Led Zeppelin 50 Years Later - The Economist (Article)

[mysticman560]

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2018/08/09/fifty-years-on-led-zeppelin-are-still-idols-for-aspiring-rock-stars

Here's a snippet from the article:

" “THERE was just wall-to-wall amplifiers, and a space for the door—and that was it,” recalled John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin’s bass guitarist, many decades later. “The whole room just exploded.” No tape has survived of that first rehearsal on August 12th 1968, which brought together a quartet who would sell more albums over the next 50 years than any band apart from the Beatles. But listening to live bootlegs of “Train Kept A-Rollin’”, the blues tune that they practiced that day, it is easy to imagine how that first jam created heavy metal music."

[rm2551]

" They hardly make for easy listening, but the songs have retained their fame"

says who? I don't know more easy to listen to music than theirs.

Funny byline for an article.....

[Strider]

7 hours ago, rm2551 said:

" They hardly make for easy listening, but the songs have retained their fame"

says who? I don't know more easy to listen to music than theirs.

Funny byline for an article.....

I know perfectly what the author means by that phrase. "Easy listening" is a genre that was given to soft pap like Bread, John Denver, The Osmonds, James Taylor, The Carpenters, etc. in the early-'70s.

All music over a period of time loses whatever edge and brashness it heralded upon its entry into the world. So that what was once thought noise and anarchy becomes as comfortable and natural as rain and something else comes along to upset the apple cart.

The 20th century went from Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" to the roilings of Jelly Roll Morton's and Louis Armstrong's Jazz to Gershwin's marriage of the two into "Rhapsody in Blue" to Sinatra's shrieking Bobbysoxers to BeBop Musique Concrète to Rock-n-Roll to Dylan goes Electric to the British Invasion to Acid/Psychedelic Rock to Miles Davis goes Electric to Heavy Metal and Glam to Rap and Hip-Hop.

Each movement was denounced by naysayers and the self-appointed "Guardians of Culture" as horrible noise and the downfall of civilization.

But now, thanks to nostalgia and the ability of the human ear to adapt over time to accept different sounds, all of the above, with a few exceptions (Ornette Colman, Sun Ra, Terry Riley, John Cage, Faust), are considered safe as kittens and played on the radio and Pandora playlists and senior citizen homes everywhere.

However, and this is what the author is pointing out, Led Zeppelin alone among the classic rock titans (Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd, Who, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Hendrix, ZZ Top, et al) still has the ability to rankle the casual listener and upset the apple cart. Because of their use of extreme dynamics and willingness to use sheer noise as sound, as well as their ignoring the hallowed "verse-chorus verse-chorus bridge-chorus" song format, Led Zeppelin doesn't play as nice as the Beatles or even AC/DC, whose songs while loud still plod along in predictable fashion with crowd-pleasing shout-along choruses.

If you run an office, you want the musical equivalent of wallpaper on the radio. You don't want any sound that will disrupt or distract the workers. It's the same with a restaurant or any public space where music is played...you want music that appeals to the lowest common denominator and is easy on the ears.

This is why as popular as Led Zeppelin was and has always been, they are still an underground band in many respects. If you listen to the music played in corporate spaces and restaurants, you will hear the Beatles, Stones, etc. far more than Led Zeppelin. 

I have been in pubs and cafes where for three hours I won't hear a single Led Zeppelin tune but will hear Ramones, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana along with the usual Beatles, Stones, Skynyrd, Floyd, CCR, U2, Bowie stew.

While Grannies and Grandpas are getting down now to the Beatles, Stones, Queen, AC/DC, and even rap, Led Zeppelin's music, 50 years later, still has its teeth and balls. It will never devolve into simple easy listening.

[JohnOsbourne]

9 hours ago, Strider said:

While Grannies and Grandpas are getting down now to the Beatles, Stones, Queen, AC/DC, and even rap, Led Zeppelin's music, 50 years later, still has its teeth and balls. It will never devolve into simple easy listening.

Uh, I don't know any old folks who would listen to hard rock or rap.  Maybe they're ok with the Stones or Queen, but I think you're overstating things here. 

[Strider]

4 hours ago, JohnOsbourne said:

Uh, I don't know any old folks who would listen to hard rock or rap.  Maybe they're ok with the Stones or Queen, but I think you're overstating things here. 

You haven't lived until you've seen a room full of golden girls get down to Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" or AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long".

[JohnOsbourne]

8 hours ago, Strider said:

You haven't lived until you've seen a room full of golden girls get down to Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" or AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long".

Ha ha, no, I suppose not.

[LordStanley]

20 hours ago, Strider said:

You haven't lived until you've seen a room full of golden girls get down to Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" or AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long".

Exactly. Semi-drunk white geezers dancing to AC/DC at a wedding reception is never a pretty sight. "She told me to come but I was already there"...ewww

And do they know what the Village People are singing about in YMCA? I think not.