For years Jimmy Page wanted to release a double album. He thought about releasing IV as a double album but the band didn't feel like it was appropriate. In 1975, the band had a few extra tracks on hand from their Bron-Yr-Aur cottage sessions and also recorded some new tracks. This ended up being Led Zeppelin's most diverse album with the blues, middle eastern, rock, and folk styles all blended together.
Release Date: February 24, 1975
Highest Billboard Chart Position: 1
Sales Status: 16x Platinum (17th best selling all time)
Other Distinctions: 70th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums
Track Listing
Disc 1
1. Custard Pie
This track plays off of many blues songs from the 1930's. This song never received much notoriety and tends to be overshadowed by the last three tracks on this disc. Robert Plant sampled it later during his solo career in "Tall Cool One"
2. The Rover
Another track that was overshadowed by the rest of the album, it had troubles right from the start. The guitar track was lost by one mixing engineer but another salvaged the track. The band never really played the song live either.
3. In My Time of Dying
The song dates back to Joshua White in 1933, however is better known for Bob Dylan's version. Jimmy Page's guitar just overpowers in the song and he found one of the best uses for his Danelectro guitar. It is the longest song in Zeppelin's studio collection at 11:05 and is a great example of how lose the album is. At the end you can hear them joking around after the track finished.
4. Houses of the Holy
Yes, Houses of the Holy is one of the outtake tracks. How can you tell? It was supposed to be the title track to the previous album Houses of the Holy however it didn't make the cut. In all the ways it doesn't fit Houses of the Holy it works perfectly for this album, especially for the first half. It's a fairly standard Zeppelin rock track.
5. Trampled Underfoot
Robert Plant had a fair number of issues with this song during live shows. He could never remember the lyrics, however he really never needed to. He's never been the best at annunciation anyway. It has a little bit of a funk feel with Jimmy's guitar as well and during live shows could go as long as ten minutes.
6. Kashmir
One of the best known Zeppelin songs ever, it actually originated as a way to tune Jimmy's Danelectro guitar that he used for his middle eastern tracks. On the drums, Bonham pulled off a trick where he would only hit the bass drum once but it would reverberate such that it sounded like he hit it twice. John Paul Jones' keyboard work created the unique sound scape that gave the song it's edge. Add on Plant's lyrical prowess and the song became an epic monster.
Disc 2
1. In The Light
The main inspiration for this song came from Robert and Jimmy's travels to the far East in Thailand and India. They looked for as many musical acts to record (although none of the recordings were ever used). It also shows Jones' musical ability as he recorded one of his finest songs on the synthesizer. It also signaled another direction that Led Zeppelin would follow later on In Through The Out Door.
2. Bron-Yr-Aur
This is a short instrumental track that showed up on The Song Remains The Same. It originated from their Bron-Yr-Aur Cottage sessions when they were in a cottage in the Welsh countryside in 1970. Jimmy never popped this song out on the road and tended to stick with his more successful and well known instrumental tracks "White Summer" and "Moby Dick".
3. Down By The Seaside
Another one of the band's outtakes, this track just missed being on the band's biggest album IV. Sadly it was left for this album instead. The song's influence comes from Neil Young, a musician that both Jimmy Page and Robert Plant admired. Plant was known for singing parts of Buffalo Springfield songs in concert and always kept track of the latest in American folk.
4. Ten Years Gone
An original to the album, the song is suspected to come from a track Jimmy wrote called "Swan Song" (although "Midnight Moonlight" from the Firm years later is suspected of also being from the same track). Jimmy's 14 guitar overdubs makes the instrumental parts highly complex and gives the song a lot of depth. Although Jimmy planned to make this an instrumental track, Robert whipped up some lyrics about an old girlfriend and they had another track for their album.
5. Night Flight
This one originates from their IV sessions. One of the few tracks that Jones gets the main credits for writing up to this point, it ended up mostly as a song to fill up space on the double album.
6. Wanton Song
This one came from a jam session and was rarely played by the band outside their 1975 tour.
7. Boogie With Stu
Yet another track from their IV days, this song includes someone outside the band. Ian Stewart of the Rolling Stones comes in with the boogie-woogie piano. The song never saw the light of day on-stage but it's a great example of how Led Zeppelin liked to connect with the musical styles that influenced them.
8. Black Country Woman
The track begins with Recording Engineer Eddie Kramer asking if they should keep rolling because of the plane flying overhead at the time. The song was recorded Mick Jagger's back yard using the Rolling Stones' mobile studio and they got some more audio than they wanted. It's very raw and adds an interesting dimension to an album that tends to be very polished.
9. Sick Again
This track written by Plant about groupies on the 1973 tour was one of the few from the second disc to make it to the stage. This song ended up being featured in most of their shows and can be seen on the Led Zeppelin DVD.
Random Fact:
On the inside sleeve the band included pictures from various sources, including one night when the band decided to dress up in drag. They were staying in LA and the groupies decided to help them out. Of course, Zeppelin being Zeppelin with a little help from their groupie friends, they came up with a fun idea. George Harrison waited in the lobby for a dinner arrangement while the band took pictures in drag for the album. They took advantage of their ridiculous outfits and surprised him by heading downstairs. Little did they know Stevie Wonder was joining them as well. The band got quite the shock and Wonder thought they dressed in drag as a trick on him.
Release Date: February 24, 1975
Highest Billboard Chart Position: 1
Sales Status: 16x Platinum (17th best selling all time)
Other Distinctions: 70th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums
Track Listing
Disc 1
1. Custard Pie
This track plays off of many blues songs from the 1930's. This song never received much notoriety and tends to be overshadowed by the last three tracks on this disc. Robert Plant sampled it later during his solo career in "Tall Cool One"
2. The Rover
Another track that was overshadowed by the rest of the album, it had troubles right from the start. The guitar track was lost by one mixing engineer but another salvaged the track. The band never really played the song live either.
3. In My Time of Dying
The song dates back to Joshua White in 1933, however is better known for Bob Dylan's version. Jimmy Page's guitar just overpowers in the song and he found one of the best uses for his Danelectro guitar. It is the longest song in Zeppelin's studio collection at 11:05 and is a great example of how lose the album is. At the end you can hear them joking around after the track finished.
4. Houses of the Holy
Yes, Houses of the Holy is one of the outtake tracks. How can you tell? It was supposed to be the title track to the previous album Houses of the Holy however it didn't make the cut. In all the ways it doesn't fit Houses of the Holy it works perfectly for this album, especially for the first half. It's a fairly standard Zeppelin rock track.
5. Trampled Underfoot
Robert Plant had a fair number of issues with this song during live shows. He could never remember the lyrics, however he really never needed to. He's never been the best at annunciation anyway. It has a little bit of a funk feel with Jimmy's guitar as well and during live shows could go as long as ten minutes.
6. Kashmir
One of the best known Zeppelin songs ever, it actually originated as a way to tune Jimmy's Danelectro guitar that he used for his middle eastern tracks. On the drums, Bonham pulled off a trick where he would only hit the bass drum once but it would reverberate such that it sounded like he hit it twice. John Paul Jones' keyboard work created the unique sound scape that gave the song it's edge. Add on Plant's lyrical prowess and the song became an epic monster.
Disc 2
1. In The Light
The main inspiration for this song came from Robert and Jimmy's travels to the far East in Thailand and India. They looked for as many musical acts to record (although none of the recordings were ever used). It also shows Jones' musical ability as he recorded one of his finest songs on the synthesizer. It also signaled another direction that Led Zeppelin would follow later on In Through The Out Door.
2. Bron-Yr-Aur
This is a short instrumental track that showed up on The Song Remains The Same. It originated from their Bron-Yr-Aur Cottage sessions when they were in a cottage in the Welsh countryside in 1970. Jimmy never popped this song out on the road and tended to stick with his more successful and well known instrumental tracks "White Summer" and "Moby Dick".
3. Down By The Seaside
Another one of the band's outtakes, this track just missed being on the band's biggest album IV. Sadly it was left for this album instead. The song's influence comes from Neil Young, a musician that both Jimmy Page and Robert Plant admired. Plant was known for singing parts of Buffalo Springfield songs in concert and always kept track of the latest in American folk.
4. Ten Years Gone
An original to the album, the song is suspected to come from a track Jimmy wrote called "Swan Song" (although "Midnight Moonlight" from the Firm years later is suspected of also being from the same track). Jimmy's 14 guitar overdubs makes the instrumental parts highly complex and gives the song a lot of depth. Although Jimmy planned to make this an instrumental track, Robert whipped up some lyrics about an old girlfriend and they had another track for their album.
5. Night Flight
This one originates from their IV sessions. One of the few tracks that Jones gets the main credits for writing up to this point, it ended up mostly as a song to fill up space on the double album.
6. Wanton Song
This one came from a jam session and was rarely played by the band outside their 1975 tour.
7. Boogie With Stu
Yet another track from their IV days, this song includes someone outside the band. Ian Stewart of the Rolling Stones comes in with the boogie-woogie piano. The song never saw the light of day on-stage but it's a great example of how Led Zeppelin liked to connect with the musical styles that influenced them.
8. Black Country Woman
The track begins with Recording Engineer Eddie Kramer asking if they should keep rolling because of the plane flying overhead at the time. The song was recorded Mick Jagger's back yard using the Rolling Stones' mobile studio and they got some more audio than they wanted. It's very raw and adds an interesting dimension to an album that tends to be very polished.
9. Sick Again
This track written by Plant about groupies on the 1973 tour was one of the few from the second disc to make it to the stage. This song ended up being featured in most of their shows and can be seen on the Led Zeppelin DVD.
Random Fact:
On the inside sleeve the band included pictures from various sources, including one night when the band decided to dress up in drag. They were staying in LA and the groupies decided to help them out. Of course, Zeppelin being Zeppelin with a little help from their groupie friends, they came up with a fun idea. George Harrison waited in the lobby for a dinner arrangement while the band took pictures in drag for the album. They took advantage of their ridiculous outfits and surprised him by heading downstairs. Little did they know Stevie Wonder was joining them as well. The band got quite the shock and Wonder thought they dressed in drag as a trick on him.
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