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FBG'S TOP 81 LED ZEPPELIN SONGS: #1 - When The Levee Breaks from Led Zeppelin IV (1971) (2 Viewers)

#77 - Train Kept A-Rollin from Texas International Pop Festival - 1969-08-31

Appeared On: 1 ballot (out of 62. . . 1.6%)
Total Points: 3 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . .  0.194%)
Ranker: @Anarchy99
Highest Ranking: 23

Live Performances:
Led Zeppelin: 134 1969-03-15 - Brondby, 1970-09-02 - Oakland, 1980-07-07 - Berlin (Final Show), 1995-01-12 - Rock HOF Induction (with help from Aerosmith)
Jimmy Page: 31 1988-10-19 - Cleveland, 1990-08-18 - Monsters of Rock (with Aerosmith), 2009 Rock HOF Ceremony (with Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Ron Wood, Joe Perry, Flea, Metallica)
Robert Plant: 3

Other Versions: Yardbirds (1968), Aerosmith (1974), Motorhead (1977), Tesla (1987), Guns N' Roses (1992)

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): Not Ranked
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): Not Ranked
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): Not Ranked
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): Not Ranked
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): Not Ranked
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): Not Ranked
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): Not Ranked

My last toss-in to round out the field to 80 songs. I’m surprised no one else picked this one, as it was a staple on their tours from the very beginning.

The LZ folklore is somewhat hazy as to when the band officially became Led Zeppelin. Their official website lists Train Kept’ A-Rollin as the first song the band ever performed together. Still billed as The Yardbirds, they played two shows (at different locations) on 1968-09-07 in Denmark. Train was the typical opener for them in those days.

The song was first recorded as a single by Tiny Bradshaw in 1951 (which sounds more big band / swing than the revved-up rock versions that came later). Page couldn’t get enough of the song. It became a fixture in live shows with Page playing in The Yardbirds. Zeppelin played it 101 times in 1969. Page & Plant and Plant solo played it a few times, but I couldn't find any of those.

 
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Random musical interlude of songs . . .

PAGE & PLANT - Crossroads (1998-03-26) - From the Top of the Pops TV show.
PLANT - Crazy Little Thing Called Love (1992-04-20) - From the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert.
LZ - Fire [Say You're Gonna Leave Me] (1978) - Outtake from the In Through The Out Door studio sessions.
LZ - 10 Ribs & All / Carrot Pod Pod (Pod) (1976) - Instrumental bonus track added to the Deluxe Edition of Presence in 2015.
PLANT - When Will I Be Loved (2006-06-23) - Live cover of the Everly Brothers from NYC (the video and date of performance in the video are made up).


 

 
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jamny said:
These write-ups are insanely great!

Thanks @Anarchy99

eta: are any of the youtube pages yours?
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None of the YouTube stuff is mine. I have never posted anything to YouTube, so I obviously don't have a channel. I probably have things in my collection that deserve to be on YouTube, but they would likely get taken down. At least that has been my observation . . . depending upon the band / label, stuff gets pulled frequently (and other YouTubers have indicated their stuff gets yanked all the time). I don't have the time or the energy to upload things.

 
Anarchy99 said:
#80 - Jimmy’s Blues (by P.J. Proby) from Three Week Hero (1969)

Appeared On: 1 ballot (out of 61)
Total Points: 1 point (out of 1,525 possible points . . .  0.0635%)
High Ranker: @[scooter]

Live Performances: Never performed live.
Notable Covers: None

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): Not Ranked
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): Not Ranked
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): Not Ranked
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): Not Ranked
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): Not Ranked
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): Not Ranked
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): Not Ranked

What better place for us to start than the very beginning? I know a lot of people will say “WTF?!? What is this . . . that’s not even a Led Zeppelin song?!?” But first the back story.

In the early 60s, Jimmy Page started out as a session musician at 18 or 19 years old. He performed on a lot of tracks for artists that most people today would be unfamiliar with. His first recording session as a hired gun was for the instrumental Diamonds by Jet Harris in 1963. But he got steady work and a regular paycheck. There has been talk that in those days Jimmy was approached to join several bands but opted to stick with being an in-demand session musician. Here’s the long list of his session work.

Other notable session performances included acoustic guitar on Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey (1964), Heart of Stone by The Rolling Stones (1964), Baby, Please Don’t Go by Them (1964), Downtown by Petula Clark (1964), I Can’t Explain by The Who (1965), It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones (1965), Sunshine Superman by Donovan (1966), and With a Little Help from My Friends by Joe Cocker (1968). Along the way, Page played on some tracks with another session musician . . . bassist John Paul Jones.

The Yardbirds were formed in 1963 and shortly thereafter added Eric Clapton as their lead guitarist. Clapton opted out in 1965 and was replaced with Jeff Beck. In 1966, Page originally joined the Yardbirds . . . as their bass player. By the end of 1966, Beck also chose to leave the band.

Around this time, Page wanted to form a supergroup with Page and Beck on guitars and the Who's Keith Moon and John Entwistle on drums and bass. Vocalists Steve Winwood and Steve Marriott were also considered for the project. That project never really got off the ground. Ultimately, Beck and Page joined forces with Keith Moon, John Paul Jones, and keyboard player Nicky Hopkins. They recorded only one song: Beck’s Bolero by Jeff Beck in 1967.

When the proposed super group concept never materialized beyond that, Page instead took over as lead guitarist of the Yardbirds. The band produced a studio album and a live album in the 18 or so months they remained together. In 1968, the Yardbirds called it a day but were still contractually obligated to play some shows in Europe. Page got permission to press on with a newly configured band called The New Yardbirds. But after those tour dates, he lost the naming rights battle and had to come up with a new band name. His first choice to be lead singer for this new venture was vocalist Terry Reid, who declined but suggested Robert Plant.

At one point when Page and Beck had been discussing musicians for a potential new group, one version of how the new band's name was chosen held that Moon and Entwistle had suggested that a supergroup with Page and Beck would go down like a "lead balloon." As legend has it, that evolved and morphed into Led Zeppelin.

One of the artists that Page had worked several times across the early to late 60’s was P.J. Proby. By that point, the New Yardbirds featured Page and Jones . . . to go along with Robert Plant and John Bonham. Proby still was interested in working with Page. The newly minted Led Zeppelin finished their dates in Scandinavia, and the band members agreed to work on Proby’s new album even though they were more interested in recording out on their own (more on that later).

Jimmy’s Blues is the first studio recording that featured all four members of Led Zeppelin. Robert Plant plays harmonica. I thought about excluding this one from the rankings but decided against it. Proby languished in the music business in the 70’s and 80’s but reemerged in the 90’s and 00’s. He toured with The Who as The Godfather in 1997. He’s been recording songs and albums and performing live again since then.
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So the 80th best Zepplin song is a non-Zepplin song?

 
Dr. Octopus said:
So the 80th best Zepplin song is a non-Zepplin song?
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It has all 4 members of the band and is the first thing they ever recorded together. Would you prefer if we called it Led Zeppelin featuring PJ Proby? Because that's how it would most likely be listed in modern times.

 
Anarchy99 said:
It has all 4 members of the band and is the first thing they ever recorded together. Would you prefer if we called it Led Zeppelin featuring PJ Proby? Because that's how it would most likely be listed in modern times.
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I have no preference on what you call it.

 
Sigh. I was hoping to get a reprieve and write up someone else's song next. But by way of tiebreaker, one of my picks is already up again. I am sure I am going to get grief over my selection. If I were smart, I'd change my pick to another song. You guys will be relentless. I have two options: do a quick short write up and immediately move on to the next song (perhaps in the middle of the night); or do a full write up and try to make it sound like a reasonable and well thought out selection. Decisions, decisions.

 
Anarchy99 said:
Sigh. I was hoping to get a reprieve and write up someone else's song next. But by way of tiebreaker, one of my picks is already up again. I am sure I am going to get grief over my selection. If I were smart, I'd change my pick to another song. You guys will be relentless. I have two options: do a quick short write up and immediately move on to the next song (perhaps in the middle of the night); or do a full write up and try to make it sound like a reasonable and well thought out selection. Decisions, decisions.
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Rip the band-aid off!! Let's have it!!

PS- That selection is ridiculous! Can't believe you brought that stuff to the party! What are you thinking?? Cripes, this better get better pronto! 

 
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This pic came up in my facebook memories after posting it a few years ago, so I thought you'd get a kick out of it. I was probably like 12 years old at the time. That's right, The Fonz! Gotta problem with that?  :D

Speaking of Zeppelin III, I sold all of my albums years ago but ZIII was in pretty rough condition so no way anyone would want it and I wasn't going to throw that one away. Luckily, my wife, who had a very small album collection, just happened to have a pristine Zeppelin III ! So the only 2 LP's I own are both Zeppelin III

 
jamny said:
This pic came up in my facebook memories after posting it a few years ago, so I thought you'd get a kick out of it. I was probably like 12 years old at the time. That's right, The Fonz! Gotta problem with that?  :D

Speaking of Zeppelin III, I sold all of my albums years ago but ZIII was in pretty rough condition so no way anyone would want it and I wasn't going to throw that one away. Luckily, my wife, who had a very small album collection, just happened to have a pristine Zeppelin III ! So the only 2 LP's I own are both Zeppelin III
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Combined, does that make it LZ VI?

 
Fantastic, a known alias shows up with his horrible shtick in one of the best threads we've had in a long time and then reports somebody for calling him out.  This goes in the top 10 reasons the board is dying.

And yes, Dr. Octopus shouldn't have handled it that way but it's really tiresome so I don't blame him at all.

 
Anarchy99 said:
Sigh. I was hoping to get a reprieve and write up someone else's song next. But by way of tiebreaker, one of my picks is already up again. I am sure I am going to get grief over my selection. If I were smart, I'd change my pick to another song. You guys will be relentless. I have two options: do a quick short write up and immediately move on to the next song (perhaps in the middle of the night); or do a full write up and try to make it sound like a reasonable and well thought out selection. Decisions, decisions.
Click to expand...
Hoping for the full write up too.  Presuming, like in the other thread, some of the "stats" by list stuff will be sprinkled in this thread too, it'll fun to see where folks land in terms of total "points" high, low and in between.  I'm trying to keep up, was the thought of a Google Doc or something like it with all of the lists a thought to share at the end of this?

 
#76 - Darlene from Coda (1978 by way of 1982)

Appeared On: 1 ballot (out of 62 . . . 1.6%)
Total Points: 4 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . .  0.258%)
Ranker: @Anarchy99
Highest Ranking: 22

Live Performances: Not on your life.
Other Versions: No one is dumb enough to cover this song.

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 64
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): Not Ranked
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): Not Ranked
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 81
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 85
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 73
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 62

OK, this may not be my brightest hour or best selection. I was giving this one serious consideration and hoped someone else would take one for Team Anarchy, but when no one else picked it, I had to pull the trigger. My musical journey started in the seventies when I used to ride around with my dad listening to Top 40 radio and R&B songs. Not even AOR classic rock, just regular old 70’s bubble gum pop. We’re taking songs like Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian) - Paul Revere & The Raiders, Hooked on a Feeling - Blue Swede, and Little Willie - Sweet. The closest I got to rock was Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, a Foreigner song here and there, and the occasional Queen song. The few albums I owned on vinyl were K-Tel compilation records albums and some Elton John and Chicago albums. My favorite song back then (and now if I am being honest) was My Sharona - The Knack (at least that falls in the rock category).

When I started high school, I hung out at the school radio station. I lived a sheltered life . . . do many high schools even have on-air radio stations? The mantra was that we were supposed to support up and coming artists and non-commercial music. Led Zeppelin certainly was the antithesis of that. I started playing (at the time) some lesser-known acts like The Cure, Talking Heads, Duran Duran, Bowie, U2, R.E.M., and some other new wave and alternative bands. LZ didn’t check those boxes either.

Outside of school, I also started getting into the FM music scene . . . mostly Steely Dan, Yes, Dire Straits, some Rush, etc. But where I lived, popular kids didn’t listen to those bands (and certainly not Top 40 or alternative either). Guys and girls alike were judged by how hard they rocked. Van Halen, AC/DC, Ozzy, Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Def Leppard ruled the day. Literally, kids would judge you by what you had on for music in your car and how loud you cranked it. (Yes, we were all destined to become future Nobel laureates and magistrates.) Folks that hated you or thought poorly of you would give you street cred and you could move the needle popularity wise if you pulled up with your car shaking and Mean Street screaming out of your speakers. The sound decision-making and evaluation process of teenagers. The line from Fast Times at Ridgemont High was legit (“When it comes down to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV.) Literally, in the real world as HS teen at the time, that was an actual thing.

Anyway, out of the blue, John Bonham died. That meant very little to me as I was not into Zeppelin that much. Then Coda came out and Darlene was all over the radio. I was floored. To a then 16-year-old Anarchy that owned Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, this was the bomb. I took some of my money and started buying their albums. I also asked for others for my birthday and Christmas (Coda came out at the end of the year and I have a late birthday). I certainly acquired the albums in the wrong order, but while I knew some of their songs, I didn’t know their names of which albums they were on. To the uneducated and ill-informed younger me, Coda sounded fantastic.

Then I moved on to college, got involved in college radio, and to them, Led Zeppelin was the anti-Christ. This was also a time when Zeppelin had grown to be even more popular than when they were still a band (hard to believe, but true). Most FM rock stations had rock blocks, and it seemed like every third one was LZ. One station had a nightly Stairway to Seven segment, where they played 7 Zep songs each night at 7 PM (and they still do). A 24/7 all Zeppelin station popped up in Florida (this was before satellite radio).

By comparison, I hosted one alternative music show and one world music show. I co-hosted one classical show and an all-Frank Sinatra show. And I filled in for anyone that was out and kept their show format (one professor had a polka show, an older student had a big band / swing show, one DJ had a jazz show, etc.) Again, Led Zeppelin did not exactly fit any of those genres.

As an experiment at home on one Saturday starting at 8:00 AM, I scanned the FM radio dial until I found a LZ song playing. When the song was over, I would scan the dial again until I got to another LZ song and stayed there until that song was done. I wanted to see if I could get through the entire range of the FM dial without hearing another Zep tune. I stopped at midnight and gave up. I could not go a full cycle completely all the way through the FM dial and miss a Led Zep song. At least one station always had them on for 16 hours straight. (Yeah, you think that was a waste of time? What were YOU doing as a teenager? At least I was clean and sober, you degenerates!)

I liked the band, but they were the poster boys for over saturation. My LZ vinyl collection mostly sat gathering dust for many years. The songs had been played out both at my house and on the radio. I needed a break. But many years later, this invention called the Internet appeared. And this concept called music sharing and song downloading became a thing. And there were tons of high sound quality LZ concerts out there that were mind altering, attainable for very little effort. Perhaps some of you have heard some of them? I found the live versions of songs to be far more interesting than the studio versions, mostly because every performance was different, and you never knew where they would go and what they would do next. But for me, all that started with, of all songs, Darlene.

The song itself is an outtake from In Through the Out Door, recorded in 1978. Coda also featured two other songs from those sessions . . . Ozone Baby and Wearing and Tearing. Some places suggest that In Through the Out Door was already too full and there wasn’t enough room for those 3 songs. I guess that’s the polite way of putting it. There is so much apathy over Coda and Darlene, that it's difficult to find any information online about either. The best way to summarize Coda is . . . it's an album of leftover songs from The Island of Misfit Toys. 

Though the song was never released as a single, Darlene hit #4 on the US Billboard Top Tracks chart (based on airplay alone). It was never performed anywhere by LZ, P&P, RP, JP, or pretty much anyone else, living or dead. Allegedly, there is a different version of the song on the 1993 box set, but I don’t hear anything different about it. Darlene is said to be the last song the band ever recorded.

Anyway, flame away. But that's why I picked this less than stellar effort from the Zeppelin of Led. I shoulda gone with "Jerk Store."

Ultimate Classic Rock (64 of 92 songs): Likely left off In Through the Out Door because its homages to classic rock 'n' roll didn't fit in with that album's end-of-the-'70s weariness. Sounds good on Coda, though, even though it's sorta directionless.

WMGK Ranking (81 of 92 songs): Darlene was perceived as likely being a hooky track, but it comes off more repetitive (almost boring) than anything. 

SPIN Ranking (85 of 87 songs): Near-comic in its repetitiveness, “Darlene” does eventually build a certain swing to it, but only the most devoted of fans are likely to bear with it long enough to get there.

 
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