McSeven Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Why does ZEp sound funky to me. Most of the songs except for the acoustic songs sound that way to me. The Ocean/Black Dog/WIAWSNB/WTLB/MMH just to name a few. Do they sound that way to you. Other bands don't have that as much. I wonder why I hear this driving funkiness to thier riffs. Mc7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddot Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 I hear that too. I think it has to do with the way the drums are a little late on the back beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongo Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Some sound funky to me too. Such as We're Gonna Groove and even parts of The Song Remains the Same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattmc1973 Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 They were big fans of James Brown and stuff like that, and Bonzo was very into soul and funk, so he added that extra groove into his playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gainsbarre Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Why does ZEp sound funky to me. Most of the songs except for the acoustic songs sound that way to me. The Ocean/Black Dog/WIAWSNB/WTLB/MMH just to name a few. Yeah, but that isn't particularly restricted to Led Zeppelin, early 70s rock has a funky feel to it. I was mostly under the impression it was because the style of drumming that was popular in the day, quite loose, using a lot of tom, bass guitar was also now in the audio forefront of records so bassist were beginning to feature more, so when you have loose, jazz-inspired rock drumming with a bass player starting to feature more and play more (than just root notes) , a funky feel tends to develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Some sound funky to me too. Such as We're Gonna Groove and even parts of The Song Remains the Same. There is some cool bass stuff happening in SRTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triplet Kick Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Why does ZEp sound funky to me. Interesting post. People, the band were big Motown/soul fans. If you compare 60s Motown/soul drumming to Bonzo's drumming (esp live) then it's amazing how influential that genre was on him. Jonesy in 1985 interview on MTV Zep special said Bonzo was really into Motown and the "slower stuff" which is what made his drumming so special, as opposed to the heavy thuggish bashing of later drummers who sought to emulate Bonzo. Wide influences = more informed and better playing. For an excellent example of soul/funk music's influence on Zeppelin, check out Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition' from Talking Book LP. Listen to the funky clavinet. Groove to Stevie's superb drumming groove. Observe the rising chord cresendo during "When you believe in things you don't understand and you suffer..." NOW, put on Trampled Under Foot. See any similarities? TUF is simply a speeded-up rip-off/homage to Superstition! Just like their inspired blues rip-offs, Zep stole the groove, the funky clavinet and the rising chord structure from Stevie and came up with something entirely their own. "Talk about love..." If you can, I suggest listening to the two songs simultaneously to get a clear picture of what I mean (and switch back and forth between them). This connection is not based on wishful thinking. It also fits the time schedule: Superstition released 1972/73, TUF recorded 1974. A deaf Hercule Poirot could join the dots on this one. And has anyone yet made the startling connection between Walter's Walk and Hots On For Nowhere?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderguy Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 The Crunge, Royal Orleans, Hots on For Nowhere, ....................Achilles Last Stand is somewhat funky. How about the live version of Whole Lotta Love from the DVD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatbo Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Interesting post. For an excellent example of soul/funk music's influence on Zeppelin, check out Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition' from Talking Book LP. Listen to the funky clavinet. Groove to Stevie's superb drumming groove. Observe the rising chord cresendo during "When you believe in things you don't understand and you suffer..." NOW, put on Trampled Under Foot. See any similarities? TUF is simply a speeded-up rip-off/homage to Superstition! Just like their inspired blues rip-offs, Zep stole the groove, the funky clavinet and the rising chord structure from Stevie and came up with something entirely their own. "Talk about love..." If you can, I suggest listening to the two songs simultaneously to get a clear picture of what I mean (and switch back and forth between them). This connection is not based on wishful thinking. It also fits the time schedule: Superstition released 1972/73, TUF recorded 1974. A deaf Hercule Poirot could join the dots on this one. here's video of both tunes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reids Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 here's video of both tunes: As mentioned in previous threads, TUF was taken from/inspired from Robert Johnson's, "Terraplane Blues" (written in 1936; well before Stevie Wonder's, "Superstition"). Robert even mentioned it recently at the O2 concert before starting the song. I'm sure there was some inspiration from James Brown (as previously noted) as well as from Stevie, but they didn't rip him off. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trampled_Under_Foot R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatbo Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 As mentioned in previous threads, TUF was taken from/inspired from Robert Johnson's, "Terraplane Blues" (written in 1936; well before Stevie Wonder's, "Superstition"). Robert even mentioned it recently at the O2 concert before starting the song. I'm sure there was some inspiration from James Brown (as previously noted) as well as from Stevie, but they didn't rip him off. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trampled_Under_Foot R robert johnson didn't play a clavinet, though. lyricswise, wikipedia is right (for once). women and cars-fuel for the city (foghat pun-a bad one). musicwise, them zeppers are funky as hell-and i'm sure they owned a stevie wonder album or three... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Yes, Zeppelin was very influenced by funk, some of the most obvious examples are songs like: The Crunge, Royal Orleans, Custard Pie, Houses of the Holy, the Wanton Song, come to think of it, even D'yer Maker is pure funk mixed up with a bit of reggae. Live is where they really showed the'yre funk influence, especially in Dazed & Confused and Whole Lotta Love. They also covered The Isley Bros. song 'Its Your Thing', it doesn't get more funk than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmie ray Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 The Isley brothers funk period was something, wasn't it? Imagine having Jimi Hendrix living and playing with you, as an influence for young Ernie and Marvin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatbo Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 They also covered The Isley Bros. song 'Its Your Thing', it doesn't get more funk than that. i LOVE that in communication breakdown live.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gainsbarre Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 NOW, put on Trampled Under Foot. See any similarities? TUF is simply a speeded-up rip-off/homage to Superstition! Just like their inspired blues rip-offs, Zep stole the groove, the funky clavinet and the rising chord structure from Stevie and came up with something entirely their own. "Talk about love..." Fucking hell, I am sick to death of hearing that... it sounds nothing like 'Superstition' Just because JPJ used a Clav, everyone goes "oooh rip off of Superstition" which is complete and utter bullshit The song that Trampled Underfoot does sound rather similar to is that Doobie Brothers song... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slave to zep Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Fucking hell, I am sick to death of hearing that... it sounds nothing like 'Superstition' Just because JPJ used a Clav, everyone goes "oooh rip off of Superstition" which is complete and utter bullshit The song that Trampled Underfoot does sound rather similar to is that Doobie Brothers song... well jonesy said it was a "concious tribute" to superstition in the recent mojo magazine article.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 well jonesy said it was a "concious tribute" to superstition in the recent mojo magazine article.......... I really love it in Custard Pie, too. The clavinet, I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gainsbarre Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 well jonesy said it was a "concious tribute" to superstition in the recent mojo magazine article.......... Yeah and Paul McCartney said he knicked the musical idea for 'Hey Jude' from 'Under The Boardwalk' but the two songs sound nothing alike... However, Trampled Under Foot does bear some close similarities to 'Long Train Running' by the Doobie Brothers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetTheLedOut Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Interesting post. People, the band were big Motown/soul fans. If you compare 60s Motown/soul drumming to Bonzo's drumming (esp live) then it's amazing how influential that genre was on him. Jonesy in 1985 interview on MTV Zep special said Bonzo was really into Motown and the "slower stuff" which is what made his drumming so special, as opposed to the heavy thuggish bashing of later drummers who sought to emulate Bonzo. Wide influences = more informed and better playing. For an excellent example of soul/funk music's influence on Zeppelin, check out Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition' from Talking Book LP. Listen to the funky clavinet. Groove to Stevie's superb drumming groove. Observe the rising chord cresendo during "When you believe in things you don't understand and you suffer..." NOW, put on Trampled Under Foot. See any similarities? TUF is simply a speeded-up rip-off/homage to Superstition! Just like their inspired blues rip-offs, Zep stole the groove, the funky clavinet and the rising chord structure from Stevie and came up with something entirely their own. "Talk about love..." If you can, I suggest listening to the two songs simultaneously to get a clear picture of what I mean (and switch back and forth between them). This connection is not based on wishful thinking. It also fits the time schedule: Superstition released 1972/73, TUF recorded 1974. A deaf Hercule Poirot could join the dots on this one. The Superstition/TUF comparison is completely true. They don't take the full Superstition 'riff,' they just use the first part of it. However, Stevie is definitely the root of that song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Man Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 The technical side of it this...you have four beats per measure, and most non funky pop and rock drummers play the bass drum on 1 and 3, with sparse strokes on the "ands" of those counts. The snare drum on those same type of songs comes in on the 2 and 4. Funk drumming utilizes the bass drum in a most expressive manner, with many strokes on the "ands" of the next count. The snare drum will still keep up the 2 and 4 but with many more deviations to create busier patterns with the bass drum. Describes John Bonhams style to a "T", and therefore the funky feel of Led Zeppelin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gainsbarre Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 The Superstition/TUF comparison is completely true. They don't take the full Superstition 'riff,' they just use the first part of it. However, Stevie is definitely the root of that song. I completely disagree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triplet Kick Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 well jonesy said it was a "concious tribute" to superstition in the recent mojo magazine article.......... With Zep's Indian and Arabic influences perhaps it was a coucous tribute... I haven't read the Mojo i/v with Jonesy but it seems to confirm my earlier observation. Fact is, the band have several songs (apart from the obvious blues tracks) which they later said were influenced by a certain style or artist; e.g. Going To California was written with Joni Mitchell in mind. Whether or not the songs in question sound anything like the influences is not really the point. It's the spirit of the thing, passed through the mighty Zep blender of musical cuisine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evster2012 Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 The technical side of it this...you have four beats per measure, and most non funky pop and rock drummers play the bass drum on 1 and 3, with sparse strokes on the "ands" of those counts. The snare drum on those same type of songs comes in on the 2 and 4. Funk drumming utilizes the bass drum in a most expressive manner, with many strokes on the "ands" of the next count. The snare drum will still keep up the 2 and 4 but with many more deviations to create busier patterns with the bass drum. Describes John Bonhams style to a "T", and therefore the funky feel of Led Zeppelin. Precicely what I was going to say. Bonzo's use of ghost strokes, and playing on the "ands". Definitely! Just look at The Crunge! But yeah, there's way more going on with Bonzo than the casual listener is likely to notice. People tend to think of him as a sledghammer drummer, but he had a real delicacy and finesse going on as well. And Jonesy on clav, for sure. And he could definitely funk it up on the bass too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Precicely what I was going to say. Bonzo's use of ghost strokes, and playing on the "ands". Definitely! Just look at The Crunge! But yeah, there's way more going on with Bonzo than the casual listener is likely to notice. People tend to think of him as a sledghammer drummer, but he had a real delicacy and finesse going on as well. That's my biggest beef with non-zep fans. They don't realize how much he was doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katydidgood Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 thats why I love em and there is no equal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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