Happy Birthday Jimmy Page!
Yes, January 9th is Jimmy Page’s birthday, and I am celebrating by putting on some of my favorite music of all!
Here is just a sample:
“I’ve been to London, seen seven wonders. I know to trip is just to fall. I used to rock it, sometimes I’d roll it. I always knew what it was for…”
How can you argue with THAT?
Behold The “Hammer Of The Gods!”
Fans of Led Zeppelin have been receiving gifts from the band for the last few years, as reissues of all of their music have come out – with tons of added bonus material.
While most of the added material consists of early demos and live versions, it is still a joy to listen to this band!
And, if you were EVER to question their “rock gods” moniker, just watch this:
This live performance of “Stairway To Heaven” is from Zeppelin’s 70’s film “The Song Remains The Same” – and it is widely considered the greatest rock song of all time…
And now, get ready to hear “Stairway” in a newly remastered version that will send you right “to heaven!”
Led Zeppelin Rocks Again!
The music has lived on – and now it is back in remastered special editions! Just announced are ALL NEW remasters of “Led Zeppelin 4” and “House Of The Holy!”
Here are the details!
NEW EDITIONS OF “Led Zeppelin IV” and “Houses Of The Holy” have been announced as the latest additions to the Led Zeppelin remasters series!
Both records have been remastered by Jimmy Page and will each feature a second disc of unreleased tracks!
Unheard versions of every song on “Led Zeppelin IV” will be included on the album’s bonus disc, including alternate mixes of Four Sticks, Misty Mountain Hop, The Battle Of Evermore, Going To California and Stairway To Heaven.
Yes, an alternate mix for “Stairway To Heaven”, although he entire album is brilliant form start to finish!
“House Of The Holy!”
Their followup is almost as strong, and it’s being remastered as well!
“Houses Of The Holy” will feature rough mixes of The Ocean, Dancing Days and No Quarter alongside a piano-less version of The Rain Song and the guitar mix backing track for Over The Hills And Far Away.
As you can see, another GREAT album full of classic Zeppelin!
“Led Zeppelin IV” and “Houses Of The Holy” will be available via Atlantic/Swan Song on October 27. They will go nicely with the first three remasters – more on that in a moment!
For the full tracklistings, head over to:
ledzeppelin.com
Led Zeppelin has many signature rock tracks like “Kashmir”, “Whole Lotta Love” and of course, the greatest rock song of all time: “Stairway To Heaven.”
But they also had some of the tightest rock songs ever as well, and sometimes those get lost in the Zeppelin shuffle. For that reason, I wanted to highlight some of Zeppelin’s catchiest – and among their shortest – rock tunes – here are my five favorites!
#5 – The Song Remains The Same! – from “Houses Of The Holy”
Yes, it was the title of their concert movie, but it was also a killer rock track that will be re-released in a newly remastered version soon…here’s a great live version:
Next up is their tightest rock song ever – from their iconic double album “Physical Graffiti”…which may be the greatest double album release of all time!
#4 – Night Flight – from Zeppelin’s double album “Physical Graffiti”:
Behold the energetic punch of “Night Flight!”
The band has always been an FM classic rock staple – with songs that could go upwards of twenty minutes – but this band was also able to write a hit single, and here is another example – Zeppelin’s riff on The Beatles “Lovely Rita!”
#3 – Livin’ Lovin’ Maid – from “Led Zeppelin II”
Their most popular rock single may be this one, and for good reason – it includes the lyrics that have come to define the band:
#2 – Immigrant Song – from “Led Zeppelin III”
Aside form being one of the most aggressively catchy rock songs of all time, it included the line “hammer of the gods”, which has described the band ever since…and it is an amazing rock song. Here is a great live performance posted on youtube by Rhino Video:
Such a great song! A terrific cover version was done by Trent Reznor for the film “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”…a great version, but the original is impossible to top…
No matter how much I love all of the above songs, there is not a song written that doesn’t capture the world of rock ‘n’ roll better than this one – and with the remasters version on the way in October, it is time to rock and roll again:
#1 – Rock ‘n’ Roll! – from the album “Led Zeppelin IV”
“Been a long time since I rock and rolled…” The opening words to the great rock single ever written! Led Zeppelin released their fourth album and told the world they were rock gods! “Black Dog”, “Going To California”, “Stairway To Heaven” – it is an album that never stops!
Here is the band performing the song live in 1973:
Hammer Of The Gods!
Just five incredible songs from the greatest rock band of all time! As I said, most of their catalog is now remastered!
In June, the first three Led Zeppelin albums were re-released in remastered version with tons of extras! Read all about these remasters here:
“Stairway to Heaven” indeed!
And now that the fourth and fifth albums are out, we also got the remastered double album masterpiece “Physical Graffiti”!”
And if you REALLY want to dive into the band, check this book out!
Pamela Des Barres wrote a “no holds barred” look at the groupie life in LA in the 70’s called “I’m With The Band”, and Zeppelin was one of the bands she hung out with…read about it here:
Happy birthday Jimmy!
Categories: 70's Cinema, Awards, Books / Media, Classic Rock, documentary films, Led Zeppelin, London, Music, Talent/Celebrities
Reblogged this on johnrieber and commented:
Happy birthday to Jimmy Page!
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