Yesterday marked the 40th Anniversary of the release of Stairway to Heaven, a tune with a riff that whether or not you’re a Zep fan is a moral imperative for any guitarist to learn.
As for myself, I was never that much into Zep. I dug certain tunes like Stairway, Black Dog, and Lady, but never bought a Zep album. But I do have to admit that the Stairway riff had a huge impact on me becoming a guitar player. It’s so simple, but it’s beautiful.
Another riff that compelled me towards playing guitar was Black Water by the Doobie Brothers. I was so proud of myself when I learned that riff. That gave me my first taste of alternate tuning; albeit it was only dropping the low E to D.
And I have to say that it wasn’t necessarily full songs that drove me to learn guitar, but rather little riffs that I thought were cool. Of course, the musician in me wouldn’t just settle for the riff, but I would have to say I was riff-driven. 🙂
Guitar Gear 
I can’t seem to remember a Zeppelin song with the word “lady” in the title. Would you tell me what song you’re thinking of? Great blog, BTW!
Duh… Over the Hills and Far Away
STH was never a fav Zep song for me, the last 1/3 of the song is great when they pick it up and go electric. As for the Doobie Brothers, I gravitate to China Grove and if you want to do some ‘air guitar’ check out ‘Road Angel’ from “What Were Once Vices”……….Keep Rockin’