First Listen - "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" by Led Zeppelin (Hip Hop Fan Reacts)

[@w.geoffreyspaulding6588]

In concert, after he sang…”hear me call your name”…..he would yell out STRIDER….the name of his dog at the time. Strider is a reference to a major character in Tolkien’s Ring trilogy. And we all know how much Robert was a fan of Tolkien.

[@jameshunter7303]

Ode to his dog “strider” named after a character in Lord of the Rings. The “old shep” line is reference to an Elvis song, where he laments the family dog being put down 😢

[@djardine2520]

It’s a love song to his dog. Dog owners get it 💗

[@neilmartin99]

100% It's like I tell everyone. If I can't bring my dog...I ain't goin.😀

[@satori03]

True The song just makes me happy

[@ibnmegas]

This is an album, not a series of isolated songs. It is hard to explain to the generation of the digital age.

[@loosilu]

This. For all of the first tier UK rock bands, after about 1966, the full albums matter.

[@jazeenharal6013]

Concept albums are lovely.

[@alansmith7626]

well said and spot on!

[@shree397]

Underrated comment right fucking there. fucking digital apps so right😢

[@dianesaienni5466]

A fun song about Plant's dog Strider. Not sure if the dog was a Australian shepherd but he was a blue eyed merl, the color of his coat grey mixed.

[@michele-33]

Always loved this Zep track. ps: RIP Gordon Lightfoot. A Canadian folk-singer songwriter and old friend of Dylan's. He wrote amazing lyrical story- songs. I think you would appreciate his writing but not so much his music. One of my favorites is the true story of the *Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald*

[@G60syncro]

Owing to how he reacted to other songs, I think Syed would just get into it and apreciate the whole discography... Something about Gordon just gets you when you hear it! I hope he gets around to that rabbit hole to explore!!

[@ziggymarlowe5654]

It was very sad news about Gordon Lightfoot. My favorite of his was "If You Could Read My Mind".

[@Dan-zq5wt]

I just discovered Gordon after I heard of his death and I’m actually blown away by how haunting his lyrics and melodies are. One of the all time greats. I also learned he was Bob Dylan’s favorite performer, so Syed should listen. “If You Could Read My Mind” is stunning.

[@michele-33]

@@Dan-zq5wt Hauntingly beautiful lyrics, melodies and vocals. He didn't write any 'filler' lyrics, every line was necessary. I'm paraphrasing but Dylan said Gordon never wrote a bad song in his whole career. He was Bob's favorite folk singer. ( he was more than a folk-singer though ) *Sundown* and *If You Could Read My Mind* are are another 2 of his biggest hits that music lovers of any age can appreciate. Glad you discovered the amazingly talented and humble Gordon Lightfoot. He didn't seem to have a huge ego like many others of his stature.

[@Dan-zq5wt]

@@michele-33 I agree. I can’t believe I never listened to him but he feels like one of the most organic, real songwriters of his generation. No pretense, raw and real. When he sings “heroes often fail” in Read My Mind that’s pure Hemingway. 3 words convey everything. Humble genius.

[@Dan-zq5wt]

It’s Bron-Y-Aur Stomp. Bron-Y-Aur is an acoustic solo on Physical Graffiti. I kind agree with Syed that I think Zep’s genius really shines when all 4 members are fused together in a soundscape. But no matter, they’re the best ever at transporting the listener to a setting and taking them on a moody journey. Page, man - genius

[@TheRealGigatess]

Right you are about the title.

[@djardine2520]

The style of the music is heavily influenced by skiffle music, popular in the 50s in the UK, and a style that Jimmy Page grew up playing as a kid.

[@justgavin_]

I really cannot wait until we get to IV and Physical Graffiti. I’m so curious to see your reaction for some songs on these albums

[@Dan-zq5wt]

And HOTH and Presence. All 4 albums kick ass

[@Sparkman61]

You should have seen them do this live on stage. As sort of an interlude, the four of them came out sat in chairs and performed. Page with an just an acoustic guitar, Jones with a Mandolin, Bonzo with a single drum and Plant with a tambourine. It was a 3 hour set so them taking a load off in the middle of the show was different and kinda cozy. It was very cool. They did several songs with this set up before taking the stage fully for the final hour or so. I guess you just had to be there to fully appreciate it.

[@lime7253]

My favorite Led Zep Song.......simple and wonderful.......

[@kentmains7763]

Melodic music is in short supply in today's rock and roll.

[@peter9910]

The "jangly" sound often comes from Jimmy Page using a 12-string guitar. In this song he doesn't use a 12-string, but he does use hybrid picking a lot (which allows him to play in a very fast country banjo style)

[@TerenceShortman]

Don't worry Syed I am 67 years old and a big fan of Zepplin at least your honest everybody's music tastes are different. it is not wrong to not like something. My music tastes go through the spectrum of music from classical, jazz, blues, folk, progressive, hard rock, heavy metal, reggae, ska, punk, New age, techno, ambient, house, rap, hip hop, industrial, dub step, and many others in between but does not mean I like everything or every musician in every genre. if everybody liked what I like, and everybody disliked what I dislike what a boring world it would be. keep up the good work.

[@danlefou]

Bron-yr-Aur is a cottage in Snowdonia which the band used as a country retreat. The name, pronounced Bron-urr-Ire, means Golden Breast in Welsh, from the effect of the sunset light on the surrounding hills.

[@ziggymarlowe5654]

Strider is the most famous dog to ever inspire a song. Love this song partly because it is about a dog, but mostly because everything about it is great.....the stomp, the old-country (meaning Scots/Welsh/Irish) guitar style, nicely done hand clap. In the States, we still hear this guitar style of playing in the mountains of the Appalachia.

[@sourisvoleur4854]

Not Martha?

[@ziggymarlowe5654]

@@sourisvoleur4854 Martha was an average dog, she went art & arf & grrr. She is most famous with my Grand-children 😄

[@ironrose2672]

I'd say it's a valid observation regarding how some people are much more sympathetic to melody, and others to rhythm. One of the struggles I've had with Hip Hop is that there is not enough melodic development for me. But I would add that I don't see you, Syed, responding emotionally to the mood of certain songs as much as some of us. There are those who are completely mesmerized by a song that is quiet/introspective/melancholy, like "That's the Way," or mystical, like "Friends". But somehow, you do really "get" "No Quarter." Also, a thing many of us do is that when we hear a song/band we really like, we want to hear more of that, and if it's something different, it can take multiple listens to hear it on its own terms. We still may not like it, but our response can shift. Which brings me to the other thing: As many here have said, it's different to experience a song in the context of an album. When playing through an entire album, we hear the songs we might not play when we're just picking tracks, and sometimes they grow on you. And sometimes they don't, but they still have a familiar place on the album. PS. I admire your willingness to check out all these old songs, coming as you are from a different time/tradition. I probably couldn't/wouldn't do it... PPS. I know you've got your hands full these days, but I'd find my way back around to Velvet Underground. When you hear the next song, "Venus in Furs," the game will be changed.

[@neilmartin99]

It's about Robert's pup and companion.

[@PeterTea]

Stryder! You should check out Hey, Hey What Can I Do by them after the next song. It was the B side to Immigrant Song that they left off the album for some crazy reason. Great tune!

[@lperea21]

Greatest song for the love of a dog

[@icydelon]

what about martha my dear

[@davidhart8621]

My favorite LZ song, believe it or not.

[@mofost1]

Why would anyone not believe that?! I get it , most people have a heartbreaker/livin, whole lotta, black dog type songs but they are so good & only the Beatles have more range , but they do not have a 2 or 4 to compete with lz

[@anthonyblakely399]

Yeah you can tune your guitar to deliver different sounds. Since Led Zeppelin wanted this sound to be Welsh or Scottish folk music. You are British. So, you know more about English, Scottish, and Irish Folk music than I. Yeah. Love this song. His dog died. Yes, a tribute to his dog.

[@glass2467]

This is really country blues. Much of this album is. They reached back to the roots of blues on this album. Page worked a lot with different open tunings on the guitar (different than standard tuning) - as does blues and country blues. Although he may be using some finger picking minimally, most of the sounds on this piece are using a pick.

[@w.geoffreyspaulding6588]

Plant has had dogs his entire adult life….and still walks the country lanes where he lives with them when he’s home.

[@olibertosoto5470]

For me rock is not just about the melody but also about the wide range of sounds, rhythm, texture, dynamics, etc. that can be found in one piece. Somewhere along the line seems like music became more compressed - provably because it's easier to pump out quicker. Like going from stereo fm back to am.

[@Frankincensedjb123]

The song is in Open C6 tuning, with the six strings tuned to the following: CACGCE. Original tunning is EADGBE. Page is doing a combination of things. Sometimes he's picking chords or fragments of chords, other times he's doing hammer ons, when you hammer on the string with your finger, and at other times he's strumming chords, which sound odd, and play odd, to be honest, because of the tunning. I play this in C6 open tuning but in regular tunning as well, when I'm lazy and don't want to go through the mess of retuning the guitar. But it is easier playing the song in C6 open tuning. It's not that difficult to play. If you're comfortable strumming and picking and are past the beginner stage, most can play this song, and it's a real fun one to play.

[@mofost1]

That’s it!

[@susanpalmer8931]

Just love this album. Thanks for the reaction.

[@dbclassic8733]

Brilliant Syed

[@dewaynejiles3885]

I genuinely appreciate your efforts and takes, great points on how you hear music through hip hop ears and mindset. This song is just straight up a feel good fun and a folky stomp. The band crushed funky grooves, so the country groove and pickn was awesome for an ode Robert's dog Strider. Black Dog was named after a black lab that kept showing up at the house studio when recording one of the most epic albums of all time. Dogs are great!

[@doriwiljt]

I love this song

[@markhodge7]

This is railroad music. A Bluegrass (faster pace) fusion with Blues. If you listen to very old Blues and toss in the sound of the acceleration of a steam locomotive, you get to this style of musical pace.

[@jameshunter7303]

If you want “jangly” guitars you need to check out the Smiths with Jonny Marr. And of course the Byrds from the 60’s

[@michele-33]

He reacted to and really liked *Turn Turn Turn* by the Byrds. A perfect way to use Biblical references in song. As a Christian and reader of the Bible I can't help but get teary-eyed when hearing it... still :)

[@donnamangrum2149]

You need to see this live.

[@TheRealGigatess]

The open F guitar tuning on a 6-string guitar is helping to create the jangly sound you referred to. It has what is referred to as a droning effect or drone notes.

[@ianstansell504]

His guitar is tuned in Open F on this song. Essentially you can strum it without fretting anything and you get an F major chord, it contributes to the sound you’re hearing for sure

[@mattreynolds612]

4:05 a capo on the frets of the guitar majes it a higher pitched guitar. - a bar fascined to neck of the 🎸 like a bar chord fixed throughout the song. 🌈✨

[@w.geoffreyspaulding6588]

That’s a 12-string guitar I believe….has that particular sound.

[@chadengert7786]

Physical Graffiti. Ten Years Gone and In My Time of Dying. Just put the record on and let it play

[@a2zme]

A little musical inspiration from Dylan's 'It's All Right Ma' and a whole lot of Zeppelin :)

[@heliotropezzz333]

I think what they are producing is a mix of folk and country music on this song.

[@phillipareed2]

google "slide guitar" please

[@mikefetterman6782]

Bron-Yr-Aur is amazing. This is the stomp which is fun, but totally different. That is Jimmy rocking the acoustic guitar.

[@mikefetterman6782]

The "jangly" sound your are referring to is probably just that in certain folk, the higher B and E strings are strummed in an acceted way to add shine at the end of certain chords. Just Jimmy's Martin acoustic (I don't think it is his Harmony acoustic) 6 string in CFCFAF tuning. (folk tuning).

[@earlymorningtwilight9119]

Try That's The Way live 1975 it is really beautiful

[@marionaziris9988]

Sounds like he is playing slide guitar on acoustic. That's what the jangley metallic sound is

[@scottwyatt1691]

Loving the Zep and Beatles videos. Keep up the great work. By the way I’m not sure anybody would be too hard on you if you skipped Hats Off to Roy Harper and jumped right into the 4th album. Im really looking forward to your response on that lp.

[@peternimmo74]

Nah, I love hats off, would love to hear his opinion.

[@axis2946]

It's a 12 String guitar. They have a jangly sound.

[@TheRealGigatess]

Actually, no. It's played with open tuning on a 6-string. Such is the genius of Jimmy Page.

[@shaykosovac8722]

With a slide

[@axis2946]

@@TheRealGigatess you're right, I was guessing. Google youtube search shows all lessons for Bron y aur are on 6 string.

[@BlueSky...]

No one can touch Jimmy Page on acoustic guitar

[@sicotshit7068]

There’s very few Zeppelin songs we may not be crazy about, but there’s nothing you can say you hate it.

[@mofost1]

5:37 just like black dog, aussies, German shepherds etc

[@GreggOliverBass]

The jangliness is more of strum thing than a tuning thing, but if i remember right this IS in open tuning or drop D or something similar. and yes, switching back and forth between picking and strumming is pretty common for fingerstyle

[@mofost1]

This one’s Gonna hit you different too but it’s got that zeppelin dust pumpin ass shaking jive

[@DawnSuttonfabfour]

It is Wales.

[@jmar7631]

Love this song and glad you liked it. If you'd like to check out a live performance, they played this song, as well as two other acoustic pieces, during their Earls Court 1975 concert (as well as other concerts), and it was a good performance. I actually prefer the live version over studio. Perhaps you would too. I always enjoy hearing/watching Page grooving on an acoustic guitar, and for this particular song, I believe Jones played a five-string fretless upright bass. I do hope that if you have the time you give the entire album 3 a listen without interruption, or at least one side at a time. It might give you a bit different perspective than you get by listening to one track at a time spaced weeks apart.

[@loosilu]

I"m not optimistic for how long this stays up. ;)

[@DawnSuttonfabfour]

EErr, soo sorry to bring this up now but... you really not doing the rest of With the Beatles? Seriously, I need to know and I must, I really must say, it's a mistake not to. Still you know, love you n that, yeah, yeah, sodding yeah. Please reconsider. LZ III is fabulous, all of it.

[@loosilu]

Holy shit, he's not? Syed, you are stopping BEFORE the big stuff happens. I was surprised you were spending so much time on the old songs, because at that stage individual songs were not that important. You have to do Rubber Soul, because that's when it gets interesting. You CANNOT get into rock music without doing the Beatles later albums in their entirety, because they are literally the blueprint for modern music. The MAJOR albums in order are Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White album, and Abbey Road. YES I skipped Let it Be, don't @ me, you know it's not major! same for the others I skipped even though in your opinion they are definitely the BEST ONES.

[@DawnSuttonfabfour]

@@loosilu IKR? He's NOT heard Not a Second Time" with it's "aolean cadences"!

[@Lexwell_Lavers]

@@loosilu I really think Help is the album where the Beatles started to find their sound. Look at the tracks on Help: Ticket To Ride, Hide Your Love Away, Yesterday .. these are some of the best songs in their catalog.

[@lewstone5430]

@Lucie Melahn how fkin dare you! Lol!!

[@loosilu]

@@Lexwell_Lavers I TOTALLY agree about Help. I'm a beatles freak, yes I know the tracks. I think it might be their most fun and appealing album. It's not an "album" in the same way as the ones I listed, right? It's songs from a movie with some singles thrown in to fill the time.

[@woodroofguy]

Capable hands indeed!

[@alansmith7626]

They Ae Hammer of the Gods...but they live in your garden with the gnomes....lol....Imagine, if you will, hearing this albums as they were released...You Never knew what was coming next and sometimes you were disappointed--at First, because you were expecting one thing and got something you never dreamed of...lol...perspective and music, trippy

[@johnfirth6541]

the guitar is tuned to an open tuning. the low string is a D i think. Open tunings allow for slide picking and strumming which you hear in this song. Blues, country and folk music all use open or alternate tunings to get that jangly sound. PossibyDADGAD or open D tuning

[@benhinds2971]

He is using an open tuning. They miked the guitars up close and at a distance to get that effect. He could have used a Nashville tuning guitar set up. I doubt it. ( that is where you string a six string guitar with the higher octave strings of a twelve string guitar). I just think its a combination of the miking and the open tuning.

[@nickcrisp7252]

I don't know about Jimmy Page, but I like to tune to an open G tuning for this one. Works well for the bits of slide guitar, and makes some of the quick chord changes easy. Jimmy did use quite a few alternate tunings.

[@djardine2520]

Yeah given the use of the slide, pretty sure this is open tuning.

[@Frankincensedjb123]

Open C6 is suggested, but I also play it in original tunning when I don't want to go through the hassle of tuning for one song and then retuning.

[@nickcrisp7252]

@@Frankincensedjb123 Yeah, that would be another tuning I'd only be using for one tune, too much bother! You want to try getting into celtic-style tunes - endless numbers of weird and wonderful tunings! I tend to just use standard, open G, DADGAD, and one C tuning, and not bother with anything that needs any others. When you have only one acoustic and one electric guitar, that's enough,! Another thing that made me think Jimmy might be using open G for this is that in a live performance, he threw in bits of "Black Mountain Rag", a bluegrass standard, and it seems to me that this tuning is popular in bluegrass. I suppose I could sit down and try to work it out, but if I'm getting a decent sound in a more commonly used tuning, that'll do for me, lol.

[@Valhalrik]

Smart man you Are!

[@alansmith7626]

maybe a lil skiffle thrown in!

[@shaykosovac8722]

Strider!

[@katyharrs278]

Its about Roberts dog called strider.

[@henriettaskolnick4445]

It's true, no one likes everything and there will be songs you like more/less. Perhaps try listening to it again and recognize the sociological issues the lyrics touch on. Zep was never overtly "message oriented" but those lyrics do have a hint. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp is a misspelling of Bron-Yr-Aur, the cottage in Wales. Jimmy and Robert did end up writing a lot of songs there but the only type of recording they could do there was to use a battery operated, handheld tape recorder because the cottage had no electricity. Yes, this is indeed an ode to Robert's blue-eyed, merle colored dog Strider, a name used by the character Aragorn from Lord Of The Rings. According to Jimmy, he used his Martin D-28 acoustic guitar in an open D tuning with a capo at the third fret. Jonesy plays a five-string fretless acoustic bass but when played live, he'd use a standup bass. Bonzo added the "stomp", of course, but also played spoons and castanets.

[@BalbazaktheGreat]

As others have mentioned this is not "Bron-Y-Aur" but rather "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" which is a completely separate Led Zep track. You will probably want to correct your video title.

[@mofost1]

5:15 sorry open C

[@Valhalrik]

Welch!

[@MrGmonkeywillruleyou]

Have you heard Tools cover of no quarter?

[@NortholtJohn3]

Jimmy Page employed a “bottleneck slide”

[@sourisvoleur4854]

It's okay if you don't like some songs, and I'm really glad when you're honest and tell WHY it doesn't turn you on. That's what makes your channel interesting, even when you're wrong. (joking) Even when I disagree.

[@mviroli]

The guitar sound should be because it being a 12 strings.

[@alansmith7626]

Dogs will do that to you....If you are lucky!

[@mofost1]

Open g with some adjustments 4:31

[@alansmith7626]

ala Lonnie Donegan....lol

[@user-gk1nt6sm2z]

Be honest. Doesn't matter if you are wrong I'm always right. It's a burden.