By Cornbread


DVD - Down The Tracks:
The Music That Influenced Led Zeppelin
Eagle | November 18, 2008

Down The Tracks: The Music That Influenced Led Zeppelin talks about how Plant and Page were sizing each other up before moving forward with Zeppelin. They each went and got albums from the folks that influenced them most. Like most 1960s British bands were heavily influenced by the blues. Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, The Animals, Savoy Brown, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Cream and Led Zeppelin were no exception. Led Zeppelin’s vocalist Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page, particularly, loved the urban Chicago blues of Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf.

Some of the legends showcased are those who the real music aficionado hardly ever gets to see: Davey Graham, Charley Patton, Son House, John Renbourne, Bukka White and many others including Waters and Wolf. This DVD takes the viewer on a blues journey starting in the Delta and heading north on 61 to Chicago. While it’s interesting more as a blues documentary (than Led Zeppelin documentary) it was neat to hear/see snippets of the old blues guys that most influenced what I’ll call the greatest rock and roll band of all time.