God Rest Ye Gentlemen
The Wexford Carol
Debussy
Transformations
Forty years before this version was recorded, Led Zepplin was the epitome of hard rock bands. Drugs, women, private jets, utterly destroyed hotel rooms: they made the mold of 1970s rock star. With the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, becoming so inebriated he choked to death on his own vomit in the middle of the night, the band collapsed.
And around thirty years after that, Plant teamed up with Alison Krauss, the greatest voice in bluegrass today (or any other genre), and among other things, resurrected some Zepplin classics, completely re-imagining them. Both the songs and the man, transformed.
Riu Riu Chiu
Loch Lomond
Music Ed.
Currently reading When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin. It’s obviously influencing my listening habits as well: haven’t listened to this much Zeppelin in at least twenty years. I mentioned it to a class in a “what are you reading” conversation to fill the last few minutes of class. I was shocked at the number who’d never heard of them. Needless to say, I remedied that the next day during their bell ringer with “Dazed and Confused.” The next day, a petite, preppy blond asked, “Mr. Scott, can we listen to that song again?” Small victories…
Ave Maria
What angels sound like.
Sto Lat
If, the day after your birthday, you visit friends in Poland, you shouldn’t be surprised to get a spontaneous rendition of “Sto Lat”
Sto lat, sto lat,
Niech żyje, żyje nam.
Sto lat, sto lat,
Niech żyje, żyje nam,
Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz, niech żyje, żyje nam,
Niech żyje nam!
If the friends are deeply rooted in the Polish Highlander tradition, you shouldn’t be surprised when Pan Gospodarz dashes off beforehand and returns with his altówka (viola) to accompany the marry well-wishers.
And with that many instruments, it could hardly come as a surprise that all the kids decide to form a band.