Issue No. 24 of Johnny Be Good features one of 45 songs from the book, Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop, by Marc Myers. Read John Pearson's review here. Order from Amazon here. Listen to the book on Libro (9 hours, 34 minutes). Each blog will spotlight a song from the book and a guest blogger’s color commentary. Click here to subscribe. Each issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting will highlight the latest blog.
Led Zeppelin or Lead Balloon?
Today’s guest blogger: Ed Barrett
Song: #24 of 45
Title: “Whole Lotta Love”
Musicians: Led Zeppelin
Released: November 1969
I APPRECIATED THIS:
Little known fact! The lead singer of Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, “borrowed” these lyrics from the song, “You Need Loving,” by Small Faces, which was a cover song by Muddy Waters called “You Need Love.” The original lyrics were written by Willie Dixon in 1962. (The lyrics are sexually suggestive.)
A lawsuit was settled in 1985 that gave Willie Dixon credit and subsequent payment. Jimmy Page came up with the guitar riff in 1968. Early in 1969, Robert Plant wrote the lyrics and in April of 1969, the band went into the studio and recorded this song. It became the opening track of their second album.
Led Zeppelin was formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page, who had left the Yardbirds—another influential rock band. Led Zeppelin was originally called The New Yardbirds. The four band members are Jimmy Page (lead guitar), Robert Plant (vocals), John Paul Jones (bass guitar and keyboards), and John Bonham (drums).
This song was released in 1969 on Led Zeppelin’s second album. “Whole Lotta Love” was also released as a single (a “45”) in November 1969. It was the “A” side of the 45 and “Living Loving Maid” was the “B” side.
“Whole Lotta Love” is regularly ranked as one of the 500 greatest songs of all time. The song has been covered by several bands including Santana and Tina Turner. Led Zeppelin went on to become, arguably, one of the most influential rock bands in the world.
Read more in Marc Myers’ WSJ article, “The Making of Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love.' An oral history from guitarist Jimmy Page and the engineers who helped place Robert Plant's vocals at the top of the charts." (May 29, 2014)
Listen to “Whole Lotta Love” sung by Led Zeppelin. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.
MY FAVORITE NOTES & QUOTES:
• “In 1968, record companies were becoming more comfortable letting unproven rock bands experiment on albums.”
• “Starting in 1968, the album began to be viewed by a growing number of labels as a separate creative platform for rock bands, particularly those with electric guitarists who could wail on longer solos.”
• The band’s name, Led Zeppelin, came out of a conversation with several of their musician friends that thought their chances of being successful would go down like a lead balloon!
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD THIS SONG?
I first heard a Led Zeppelin song in the summer of 1972 at a friend’s house. He had a record player and several albums and 45s. Among the other bands I heard then, and still love to this day, are The Beatles, Black Sabbath, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Led Zeppelin is my all-time favorite band. I still have all of their vinyl records, although most of them are scratched from playing them so many times. In 1977, I was fortunate to have seen them perform live at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. Three years later, their drummer, John Bonham, died. Led Zeppelin disbanded shortly thereafter. My favorite Led Zeppelin oldie is “Immigrant Song.”
JOHNNY BE...GOOD, BETTER, OR BEST?
• GOOD: The album version of “Whole Lotta Love” ran 5:33 minutes—too long for a single. “So Atlantic released the album version as a single. We loved that. But soon after, Atlantic cut the single down to 3:12 to satisfy AM radio,” notes Eddie Kramer, the final-mix engineer. “Weeks before its release, they sent me an acetate of the edit. I played it once, hated it, and never listened to the short version again.”
• BETTER: According to Kramer: “Some people today still think the faint voice was a pre-echo, that we added it on purpose for effect. It wasn’t—it was an accident. Once Jimmy and I realized we had to live with it on the master, I looked at Jimmy, he looked at me, and we both reached for the reverb knob at the same time and cracked up laughing. Our instincts were the same—to douse the faint, intruding voice in reverb so it sounded part of the master plan.”
• BEST: Kramer, again: “By adding reverb, we made his faint voice more dynamic, and it became part of rock history.” He adds, “I loved the sonic imagery, and I like to think of my mixes as stereophonic paintings.”
Ed Barrett still has all of his Led Zepplin vinyl records, “although most of them are scratched from playing them so many times!”
THIS ISSUE'S COMMENTARY BY Ed Barrett
ED BARRETT is very proud to say that he is a lyricist. He has written thousands of poems, lyrics, and more. Ed is especially proud that his daughter, Callista Dawson, has released a CD, “Arms Around You.” Ed wrote the lyrics and Callista wrote and arranged all the music. She also played the piano and sang all of the songs—and designed the CD cover. Listen to “Arms Around You” on YouTube. The CD is available on iTunes, CD Baby, and Spotify. (Note: Stay tuned to read Callista Dawson’s guest blog for Song #43, “Time After Time," by Cyndi Lauper.)
NEXT UP!
Song #25 of 45, “Mercedes Benz,” by Janis Joplin.
______________________
It all started in 2023, when John Pearson read and reviewed a "fun" book, Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop, by Marc Myers. Read John's review here. Order from Amazon here. Listen to the book on Libro (9 hours, 34 minutes).
If you'd enjoy being one of 45 guest bloggers, along with John Ashmen, Dick Nelson, Suzy West, Dave Barton, Patsy Barton, Paul Palmer, Bill Butterworth, Jim West, Melinda Schmidt, Jason Pearson, Gary Rea, Callista Dawson, John Walling, Ed Barrett, Larry Beatty, Skye Matlock, and others, read more here and contact John Pearson. Click here to subscribe to this blog and enjoy the toe-tapping musicians in each weekly blog post—reminding you of these iconic songs of yesteryear.