After seminal British blues rock band The Yardbirds broke up, the other three members left guitarist Jimmy Page with the rights to the name, but with that came the band's contractual obligations, which included a tour of Scandinavia. Page was forced to bring together a new band that would perform as "The New Yardbirds." He recruited session bassist Jimmy Page and Band of Joy lead singer Robert Plant, the latter of whom recommended his bandmate, John Bonham, on drums.
With that, they toured Scandinavia as The New Yardbirds, but when they were recording an album, former Yardbirds member Chris Dreja issued a cease and desist letter to prevent them from using The New Yardbirds as their name. Thank the Rock and Roll Gods that happened because it forced them to come up with a new name. Legend has it that, upon hearing that Page and fellow former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck were considering forming a supergroup, The Who's Keith Moon and John Entwistle said the group would go down like a "lead balloon." Manager Peter Grant suggested they drop the "a" in "lead," and then the band changed "balloon" to "zeppelin." And Led Zeppelin was born.
Their debut album came out in January 1969, with its iconic cover featuring a photo of the Hindenburg disaster. The album pushed the blues rock sound of The Yardbirds and similar bands to a heavier place, and it's often credited as one of the first heavy metal albums (though I'm not sure I agree). However you want to categorize it, the album marked a sea change in music.
The only single released from the album was also the first track off the album, "Good Times Bad Times." Starting with Page's crunchy riff, with Bonham holding back in the background, the song announced that the "flower power" era of the '60s was coming to an end, and the era of hard rock that would last for the next several decades was here. The song is a great introduction to Led Zeppelin and the band members' talents. Page, of course, kills it on the guitar, both with the riff (written by Jones) and the solos. Jones's bass holds everything down, and he has a nice little bass fill. Bonham's bass drum triplets and fills let you know he's not your typical "hold down the beat" rock and roll drummer. Plant, while more subdued on this song than some others on the album, still shows his vocal range. And that first line just kind of grabs you: "In the days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man / Now I've reached that age, I've tried to do those things the best I can." We can all relate to that sentiment.
I've also always been intrigued by the line "But when I whispered in her ear, I lost another friend." The previous lines talk about being in love at 16 and a girl who swore she'd never leave. So does that mean she was the friend and he lost her because he whispered something a bit too tawdry in her ear? Or was she actually dating his friend, and he came onto her and she told her boyfriend? Was this whisper what led (pun intended, motherfuckers!) her to leave him for a brown-eyed man? These are the things that keep me up at night in Rocktober.
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