Drums… one of the loudest, widest drum sounds I have ever heard. The song just rolls through you. The song was from the classic Led Zeppelin IV album. John Bonham’s drums were recorded in a stairwell at Headley Grange with the microphones planted 3 stories up. The drum sound echoed up and was captured on the mics, creating a very distinctive sound.
The song started as a 1929 blues recording by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy, written after the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 devastated parts of the South. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant took that old blues foundation and turned it into something darker and heavier during the sessions in 1971. The band recorded much of it at Headley Grange, the old English house where Zeppelin liked to work away from the pressure of traditional studios. I will say that Zeppelin did credit these writers.
Jimmy Page slowed the tape slightly during mixing, which gave Bonham’s drums even more weight and made the whole track feel thick. John Paul Jones added bass, harmonica, and subtle touches underneath it while Plant delivered the vocal almost like a warning coming through a storm. Page also layered slide guitar and backward effects across the track, giving it that swampy and almost haunted feeling. Even after dozens of listens, the recording still sounds huge. I do think it’s interesting that Page used his Danelectro guitar for the slide guitar part. A Danelectro is a cheap guitar (I have two), but they give you a unique metallic sound. He also used one on Kashmir.
The band turned it into one of the heaviest tracks of the early 1970s without relying on speed and huge guitar. Hip-hop producers later sampled Bonham’s drum intro because nothing else sounded quite like it. Artists from the Beastie Boys to Dr. Dre borrowed pieces of it. That showed how far the song traveled past classic rock radio. The song still feels massive, like my walls are shaking every time Bonham hits the drums. Hmmm, maybe because I have the volume on 11…that helps.
Jason Bonham: “It’s the drum intro of the Gods. You could play it anywhere and people would know it’s John Bonham. I never had the chance to tell dad how amazing he was – he was just dad.”
When the Levee Breaks
If it keeps on rainin’ levee’s goin’ to break If it keeps on rainin’ levee’s goin’ to break When the levee breaks I’ll have no place to stay. Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan Lord mean old levee taught me to weep and moan Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home Oh well oh well oh well. Don’t it make you feel bad When you’re tryin’ to find your way home You don’t know which way to go? If you’re goin’ down South They go no work to do, If you don’t know about Chicago. Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good, Now, cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good, When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move. All last night sat on the levee and moaned, All last night sat on the levee and moaned, Thinkin’ ’bout me baby and my happy home. Going, go’n’ to Chicago, Go’n’ to Chicago, Sorry but I can’t take you. Going down, going down now, going down going down now, going down, going down, going down, going down Going down, going down now, going down going down now, going down going down now, going down Going d-d-d-d-down Woo woo
When Robert Plant made his first solo album, I didn’t know what to think. I was expecting Zeppelin, but he threw a curve. Something that grew on me, and later I realized if Plant went back to Zeppelin style music, he wouldn’t have lasted long. I got my first car in 1983, and I was riding in style in my 1966 Mustang. Big Log is one of the first songs I remembered playing in that car. I have followed Plant ever since the Pictures at Eleven album.
This song came out in 1988 on the album Now and Zen, a record that gave Plant a major commercial comeback in America after a few years of uneven sales. The song was built around a rocking riff and a big arena-rock sound, but Plant and producer Tim Palmer also loaded it with Zeppelin history. He was trying to combine modern production with older rock influences.
I thought at the time, he was finally embracing his history and adding it to his approach. The music video made that clear by mixing old clips of Led Zeppelin with new footage of Plant performing. It shocked some fans because he had spent years distancing himself from Zeppelin. Sampling music was huge at this time, and the lawsuits were flying from older bands that were sampled. Plant didn’t have to worry about that in this one. He sampled his own Led Zeppelin catalog, including Black Dog, Whole Lotta Love, Dazed and Confused, Custard Pie, and The Ocean.
MTV played the clip constantly, and the song became one of Plant’s biggest solo hits, helping Now and Zen climb up the charts. The album peaked at #6 on the Billboard Album Charts, #4 in Canada, #7 in New Zealand, and #10 in the UK in 1988. The song peaked at #1 on Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts, #25 on the Billboard 100 Charts, and #87 in the UK, and #22 in New Zealand.
Long Cool One
Like a cat running in the heat of the night Got a fire in my eyes, got a date with delight Some kinda moaning in the heart of the storm I’m gonna love you so hard, if you want your loving done Lighten up baby I’m in love with you With my one hand loose I am to satisfy You like my loving machine, I like your bloodshot eyes Real gone girl jumping back with the beat I’ll be your tall cool one with those crazy feet Lighten up baby I’m in love with you I’m so tall and you’re so cute, let’s play wild like wildcats do You’re gonna rock your tall cool one I’m gonna say that – you’re gonna say – aaah You stroll, you jump, you’re hot and you tease ‘Cause I’m your tall cool one, and I’m built to please M-m-move over mister step on back in the crowd ‘Cause she’s a whole lotta sister ’bout to drive me wild Lotta place I’ve seen, lotta names lotta words No one compares to my real gone girl Lighten up baby I’m in love with you
A blogger named Warren brought up this song and I want to thank him. This is a great song by a great singer/songwriter who turned down Jimmy Page to join Led Zeppelin. He is the one who recommended Robert Plant to Page. Some people may know this song from Cheap Trick as they covered it on their debut album in 1977.
This was his self-titled second album released in 1969. I can see why Page wanted him…his voice was fantastic. His nickname was Superlungs for a good reason. He wasn’t a bad songwriter either…the artists that has covered his songs are many. The Hollies, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, Arrival, Marianne Faithfull, Cheap Trick, Jack White with The Raconteurs, Joe Perry, Rumer and Chris Cornell.
In around 1967 or 68 Jimmy Page was ending the Yardbirds or continuing a new version of them. He was looking for a singer and Terry Reid fit what he wanted. Reid told Page that he was already committed to two tours with The Stones and one with Cream at the time. He did tell Page that if he paid him the lost money and talked with the Stones to get him out of it he would join. It didn’t happen but Reid also told him of a lead singer he knew named Robert Plant from the Band of Joy that might fit what he was after. Oh, it most definitely did.
Reid had a busy solo career as a songwriter and performer. He has some songs in movies and many artists as I’ve listed above have covered him. He also works with younger bands now and sometimes as a guest vocalist. Robert Plant called him the outstanding voice of his generation.
He has released 7 studio albums, the last being in 2016. After hearing his voice and his songs…I am surprised he didn’t hit more. In the later half of the 20th Century he worked with the Eagles drummer, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Marianne Faithfull, Joe Walsh, and many others.
Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Piece
Yesterday feels like running away Feels like givin’ the child Gettin’ lost losin’ my mind I’m feelin’ low and I got no place to go Gettin’ all tied up Feelin’ all tied up yeah yeah
Oh yesterday feels like running away And I know, I’m givin’ up my time To still love still love Love’s got me blind
My mind sees the things I don’t know And I got no place to go Gettin’ all tied up Feelin’ all tied up
Things I need to tell you love You’ll be true I know There’s still a chance for a better life Yes, I know
This song was included on possibly their best album…Led Zeppelin 4 or Zoso… whichever name you know it by. It was released in 1971, which I think was the best year for rock albums. A few weeks before this album, The Who released their huge album Who’s Next.
I liked that they switched gears in this song and kept it a ballad. Plant has often mentioned that part of the song was a tribute to Joni Mitchell, whom he and Page admired. Her song California also inspired this song.
Zeppelin recorded this album at Headley Grange. It is an old, remote mansion in Hampshire, England, and they recorded there frequently. The informal, relaxed atmosphere helped the band focus and be creative.
They used a mobile recording studio, the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, which allowed them to record in various parts of the mansion, capturing different acoustics. Page has talked about recording Bonham underneath a staircase for the sound quality. For this song, however…it was recorded in Headley Grange’s lawn outside in the grass.
Bonham didn’t play on this one and Page played a 6-string and 12-string acoustic guitar. John Paul Jones plays the mandolin on it. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page wrote this song…it’s a great album track.
The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard 200, Canada, and the UK in 1971.
Going To California
Spent my days with a woman unkind
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine
Made up my mind to make a new start
Going to California with an aching in my heart
Someone told me there’s a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair
Took my chances on a big jet plane
Never let ’em tell you that they’re all the same
Oh, the sea was red and the sky was grey
Wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today
The mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake
As the children of the sun began to awake
Watch out
Seems that the wrath of the gods
Got a punch on the nose and it started to flow
I think I might be sinking
Throw me a line, if I reach it in time
I’ll meet you up there where the path runs straight and high
To find a queen without a king
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings
La la la la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin’ to find a woman who’s never, never, never been born
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams
Telling myself it’s not as hard, hard, hard as it seems, mmm, ah
I like the strange riff that opens this one up. It sounds tonally off in some ways and that makes it appealing. While in Bombay, Page and Plant heard an Indian song that inspired this. The creative process for “Dancing Days” began with Jimmy Page’s guitar riff. Robert Plant then added the lyrics, which they were inspired by a girl he met in Bombay.
The term “dancing days” is thought to refes to high school. On a bootleg recording of the song from a concert on Jan. 14th, 1973 Robert Plant sings “Let’s go back to high school” in the song.
The song was on the Houses of the Holy album released in 1973. The funny thing is that the song Houses of the Holy would be on the Physical Graffiti album, not its namesake. This song was the B side to Over The Hills And Far Away rare single released in 1973. The single peaked at #51 on the Billboard 100 and #63 in Canada.
The band was determined not to repeat themselves after the success of Led Zeppelin IV. This album is diverse with songs Over The Hills and Far Away, The Ocean, The Rain Song, and the funk of The Crunge. This album was a perfect gateway into their next album Physical Graffiti.
The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Charts, #1 in the UK, and #1 in Canada.
Dancing Days
Dancing days are here again
As the summer evenings grow
I got my flower, I got my power
I got a woman who knows
I said it’s alright, You know it’s alright
I guess it’s all in my heart
You’ll be my only, my one and only
Is that the way it should start?
Crazy ways are evident
In the way that you’re wearing your clothes
Sippin’ booze is precedent
As the evening starts to glow
You know it’s alright, I said it’s alright
You know it’s all in my heart
You’ll be my only, my one and only
Is that the way it should start?
You told your mamma I’d get you home
But you didn’t say I had no car
I saw a lion he was standing alone
With a tadpole in a jar
You know it’s alright, I said it’s alright
I guess it’s all in my heart, my heart
You’ll be my only, my one and only
Is that the way it should start?
So dancing days are here again
As the summer evenings grow
You are my flower, you are my power
You are my woman who knows
I said it’s alright, You know it’s alright
You know it’s all in my heart
You’ll be my only, my one and only
Is that the way it should start?
I saw Alison Krauss with Union Station in Franklin Tennessee in the 1990s. I never knew she was that good of a musician. Her voice was great as well and I wasn’t a fan when I was given the tickets…but I was after I saw her.
Since the first time I heard this song…I loved it. It’s put together so well and Plants and Krauss harmonize beautifully. Please Read The Letter was originally off the Walking Into Clarksdale album by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. The song was written by Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant.
I listened to the Page and Plant version…it just didn’t have the magic that the Krauss version did. I usually go with the loud guitar but not in this case. Plant and Alison Krauss met at a tribute concert to Leadbelly, and decided to collaborate. They made an album together in 2007 called Raising Sand. The album featured production by T-Bone Burnett and songwriting by Plant, Tom Waits, Sam Phillips, Townes Van Zandt, and Gene Clark among others.
This version peaked at #20 in the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 and #102 in the UK in 2009. I like the original version but Krauss’s harmony lifts this version up over that and turns into a great record. The arrangement of this version highlights the lyrics and enhances the song. I was hooked at the first listen.
Raising Sand won The Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 2009. The song was off of the Raising Sand album. The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard Album Charts, #5 in Canada (The Canada peak number I’m not sure about), #2 in the UK, #3 in New Zealand in 2007-08.
The follow-up album was released in 2021 and it’s called Raise The Roof.
Robert Plant: “When we started this project together, the whole game was a mystery. We gave ourselves three days, and we said if it doesn’t work, we’ll just take lunch, and I’ll go back to Wolverhampton. But we brought this song out and it’s been given that Nashville touch and it feels pretty good.”
Page and Plant’s version
Please Read the Letter
Caught out running With just a little too much to hide Maybe baby Everything’s gonna turn out fine Please read the letter I mailed it to your door It’s crazy how it all turned out We needed so much more
Too late, too late A fool could read the signs Maybe baby You’d better check between the lines Please read the letter, I Wrote it in my sleep With help and consultation from The angels of the deep
Once I stood beside a well of many words My house was full of rings and Charms and pretty birds Please understand me, my Walls come falling down There’s nothing here that’s left for you But check with lost and found
Please read the letter that I wrote Please read the letter that I wrote
One more song just before we go Remember baby All the things We used to know Please read my letter And promise you’ll keep The secrets and the memories and Cherish in the deep
Ah…
Please read the letter that I wrote Please read the letter that I wrote Please read the letter that I wrote
Please read the letter that I wrote Please read the letter that I wrote Please read the letter that I wrote
Sometimes I am asked what is your favorite song by… Well for Led Zeppelin this is the one with Tangerine coming in second. Up until I heard this, I only knew Led Zeppelin from their first two bombastic albums. I thought…well there is more to this band than just loud guitars. This was the UK B side to the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. This was not on any Zeppelin album until The Led Zeppelin Box Set in 1992.
The song was credited to the entire band… John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant. The song is very different than anything else they did. There is no building up to a heavy Page solo but it does sound like Zeppelin. The song would have fit nicely on Led Zeppelin III but they decided to not include it.
The original band never did perform this song live although Plant and Page played it on their tour. Page also played this one with the Black Crowes in 1999.
The Immigrant song charted (#16) but this one did not. They recorded this song around the same time as Led Zeppelin III. This album marked a change in the band’s musical direction as they started to incorporate more of a folk touch and light and heavy style. The album led to the peak of their career in Led Zeppelin IV.
Robert Plant said that at the time they wrote it…they thought it was too lightweight to put on an album. I find it to be possibly the most commercial radio-friendly song they ever did. Maybe it was the correct decision at the time because 50 years later I’m writing about a Zeppelin song that never appeared on an album in the band’s lifetime…and it’s a hidden treasure.
Hey Hey What Can I Do
Wanna tell you about the girl, I love
My she looks so fine
She’s the only one that I been dreamin’ of
Maybe someday she will be all mine
I wanna tell her that I love her so
I thrill with her every touch
I need to tell her
She’s the only one I really love
I got a woman, wanna ball all day
I got a woman, she won’t be true, no
I got a woman, stay drunk all the time
I said, I got a little woman and she won’t be true
On Sunday morning when we go down to church
See the menfolk standin’ in line
Don’t say they come to pray to the Lord
When my little girl, looks so fine
And in the evening when the sun is sinkin’ low
Everybody’s with the one they love
I walk the town, keep a-searchin’ all around
Lookin’ for my street corner girl
I got a woman, wanna ball all day
I got a woman, she won’t be true, no no
I got a woman, stay drunk all the time
I said, I got a little woman and she won’t be true
In the bars, with the men who play guitars
Singin’, drinkin’ and rememberin’ the times
And my little lover does the midnight shift
She ball around all the time
I guess there’s just one thing a-left for me to do
So I pack my bags and move on my way
‘Cause I got a worried mind, sharin’ what I thought was mine
Gonna leave her where the guitars play
I got a woman, she won’t be true, no no
I got a woman, wanna ball all day, yeah yeah, no no
I got a woman, stay drunk all the time
I got a little woman and she won’t be true
Hey hey, what can I do?
Oh oh, what can I say?
Hey hey, what can I do?
Oh oh, what can I say?
Hey hey, what can I do?
Oh oh, what can I say?
Hey hey, what can I do?
Hey hey, what can I do?
I got a woman, she won’t be true
Lord, hear what I say
I got a woman, wanna ball all day
I immediately liked this song when I heard it in 1984. The song originally was by Phil Phillips with the Twilights and they took it to #2 in 1959. Phil Phillips and George Khoury wrote this song. I knew Robert Plant wanted to distance himself from the hard sounds of Led Zeppelin when I heard this. I went out and immediately bought the single.
This version of the Honeydrippers included Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. I had forgotten that Brian Setzer was in it also but it makes complete sense. The members were…
Robert Plant – vocals
Jimmy Page – guitars
Jeff Beck – guitars
Paul Shaffer – keyboard
Nile Rodgers – guitar, co-producer
Wayne Pedzwater – bass
Dave Weckl – drums
Brian Setzer – guitar
Keith “Bev” Smith – Drums
That is some kind of band… a lot of great players in famous bands in this group. The song peaked at #1 in Canada, #3 on the Billboard 100, #12 in New Zealand, and #56 in the UK.
Robert Plant was actually quite horrified with this song’s success for The Honeydrippers. The A-side was “Rockin’ At Midnight,” with “Sea of Love” as the B-side. But the single got flipped. Plant feared that this would destroy his reputation and he would be typecast as a crooner, so he deliberately cut off the career of the Honeydrippers.
He thought about bringing them back in the 21st century with Ahmet Ertegün, but at the latter’s passing Plant put the idea on permanent hold. Robert can really sing those 50s hits quite well. I remember seeing him on the broadcast of the Concert for Kampuchea playing with Rockpile.
“Sea Of Love” Do you remember when we met? That’s the day I knew you were my pet I wanna tell you how much I love you
Come with me, my love, to the sea The sea of love I wanna tell you just how much I love you Come with me to the sea of love
Do you remember when we met? Oh, that’s the day I knew you were my pet I wanna tell you, oh, how much I love you
Come with me to the sea of love Come with me, my love, to the sea The sea of love I wanna tell you just how much I love you I wanna tell you, oh, how much I love you
The writing credit on this song is Jimmy Page but is based on an acoustic song with the same title that Jimmy Page heard folk singer Jake Holmes perform. When Page was a member of The Yardbirds, they played on the same bill with Holmes at the Village Theatre in New York City. Holmes’ version is about an acid trip, but contains many of the same elements that made their way into the Led Zeppelin version: walking bass line, paranoid lyrics and an overall spooky sound.
Led Zeppelin’s version was not credited to Jake Holmes, as Page felt that he changed enough of the melody and added enough new lyrics to escape a plagiarism lawsuit. Well that didn’t work, many years later Jake Holmes sued Zeppelin in 2010 for the song. The suit was “dismissed with prejudice” on January 17, 2012, after an undisclosed settlement between Page and Holmes was reached out of court in the fall of 2011. After that the song was credited “By Page – Inspired by Jake Holmes.”
Jake Holmes was never successful commercially as a singer/songwriter…but you know his work. He wrote many famous jingles, including “Be a All That You Can Be” for the US Army and “Be A Pepper” for Dr. Pepper. He also wrote songs for Frank Sinatra and The Four Seasons.
The Yardbirds played the song in concert, but never recorded a studio version, although they did play it for a BBC taping in March 1968. This was one of the first songs Led Zeppelin recorded. It was released as a single in the US in January 1969, two weeks before the album was issued.
At live shows, Page played this using a violin bow on his guitar. He claimed that he got the idea from a session violinist he worked with who suggested it. Eddie Phillips of the UK band The Creation guitarist pioneered the use of the violin bow on guitar strings, predating Page doing it in The Yardbirds by two years.
The song didn’t chart but the self titled album peaked at #10 on the Billboard Album Charts, #11 in Canada and #6 in the UK in 1969.
Jake Holmes – “We were on the bill with The Yardbirds. We performed it there and blew the place apart with that song, and that’s when Jimmy Page saw it. From what I gather from The Yardbirds, Page sent somebody out to get my album. He did a great job, but he certainly ripped me off.”
Dazed And Confused
Been dazed and confused for so long, it’s not true
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you
Lots of people talk and few of them know
Soul of a woman was created below, yeah
You hurt and abuse, tellin’ all of your lies
Run ’round, sweet baby, Lord, how they hypnotize
Sweet little baby, I don’t know where you’ve been
Gonna love you, baby, here I come again
Every day I work so hard, bringin’ home my hard-earned pay
Try to love you, baby, but you push me away
Don’t know where you’re goin’, only know just where you’ve been
Sweet little baby, I want you again
I don’t like when you’re mystifyin’ me
Oh, don’t leave me so confused, now
Whoa, baby
Been dazed and confused for so long, it’s not true
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you
Take it easy, baby, let them say what they will
Tongue wag so much when I sent you the bill
Oh yeah, alright
This is the second Led Zeppelin book I’ve reviewed in a row…hope you are not getting too tired of it. I’m moving on to something else with my next book.
This is a good book about Led Zeppelin by Bob Spitz. This book surprised me when I read it. The reason is that Spitz wrote a biography of the Beatles that felt uninspired with no new info…I was thinking this one might be the same. Well, I was wrong…this book is the best book I’ve read on Led Zeppelin and that includes Hammer of the Gods and others.
The book uncovered things I didn’t know and gave a different point of view on instances that happened. There are constants about the band that run through every book about them. John Paul Jones was the constant professional and multi-instrumentalist of the band. JohnBonham was an incredible drummer but could flash in a violent rage at any minute. Robert Plant the optimistic never say die singer who would change after his family’s bad car accident. Jimmy Page was the absolute leader of the band until he couldn’t function in that role because of the different chemicals he was taking.
Below is a Swan Song band Detective with a weary Jimmy Page asleep on the couch behind them.
Detective… A Swan Song band with Jimmy Page fast asleep at the photo session.
One thing that was known about the band is that they had an inferiority complex about The Rolling Stones. This is explored more in this book. They couldn’t understand why the press and celebrities hung out and liked the Stones and not them… although Zeppelin outsold them. The answer to that was pretty obvious…other bands such as The Who could shrug off bad reviews and go on…Led Zeppelin would call the critics out from the stage. The press was also threatened by manager Peter Grant and touring manager Richard Cole to give good reviews. Zeppelin also barred the press for years…so it wasn’t a big mystery here except to them.
On the 1977 tour the press was given some rules by the band:
Never talk to anyone in the band unless they first talk to you.
Do not make any sort of eye contact with John Bonham. This is for your own safety.
Do not talk to Peter Grant or Richard Cole – for any reason.
Keep your cassette player turned off at all times unless conducting an interview.
Never ask questions about anything other than music.
Most importantly, understand this – the band will read what is written about them. The band does not like the press nor do they trust them.
Hmmm….wonder why they weren’t as liked as much as the Rolling Stones by the press and public? They also became more separated from their audience in the later 70s.
The book also focuses on their vanity label Swan Song. Drugs had taken over by that time and no artists were really cared for except Bad Company who was hot right out of the gate. Any questions from a Swan Song artist would fall on deaf ears because no one was really running the label. By this time, Grant carried a bag of cocaine and dipped it out with a bowie knife. He stayed secluded at his mansion surrounded by his security cameras… like in a scene out of Scarface.
The band was the top band in the world but in 1975 it all changed with Robert Plant’s car accident that left him recouping for months while his wife was hurt more seriously. In 1977 a guard that worked for Bill Graham stopped a kid from getting a Led Zeppelin sign off their door…all hell broke loose. That was Peter Grant’s son. Grant rounded up his “security” people and beat the guard and they almost popped his eye out. After that happened they played what was to be their last show in America. A few days later Robert Plant’s son Karac died of a respiratory virus.
All in all, it was a good book and I would recommend it to any rock fan. I am a fan of the band, especially the albums between Led Zeppelin III and Physical Graffiti. I wasn’t a big fan of the bombastic blues songs as much as the light-heavy moments. The book tells you how management built walls around them while being surrounded by violence, threats, and later on drugs.
The book has a forward by Dave Grohl. I liked the book, it keeps you interested and doesn’t slow up. It’s a look at seventies rock and roll and it will make you realize how much has changed now…not only in music but in the real world.
I’ve always thought Led Zeppelin had a dark cloud that followed them..reading this book reaffirms that feeling. I always admired John Bonham as a drummer. I think Moon and Bonham were the best drummers of the seventies and I would pick them as my top two favorites of all time. They both were different from each but had a feel like no other. They didn’t have the precision of Ginger Baker or Neil Peart but they changed their band’s sound completely.
The book goes over Bonham’s early influences like Gene Krupa. One of his first rock drummer influences was Keith Moon because of how Keith pushed the drums to the forefront. Bonham also liked Ginger Baker and would go see him in his band Air Force.
The author does focus on Bonham but you get a Led Zeppelin bio with it also. It’s a good book and I did learn a lot about him and the band that I didn’t know. Plant and Bonham were from the rural Midlands, a major difference from London studio pros like Page and Jones. It was an interesting mix.
It seems like Plant and John Paul Jones were a little more down to earth as people and didn’t get caught up long-term with drink and hard drugs that Bonham and Page did. This also states what other books say…Bonham didn’t like being away from his family and was two different people on tour. He would be fine until liquor was added…then he would turn into The Beast.
One reporter describing Bonzo said: “Loathsome…Keith Moon with all of the dynamite and none of the charm.” There are many stories about him but not many are too humorous. He once drank two bottles of champagne on a flight…went to sleep in first class. When the stewardess served dinner, the other passengers begged her not to wake John up. When John woke up…he realized he urinated on himself and called for his drum tech Mick Hinton who was in coach…Hinton gave him some more pants and Bonham then instructed Hinton to take his wet seat in first class while Bonham went to coach in Hinton’s dry seat.
Peter Grant and the rest of the band sometimes got two rooms each in hotels. One as a decoy so Bonham couldn’t find them at 3 in the morning in a drunken rage. He did seem to be a good father and husband though but just didn’t like being away from his home.
One funny story happened when John took his son Jason to see The Police. Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers were really polite and excited to meet Bonham…Sting, being cocky and pretentious was very distant and cool. Bonham accidentally stepped on Sting’s foot and Sting said “Hey man, don’t step on my blue suede shoes.” Bonham looked at him and said “I’ll step on your fu**ing head in a minute.”
I would recommend this book to any Led Zeppelin fan. The author does go into his drum technique for any drummers out there and what size kits he used. We all know how this story ends but it shouldn’t have ended that way. In 1980 Led Zeppelin was mounting a comeback and was rehearsing for their first American tour since 1977. Bonham arrived at the first rehearsal and had been on a drinking binge.
Bonham died after drinking what amounted to 40 shots of Vodka in a 24-hour period.
John Paul Jones: “Benje and I found him. It was like, let’s go up and look at Bonzo, see how he is. We tried to wake him up… It was terrible. Then I had to tell the other two… I had to break the news to Jimmy and Robert. It made me feel very angry – at the waste of him… I can’t say he was in good shape, because he wasn’t. There were some good moments during the last rehearsals … but then he started on the vodka.”
This one is a great deep cut by Led Zeppelin. It was on Led Zeppelin III and is looked over but it has a great riff by Jimmy Page. It’s nice to find a Zeppelin song that hasn’t been played to death…the guitar riff is killer on this song.
In Japan, this was mistakenly placed on the B-side of “Immigrant Song” rather than “Hey, Hey What Can I Do.” Those copies are rare collector’s items.
Bron-Yr-Aur 1970
Bron-Yr-Aur Now
Robert Plant remembered an 18th-century cottage called Bron-Yr-Aur he had visited in his youth and felt it would be a great place to temporarily escape life in the fast lane and commune with nature. Plant invited his co-writer, guitarist Jimmy Page, and in the spring, the two men took their instruments and supplies to the retreat to recharge their batteries. The place had no running water or electricity at the time.
Robert Plant: “It was time to take stock, and not get lost in it all, and what better way to keep it real than at a place with no electricity, candles for light, water from a stream, and an outside toilet?”
Many fans didn’t embrace Led Zeppelin III like their first two albums. The band would routinely bludgeon their audiences with hard rock. This album had a lot of acoustic mixed in with rock guitar. I think it’s the most underrated album in their catalog. The next two albums would combine these two elements perfectly. Led Zeppelin III was the turning point of Led Zeppelin…after that album. To my ears…this is when Led Zeppelin grew up musically.
Led Zeppelin III peaked at #1 in the US, Canada, and UK in 1970-71.
Drummer John Bonham would talk about going “out on the tiles,” meaning to bars – the title is a British term for going out on the town. Jimmy Page wrote this song around the phrase. Bonham, along with Page and Robert Plant, got a writing credit on the track.
Jimmy Page: “That’s ambient sound. Getting the distance of the time lag from one end of the room to the other and putting that in as well. The whole idea, the way I see recording, is to try and capture the sound of the room live and the emotion of the whole moment and try to convey that. That’s the very essence of it. And so, consequently, you’ve got to capture as much of the room sound as possible.”
Jimmy Page: “When Robert and I went to Bron-Yr-Aur we weren’t thinking: ‘Let’s go to Wales and write.. The original plan was to just go there, hang out and appreciate the countryside. The only song we really finished while we were there was That’s The Way, but being in the country established a standard of traveling for inspiration and set a tone for Led Zeppelin III.”
Below Jason Bonham tells the story of Out On The Tiles
Out On The Tiles
As I walk down the highway all I do is sing this song
And a train that’s passin’ my way helps the rhythm move along
There is no doubt about the words are clear
The voice is strong, is oh so strong
I’m just a simple guy, I live from day to day
A ray of sunshine melts my frown and blows my blues away
There’s nothing more that I can say but on a day like today
I pass the time away and walk a quiet mile with you
All I need from you is all your love
All you got to give to me is all your love
All I need from you is all your love
All you got to give to me is all your love
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
I’m so glad I’m living and gonna tell the world I am
I got me a fine woman and she says that I’m her man
One thing that I know for sure gonna give her all the loving
Like nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody can
Standing in the noonday sun trying to flag a ride
People go and people come, see my rider right by my side
It’s a total disgrace, they set the pace, it must be a race
And the best thing I can do is run
All I need from you is all your love
All you got to give to me is all your love
All I need from you is all your love
All you got to give to me is all your love
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
I’m currently reading a book about John Bonham called Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin. So it’s possible you may see another Zeppelin post soon. This song starts like a herd of Vikings coming to pillage your town.
This song was on Led Zeppelin III released in 1970. At the time it was not immediately loved like the first two albums. One reason is that it wasn’t as bombastic as the other two. It mixed in some acoustic numbers along with harder numbers. This album paved the way for their future of mixing light and heavy together that they would master on Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy.
In the Immigrant song…the band played Iceland and Robert got the idea from there. The line “The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands” would stick with them as The Hammer Of The Gods was a line to describe them as well as a book by Stephan Davis about the band. Plant’s love of history played into the lyric, as he was thinking about explorers like Marco Polo and how they must have felt in their travels.
Led Zeppelin would open their concerts with this song for a couple of years. Zeppelin is hugely popular now with fans and critics alike but it took a while for the critics to be interested. Many didn’t like the fact that they made it so fast and the huge amount of money they were making. Rolling Stone Magazine ran many critical articles about them…accusing the band of hype.
This song was released as a single in some markets. A rare thing in Zeppelin’s world. It peaked at #16 on the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, and #4 in New Zealand. It was not released as a single in the UK. The band didn’t want any singles released but Atlantic did occasionally much to the band’s frustration.
This song was written by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. Zeppelin has been singled out for being one of the first bands in “Heavy Metal.” Page does not like that tag. “I’m not really sure where we got that tag, there’s no denying that the elements of what became known as heavy metal is definitely there within Led Zeppelin. But the reality of it is that this is riff music, and riff music goes back to the blues — the electric blues of the ’50s and what was going on down there in Chicago.”
He even refused to be interviewed on “That Metal Show” because…guess why? Because it was called “That Metal Show” so he refused because of the word Metal. The host of the show was Eddie Trunk and he said: “He refuses to do anything with the word ‘metal’ in it. Now, ‘That Metal Show’ was way beyond metal, as anybody who watched it knew. We did all kinds of stuff, but he wouldn’t, he wasn’t having it. It was crazy.”
Robert Plant:“We weren’t being pompous. We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be canceled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable and we had a great time. ‘Immigrant Song’ was about that trip and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different.”
Immigrant Song
Ah-ah, ah
Ah-ah, ah
We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow
The hammer of the gods
Will drive our ships to new lands
To fight the horde and sing and cry
Valhalla, I am coming
On we sweep with threshing oar
Our only goal will be the western shore
Ah-ah, ah
Ah-ah, ah
We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow
How soft your fields so green
Can whisper tales of gore
Of how we calmed the tides of war
We are your overlords
On we sweep with threshing oar
Our only goal will be the western shore
So now you’d better stop
And rebuild all your ruins
For peace and trust can win the day
Despite of all your losing
This is a great Zeppelin song off of my least favorite Led Zeppelin album…Presence. The making of this album began after the first real setback happened to the band. It was the first one of many that were about to come.
This song was inspired by American Blues singer Blind Willie Johnson, who played in the 1920s. Plant and Page took credit for the song on the album.
After Physica Graffiti the band was on top of the world until Maureen Plant, wife of Robert Plant, was driving a rented Austin Mini, Robert beside her in the passenger seat, their three-year-old son Karac and six-year-old daughter Carmen in the back seat, along with their friend Scarlet, the four-year-old daughter of Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page were driving on a Greek island of Rhodes. The car Maureen Plant was driving skidded and spun off the road, nose-diving over a precipice and into a tree. When Robert had landed on top of Maureen, the impact shattered his right ankle and elbow and snapped several bones in his right leg.
Maureen had suffered a fractured skull and broke her pelvis and leg. Karac had also broken a leg, while Carmen had broken her wrist. Scarlet was the only one to escape with just a few cuts and bruises.
The American tour was called off while Robert and his family healed. With the band’s touring plans put on indefinite hold, it was decided to get to work on the next Zeppelin album. Plant, his wheelchair, and crutches were traveling to Los Angeles, where Page was waiting for him in a beach house in Malibu Colony. Plant started to feel that Page and manager Peter Grant were insensitive to him and his family, only thinking about Led Zeppelin’s future.
Most of the writing for this album was finished before John Paul Jones and John Bonham got there. Jones doesn’t look back on this album with much enthusiasm…he said he learned about baseball at that point because he would watch it with all of the downtimes. He picked a great one to watch…the 1975 World Series with the Red Sox and the Reds.
After this album, they would start a US tour in 1977…only to be stopped because of Robert Plant’s 5-year-old son (Karac Plant) dying. This almost destroyed the band…not to mention Plant and his wife. After Karac died of a stomach virus, Robert had more say in the band. What was once a Jimmy Page controlled band became more slanted toward Plant. This was apparent on their last album In Through The Out Door before John Bonham died in 1980 and the band was over.
The album was released in 1976 and was #1 on the Billboard Charts, #1 in the UK, and #16 in Canada. It did well in the charts but didn’t sell as well as their other albums.
John Paul Jones: “It became apparent that Robert and I seemed to keep a different time sequence to Jimmy. We just couldn’t find him. I drove into SIR Studios every night and waited and waited… I learned all about baseball during that period, as the World Series was on and there was not much else to do but watch it. I just sort of went along with it all, the main memory of that album is pushing Robert around in the wheelchair from beer stand to beer stand. We had a laugh, I suppose, but I didn’t enjoy the sessions, really. I just tagged along with that one.”
Nobody’s Fault But Mine
Oh, nobody’s fault but mine
Nobody’s fault but mine
Trying to save my soul tonight
Oh, it’s nobody’s fault but mine
Devil. He taught me to roll
Devil. He taught me to roll
How to roll the lot you like
Nobody’s fault but mine
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Brother. He showed me the gong
Brother. He showed me the ding dong ding dong
How to kick that gong to light
Oh, it’s nobody’s fault but mine
Got a monkey on my back
M-m-m-m-monkey on my back, back, back, back
Gonna change my ways tonight
Nobody’s fault but mine
How to kick that gong to light
N-n-n-n-n-no, nobody’s fault
The title says it all with this song. It is one of the best Zeppelin pure rock and roll songs. As with most things with Zeppelin the drums made this song…John Bonham was the key element to their songs just as Keith Moon was to The Who. The two drummers helped shape the sound of their respective bands more than most.
This song came about when the band was working on “Four Sticks” at the Headley Grange mansion they had rented in Hampshire, England to record the album. With a pretty much unplayable drum pattern, John Bonham got frustrated with the session, and tensions rose. In a pique of anger, he started playing something completely different: a riff based on the intro to the 1957 Little Richard song “Keep a Knockin.'”
If you want more Led Zeppelin…yesterday Dave from A Sound Day had a post on their first album.
The band was not a singles band in any sense but this one peaked at #47 in the Billboard 100 and #38 in Canada in 1972. They didn’t release singles in the UK in the band’s lifetime.
The album did much better…it peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, and the UK in 1971.
1971 was maybe the best year of rock albums ever. A few months before this one…The Who released Who’s Next, The Allman Brothers – At Fillmore East, David Bowie – Hunky Dory, The Stones – Sticky Fingers, Doors – L.A. Woman, Alice Cooper – Killer, and many more.
Jerry Lee Lewis did a cover of this song with Jimmy Page…I like the short opening raw riff Jimmy plays.
Jimmy Page:“We were recording something else when John Bonham started playing the drum intro to ‘Keep a Knockin’ by Little Richard and I immediately started playing the riff for ‘Rock And Roll.’ Instead of laughing it off and going back to the previous song, we kept going. ‘Rock And Roll’ was written in minutes and recorded within an hour.”
Robert Plant:“We just thought rock and roll needed to be taken on again,” “I was finally in a really successful band, and we felt it was time for actually kicking ass. It wasn’t an intellectual thing, ’cause we didn’t have time for that – we just wanted to let it all come flooding out. It was a very animal thing, a hellishly powerful thing, what we were doing.”
From Songfacts
As the title suggests, the song is based on one of the most popular structures in rock and roll; namely, the 12-bar blues progression (in A). The phrase “Rock and Roll” was a term blues musicians used, which meant sex.
Robert Plant wrote the lyrics, which were a response to critics who claimed their previous album, Led Zeppelin III, wasn’t really rock and roll. Led Zeppelin III had more of an acoustic folk sound, and Plant wanted to prove they could still rock out.
Infused with creative energy, they put “Four Sticks” aside and started working on this new song, which they called “It’s Been a Long Time.” Jimmy Page blasted out a guitar part, and the bones of the song were completed in about 30 minutes.
The band often used this either as an encore or to open live shows from 1971-1975.
Ian Stewart, known for his work with The Rolling Stones (he was almost a member of the group, but their manager didn’t think he looked the part), played piano on this track. Stewart was on hand because Led Zeppelin was using the Rolling Stones’ mobile recording unit to record the album, as the Headley Grange mansion didn’t have a studio. Stewart was sent as a technician to assist with recording, but he came in quite handy on “Rock And Roll” when they needed some serious boogie-woogie piano.
Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones played this at Live Aid in 1985. It was the first time they played together since the death of John Bonham in 1980. Tony Thompson and Phil Collins sat in for Bonham on drums, which didn’t go over well with Page and Plant. When the band reformed for a benefit show on December 10, 2007, it was with John Bonham’s son Jason on drums. This was the last song they played at the show, which raised money for the Ahmet Ertegun education fund.
Besides Live Aid, the remaining members of Led Zeppelin played this on two other occasions. When Robert Plant’s daughter Carmen turned 21 in 1989, they played it at her birthday party. They also played it at Jason Bonham’s wedding in 1990. Jason is John Bonham’s son, and he sat in on drums on both performances.
This has been covered by many other artists, including Def Leppard and Heart. In 2001, it was recorded by Double Trouble (Stevie Ray Vaughan’s backup band), for their 2001 album Been A Long Time. Susan Tedeschi sang lead on the track.
All four band members got writing credits for this. Many Zeppelin songs are credited only to Page and Plant.
This was the first Led Zeppelin song used in a commercial. Cadillac used it to kick off a new advertising campaign in 2002 with the tagline “Breakthrough.” The company was going for a hip, new image, since their audience was slowly dying off. The spots aired for the first time on the Super Bowl, and sales rose 16% the next year.
The lyric “It’s been a long time since the book of love” is a reference to the Monotones’ 1958 hit “Book Of Love,” which is also referenced in “American Pie.”
Since the death of his father, Jason Bonham has filled in behind the drum set for various Led Zeppelin reunion gigs. He told American Songwriter this is the hardest Zeppelin song to play as, “a lot of people out there try and play it, and really it’s a two-handed shuffle all the way through, playing the sixteenth notes, it’s not just boom bap-boom-bap-boom- bap, it’s boom-boom-bap-bap-boom-boom-bap-bap on the snare and the hi-hat. It’s a hard one to play properly.”
Stevie Nicks added this to her live set in 2001.
Rock and Roll
It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled It’s been a long time since I did the stroll Ooh, let me get it back, let me get it back, let me get it back Mmm, baby, where I come from
It’s been a long time, been a long time Been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time Yes, it has
It’s been a long time since the book of love I can’t count the tears of a life with no love Carry me back, carry me back, carry me back Mmm, baby, where I come from, whoa, whoa, oh
It’s been a long time, been a long time Been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time
Oh, oh, ahh, ahh
Oh, it seems so long since we walked in the moonlight Making vows that just couldn’t work right Ah, yeah, open your arms, open your arms, open your arms Baby, let my love come running in, yeah
It’s been a long time, been a long time Been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time
Yeah, hey, yeah, hey Yeah, hey, yeah, hey
Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah It’s been a long time, been a long time Been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time
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