5 October : Led Zeppelin III

As with Pink Floyd, I need to get my priors out and up front: from the perspective of their overall career output, I don’t like Led Zeppelin and never have. Even in the early seventies when they were in their pomp, they weren’t my thing. But there is some of their material I really do like, and a lot, perhaps most, of that material is on Led Zeppelin III, released 5 October 1970 in the US, 23 October in the UK.

Were this the only album they’d ever released, I’d be much more likely to sing their praises. I’d go further: I don’t own any of their albums, but were I to buy one, this would be it.

Unusually for one of their albums, there are only three, or perhaps two and a half, songs here I can’t be bothered with: Out on the Tiles, Hats Off to Roy Harper, and Since I Been Lovin’ You. The first I just don’t like, the middle is essentially a Bukka White song and I prefer the original. I saw Robert Plant in Glasgow give a really good performance of Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You a few years back, but the version here is pretty much generic white-boy blues, albeit well played. Tangerine is pleasant enough but nothing to write home about. That’s The Way  and Bron-y-Aur Stomp are both carried by Plant’s vocals.

That leaves the four I do like:

Immigrant Song: justly celebrated, because it is a pure expression of the band, not obviously ‘influenced’ by prior artists which, to be fair, is generally true of the whole album. Also John Paul Jones’s bass playing is fabulous–as it is throughout the album.

Friends: reminds me of something I can’t put my finger on, and I like the interesting scale used on the altered-tuned  guitar.

Celebration Day. Yup; another good one.

Gallows Pole: interesting take on Child Ballad 95, best known to me as a Lead Belly classic. In a contemporary interview with Melody Maker (24/10/70), Page says it’s a Lead Belly song he got from Fred Gerlach. The internet is, of course, awash with fingers pointing about songs being ‘stolen’; in this case the song was described as trad. arr Plant and Page and it sounds to me like Plant and Page put quite some thought into coming up with their own arrangement.

It’s a while since I listened to this, and I was happy to give it a couple of plays. My main impression is that it confirms something I’ve felt for a while: Jones’s bass and Plant’s vocals are what hold Led Zep. together. Between them, they can make average material sound good, and good material sound great.

I listened to the remastered version on Spotify, but it’s everywhere.