de dannan took on the beatles, queen, etc. and some irish groups have done the irishify-rock-tune thing. i got to thinking about why nobody seems to have tackled any of led zeppelin's stuff (my fav. rock band by a LONG way) and which of their cuts would lend itself the best to tradification. anyone got any ideas?
Oddly enough I was attempting to hide the theme to Stairway to Heaven in a syncopated reel form as a joke piece, but it was too hard play it and not have it return to its Led Zeppelin form.
Inspired by Autralian ABC TVs Spicks and Specks, which often feature groups playing rock/pop/anything in a completely alien format, eg hillbilly, Klezmer,Bushband etc. Very clever and very funny. So I thought what would happen if you put Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple,Black Sabbath etc well known themes into Celtic style jigs, reels etc. And then tried to guess its origin-a bit of fun anyway!
There I have posted my first discussion reply.
Well I suppose 'Going to California' from Led Zep's untitled 4th album is one of the obvious choices. Great mandolin playing from John Paul Jones In what is one of the most beautiful ballads that Zep wrote. Great tune, great words.
Next time your at a session dtb and somebody says "Off to California"? Launch into "Going to California" instead!
I suppose that you know Led Zep pinched the tune and the guitar figure on Stairway To Heaven from an instrumental called Aquarius on Spirit's first album? Plant and Page were a pair of musical magpies. You Need Love ,recorded by Muddy Waters and written by Willie Dixon was put through the Zep mangler and appeared as Whole Lotta Love,credited to Plant and Page;It wasn't so long ago that the copywright case was settled. Moon Going Down by Charlie Patton became Hat's Of to Roy Harper.Not only did they murder the song,but they put there name on that too.They even went back in a time machine and wrote the 17th century ballad,Gallows pole.Honest artists would hane credited it to Trad. arr. etc but not those two.They "wrote" You Shook Me,stole Bert Janch's arrangement of Blackwaterside and renamed it Blackmountainside,and made a dog's breakfast of it too.How many more Times wasn't written by Howlin' Wolf. I could go on.I've seen all the greats on stage in my time,including Led Zep twice and they were the most overrated band in the history of the universe.Plant screaming away likea petulant child howling for a lollipop,Page's solos never got anywhere,unlike Beck and Hendrix and as for that neanderthal Bonham,words fail me.
My memory was at fault,the Spirit Instrumental is called Taurus and I don't know why Randy Califoria didn't sue them.George Harrison was sued over the resemblance between My Sweet Lord and The Chiffon's He's So Fine and that was only a passing resemblance.The guitar and melody of Taurus and Stairway are identical.The Spirit album was released in 1968.When the Stones recorded You Gotta Move they credited to him and made sure he got the royalties as they always did when they recorded an obscure blues number.I'm sorry to go on about this,but I can't stand plagiarism.One other thing,Page was a session guitarist in the early sixties and always said that he played lead on Sunshine Superman by Donovan and Hold Me by P.J. Proby and other hits.Don't believe it,Big Jim Sullivan played lead and Page was the rhythm guitarist.The Geoffrey Archer of rock!
Did you now that Zep took the Temple Hill Kazoo Orchestra to court over their hilarious version of Whole Lotta Love? Now that is brass neck. It was the best version ever.
Don't know about Zep, but we have had a go at Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden....also the end of black sabbath by Black Sabbath is in 6/8 so lends itself nicely to jig format.....
This reminds me of "The Money or the Gun" album that came out in Australia some years ago where a whole bunch of different artists / bands did versions of Stairway to Heaven in different musical styles eg bluegrass, Beatlesesque, C & W, etc. (even Rolf Harris did one with his wobble board!!). Anyone else remeber that one?
I know Paul McSherry plays a hell of a lot of his stuff on albums and you can hear influences in Moving Hearts etc.
How is it possible not to want to use their ideas in other music?
I have often tried it on banjo but it doesnt sound too impressive!
Y'know, believe it or not that was not the first time I have heard those arguments. And while a lot of them definitely have legitimacy, the fact remains that those 4 guys were certainly not lacking in talent and put out some killer stuff that can be credited to noone but themselves...my fav. track of theirs happens not to be any of the tracks you mentioned but Achilles Last Stand anyway (I wonder how one could work that one up). And calling Bohman a Neanderthal left me with no choice but to cease to take much else you put down all that seriously. Are you for real?!
There have been way too many other musicians (including Jimi Hendrix whom you seem to admire as do I), drummers or otherwise who have complimented his playing and been influenced by him for me to not laugh at the kind of assertion you're trying to make about his playing. Plant's voice and Jimmy Page's playing...well I disagree but to each his own. But to diss Bonzo...you're got to be kidding!
Funny how you didn't mention John Paul Jones though. Interesting takes from some of the other posters re. this topic. This thread seems to have taken on a life of its own since I started it. Neat!
And the Dolly Parton cover of Stairway...I think it'd take time to get used to but it seems to be an honest effort. Her reworking of some of the lyrics was funny.
irishified led zeppelin
irishified led zeppelin
this is a bit of a whimsical thread but anyway...
de dannan took on the beatles, queen, etc. and some irish groups have done the irishify-rock-tune thing. i got to thinking about why nobody seems to have tackled any of led zeppelin's stuff (my fav. rock band by a LONG way) and which of their cuts would lend itself the best to tradification. anyone got any ideas?
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by dtb
Re: irishified led zeppelin
How about bodhran Bliss doing Moby Dick?
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by llig leahcim
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Moby Dick was Captain Ahab, who is Lead Zeppelin?
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by bodhran bliss
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Oddly enough I was attempting to hide the theme to Stairway to Heaven in a syncopated reel form as a joke piece, but it was too hard play it and not have it return to its Led Zeppelin form.
Inspired by Autralian ABC TVs Spicks and Specks, which often feature groups playing rock/pop/anything in a completely alien format, eg hillbilly, Klezmer,Bushband etc. Very clever and very funny. So I thought what would happen if you put Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple,Black Sabbath etc well known themes into Celtic style jigs, reels etc. And then tried to guess its origin-a bit of fun anyway!
There I have posted my first discussion reply.
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by mrs.b
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Well I suppose 'Going to California' from Led Zep's untitled 4th album is one of the obvious choices. Great mandolin playing from John Paul Jones In what is one of the most beautiful ballads that Zep wrote. Great tune, great words.
Next time your at a session dtb and somebody says "Off to California"? Launch into "Going to California" instead!
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by Jon_bailey
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Try Bron-Y-Aur Stomp from the 3rd album. It's very folksy as it is, you could probably turn into a barndance or a reel if you tried.
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by smw
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Oddly enough, our guitar player was trying to work the Kashmir guitar riff into a tune in last week's session.
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by JerryH
Re: irishified led zeppelin
I think John McSherry's had a go at some of their guitar riffs.
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by Conán McDonnell
Re: irishified led zeppelin
I suppose that you know Led Zep pinched the tune and the guitar figure on Stairway To Heaven from an instrumental called Aquarius on Spirit's first album? Plant and Page were a pair of musical magpies. You Need Love ,recorded by Muddy Waters and written by Willie Dixon was put through the Zep mangler and appeared as Whole Lotta Love,credited to Plant and Page;It wasn't so long ago that the copywright case was settled. Moon Going Down by Charlie Patton became Hat's Of to Roy Harper.Not only did they murder the song,but they put there name on that too.They even went back in a time machine and wrote the 17th century ballad,Gallows pole.Honest artists would hane credited it to Trad. arr. etc but not those two.They "wrote" You Shook Me,stole Bert Janch's arrangement of Blackwaterside and renamed it Blackmountainside,and made a dog's breakfast of it too.How many more Times wasn't written by Howlin' Wolf. I could go on.I've seen all the greats on stage in my time,including Led Zep twice and they were the most overrated band in the history of the universe.Plant screaming away likea petulant child howling for a lollipop,Page's solos never got anywhere,unlike Beck and Hendrix and as for that neanderthal Bonham,words fail me.
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by dafydd
Re: irishified led zeppelin
My memory was at fault,the Spirit Instrumental is called Taurus and I don't know why Randy Califoria didn't sue them.George Harrison was sued over the resemblance between My Sweet Lord and The Chiffon's He's So Fine and that was only a passing resemblance.The guitar and melody of Taurus and Stairway are identical.The Spirit album was released in 1968.When the Stones recorded You Gotta Move they credited to him and made sure he got the royalties as they always did when they recorded an obscure blues number.I'm sorry to go on about this,but I can't stand plagiarism.One other thing,Page was a session guitarist in the early sixties and always said that he played lead on Sunshine Superman by Donovan and Hold Me by P.J. Proby and other hits.Don't believe it,Big Jim Sullivan played lead and Page was the rhythm guitarist.The Geoffrey Archer of rock!
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by dafydd
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Should that be Jeffrey?
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by dafydd
Re: irishified led zeppelin
i used to suffer from moby dick but it's cleared up now.
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by dafydd
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Did you now that Zep took the Temple Hill Kazoo Orchestra to court over their hilarious version of Whole Lotta Love? Now that is brass neck. It was the best version ever.
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by dafydd
Re: irishified led zeppelin
And you gotta love Dread Zeppelin too.
Zep tunes rasterized with an Elvis impersonator on vocal, for those who aren't familiar.
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by llig leahcim
Re: irishified led zeppelin
http://www.dreadzeppelin.com/index2.html
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by llig leahcim
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Don't know about Zep, but we have had a go at Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden....also the end of black sabbath by Black Sabbath is in 6/8 so lends itself nicely to jig format.....
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by Freddy Frog
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Yeah, I John Mc Sherry has been piping at the Led Zep riffs for a quite a while now.
It's crazy how difficult it is to have an original Idea now!
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by proinsiasrua
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Sorry That should have been> 'I think John Mc Sherry'
I am not John Mc Sherry addressing myself in the 3rd person!
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by proinsiasrua
Re: irishified led zeppelin
a good start could be:http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/KF/2006/05/led/Dolly_Parton_-_Stairway_To_Heaven.mp3
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNc5o9TU0t0
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by swisspiper
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Wow, too funny.
I sing "Hey Hey What Can I say?" by Led Zepplin quite well, and am asked to by the owner of the pub at the one session I go to.
The other session members have gotten into it and now we have the whole crew wailing away...on acoustic guitar, whistle, flute, box, etc.
There's something quite amusing about the fiddler belting out the skinny white-boy heavy metal blues to the gentle acoustic crunch of a session.
Anyway, there's two cents for you.
"Hey hey, what can I say? I got a woman wants to ball all day!
Hey hey, what can I do? I got a woman and she won't be true!"
# Posted on February 20th 2007 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: irishified led zeppelin
This reminds me of "The Money or the Gun" album that came out in Australia some years ago where a whole bunch of different artists / bands did versions of Stairway to Heaven in different musical styles eg bluegrass, Beatlesesque, C & W, etc. (even Rolf Harris did one with his wobble board!!). Anyone else remeber that one?
G.
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by GerryTh
Re: irishified led zeppelin
I think Page and McSherry have played together.
Here are some pictures of Jimmy Page playing trad
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=101762573
I know Paul McSherry plays a hell of a lot of his stuff on albums and you can hear influences in Moving Hearts etc.
How is it possible not to want to use their ideas in other music?
I have often tried it on banjo but it doesnt sound too impressive!
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by eurbanjo
Re: irishified led zeppelin
dafydd
Y'know, believe it or not that was not the first time I have heard those arguments. And while a lot of them definitely have legitimacy, the fact remains that those 4 guys were certainly not lacking in talent and put out some killer stuff that can be credited to noone but themselves...my fav. track of theirs happens not to be any of the tracks you mentioned but Achilles Last Stand anyway (I wonder how one could work that one up). And calling Bohman a Neanderthal left me with no choice but to cease to take much else you put down all that seriously. Are you for real?!
There have been way too many other musicians (including Jimi Hendrix whom you seem to admire as do I), drummers or otherwise who have complimented his playing and been influenced by him for me to not laugh at the kind of assertion you're trying to make about his playing. Plant's voice and Jimmy Page's playing...well I disagree but to each his own. But to diss Bonzo...you're got to be kidding!
Funny how you didn't mention John Paul Jones though. Interesting takes from some of the other posters re. this topic. This thread seems to have taken on a life of its own since I started it. Neat!
And the Dolly Parton cover of Stairway...I think it'd take time to get used to but it seems to be an honest effort. Her reworking of some of the lyrics was funny.
# Posted on February 23rd 2007 by dtb
Re: irishified led zeppelin
Not ITM, but there is a whole series of Bluegrass covers of Rock classics called "Pickin' On ..."
http://www.amazon.com/Pickin-Led-Zeppelin-Vol-1-2/dp/B0000CC862/sr=8-3/qid=1172428541/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/102-1080804-3968106?ie=UTF8&s=music
Bluegrass instrumentation is nice but somehow this kind of thing just sounds like Muzak to me.
# Posted on February 25th 2007 by Jim Stetson