Led Zeppelin II

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin's studio album

Publication
(s)

October 22, 1969

Label (s) Atlantic Records

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

Hard rock

Title (number)

9

running time

41:29

occupation

production

Jimmy Page

Studio (s)

Olympic Studios / Morgan Studios ( London ); Mirror Sound / Mystic Studios ( Los Angeles ); A&R Studios / Juggy Sound Studio / Atlantic Studios / Mayfair Studios ( New York City ); Hat ( vancouver )

chronology
Led Zeppelin
(1969) 		Led Zeppelin II Led Zeppelin III
(1970)

Led Zeppelin II is the second album by the Led Zeppelin band . It was recorded in London , Los Angeles , New York City and Vancouver from January to August 1969 and released on October 22, 1969 .

As one of Led Zeppelin's best-known albums , the second album was a pioneer of heavy metal and inspired a number of contemporary (e.g. Deep Purple ) as well as later representatives of rock (e.g. Van Halen ).

The songs

Jimmy Page describes the songs in the book Led Zeppelin - Biography of a Band as follows:

Whole Lotta Love

Whole Lotta Love is based on the 1962 song "You Need Love" by Muddy Waters and contains quotes from the song "You Need Loving" by Small Faces from 1966. Nobody knows where the unforgettable (guitar) riff came from came, which is repeated in the song. John Paul Jones said it was first made as part of Dazed and Confused on a stage jam. Robert Plant commented: "No matter where it came from, it all depended on this reef" .

For Jimmy Page this song was just a simple rock song with a few electronic sounds used in the middle section. Page later explained how he built the reef:

“I had it all done before I got into the studio . I had rehearsed it. And all this other stuff - the sound waves and so on - I put together in the studio and then put effects and alienations on top of it. I made the descending reef with a slide made of metal and a reverse echo. I think I was the first. [...] "

Since Led Zeppelin refused to record Whole Lotta Love as a trimmed and revised 3-minute single , the title was initially boycotted by the top Forty broadcasters in the USA (At that time a song of 5:34 minutes did not fit into the scheme of the radio stations ). However, the album's chart successes and audience reactions forced the program directors to rethink. After the band refused to shorten the title, some stations cut a piece out of the solo part. The listeners responded positively because they were happy to hear anything from Led Zeppelin on the radio at all. Within a few days the record company Atlantic was forced to release this shortened and falsified version as a single due to massive demand. However, the band always strictly refused to release the 3:06 minute long single for creative reasons.

What Is and What Should Never Be

Page considered this number "a change for the band". There were some new ideas to be tried out on the album and this title was one of the first results. Page certifies that Robert Plant has developed into a serious songwriter based on the chorus . For John Paul Jones, the focus of the piece is on its good bass melody.

In What Is and What Should Never Be, Plant deals with his affair with his wife's younger sister.

The Lemon Song

The Lemon Song is the original blues number on the album , according to Jimmy Page. He continues:

We have him live down played in the studio and only in the Bridge a few guitar overdubs made - I think it was an electric twelve-string Fender or Rickenbacker .

Thank you

Thank You is a romantic love ballad . Jimmy Page comments on the song:

I was never entirely satisfied with my own lyrics. I had always hoped that Robert could take over this part completely, which I think started with this number. [...]

He expressed that Robert Plant made his breakthrough as the most important songwriter in the band with this title. Plant wrote this title for his wife because she repeatedly ignored his affairs and other escapades.

Heartbreaker

Jimmy Page comments:

This song has become a real warm-up number in concerts . It's pure riff hacking, a few riffs with Robert's lyrics .

In this song, Page plays an approx. One and a half minute, two-part guitar solo , which is one of the most famous rock solos of all and which Page supposedly improvised in the studio . It was voted 16th out of the 100 best guitar solos by Guitar World magazine . Noteworthy elements are the fast runs and the bends over two whole tones in the first part. In the latter, Page pulled the strings up by pushing on the neck of his guitar. Eddie Van Halen claimed to have been inspired by this solo for the tapping technique that would later make him famous.

Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)

Living Loving Maid is a simple rock number with a riff. It's about an aging woman (Page less subtly calls her “old box”) who can't cope with her getting older and makes a desperate youthful appearance. The song was selected as the B-side of the single Whole Lotta Love and hit the charts for 5 weeks after Whole Lotta Love dropped out. The highest ranking was number 65.

Ramble On

This song requires a lot of guitar overdubs . Mythical Tolkien motifs are described in terms of content .

It's a very nice track, but difficult to bring on stage because of the acoustic guitar over the electric guitar. I know it's Robert's favorite song on the album. (Jimmy Page)

and Robert Plant confirms:

Yeah, the song was my baby, and I hoped everyone would get behind it and realize that I wanted more of that.

Ramble On was first performed live and in full length at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert , Led Zeppelin's first official performance after the death of drummer John Bonham , on December 10, 2007.

Moby Dick

Moby Dick should especially focus on John Bonham's drumming . The song begins with a one-minute guitar riff accompanied by drums. The main part consists of a drum solo , again accompanied by Jimmy's electric guitar for the last 20 seconds.

Bring It On Home

This song is dedicated to the blues singer Sonny Boy Williamson . Robert Plant imitated his singing and harmonica playing in the opening sequence. The sequence is suddenly interrupted by Jimmy Page with hard guitar riffs. At the end Robert Plant closes the piece with the harmonica in the style of the opening sequence.

List of titles

  1. Whole Lotta Love ( Bonham / Dixon / Jones / Page / Plant ) 5:34
  2. What Is and What Should Never Be (Page / Plant) 4:44
  3. The Lemon Song (Bonham / Jones / Page / Plant) 6:19
  4. Thank You (Page / Plant) 4:47
  5. Heartbreaker (Bonham / Jones / Page / Plant) 4:14
  6. Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman) (Page / Plant) 2:39
  7. Ramble On (Page / Plant) 4:23
  8. Moby Dick (Bonham / Jones / Page) 4:21 [instrumental]
  9. Bring It On Home (Dixon / Page / Plant) 4:20

Single releases

The only single on this album is Whole Lotta Love. On November 22, 1969, the title rose to number 91 in the Billboard charts . In the following weeks it climbed continuously to number 45, 28, 21, 12, 9, 6, 5 and on January 31, 1970 it finally reached number 4 behind “I want you back” from the Jackson Five , “ Venus ”From Shocking Blue and“ Raindrops ”from B. J. Thomas .

In total, the single sold over 900,000 times in the United States. The B-side contains the title "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)", which was also briefly placed in the charts.

Contributors

Charts

The album stayed at number 1 in the Austrian charts for 9 weeks and was awarded gold.

literature

References and comments

  1. ↑ Michael Rensen: Guitar Heroes: The best guitarists from A to Z . 1st edition. Ppv Media, 2008.
  2. ↑ a b modernguitars.com ( Memento of the original dated December 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.modernguitars.com
  3. ↑ guitar.about.com Guitar World: 100 Greatest Guitar Solos
  4. ↑ Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert in the English language Wikipedia