Again with the Research

I believe that Led Zeppelin’s musical masterpiece “Whole Lotta Love” is pleasure to the ears. By taking a glance at my previous post, one could find that out. I decided in this blog that rather than telling you how I feel; I would focus on what influenced the inspirational blues sound that Zeppelin creates. White boys singing the blues were unheard of, so I decided to see how the critics felt during that time period, and long after.

Early Review

Bangs, Lester. Rev. of Led Zeppelin III, by Led Zeppelin. Rolling Stone 26 NOV 1970. Rollingstone.com 2 May 2009. (http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/104760/review/6067705?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview)

When Lester Bangs wrote a review for Led Zeppelins third album, it seemed as if he didn’t know if he should like it or dislike it. There were parts of the album that he absolutely loved, while there were also songs that he felt could’ve been left off the album. He talks positively about Robert Plants voice, while also bashing him for “monotonously”(Bangs, Rev. of Led Zeppelin III) overtaking the song. I felt when was reading this review like Mr. Bangs wants to hate Led Zeppelin, but he feels their deviation from normal rock music “will insure absolute stardom for many moons to come.”(Bangs, Rev. of Led Zeppelin III)

Something About the Music

Hiatt, Brian. "Zeppelin Members Seek New Singer." Rolling Stone. 27 NOV 2008. Proquest. 4 May 2009. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=3&did=1607730741&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&
VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1241569229&clientId=14904

Hiatt’s article discussing a possible replacement for Robert Plant is absolutely bogus. The title is very misleading, because after further reading it’s obvious that they are not looking for a replacement Plant. The problem isn’t that John Paul Jones, John Bonham, or Jimmy Page are tired of Plants Vocals. The problem is that Plant doesn’t want to reiterate something that has already been proven. Any fan of rock knows that Led Zeppelin is great, and Robert just doesn’t see the point in altering history. The article goes on to state that the rest of the band understands that without Plant, there is no Zeppelin. They just simply “really want to do something, and Robert doesn't want to do this, at least for the moment. He really doesn't want to make loud music anymore. We do.", says Jones.(Hiatt, Zeppelin Members Seek New Singer) Jones goes on to make the point that the remaining members don’t want to be a cover band, because people already have done that. John Paul then confirms that they are not looking for a replacement singer for Zeppelin, they just want to play. He ended the conversation positively by saying that “There would be a record and a tour, but we've got to have everybody on board. . . . What we've done so far sounds absolutely fantastic." (Hiatt, Zeppelin Members Seek New Singer)

Something a Little Deeper

"Whole Lotta Love." Rolling Stone. 09 DEC 2004. Rollingstone.com. 2 May 2009.

(http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6595920/whole_lotta_love)

After digging deeper I found an anonymous Rolling Stone article on my favorite song, “Whole Lotta Love”. The author starts off talking about how “the four musicians got their sound together by jamming on the blues standards they loved, stretching them out into psychedelic orgies”.(Rolling Stone, "Whole Lotta Love") And after reading further, I have to admit that I was pretty devastated to find out that this song was not a Zeppelin original. Led Zeppelin initially recorded “Whole Lotta Love” to pay homage to “Chicago blues songwriter Willie Dixon.” (Rolling Stone, "Whole Lotta Love") There are also numerous other songs that were influenced by the sounds of Mr. Dixon, so he must be a great man. The respect they were trying to pay him was obviously not taken kindly when Dixon took legal action against the band for copyright issues. Testimonials were later given by Robert Plant and Jimmy page concerning the matter. "Page's riff was Page's riff," Plant said. "I just thought, 'Well, what am I going to sing?' That was it, a nick. Now happily paid for." Page later said, "Usually my riffs are pretty damn original. What can I say?" (Rolling Stone, "Whole Lotta Love") Original or not, I still find it to be one of the best songs ever made. It doesn’t matter to me who collaborates to make the song; it’s the way that music makes me feel that matters.

After researching I have discovered things that I would have never known. I really enjoyed all the first hand interviews that I found while researching. They give you a sense of how the speaker actually feels. Although, I do wish that I could've uncovered information from other sources, but Rolling Stone seemed to be the most valuable and reliable. I’m still not satisfied though, because I still feel there is interesting information out there waiting to be unveiled. Out of all the articles, I found the anonymous one to be the most interesting. It reveals facts that unless you were a rock historian you would otherwise not know.

I look forward to discovering more information about this profound band, but for now this will do.