“Otherworldy”: Robert Plant on the blues album that inspired Led Zeppelin’s mythology
Many words aptly describe Led Zeppelin’s music, but one that has become synonymous with their expansive sound is “otherworldly”. With their powerful sonics and Robert Plant’s lyrics steeped in fiction and mythology, the band crafted a sound that exists at the colourful intersection of blues, metal, and prog. Despite spawning countless imitators, Led Zeppelin’s unique musical character remains entirely their own.
Led Zeppelin could only have emerged in the late 1960s, perfectly aligning with the listener tastes of that era. Building on the dark psychedelia that guitarist Jimmy Page had crafted with his previous band, The Yardbirds, Zeppelin fused this with their generation’s obsession with esotericism, spurred on by the counterculture. Their dedication to constant innovation, at a time when many prominent acts were slipping into complacency, set the stage for the quartet to rise and eventually surpass even The Beatles in influence. In doing so, they ushered in a new era of experimental hard rock.
Despite the cultural divide within Led Zeppelin—between frontman Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham from the working-class West Midlands, and guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist/multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones from the more middle-class London suburbs—the band functioned as a cohesive unit. Each member complemented the others, filling in creative gaps and acting as foils for one another, which resulted in one of the most powerful and distinctive sounds of their era.
While there were many things that contributed to Zeppelin’s tremendous success and continued influence on music, one thing that underpinned all of their work was bluesy aura. As with their era’s most notable names, they were longtime lovers of the blues, particularly Delta blues, a highly mythologised form with a particular type of intrigue shrouding it. This was primarily thanks to the stories of pioneer Robert Johnson, who died young under perplexing circumstances and supposedly sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads in return for his musical success.
While Johnson pioneered blues guitar and laid the groundwork for all who followed—from Chuck Berry to Jimmy Page and later, Slash—the enigma surrounding his life and death adds an intriguing layer to his music. This mystique, coupled with the raw, primal quality of his recordings, further enhances the already mystical nature of his lyrics and playing. Johnson’s work, shrouded in both mystery and raw emotion, continues to resonate deeply, amplifying its impact on generations of musicians.
Led Zeppelin and their generation were ripe to be fascinated by the likes of Johnson. His records impacted Plant so much that years after he had enjoyed success and established himself as one of rock’s greatest leads, he would find himself journeying by car to the Mississippi home of Johnson. This storied place was just as alluring as the enchanted vistas of the Norse and Greek mythologies that cropped up in his lyrics, supplementing his band’s own ambience.
When listing his record collection for Q, Plant revealed the Johnson album that greatly inspired Led Zeppelin in establishing their mythology: the 1961 compilation The Delta Blues Singers Volumes 1 and 2. He called the song ‘Traveling Riverside Blues’ particularly impactful, which his band covered on Coda, and heavily suggested that it inspired ‘The Lemon Song’.
Plant said: “Squeeze my lemon till the juice runs down my leg…’ On tour in Memphis, I rented a car and drove down to Mississippi, to Fryers Point, as in the song. Very strange place, very African, very other-worldly. Sleepy, woodsmoke fires, big trees all around, burnt-out motels, deserted gas stations”.
I can’t even imagine how it must have felt being in a place so far removed from England and one that Plant had dreamed about for so long. Even the description is spine-tingling. Moments like that don’t happen often.
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