The musician Angus Young called a prototype of Led Zeppelin: “You’re definitely hearing Robert Plant”
A sonic behemoth, Led Zeppelin are the group most closely tied to the notion of esoteric rock music. Producing songs such as the expansive ‘Kashmir’, featuring its majestic string melody, Robert Plant’s supernatural delivery, and an Orientalist title drawing upon the supposedly mystical Indian Subcontinent – despite being inspired by a drive in Morocco – the group always had a metaphysical slant.
While the internet and a mass of seriously flawed individuals have since undone the traditional concept of the rockstar, when Zeppelin were at their peak, the quartet appeared to fans like superheroes, übermensch, if you will. They led their legions of followers deep into the mind’s eye, with Plant spinning tales drenched in global mythologies and fantasy, ballasted by the group’s towering sonics.
While each member’s sheer technical mastery had much to do with this standing – not to mention Plant’s primal wail – the joking moment he described himself as the “golden god” paints a clear picture of the era’s spirit. It heavily suggests how the group appeared to the mere mortals buying their records like rulers from the ancient times they often evoked.
From the Vikings’ land of the ice and snow to the sun-beaten Atlas mountains so central to Mediterranean antiquity, Plant’s lyrics might have crossed the Earth’s many topographies and folklore and been a critical component in his group’s fabled status, but things weren’t always so fantastical. Although tracks such as ‘Kashmir’ and the aptly named ‘Achilles Last Stand’ constitute this segment of the group’s tale, if you peer a little deeper into the actual complexion of a song such as the latter, you will find that it is steeped in the groove of the most earthy form of rock ‘n’ roll, a form based on the real.
Although the group’s creative director, guitarist Jimmy Page, had devised his concept for the group’s sound when playing in The Yardbirds, seeking to craft sounds that made rock music darker and more expansive than it had been in the late 1960s, the group were always blues and rock ‘n’ roll purists.
Covering the classic Willie Dixon and J. B. Lenoir track, ‘You Shook Me’ on their 1969 debut, and morphing Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Killing Floor’ into ‘The Lemon Song’ on Led Zeppelin II, fans don’t have to look far to see how deep this connection runs. Furthermore, with swaggering, blues-laced numbers such as ‘Communication Breakdown’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and the twisting ‘Black Dog’, it’s clear that the group were as indebted to the humble sounds of the Mississippi Delta and Chicago as fantasy.
This is a point that another notable rock and roll acolyte has noted in the past. For AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, a guitar hero who has carried the flame of the genre heroes until the present, Led Zeppelin isn’t that esoteric at all. They are so steeped in rock ‘n’ roll tradition that he even deems the late ‘King of Rock and Roll’ Elvis Presley as their prototype.
He once told VH1: “I guess I’d just say if you want somebody looking for a Led Zeppelin type, plug in to Elvis Presley. A lot of the early Presley there’s a bit of Led Zeppelin you know?”
Adding: “I mean, in Presley, you’re definitely hearing Robert Plant.”
Despite the clear rock ‘n’ roll connection between both acts, I don’t think many would have so confidently drawn a specific parallel between Presley and Plant, given their markedly different aesthetics and accentuation, not to mention worldviews. Yet, come to think of it, there’s certainly something in the hips and pout…
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter
All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.