Led Zeppelin: the folkies who recorded a few heavy tracks

Someone - and I wish I could remember who - once said that Led Zeppelin were a folk band who happened to record a few electric numbers. It does put a different spin on the whole thing, seeing them as a band setting up in 1968, which was perhaps the height of the Children Of The Great Folk Scare setting up bands thing. Peak Mirror Folk.

I've been listening to the remasters a lot over the past few weeks, obviously. And since I heard the sad news that John Renbourn passed away this week, I've been listening to Pentangle more than I have for about forty years as well.

And this struck me.


Pentangle. Jump Baby Jump from Solomon's Seal, 1972.



Led Zeppelin. That's The Way, from Led Zeppelin III, 1970

A track from folky Pentangle's folkiest album and a track from Led Zeppelin's folkiest album sound almost the same. It's at times like these when you forget all about Immigrant Song and just think of the guys who loved Joni Mitchell so much they wrote a song about Southern California folkies.

And for anyone thinking the usual, "So Jimmy Page ripped off another tune of Bert Jansch's, har har," note that LZIII was released two years before the Pentangle album.