November 8, 2021, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album, which contains the most well-known rock song ever recorded, Stairway to Heaven. At just over eight minutes long, the composition by guitarist Jimmy Page and singer/lyricist Robert Plant didn’t fit the hit-making, ad-friendly, three-minute-song format of AM radio. It didn’t have to. Led Zeppelin were already huge stars by the time of the album’s release, despite, although some would argue because of, manager Peter Grant’s policy against releasing singles, the better to preserve the integrity of their longer-than-average album cuts-and drive album sales. Stairway to Heaven instead found a home on newly emerging underground FM radio stations. Unafraid to play longer songs or more experimental LP tracks, FM’s progressive format helped Stairway to Heaven become the most requested song in radio history. For the past half century, Stairway to Heaven has been part of the countercultural soundtrack to youthful love, lust, and rebellion; a symbol of compositional rock ‘n’ roll excess that could alternately fascinate or alienate music critics; and common ground for maturing Seventies rockers and their offspring.
In Does Anyone Remember Laughter?, author Eric Danville examines Stairway to Heaven by taking a close look at over fifty performances of the song, by Led Zeppelin and by others. In the first half of the book, he discusses the twenty-five most memorable performances of the song by Led Zeppelin over the last half century, and includes commentary on rock culture in general, the commercialism of popular music, political and religious attempts to censor rock ‘n’ roll, and the legal process as it relates to the creative process. The second part of the book considers the song’s wide-ranging influence with critical examinations of twenty-five cover versions from styles such as classic rock, heavy metal, orchestral, rap, R&B, novelty songs, and even an endearingly unclassifiable performance by Tiny Tim.
