led zeppelin band members

I Can’t Quit You Baby

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I remember the first time I heard Led Zeppelin. It was 1969. Blown away. If you were around back then, you know what I mean.

Years later, when I took up learning how to play blues guitar, it soon dawned on me just how rooted in the blues their music had been – and still is. In fact, many of their cuts were actually covers of old blue tunes. “Cover” doesn’t quite do justice to Led Zeppelin’s versions since they practically invented a whole new genre of rock music – heavy metal. Or more accurately in my view – heavy blues.

One example is Led Zeppelin’s cover of “I Can’t Quit You Baby” from their 1969 debut “Led Zeppelin”.
“I Can’t Quit You Baby” was originally written by Willie Dixon but was first recorded by Chicago blues artist Otis Rush in 1956.

Here you can listen to both versions. The original Otis Rush blues recording. And Led Z’s transformative version 13 years later that changed the face of contemporary music – and our culture – forever.

Here is the original Otis Rush version:

And the classic Led Zeppelin version:

This is a great example of how one music genre gave birth to another. In this case how rock-n-roll was born from the blues.

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