Led Zeppelin

Formation: 1966–1968

In 1966, London-based session guitarist Jimmy Page joined the blues-influenced rock band the Yardbirds to replace bassist Paul Samwell-Smith. Page soon switched from bass to lead guitar, creating a dual-lead-guitar lineup with Jeff Beck. Following Beck's departure in October 1966, the Yardbirds became a four-piece with Page as the sole guitarist. This new line-up recorded an album, Little Games, in 1967, before embarking on a tour of the United States. In early April 1968, the Yardbirds held a recording session at Columbia Studios in New York City, recording a number of tracks including a Page-Relf composition initially titled "Knowing That I'm Losing You", which was eventually re-recorded by Led Zeppelin as "Tangerine".

Early years: 1968–1970

Still billed as the New Yardbirds, the band began their first tour of the UK on 4 October 1968, when they played at the Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle upon Tyne. Their first show as Led Zeppelin was at the University of Surrey in Guildford on 25 October. Tour manager Richard Cole, who would become a major figure in the touring life of the group, organised their first North American tour at the end of the year. Their debut album, Led Zeppelin, was released in the US in January 1969 during the tour, and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard chart; it was released in the UK, where it peaked at number 6, on 31 March. According to Steve Erlewine, the album's memorable guitar riffs, lumbering rhythms, psychedelic blues, groovy, bluesy shuffles and...

Legacy

Led Zeppelin is widely regarded as one of the most successful, innovative, and influential bands in the history of rock music. Rock critic Mikal Gilmore said, "Led Zeppelin—talented, complex, grasping, beautiful and dangerous—made one of the most enduring bodies of composition and performance in twentieth-century music, despite everything they had to overpower, including themselves".

Stairway to Heaven

"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 8 November 1971 on the band's untitled fourth studio album, by Atlantic Records. Composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page with lyrics written by lead singer Robert Plant, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

Writing and recording

The song originated in 1970 when Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were spending time at Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in Wales, following Led Zeppelin's fifth American concert tour. According to Page, he wrote the music "over a long period, the first part coming at Bron-Yr-Aur one night". Page always kept a cassette recorder around, and the idea for "Stairway to Heaven" came together from bits of taped music. The first attempts at lyrics, written by Robert Plant next to an evening log fire at Headley Grange, were partly spontaneously improvised and Page claimed, "a huge percentage of the lyrics were written there and then". Page was strumming the chords, and Plant had a pencil and paper.

Composition

"Stairway to Heaven" is described as progressive rock, folk rock, and hard rock. The song consists of three sections, beginning with a quiet introduction on a finger-picked, six-string acoustic guitar and four recorders (ending at 2:15) and gradually moving into a slow electric middle section (2:16–5:33), then a long guitar solo (5:34–6:44), before the faster hard rock final section (6:45–7:45), ending with a short vocals-only epilogue. Plant sings the opening, middle and epilogue sections in his mid-vocal range; he sings the hard rock section in his higher range, which borders on falsetto.

Success and legacy

"Stairway to Heaven" is often rated among the greatest rock songs of all time. Music journalist Stephen Davis wrote that the 1971 song ascended to "anthemic" status within two years. Page recalled, "I knew it was good. I didn't know it was going to become like an anthem, but I did know it was the gem of the album, sure."

Hey, Hey, What Can I Do

"Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" is a rock ballad song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1970 as the B-side of the single "Immigrant Song" in the US.

Releases

After its release on a single, "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" was included on the Atlantic Records compilation album The New Age of Atlantic in 1972. The song was first released on CD in September 1990, on the Led Zeppelin Boxed Set collection. In 1992, as a 20th-anniversary release, "Immigrant Song"/"Hey, Hey What Can I Do" was issued as a "vinyl replica" CD single.

Critical reception

ClassicRockHistory.com wrote: "I was completely blown away when I heard that country-esque introduction to 'Hey Hey What Can I do.'" AllMusic reviewed the 2000 single version by Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes and said: "This single, however, is useless to all but a completist, as the only track is the LP version and there are no exciting extras at all."

All My Love

"All My Love" is the sixth song on Led Zeppelin's eighth studio album, In Through the Out Door (1979).

Recording and releases

"All My Love" is a mid-tempo rock-style ballad that biographer Nigel Williamson describes as "underpinned by a semi-classical arrangement of the kind popular at the time with the likes of Genesis and ELO". The original working title was "The Hook". The song was recorded between November and December 1978 at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. A studio outtake of an extended version of the song exists timed around 7:55 (the song itself would be timed around 6:57). It has a complete ending, with Plant extending the last chorus with much ad-libbing and a twangy B-Bender guitar solo by Page.

Critical reception

In a review for In Through the Out Door (Deluxe Edition), Andrew Doscas of PopMatters described "All My Love" as "the saddest and most heartfelt Zeppelin song." Doscas described the song as "a fitting ode to Plant's son, which hauntingly enough sounds like a foreshadowing of a band on the path to an impending and unforeseeable dissolution".

Black Dog

"Black Dog" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the first track on the band's untitled fourth album (1971), which has become one of the best-selling albums of all time.

The song was released as a single and reached the charts in many countries. It is "one of the most instantly recognisable Zeppelin tracks", and was included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list (US), and ranked number one in Q magazine's (UK) "20 Greatest Guitar Tracks".

Recordings and releases

The initial backing tracks of "Black Dog" were recorded on 5 December 1970 at Island Studios on Basing Street in London, with recording engineer Andy Johns. It was the band's first recording at Island Studios. Further tracks were made at Headley Grange (January 1971), and again at Island Studios (February 1971).

Reception

In 2004, the song appeared on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list at number 294. In 2010, it was demoted to number 300. Music sociologist Deena Weinstein calls "Black Dog" "one of the most instantly recognisable Zeppelin tracks". In 2007, Q magazine polled an "all-star panel", who ranked "Black Dog" as number one in a list of the "20 Greatest Guitar Tracks".

Immigrant Song

"Immigrant Song" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. Built upon a riff, it alludes to Norse mythology, with singer Robert Plant's howling vocals mentioning war-making and Valhalla.

The song was included on their 1970 album Led Zeppelin III and released as a single. Several live recordings have also been issued on various Led Zeppelin albums.

Background

"Immigrant Song" was written during Led Zeppelin's tour of Iceland, Bath and Germany in the summer of 1970. The opening date of this tour took place in Reykjavík, Iceland, which inspired Plant to write the lyrics. He explained in an interview:

Composition and lyrics

The song begins with a repeating, staccato riff by guitarist Jimmy Page and drummer John Bonham. Bassist John Paul Jones comes in on the ninth measure. It is performed in the key of F♯ minor at a moderate tempo of 112 beats per minute. A distinctive, wailing cry from Plant sets in after eight repeats. A very faint count-off in a different tempo (about 150 bpm) occurs at the beginning of the track, with much hiss, which appears on the album version, but is trimmed from the single version. The hiss is feedback from an echo unit.

Releases

"Immigrant Song" is one of Led Zeppelin's few releases on the 45 rpm single format. It was issued in the United States on 5 November 1970 by Atlantic Records, with the non-album track "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" on the B-side, and reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. First pressings of the US single have a quote from Aleister Crowley inscribed in dead wax by the run-out groove: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." The Japanese single included "Out on the Tiles" as the B-side.

Reception

In a contemporary review of Led Zeppelin III, Lester Bangs of Rolling Stone described "Immigrant Song" as the closest to being as classic as "Whole Lotta Love", praising the song's "bulldozer rhythms and Plant's double-tracked wordless vocal crossings echoing behind the main vocal like some cannibal chorus wailing in the infernal light of a savage fertility rite." In March 2023, Rolling Stone ranked "Immigrant Song" at number 18 on their "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time" list.

Kashmir

"Kashmir" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. Featured on their sixth studio album Physical Graffiti (1975), it was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant with contributions from John Bonham over a period of three years with lyrics dating back to 1973.

John Paul Jones was late arriving to the studio for the recording sessions, so he did not receive a writer's credit.

Composition

Page uses a guitar tuning of D–A–D–G–A–D, which he had used for the instrumentals "White Summer" and "Black Mountain Side". The song combines different rhythmic meters: the guitar riff is in triple meter, while the vocal is in quadruple meter. Plant felt that the drumming was an important component of the song and that Bonham did not overplay his part. "Kashmir" is one of a few Led Zeppelin songs where Page used a Danelectro guitar, rather than his usual Gibson Les Paul or Fender Telecaster models.

Reception

All four members of Led Zeppelin have agreed that "Kashmir" is one of their best musical achievements. John Paul Jones suggested that it showcases all of the elements that made up the Led Zeppelin sound. Led Zeppelin archivist Dave Lewis comments:

Over the Hills and Far Away

"Over the Hills and Far Away" is the third track from English rock band Led Zeppelin's 1973 album Houses of the Holy. In the US, it was released as a single, with "Dancing Days" as the B-side.

Composition and recording

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote the song in 1970 at Bron-Yr-Aur, a small cottage in Wales where they stayed after completing a gruelling North American concert tour. Initially it was titled "Many, Many Times".

Releases and performances

In the US, the song was released as the first single from Houses of the Holy and reached number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The group often performed the song in concert, beginning before its album debut.

Reception

Cash Box said the song "is a bit deceiving" in that "what opens as an acoustic song soon turns into an amazingly powerful Led Zeppelin classic complete with rock melody."

Ramble On

"Ramble On" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. Co-written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and produced by Page, and recorded in 1969 at Juggy Sound Studio in New York City, it serves as the seventh track of their second studio album Led Zeppelin II.

The song's lyrics were influenced by J. R.

Reception

In his book Led Zeppelin: A Celebration, Dave Lewis wrote that "Ramble On" was "the highlight" of the Led Zeppelin II album, "slip[ping] effortlessly from quiet mournful passages into an uplifting chorus", and demonstrating the "light and shade dynamism" that became a hallmark of the band.

D'yer Mak'er

"D'yer Mak'er" ( "Jamaica") is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their 1973 album Houses of the Holy. The title is a play on the words "did you make her?" being pronounced as "Jamaica" when spoken in an English accent.

Reception and legacy

Cash Box described the song as being "unique for the group, but a real charmer." Record World called it "a rocker with a '50s flavor to it" and said that the "reggae-style beat fills the hit prescription."

What Is and What Should Never Be

"What Is and What Should Never Be" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and was included as the second track on Led Zeppelin II (1969).

Composition and recording

Guitarist Jimmy Page has said that he wrote the song on an acoustic Harmony Sovereign H1260 guitar. "What is and What Should Never Be" was one of the first songs on which Page used his soon-to-become trademark Gibson Les Paul for recording. The production makes liberal use of stereo as the guitars pan back and forth between channels. Robert Plant's vocals were phased during the verses. Record producer Rick Rubin has remarked, "The descending riff [of "What Is and What Should Never Be"] is amazing: It's like a bow is being drawn back, and then it releases. The rhythm of the vocals is almost like a rap. It's insane — one of their most psychedelic songs."