Led Zeppelin was given tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors on December 2, 2012. It was televised on Dec. 26, 2012. Jack Black introduced the band and the performers include The Foo Fighters, Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz, and Heart. ALL amazing performances.
Whoever arranged that version of Stairway to Heaven deserves an award .. absolutely incredible. To bring the great Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones to tears with their own song is an amazing feat! Could only have been done by another legend of rock history - Heart - Ann and Nancy Wilson!
In the '70s a day didn't pass aboard ship without hearing "Stairway". ONLY Ann Wilson of Heart could do justice to Stairway to Heaven. No words great enough to describe the phenomenal performance at the Kennedy Center Honors! Her voice is truly a gift from God.
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled Led Zeppelin IV). The song is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
The song has three sections, each one progressively increasing in tempo and volume. The song begins in a slow tempo with acoustic instruments (guitar and recorders) before introducing electric instruments. The final section is an uptempo hard rock arrangement, highlighted by Page's guitar solo and Plant's vocals, which ends with the plaintive a cappella line: "And she's buying a stairway to heaven."
"Stairway to Heaven" was voted number three in 2000 by VH1 on its list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs, in 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Stairway to Heaven" number 31 on its list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It was the most requested song on FM radio stations in the United States at the time, despite never having been commercially released as a single in the US. In November 2007, through download sales promoting Led Zeppelin's Mothership release, "Stairway to Heaven" reached number 37 on the UK Singles Chart.
Monday, May 8, 2023
Led Zeppelin - Kennedy Center Honors
Sunday, May 7, 2023
A Whiter Shade Of Pale
I don't know why I'm listening to this tonight. It brings back many memories of my time in the Navy and shortly after I got out. There's a lot of controversy over what it means. I don't know if the band - Procol Harum - has ever come out and said what it means. If you go to "Song Meaning and Facts" you might find something you like. Personally, I think it was written by a guy who just got word he was shipping out in the morning. ...
This is one of my favorite renditions of Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum performing A Whiter Shade of Pale with the Danish National Concert Orchestra and choir at Ledreborg Castle, Denmark in August 2006.
As far as hits go, no song could have asked for a bigger success than “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. It came out as part of Procol Harum’s debut album, which itself is entitled Procol Harum. And the track reached number 1 in nearly 15 different countries, including most notably the UK Singles Chart.
After topping the Dutch Top 40 in 1967, it went on to also do the same on the Netherlands’ Single Top 100 in 1972, having also recharted on the UK Singles Chart that year. Additionally it reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, despite receiving limited promotion in the United States.
I never paid much attention to the words until I got out and sober. I just liked the melody. Then I heard it while sitting in my chair one evening, just thinking about stuff and the words started to talk to me.
I remember hearing it on my last night ashore in Alemeda Caifornia, Looking back I realized it’s significance. It was a perfect accompaniment to my last night ashore in the US, on my way to my first WestPac cruse to Vietnam. I was celebrating what could have been my last night in the US.
“We danced the light fandango, did cartwheels ‘cross the floor….”
I was celebrating with my fellow shipmates our newfound definition of Manhood. We were Sailors, going to war.
“I was feeling kind of seasick…”
Then we started thinking about the seriousness of this phase of our life and were beginning to have second thoughts.
“But the crowd called out for more…”
Come ON, MAN! You’re a HERO! The crowd recognizes where you are going as they gaze at your uniform. They cheer you on!
“And the room, it started spinning and the ceiling flew away….”
This is a done deal, and I’m GOING and have absolutely no control over this.
“But they called out for another drink and the Waiter brought the tray…”
It might be our last night on this earth, so drink up and celebrate this night.
“And it wasn’t until later when the Miller told his tale, that her face at once just ghostly turned a Whiter shade of pale…”
It wasn’t until we truly understood where we were going and what we would be doing that the horror of it became clear. And this was long after we’d returned.
“She said there is no reason, and the truth is plain to see….”
We arrived there, and realized the insanity of war and the brutal fact that we were a part of it. We were there, trying to kill them, as they tried to kill us, neither truly understanding why. But we were there. This was happening.
“But I wandered through my playing cards and would not let her be…”
Unfortunately, war becomes normalized, and a deck of cards represents the chances one takes in its execution. Is tonight the night? Is this my last patrol?
”One of sixteen vestal virgins who were headed for the coast…”
Could I have decided to go somewhere else?
“And my eyes were opened wide, though they might as well have been closed….”
Now I’m starting to see the madness in all of this; the destruction and the terror of it all. But it’s too late. I’m here and I have a duty to perform.
“And it wasn’t until later when the Miller told his tale, that her face at once just ghostly, turned a Whiter shade of pale….”
And now I must live with these memories.
As I look back on it, while listening to the music, I realize that I was at that party that so many of us can't get out of our head. You never forget the party beforehand nor the death and destruction afterward. Today I heard that Russia was conscripting all it's men into military service. It's really a sad state for any country to do something like that. We, the US had it in the 60's for Vietnam. The "normal" people rioted in the streets, burned buildings, they beat those who wore the uniform and dumped trash on them.
Today, over 50 years later, the "normal" people think of Whiter Shade of Pale" as a Blues song. It's good, the present generation doesn't have to live through what we did...But, then again, I can hear my Dad a World War 2 Veteran, saying the same thing. Won't we ever learn?
Sometimes I feel like getting a Whiter Shade of Pale, just to numb my mind, heart and soul to war and it's death and destruction.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Gordon Lightfoot
Today we have lost one of our greatest singer-songwriters of the 60s and 70s. Gordon Lightfoot captured our country’s spirit in his music. Music that is destined to continue inspiring future generations, may his legacy live on forever. He was one of my favorites when I was growing up. “Sometimes I think it's a shame When I get feeling better, when I'm feeling no pain."
What was my favorite? "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald;" a cargo ship made famous by one of Gordon’s songs. As a former sailor myself, this is the most haunting song I've ever listened to. "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" These lyrics give me chills every time I hear them; in a few words he fully captured human helplessness and awe of facing nature's immense power. He wrote it to honor all those regular men, who suffered a horrific death while they were just doing their everyday job. Let us all pause to remember and give thanks for the everyday working people, those people we never see or think of who make our own lives easier by their labor and sacrifices. Sailors, soldiers, truckers, longshoremen, farmers, pilots, firefighters, nurses, teachers, veterinarians, caregivers... So many people who are on the fronlines of life yet in the background, working hard, just struggling to survive and take care of their families and others while doing good things in this life.
To learn more of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Edmund Fitzgerald
Gordon Lightfoot - "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" - Chicago - 1979
Another one of my Gorden favorites is Sundown. It became a hit while I was in the Navy. I always thought it was about houses of ill repute and what goes on in them.