Stairway To Heaven is arguably the most beloved song in the rock ‘n roll canon. Yet – as with all things beloved – there’s a too cool for school subset of Zeppelin fans who have turned their backs on Stairway; eschewing the collective love for the song in an attempt to set themselves above the adoring herd. In many ways it’s the musical equivalent of The Denial of Peter, but there’s no real endgame. That’s why it’s so great when musicians are unabashed in their expression of love for Stairway. and embrace that love as part of who they are.
Long-Time Mastodon manager Nick John was one such fan. He loved Stairway so much that everyone who knew him could easily have answered the question “What’s Nick’s favorite song?” Unfortunately Nick succumbed to the ravages of pancreatic cancer in September of 2018, leaving a void in the lives of friends and family, and the heavy rock music world in general. As a special 1500 copy 10″ limited release for record store day, Mastodon, who performed Stairway to Heaven at Nick’s funeral, are releasing a cover version of Stairway entitled “Stairway to Nick John” with all proceeds going to the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. Mastodon’s version is faithful to the Zeppelin original recording, and the B side features the band playing a live version as well.
We’re not sure how long the above YouTube link will remain valid, but we’ll attempt to refresh it periodically if it disappears so check back if you don’t see the video at the top. Perhaps Mastodon will follow this up with a digital download after record store day runs its course? The Stairway Project would like to pass along it’s condolences to Nick’s family and all those that loved him. We’ll make sure we think about Nick the next time Stairway plays in our offices, and the next time anyone ask us why we think Stairway to Heaven is the greatest rock song ever recorded, we’ll say it’s because Nick John believed it – and that’s good enough for us.
Feature Photo Credit: 05212017-MASTODON_EODM_RUSSIANCIRCLES-ACLLIVE-42 by Do512, by flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Addition Photos: Mastodon-12 by Rich Howells via Flickr by CC BY-NC 2.0