Did You Get Into World Beat Music Because of Zeppelin?

[Zzzptm]

My first album was Zep's 4th. I bought all their other records and pretty much liked 'em all, more or less. Didn't think much about it: I was a kid in junior high and Zeppelin was cool, not much to think about.

Later on, about 15 years or so later and on, I'm starting to get into Afghan lutes, then Indian Ragas, then West African High Life, then all kinds of stuff from Bollywood to Rai to Ghazals to Malian Blues... and I'm thinking I'm so much more developed musically than I was as a kid that was into Zeppelin...

... except that Led Zeppelin had taken snippets from all around the world and worked them into their songs. It was like they were preparing me to listen to the world, not just a bunch of white guys playing the blues. Oh yeah, they also got me to really explore the blues. I guess I owe them a "thank you" for that.

I don't claim that Zeppelin did better than the guys they were influenced by, but I don't think they were worse, either. They were adventurous and brought some sounds, chords, structures, and styles to my attention that I wouldn't have otherwise had in my life. They got me ready to listen to the world.

[Billy Underdog]

Not quite. To me it was rather influences from friends bringing me into stuff like Manu Chao and Amadou & Mariam and the likes, at the same time also getting into Robert Plant and the strange sensation. It was then i went back to discover it was there in Zeppelin too.
Always knew in some ways that Zeppelin explored World Music, but didn't really understand it before going through that other stuff.

[Zzzptm]

One thing I've been searching for is the Bollywood tune that "Dancing Days" was based on. I've gone through lots and lots of 70s era item number songs, haven't found it yet...