Thursday, January 14, 2010

Time to get the Led out

Another reason to get a turntable: I never replaced my Led Zeppelin albums with CDs. It was an era -- a fabulous era of early heavy rock/metal discovery during the Seventies -- that I pretty much boxed up and put away with the rest of my vinyl.

Some music passes you by. Other music you just get past, never really intending to, it just happens as you travel through life taking those many unforeseen twists and turns. Only after later reflection, usually triggered by some sonic sensory message, you are reminded: That was pretty good shit, wasn't it?

The trigger for me came when "Communication Breakdown" was piping through the office speakers the other day. (Satellite radio is a beautiful thing to have in the workplace. Somebody should commission a study!) I still have the Jimmy Page riffs in my head. I awakened to them this morning without needing an alarm clark to jolt me.

That's Zep. We were inseparable pals who eventually went our own ways. There was a period in my life during which I'm sure I argued that Led Zeppelin IV was one of the greatest albums ever made. Or was it II? What always makes the argument so difficult is that several Zep albums warrant consideration. Rank their first four any way you want, that body of work is amazing.

I don't know that I'll be blasting Zep from my second floor flat, but it's going to be there like ammo, ready to load and fire. Of course it's possible this is just some form of therapy. Don't they say the first step is recognizing you have a problem?

4 comments:

  1. I was in the front row at a Led Zeppelin concert at Curtis Hixon arena in 1969. One of the most amazing experiences of my life.

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  2. Hey, are you as smart as a fifth grader? One of those little guys is good to have around to help walk you through digitizing your vinyl.

    I've been digitizing for a couple of days now: Manic Depression, Hey Joe, Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny), We Gotta Get Out of This Place. Remember those?

    Learning curve was steep for me, and it was helpful having a long holiday weekend to fiddle with software. But once you get the hang of it, not rocket science after all.

    Now those old songs are coming out of the closet, into iTunes and then into my iPod. Put 'em in the dock, put it on shuffle, and it's heaven.

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  3. In alpha order
    Baby I'm Gonna Leave You
    Communications Breakdown
    Houses of the Holy
    Tangerine

    Mike T

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  4. Just caught an MTV concert with Plant and a rock band that did rearranged versions of some Zep songs. Fresh stuff.

    And one-third of the new trio Them Crooked Vultures features the incomparable John Paul Jones

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