2005-06-16 - 1:08 p.m.
What I'm listening to: What is and What Should Never Be-Led Zeppelin.
I lucked out big time at a garage sale not too long ago. I found Led Zeppelin II, The Who Who's Next, and a few other discs, for a quarter each.
This is a pretty good disc, and my first significant entry into the works of Led Zeppelin. One of my first memories of being alive go back to Led Zeppelin.
I remember that I had a 45 single of 'Tragedy' by the Bee Gees when I was little. I had this recorded on a cassette, soon after we bought our first tape deck at home, in the spring of 1981. Soon thereafter we bought our first second car, with an underdash tape player (a dealer installed option). It was nightime, and we were leaving my mom's sister's place. Myself, my brother and sister were in the back seat waiting for my parents to get into the car to head home. I still remember standing up on the middle hump, looking out the window through the spring leaves, and seeing my parents in doorway, my aunt's family seeing them to the door, on their way out. I remember seeing my father smile, as my parents said their long goodbyes. We only lived around the corner from each other, but long goodbyes are pretty common in my extended families.
I wanted to hear my Bee Gees tape. But, my brother in his infinite wisdom, said 'how about we listen to this, trust me it's really good'. It was a tape of one of the first records he ever bought as an adolescent: Led Zeppelin IV. He played Stairway to Heaven. That was my intro into British Blues. I was 3 and a half. I still remember looking through the window, out into my aunt's house, hearing Robert Plant say "In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke throught the trees and the voices of those who stand looking".
My encounter with The Who is pretty similar. When cds started to come out, my brother and I had a deal. If he bought a cd that he already had on vinyl, I would get the record. His copy of Led Zeppelin IV was one of the first records that I inherited, and one of the first of my collection. I still have it.
Not too long after that he gave me The Who Who's Next. I remember listening to it a lot on record. So after finding it at this garage sale, I put it on to listen to in the car on the way home. What a great album. I haven't listened to it since I was about 12. Thinking back, what kind of 12 year old listens to The Who? I just wasn't interested in what my friends were listening to-the top 40 station on AM radio. Ewwwww...AM was just painful to the ears. That being said I do now enjoy listening to AM radio, when I'm listening to an oldies station.
Keith Moon isn't too bad on the skins. When I played percussion in high school I shared my compatriot's love for John Bonham. But, I was an in the closet Ginger Baker admirer. I remember feeling somewhat disappointed that Ginger Baker was not as well known among pubescent adolescents as John Bonham was. I still think Ginger Baker provides a stellar performance when he rides the toms on "White Room".
In an earlier blog post, I mentioned how I like old cities with visible signs of history. I can articulate that a bit better now. I haven't noticed a grand plan to completely destroy Montreal and make it 'new'. In Paris, there was Haussmannization, but I do admit that I get a kick out of wandering around, and checking out the symbols of 'modern' Paris such as the iron work.
In Ottawa there was a similar plan to beautify the captial, called the Greber plan executed in the mid 1960s. It destroyed LeBreton Flats, where the War Museum now stands. That used to be a peaceful working class neighbourhood, and some Ottawa historians say that it that neighbourhood wasn't levelled, it would be Ottawa's Monmartre.
The Greber plan got rid of Ottawa's street cars, the rail yards around Mechanicsville, and displaced the train station to the outskirts. Before that, the rail lines used to be where Colonel By Drive is now, and the rail lines when straight to the Chateau Laurier, a CP hotel at the time. How convienient for the train station to be downtown, across from a lot of the big hotels. Also, the building reminds me of Union Station in Toronto, but severely scaled down.
"Old" Ottawa, pre 1960s is there, but one has to dig for it. Even the older neighbourhoods such as the Byward Market and Lowertown feel sanitized, being close to the tourist areas and Parliament Hill. Sussex Drive used to be one of the seediest streets, lined with taverns and brothels for the 'entertainment' of loggers and various workers who docked in Bytown for a sojourn while working.
Much to my chagrin, I did find some new condos being built near the Belle Guelle brewery near the train tracks. It feels like a suburb. If I'm not mistaken the Milton Park project was received with the same disdain. I wonder if this space has received any critical acclaim over time?
