59. Stairway to Heaven vs. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

[@SkitchP]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_I%27m_Gonna_Leave_You

To me it's a folk song with a lot of prominent blues DNA -- the structure and especially the lyrics ("Gonna leave you woman, I've got to ramble," etc. etc.) are straight from that late-50's-early-60's coffeehouse lineage, where the lines between the two genres were very blurry. Zeppelin obviously give it a crushing rock arrangement, but at some point in the competition something's gotta give. I love both songs. But "Babe" is Zeppelin playing with inherited conventions; "Stairway" is Zeppelin establishing conventions for others to inherit.

BUT DID YOU WATCH THE ALTERNATE TAKE

[Kevin Davis]

Yes. It slays.

[@SkitchP]

Yes. It slays.

oh good. we should all just vote for that.

[Kevin Davis]

Skitch, how do you rate the Zeppelin live albums? I only have "How the West Was Won."

[@SkitchP]

Skitch, how do you rate the Zeppelin live albums? I only have "How the West Was Won."

That's better than the Song remains the same obviously. I really do love a lot of the BBC sessions stuff.

[LetMeSleep]

I love the Earls Court 75 boots and destroyer in 77 is a good listen too. I can share a low res version I have of these.
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/led-zeppelin-bootlegs/