The other night I was scrolling through Netflix looking for something to watch, when a documentary called "It Might Get Loud" caught my eye. When I read the description, I knew I had to watch it. It featured Jack White (White Stripes; Raconteurs), The Edge (U2), and Jimmy Page (Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin). Jimmy Page has always been a favorite of mine so I settled in, cranked up the volume on the tv, and spent a very enjoyable couple of hours listening to these three guitarists talk about what inspired them, how they put their own spin on the instrument, and doing a few riffs alone & together. While watching/listening to Jimmy, I started thinking about my favorite band, Led Zeppelin, and how I came to love their music.
It was 1969; I was an 8 year old kid living with my parents, who were in their late 20s. My mom and dad were into Country music; they didn't like "the rock and roll" except for Elvis....him, they could listen to endlessly. At the tender age of eight, I already knew I hated country music, hated Elvis, and couldn't understand how my parents couldn't like rock and roll music. I had a little transistor radio that I listened to in my bedroom; I was in heaven listening to The Beatles, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, and The Who. I lost count of how many times either my mom or dad would bang on my door and yell at me to "turn that noise DOWN!" Me being me, well let's just say I was a rebellious little kid, so I'd just turn it up a little louder.
I longed for a record player and a few records, and asked my mom if I could get one for my birthday, she said I was too young for that yet; maybe next year. Since I still believed in Santa, I decided I'd wait and ask him for it for Christmas. I knew if anybody would get it for me, he would; so I wrote it down and left the paper on my dresser, telling myself I'd show it to him when I went to see him in a few weeks. (This was a few weeks before Thanksgiving; I knew I didn't have long to wait until Santa came to town.)
My birthday falls a few days before Thanksgiving, and I was turning 9 that year. As usual, I got a couple of new Barbie dolls and some clothes for them along with a brand new pair of ice skates; the skates were a surprise because I didn't ask for them but secretly wanted a new pair. After the cake and ice cream were gone, my uncle (who was 18 at the time) said "I almost forgot; I have a couple of gifts for you." He went out to his car and brought in a rather big box, a smaller box, and a rather odd looking flat package. He gave me the smaller box first; it contained headphones....he said "Now they won't be yelling at you to turn your music down." I laughed and remember saying, "Yeah, I can't wait to try these out!" Then he gave me the big box; it was kind of heavy and I had to set it on the floor to open. When I ripped off the paper, I screamed and jumped around. He got me a stereo record player!! I couldn't believe it!! Then he gave me the flat package, and inside was a record called Led Zeppelin. He knew I had never heard of them and he got this smile on his face and said, "They're this new band from England; let's go hook up the stereo and see what it sounds like." So we took it all into my room and after he got the stereo connected he said "You might want to close your door while we listen to this". He put the record on the turntable and cranked up the volume. My little nine year old years were instantly blown away by this throbbing guitar playing a few chords and then the drums coming in!! Then this voice filled the room and he said "Listen to that! What a voice!", and he turned it up just a little louder. We spent the next hour listening to the album, and when it was done playing, we listened to it again. This album was a sound I'd never heard before, but instantly loved! My uncle knew he had just given me the best gift I could ever have been given. It was the beginning of my love affair with Led Zeppelin's music and he had just given me the means to listen to it as much as I wanted.
My uncle supplied me with every one of Zeppelin's albums as they were released; and each time a new one came out we'd listen to it together. We shared our love of their music and talked all the time about going to see them. Since he was nine years older than me, he was going to concerts; something I hadn't done yet and wouldn't be allowed to do to until I was 14. When he was in his 20s, he went to California for a few years, and while he was there, he saw a Zeppelin concert. He sent me a t-shirt, wrote me a letter about the concert and how great it was to see them live, and told me someday he'd take me with him to see one of their concerts.
As life has a strange way of laying waste to the best of plans, I never did get to see a Zeppelin concert. John Bonham died in 1980; I was 19 years old and heard it on the radio on my way to work that morning. People talk of John Lennon's death as the day the music died, but for me, that fateful day in September was the day music died. I knew it was the end of the greatest rock n roll band in the world, and it saddened me that I had never got to see them in concert.
I still have all of their albums on vinyl, with copies on CD. Their music will live on for years to come in my house. And whenever my uncle stops over, we haul out the albums, discuss them, talk about our favorite songs, look at the artwork and linear notes, choose an album to listen to, then crank up the volume and sit there grinning at each other, remembering my ninth birthday in 1969; the year he introduced me to their music.
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