Here’s a bit of a history lesson. In 1927, a blues singer named Blind Willie Johnson wrote a song called “It’s Nobody’s Fault but Mine.” It’s a great song — lot’s of spiritual struggle going on. But that’s the blues, right?
I mention it because Led Zeppelin did their own version about 50 years later, and it came to mind out of the blue a few days back. It’s pretty much my favorite Zeppelin song. Bonham’s rhythm and drive is just incredible (as it often is). It all just fits. Of course, their lyrics are quite a bit different…but there is still that spiritual undertone, hiding in there somewhere. So much of Zeppelin was influenced by these early blues singers, and I can really appreciate that about them. They weren’t just garage-band amateur long-haired rockers. They loved music. They loved its history. And they made some incredible stuff out of it (Robert Plant’s stuff with Alison Krauss lately is worth a listen if you want to see more of that work).
So here’s your history lesson. Here we are, almost equidistant from Zeppelin’s version as they were from Blind Willie’s. And it’s all good. I’m not some big music aficionado, but I know what I like, and this’ll do…