Bands And Albums.

Well here I am. I was a great fan of the Zepp as were most of my fellows in the dope days of the 70's. I never made it to a live show. I had tickets for Dallas when Bonham died. I still like many of their tunes. I just cant seem to get excited about them like I used to. I was easy to impress when all I cared about was getting high and laid. Some things have changed with time. Some havent

Which has changed for you, sans - the getting high part or the getting laid part?

The Zep were gods when I was young, women wanted them and men wanted to be them. The third album and Physical Graffiti are masterpieces, mostly because Page was a great writer and studio musician. But then I saw them in 1977 and was mostly disappointed, Page was drunk and Plant couldn't sing like the recordings. The high point was Bonham's drum solo. Yes they were a glorified blues band, but I have so many memories connected to their music that I still have a place in my heart for the Zep.

I will let you know when my old lady gets home.

In no way, shape , or form do I consider Led Zeppelin a blues band. Or Steppenwolf a blues band. Sure they covered a few blues songs on their earliest albums as did a lot of rock bands in the mid to late 60's. I've been playing blues for over 25 years and I can assure you that Led Zeppelin is definitely NOT a blues band. Do they sound like Freddie King, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, or Stevie Ray Vaughan for that matter? Do they have the same feel and nuance as any of the REAL blues artists? No way. I'm seeing more and more the term blues rock. THERE'S NO SUCH THING. Just remember this axiom: "You can take the boy out of rock, but you can't take rock out of the boy." Later...

Wow, Bob! I never expected that. I always have thought of Steppenwolf as being a blues band, 1st, & a rock band, 2nd. Same with Zep, in the early days.

Ah...you are a "blues purist," no?

Step & Zep differed from most of the other bands that came out originally as blues cover bands, though, in that they continued to play the blues throughout thier careers, didn't they? Heck, I'll admit that even Jethro Tull was a blues band when they 1st came out, but they went elsewhere quickly with the celtic/folk/classical influences.

Step & Zep differed from most of the other bands that came out originally as blues cover bands, though, in that they continued to play the blues throughout thier careers, didn't they? Heck, I'll admit that even Jethro Tull was a blues band when they 1st came out, but they went elsewhere quickly with the celtic/folk/classical influences.

Yea, imo, there's a difference between being influenced by a style and performing in one. For example, I'm semi-influenced by the blues (surprise.. I know!). You may not hear it in my vocals or even the tone, but it definitely 'shaped' my musical ear.
With others, you might hear the blues tone or blues vocal runs, and whatnot.

Ya can't make a cake out of 75 layers unless it's either a sloppy cake or a very special cake...

I>E> If you can't play the lead in one piece, do not think technical tricks will save your ass from the fires of a live performance.

"no splicing"

The first Zep album was mostly blues covers, done in a rock style. If it uses the 1-4-5 pattern it's blues. Blues was very popular in the late 60's, but even Black Sabbath was a blues (and jazz) band at one time.

I'll admit that some of the early Led Zeppelin & Steppenwolf (and many other 60's bands) tunes were blues covers and/or followed blues progressions. But the majority of those bands' songs were NOT blues. You can't call a band a blues band unles they WERE a blues band, and they were NOT. I'm not really a blues purist, although the majority of what we play IS blues, so I would say we're a predominantly blues band. Obviously blues and famous bluesmen were a HUGE influence on early rockers, especially the British invasion. Heck, the Rolling Stones visited Chicago to meet Muddy Waters. When Mick Jagger saw him perform AND witnessed Muddy's lifestyle he must have said to himself "so that's how it's done." So much of the Rollling Stones' stage show and Mick's antics are virtually a carbon copy of what Muddy Waters was doing many years earlier. Anyway, that's my take on it. Later...

So do we get to hear from madside again

Nah they are busy swimming in colt .45 and looking at themselves in the mirror.

Philby,

Love Zep or Hate Zep, They influenced all facets of making music after them and what it means to be a "rockstar", and I bet if you had the chance to be one of them you would jump on it faster than I would.

You can tell I love Zep, and from the guitar I play you can tell who I liked in the band the most. I personally like sloppy guitar solos a lot more than the current cut and paste varietys.

I will never take anything you say about music seriously again, NEVER!

that's kind of funny jw123, because Page was sloppy AND cut and paste.

Yeah, JW, I get that from a lot of Page fans. I still think he was, is, & will probably always be a hack musician that is a fairly decent song writer, when he puts his mind to it.

Anyone can sound good if you take all the crap they play in a studio & splice together the best parts...even me!

It's an insult to the audience to perform unrehearsed or too high or drunk. It's also an insult to call the spliced work your own.

Page could never play the same thing twice, not even his own signature licks. That makes him a jammin' hack in my book, right up there with Jerry Garcia, another well-loved stoned hack. I can't in all honesty call either man a "musician."

Nah, I wouldn't jump at the chance to be a Zepperman. I still have my pride, which gives me the chance to play all these low-paying gigs with other stoned or drunken hacks that won't learn thier parts or finish anything or stay in key or even tune thier effin' axes in some cases.

It's a wonderful life. I wouldn't change a thing.

*jumps outta the way of the incoming lightning blast*

Yeah, they were a huge part of rock history, & they recorded some great material that even I loved. I'm just kinda pissed they didn't take either the music or the fans more seriously. I'm sure they had a lot of fun at our expense, though.

I may not be close to ever replicating what Page was able to as a musician, but I'll say with all honesty that I make fewer mistakes in an entire performance than he does in a single song on stage. Besides, he can't be all that great. I'll bet he never played a single note that I haven't.