Black Dog (Led Zeppelin song)

Composition

Themes

The title is a reference to a nameless black Labrador Retriever the band used to see wandering the Headley Grange studio grounds. The dog would disappear in the evening and return exhausted in the early morning, before resting all day and repeating his evening sojourns. Robert Plant believed the lab was spending nights with his "old lady" (dog). Likewise, the lyrics are narrated by a man obsessed with a woman, "got a flaming heart can't get my fill", he "can't keep away" from her "honey drip"; she reveals her true intention, spending his money, taking his car, "telling her friends she's gonna be a star", at which point the deception becomes clear and he turns cold, saying "a big-legged woman ain't got no soul". The story of lust, eroticism, and ultimately betrayal echoes the traditional reputation of the blues as being the music of the devil, alluded to in the lyric "eyes that shine a burning red".

Music

The song opens with muted sounds of guitars warming up in the background, an idea by Jimmy Page, who also made curious opening sounds in "Immigrant Song" and "Friends"; he was fond of starting songs in an unexpected way. The sounds are actually recordings of various guitar track openings played simultaneously, creating a "sonic collage" in which the tape can be heard spinning up to speed. Robert Plant then begins singing in a high, strong voice, "hey, hey, mama" unaccompanied by music (a cappella). This sets the structure of the song, around a call and response dynamic, between the vocalist and the band, back and forth. Starting and stopping the music was Jimmy Page's idea, and he was inspired by Fleetwood Mac's 1969 song "Oh Well".

Bassist John Paul Jones, who is credited with writing the main riff, said he was inspired by Muddy Waters' 1968 album Electric Mud. However he retracted this, in 2007, saying that he was confused, and that his main inspiration was actually The Howlin' Wolf Album by Howlin' Wolf, particularly the repeating riff in "Smokestack Lightning", which Jones and Page sped up.

Jones added complex rhythm changes, that biographer Keith Shadwick describes as a "clever pattern that turns back on itself more than once, crossing between time signatures as it does." The group had a difficult time with the turnaround, but drummer John Bonham's solution was to play it straight through as if there was no turnaround. As Jean-Michel Guesdon notes, the recording contains rhythmic coordination errors, such as between 0:41 and 0:47, when the guitars are not in sync with the drums. He says it was part of the band's "genius" to discount these "errors" as "curiosities", i.e., characteristic signatures of the song. In live performances, Bonham eliminated the variation so that Robert Plant could perform his a cappella vocal interludes and then have the instruments return at the proper time.

For his guitar parts, Jimmy Page used a Gibson Les Paul and made a complicated series of overdubs through various compressors and other equipment. This caused so much distortion, Page later said it sounded like an analog synthesizer.

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).

Although played at live concerts since March 1971, its first commercial release was on 8 November 1971, as track number one, side one of the album Led Zeppelin IV, which became one of the best-selling albums of all time.

The single followed about a month later, on 2 December 1971, in continental Europe, the United States (via Europe), and Australia. As was their practice, the United Kingdom did not receive the single. "Misty Mountain Hop" is on the B-side.

Live performances

"Black Dog" became a staple of Led Zeppelin's live concert performances. It was first played live at Belfast's Ulster Hall on 5 March 1971, a concert which also featured the first live performance of "Stairway to Heaven". It was retained for each subsequent concert tour until 1973. In 1975, it was used as an encore medley with "Whole Lotta Love", but was hardly used on the band's 1977 US concert tour. It was recalled to the set for the Knebworth Festival 1979 and the 1980 Tour of Europe. For these final 1980 performances, Page introduced the song from stage. "Black Dog" was last performed at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert in 2007, during Led Zeppelin's headline set.

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".

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Charts and certifications

Original release

Digital download

Note: The official UK Singles Chart incorporated legal downloads as of 17 April 2005.

Certifications

Personnel

Source:

• Robert Plant – vocals
• Jimmy Page – guitars
• John Paul Jones – bass
• John Bonham – drums

Notes

Notes

Citations

References

References

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