‘The New Yardbirds’ was supposed to be a super group featuring Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck (from the Yardbirds), members of The Who and Steve Winwood. What Jimmy Page got was Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. Jimmy Page lucked out.

I imagine I could spend pages and pages on Led Zeppelin, and obviously MANY have written entire books. Yeah – they rock. Yeah – they had some great songs, but they also had their share of poor ones. How could the same group show off John Bonham with ‘Moby Dick’ and then record something like ‘Bonzo’s Montreux’ (which seems to say ‘his drumming is great, but listen to these electronic sounds and voices we can mix in too’)? As a band they certainly had their share of the good, the bad and the ugly (sorry classic rock stations, but ‘All Of My Love’ should never be broadcast ever again… really, the song sucks). But the good could be really really good. And the majority of their work IS good, so it is not too surprising that they are a legendary group. And as a group of musicians, all four of these guys should be in just about any serious rock lovers top 10 lists for their instruments. And while Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were the most visible members of the group, I would be hard pressed to think of a drummer that is/was better then John Bonham, and I think John Paul Jones may be one of the best rock musicians ever. He is an amazingly versatile and rock solid performer who was able to cover just about any instrument need the group had … he was a great bassist, but was also able to easily handle keyboards and mandolin. And he is still going! I remember being impressed with his album with Diamanda Galas back in the 90s, and now he is playing with Dave Grohl and Josh Homme!

I guess after reading the above, I can probably say that John Paul Jones was my favorite member of the band. I have ‘The Lemon Song’ playing right now… and I certainly remember learning the bass part to this song after I switched from guitar to bass. And while just about any rock guitarist will mention Jimmy Page as a guitarist they would want to play like, I imagine I am not the only bass player that heard this song (and ‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘How Many More Times’ and ‘Achilles Last Stand’) and realized how cool being a bass player could be.

What is striking to me most of all about Led Zeppelin is how varied their work really is. Where The Beatles had a trajectory over their studio albums that evolved into more and more complex musical work, Led Zeppelin showed a great amount of stylistic variety on just about every album they put out (and they benefitted pretty much immediately from the studio techniques that The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Pink Floyd had already created). They aren’t just heavy metal’s grandfather… traditional blues, american country and folk, Celtic folk and Indian influences all show up within just the first couple albums. And if you played someone Led Zeppelin III (leaving off ‘Immigrant Song’), how many people would believe you if you said this is the group that basically gets the credit for creating hard rock? And while Led Zeppelin does get more experimental as they gain more experience, there is quite a bit to be said already with the bluesy and dreamy feel that shows up in Led Zeppelin I as it ends with ‘How Many More Times’ (probably my favorite Led Zeppelin song). Led Zeppelin II then starts off with ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and it’s hyper-stereo psychedelic middle section that pulls back together into one of the most amazing guitar and drum conversations on record. So of course the band rocked… but I also love how much of everything else they could be. And that being said – I think I’m going to throw on ‘Battle of Evermore’ and get to bed..

UPDATE: How many better side 1 track 1s are there then ‘Black Dog’??? man…