I Wish My Name Was Memphis Minnie

This is my usual reaction when a Led Zeppelin song comes on the radio:





And it's a little absurd because I consider myself a Zeppelin fan, but I'm just so sick of hearing them, especially on the radio. ...Though I feel bogus even thinking that. Like such a phony. I mean, by the time I was even born Bonham had been dead for seven years and Zeppelin was already on to its second reunion gig. And that was when I was BORN...Led Zeppelin didn't even enter my radar until about 12 or 13 years later (side note: that's also around the same time I discovered Pink Floyd was, in fact, NOT just one man named Floyd).

But anyway, my interest really peaked in high school when Jimmy and Bobby reconciled their differences, and rumors about a triumphant Zeppelin reunion started to surface. Shortly thereafter they were releasing How The West Was Won. And how I had loved them. But Led Zeppelin has been ruling the airwaves for 40 years so to say that I'm sick of them after just a decade of listening just seems pitiful in comparison. Though I feel completely justified in saying that I'm soooo sick of Nirvana because that's more my generation, well, sorta. I often ask myself when they'll stop force feeding us Smells Like Teen Spirit, and I've realized the answer is NEVER. We have a lifetime of the same Nirvana songs to look forward to. But back to Zepp...

Okay, so why bring all this up? Well, the other day I'm sitting in my car on the way home from work and I'm stuck in terrible traffic on this tiny rural two-lane road. Oh, and it was raining...wait, not just raining, it was POURING. I was tired and grouchy and I couldn't wait to change out of these really uncomfortable work pants. So when Zeppelin came on the radio I let out an instinctive groan. But as I reached for that dial I had to stop.

The song playing was When The Levee Breaks - that relentless pounding of Bonzo's drums, the wails of the harmonica, Plant oozing with sleaze. The song is thick and sludgy and sounds exactly how I envision the muddy banks of the Mississippi River to sound. (And it should sound that way - Zeppelin's version is based on a classic delta blues song written by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. NPR did a great little story a few years ago on Zeppelin's appropriation of American blues: Listen here! But that's a whole other topic in itself.)

But anyway, that song was the most perfect song for that particular moment. It matched my mood and the weather just flawlessly, and I LOVE when songs match weather. And while I didn't go home and listen to album after Zeppelin album, it did remind me why I fell in love with them in the first place. Led Zeppelin is a rite of passage and they were sort of my gateway drug to rock and roll - it was through Zeppelin (and The Allman Brothers) that my interest in all things not N'Sync started... Scary, huh? So while I may get sick of them now and then, it's impossible not to appreciate their music. Sleaze and all. And yeah, I guess I have an appreciation for Nirvana too, but I swear if I have to hear In Bloom one more G-D time........