Black Mountain Side Mix -- Americana meets Zeppelin

Alright, I'll admit it. I've been accused by more than one person of seeing the world through "Americana-music-tinted glasses." What of it? I write for a damn Americana music blog, don't I? Occupational hazard, I guess.

But sometimes I do go too far. Sometimes I see Americana where nary an Americana lay. Sometimes I use this ill-defined term to lump together any old thing I like. I admit it. But, sometimes, just sometimes, I'm crazy like a fox, my friends. Sometimes I see shit where there is actually honest-to-God shit.

So the other day (which in my Southern parlance means "some point in the past") I was talking with a friend about Led Zeppelin. I think it came up because I had been listening to the Zeppelin/Sabbath infused Australian band, Wolfmother, who rock hard and tasty. I was saying something like, "you know... Zeppelin is kinda Americana-ish sometimes." To which my friend laughed derisively and started to give me crap. "Oh come on..." Indeed, I am often worthy of being given crap, so I backed down.

But I've been thinking, and truly the situation did require some thought, because I knew deep down there was something there. Some grain of truth. Here's what I was thinking -- Basically, Led Zeppelin, the world's greatest Heavy Metal band, was mainly influenced by American Blues and British Folk music.

Hmmm... let that sink in. American Blues and British Folk; old-school Mississippi Delta Blues and even older-school English ballads. Hmmm... doesn't that remind me of somebody? Who is it? Hmmm?

Oh yeah, Bill Fucking Monroe. The Goddamn Man. The Father of Bluegrass. The difference here, of course, was the Atlantic Ocean, about 25-30 years, and a lot of drugs. A shitload of drugs.

But seriously -- Bill Monroe took the acoustic country Blues he was hearing from American Blacks in Kentucky where he grew up and mixed it with the "ancient tones," the Scottish, Irish, and English fiddle tunes passed down in his family. He put a slick new spin on it, merged it with the Country music of the day, and voila -- the Bluegrass music.

Led Zeppelin are a far cry from Bill Monroe, obviously, but what did they do? They took the electric urban Blues they heard growing up from albums by American Blacks, and they mixed it with the ancient folk ballads and fiddle tunes from England. Hmmm. They put a slick spin on it -- some Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton guitar sounds, spun it up to eleven, had John Paul Jones add all sorts of crazy orchestral flourishes and soft synthesizer fills, and went to town. What they created became the template for Heavy Metal for the next twenty years. And in between all those amazing stadium-rocking metal anthems they somehow had time to create a few softer acoustic tunes. These tunes show the influences I'm talking about here much more clearly, and they were what I was thinking of that "other day" with my friend.

Still doubtful? Maybe you're not familiar with this folky undercurrent of Zeppelin tunes, but they rival their folk-rock contempories in my opinion. If you like Fairport Convention, Richard and Linda Thompson, Van Morrison, Archie Fisher, old-school Chieftans, or folky Dylan, you may be amazed at what you'll hear here.

Just to prove it to you, I've thrown together this Black Mountain Side mix. These are mostly acoustic tunes, not well-known, but great. I hope you enjoy them. I'll apologize in advance for some I know I've left out, but my Zeppelin collection has developed holes somehow. I no longer have access to all of their recorded works here at my house. It is a problem, I assure you, that will soon be remedied.

1) Bron-Yr-Aur from Physical Graffiti -- Can't you just hear Chris Thile and Bryan Sutton covering this one?

2) Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp from Led Zeppelin III -- Same here.

3) That's The Way from Led Zeppelin III -- You might recognize this from the excellent Almost Famous soundtrack too. God bless Cameron Crowe.

4) Black Mountain Side from Led Zeppelin I -- Another instrumental guitar ballad. "Black Mountain?" Anyone heard Doc Watson do a similarly named Black Mountain Rag? (Which of course is completely unrelated.)

5) Ramble On from Led Zeppelin II -- Still one of my all-time favorite songs, this one summons the feeling of Autumn for me stronger than probably any other song I know. (And who doesn't love the LOTR references, cheesy as they are?) I'd love to hear an Americana band cover this one. Maybe a new young band like the Duhks? They could pull this off, no problem.

6) In My Time of Dying from Physical Graffiti -- Anyone listened to All My Tears by Julie Miller lately?

7) Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You from Led Zeppelin I -- One of the most straight-up Blues numbers they ever did. It has a very common Americana theme -- rambling, leaving, moving on, and letting your lover go...

8) Going To California from Led Zeppelin IV (Runes) -- Tell me this isn't a folk song. I freaking dare you. This song reminds me of Fairport Convention. All it needs is a fiddle. (Oh man... that's gonna bug me now... Zeppelin with a fiddle... ahhh.) (And no... Jimmy Page playing his guitar with a fiddle bow doesn't do it for me, sorry.)

9) Tangerine from Led Zeppelin III -- No comment necessary on this one.

10) Gallow's Pole from Led Zepplin III -- A retelling of a classic English ballad, Zeppelin-style. (Seriously, this song is crazy old.)

11) Battle of Evermore from Led Zepplin IV (Runes) -- You knew I had to include this one, right? It doesn't get much creepier than this one for Zep tunes. Beautiful. I've heard many different stories about this song, but Robert Plant said it was about border skirmishes among clans in the highlands of England and Scotland. (Yeah, that explains that "the Ringwraiths ride in black" line. Or whatever he says... but for that reason some people think it's based, at least loosely, on the LOTR.)

12) Hot Dog from In Through The Out Door -- Definitely one of their weakest albums, and the last studio album before their final "b-sides and rarities" outtake album Coda, In Through the Out Door really doesn't have much worth listening to. It's pretty much alone in Zeppelin's library for that reason. However, it does have a couple of good songs, including this "joke" song that's pretty damn country. Consider this the "secret song" of the mix. Yes, that's John Bonham cranking out a country beat. Try to replace Jimmy Page's screechy guitar solo at the end with a steel guitar... it ain't hard to do.

There you have it -- twelve Zepplin songs with nary a stairway to heaven. (Although it would fit on this list too, of course.) I hope you enjoy them.

Led Zeppelin are not "Americana music," and they're not in same category as Bill Monroe. I'm just saying that they, like much of the music I hold or have held dear, owe their influences to the soul of the Delta and the magic of the British Isles.