vintagemovies:
Robert Plant in The Song Remains The Same (1976)
soundsof71:
Led Zeppelin: Robert Plant, Duckface of the Gods, by Neal Preston
chewbacca:
Robert Plant in The Song Remains The Same (1976)
The Rain Song
Led Zeppelin
Houses of the Holy
0 plays
soundsof71:
snortleme:
ethereal-valkyrie:
Led Zeppelin // The Rain Song
Eddie Kramer: “I love this track because of the typically esoteric Pagey guitar tuning, but also because of the role John Paul Jones plays on it. This was definitely the album where Jonesy finally stepped out of the shadows. I knew him from before Led Zeppelin, when he was a session musician. He was a superb arranger who could conduct an orchestra while playing bass with one hand. I once saw him do that. That Mellotron he plays on this is what lifts the track to another emotional level. And the piano, which he also plays, is like raindrops, or maybe teardrops. I don’t think they’d ever done a track so subtle before. That’s the test of a great arranger: to do something so subtle yet which has such power. Quite beautiful.”
People talk about Desert Island Albums, that handful of records that you’d take if you were marooned, and those were all you could listen to for the rest of your life – well, this is my Desert Island SONG. If there was only one song I could listen to, every day, for the rest of my life, this would be it.
Yes, “The Rain Song” features some of Robert’s tenderest lyrics (and his own all-time favorite vocal), a gorgeous melody from Jimmy (opening with a quote from “Something”, a riposte to George Harrison who said that Zeppelin’s problem was that they didn’t do ballads), one of Bonzo’s most subtly powerful performances, using brushes even as the song rises to its climax (and seriously, keep your ears open for when he enters the song – it will change how you hear it forever after), but the song’s engineer, Eddie Kramer is right: this is a John Paul Jones masterclass.
The Mellotron, a keyboard interface for manipulating tape loops, ideal for one person trying to control an orchestra, was right up John Paul Jones’ alley, and Eddie’s description of JPJ’s piano “like raindrops, or maybe teardrops” is perfect. It feels like fainter praise than it deserves, but this truly is my favorite piano performance in all of classic rock.
John Paul Jones is too often dismissed as “the other guy” in Led Zeppelin, or only remembered as a terrific bassist. That’s only the beginning of what he brought to this remarkable musical partnership.
junkiegeorge:
Golden God - The Song Remains the Same
soundsof71:
The Thrust Remains The Same
soundsof71:
Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin. The VERY Golden God
hot-in-the-shade:
Robert Plant (Paris, April 1, 1973)
