Ten Ways The Song Remains The Same

Inspired after watching Davis Guggenheim's fantastic It Might Get Loud featuring The Edge, Jack White and...Jimmy Page, I've fashioned some sort of ten point  list.

As a teenager, I discovered all kinds of music, from traditional to offbeat, blues to punk, country to classical, classic rock to rockabilly, but no matter who I got into, no matter how great I thought various ‘60s garage rock bands or Marc Bolan, or The Velvet Underground or The Stooges were, I never strayed from Led Zeppelin -- no matter how ubiquitous they were. And I was obsessed with the ever mysterious Jimmy Page. From 14-18, I had a life size poster of the guitarist in my bedroom. I also had a high school teacher who actually saw Led Zeppelin in concert and I would drive him crazy asking about it. He took to calling me Kimmy Page. There are certain Zeppelin songs that will take me back to ceramics class, when I worked on the perfect pipe, not a bong, which I explained to my teacher’s amusement (really, I was trying to make a pipe), but one tune in particular. The day the principal had a nervous breakdown, walked into class, and smashed all of our projects because he thought everything was a bong, I distinctly remember at that moment, "When the Levee Breaks" playing on the classic rock radio station, making the whole incident a perfect combination of awesome, scary and hilarious. Jimmy Page really is darkness and light.

When I was 15, buzzed after renting The Song Remains the Same, and probably stoned out of my mind, I tried to make Jimmy Page's black (or was it a dark navy blue?) moon and stars pantsuit get-up. I actually got it halfway right. I wore it to school with a pink silk scarf. I wanted to craft his white, Nudie-esque suit, the alpha to his dark lord omega costume, but that proved tougher.

One of my only childhood pictures during Christmas is me excitedly holding my copy of "Hammer of the Gods." I learned a lot about alternative uses for, ahem, fish.

When I was at the Joshua Tree Inn, I missed Robert Plant when he stayed there because I was in Los Angeles that day. On certain days, this makes me want to cry.

When I was in Los Angeles, I missed the chance to interview Jimmy Page because I was in Joshua Tree that day. This really makes me want to cry. Maybe my time is gonna come...someday. Or, as the song goes, I'm gonna make you pay for that great big hole in my heart...

Along with Frank Sinatra's "A Summer Wind," "Bron-Yr-Aur" was the only song that would chill me out during a bad acid freak out. I once walked through a thicket in the middle of the night while the song blared from the car stereo, turning imagined melting demon goblins into beautiful magical fairys. Thank you Led Zeppelin. It still calms me down in any situation.

I skipped prom at 16, gave my dress to my friend and listened to Physical Graffiti in my bedroom. I’m fairly certain my mother was downstairs in the kitchen, staring at knives, devising ways of murdering my rocker-girl ass.

I'm still annoyed Peter Jackson didn't do the no-brainer by having Tolkien obsessed Robert Plant sing "Ramble On" during the closing credits for any one or all of The Lord of the Rings movies.  

When I found my stepdad's orginal LP of Zeppelin II as well as others and (and!) a book by Aleister Crowley, I looked at him as an entirely different kind of human being. Jimmy and magick? This was serious, scary, exciting, sex, drugs, rock n' roll and everything else. I commandeered the LP. And I stole the book.

I don't care how over-played they were/are on Classic Rock Radio, Led Zeppelin is still one of the greatest rock bands ever. And "Tangerine" is still one of the prettiest rock songs ever written. As is "Going to California." As is the lush "The Rain Song." And "Sick Again" still makes me want to get into trouble. And "In My Time of Dying" is still transcendent. And the beautifully enigmatic, yet charming Jimmy Page provided me with one of my happiest, most goose-bump inducing moments in movies this year -- listening to his 45 of Link Wray’s "Rumble" in Guggenheim's It Might Get Loud, pointing out every genius aspect to the song, beaming with happiness as he air guitairs (Jimmy Page air guitars!) -- he remains the quintessence of pure musical bliss. Long live Jimmy. RIP John Bonham.

Comments

[Sam]

Terrific piece on one of my favorite ROCK bands. My Zep remembrances always link back to the days of teenage/20-something sex. The soundtrack by the dashboard or stereo light.

[Brad W]

And Led Zeppelin's LPs (and much classic rock from that era), played on a decent system, definitively demonstrate the sad inferiority of some of the more recent formats. Just cue up the track The Ocean from Houses of the Holy at a somewhat aggressive volume and any argument about that should be over.

[curtis cook]

Kenneth Anger was just at the Hammer, and is still doing cemetary screenings, Jimmy was living in Aleister Crowleys house Boleskine when he was doing the soundtrack for Lucfer Rising...Kenneth turned into a jerk as usual so Jimmy quit the project, and Bobby Beausoleil from the manson family finished it. There are so many cool stories about rock and magick!

[Jeff Duncanson]

Ah, "When the Levee Breaks" - The best ever MTFT song.

(Music to __ to)

Love your site, BTW

[molly kiely]

Wow, you've managed to do something none of my boyfriends ever could -- convince me to actually LISTEN to Led Zeppelin. Thank you.

[George Schmidt]

Great article !
The whole bong-smashing h.s. incident is hilarious! True definition of 'ironic', don't ya think?
Long Live the Mighty Zep!
Kudos Kimmy Page!
xoxo
g

[Greg]

Thanks for the throwback, Kim. I'm warmed to know you're still living reflections from a dream. The summer before 9th grade, Andrew M. and I played song after song after song. And then I'd go home and long-distance call KGSR to request just one more. It was the best preparation for your early morning quizzes once school started. Do you still remember times like these?

[Tim 'Gonzo' Gordon]

I wish I could say I latched onto Zep on my own, but it was my older brother who brought home their first and second LPs while I was bashing my way through Beatles, Raiders, Yardbirds and Stones. Years later when "Physical Graffiti" was released we stayed up all night on acid and listened to it at least twice in a row. Nothing like breaking in a new Zep album... Aaah, great memories.

[Reno Sepulveda]

There was a time when it was fashionable to bag on Led Zeppelin and I'm ashamed to say I jumped on that pathetic bandwagon for awhile. I had a halfway decent reason though. Twice I had bought a ticket to their show up in in Oakland and twice they cancelled.

I still have all their old albums though, and that is where Page's genius is most apparent. All those layered guitar parts are part of my generation's DNA. Every now and then I go into my shed and plug in my old guitar and play that crunchy riff from "No Quarter" until my wife screams at me to stop. Better than a heavy bag workout.

[Prom Dresses]

Wow... That was both a fun read and a nice trot down memory lane. :)

[JP]

I cant wait to see this Rockumentary. Zeppelin is so many things to so many people. I think the highlight of my life would be to sit for 15 minutes with Jimmy Page and have him show me the "right" way to play The Rain Song on my guitar. I must have watched the Song remains the same 100x and still cant figure out how he plays as brilliantly as he does. Did you ever watch his hands during the Dazed and Confused solos? Gives me the chills thinking about it. My wife thinks I am crazy because I would probably ditch her to go live with Jimmy Page :)

[Ian Burns]

Marc Bolan,Led Zeppelin and Link Wray all in one article!As Lux would no doubt have agreed,the girls got good taste.