This track was a must listen for any guitarist in 70’s, not to mention the whole album of Led Zeppelin I. Recorded in 1968 at Olympic studios in London, this track is a masterful work of hard rock British blues!
The amazing part for me was the breakdown in the middle where Jimmy Page’s bow is scrapping over those steel strings on the tele as he rocks that wah pedal back and forth. To me the birth of hard rock was born out this song, the shot heard around the world that Jimmy fired right out of his amp! Jimmy’s guitar orchestration through this song is just magnificent as he and Plant have a duet dance (voice & guitar) as Page really gets into his solo after the breakdown.
My high school band used to do this song, but never in public-Ha Ha-it was too hard for a bunch of young high teenagers to get through the entire song. The important thing here is to realize that Jimmy Page was the Eddie Van Halen of his day. Every guitarist and band had at least one Zep song in their repertoire or more.
I remember reading the unauthorized biography by Stephen Davis, Hammer of the Gods, where he mentions that Jimmy lifted the song from Jake Holmes who was performing at the Bottom Line club in the village back in the 60’s. I was a bit disappointed that it was not his song to begin with, but I bet the original did not have that one of a kind guitar solo. To this day that song truly holds the test of time, guitar tones and all!
You can learn more about Led Zeppelin here
About the Curator: Brian Tarquin
Multi Emmy Award winning Brian Tarquin is an established top rate composer/guitarist. He has won 3 Emmy's for “Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series” and has been nominated for an Emmy 6 times. In 2019 Tarquin received a Global Music Gold Award for his release Orlando In Heaven for “Best Album.” Three years in a row (2016-2019) Tarquin received “Best Album of the Year” nominations from the Independent Music Awards for his releases: Guitars for Wounded Warriors, Orlando in Heaven, and Guitars for Veterans. On which, Tarquin shows his guitar prowess alongside such world-class shredders as: Steve Morse, Larry Coryell, Billy Sheehan, Bumblefoot (Guns N’ Roses), Reb Beach (Whitesnake), Chuck Loeb (FourPlay) to name a few. In 2006 SESAC honored him with the Network Television Performance Award. Tarquin has graced the Top Billboard Charts with such commercial releases as: This is Acid Jazz, Vol. 2, Sweet Emotions, and Bossa Brava: Caliente on Instinct Records, followed by several solo jazz albums, which charted Top 10 at Smooth Jazz Radio R&R and Gavin charts. Brian has appeared on 38 releases, selling over 140,000 records in his career.