Strider Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 40 years ago today an epically historic moment in music occurred. For it was on March 5, 1971 in Belfast, Ireland that STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN was performed for the FIRST time in concert. So although the recorded studio version wouldn't make it's debut until November of that year with the release of Led Zeppelin IV, or Rune album, 4 symbols, greatest hard rock record ever...whatever name you prefer...I like to think of March 5 being Stairway's birthday. And in honor of its 40th birthday, I would like to pay proper tribute to the song and the impact it had and hopefully rectify some of the insidious revisionism that has festered over the past 20 years or so. That's right...I am here to proclaim loudly and unashamedly: I LOVE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN! Unironically and unconditionally. And you should too. Sadly, in the years since Zeppelin ended, there has been a movement afoot to denigrate Stairway. The post-punk, post-modern, post-ironic crowd love to dismiss it as some hippy-dippy relic and because of its ubiquitousness on the radio, even Zeppelin fans started to belittle the song. It became fashionable among Zepheads to say that only newbies or poseurs liked Stairway. If you were a true fan you liked Kashmir or Achilles but never Stairway. Well fuck that Jack. I say let your freak flag fly and openly proclaim your love for Stairway. Maybe it's because I am old enough to remember a time when there wasn't a Stairway to Heaven...when the song most associated with Led Zeppelin was Whole Lotta Love. Just imagine what it must have been like 40 years ago to be in that audience in Belfast and to experience Stairway for the first time. As one who is half-Irish himself, it warms my shamrocks that Ireland was awarded the privilege of hearing Stairway first among the world. The next night on the 6th of March, the band played Dublin. That is what makes those 1971 concerts so amazing, apart from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse impact of the band's playing...you get to hear Stairway in concert for the only tour where it was an unknown entity. 1971 is the only year where the beginning of the song isn't immediately met with a rush of cheers. You actually can hear the start of the song and feel the hush of the audience. And the qietness of the audience as it settles in to listen to this unfamiliar song only makes the rapturous response at the song's conclusion that much more a testament to Stairway to Heaven's immediate impact on the public. Listen to just about any bootleg from 1971...Los Angeles...Berkeley...the effect is dramatic. People really FELT this song. I was too young to see Zep in 1971...had to wait until '72...but I still recall how GOBSMACKED I was later that year when I first heard the song on the radio and then when I got the record. There's a reason Stairway became so popular immediately upon release. It was truly mesmerizing...hypnotic...EPIC!!! This was no fluke, no accident, and certainly no hype. People responded because the song touched their hearts...their souls. Plus it just SOUNDED AMAZING! It sounds weird but it was the kind of song that you didn't know you wanted to hear until you actually heard it. Then, it was like, YES!, THIS is what I have been wanting to hear all my life. Sure, there had been long...even what you could call "epic" songs before Stairway. Day in the Life and Hey Jude by the Beatles. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands by Dylan. Midnight Rambler by the Stones. In-a-Gadda-da-Vida by Iron Butterfly. Allman Brothers...Grateful Dead, etc. etc. But none of those songs, as great as some of them are, did what Stairway achieved. Most of those other songs were in the same tempo or mined one style of music over its duration. What Stairway achieved was a melding of all sorts of disparate musical elements into a unified whole, while also slowly and almost imperceptibly increasing momentum and intensity along the way. There is the hushed, delicate folky beginning of just acoustic guitar and recorder. Then the ambient pastoral middle passage, with Jimmy's chiming guitars and JPJ's keyboards melding into a shimmering hum. Bonzo's drums enter to pick up the pace the song starts to rock and provide a framework to hang the guitar solo on. And what a guitar solo!!! Not for nothing is it still the solo by which other solos are measured, with its storming the Gates of Valhalla beginning...the impeccable construction as Jimmy climbs that stairway...the yearning call and response of the second section...and of course, those finger vibratos from god...all with that glorious Fender Telecaster tone...all in just over a minute. Next thing you know the song has turned into a headbanger with Bonham's drums cascading around your head and the band driving the song to its smashing conclusion as Plant gives a performance of the ages. And after that blast of fury a sudden return to the graceful calm of the beginning as the song whispers to a close. That is what is what makes the song so effective and memorable to this day...its movement and propulsion. The song takes you on a journey...you feel you are going somewhere but at the same time it lulls you into a sense of calm so that by the end you find yourself surprised that you're banging your head. Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of those songs that came in the wake of Stairway to Heaven. But you notice right away the change in tempo when the guitar solo starts in Freebird...you say to yourself, "ah here's the rocking part." Stairway works it's magic more subtly...its much more layered and textured than most songs of its kind. Gradually it builds a head of steam as the listener is propelled along with the song and ultimately borne aloft. And how about Robert Plant. Simply an incredible and magnetic performance. And I don't find the lyrics as bad or hippy-dippy as some, including Mr. Plant, suggest. Some call it mystical blather. Well, what's wrong with a little mystical blather? Does every rock song have to be about cars and booze and girls? The guy was only 21 when he wrote it...I'd say it holds up pretty well. You know, not every Dylan or Springsteen song is a lyrical gem. You often hear people ask "what does it mean?" And the answer is that there is no ONE RIGHT meaning. It means different things depending on the listener. That is what makes it timeless...it's the songs tied to one specific event that often sound dated with the passage of time. The "medieval" elements that some critics complain about I think are overstated. Yes, there are a couple lines about May Queens and Pipers but overall I found much in the song that I could relate to when I was growing up...and even still to this day I find solace in the tune. Some of my favourite lines in the song and what they meant to me are as follows: "There's a feeling I get when I look to the West"...being born and raised in California, the Golden State, this has always struck a chord with me...in fact, I always feel better when I am traveling West than East...I prefer to follow the sun...ride into the sunset than away from the sun. "There's still time to change the road you're on"...nothing is preordained...no matter what the circumstances you find yourself in, you can always change course, try a different path until you find the road that suits you. "To be a rock and not to roll"...in stormy and troubled times, it is best to be solid as a rock...for yourself and your friends. But hey, even if you don't like the words Plant is singing, you can't refute the way he sings them. In short, in my humble opinion it is one of the finest vocal performances in rock n roll. The tender opening verses, so intimate it is like he's singing directly into your ear...his wonderful phrasing and melody lines...the powerful climax. It's all here in a masterclass for future generations on what rock singing is all about. But to disect the song into its individual parts is beside the point...yes, broken into its components, the guitar playing, the singing, etc. all hold up. But the true power and meaning of the song is how the glorious whole is greater than its individual parts. Everything...the playing, the singing, the production...all added up to some sort of harmonic convergence of GODHEAD. The alchemy of the four members of the band achieved a watershed moment in the band's history...and rock music history. There is no understating the way Stairway exploded into the consciousness of rock fans...and all without the hype of Top 40 radio as there was no single. No MTV, no multimedia exposure. No, it was simply a groundswell of demand by people who heard the song via the record or in concert and requested Stairway in droves to their local radio station til it was literally everywhere and for years ruled as the number one rock song in radio polls. Did it get overplayed? Perhaps. But I would rather live in a world where it was overplayed than to live in one without a Stairway to Heaven. So THANK YOU Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham for creating one of the greatest musical moments ever. I can't tell you how often the song got me through difficult times in my life. Those of us who saw the band in concert can testify to the impact the song had on audiences...the song literally inspired the ritual of flicking your Bic lighter. So Stairway fans be silent no more. Don't let those hipper-than-thou types sway you with their negativity. To hell with "Wayne's World"...if you want to play Stairway to Heaven at your next visit to the guitar shop, let 'er rip! There is no shame in loving Stairway to Heaven. It deserves your love. It deserves your praise. So Zeppelin fans one and all...raise and flick your Bic lighter in honor of the 40th anniversary of the first ever performance of Stairway to Heaven!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjin-san Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Hi all, Thanks Strider! KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabe Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Uncool by many to admit one likes 'Stairway', it remains one of my favorite Zeppelin tunes. I will indulge in the masterpiece later today. With some brownies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reezon Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Well stated Stryder, This song is the culmination of everything Zeppelin stood for. I still love hearing this tune, I think we all as long time fans have gone through the Zeppelin Catalog and gotten tired of 1 song or another for a peroid of time. But i find if i give it a rest for a while and then come back to it ,what i find is the magic is still there. No music has quite affected me the way theirs has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzepfvr Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 WOW Strider your should be a motivational speaker. You have stirred a feeling in my inner core to stand up and proclaim my love of Stairway to Heaven. Definately a song of the ages and those that do remember hearing it for the first time either live, on the radio or dropping the needle on the vinyl album remember the excitment the song created for us at the time. I was 14 at the time so music was a guiding force of my life. I could get lost in the song laying on floor in my room with the headphones on, the song vibrating through the little grey cells in my head. Stairway is etched there for all eternity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUCK'EYE' DOC Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Great post, Strider! "Stairway" has always been and will always be my favorite rock song. I never tire of hearing it. I can never play it just once. When it is finished playing, I have to hear it again and then again. It is a masterpiece, loved by Zeppelin fans and non-Zeppelin fans alike. It consistently wins as the top rock song of all time on radio station polls across the country, and it has won the top spot ever since the polls began in the 1970's. I think that having the lyrics published inside the album jacket has helped its' popularity. Everyone knows the words and can sing along. I also love the fact that it was first played in Dublin, Ireland. Happy Birthday to "Stairway to Heaven"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Led Zep Girl Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Wow. 40 years? This might seem weird but the song sounds timeless. It can pretty much relate to any situation & what's happening in the world. This is only one of Zeppelin's masterpieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Uncool by many to admit one likes 'Stairway', it remains one of my favorite Zeppelin tunes. I don't think it's "uncool" to say you don't like "Stairway To Heaven", some people actually don't like it. Instead, perhaps the fans that have an undying love for it should just learn to accept that. Personally I love the song but got burnt out on it (and "Freebird", amongst many other songs) thanks to "Classic Rock" radio playing it to fucking death. I still like to listen to it on occasion but not nearly as often as Classic Rock plays it. It's also not my favorite song in the Zeppelin catalog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpeller Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Sing along now.... Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Stairway, Happy birthday to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pensamiento Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Birthday greetings to such a great composition!!! And let it be undying... I'm sure it will be like this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 I don't think it's "uncool" to say you don't like "Stairway To Heaven", some people actually don't like it. Instead, perhaps the fans that have an undying love for it should just learn to accept that. Personally I love the song but got burnt out on it (and "Freebird", amongst many other songs) thanks to "Classic Rock" radio playing it to fucking death. I still like to listen to it on occasion but not nearly as often as Classic Rock plays it. It's also not my favorite song in the Zeppelin catalog. He wasn't saying it was "uncool" to say you didn't like Stairway, he was saying that it is considered "uncool" to admit that you like Stairway. That was the point I was making in my post...that years and years of acting embarrassed by Stairway because of the aspersions cast on it by the post-punk crowd has made it seem uncool to like the song. So I was merely trying to say to those of us who have always loved the song, but felt the societal pressure not to admit it, that it is time to cast of the shackles and proudly own up to our love of Stairway to Heaven. That there is no need to feel shame or feel uncool or unhip just because you like the song. As for classic rock radio, yes it didn't help that they played it incessantly...but then, that is why I stopped listening to most rock radio back in the 80's. So for me, Stairway wasn't beaten into the ground as it was I who controlled when and where I heard the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesehead1204 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Luckily for me I've only just started listening to Classic Rock, so the overplay has not tarnished my unconditional love for the song. Stairway is a masterpiece that deserves all the praise it gets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjin-san Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Hi all, Since Dec 1971,I have listen to this song every Christmas Day,... Again,Domo,Danke Strider for the post. KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabe Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Hi all, Since Dec 1971,I have listen to this song every Christmas Day,... Again,Domo,Danke Strider for the post. KB Off topic, but I purposely listened to Kashmir on Dec 31, 1999, as we were heading into 2000. It was the last song I listened to in the 1900's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpense Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 The song was born in studio a few months before the March Belfast show. (Island studios I believe.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 He wasn't saying it was "uncool" to say you didn't like Stairway, he was saying that it is considered "uncool" to admit that you like Stairway. That was the point I was making in my post...that years and years of acting embarrassed by Stairway because of the aspersions cast on it by the post-punk crowd has made it seem uncool to like the song. I know fans of Zeppelin that don't particularly care for it so not liking "Stairway To Heaven" isn't just confined to the "post-punk crowd". Not to mention, I wasn't aware that all of them don't like it either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Masson Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 It's great song, but really not suited for the constant airplay at all. Like most of the Zeppelin catalog, it's no background music, as there's a lot happening within the song, and it builds in a way that you can't really enjoy unless you take the time to pay attention, even if you already know it quite well. Sometimes you don't feel like it, but there it is, because they're playing it again one more time. I have heard it quite a few times when I didn't feel like it, and it's a pity. It's never been my favorite Zeppelin song, but I still love it. A few weeks ago it came on somewhere. And I felt like it then. It was wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah J Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Srider, great post^^^^ I have always and will still proudly stand by my belief that this is the best ballad ever written/played. Any of my post on any thread concerning this, you will see how I feel about this magnificent ballad. It still can give me chills after tens of thousands of times of hearing it...and I don't see that changing...ever! It is the masterpiece of music IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black_Dog_90 Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Well said Strider. "Stairway To Heaven" was the first song by Led Zeppelin I heard and I've loved it ever since. I simply fell in love with it. Today I'm not ashamed at all to say that "Stairway To Heaven" is one of my favourite songs of all time and I'm definitely not a poser since I've been listening to Led Zeppelin since I was 7 years old. I was surprised too to see that many Led Zeppelin fans seem to belittle this song. It is probably the first song of its kind, the song that started the whole rock anthems structure, starting in slow melody and then building and speeding up to the end. The song really defines Led Zeppelin and I agree that it took Led Zeppelin's music to another level. It is pure masterpiece. Nothing else to say but thanks Led Zeppelin. Happy birthday "Stairway To Heaven". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 It still can give me chills after tens of thousands of times of hearing it...and I don't see that changing...ever! It still does it for me too ! Problem with poo pooing a great song is that a great song will always remains just that. They may go out of fashion for a spell but in the end, they always seem to come back to us ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargroves Tangie Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Great post Strider! I must admit that I really didn't like it when I first heard it (I was a fan of 70's Top 40 then), but a few years later I gave it a chance and really listened to it and heard the awesomeness of it. Yeah there have been times throughout the years where I chose not to listen to it when it came on the radio, but every so often when it comes on I stop everything & just listen... and yes the magic is still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Stairway is probably the most iconic rock song ever, and I have lots of fond memories too. Happy 40th (yikes!!) Stairway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabal200 Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Neat... but somewhat simplistic view of the birthday of Stairway with a Houston twist. Interesting story in the comments from someone who played in the symphony for one of the Houston P/P shows in the 90's. http://blogs.chron.com/40yearsafter/2011/03/the_neverending_stairway_to_he_1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2F40yearsafter+%2840+Years+After%29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5ymo Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 A mighty fine post my friend. I raised a glass to the finest of songs myself on Saturday, and played a couple of versions. Good onya Kenny 40 years ago today an epically historic moment in music occurred. For it was on March 5, 1971 in Belfast, Ireland that STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN was performed for the FIRST time in concert. So although the recorded studio version wouldn't make it's debut until November of that year with the release of Led Zeppelin IV, or Rune album, 4 symbols, greatest hard rock record ever...whatever name you prefer...I like to think of March 5 being Stairway's birthday. And in honor of its 40th birthday, I would like to pay proper tribute to the song and the impact it had and hopefully rectify some of the insidious revisionism that has festered over the past 20 years or so. That's right...I am here to proclaim loudly and unashamedly: I LOVE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN! Unironically and unconditionally. And you should too. Sadly, in the years since Zeppelin ended, there has been a movement afoot to denigrate Stairway. The post-punk, post-modern, post-ironic crowd love to dismiss it as some hippy-dippy relic and because of its ubiquitousness on the radio, even Zeppelin fans started to belittle the song. It became fashionable among Zepheads to say that only newbies or poseurs liked Stairway. If you were a true fan you liked Kashmir or Achilles but never Stairway. Well fuck that Jack. I say let your freak flag fly and openly proclaim your love for Stairway. Maybe it's because I am old enough to remember a time when there wasn't a Stairway to Heaven...when the song most associated with Led Zeppelin was Whole Lotta Love. Just imagine what it must have been like 40 years ago to be in that audience in Belfast and to experience Stairway for the first time. As one who is half-Irish himself, it warms my shamrocks that Ireland was awarded the privilege of hearing Stairway first among the world. The next night on the 6th of March, the band played Dublin. That is what makes those 1971 concerts so amazing, apart from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse impact of the band's playing...you get to hear Stairway in concert for the only tour where it was an unknown entity. 1971 is the only year where the beginning of the song isn't immediately met with a rush of cheers. You actually can hear the start of the song and feel the hush of the audience. And the qietness of the audience as it settles in to listen to this unfamiliar song only makes the rapturous response at the song's conclusion that much more a testament to Stairway to Heaven's immediate impact on the public. Listen to just about any bootleg from 1971...Los Angeles...Berkeley...the effect is dramatic. People really FELT this song. I was too young to see Zep in 1971...had to wait until '72...but I still recall how GOBSMACKED I was later that year when I first heard the song on the radio and then when I got the record. There's a reason Stairway became so popular immediately upon release. It was truly mesmerizing...hypnotic...EPIC!!! This was no fluke, no accident, and certainly no hype. People responded because the song touched their hearts...their souls. Plus it just SOUNDED AMAZING! It sounds weird but it was the kind of song that you didn't know you wanted to hear until you actually heard it. Then, it was like, YES!, THIS is what I have been wanting to hear all my life. Sure, there had been long...even what you could call "epic" songs before Stairway. Day in the Life and Hey Jude by the Beatles. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands by Dylan. Midnight Rambler by the Stones. In-a-Gadda-da-Vida by Iron Butterfly. Allman Brothers...Grateful Dead, etc. etc. But none of those songs, as great as some of them are, did what Stairway achieved. Most of those other songs were in the same tempo or mined one style of music over its duration. What Stairway achieved was a melding of all sorts of disparate musical elements into a unified whole, while also slowly and almost imperceptibly increasing momentum and intensity along the way. There is the hushed, delicate folky beginning of just acoustic guitar and recorder. Then the ambient pastoral middle passage, with Jimmy's chiming guitars and JPJ's keyboards melding into a shimmering hum. Bonzo's drums enter to pick up the pace the song starts to rock and provide a framework to hang the guitar solo on. And what a guitar solo!!! Not for nothing is it still the solo by which other solos are measured, with its storming the Gates of Valhalla beginning...the impeccable construction as Jimmy climbs that stairway...the yearning call and response of the second section...and of course, those finger vibratos from god...all with that glorious Fender Telecaster tone...all in just over a minute. Next thing you know the song has turned into a headbanger with Bonham's drums cascading around your head and the band driving the song to its smashing conclusion as Plant gives a performance of the ages. And after that blast of fury a sudden return to the graceful calm of the beginning as the song whispers to a close. That is what is what makes the song so effective and memorable to this day...its movement and propulsion. The song takes you on a journey...you feel you are going somewhere but at the same time it lulls you into a sense of calm so that by the end you find yourself surprised that you're banging your head. Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of those songs that came in the wake of Stairway to Heaven. But you notice right away the change in tempo when the guitar solo starts in Freebird...you say to yourself, "ah here's the rocking part." Stairway works it's magic more subtly...its much more layered and textured than most songs of its kind. Gradually it builds a head of steam as the listener is propelled along with the song and ultimately borne aloft. And how about Robert Plant. Simply an incredible and magnetic performance. And I don't find the lyrics as bad or hippy-dippy as some, including Mr. Plant, suggest. Some call it mystical blather. Well, what's wrong with a little mystical blather? Does every rock song have to be about cars and booze and girls? The guy was only 21 when he wrote it...I'd say it holds up pretty well. You know, not every Dylan or Springsteen song is a lyrical gem. You often hear people ask "what does it mean?" And the answer is that there is no ONE RIGHT meaning. It means different things depending on the listener. That is what makes it timeless...it's the songs tied to one specific event that often sound dated with the passage of time. The "medieval" elements that some critics complain about I think are overstated. Yes, there are a couple lines about May Queens and Pipers but overall I found much in the song that I could relate to when I was growing up...and even still to this day I find solace in the tune. Some of my favourite lines in the song and what they meant to me are as follows: "There's a feeling I get when I look to the West"...being born and raised in California, the Golden State, this has always struck a chord with me...in fact, I always feel better when I am traveling West than East...I prefer to follow the sun...ride into the sunset than away from the sun. "There's still time to change the road you're on"...nothing is preordained...no matter what the circumstances you find yourself in, you can always change course, try a different path until you find the road that suits you. "To be a rock and not to roll"...in stormy and troubled times, it is best to be solid as a rock...for yourself and your friends. But hey, even if you don't like the words Plant is singing, you can't refute the way he sings them. In short, in my humble opinion it is one of the finest vocal performances in rock n roll. The tender opening verses, so intimate it is like he's singing directly into your ear...his wonderful phrasing and melody lines...the powerful climax. It's all here in a masterclass for future generations on what rock singing is all about. But to disect the song into its individual parts is beside the point...yes, broken into its components, the guitar playing, the singing, etc. all hold up. But the true power and meaning of the song is how the glorious whole is greater than its individual parts. Everything...the playing, the singing, the production...all added up to some sort of harmonic convergence of GODHEAD. The alchemy of the four members of the band achieved a watershed moment in the band's history...and rock music history. There is no understating the way Stairway exploded into the consciousness of rock fans...and all without the hype of Top 40 radio as there was no single. No MTV, no multimedia exposure. No, it was simply a groundswell of demand by people who heard the song via the record or in concert and requested Stairway in droves to their local radio station til it was literally everywhere and for years ruled as the number one rock song in radio polls. Did it get overplayed? Perhaps. But I would rather live in a world where it was overplayed than to live in one without a Stairway to Heaven. So THANK YOU Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham for creating one of the greatest musical moments ever. I can't tell you how often the song got me through difficult times in my life. Those of us who saw the band in concert can testify to the impact the song had on audiences...the song literally inspired the ritual of flicking your Bic lighter. So Stairway fans be silent no more. Don't let those hipper-than-thou types sway you with their negativity. To hell with "Wayne's World"...if you want to play Stairway to Heaven at your next visit to the guitar shop, let 'er rip! There is no shame in loving Stairway to Heaven. It deserves your love. It deserves your praise. So Zeppelin fans one and all...raise and flick your Bic lighter in honor of the 40th anniversary of the first ever performance of Stairway to Heaven!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Appreciate the replies everyone. Thanks. Just curious...what version do you mostly listen to: studio or live? And if live, what particular live version is your favourite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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