#44 "D'yer Mak'er" by Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin will always represent a sort of growing up period for me. They were the first band that I really got into independent of my brother's influence. Through him I liked and listened to a lot of things, but as we got older and I started to be around other people, I started to develop other interests than the ones we had grown up pursuing, and probably started to become more of my own guy.

I still remember the first time I really heard Zeppelin. Sure, everyone knows "Stairway to Heaven" and "Rock n Roll" and all of the other radio staples, but I had never experienced anything beyond those popular songs. One day, on my way to swim practice with a friend, he pulls out this tape and says, "You want to really hear something?" He put in Zep's first album and this song came on that was loud and heavy and fast. It sounded like metal almost, not like classic dinosaur rock. It was the time when Guns-n-Roses and Metallica and hair-bands were beginning to make a name for themselves, and yet this song that was twenty years old was harder than anything those guys were doing. I just remember thinking, "Whoah... that's cool!" The song was "Communication Breakdown" and even when I hear it today I still think of that first time.

Of course Led Zeppelin would be on this list, but where do I start? How can I limit them to just a few selections? It was a tough call, but there was no doubt that I would include "D'yer Mak'er." It's from their middle years and is Zeppelin's take on reggae. When I read their biography Hammer of the Gods for an 11th grade book report, I remember reading about how Jimmy Page teased John Bonham that as good as a drummer as he was, he didn't have the stuff to play reggae beats. This song was borne from that. The title, which I've heard some people say is a phonetic representation of a British accent saying "Jamaica," is, according to the book, actually a slur on "Did ya make her?" which means "Did you bang her?" The whole song, with Robert Plant's moaning and groaning, is one big sex romp. It's a great tune and different from any other in Led Zeppelin's catalogue. Bonham's drums are PHENOMENAL in it. Super-heavy thuds on the bass drum and snare. I've tried playing the opening many times and can almost do it, but I'd need a 400 pound leg to get anywhere close to the power of JB's bass pedal. It's some great stuff.

On a related note, in 1995 a Led Zeppelin tribute album called "Encomium" was released with reinterpretations of their songs by everyone from Hootie and the Blowfish to Blind Melon, Stone Temple Pilots, and Duran Duran. Sheryl Crow did a version of "D'yer Mak'er" that's great. Her "oh oh oh oh Oh Oh"'s are breathy and dirty and sexy as hell. If you're lonely and looking for some good inspirational material, look no further!

"D'yer Mak'er" is from the album "Houses of the Holy." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.