169. LED ZEPPELIN III by Led Zeppelin

I've been listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin lately and so thought I'd discuss this 1970 record as it doesn't seem to get as much love as I, II or IV. It was a bit of a departure from the hard rock/heavy metal roots of the band, focusing more on acoustic, folksy arrangements (though there are still a few hard rocking numbers here). The main reason I wanted to discuss this album, however, are the memories that come rushing back to me each time I hear a particular song that's not on the record. Those of you who grew up in Houston may remember a store called Record Exchange on Westheimer. I spent many hours there in the 80s, flipping through the vinyl, looking for hard to find imports and bootlegs. And, one of those happened to be a non-album track from III - 'Hey, Hey, What Can I Do.' Turns out that this song was only available as the B-side to the 'Immigrant Song' single. So even though this song is technically not part of III, I include it here not only because of the back story but also for nostalgic reasons (not to mention it's a great track). You'll find it in both my Apple Music and Spotify playlists. As for other recommendations from this album, check out the great blues track 'Since I've Been Loving You,' 'That's The Way' and 'Gallows Pole' (not a Zep original, but great nonetheless).