The Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin are perhaps two of the most iconic rock and roll bands of all time, yet they are worlds apart in terms of sound. While the New York underground kings favoured innovative experimentation and DIY music-making, Led Zeppelin preferred flamboyance, complex guitar riffs and grandiose performances. Yet, in spite of their differences, both groups fall under the needlessly ambiguous umbrella term of being ‘rock music’. Indeed, both groups released popular tracks entitled ‘Rock and Roll’, so how different could they really be?
Admittedly, comparing any band to the defiant stylings of Lou Reed and John Cale is not really fair; The Velvet Underground were a band like no other. From their inception in 1964, the New York outfit were constantly subverting the norms of music making. Thanks largely to the experimental stylings of Cale and backed up by Reed’s prolific talent for lyricism, The Velvet Underground went on to create some of the most innovative and enduring rock music of the 1960s. The group offered inspiration to virtually every alternative rock act that followed them, from David Bowie all the way to Fontaines D.C. – there are few artists free from the inspiration of The Velvets.
In a similar vein, Led Zeppelin pioneered the subgenre of hard rock, helping to lay the foundations for heavy metal and establishing themselves as a truly legendary classic rock band in the process. Led by the complex and compelling riffs of Jimmy Page and distinctive tones of Robert Plant. Over a 12 year period, Zeppelin produced a wealth of incredible rock music, still beloved by audiences to this day. One of the finest moments within their celebrated discography came in 1971 with the single ‘Rock and Roll’.
Only a year prior, The Velvet Underground released Loaded, which featured their very own song entitled ‘Rock and Roll’. In contrast to the fast-paced, ear-melting riffs and driving beats of Zeppelin’s ‘Rock and Roll’, The Velvets’ effort was somewhat gentler, despite the strained New York tones of Lou Reed. Telling the story of a girl called Jenny, whose life was saved by the power of rock and roll on the radio, the song is largely autobiographical of Reed.
Clearly, the two songs are incredibly disparate in sound, yet they both form two sides of the same countercultural rock and roll coin. The Velvet Underground track was instrumental in establishing the underground world of alternative rock, while Zeppelin’s version helped to popularise defiant hard rock. Indeed, the two bands seemed to have a mutual respect for each other, with Page a particular fan of the New York noise rockers.
Both tracks were released around the same time, during the early 1970s. This period formed an interesting moment in the history of rock and roll. After all, the youthful counterculture of the 1960s had largely dissipated as the bands who made up that scene grew up, put down their joints and discovered the expensive hobby of cocaine addiction. As such, the early 1970s were mainly characterised by soulless, middle-of-the-road pop-rock, as well as overly complex and complacent progressive rock. Both Led Zeppelin, and The Velvet Underground offered an alternative for those who desired something a little more meaningful in their listening habits.
They might have represented different ends of the rock and roll spectrum, but these two very different songs showed that both The Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin shared a mutual love for one thing: authentic and revolutionary rock and roll. Within these songs, the two very different outfits were each subverting the banality of early 1970s rock and spearheading exciting new directions for the genre. The boundaries of the term rock and roll are needlessly ambiguous. Still, the genre would certainly look very different without the pioneering influence of either Led Zeppelin or The Velvet Underground.