Okay, so there's an older lady that moved in across the alley. She's 77, thin and walks with a cane. She was out there having a smoke, as was I. Not having seen her come or go before, I figured she was new to the neighborhood, so I introduced myself. Her name was Jeanie.
I know I'll be talking to Jeanie again soon. Gotta remember her name. This one is easy, a song association, "Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie" by Eddie Cochran. Come to think of it, at her age she would have been in high school when that song was released. Note to self: Ask Jeanie if she knows the song "Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie" by Eddie Cochran.
I went looking for the song. Squat. I expanded my search and all sorts of shit popped up. Amongst it, a collection of Led Zeppelin rarities that included two Eddie Cochran covers. First thought: this is gonna be rich.
The covers sound just like what you would expect Led Zeppelin covering Eddie Cochran to sound like, basically like shit. Okay, it does sound like Zeppelin and if you didn't know the songs they would sound like anything else they were doing at the time. But if you do know the songs and you like Eddie Cochran just fine, there are parts that will make you cringe. For example, near the end of the first verse of "C'mon Everybody", when Plant sings "who cares" it sounds like a parody of a seventies rock vocalist. Totally whiney.
All fourteen tracks are in one file, and there's plenty of listenable stuff here. You just have to let the whole thing roll or pick through it to find individual songs. The Cochran covers are at 11:22 ("Something Else") and 31:55 ("C'mon Everybody"). Along with those are covers of Sonny Boy Williamson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howlin' Wolf, you get the idea.
The Sex Pistols covered the same Cochran songs (three quarters of the Sex Pistols anyway, with Sid Vicious on vocals and Johnny Rotten absent). Compare their takes and Zeppelin's and you will sense a difference. Here's the thing, if you know early rock 'n' roll, you know that certain OG rockers had a sort of swagger. Vicious, in his delivery, has some of that. But 1970-era Robert Plant was suffering from bell bottoms and frilly tops, and a high pitched whiney "who cares".
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Led Zeppelin - Rarities mp3 at Internet Archive Single 14 song mp3. "Something Else" at 11:22, "C'mon Everybody" at 31:55. In the right column, under "Download options" click on "VBR MP3 Files"
Eddie Cochran - Something Else mp3 at Rocky 52
Eddie Cochran - C'mon Everybody mp3 at Rocky 52
Sex Pistols - Something Else (streaming) at YouTube
Sex Pistols - C'mon Everybody (streaming) at YouTube
