Led Zeppelin "Living Loving Maid"

Another classic riff that made Led Zeppelin II a great guitar album "Living Loving Maid" is one of Led Zeppelin's shortest, most radio-friendly tunes. I used to think it was actually part of "Heartbreaker" until I picked up my father's Led Zeppelin II LP and read the jacket. Starting immediately after the previous song ends, the two numbers run together and give unknowing listeners the illusion of being two parts of the same song (and what a great song that would be!) but on its own "Living Loving Maid" is another energetic powerhouse that helped make the band's second album the grand achievement that it is.

"Living Loving Maid" always takes me back to my days as a young guitarist, learning the legendary riffs of Jimmy Page on my $350 Epiphone Les Paul (hey, it has great sound and even the word Gibson inscribed on the headstock). A relatively easy song to learn, my clearest memory of that time was my mother's reaction to "Living Loving Maid." You're probably imagining her pounding on my bedroom door yelling at me to turn off the loud rock music but the exact opposite is true.

My mother was a classic 50's chick who loved dancing, cruising and playing the hottest 45s on her record player or the jukebox at the local diner. When asked what kind of music she likes, her standard response has always been, "Anything with a good beat."

Now imagine me, aged 16, in my bedroom downstairs with a CD player plugged into one outlet and the Crate amplifier plugged into the other. I'm chopping and clunking my way through "Heartbreaker" and going right into the opening riff of "Living Loving Maid" when my mother bursts into my bedroom snapping her fingers and dancing her best jitterbug to John Bonham's "good beat". I continue to rock out on my Les Paul while my mother stands right beside me rocking and rolling, bopping her head, shuffling her feet and having a great time. When the song abruptly ends, she keeps dancing for a few seconds until she realizes the song and the fun are over. We look at each other and start laughing and my mother disappears from my bedroom, closing the door behind her and leaving me alone to strum the opening to "Ramble On."

This is what "Living Loving Maid" means to me. Call me a Mama's boy but can you image your old lady embracing your favorite band and dancing along with you while you play rock star in your bedroom after school? It's actually one of my favorite childhood memories.

It took a few years for me to realize that Mom didn't run into the room because she liked Led Zeppelin or my guitar playing. What drove her dancing into my bedroom was the same thing that drives our love of the band: she was there because she embraced the music. It was that sound, that "good beat" that made her want to run into the room and shake a leg. It was the music that made her do it and what great music it is!