I went to Reva’s birthday party. In June, of ’67, just after school let out.

I didn’t know her well, but she invited everybody from Geometry class. We ate cake, we did the limbo and listened to music. I remember fingering her records, evaluating her collection. I came across the Incredible String Band.

I never bought an album by the Incredible String Band. I was curious, but I didn’t have the money. That’s what it all came down to, the money. No one had unlimited access to music. We listened to the radio and the buzz, and made our choices wisely. Like Led Zeppelin.

The buzz and the price got me to buy the band’s debut. Which was my favorite until "Physical Graffiti" came out. Still, track by track, the first is best.

I loved "Good Times Bad Times". And "Communication Breakdown". But all these years later, my absolute favorite track off the first Led Zeppelin album is the second side opener, "Your Time Is Gonna Come".

At this point, in 1969, before the second album was released, there was little airplay for Zeppelin. It wasn’t about dialing in the radio waiting to hear your favorite track, but lying in your bedroom, in the dark, experiencing every note of the albums you bought. Sure, we dropped the needle on our favorite cuts, but ultimately this was too tiresome, we eventually let the side play out. And this is what caused the growth of album cuts, the desire to hear music, the limited funds and vinyl records and turntables. Yes, laziness built classic rock.

You’d play both sides right away, especially if you didn’t have a favorite track. If you had a favorite track, you’d play that a couple of times, to feed your jones, then you’d play the entire album. And, having done that, getting an overall appraisal, you drilled down on one side. You played that, waiting for the album cuts to reveal themselves. And you always started out with the side with the hit, the song you knew most, the one you had the jones for, unless it was all new, and then you played side one ad infinitum, until you finally understood it and flipped the record over to side two.

I played side one of the first Zeppelin album multiple times first. Because of the aforementioned "Good Times Bad Times". Everybody always talks about "Whole Lotta Love", but I find more depth in "Good Times Bad Times". "Good Times Bad Times" is more complicated. It starts off in your face, with a riff and a cowbell and then Robert reveals who he is for the very first time. And when you get to the chorus, you’re singing along.

The following intimate "Babe I’m Gonna Leave You" is mind-blowing. The acoustic after the electric. The first side of "Led Zeppelin" is as dark as Jimmy Page’s mind, as otherworldly as his legend.

But the second side actually has an upbeat moment, "Communication Breakdown"… It’s a frenzy quite unlike so much of the plod of the first side.

Although I loved it, the first song that riveted me on the second side was "How Many More Times". Final tracks were supposed to tuck you into bed, they weren’t supposed to leave you at loose ends.

Since "Communication Breakdown" was smack dab in the middle of the second side, after dropping the needle on it a bunch, I played the side throughout. That’s how "How Many More Times" revealed itself to me. And what came before it, "I Can’t Quit You Baby", was straight off the first side, it was part of the oeuvre. But the opening cut, "Your Time Is Gonna Come", was something different. Maybe because it began with an organ. It wasn’t exactly Moody Blues territory, but this track positively existed on Earth, it could even be daytime. And the story… I sing it to myself all the time…

Lyin’
Cheatin’
Hurtin’
That’s all you seem to do

It’s a song to sing when you’re in a groove, feeling fucking great, like skiing at Aspen, thinking of those who’ve left you behind. You’ve finally recovered, you now believe THEIR TIME IS GONNA COME!

And, in between "Your Time Is Gonna Come" and "Communication Breakdown" is a frenetic instrumental, "Black Mountain Side". It’s the essence of Zeppelin, the prance that counterbalances the plod.

Only one thing, Jimmy Page didn’t write it. He didn’t even come up with the arrangement. Sure, the execution was phenomenal, but we grant the highest praise to the creator, which in this case is Bert Jansch.

Bert Jansch? From Pentangle? The Scottish guy? The player whose records I could never afford, and therefore essentially never heard?

Yup!

I’m stuck in traffic on Pico earlier today and a familiar song starts pouring out of the speakers. Something so right that the traffic, all the distractions of the day, no longer matter.

I look down at the readout. On XM’s Village, its folk channel, Bert Jansch is playing something entitled "Blackwaterside".

I knew that Zeppelin was famous for ripping off blues masters, but I thought Jimmy’s "Black Mountain Side" was ORIGINAL!

Alas, it’s not.

Via the magic of the Internet, you too can now be exposed to the original arrangement. Yes, the song is traditional, but this cut IS ALL ABOUT THE ARRANGEMENT, the PICKING!

Go to Bert’s MySpace page, it’s the third cut down: Bert Jansch MySpace

Or, better yet, check out this live take on YouTube: Bert Jansch "Black Waterside"

On this hot summer day pull up the original "Blackwaterside" and revel in the power of the Internet, the heyday of music. When the entry fee is merely the ISP fee. When we’ve got the history of music at our fingertips. It may be confusing, but when you find a gem, you smile, suddenly the whole world makes sense.