Led Zeppelin Failed When They Tried to Honor a Musician Who Jimmy Page Said Is His Own Genre

Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin could do nearly nothing wrong when they started their career. Sure, they played a disastrous concert that lasted less than an hour. But they also wrote songs that stand the test of time. Zeppelin’s founder drew on many musical influences to inform his guitar playing. Yet Led Zeppelin failed when they tried to honor an artist who Page said deserves his own genre.

Jimmy Page said James Brown ‘was almost a musical genre’ of his own

Page and Led Zeppelin obviously had a passion for blues music. The band’s first two albums, especially, twisted Delta and Chicago blues into something new. Those two records included some of Page’s best guitar solos. (The incredible moment Page knew “Stairway to Heaven” would be a hit came later). 

Other influences informed the guitarist’s playing, but Page once said James Brown stood alone.

“[James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right, and he changed and moved forward the whole time, so people were able to learn from him,” Page once said, according to Far Out Magazine.  

Brown’s influence on Led Zeppelin wasn’t overt, except when the band tried to salute him and totally missed the mark.

Led Zeppelin failed when they tried to honor Brown on ‘The Crunge’

Led Zeppelin released one of the best classic rock albums of all time with Led Zeppelin IV. The band didn’t try to outdo themselves on the follow-up. Instead, Houses of the Holy saw Zep try on several musical styles.

The “Dancing Days” riff took fans out of their comfort zone, but that was intentional. The band took a stab at reggae on “D’yer Mak’er.” Led Zeppelin fell flat when they tried to honor James Brown on “The Crunge.”

The song has a promising start. John Bonham flashes his drumming chops with a beat that falls somewhere between R&B and his jazz influences. John Paul Jones lays down a funky bass line that suits a James Brown tribute.

But ”The Crunge” falls apart when Jones’ synth line enters about a minute into the song. The mix pushes his synth to the forefront, covering up Plant’s nonsensical but vaguely James Brown-ish lyrical turn and Page’s solid yet unspectacular guitar work. Page throws in a sliding, squealing guitar lick on top of his funk-inspired scratch toward the end of the song. That squealing lick, Jones’ blaring synth line, and Plant’s tossed-off lyrics about “finding the bridge” push Bonham’s beat and the funky bass riff to the side.

“The Crunge” starts as a solid homage to James Brown. As the song goes on, though, Led Zeppelin fails in its attempt to honor Brown’s one-person genre.

Page brought several musical genres to Led Zeppelin

Page and Led Zeppelin might have failed at mimicking James Brown, but the guitarist successfully brought several musical styles to the band. For a band billed as heavy blues, Zep’s other influences came to the surface early on.

The song “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” on Led Zeppelin I was inspired by folk singer Joan Baez. Little did Page and Zeppelin know, but Baez’s version of the song was a cover. Later on the album, Page’s Eastern-tinged acoustic solo song “Black Mountain Side” includes tabla drumming in one of the rare cases of Led Zeppelin using outside musicians on their albums. 

Later, Zeppelin paid homage to Joni Mitchell on IV. The band brought their love of Eastern music to the forefront on the epic song “Kashmir” from Physical Graffiti a few years later. Led Zeppelin failed when it tried to honor James Brown’s unique blend of funk and R&B. But they knocked it out of the park when they incorporated other musical influences into their music.

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