Dear Friends,
I’m no fan of death.
Rhondi’s dad passed after a short yet slugfest of a fight for his life at 4:35AM yesterday, Eastern Standard Time. Rhondi was with him, and he went quickly and peacefully. I can’t believe he is gone, but I’m also thankful for the peace the universe has granted him after years of struggle.
To be honest, even though I have been preparing myself for Doug’s death since not long after I met him, I am not even close to processing this loss yet. It’s going to take time and lots of realization that I will never get to see or talk to him again. I’m going to have a lot to say about this over these last few months of Ergonomic Mischief, I’m sure.
Doug was many things to me and to our family. Listing all these things now feels like something that will make me sob and I’m not ready to sob again right now. If you were lucky enough to know him, even a little, you probably had a good idea of what kind of a guy he was. He was a fucking prince among men in the truest since of the word and, for now, I’m going to leave it at that.
Yesterday fucking sucked and I’m quite sure that I will never be fond of September 9th again.
*****
I chose the record today because, in a weird way, it reminds me of Doug, so here goes…
*****
I love In Through The Out Door by Led Zeppelin because of the song, “In The Evening.” It is one of my favorite songs to play when I DJ because of the way it fades in and you can have it start pretty well before the end of whatever song comes before it so that it swells to a huge crescendo when it announces itself. What a goddamn riff.
The copy I have once belonged to my Dad. I helped myself to it when I moved out, but I think I have replaced it for him. I can’t exactly remember, but I’ve tried to contribute more records to his collection over the past few years than I took when I left in 1985.
To be true, “In The Evening” isn’t the only great song on the record. Every track on In Through The Out Door is pretty darn stellar. The album is full of interesting characters and if each song took on a personality of it’s own and came to life as a person, I think they would all be significantly different. The one thing they all kind of have in common is a certain zest for life and love.
The true star of the record is John Paul Jones. The basslines on this thing are un-fucking-believable. When I listen to the longest one, “Carouselambra,” I can’t believe what he is doing on it. Obviously, all the dudes in Zeppelin were on top of their game there at the end of their storied career, but Jones was on another level on this record.
In fact, I think this is the record that made me really appreciate him.
After “In The Evening” sets the tone for the first side, there are two songs, “South Bound Suarez” and “Hot Dog” that sandwich “Fool in the Rain,” that deserve some serious comment. “South Bound Suarez” just has the greatest rock and roll, boogie-woogie thing going on with the piano. It reminds me of being 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50. I have always loved this song.
It does make me sad that this was John Bonham’s last record. He was, by all accounts, really struggling with alcoholism when they made the record, but damn if he doesn’t sound great. As good as Jones’ piano is on “South Bound Suarez,” the shuffling drum beat matches it for being catchy.
As mentioned, “Fool in the Rain,” is another one that I love. This was probably my favorite Led Zeppelin song as a kid. As I got into my teen years and discovered Physical Graffiti, Houses of the Holy, and watched The Song Remains the Same, my Zeppelin horizons great exponentially, but I still love “Fool in the Rain.”
“Hot Dog” allows Jimmy Page and his guitar to really shine in a super fun way. Jones is still banging away on the piano, but the guitar tones are pretty masterful. Robert Plant also sounds great here, too.
“Carouselambra” has a real disco vibe at times, but Jones’ basslines are out of this world. I bet people would dance their asses off to it if they ever got the chance at a live show. Bohham died before they had a chance to tour for this record. Listen closely to it and prepare to be amazed.
There is also a kind of videogame vibe to the song. I wonder how many arcades opened themselves with the hope of drawing people in by playing In Through The Out Door. There has to be a lot.
“All My Love” is so anthemic that I often forget that it is also a really good song. It’s been played so many times by so many disc jockeys that you forget that it is just such a great song. Page really shines on this one, as does Jones and his synthesizer.
I happen to love “I’m Gonna Crawl,” too. I think it is this one and probably “Fool in the Rain” that really reminds me of Doug. I think he would have liked these too songs if he had given them a chance.
“Somebody please bring me down.”
Epic song with a wonderful chorus.
You know, In Through The Out Door is highly underrated when it comes to a lot of the heavy Led Zeppelin fans I know. For some reason, maybe because it is a decidedly un-punk record, a lot of the Zep fans I know poo-poo this record.
That’s their loss.
*****
See you tomorrow.
I wrote "Hope" and this is what AI did. I like it.
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