Heartbreaker (Led Zeppelin song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Heartbreaker" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Song by Led Zeppelin | ||
| from the album Led Zeppelin II | ||
| Released | October 22, 1969 | |
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Length | 4:14 | |
| Label | Atlantic Records | |
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Page | |
| Led Zeppelin II track listing | ||
| Thank You (4) |
"Heartbreaker" (5) |
Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman) (6) |
"Heartbreaker" is a song from English rock band Led Zeppelin's 1969 album, Led Zeppelin II. It was credited to all four members of the band.
"Heartbreaker" opens Side II of the album, and is famous for its memorable guitar guitar riff by Jimmy Page, along with his solo, which was voted as the 16th greatest guitar solo of all time by Guitar World magazine. This solo is begun by an extremely fast chain of hammer-ons and pull-offs, and inspired Eddie Van Halen to develop his influential tapping technique. He had seen Led Zeppelin play "Heartbreaker" live at the Long Beach Arena in 1972, a performance which can be heard on the live album How The West Was Won.
The song was a crowd favorite at Led Zeppelin concerts, and the band opened many of their live shows in 1971 and 1972 with "Immigrant Song" followed by a segue right into "Heartbreaker". On later concert tours it was often played as an encore.
During live performances Page would frequently improvise the playing in his solo, and was also known to include parts of Bach's "Bourrée in E minor" from his Lute Suites (this can be heard on the live albums Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions and How the West Was Won), as well as "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)", though on official releases this section has been cut. Sometimes the solo would also be stretched out to incorporate sections of the traditional English folk song, "Greensleeves".
A live, filmed version of the song from 1973 at Madison Square Garden, New York, is included in the Led Zeppelin concert film, The Song Remains The Same. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones also performed it at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary concert in 1988, with Jason Bonham sitting in on drums for his late father.
When "Heartbreaker" is played on radio stations, it almost always segues into the next song on the album, "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)," thanks to the similarities of subjects involved between the two songs, and the fact that "Living Loving Maid" segues directly from "Heartbreaker". However, they would never be played together at concerts because the band members were not too fond of "Living Loving Maid".
Missouri metalcore band Coalesce recorded a version of this song for their album There is Nothing New Under the Sun, an album entirely composed of Led Zeppelin covers. The song was also covered by Nirvana in their live gigs, and can be heard as the first track on their With the Lights Out box set.
"Heartbreaker" is one of the songs featured in Nick Hornby's book 31 Songs.
[edit] Sources
- Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
- The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
| Led Zeppelin |
|---|
| Jimmy Page · Robert Plant · John Paul Jones · John Bonham |
| Discography - (Category) |
Studio albums: Led Zeppelin · Led Zeppelin II · Led Zeppelin III ·  (Led Zeppelin IV) · Houses of the Holy · Physical Graffiti · Presence · In Through the Out DoorLive albums: The Song Remains the Same · BBC Sessions · How the West Was Won |
| Films |
| The Song Remains the Same · Led Zeppelin DVD |
| Other |
| Peter Grant · Richard Cole · Swan Song Records · The Yardbirds · XYZ · The Firm · Page and Plant · Strange Sensation · Bootlegs ∙ Concerts ∙ Songs |
