Monday, January 09, 2012

Led Zep Week: Is "Beck's Bolero" the first Led Zep tune?

We open *LED ZEP WEEK* here at ROUTE 1 by posing a question:
Is "BECK'S BOLERO" the first LED ZEPPELIN song?
The instrumental recorded in May 1966 (a very, *very* good month of that year) combined the talents of guitarists JEFF BECK and JIMMY PAGE and employed a Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame-quality rhythm section, with JOHN PAUL JONES on bass, NICKY HOPKINS on piano and the MUPPET SHOW'S ANIMAL -- no, sorry -- KEITH MOON (honest mistake) on drums.
Page wrote the song and modeled it on MAURICE RAVEL'S "BOLERO."
The dynamics of the song and the treated guitar parts certainly suggest the seeds of what would become the Led Zep sound -- no doubt also influenced by the presence of two Led Zep members on the track in Page and Jones.
Andrew James Kellett, writing in "FATHERS AND SONS: AMERICAN BLUES AND BRITISH ROCK MUSIC, 1960-1970," describes "Beck's Bolero" as a piece in which the musicians "did not merely copy the symphonic form, but welded to it the musical lessons they had already learned."
This combining of styles surely dictated Led Zeppelin's approach to blues and folk music forms throughout the band's career. In this regard, I think we can consider "Beck's Bolero" a proto-Zep tune.
I ultimately think the only true Led Zeppelin music were the tunes created by the original four members. "Beck's Bolero" certainly points the way forward -- the Led Zeppelin way forward.

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