Excellent look-back piece in yesterday’s Washington Post by Chris Richards on Led Zeppelin, one of five honorees tonight at the Kennedy Center.
Everybody has their number one rock and roll
band. Hard to deny the Beatles and
the Stones, but Zep has always done it for me. I saw them in
Greensboro in 1977, easily the greatest concert of my life, and that includes all
the shows by my beloved Rush.
I agree with Richards's praise of Kashmir, “perhaps the most expansive rock song ever recorded.” I dare you to listen to it and not air drum along with the late John Bonham.
Of course, there’s Stairway to Heaven, Misty Mountain Hop, Immigrant Song, Whole Lotta Love…
Sure, the band’s music was too bombastic at times (remember the JBL’s stacked high), Page’s association with the occult and Aleister Crowley was a bit creepy, and you have to be at least 45 to have seen them live.
Plant, Page and John Paul Jones sure do look mortal in the posted pics, but in their heyday, they were the immortal gods. Congrats to them on their new lofty status.
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