In 1990, Atlantic
Records released a 4-CD or 4-casette tape Led Zeppelin box set. I picked up the cassette version at the
Musicland store at Ridgedale Mall, using some Christmas money. After I got it, I brought my brothers back
home, then raced over to my friend Pat's house to share the bounty.
This box set
provided digitally remastered tracks from the studio albums. Not every song was
included, to the chagrin of many; but to our delight, two previously unreleased
tracks were included. One of those was "Travelling
Riverside Blues," a song written by blues master Robert Johnson. Johnson recorded his version in 1937. Led Zeppelin recorded their version 32 years
later, with the benefit of amps, effects, and Mr. Jimmy Page.
A foot stompin'
blues song, Zeppelin's version borrowed Johnson's lyrics (not just from this
song, but other Johnson songs as well), but little else. Some of the lines that Johnson wrote are just
pure gold, and I'm not just talking about the "squeeze my lemon"
line. The best one is:
She's got a mortgage on my body, got a lien on my
soul
Beyond the lyrics, this tribute song is a Jimmy Page feature from the start; the lead guitar track is supplemented by dubbed-in background tracks by Page. Bonham, as usual is awesome on the skins, keeping the beat and tossing in a bunch of triplets on the bass.
Give a listen to
both versions of this song. I dare you
to not be at least tapping your foot along with the band.
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