and roll,” declared, “On the strength of these three tracks[1] from the next Led Zeppelin album, I would have to say that this is the best white blues I have ever heard – rating them superior to Cream.” (Yorke 87) Although none of the albums that would follow would have as strong a blues influence as the first two, “there is essentially a 12-bar blues on every album except Houses of the Holy.” (Fast 8) In Page’s opinion, expressed in the following interview with Dave Schulps of Trouser Press, the fact that Zeppelin did not remain as deeply rooted in the blues as their career went on was crucial to their success and their level of influence.

“Were you into the blues as much as the Stones or was it more rock ‘n’roll for you?

I was an all-arounder, thank God.

Do you think that’s helped your career?

Immensely. I think if I was just labelled a blues guitarist I’d have never been able to lose the tag. When all the guitarists started to come through in America – like Clapton, Beck, and myself – Eric, being the blues guitarist, had the label. People just wanted to hear him play blues. I saw the guitar as a multifaceted instrument and this has stayed with me throughout.” (Cross 51)

Page’s use of the guitar took so many twists and turns it would be impossible to document them all. Most of the sounds he produced could also be reproduced in concert, which meant fans could see them being produced. He was one of the first to use a Theremin, a good example of which can be heard on the version of “Whole Lotta Love” off the album How the West Was Won (1:52-3:13.) On the track “Dazed and Confused,” (The Song Remains the Same, 1:07:07-1:14:16.) Page plays the instrument with a violin bow. More than any of his peers save for perhaps Jimi Hendrix, Page tried to get the most unnatural sounds out of his guitar as possible, and then incorporate them into his music. This goal was continued by several ‘80s bands, notably Van Halen, who on the song “Poundcake” managed to make the guitar simulate a chainsaw. (0:10-0:22) Page invented various tunings, pioneered the use of the double-neck guitar, and was unlike many of his peers, was not only a master of the electric guitar but was also skilled with an acoustic, as heard on albums such as Led Zeppelin III[2] and as seen in footage from their 1975 concert at Earls Court.[3] It was through Jimmy Page that the guitar solo replaced the chorus as the emotional climax of the song. This shift, along with the emergence of the riff-based rock song as a hard rock standard, became a staple of the genre in the decade to follow.

Catchy riffs became Zeppelin’s calling card through the ‘70s, and had an immeasurable influence on groups to follow. By having the guitar and the bass play the same riffs, Page created the “heavy” effect Zeppelin became known for. Because there was just the one music line on songs like “Black Dog,” “Whole Lotta Love” and “Living Loving Maid,” the resulting effect was one of pure, overwhelming sound; audiences, especially live audiences, found themselves enveloped in a irresistible groove. Combined with the driving, machine-like beat from John “Bonzo” Bonham, the mighty Zep rollicked through songs like a freight train, and everyone else was invited along for the ride. Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin as a whole had a mastery of riff-based music that later bands could only dream of. Occasionally, followers would give up and just alter Zep riffs. If “Barracuda” by Heart was any closer to Zeppelin’s “Achilles’ Last Stand” chances are there would have been lawsuits. Even Puff Daddy worked with Page on a song, setting the riff from “Kashmir” to rap. The diversity, showmanship, and innovation of Jimmy Page all contributed to cementing his position as the first real “guitar god” of rock music.

Many would argue that Clapton was better, Hendrix was better, and even Jeff Beck was better, but none of these musicians had the complete package of a Jimmy Page. Clapton, as discussed already, was limited in his choice of genre, whereas Page was at ease playing anything from the mellow “Bron-Yr-Aur” to the hard-rocking “Immigrant Song” or “Black Dog.” Hendrix was certainly a larger-than-life, live-fast-die-young guitar hero, and introduced many innovations involving sound and amplifying the guitar.[4] However, because he never saw the 1970s, one has trouble gauging his long-term influence on later artists. Also, Hendrix was purely an electric guitar wizard, and his songs generally have the same distorted, guitar-heavy sound. Page’s tunes, on the other hand, were as changing as his flamboyant outfits. Finally, although Beck was certainly a talented musician, he was inconsistent and liable to terrible mood swings. Dreja recounted one anecdote where “something went wrong during the set so Jeff just kicked over the stack of amps and they smashed out through the window.” (Yorke 49) In addition, Beck was never the composer Page was. Beck’s most famous song, “Beck’s Bolero,” has been the subject of much controversy. While Beck claims the ideas were mostly his, others familiar with the situation credit Page with writing the whole thing. Dave Schulps brought the subject up in the same interview quoted above.

Schulps: “What about “Beck’s Bolero?”

Page: Wrote it, played on it, produced it… and I don’t give a damn what he says. That’s the truth.”

While no one but the musicians themselves knows the truth, it can objectively be stated that Page’s later work was far more successful than Beck’s, and nothing else Beck wrote ever approached the successes of “Beck’s Bolero.” The fact that Jimmy Page was only one part of Led Zeppelin added to their dominance.

While most bands relied on one or two excellent musicians to impress fans, in Led Zeppelin, all four musicians were superb, arguably the best in their fields ever, and inspired countless followers in the decades to come. John Bonham’s famous drum solo, “Moby Dick,” was the first extended percussion solo in rock history; this had a profound influence on Alex Van Halen, who emerged as the pre-eminent rock drummer after Bonham’s death, and incorporated extended solos into several songs. As readers are informed by the website provided through RealOne Player on Led Zeppelin, “John Paul Jones has only John Entwhistle to compete with for the centerfold spot in the Who’s Who of bass guitarists.” (RealOne 1) Together, Bonham and Jones “created a wall of sound that Van Halen and Whitesnake together couldn’t match.” (Cross 27) Finally, at the center of all the action, was the prototypical front-man for heavy metal bands, Robert Plant.

Plant deserves special comment because of all the band members, his influence is perhaps most visible in later music. The “oversexed lead singer” cliché that was so prevalent in the 1980s hard rock scene was started by Robert Plant. Loverboy, Van Halen, Journey, and Whitesnake were but a few of the major groups who adopted Plant’s minimalist approach to clothing and the extravagant approach to hair introduced by The Who’s Roger Daltry and perfected by Plant. Literally millions of fans adopted the flowing curly mane look because it was sported by Plant. His expansive range became the norm for lead singer, and his suggestive lyrics and near-orgasmic sound effects[5] were reincarnated in songs such as Van Halen’s “Ice Cream Man” and “Panama,” Journey’s “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” and Boston’s “More Than a Feeling.” David Coverdale of Whitesnake essentially based his entire image and style on Robert Plant, and was often accused of being little more than a cover artist.

Some would be tempted to question how it can be ascertained that the ‘80s rock bands drew their influences from Led Zeppelin and co., and not from the “harder” rock and metal bands of the same time period, including AC/DC, Black Sabbath, and KISS. As Steven Stack points out in his article “The Heavy Metal Subculture and Suicide,” “metal has subdivided into two major genres: lite metal and thrash metal. Lite metal stresses dionysian themes, especially sexuality and the celebration of rock. Popular bands include Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Def Leppard, and Poison. Lite metal bands are apt to have fancy costumes and to appear on MTV. Thrash, or speed, metal stresses the theme of chaos. The alienation and isolation of the individual are the themes of individual chaos.” (Stack 1) Had these definitions existed in Led Zeppelin’s day, the band would clearly fall into the “lite” metal category; they meet and define virtually every category mentioned. They were known for colourful outfits, their songs dealt with both physical and romantic love, and more than anything, they celebrated life, as opposed to trivializing or disparaging it.

In addition, the two forms of metal Stack mentions really originated from different sources. While both were influenced by the acoustic blues, the “thrash” metal was much more strongly influenced by the punk traditions of Sid Vicious and others, and also, they appealed to different fans.[6] Also, the punk music, and later, thrash metal music, was evolved from “harder” blues, which were much less complex musically than the blues of B.B. King or Muddy Waters, for instance. This influence is reflected in the fact that apart from the requisite speedy guitar solo, most of the songs by these bands are basic power chords. Thrash metal bands got their noise by cranking their amps up to 11 and letting loose. Zeppelin got their heaviness by having four amazing musicians work together to crank out Page’s ingenious riffs.

Critics would argue that “ingenious” isn’t exactly the word that best describes taking an existing genre and ripping it off. Or, as Cross says, “you can call Led Zeppelin musical pilferers, or you can call them talented fans who could take others’ ideas and expand on them.” (Cross 41) Also, it would be preposterous to suggest that any artist could work totally independently from any influences. “The group members learned that the only way for them to draw on the blues was to use that inspiration as a means to create something new, something their own,” writes Cross. (Cross 44) Also, unlike other “guitar gods” Clapton and Hendrix, Page’s solos contained essentially no extraneous motifs from other artists.

“In the twenty-odd performances of ‘Dazed and Confused’ that I have heard, Page never quoted another piece during this solo or alluded to a specific musical style. This was his moment for invention without the reference to other music that pervaded the bow solo. The guitarist has broken out of the confines of the piece and also of specific musical allusion.” (Fast 46)

Some might counter that Led Zeppelin use the synthesized keyboards that were so prevalent in the intros to songs by Journey, Boston, and Van Halen. While it is true that the synthesizer was not used in the same way as it was by later bands, Zeppelin used the instrument on later records,[7] and even the famous intro to “Stairway to Heaven” uses a slower, softer electric organ sound. [8] Finally, many other bands used the keyboard to play what Zeppelin played on guitar. A striking example is Journey’s use of the end of Page’s “Stairway” solo in the middle of their song “Don’t Stop Believing.”[9] Whether intentional or not, it is clear that the influence of Led Zeppelin, though twenty years removed from activity, is firmly entrenched in the rock idiom.

Whether because they were British, or because they were charismatic and “hip,” or because they were so diverse while still reflecting their blues influences, or simply because they played music like no one had ever heard before, Led Zeppelin has spoken to every generation since the late ‘60s. More than any other band, they provided the “foreign bridge” contemporary music was thirsting for to span the American eras of the electric blues in the ‘60s and hard rock in the ‘80s. While Cream and Hendrix and Beck and all the other bands of the time period had something to offer, no one presented the “complete package” to listeners in the way the mighty Zep did. “Epic isn’t a big enough word,” raved one fan. “They change lives.” (Fast 52) And as we wind on down the road, it’s safe to say the timeless quartet will be right there beside us.

Works Cited

Books and Periodicals

Cross, Charles R., and Erik Flannigan. Led Zeppelin: Heaven and Hell: an Illustrated History. 1st ed. New York: Harmony Books, 1991.

Davis, Stephen. Hammer of the Gods: the Led Zeppelin Saga. 1st ed. New York: W. Morrow, 1985.

Fast, Susan. In the Houses of the Holy : Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Obrecht, Jas. Masters of Heavy Metal. 1st Quill ed. New York: Quill, 1984.

Platt, John. Classic Rock Albums: Disraeli Gears – Cream. New York: Schirmer Books, 1998

Prown, Pete, H.P. Newquist and Jon F. Eiche. Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Milwaukee, WI: H. Leonard, 1997.

Stack, Steven,. Gundlach, Jim., Reeves, Jimmy L. “The Heavy Metal Subculture and Suicide”, Suicide and Life, Threatening Behavior. New York, 1994

Rock Guitarists: From the Pages of Guitar Player Magazine. Saratoga, CA: Guitar Player Books, 1974.

Yorke, Ritchie. Led Zeppelin: the Definitive Biography. Lancaster, Pa.: Underwood-Miller, 1993.

DVDs

Jones, J.P., Plant, R., Page, J., Bonham, J. Led Zeppelin. Atlantic Records, 2003

Jones, J.P., Plant, R., Page, J., Bonham, J. The Song Remains the Same. Swan Song, 1976

CDs

Led Zeppelin

Jones, J.P., Plant, R., Page, J., Bonham, J. Led Zeppelin. Atlantic Records, 1969

Jones, J.P., Plant, R., Page, J., Bonham, J. Led Zeppelin II. Atlantic Records, 1969

Jones, J.P., Plant, R., Page, J., Bonham, J. Led Zeppelin III. Atlantic Records, 1970

Jones, J.P., Plant, R., Page, J., Bonham, J. Led Zeppelin IV. Atlantic Records, 1971

Jones, J.P., Plant, R., Page, J., Bonham, J. How The West Was Won. Atlantic Records, 2003

- Various Songs –

Other Bands

Clapton, E., Bruce, J., and Baker, G. Disraeli Gears. Polydor, 1967

Journey. Escape. Columbia Records, 1981

Van Halen, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Warner Bros. Records, 1991

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[1] The tracks were “Living Loving Maid,” “Heartbreaker,” and “What is and What Should Never Be,” taken from Led Zeppelin II.

[2] Specifically the songs “Friends,” “Tangerine,” “That’s the Way,” “Bron-Y-Aur” Stomp,” and “Hats off to (Roy) Harper.”

[3] Seen on the DVD Led Zeppelin, the songs include “Going to California,” “That’s the Way,” and “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp.”

[4] Among other innovations, Hendrix was the first to play his guitar through two amplifiers, giving it a distinctive fuzzy sound.

[5] Good examples can be found on songs such as “Whole Lotta Love,” “Black Dog,” and “The Lemon Song.”

[6] “Thrash” metal fans were traditionally lower class males, and often described as “loners” or “burnouts.”

[7] In Through the Out Door’s “Carouselambra” features it roughly 7 minutes in.

[8] (0:13 – 0:52)

[9] (0:58 – 1:06)

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