Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven (studio version + live at Madison Square Garden, 1973)
Last edited Sat Jul 29, 2023, 07:10 PM - Edit history (1)
EDITING to quote a 2014 Guardian article about the song, with Ann Wilson's comments on it:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/22/stairway-to-heaven-unreleased-mix-led-zeppelin-iv-remastered
Heart’s Ann Wilson, who was 19 when she first heard the song on the radio in 1971, goes further. “It’s beautiful, a complete marriage of music to lyrics,” she says. “They go together so well. It’s just one of those situations where you couldn’t have one without the other. I’m a word person, and the lyrics are so poetic and so imaginative. We all know it’s inspired by Tolkien, but at the same time they’re widened out so they’re more universal than that. Those were such optimistic words that fit with the whole hippie mentality. I think people really identified with the lyrics.”
-snip-
Certainly, playing it live presented problems for Zeppelin. “I’ve employed so many guitars on Stairway – there are two lots of 12-strings going on, there’s an acoustic, there’s a solo – that how am I gonna do this live?” Page says. “The answer to that was a double-necked guitar, so I could do the opening on the six-string, go to the 12-string, do the solo on the six-string, then go back to the 12-string. That seemed to make the most sense.” It also provided him with one of Zeppelin’s most memorable visual props, as well as – to detractors – a signifier of the bloat of 70s rock. He says crowds responded quickly to the song. “I remember noticing that when we played the LA Forum [in August 1971], there was a standing ovation for it – not from everyone, but there were a fair number of people, and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness gracious,’ because they hadn’t heard the album.”
-snip-
Every major rock band of the early 70s had their own equivalent of Stairway, their own big, meaningful statement: Deep Purple’s Child in Time, Jethro Tull’s Aqualung, Genesis’s Supper’s Ready. All still have plenty of admirers, but only Stairway is known to everyone who listens to rock music. Partly that’s because Zeppelin were never tied to genre in the way so many hard rock or prog groups were, which meant they continued to be a presence on radio on both sides of the Atlantic. Partly it’s because its status has become self-perpetuating: greatest-ever lists tend to ossify around a canon, and that’s certainly happened here. However, given that so many critics despise the song, it’s important to note that Stairway’s status in these polls is usually the result of public affection, which means the song continues to touch and move people, and that – as Page points out – “it still has an emotional effect on people who are are coming to it new”.
-snip-
These days Ann Wilson – who played the song in front of President Barack Obama with her sister Nancy at a Kennedy Center gala to honour Led Zeppelin in 2012 – envies those getting to hear Stairway for the first time. “It’s like when you get to be older and you see young couples with babies and you see how hard they’re working and how happy they are and how much fun it is and how fresh it is and how deep it goes into your soul,” she says. “That’s what Stairway is like.”
-snip-
Certainly, playing it live presented problems for Zeppelin. “I’ve employed so many guitars on Stairway – there are two lots of 12-strings going on, there’s an acoustic, there’s a solo – that how am I gonna do this live?” Page says. “The answer to that was a double-necked guitar, so I could do the opening on the six-string, go to the 12-string, do the solo on the six-string, then go back to the 12-string. That seemed to make the most sense.” It also provided him with one of Zeppelin’s most memorable visual props, as well as – to detractors – a signifier of the bloat of 70s rock. He says crowds responded quickly to the song. “I remember noticing that when we played the LA Forum [in August 1971], there was a standing ovation for it – not from everyone, but there were a fair number of people, and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness gracious,’ because they hadn’t heard the album.”
-snip-
Every major rock band of the early 70s had their own equivalent of Stairway, their own big, meaningful statement: Deep Purple’s Child in Time, Jethro Tull’s Aqualung, Genesis’s Supper’s Ready. All still have plenty of admirers, but only Stairway is known to everyone who listens to rock music. Partly that’s because Zeppelin were never tied to genre in the way so many hard rock or prog groups were, which meant they continued to be a presence on radio on both sides of the Atlantic. Partly it’s because its status has become self-perpetuating: greatest-ever lists tend to ossify around a canon, and that’s certainly happened here. However, given that so many critics despise the song, it’s important to note that Stairway’s status in these polls is usually the result of public affection, which means the song continues to touch and move people, and that – as Page points out – “it still has an emotional effect on people who are are coming to it new”.
-snip-
These days Ann Wilson – who played the song in front of President Barack Obama with her sister Nancy at a Kennedy Center gala to honour Led Zeppelin in 2012 – envies those getting to hear Stairway for the first time. “It’s like when you get to be older and you see young couples with babies and you see how hard they’re working and how happy they are and how much fun it is and how fresh it is and how deep it goes into your soul,” she says. “That’s what Stairway is like.”
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Kick in to the DU tip jar?
This week we're running a special pop-up mini fund drive. From Monday through Friday we're going ad-free for all registered members, and we're asking you to kick in to the DU tip jar to support the site and keep us financially healthy.
As a bonus, making a contribution will allow you to leave kudos for another DU member, and at the end of the week we'll recognize the DUers who you think make this community great.