The Waggoner's Land

When Jimmy Page was putting together Led Zeppelin, word is he originally envisioned something folky, along the lines of Pentangle, a well known hippie group at the time. Think the Partridge Family with burlap underpants. Pentangle included guitarists John Renbourne and Bert Jansch, who both had great influence on Page. The acoustic instrumental "Bron-Yr-Aur" from Zep's Physical Graffiti is one of my favorite things in the world. Jansch and Renbourne's "The Waggoner's Lad" shares its jangly, up-tempo, overstuffed goodness. But extra props for Page for doing with 2 hands what took those blokes 4.

She Moves Through The Fair

and

White Summer:

"She Moves Through the Fair" is an old Irish folk song. As performed by Jansch, it's a beautiful thing. One of The Yardbird's most Zeppeliny tunes is "White Summer". It's Page's great take on "She Moves Through the Fair" and features Indian tablas and in my ears it contains the acoustic seeds of Zeppelin's "Over The Hills And Far Away" from Houses Of The Holy. While "White Summer" has nothing to apologize for, some people think Page does, as he credited the song solely to himself. These people have websites like this one, dedicated to plagiarism by The Yardbirds.

Nobody's Fault But Mine:

Blind Willie Johnson wrote this old blues song, which Zeppelin covered. I don't believe he was credited. In keeping with today's theme, I've posted Pentangle member John Renbourne's version.

Dance Of The Inhabitants Of The Palace Of King Phillip XIV Of Spain:

I found this song on the MOJO Roots of Led Zeppelin compilation. I don't believe it is the basis for anything in particular, just shares the "American Primitivism" of Page's early sound. I used to work at the DC City Paper with a great writer called Eddie Dean. An American primitive in his own right. Here is Eddie's obit for John Fahey.