I came to Led Zeppelin late in my formative years. I remember getting Led Zeppelin IV in high school just to have “Rock and Roll” and “Stairway to Heaven.” I was not really into blues-based rock music, even though my favorite guitar player at the time, Ace Frehley, was clearly imitating Jimmy Page’s style. I don’t recall, but I don’t think I ever tried listening to many blues-based artists until college and grad school. Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan never appealed to me.

After “Rock and Roll” and “Stairway to Heaven,” I’m sure the third Zeppelin track that had any kind of staying power with me was “Kashmir.” Again, I’m not sure, but I think the first time I ever heard the track was watching that scene from Fast Times and Ridgemont High. You can find various live versions of it on YouTube, but my all-time favorite version is from when Led Zeppelin performed “Kashmir” at the Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert at London’s O2 Arena from the concert film Celebration Day.

“Kashmir” is my favorite Led Zeppelin track, but the entire Physical Graffiti album is great. The band thinks it’s their best album and I wouldn’t dare argue the point with Page and Plant.

With today being the album’s 50^th birthday, here’s the digital remastered version on Spotify.