East Orange: Good Times, Bad Times: Led Zeppelin

It was 1984. I'm in Houston, TX at a keg party when suddenly the song, "Black Dog" begins to emanate throughout the room. The opening riff completely blew my mind, and then Robert Plant's voice, and of course, the drumming by Bonzo-- all in that order. I was transfixed, but before the song was completed, the Houston Police busted in and shut down the party. I was with my friends -- twin brothers, Hal and Jack Long, and we leapt out of a back window to escape the cops. I should have been freaked but I was so taken with the song, that I could think of nothing else.

The next day, Hal and Jack told me that their friend Kelly O'Brien was a Zep-head like no other, and knew everything there was to know about ZOSO. We headed over to his place and when I entered his room, I felt like I was in the presence of a major dude, who took music very seriously. The entire room was black-lighted with lava lamps and LZ posters everywhere. He told me he only listened to Led Zeppelin, except for Pink Floyd occasionally and Paul McCartney. He was devoted to Led Zep almost exclusively, and then he asked me if I had ever seen The Song Remains The Same? No, I had not, but later that evening, we watched it and I became a life-long passionate fan of the Hammer of the Gods.

Watching The Song Remains the Same became a Friday night ritual. I don't know how many times I've seen it, but I'm eternally grateful to those three gentlemen, who introduced me to so much music and best of all their aesthetic, which was pure and brilliant. Thank you guys; I'm sorry that my behavior was not always the best.

Love in ROCK.

100% live recording, with NO overdubs, auto-tune or any other manipulation.

The Technicals:
Mark Skinner: Marshall 1959 Super Lead 100 watt amp, Marshall 4x12 cabinet with Celestion G85T Speakers, CS '59 Fender Stratocaster with Fat 50's pickups, TC Electric HOF Reverb Pedal
Jon Skinner: Drum Workshop, Nicko McBrain Snare Drum, and Paiste 2002 Cymbals
Alex Johnston: Fender Three-Bolt Jazz Bass, Ampeg Heritage 50th Anniversary SVT, Ampeg 4x10 Cabinet
Chad Etchison: Shure Beta SM57

Recorded into three channels on my Zoom R24 recorder. I used a mastering preset to mix, but recorded with no effects. The microphones were two Cascade Fathead ribbon mics in a Blumlein Stereo mid-side array. I had an SM57 on the Peavey Dark Matter PA cab as well, just to make sure the vocals wouldn't be buried. Next time, I will add two mics to the drums, to ensure that the snare and bass drum stay prominent.

I built a stereo matrix of three channels (center, left, and right) for the two ribbon mics and split the PA signal into left/right, to mimic the room mics. I think it sound pretty close to the way the room sounded. The stereo split on the two ribbons in the Blumlein was 70 on both channels, that seemed to work the best to give the stereo spread without losing the visceral, down the middle punch of a monaural recording.

Lyrics:
In the days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man,
And now I've reached that age
I've tried to do all those things the best I can
No matter how I try, I find my way into the same old jam
Good times, bad times, you know I've had my share
When my woman left home for a brown-eyed man
But I still don't seem to care
Sixteen, I fell in love with a girl as sweet as could be
It only took a couple of days 'til she was rid of me
She swore that she would be all mine and love me 'til the end
But when I whispered in her ear, I lost another friend, oh
Good times, bad times, you know I've had my share
When my woman left home for a brown-eyed man
But I still don't seem to care
Good times, bad times, you know I've had my share
When my woman left home for a brown-eyed man
But I still don't seem to care
I know what it means to be alone
I sure do wish I was at home
I don't care what the neighbours say
I'm gonna love you each and every day
You can feel the beat within my heart
Realize, sweet babe, we ain't ever gonna part
I feel good when I look at you, ya

Songwriters: Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Robert Anthony Plant. For non-commercial use