This is a bit personal, but what the hey. I am listening to a Zeppelin song right now that always rushes me back to a very specific place in time:
It was 1980. I had been living in Oregon for year. I was there because I had fallen “in love at first site” with a bass player named Bob and he asked me to live with him and be in the band. How could I resist? He looked like a cross between one of the Ramones (tall, thin, wild black hair) and David Cassidy – cute baby face). ANYHOW I had been dating the same guy for four years and dumped him for this rock n roller.
After a year of Bob, our relationship was starting to fizzle out. – I think the novelty of if (he was the hot rock star, I was the blonde girl from California) simply wore off.
So, I am sitting there on the floor one day looking out the window at the rain and my ex bf calls from California. He says something like “hold on and listen, you're on the radio and they are going to play a song for you.” So I stayed on the line and a KMET disc jockey announces that he is dedicating the next song from Jon in California to Layla in Oregon. Even though the words of the song may seem insulting to some, it really got to me. A week later Jon drove up and brought me “home”. I think we stayed together for two weeks and finally broke up for good (then he stalked me for a year, but that’s a story for another time!)
Here are some facts about the song….can you guess what it was based on this: Until it was released on their boxed set in 1990, this could only be found in America on the B-side of "Immigrant Song" and in England on an Atlantic Records record sampler.
Intended for release as a single. This was odd because Zeppelin put out very few singles in order to put a premium on albums.
Never performed live by Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant played it on their 1995 tour.
(taken from Songfacts)
10 comments:
One of my favorite Zep tunes. Hey,Hey What Can I Do?
"Hey, Hey What Can I Do" I think? Great story. Hope all is well on your end.
Songs impact us for different reasons...
Well, since two others already identified the song, I will agree with Bond. There are many songs that have unique meanings to me personally.
Drew, yes.
Dan, thanks, things are ok here.
Bond, they sure do.
Southern, yes hundreds of them
Even Zep's cast off tunes were excellent. It's a great song to bash away on when the acoustics come out.
Hi Barb: Since everyone else touched on every thing else - here's a different one - was the DJ "Paraquat Kelly" or do you remember?
Bill
Bill - PARAQUAT KELLY!!!! I fell off my chair when I read that! Of course I remember him. What a crack up! I still hear Jim Ladd and Cynthia Fox on KLOS.
Did you live here during those glorious years of KMET???
i GOT A WOMAN WANNA BALL ALL DAY
Nice story--I love the personal stuff!
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