‘Stairway To Heaven’ at 50: The song that ushered in the era of the guitar hero

[snoop1130]

‘Stairway To Heaven’ at 50: The song that ushered in the era of the guitar hero

By Mark Beaumont

 

Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on stage (Shutterstock)

 

When Jimmy Page strapped on a double-necked guitar at Belfast Ulster Hall on 5 March 1971, the audience no doubt thought they were about to be bombarded with twice the rock. They’d already been savaged by the live debut of blues Cerberus “Black Dog”, their first taster from Led Zeppelin’s forthcoming fourth album, and were eager for the world’s hottest hard rock band to keep the pedal to the formative heavy metal.

 

Then Page plucked out a gentle pastoral arpeggio redolent of arcadian glades, medieval minstrels and all manner of nonny-nonnyness, a refrain crying out for classical recorder accompaniment.

 

Full Story: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/stairway-to-heaven-led-zeppelin-anniversary-b1810378.html

[fangless]

4 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Page plucked out a gentle pastoral arpeggio redolent of arcadian glades, medieval minstrels and all manner of nonny-nonnyness, a refrain crying out for classical recorder accompaniment.

Can anyone explain the above?  I thought plain English was the  language on the TV Forums!

Or am I in the wrong page here?

 

PS;  Who is/was Jimmy page?

Edited March 3, 2021 by fangless
PS; added

[Sujo]

2 minutes ago, fangless said:

Can anyone explain the above?  I thought plain English was the  language on the TV Forums!

Or am I in the wrong page here?

 

PS;  Who is/was Jimmy page?

Led zeppellin guitarist.

 

The description you refer is like left handed braille after a nite on the turps.

[chickenslegs]

16 minutes ago, fangless said:

Can anyone explain the above?  I thought plain English was the  language on the TV Forums!

Or am I in the wrong page here?

 

PS;  Who is/was Jimmy page?

The description is a bit floral, but quite accurate ...

 

A more typical Led Zeppelin track ...

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by chickenslegs

[Saraburi121]

21 minutes ago, fangless said:

Page plucked out a gentle pastoral arpeggio redolent of arcadian glades, medieval minstrels and all manner of nonny-nonnyness, a refrain crying out for classical recorder accompaniment.

Had to google a few words but is an accurate statement. Jimmy Page, one of the best guitarist ever.  Led Zeppelin rock on!

[Donekys]

Was that a serious question? "Who is Jimmy Page?" 

[Justgrazing]

" A mystical , musical caravan towards an irresistible horizon encapsulated L Z's approach to their craft .. swirling , relentless , ominous even but woven with a intricacy that is their hallmark " .. 

A journo's take on the Led Zep track Kashmir released 1975 and now one of the most sampled for commercial and tribute purposes rock tracks .. 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Justgrazing
Sp

[Thujone]

This is an interesting performance of the old classic..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFxOaDeJmXk

[fangless]

8 hours ago, Donekys said:

Was that a serious question? "Who is Jimmy Page?" 

Yes! 

I asked as I could not be bothered to Google it.

[Kerryd]

Rolling Stone considers Stairway to Heaven to be the 31s Greatest Song Ever. 

Out of literally every song ever recorded.

But then again, they have Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at #9 so I have to question their sanity.

Especially as they list Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" as the #1 Greatest Song ever.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/bob-dylan-like-a-rolling-stone-2-54028/

And as much as I love the Beach Boys, I really can't see how "Good Vibrations" ranks as the 6th Greatest Song ever.

All such lists are subjective of course and many use different criteria (weeks on the charts, album sales, awards, etc) to determine the "greatest" and no doubt may add personal favourites (or delete ones they don't feel are deserving).

PlanetRadioUK lists Stairway to Heaven as the "Greatest EVER Rock Song" and most of their Top 100 seems pretty spot on though there's a few on the list I've never heard of (no doubt as their survey and reponses are UK-centric and some of the bands probably never had a large Canadian/American presence).

[UncleMhee]

11 hours ago, fangless said:

PS;  Who is/was Jimmy page?

Nevermind.....I don't know who fangless is either.

[BritManToo]

39 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Rolling Stone considers Stairway to Heaven to be the 31s Greatest Song Ever. 
Out of literally every song ever recorded.

I consider it No.1 the wobble board is amazing ..........

 

[BritManToo]

No2 must be Sweet Child of Mine .......... (props @Crossy for finding this masterpiece)

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by BritManToo

[toolpush]

11 hours ago, Donekys said:

Was that a serious question? "Who is Jimmy Page?" 

Jimmy Page used to frequent the TQ in Pattaya.

[Tony125]

1 hour ago, toolpush said:

Jimmy Page used to frequent the TQ in Pattaya.

TQ =Tahitian Queen 

 

[phetphet]

16 hours ago, fangless said:

Can anyone explain the above?  I thought plain English was the  language on the TV Forums!

Or am I in the wrong page here?

 

PS;  Who is/was Jimmy page?

I think it's called "waxing lyrical".

 

[PatOngo]

7 hours ago, fangless said:

Yes! 

I asked as I could not be bothered to Google it.

Nevermind, stick with Marilyn Manson and Kanye! ????

[fangless]

6 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Nevermind, stick with Marilyn Manson and Kanye! ????

Who are they?

[PatOngo]

4 minutes ago, fangless said:

Who are they?

When you look in a mirror, do you ask "who are you?" 

[fangless]

54 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

When you look in a mirror, do you ask "who are you?" 

No! Do you?

What was the point of your question re-mirrors?

[Justgrazing]

Big guitar and big flares .. J P dressed accordingly with his twin neck ..  

Stairway is a great track among many that flowed from the collective unit in their time together : In the Evening and All of my Love amongst others .. 

 

[Thujone]

I'll try again.

This is an interesting video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cZ_EFAmj08

[Tony125]

On 3/4/2021 at 4:39 PM, Justgrazing said:

Big guitar and big flares .. J P dressed accordingly with his twin neck ..  

Stairway is a great track among many that flowed from the collective unit in their time together : In the Evening and All of my Love amongst others .. 

 

I had several pairs of pants like that back in the day, we called them "bell bottoms"