70s Legends Wrote This Song as a JOKE…TRANSFORMED Them Into The Gods of Rock! | Professor Of Rock

although today's featured song was written to be entirely tongue-in-cheek its humor was almost completely lost on listeners in fact this fist in the air rocker it was so power packed the legions lined up to crown as creators the lords of rock and roll by then it was too late to convince anyone that they were more or less joking as this smash hit rock's greatest battle cry anthem written by rock's ultimate guitar heroes or were the band's faithful followers getting more than just a little carried away find out next on professor of rock hey music junkies professor of rock always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time you know if you've ever listened to albums and songs backwards to seek out the hidden messages that you think are there you're going to dig this channel of music nostalgia make sure that you subscribe below right now i really think you'll dig it now in the two years since led zeppelin lifted off in 1968 robert plant jimmy page john paul jones and john bonham had sailed a great distance across the sky two best-selling albums hundreds of concerts on both sides of the atlantic and congregations of faithful fans had all fueled their flight through the stratosphere [Music] for better or worse this frenzied rocket ride to fame wasn't slowing down the need to get bigger it kept accelerating and the members of zeppelin were really feeling the fatigue the first few months of 1970 alone zeppelin had toured the uk sweden finland denmark switzerland germany and austria and they put in an exhausting fifth circuit across america as spring arrived band members were ready for a breather for plant and page this took the form of an extended rustic retreat into the middle of nowhere their destination bronier an 18th century cottage in snodonia wells where plant had a vacation as a child tranquil and primitive they live without running water electricity or a telephone it was perfect silence from the world at large they would be joined only by robert's family jimmy's girlfriend and a couple of roadies there in the countryside page and plant wrote together really for the very first time and songs seemed to emerge out of the ether as they roamed the hills followed the streams and sat by the fireplace guitars in hand it was the first time i really came to know robert is what paige said actually living together at bronyer as opposed to occupying nearby hotel rooms the songs took us into areas that changed the band it established a standard of traveling for inspiration which is the best thing a musician can do end of quote now this creative getaway provided page implant with new material for zeppelin's third record as well as future albums really [Music] when their time was done page implant left their pastoral sanctuary rejuvenated and early in the summer of 1970 they rejoined jones and bottom to run through the songs for zeppelin 3. so gathering at hedley grange in the hampshire countryside and with the help of the rolling stones mobile studio they got to work rehearsing later they recorded at olympic studios in london and island records basing street studios in notting hill and mixing took place in august at arden studios in memphis while the band was on their their sixth u.s tour seems like there's no shortage of opinions about what led zeppelin is supposed to sound like particularly back in the 60s and 70s while they were on their historic run between critics and some of the more dogmatic fans there was a closed-minded reluctance to accept any zeppelin adventures into new sonic territory i mean take houses of the holy and in through the outdoor for example both subverted audience expectations and experimented with musical style and both albums took some pretty serious heat [Music] now zeppelin 3 is another case in point it stirred up a ruckus in its days as well their first two albums you know led zeppelin had unleashed a furious onslaught of heavy blues and pounding electric rock [Applause] and though three would have its hard rocket moments the album was largely built around a more acoustic folk focused [Music] that's the sound plant would describe fan expectations this way it was like you know where's our whole lot of love part two [Music] but even worse than disappointed fans were the critics who savaged the album they were pretty damning paige in particular was really brought down by the hammering that they took from the press years later he would say with three they didn't really understand what we were doing acoustic music but it was already all over the first album i've said in the past that i'll give it the benefit of the doubt that maybe reviewers only had a short time to review the album because it went totally over their heads really the rolling stone review was a definite hatchet job we were told that it didn't matter we had a bigger circulation than rolling stone i love that regardless of what anyone else said the four members of led zeppelin were pleased with their work all these years later it's it's a masterpiece according to robert plant after the completion of three the sky was the limit this album was the proof that they could change and it meant that there were endless possibilities and directions for this band to go zeppelin 3 was released on october 4th 1970 in the u.s and on october 23rd in the uk the record topped the charts in both places and stuck around for 40 weeks in the uk and 19 in america but for all the talk of zeppelin unplugged there's at least one song on three that rocked as much as anything in this catalog of this band or in anyone else's for that matter it's explosive side one opener immigrant song now as we get into the origin of this all-time rocker i want to thank bespoke for sponsoring this edition of professor of rock bespoke is a membership service that will send you curated boxes of great products every month that are customized just for you that's free to join all you do is take the simple quizzes shown here that tells bespoke what you like and what you don't like you'll get a preview of what they're sending you and before it ships you can choose what you want you can swap it out for a different box or skip a month if that's what you want at no charge it's your call and then bespoke will send you some really cool stuff valued around 70 but you pay a fraction of the price you only pay for what you want and after i signed up and i took the quiz i received three boxes and one products assigned especially for me i got the destination box right before i went on this big road trip and it was exactly what i was hoping for with items that would help me to pack lighter and smarter plus i need my wardrobe organized without getting wrinkled i also received a box called slash where i picked out this machete i can't wait to use to clear a campsite on our next family camping trip i also received the weekender box and i love that too ninety percent of the products in bespoke post boxes come from small businesses many of which are based in the us click on the link in the description below to join bespoke and include the on-screen promo code to get 20 off your first box enter the promo code at checkout and you'll be good to go to start getting your personalized boxes every month from bespoke [Music] immigrant song has a different origin story from the album and begins after page implants brown your r sabbatical in june of 1970 in between writing rehearsing and recording zeppelin filled their calendar in with concert performances either these guys were the ultimate workaholics or their manager peter grant was the ultimate slave driver maybe it was a little both but one of these tour dates took them to iceland where they played a cultural exchange show and this was on june 22nd however the gig was almost cancelled because of a worker strike that was going on at that time said robert plant we were invited to play a concert in reykjavik and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be canceled the university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal the response from the kids it was remarkable and we had a great time it turns out that robert plant was so affected by this experience that he began writing about it zeppelin's journey to the land of the midnight sun directly inspired the power packed two and a half minute saga of viking conquest in north mythological imagery [Music] iceland which was settled by these seaborne scandinavian conkers fittingly became the launching point for one of rock history's most intense driving guitar hero anthems immigrant song has all the the fist in the air rock and roll explosiveness that led zeppelin fans had come to expect from the band's previous two albums this simply one of led zeppelin's greatest compositions and that's saying a lot fast loud in your face immigrant song is the backing track of a band going to war [Music] cutting foes asunder the plant kicks off the vocal carnage with the chilling banshee like battle cry it's absolutely otherworldly [Music] and he's calling down the gods of norse legend to fall into formation behind him [Music] jimmy page as usual just kills it this multi-talented musician took on the roles of a composer guitarist ranger and producer for this song and the album his simple but insanely effective guitar riff is hypnotic and thunderous [Music] and bonzo's galloping drum beat it gives you the feeling that you're you're riding headlong into combat [Music] of course jonesy instead of bringing his baseline in at the same time as the drums he waits for the first verse increasing his impact and effectively relaunching the song [Music] but this is zeppelin at their most powerful and to be honest the only thing wrong with the song is it's only two minutes and 26 seconds leaves you wanting more every time that the clock runs out the immigrants referenced in the title are ancient viking marauders as the lyrics make clear robert plant was fascinated with history and mythology and this song he combines both of them exploring the viking invasion of the british isles and elements of nordic legend the song opens with the lyrics we come from the land of the ice and snow from the midnight sun where the hot springs flow a double-sided reference land of the ice and snow refers to both the viking homeland and iceland where zeppelin had recently traveled from [Music] the line the hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands that tells us straight off that this isn't some diplomatic mission this is conquest according to norse legend it was thor who wielded the hammer of the gods he was associated with storms and strength controlling lightning with his hammer and wreaking havoc on his enemies [Music] though feared by many he was also a mighty protector of his people and he pushed their prosperity when plant sings of valhalla he is referencing the final resting place valiant viking souls fallen in battle valhalla was believed to be a grand hall in asgard the home of the gods where heroes prepared for the final fateful battle of ragnarok as the song continues robert plant sings on we sweep with threshing ore our only goal will be the western shore again we are presented with visions of conquest [Music] now historically the british isles were one of those western shores seeing a soft field so green whispering the tells of gore plant has us imagining the bloody battles that these fields once saw from the vikings perspective they are the ones who calmed the tides of war and rightfully became overlords but it's much more menacing tell from the view of the conquered so now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins [Music] for peace and trust can win the day despite of all of your losing [Music] the song tells the tell a battle-bound glory but leaves us with a subtle and cautionary message victory is often a one-sided affair history they say is written by the winners but while the champions see peace and trust winning the day the concord may well see subjugation and forced obedience instead but what i find interesting is that led zeppelin an english band took on the perspective of viking people who had historically laid waste to their homeland seemed counterintuitive but maybe robert being a history buff was just really fascinated by the story regardless with planned going on about viking plunder many fans quickly drew parallels to zeppelin as they toured the world to go over the world robert and company were likened to the conkers and the hordes to the legions of led zeppelin fans it's not hard to see a heroic connection there when you're hearing plants sing valhalla i am coming was zeppelin really calling themselves the new musical overlords i mean you could even say that western lands was a reference to america a distant voyage away i mean zeppelin had already toured there several times in an effort to increase their visibility in fan base but it was still new territory to be subdued a lot of fans actually interpreted the song this way and a lot of them were ready to comply to give themselves up body and soul to these modern gods of rock but as fitting a metaphor as it may have been the tone of the song according to robert plant was nothing of the sort robert plant said it was meant to be tongue-in-cheek he said immigrant son was supposed to be powerful and funny people go zeppelin had a sense of humor he said they weren't being pompous the band had literally just come from the land of ice and snow when they wrote the song but whether the song was intended to be a wink to zeppelin's massive popularity or not they had nevertheless just forged a mighty hammer of their own immigrant song would be used with great effect to drive their own ambition and strike awe and wonder into audiences across the globe take for example the first time they played the song live immigrant song was just six days old when zled zeppelin debuted at england's bath festival yeah it was on june 28 1970. the event was a prestigious opportunity to play in front of a home crowd of heroic proportions actually estimated there was between 150 and 200 000 people in attendance this was zeppelin's biggest crowd of their career up to that point so they had to put on a show that no one would ever soon forget that night they took the stage directly after jefferson airplane if memory serves just as the sun was setting the timing was perfect and intentional aware of the significance of the massive gig manager peter grant had checked the exact time of sunset so that zeppelin could have the spectacular backdrop to achieve this he even had a group called the flock hauled off stage when they began to overrun their set earlier that evening so the timing was right and believe it or not i'm going to let a critic tell the rest of the tale melody makers chris charlesworth was there that night and journalist or not even he felt the impact of this song recounting hearing immigrant song he said and i quote they played just as the sun was setting behind the stage and mighty impressive they were too they opened their set with the hitherto unreleased immigrant song which they attacked with all the ferocity of the marauding vikings robert was singing about drums and bass reverberated like cannon fire paige's guitar cut through the twilight like a broad sword every other band on this bill sounded decidedly limbdick compared to this onslaught now that was his exact quote but i have to say well put it's nice to know critics can get it right every once in a while i'm just kidding but imagine if that is how the enemy felt to quote stillwater's russell hammond and almost famous the rest of the audience must have really been blown away there can be little doubt that immigrant song was the hammer of the gods i mean this song just gets inside your skin [Music] i remember working with my dad out in the shop as a little kid he would play his eight tracks and zeppelin was a constant so we just finished where he had just finished playing a neil diamond album went from solitary man to the opening track of zeppelin 3 immigrant song [Music] i mean it jolted me out of my boredom so sitting there sweeping my dad walked over to me he grabbed my broom and he started playing air guitar and he got right up in my face you know face to face he started lip syncing ah for the land of ice and snow for the midnight sun where the hot springs flow he was going at it and he started twirling around singing and shouting it was hilarious the fact that my dad listened to zeppelin and alice cooper black sabbath it was a bragging right that none of my friends could top there was always the the dumb my dad could beat up your dad but my response always shut it shut him down my dad listens to zeppelin and your dad listens to conway twitty [Music] although led zeppelin is typically seen as an album-oriented group immigrant song was actually one of their few hit singles released with hey hey what can i do on the flip side on november 5th 1970 it climbed the number 16 on the u.s billboard hot 100 and it stayed on the chart for 13 weeks now it broke the top 20 in a slew of countries going to number 20 in australia number 13 in japan and austria number nine in the netherlands and in spain number seven in south africa number six in germany number four in canada new zealand and switzerland and number three in denmark immigrant song has appeared in several movies over the years including soldier in 1998 life on mars in 2006 shrek the third in 2007 growth of dragon tattoo in 2011 and of course thor ragnarok in 2017. and then there's school of rock of 2003 starring jack black [Music] i know the placement was brief it has a good story behind it jack black of course a die-hard zeppelin fan filmed himself seeing immigrant song on stage and begging the gods of rock to let him use the song in the movie we need your song man we need the immigrant song the ploy actually worked after paige plant and jones saw it they gave black permission now it may seem corny but it worked is what jack black said the moral of the story is don't be too proud to beg it also doesn't hurt to have your own horde of fans backing you up immigrant song has been covered many times great white in 87 [Music] for vaughan in 88 moby 2005 vanilla fudge in 2007 and wilson hart members of yes nazareth chris cornell friend reznor gretavan fleet [Music] and foo fighters was slashing jack black in 2015. i mean you think about it immigrant song really was an example of where life imitated art led zeppelin held the hammer of the gods and they did become the overlords of rock leave us a comment about led zeppelin and immigrant song what are your memories of this rocker um it's just such a great song what are your favorite parts let us know in the comments below if you enjoyed this show be sure to check out our other zeppelin installments from zeppelin4 we've got black dog from houses of the holy we've got rain song from physical graffiti we've got cashmere and don't forget to subscribe below so that you never miss out on our videos we'd love to have you as part of our community until next time three chords and the truth my friends [Music] you

Channel: Professor of Rock

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Keywords: led zeppelin, led zeppelin iii, led zeppelin interview, led zeppelin documentary, professor of rock, professor of rock 70s, led zeppelin greatest hits, led zeppelin songs, led zeppelin playlist, led zeppelin live, jimmy page, robert plant, rock in roll, island records, immigrant song, immigrant song led zeppelin, immigrant song documentary, john paul jones, john bonham, 70s music story, professor of rock led zeppelin, led zeppelin story, 70s classic rock, vinyl story, 70s

Id: kbglf-ymxhc

Length: 23min 32sec (1412 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 02 2022