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5 people online in the last 60 minutes - 0 Canucks, 0 Canucks In Hiding and 5 Visiting Canucks. (Most ever was 233 at 09:22:13 Fri Sep 21 2007) |
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LedZeppelinHarmony  I'm Hiding  1000302 posts    Mood Now:  
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 1. Black Dog 2. Rock And Roll 3. The Battle Of Evermore 4. Stairway To Heaven 5. Misty Mountain Hop 6. Four Sticks 7. Going To California 8. When The Levee Breaks Produced by Recorded by Mixed by Musicians:
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mick_thomson_rules  I'm Asleep  783 posts    Mood Now: 
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My gosh, you're such a huge Zeppelin fan, I couldn't believe it.
Anyway, Stairway to Heaven sounds sad, sometimes make you wanna sleep, although there's no REAL meaning in the lyrics. But the solo rocks!!!! That's the best work ever done, Jimmy Page rocks!!!!
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dazed and confused  I'm Asleep posts  Mood Now: 
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Hailed as simply the finest rock ballad of all time, the track slipped almost unnoticed into the general public's consciousness as the band gradually introduced it into their live act. Their fans, of course, hearing it at such venues as the L.A. Forum, greeted it with tremendous applause. The first British fans heard of this rather good new Zep number was when it was played at a particularly exciting and memorable gig at Belfast's Ulster Hall of March 5, 1971.
The band had arrived in Northern Ireland at a time when "The Troubles" were at their height. In fact, violent fights were going on just a few streets away during the concert, as an official later informed the fearful party of press and musicians. A petrol tanker was hijacked, a youth was shot dead and fire bombs were hurled the night Zeppelin came to town. Yet there was no hint of violence or trouble during the show. Quite the reverse. The band was showered with affection by a crowd almost hysterical in their appreciation and enthusiasm. Here was a rock band that actully had the courage to tour during a dangerous time. They kicked off with "Immigrant Song" and previewed quite a bit of material from the fourth album that evening, including "Black Dog". After a stunning version of "Dazed and headscratch" came the new unheralded song that at first intrigued and then swept away the audience. The magic and pathos of the piece seemed even to be even more relevant in the warring atmosphere of the times. During the performance, Page played a double-necked guitar utilising both twelve and six strings. The finger-picked contrapuntal guitar intro became one of rock's best known phrases, beloved by all aspiring guitarists--and actually banned from being played in some musical instument shops along with Deep Purple's "rasta on the Water". Plant sang the romantic tale with all the passion at his command. If Plant announced it to the crowd, the title could barely be heard above the din. I had a funny notion that the new song would be a hit and Plant was smiling when he talked about it on the plane ride back to London. It was a wonder that Plant was in a mood to smile-the night before Bonham had aimed a punch at his head during an altercation in the hotel. I quaked in my bedroom as I heard the row blazing and Bonham pounding on Peter Grant's door. "Peter I've done something terrible. I've hit Robert!" "Shut up. And go to bed", growled Grant from the depths of his room. I never found out what caused the argument, but I had seen Plant earlier offering Bonham a banana after he'd completed his drum solo, as if rewarding a perticularly clever chimp. They had a way of winding each other up. On the flight home, Page, quiet, polite and friendly as ever, told me about the new songs on Led Zeppelin IV. He explained that the intro to "Stairway" on the record also featured wooden recorders played by John Paul Jones. "We can't reproduce them on stage, but the acoustic guitars come off well. The words are brillant--they are the best Robert has ever written". The song had been assembled through a process of trial and experiment, but came together qite quickly. At the recording session they had put down a rehearsal version on tape first, which helped put the words into focus. Page later said, "I had 'Stairway' tucked away on my cassettes. Robert arrived at Headley Grange quite late in the day and I'd actually got all the musical part together from beginning to end. Robert came with 60 percent of thelyrics off the cuff, which was quite something. He was listening to the music, sitting on a stool by a log fire and jotting away, and suddenly he came out with all these lyrics. When we were recording it, there were little bits, little sections that I'd done. I was getting reference pieces down on cassettte, and sometimes I'd refer back to them if I felt there was something right that could be included." The crucial moment after the acoustic build up, when John Bonham comes in with all drums blazing, was a brilliant touch. As Page remembers: "It was an idea I'd used before to give it that extra kick." Then there is a fanfare towards the solo and Robert comes in with his tremendous vocal. "Stairway to Heaven" crystallized the essence of the band. It had everything there and showed the band at its best. We were careful never to release it as a single. It was a milestone for us. Every musician wants to do something of lasting quality, something that will hold up for a long time, and I guess we did it with "Stairway" The bulk of the eight-minute piece, including Page's fiery Fender Telecaster guitar solo over those familiar series of grandiose chords, was recorded at Island Studios in London, rather than at Headley Grange. Page knew it was going to be a complex construction and he needed full studio facilities to complete the production work. One of the most difficult moments came when Bonham had to slot in the right beats when the 12-string section led into the main guitar solo. Engineer Andy Johns remembers that the song and its arrangement were done before the band came into the studio, then it was cut in straight-forward fashion with Jimmy Page on acoustic guitar, John Paul Jones at an upright Hohner electric piano and John Bonham sat behind his kit. Once some bass had been put on, Page began adding guitar overdubs. "I knew it was going to be a monster," recalls the engineer. "I didn't know it would become a bloody anthem!" The full impact of the song only really sank in when the album was finally released. Over the following years, as the song grew in stature, it became the most played track of all time on US radio. In London it became No.1 in Capital Radio's Top Five Hundred, just one of the many awards it picked up. As late as 1983 it was voted "All time greatest track" in the UK Kerrang! magazine's reader poll. In fact the buzz about the song grew to embarrassing proportions, which, in later years, led Plant to disown the blantant romanticism of the tale of the gilded lady. He almost refused to sing it when the band got together for their 1985 Live Aid appearance and dropped it from the Page/Plant tour of 1995, saying it was irrelevent in a tougher age of rock. He felt there were many other Zeppelin songs that he could relate to with more confidence. He insisted that "Kashmir" was the definitive Zeppelin song and not "Stairway", which he called a "nice, pleasant, well-meaning, naive, very English little song". Yet Plant created genuine poetry with his selected use of words and imagry, and there was no hint of cloying sweetness or banility in his opening words: "There's a lady who's sure all that glitter is gold and she's buying a stairway to heaven". The lyrics were tastefully reproduced on the LPs inner sleeve in specail lettering that Page discovered in a back issue of an old arts magazine, Studio." Plant recalls that work on the song begun after Bonham and Jones had left Headley Grange for the evening to visit London's Speakeasy Club, a popular musicians' watering hole. "Jimmy and I stayed and we got the themes and thread of it right then and there. The lyrics were a cynical thing about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time wihtout giving anything back. It was all done very quickly. It was a very fluid, unnaturally easy track. There was something pushing it saying "You guys are okay, but if you wish to do soemthing timeless, here's a wedding song for you." Curiously, a phrase similar to Zeppelin's appears on 'Skip Softly my Moonbeams', a track on the 1968 Procol Harum album Shine on Brightly. Gary Brooker sings the Keith Reid lyric which goes "The stairs to heaven lead straight down to hell". However, Reid does not believe there is any connection with the Led Zeppelin classic. "I've never even been aware of that. I shouldn't think Zeppelin even noticed it, either. It's just one of those great coincidences," reflects Keith. Even stranger is the fact that Brooklyn-born songwriter Neil Sedaka had a Top 10 hit in America witha song called "Stairway to Heaven', in 1960, but nobody remembered it during the Zeppelin era a decade later. For Page it remains a magical piece of work, a flowing melody which he would only play as an instrumental when he returned as a solo artist, after the demise of Led Zeppelin. No one other than Robert Plant would be allowed to sing it. In 1982, at a charity concert held in London's Royal Albert Hall, he played it with almost demonic energy. With a cigarette pasted on his lower lip, clutching his guitar, he struggled around the stage, as if literally rebuilding his life before the eyes of an appreciative auidence. There was always a huge demand for the song to be released as a single, but the band and their management resisted the idea. Said Page: "They tried everything to convince us it should come out as a single, but we jsut said 'no'. It would have destroed the whole feel of the album." As with previous Zep albums containing obvious hits, the LP topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact "Stairway" was briefly issued on a rare picture disc in the US with "Hey, Hey What Can I Do' on the B-side. In Australia an EP appeared called "The accoustic side of Zeppelin", which featured 'Stairway to Heaven', 'Going to California', and 'The Battle of Evermore'. In February 1992, a special limited edition promotional copy of 'Stairway' was released to commemorate the song's 20th anniversary. With its carefully constructed arrangement, tasteful use of dynamics and the grand climax that gradually fades to black, "Stairway" has all the atributes most rock songs tend to lack. the band was justly proud of their achievement and Page called it "A glittering thing". After the band had finished their March 1971 Ireland dates, they went on to the small venue trip around England, which finished with a show at the Marquee in London's Soho. In the packed and overheated club (which had first refused Zeppelin's booking on the grounds that they didn't believe the caller was serious, or indeed that he was Peter Grant) 'Stairway to Heaven' achieved a new kind of intimacy. Whatever the setting and whether played by symphony orchestras or cabaret singers, it reached out to people. A group called the Far Corporation had a hit with a version in December 1985, whihc, if nothing else, sparked off fresh interest in a band that had, by then, been woefully neglected for some years. Evenwhen the song was covered years later by Australian comedian Rolf Harris, in a bizarre singalong version, somehow the strength of the tune survived--wobble-board and all. The track was part of an album called "Stairways to Heaven", consisting of 22 different cover versions of the song by Australian artists. Rolf's groovy version was actually a UK top 10 hit which he performed on BBC TV's Top of the Pops. Most Zeppelin fans thought that it was quite funny once they'd got over the shock, and refused to take umbrage, and nor did Plant: "Was I upset about Rolf doing 'Stairway to Heaven"? No, not at all. I'll get me own back. Look, who cares? When I get back on the road I'll do a couple of Rolf Harris songs!" 
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dazed and confused I'm Asleep posts Mood Now:
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Here was an early example of John Paul Jones using electric piano on a bright, fast-paced tune which Plant has often revived since its inception. It's dreamy lyrics have a "stoned hippie" feel, enlivened by a stomping bass drum beat. While it is an apparently simple theme, there is an odd feeling about the phrasing and rhythm. Plant sings rather menacingly: "Why don't you take a look at yourself and describe what you see?" which might possibly be a poke at record reviewers.
Plant has hinted that the song was originally devised in honor of a love-in session that took place in London during that hippie era and was broken up by the police. Said Jimmy Page: "We were just playing around and suddenly I came up with the opening part of 'Misty Mountain Hop' and then we were off. Jonesy put the chords in for the chorus and that would shape it up. We used to work pretty fast."
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Kristall
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Four Sticks is sure to grab anyone's attention. It's very quick and lively. Bonzo put the beat together nicely without overdoing it. Most drummers would have a problem with this!
When the Levee Breaks is my favourite song! To me, everything just goes together perfect! The drums were recorded in Bonzo's basement to give that echo. Page did great with the solo, and Plant's voice is awesome! I could listen to this song over and over. |
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Storm Trooper
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Correction to the last reply: The drum part wasn't recorded in his basement it was recorded in a stairwell with the mic placed a few flights above bonham.
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mick_thomson_rules I'm Asleep 783 posts Mood Now:
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I wasn't amazed when I first heard Stairway to Heaven (I knew the Zeps this year, kinda late but I'm 15), until when I was learning the guitar part, which was amazingly molodic, musical & also one of the greatest pieces of work in rock!
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lunchface
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I've never actually sat down and analyzed it all. I know that there are alot of references to Lord of the Rings, however. Such as "rings of smoke through the trees","the piper" and the "May queen." Overall I guess Stairway to Heaven is just a very spiritual song, and everyone has their own interpretation of it.
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moonshine I'm Asleep 56 posts    Mood Now: 
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I think everyone has gotten a bit burned out with it, but Stairway to Heaven is still a helluva great song… it's definitely a song that they are know for by just about everyone. So, for those who were never introduced to Zeppelin when they were in their prime, got a dose of them whether they liked it or not. I rate the song a 10*, but the I rate all Zeppelin songs a 10*… LOL. What can I say, I love 'em…
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mick_thomson_rules I'm Asleep 783 posts Mood Now:
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Yeah, I agree. Music is music, radio is radio, if any station overplay it, then it's the station's fault. There's a local station here which plays some old songs again & again, you couldn't blame the songs for this, rite? Anyway Stairway… isn't the best LZ song, I overrated it…
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TangerineLed I'm Asleep 48 posts   
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Misty Mountian Hop is one of my all time Favorite Led Zep songs
 It's such a carefree song that reminds me of the day's when People use to wear flowers in their hair  I get a good feeling when I hear this song  I think I'm gonna have to listen to it right now   It's Been a Long Time… This song shows the band's ability to make a song in just one session. I read somewhere that while doing one of the many takes for Four Sticks, Bonzo just started to drum out an old Jerry Lee Lewis, I think it was, song and it became Rock'n Roll and they did it in only one take. Amazing isn't it how talented all the members were so talented 
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zeppelinmommy I'm Asleep 90 posts  
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Now my kids really love Black Dog. They especially like the beginning of this song, where it goes, "Hey, hey, mama, said
the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove." They are so cute when they sing this line. I think this is one of their favorite songs.My kids generally don't like commercials… but they always have to watch the Caddilac commercial. They really love Rock and Roll, too. Sometimes, I think they can get a little too wild, though, when the song is playing.  Whenever that commercial comes on, they always like to point out to everyone, that that's "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin.Annette
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BobCaygeon I'm Asleep 860 posts  
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Amazingly, we really don't hear the commercial all that much. This was one of the songs that has really gotten my oldest daughter hooked onto Led Zeppelin, though. Even to this day, the fourth album is still her favourite.
Keep on rockin'. 
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AprilWineChick  I'm Asleep 7847 posts   Mood Now: 
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I suppose they have no idea what that line is about, though, right?
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kierra I'm Asleep 460 posts  
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Yeah, Adrienne gets really excited when Black Dog comes on. This is one of those songs that really does get your adrenaline running. This is definitely not a song that your kids should listen to right before bedtime.
My kids all love Rock and Roll. This is a pretty fun song that you can bounce around, too. This is also not a song that kids should listen to right before bedtime. This is definitely one of those songs that anyone can like, though. Kierra
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Tangerine_Plant  I'm Asleep 2441 posts  Mood Now: 
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So, in other words, those are not songs for falling asleep to.
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BobCaygeon I'm Asleep 860 posts
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Well, not really. My children do fall asleep with the classic rock station on. As a matter of fact, they have a hard time falling asleep without the radio on.
Keep on rockin'.
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kierra I'm Asleep 460 posts
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Yesterday, when we took our girls out to eat… there was a jukebox in our restaurant. I gave each of my girls a quarter, and told them all that they could each pick a song to play. Well, Adrienne picked this song. The restaurant had Led Zeppelin's fourth album.
Kierra
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HighwayGirl  I'm Asleep 1697 posts   Mood Now: 
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That sounds like a lovely story, Kierra!
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