LED ZEPPELIN I
“You really like…my limousine…you like the way…the wheels roll…you like my seven-inch…leather heels…and going to…all of the shows…BUT…”
Exactly ONE year, ONE month, and ONE day before the rain, thunder, bells and tritones of Black Sabbath’s debut “delivered” heavy metal upon the world, the release of the eponymous debut from Birmingham (England, NOT Alabama) quartet LED ZEPPELIN marked the “birth pains” of what was yet to be born in rock and metal, unleashing a darker, grittier and heavier sound unlike anything anyone anywhere had ever experienced before.
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Released 12 January 1969
Recorded September–October 1968
Studio Olympic, London
Label Atlantic
Producer Jimmy Page
Robert Plant – lead vocal, harmonica
Jimmy Page – guitars
John Paul Jones – bass, organ
John Bonham – drums, timpani
Additional musician
Viram Jasani – tabla on "Black Mountain Side"
Tracks
Side 1
1. "Good Times Bad Times"
2. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" Anne Bredon Page Plant
3. "You Shook Me" Willie Dixon J. B. Lenoir
4. "Dazed and Confused" Page (inspired by Jake Holmes)
Side 2
1. "Your Time Is Gonna Come"
2. "Black Mountain Side"
3. "Communication Breakdown"
4. "I Can't Quit You Baby" Willie Dixon
5. "How Many More Times"
GOOD TIMES BAD TIMES:
Most definitely a heavy intro, especially for a 1969, pre-Sabbath rock audience. The sonic heaviness almost conveys the taste of the grit surrounding Birmingham, providing the much needed evolutionary “push” that ultimately helped to transform heavy blues rock into metal (which would be formally revealed approximately one year, one month and one day LATER…).” I know what it means to be alone…I sure do wish I was at home…” There’s a definite darkness to the sound of Zeppelin that provides a foreshadowing of the future of heavy metal.
“She swore that she would be all mine and love me ‘til the end, but when I whispered in her ear, I lost another friend…”
BABE I’M GONNA LEAVE YOU:
This may be one of the heaviest, angriest, hardest ballads ever orchestrated. You can hear the peace and love of the late 60’s slowly breaking down and falling away. “I ain’t jokin woman, I’ve got to ramble….”
Not to detract from ANY of the ingenious talent of Robert, Jimmy, and John Paul, but without John (Bonham), Zeppelin simply would NOT have had the impact they had on the power of dynamics in the rock and metal music that would soon come after. That breakdown part with the vocals is one of the most painful, most heartfelt moments ever to bless the pantheon of rock and metal: raw, broken-hearted, and defeated.
“I can hear it callin’ me the way it used to do, I can hear it callin’ me back home…”
YOU SHOOK ME:
This sounds like stumbling drunk out of a bar well after midnight with only one or two streetlights lit and no sign of life around for miles and miles. The brilliant twin keyboards by John Paul Jones did for keyboard solos in the 60’s what Tony Iommi would eventually do for guitar solos in the 70’s.
Wait, there’s a fucking HARMONICA SOLO too!? WTF can this band NOT do? They’re the supernaturally blessed precursors of metal, embodying the sound of darkly oppressive, soul stealing blues combined with the heaviness of life in Birmingham (England, not Alabama, but also maybe a little bit Alabama…) at the time with a more dynamic brand of heavy blues rock that easily bested any band before them in terms of sheer heaviness and intensity.
You can quite literally feel how much harder and intensely John Bonham smacks the shit out of those drums with his “Trees” (aka: his drumsticks of wizardry).
And that backwards reverb on the vocals most certainly adds to the dark, heavy vibe. Just think of this as the “Prequel” to the metal that was released with rain, thunder, and bells one year, one month and one day later.
“You shook me so hard baby, baby, baby, please come home…”
DAZED AND CONFUSED:
Okay, this is nothing BUT metal! In 1969 this likely unnerved a few folks, especially the peace, love, and flower-power hippy crowd. The overall vibe in this song alone is dark and foreboding, covered in a thick veil of lust, betrayal, and lies.
The breakdown before the more up-tempo middle section is reminiscent of what would come later with “Whole Lotta Love” only a lot slower, sexier, and eviler. That bow solo without question is a “never ever done before” thing either, which only adds to the darker sonic tone that would become an essential staple of the sonic palette of all rock and metal to follow.
In short, that entire middle section: Metal. As. Fuck.
As for that main riff, say what you want but this is most definitely, without question, THE creepiest riff of the SIXTIES!!! Bar none, hands down. There’s absolutely NOTHING darker in 1969 than the riff to this song. (Also, go check out the movie of the same name. Just be sure the hookah is fully loaded before watching.)
“You hurt and abuse, tellin’ all of your lies, run ‘round sweet baby, lord, how they hypnotize…”
YOUR TIME IS GONNA COME:
Time to break out your metal hymnals and turn to page 111. The main riff sounds like a blending of Traffic’s “Mr. Fantasy” and the number 2 track on this here record right’chea.
Most likely a song about karma; the kind of karma you stir up when you break someone’s heart as a result of “loving” someone else.
” This is all I’ve got to say to you, woman….”
They were doing the heavy acoustic “unplugged” thing a solid 2 decades before anyone knew about MTV or Seattle.
Whatever you do, always try to “love” responsibly.
“Lyin’, cheatin’, hurtin’ that’s all you seem to do, messin’ around with every guy in town, puttin’ me down for thinkin’ of someone new…”
BLACK MOUTAINSIDE:
There’s some “unusual” note choices in this song. It’s got elements of blues and folk, but with some darker shades in between. There are moments of relief where things lighten up a bit evoking the visual of a scenic, green, country landscape where the only sound is from the occasional bird flying overhead and the gentle blowing of a breeze against a grove of colorful trees in early autumn.
COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN:
Early cock-rock thrash! There, it’s out there! That’s definitely all downstrokes and also definitely a faster, more aggressive step beyond the established “rock n roll” of the late 1960’s. There’s always that analogy/metaphor about Robert Plant at a Led Zeppelin performance: that he literally “fucked” the audience…passionately and with every ounce of his essence. Hell, there are even some incredibly tastefully done gang vocals at the end. Certainly, a band sonically way ahead of their time.
“Hey girl, stop what you’re doin’, hey girl, you’ll drive me to ruin…”
I CAN’T QUIT YOU BABY:
Definitely go check out the Otis Rush version of this (for the opening alone if nothing else). Ironic that a woman’s love is often just as “addictive” as any drug and often times can be even more toxic, destructive, and harder to quit.
This also sounds like stumbling out of the bar at 3:30 a.m. and hooking up in the driveway as you drop her back at home, hoping you don’t wake the neighbors (or her folks) as you scream in rapture and finish “deep down” inside of her (that’s probably gonna be number eleven at this point…)
“I can’t quit you babe, so I’m gonna put you down for a while…”
HOW MANY MORE TIMES:
In the early days of Zeppelin, “Bobby” would introduce the rest of the band before proceeding to close the show with this. That’s definitely heavier than the “blues” and darker than the “rock” of the 60’s. What a perfect way to finish out the heaviest album of the decade with one of the heaviest tracks of the decade.
I’m not sure if Jimmy Page knew what he was doing sounded evil as fuck or not, but the use of the bow on guitar is a sound that could only be described as otherworldly (diabolical even). Though probably not quite as “otherworldly” as pumping 11 children into a schoolgirl (“I was a young man, I couldn’t resist…”).
The buildup of “The Hunter” helps to shift the song back into the groove after that supernatural departure in the middle with the bow and the wah on the guitar, something that surely had not been done before this point in music history, at least not on a guitar anyway. And definitely NOT like how Jimmy Page did it.
Fellas, make sure to get your vasectomies sooner rather than later to eliminate the possibility of polluting the planet with 11 more orgasms of youthful indiscretion, infinite expense, and timeless consequence.
“Now I’ve got ten children of my own, I got another child on the way that makes eleven…”
Prepare to rosin up your
bow and know what it means to be “shook” before you start “pumping them in” and “pumping them out ”and ingesting a plate of bacon wrapped, shrimp stuffed, jalapeno poppers that we hope won’t result in any unwanted “burpin’ and fartin’, squirtin’ and shartin’” or unanticipated “boom doom” when you JOIN US for a dive into the “pre-birth” of metal with the heaviest debut album to have ever emerged from Birmingham in the late 60’s as we tackle the crushingly heavy, blues infused, cockrockian, pre-metal sonic fury of LED ZEPPELIN.
Beer of the Episode
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Show Notes:
(00:01): “Ummm, don’t you mean #Exodus?” / #cuntlery #kuntlery or perhaps even #quntlery (depending on your needs and which level you’re dealing with) / It’s unbelievable that we’ve managed to play #oldschool #MichaelBolton on this show (which just happens to be a “tangentional” teaser for our #HairMetalSpectacular) / ***WARNING*** #listenerdiscretionisadvised / ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST!!!*** #beerjizz and #pearlsinthecooler / #bunkerpoongiftshoppe / #thisepisodesclinkyoftheepisode #Fireball / Don’t smoke at a gas pump, but if you ARE thinking about doing it… / #thisepisodesbeeroftheepisode #SamuelAdamsBostonLager #SamuelLAdamsMotherFuckingBostonLager #patriotbeer #fivepercentABV #gooddaydrinkingbeer #markthetime
(06:18): Another reference to #SweetwaterBarAndGrill and some #localmetal #holeinthewall / #southernfried #Godsmack / #shortlived #danishmacnugget / This episodes WE’LL PLAY YOUR SHIT-AH!!! #swampmetal #Silversel #GeorgiaMetal (And a sampling from their album #Inexorable) #awwwman / “A #shittonne of #voicemails” and #thevoicemailsegment ***GIVE US A CALL AND LEAVE US A VOICEMAIL AT 980-666-8182!!!*** #thepostisback #twofer #turddumpsterfire #newqyuhlur #windmills #anothervoicemail / “You’ve gotta build the #infrastructure”/ #comedygenius #refillday #memories #jackpot / #legallybinding #lordofthering #fingernoose / ***Hit us up on the socials on #Instagram or #Facebook or the email at metalnerdery@gmail.com *** “Oh yeah, almost forgot #thejingle for #WellPlayYourShitah”***
(21:32): #shootingtoofarforward #thehumanslingshot and #whoopsiedoodles / #TheDocket LED ZEPPELIN I / Another great quartet of lads from Birmingham (England, not Alabama) / “You went forwards before you went backwards” and the journey of discovering the #LedZeppelin and #BlackSabbath catalogs / “Everybody’s got a path” / #futureepisodeidea #notboring / A #tangentional moment of Bolton and #MiamiVice and #LonelyIsland / Update on #antihot2022 / #canyoubeadoll? / Led Zeppelin I was released one month, one day, and one year prior to #BlackSabbath: Jan. 12, 1969 (vs Feb. 13, 1970) / #mathjokes / #theloreofyore regarding how the mighty #LedZeppelin got their moniker and a bit of backstory (which we may or may not have discussed on our Zeppelin #InsideTheMetal episode). / An interview regarding Led Zeppelin reunions after the passing of John Bonham / #LikeFatherLikeSon / A powerful #skinsman behind the drum kit radically impacts a band’s overall sound & dynamics. / #blackdog
(36:10): GOOD TIMES BAD TIMES #killeropener #thefirstnewalbum (“Perhaps the beginning of #shred?”) “I know what it means to be alone…” / The first ever #cockrock #guitarhero band and the influential power of #JimmyPage / Another #tangentional #futureepisodeidea / “The #Metallica of the 70’s” / (Don’t take credit for someone else’s original work by trying to pass it off as your own. #karmaisreal) / ***See also the #AnneBredon version*** / The #prequelversion #justgo / BABE I’M GONNA LEAVE YOU #whodiditbetter #emotionallyheavy #thesoundofshrooms #stuckthelanding / “The most intense part of this song…you can hear the hurt” #earlyemoASMR / #heavyunplugged / A #tangentional note regarding #Ozzy
(51:39): #theydogodowneasy #markthetime YOU SHOOK ME #translation #backwardsecho (WAY back before we had #stateoftheart #recording and #protools) / #dualkeyboardsolos and some #harmonica #hahhh (“That’ll be the new laugh…”) #theending (Dig that #homemade #backwardsreverb) / Some innovative production techniques regarding #microphoneplacement / DAZED AND CONFUSED #melaninated #microphonehair (Can you spot the “very similar” riff that sounds “very familiar” to another young metal band from Birmingham?) #alltheballs “Lots of people talking, few of them know, soul of a woman was created below…” #readthoselyrics / “It’s an odd sound…” / #bowsolo #waitforit #letsgo / Setting the foundations for #thenextwave of rock (which is #metal) and the beginning of #albumrock / The heaviness and darkness of Zeppelin’s sound relative to their peers at the time (like #TheWho)
(1:08:45): #killeropener #sidetwo (what about #LeadZeppelin?) “Get ready to turn to page #111 in the #metalhymnal and prepare to embrace a #Frankensteined #ZeppelinHymn YOUR TIME IS GONNA COME (“Messin’ around with every guy in town…”) / #ZeppelinUnplugged #instrumental BLACK MOUNTAIN SIDE (***Could someone please #summonthebowlloader and then pass the #hookah?***) / “It just sounds weird…” / “The first ever “thrash” song?” #alldownstrokes COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN (This definitely would have been a better #killeropener for #sidetwo) / A most monumental #returnoninvestment / #inthesackofthebankofknowledge
(1:18:43): A #WillieDixon cover I CAN’T QUIT YOU BABY #nasty #dontdenythepowerof #Bonham / The evolution of Zeppelin’s sound from the first few albums to the later one. ***Go check out our Led Zeppelin #InsideTheMetal #episode***/ See also #TheHunter / The soundtrack to the #bandintroduction by Bobby at their early live shows. HOW MANY MORE TIMES (“I was a young man I couldn’t resist…”) / “I’m sorry, what was that?” / Wait, HOW many!? “He’s pumping them in and she’s pumping them out…” / #OhRosie #OhGirl #waitforit / #DanzigImpressions #futureepisodeideas #baconwrappedjalapenoshrimp #boomdoom / Tracklisting adjustments and alterations / THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR THIS EPISODE OF THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST!!! #untilthenext #markthetime #clearance ***CHECK OUT OUR VIRTUAL #BUNKERPOONGIFTSHOPPE AT metalnerdery.com/merch and purchandise some merchandise*** / #blooperreel #outro #outtakes #hecantouchit #longlivemetalnerdery #hehahuh #bigone
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