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How'd you get hooked on Led?


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Great thread! I can't believe I missed it.... 'til now!

My earliest memories of music go back to when I was 3 years old when my Dad would put me up on the bar at the local “Gin Mill” as he used to call it, and I would dance to “Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime” by The Jamies (I love the internet, you can find out just about anything! As if I would have remembered who wrote this song and what year it was, sheesh!) Next was “The Twist” which every kid and his hula-hoop was required to do. It wasn’t until 1964-5 or so that I got to listen to my own selection of music. I was given a hand-held AM transistor radio and WABC was in it’s heyday. “Help Me Rhonda” was my first favorite song that I can remember. Love those Beach Boys harmonies. Hang with me here I do have a point to all this.

From 65 ‘til about 68 pop music and AM radio really exploded. You had all this old pop music, mixed with 50’s rock’n’roll, mixed with sappy love songs, mixed with the Motown greats Otis Redding, mixed with visionary stuff like Hendrix and Sgt. Peppers era Beatles. We had our proto-MTV shows on TV: Hullabaloo, and Where the Action Is. Very Austin powers-ish, only for real. “Where” was hosted by Paul Revere and the Raiders. All the chicks dug Mark Lindsay. He had to be 25-26 in 67 (we were 12) and a rumor got out that he slept with girls. The Raiders had snuck into that pop radio scene a song called “Good Things’ that had a breathy part that sounded like sex and everyone knew it. I just listened to a clip of it at CD now. Like the Beach Boys harmonies with a sexy singer. I was 12 at the time and lost all respect for him. I swear life as that innocent once. At the same time that this poppy music scene was growing there was the rough underbelly of artists who were doing some revolutionary stuff. The older kids on my block had a garage band and would have their regular Friday night shows in the garage, duh. We would watch from the fence across the street cause my mom wouldn’t let us hang with the older kids. I was 12 or 13 and prime geek material. This band was awesome! Their music was new and powerful. It wasn’t til a year later that FM radio was invented that I realized that the music these guys were playing were the Hendrix, Crème, MC5 tracks that never made AM radio, not their own music!

Being a Catholic school kid, in the late 60’s all the Nuns were trying to do that “reach out to the kids” thing where they’d get us to bring in albums and analyze the lyrics to interpret the artists meaning. I hated that shit, and was turned off to meaningful lyrics for many years, yet look at me now, I’m compelled to decipher meaning in my favorite music today. Be careful, what you hate then, you now become. Actually the tools of analysis have been very helpful in my search for justifying my opinions, however worthless a pastime it mostly is.

By spring ’69 a girl names Kathy Stark, brought in an album called Led Zeppelin. We all hiked on her ‘cause we thought it was a rip off of Iron Butterfly. By Fall of ’69 Zep had released Zep II and the edited version of Whole Lotta Love was on the air. The Zep oozed sex and power. I bought the album for my sister for Christmas, my dad had just bought “a stereo” (I thought it sounded like “restaurant” music, cause that was the only place I had ever heard more than one speaker), and I decided to give the album a spin, with the headphones after everyone had gone to bed.

My sister got no present that year, and I have been a Zep-aholic from then on. Saw them in '75 a few weeks before PG came out (took acid for the first time - oh boy!) and in '77.....

Edited by BUK
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  • 2 weeks later...

I remember the BBC broadcast. We were living in Scotland at the time My eldest sister was babysitting me and my other 'middle' sister. The elder sister was a Yardbirds fan and knew what was coming. So we all had to listen to it on the family Stereo gram, quietly, or else! I was only nine or ten so it didn't really do anything for me then. Even when she bought the LP which she kept locked in her war-drobe anyway, I didnt give it much thought

Fast forward, shortly after the release of Led Zeppelin 3. In a school music lesson our new glamorous young American student music teacher. Is trying to get us to sing the trad song Gallows Pole. A voice at the back of the class shouts "Miss this is old dead music" Said, glam teacher ( Blonde blue eyed and a clever minx ) pulls out LZ 3 and puts it on the dilapidated old school phonograph.

The class wern't convinced, but I was! Since I was a Music room monitor ( just to get near to her lovelyness) and whilst I was clearing up the books, she played more of LZ 3. When I got home, I clandestinely accessed Eldest sisters war-drobe via the strangely broken back pane, and there it was. I didnt have any money to buy my own LP's But when I did in about '75, it was one of the first lp's I bought. (Second hand off a mate!) Not long after, Glam Music teacher moved back to North Carolina ( Lovely accent!) and we as a family moved to England. Not long after that I started to learn guitar. The early Zeppelin lp's were my next tutor, after Bert Weedon's Play in a day and The obligatory Shadows numbers of course.

The rest, as they say, was "Biological Research"

Edited by Mario Cavaradossi
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It must've been about 1989 or so. "Classic rock" was just becoming a thing, at least in the isolated rural area in Central Louisiana where I grew up. I was 14 and had been into the hard rock/heavy metal bands of the day for a year or two.

I was listening to a late-night radio program where the local station played classic rock for a few hours. "Rock and Roll" came on... blew me away. I had no idea who it was-- I actually thought it was a German band :sarcastic_hand: ...I had a tape with some Scorpions on it, and it sounded like Plant had a German accent.. "Bin a long tahm since ah rock und rawled..."

It took some digging, but I figured out that THIS was the Led Zeppelin that I'd read about and heard so many of the hard rock/metal guys in name-drop in Hit Parader. I managed to find a copy of Zeppelin IV in the local Walmart, I believe, and was transported... not least, of course, by "Stairway", the title of which I'd heard mentioned in "Fast Times At Ridgemont High", and whispered about as a *gasp* "satanic" song.

From there, I found LZ I, and was completely hooked. Soon after, I met a guy a couple years older than me who'd just transferred to our high school. I actually thought he was a new teacher; he always dressed in khakis and plaid button-down shirts, and stood apart looking on like he was keeping an eye on all us stoners and heads during recess and lunch. He spotted my Zeppelin magazine one day, and got all excited. Turns out he was a super fan, and had everything they'd recorded and all the memorabilia, bootlegs, etc, he could get his hands on. A couple days later he turns up with a stack of 4 or 5 cassettes-- copies of II, III, Houses, idk what all else.

From then on... well, you know. :bubble:

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I have listened to LZ for 16 years or so but not nearly to the extent that I have over the last 12 months. Being a drummer I always put John Bonham at the top of my influence list. I remember writing a paper about him in the second grade. I had an older friend who had a few albums and I can remember listening to PG on his brother's Pioneer stereo and loving Trampled Under Foot, Kashmir, and IMTOD. Time went on and I listened to a lot of other bands. Alice In Chains became my favorite band through high school and I listened to rock and rap (WTH was I thinking?) in college. I have now come to the realization that MOST current day music just isn't very good IMO especially the stuff that is on pop radio.

I have a very obsessive personality and will dive head-on into music or projects on a whim and stay with them for long periods of time especially if they push the right button. I remember one night early last year I flipped on Paladia and the O2 reunion show was on. I listened to a couple of songs and remembered how great Zeppelin was. Then I heard a song I had never heard before and pulled out Shazam on my phone. It was No Quarter. I downloaded it on Youtube and I was hooked on LZ. No Quarter from the O2 show was the first LZ song on my iPod (and at this point the only track from the O2 show I've d/l). Mothership was next which is a great place to start for someone listening to Zep. Now I am completing all of the albums a few songs at a time. I have all of I,II,IV PG, Presence, and ITTOD. I only lack about 10 songs to complete the rest of the albums. As I have listened to the entire Zep catalog a great appreciation for their music both on the surface and as a musician myself has emerged. To me there really is NO comparison. I spend a lot of time in my car with my job so there is a ton of time to listen to music. There have been times I have listened to nothing but Zeppelin for a month straight. The music never gets old. I have also spent a lot of time reading on this forum and other sources so I have learned a lot about the band, their history, stories, etc. I'm not near the expert as many here but I think I know more than the average person.

LZ is stuck with me from now on. The music is too good to let go of again.

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Sabbath - Heavy Metal

Led Zep - Hard rock (WRONG)

But wait, 47% of LZ's catalogue is folk/acoustic. Only 26% of their album output can be considered original rock songs. 26% freaking percent, people. Hard rock band? I think not.

LZ's rock tracks are all in the keys of A and E, use standard tunings, and hardly use power chords at all. Page borrowed every stock-in-trade technique from blues and rock and roll for his paltry rock song output.

LZ was a freaking folk band.

LZ was nothing more than eclectic stylisations, extreme loudness and developments in production.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was a big Queen fan in the 80s following Live Aid. Few years ago, I bought a Q magazine devoted to Queen and at the back was a feature where Brian May listed 10 albums that were influential to him. Led Zep I & II were on the list and whilst I always liked Stairway had never ventured further. I picked up these 2 CDs for a song (sorry!) and gradually listened and then started playing II constantly in the car till I had assimilated it in my head, then I. Lost my Dad in July 2013 and listened a lot more esp to II and it helped me through a difficult time. Bought III & IV together, liked those, got HOTH, less impressed with that. Really like PG & the BBC CD 2 set. Just got Presence and am still assimilating it, Achilles stands out, but all the others are more than listenable. Bought a good quality Marantz amp & CD player last year and this makes a tremendous difference. Got reissued II recently as well, have not had a chance for proper listen. First time posting to the forum so hope this is in keeping with it all!

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Sabbath - Heavy Metal

Led Zep - Hard rock (WRONG)

But wait, 47% of LZ's catalogue is folk/acoustic. Only 26% of their album output can be considered original rock songs. 26% freaking percent, people. Hard rock band? I think not.

LZ's rock tracks are all in the keys of A and E, use standard tunings, and hardly use power chords at all. Page borrowed every stock-in-trade technique from blues and rock and roll for his paltry rock song output.

LZ was a freaking folk band.

LZ was nothing more than eclectic stylisations, extreme loudness and developments in production.

Wrong.Page used a lot of different tuning on his so called folk songs Black Mountain Side,Friends,That's The Way,Born yr Air(Stomp),Kashmir,Rain Song,I could go on, but he is a thieving magpie.Hmm not many power chords?Plenty of riffs though!
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I got into Led Zeppelin through playing the guitar. Aware of them throughout the 70's they were not all that accessible in the UK to a young kid, no singles, rarely shown on television etc. My elder sister had albums and older friends raved about them. I was more into glam rock at the time then punk and goth.

So I had this sort of awareness of Led Zep but not really into them as such. Then after about 20 years of bashing at the guitar I wanted more. I found the variety of Led Zeppelin's music appealing, alternative tunings, slide guitar, good mix of acoustic and electric huge variety of influences. The more I started to listen to the music, the more I got into it. First song I learnt was Black Dog, after years at the guitar I finally had something come out of it that was really satisfying to hear and play. Been totally hooked since.

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  • 4 weeks later...

My older brother, late 70s, had LZ IV. I heard peeps talking about the band but I never listened to them. Then I did. I thought this was so different from everything else. They were my stepping stone to hard rock, metal, and then punk. Once i hit my late 30s and the internet exploded I started listening to all of the boots our LZ friends would post. Those are the be all end all. The 3 hours of lunacy. The hammer of the gods. I now seek out out obscure late 60s early 70s hard rock, hard blues, heavy psych hoping that there might be another Zep I missed out on. I haven't found it yet but I have discovered some gems that I never would have discovered if it wasn't for Zep. You can take my collection of over 1000 cds and vinyl just leave me my Zep.

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  • 4 months later...

What a great website. Joined for two reasons. To finally find some like minded fans of the greatest improvisational live band ever (including rock, country, orchestra ;) and to answer this question.

Grew up in late 60's early 70's too young to appreciate good music. I remember mom hopping around the house cleaning and picking up listening to Neal Diamond and Elvis on the tiny radio, but other than that, my mind was into bikes, tree houses and fishing.

Then came The Hi-Fidelity Stereo my dad bought around '76. Big nobs, lights and speakers. The amp looked like a jet dashboard. The record player had a strobe to "tune in" the speed. Neat stuff to a near teen.

I remember hearing Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac and really liking this "edgier music".

Then came "Frampton Comes Alive" and the final solo. I was hooked and began to want to play guitar.

Teen years came with love for Skynyrd (mainly because we could play it) and any other guitar type bands.

In the early to mid 80's, Zeppelin was hard to find on the radio. Dinosaurs.

New music with it's catchy sounds (think Malmstien) and V.H. were what was pushed music-wise. And who could deny that Yngve and Randy were playing more notes per second than anyone else!!! They must be the greatest!

One day in late in high school years a fellow guitar player grabbed me by the shoulders and said "I saw The Song Remains the Same last night. And JIMMY PAGE IS THE BEST GUITARIST EVER".

Not many of the fellow guitarists believed him, mainly because LZ was too hard to play. Not many garage bands were doing Four Sticks.

This resonated with me and a few months later (things moved a lot slower back then) I bought the album version of TSRTS because I figured that the live version of Stairway was on it.

Then, as the love story goes, along came No Quarter. "Holy Fecal Matter!!!". What a song. I was hooked and started to slowly accumulate the catalogue from 1 to Coda.

Each album was captivating in it's music and mystery. Each album now can evoke memories of the months dedicated to its listening. This post could get ridiculously long to speak of those stories. From acid trips to sword making, we all have 'em.

My first foray into the boots came in the early 90's. Like every Zeppelin fan, starving for a fix of anything Zep.

I had just broken up with a high school sweetheart and a friend had picked up the Paris Theater BBC boot "Going to California".

I was floored. The ambiance and beauty of GTC and jazzy feel of WIAWSNB was intoxicating. I was hooked.

I could go on, but I really like Zep and after 25 years of collecting, I can say I have every concert recording that is out there and have listened to them all. (There may be a MD or two that I skipped).

50 years old and I'm still blown away. Often copied but never equaled. The music is always fresh.

I was at a Zoso (tribute band) concert lately and I enjoyed watching the young crowd mouth every word as much as the music.

Timeless.

It's good being an old fart and being vindicated. Long live the greatest improvisational, mysterious, sonically powerful, talented band ever.

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What a great website. Joined for two reasons. To finally find some like minded fans of the greatest improvisational live band ever (including rock, country, orchestra ;) and to answer this question.

Grew up in late 60's early 70's too young to appreciate good music. I remember mom hopping around the house cleaning and picking up listening to Neal Diamond and Elvis on the tiny radio, but other than that, my mind was into bikes, tree houses and fishing.

Then came The Hi-Fidelity Stereo my dad bought around '76. Big nobs, lights and speakers. The amp looked like a jet dashboard. The record player had a strobe to "tune in" the speed. Neat stuff to a near teen.

I remember hearing Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac and really liking this "edgier music".

Then came "Frampton Comes Alive" and the final solo. I was hooked and began to want to play guitar.

Teen years came with love for Skynyrd (mainly because we could play it) and any other guitar type bands.

In the early to mid 80's, Zeppelin was hard to find on the radio. Dinosaurs.

New music with it's catchy sounds (think Malmstien) and V.H. were what was pushed music-wise. And who could deny that Yngve and Randy were playing more notes per second than anyone else!!! They must be the greatest!

One day in late in high school years a fellow guitar player grabbed me by the shoulders and said "I saw The Song Remains the Same last night. And JIMMY PAGE IS THE BEST GUITARIST EVER".

Not many of the fellow guitarists believed him, mainly because LZ was too hard to play. Not many garage bands were doing Four Sticks.

This resonated with me and a few months later (things moved a lot slower back then) I bought the album version of TSRTS because I figured that the live version of Stairway was on it.

Then, as the love story goes, along came No Quarter. "Holy Fecal Matter!!!". What a song. I was hooked and started to slowly accumulate the catalogue from 1 to Coda.

Each album was captivating in it's music and mystery. Each album now can evoke memories of the months dedicated to its listening. This post could get ridiculously long to speak of those stories. From acid trips to sword making, we all have 'em.

My first foray into the boots came in the early 90's. Like every Zeppelin fan, starving for a fix of anything Zep.

I had just broken up with a high school sweetheart and a friend had picked up the Paris Theater BBC boot "Going to California".

I was floored. The ambiance and beauty of GTC and jazzy feel of WIAWSNB was intoxicating. I was hooked.

I could go on, but I really like Zep and after 25 years of collecting, I can say I have every concert recording that is out there and have listened to them all. (There may be a MD or two that I skipped).

50 years old and I'm still blown away. Often copied but never equaled. The music is always fresh.

I was at a Zoso (tribute band) concert lately and I enjoyed watching the young crowd mouth every word as much as the music.

Timeless.

It's good being an old fart and being vindicated. Long live the greatest improvisational, mysterious, sonically powerful, talented band ever.

Welcome my fellow "Somewhere near 'Lanta" resident!

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Back in 2008, I got a Led Zeppelin t-shirt (all I wear/have worn are band t-shirts). I was going to a friends birthday party and I wore that shirt. My brother was going to drive me there but before we left he asked me if I knew any Led Zeppelin songs. I knew none (I got the shirt because I recognized the band name, I just never listened to them). Little did I know that this band is the best band of all time. My brother said if I wear the shirt, I have to know some of their music. So on the ride to the party, he put on the Song Remains the Same soundtrack and the first song he played was Stairway to Heaven. Then BOOM; just like that I was hooked. That live version of Stairway to Heaven is still one of my top favorite Led Zeppelin songs and I still wear the t-shirt!

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Back in 2008, I got a Led Zeppelin t-shirt (all I wear/have worn are band t-shirts). I was going to a friends birthday party and I wore that shirt. My brother was going to drive me there but before we left he asked me if I knew any Led Zeppelin songs. I knew none (I got the shirt because I recognized the band name, I just never listened to them). Little did I know that this band is the best band of all time. My brother said if I wear the shirt, I have to know some of their music. So on the ride to the party, he put on the Song Remains the Same soundtrack and the first song he played was Stairway to Heaven. Then BOOM; just like that I was hooked. That live version of Stairway to Heaven is still one of my top favorite Led Zeppelin songs and I still wear the t-shirt!

This story made me smile, especially brother stating that if you wear the shirt, you have to know some of their music. :)

Welcome to the forum, afro1samuri!

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my dad was really into led zeppelin when I was young. he would play his music really loud. I remember it vaguely as I was pretty young (I think some where around 6 or 7) he was blasting led zeppelin and he yelled over the music something along the lines of "listen to that guitar. jimmy page is the greatest guitarist of all time. there is no one better than led zeppelin".

I don't recall what order but the first two songs I heard were "rock and roll" and "black dog". I wasn't 100% sold on them.

I don't remember where I heard it but the second I heard dazed and confused I couldnt believe my ears. I hadn't and still haven't heard anything like it to this day. It was the live version from 1969 in denmark. from the beginning, when john paul jones comes in with the bass line, the way robert sings, as if he is screaming for mercy, the way jimmy page chokes the neck of his telecaster and plays with so much attitude (specifically at 6:08 and 7:17 :bubble: ) that magnificent crisp fuzz from the tone bender and the way john bonham comes in like thunder just blew my mind. from that point on that was it. I didn't bother to look for anything else because I knew there was nothing better.

later when I was in junior high I bought a friend two led zeppelin albums and we would go to his house after school and just sit there and listen. led zeppelin has pretty much always been at the forefront of music for me ever since I was a kid.

Edited by sk8rat
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For me the story is recent (I was 15), back in 2012 I was really into Deep purple and The Beatles and I saw a page of advertising about Led zeppelin O2 live on the TV, I was like "mahhh with a name like that it must be a german hardcore metal band !" :lol: I'm french and wasn't really good at english by the time so for me it sounded like german. Then one day I was on Youtube listening to some music and I clicked on some Led zeppelin music, I think it was Stairway to Heaven, I really liked it and then I went on, listening to kashmir and immigrant song, I was like "ohhh it's where it come from !" for a bunch of songs and since that time I'm a big fan ! best band ever.

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  • 3 weeks later...

pretty recently really. i started off by going to sainsburys (british supermarket for the yankees) and bought the mothership cd. i listened to it with my dad on a road trip to cornwall and liked them ever since, but it really kicked off when i bought my first led zep vinyl. it was the song remains the same soundtrack...

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 3 years later...

I was really into music from a very early age due to my parents love of big band and 50's rock and roll. We had one of those massive console units that had both a TV & stereo w/ turntable and my parents had a nice record collection they were always playing. Always music in the house. I was the youngest in my family (among siblings and cousins) and that is how I was introduced to contemporary music (this was the early 70's) and that is how I discovered Zep. My cousin Nancy was dragging my 3 year old ass around the newly opened Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg IL when I heard sounds emanating from a record store the likes I had never heard before. It was late fall of 1971 and the store was blasting Communication Breakdown and my wee little mind was overwhelmed with this sonic masterpiece assaulting my ear-holes. On this little sojourn I also heard Funkadelic and the Spinners for the first time, talk about one of the greatest moments of discovery in my life. Of course being only 3 and a three year old in 1971 I said nothing but remembered everything. A couple years later around 73' I was really into Elton John when my brother bought Zep I. First time I heard it I was blown away and of course, Communication Breakdown. That was the real start of my Zeppelin journey, 5 years old. I actually had a semi-third hand interaction with the band during the 1977 tour when I went to a local Chicago restaurant called Febo's on Western Ave. in Little Italy. On Saturday, April 9th my family went to dinner at Febo's when in walks the Chicago Bears cheerleading squad the Honey-Bears. Do you have any idea what happens when a group of Farah Fawcett clones walks into a restaurant and spies a 9 year old kid? A gift from god, that's what happens as they all clamoured around me, pinching me, hugging me, commenting how cute I was ( meh, I was 9, it was all downhill after that), it was heaven!. One of the ladies then commented that I looked like a young Robert Plant (again, I was 9 and blond, she was a cheerleader so) when another girl said, "If he's lucky, when he grows up he will be hung like Robert." The other cheerleaders laughed and asked her how she knew and she answered she had slept with Robert the day before. Well, that was it, with that revelation I was back to no longer existing, the ladies all left, went to their tables, and started gossiping about the various musicians they had been with.

So, I was gently fondled by a woman who in turn and been likely rather aggressively fondled by old Robert himself. Life just does not get any better than that, especially for a 9 year old.

Edited by BobDobbs
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It was 1987 and I was kind of new to seriously listening to music. I became of fan of Whitesnake, especially their song In The Still Of The Night. My mother heard me watching it on MTV from the other room and said, "Oh, that's Led Zeppelin." I told her it wasn't but she argued with me. "I KNOW what Led Zeppelin sounds like. That's them." She came in and watched the video with me and sure enough at the end it said Whitesnake. She told me it was a dead ringer for Zeppelin. I figured if Zeppelin sounds like Whitesnake, they must be pretty good, even though they're OLD! :)

A few day later my cousin gave me a cassette copy of Black Dog, Rock n Roll and Stairway. I was blown away, even though I thought they were OLD (even in 1987, Zeppelin were already OLD). I listened to those three songs so many times, I lost count. Black Dog really got me into them. I consider that song quintessential Zeppelin. Around this time I started playing guitar and had the music to Black Dog from Guitar Magazine. I learned the riff and I was hooked. Then I read Hammer of the God's and was REALLY hooked!

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