by Anthony Perlingos

Created on: November 08, 2009   Last Updated: November 09, 2009

If there is one aspect of artistic expression that I would put before writing and poetry, it would be music. I had the good fortune to grow up In a family that was very musically inclined. My Father could play a mean set of bongos accompanied by my Grandfather who would strum his guitar and croon one and all at our family barbecues. My Aunt was a world class flamenco dancer who made a living at it for many years in Spain and even brought Paco De Lucia to the family gatherings for recitals with some of the dancers in her troupe and it was magical. And my Mom was kind of a semi hippie who plopped me in front of the television as a baby in 1964 to watch some band called " The Beatles ".

Mom also played alot of Bob Dylan and Everly Brothers around the house too. The reason I mention all of these memories is because I have a passion for music above all else that is second to none. I am currently listening to a radio station here on Sunday morning that plays all of the best songs of the 1980s. I have a collection of CDs that is the only thing I would take with me if I were to ever move to another country.

In my youth I also played in a band that never got beyond the local kegger party in our town. Because we had one major impediment , we stunk! Our friends told us to forget about it and we knew we would just have to go to school and get jobs. But whenever anybody asks me about those days I say we broke up because of artistic differences. Being older then probably the average writer here I think I can safely say I have probably grown up through quite a few more musical eras then alot of the writers here. And so when I saw the title for this particular topic it immediately piqued my interest. That title being Led Zeppelin and the birth of Heavy Metal. For starters, that is a complete misnomer. I have just about every CD and some vinyl stashed away of all Led Zeppelin material and have probably worn all of them out. And I can unequivocally say that Led Zeppelin was not a heavy metal band! I repeat Led Zeppelin is not heavy metal. Led Zeppelin was created by the guitar virtuoso Jimmy Page who is easily in the top two or three great guitarist of our time. Jimmy Page was in a band called "The Yardbirds" and this band was one of the major components of the British invasion scene of the mid 60s. Before Jimmy Page the Yardbirds also boasted a couple of guitarist named Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck also a couple of all timers in the guitar greats category. Jimmy Page was to be

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