DJ Allyn – The Soundtrack for my Life

Going to California ~ Led Zeppelin  

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (vocals), John Paul Jones (bass guitar, keyboards) and John Bonham (drums). With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin are regarded as one of the first heavy metal bands. However, the band’s individualistic style draws from many sources and transcends any one genre. Their rock-infused interpretation of the blues and folk genres also incorporated rockabilly, reggae, soul, funk, classical, Celtic, Indian, Arabic, pop, Latin and country. The band did not release the popular songs from their albums as singles in the UK, as they preferred to develop the concept of album-oriented rock.

Close to 30 years after disbanding following Bonham’s death in 1980, the band continue to be held in high regard for their artistic achievements, commercial success and broad influence. The band have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide, including 111.5 million sales in the United States and they have had all of their original studio albums reach the U.S. Billboard Top 10, with six reaching the number one spot. Led Zeppelin are ranked No. 1 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Rolling Stone magazine has described Led Zeppelin as “the heaviest band of all time” and “the biggest band of the 70s”.

The photo is of the first performance ever by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham in a small club outside of Copenhagen, the Gladsaxe Teen Club, had booked The Yardbirds a few months before but the Yardbirds broke up and Peter Grant and Jimmy Page came with other musicians to fulfil those commitments. They signed a contract for a small tour in Scandinavia. Jimmy recruited 3 other guys and they played all the clubs where The Yardbirds were supposed to play. The first of these clubs was the Gladsaxe Teen Club.

Gladsaxe Teen Club was really a gymnasium of a progressive school built in the 1960s and located in the area of Gladsaxe and they held concerts there almost every Saturday between September and March.

They Yardbirds didn’t become Led Zeppelin until after their return from Scandinavia. They took the name Led Zeppelin after Keith Moon, the drummer of The Who suggested that they would “go down like a lead balloon”.

Goin’ to California

From their album (otherwise known as Led Zeppelin IV or “the ruins” album)

The song is reportedly about singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, with whom Plant and Page were both infatuated. In live performances of the song, Plant would often say the name “Joni” after this stanza:

To find a Queen without a King,
They say she plays guitar and cries, and she sings

In an interview he gave to Spin magazine in 2002, Plant stated that the song “might be a bit embarrassing at times lyrically, but it did sum up a period of my life when I was 22.”

Spent my days with a woman unkind, Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine.
Made up my mind to make a new start, Going To California with an aching in my heart.
Someone told me there’s a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.
Took my chances on a big jet plane, never let them tell you that they’re all the same.
The sea was red and the sky was grey, wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.
The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
as the children of the sun began to awake.

Seems that the wrath of the Gods
Got a punch on the nose and it started to flow;
I think I might be sinking.
Throw me a line if I reach it in time
I’ll meet you up there where the path
Runs straight and high.

To find a queen without a king,
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings… la la la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin’ to find a woman who’s never, never, never been born.
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,
Telling myself it’s not as hard, hard, hard as it seems.

Other Songs Posted for this Artist

• December 9, 2009 -- No Quarter – Led Zeppelin
• October 22, 2009 -- You Shook Me – Led Zeppelin
• September 24, 2009 -- Stairway to Heaven ~ Led Zeppelin
• October 20, 2008 -- The Battle of Evermore ~ Led Zeppelin
• October 14, 2008 -- In My Time Of Dying ~ Led Zeppelin