Whole Lotta Love

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"Whole Lotta Love"
"Whole Lotta Love" cover
Single by Led Zeppelin
from the album Led Zeppelin II
Released December 1969
Format 7" single: US, Japan, France, The Netherlands, Belgium
Recorded December 1969
Genre Rock Music
Length 5:36 or 3:10
Label Atlantic Records
Writer(s) Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Willie Dixon
Producer(s) Jimmy Page
Certification Gold
Chart positions
  • #4 (U.S. — 13 weeks)
Led Zeppelin singles chronology
"Communication Breakdown"
(1969)		 "Whole Lotta Love"
(1969)		 "Immigrant Song"
(1970)

"Whole Lotta Love" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their second album, Led Zeppelin II. It was the band's first hit single and a cover version of it by C.C.S. was used as the theme song for the British television show Top of the Pops.

It was recorded at various studios in New York and Los Angeles during a 1969 concert tour of the United States and assembled by Jimmy Page at Olympic Studios in London. Already part of their live repertoire, it saw its first official release on the LP II on October 22, 1969 (Atlantic LP #8236). The song was a rewrite of the Willie Dixon song "You Need Love", a favorite of the band's as performed by the Small Faces that had also been released by Muddy Waters in 1962. This (and Bring It On Home) would lead to a lawsuit settled out of court in the favor of Dixon in 1985 over the similarity of the lyrics. The song also included lyrical nods to Dixon's "Back Door Man" and "Shake for Me", the latter as recorded by Howlin' Wolf. You Need Love would also inspire the song "Custard Pie" featured on Led Zeppelin's later album, Physical Graffiti.

The song begins with a trademark Page riff, perhaps one of the most famous in rock history, and moves into the first "whole lotta love" chorus. Then, beginning at 1:24 (and lasting until 3:02) the song dissolves to a free jazz-like break involving a Theremin solo and the moans of Robert Plant (sometimes called the "orgasm section"). As audio engineer Eddie Kramer has explained: "The famous Whole Lotta Love mix, where everything is going bananas, is a combination of Jimmy and myself just flying around on a small console twiddling every knob known to man." At approximately 3:05 it breaks into one of the most famous of all Page guitar solos, second only to his solo in "Stairway to Heaven".

Contents

[edit] Release

Upon release of the LP, radio stations looked for a track that would fit their on-air formats from the quickly successful LP with the pulsing, skronk-raunch lead track "Whole Lotta Love" being the prime contender. However, because many radio stations saw the freeform middle section as unfit to air they simply created their own edited versions.

Jimmy Page playing the theremin during "Whole Lotta Love", as shown in the film The Song Remains the Same
Enlarge
Jimmy Page playing the theremin during "Whole Lotta Love", as shown in the film The Song Remains the Same

Atlantic Records was quick to respond and in addition to the release of the regular single in the US (coupled with "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" from the same LP as the b-side) released a 3:10 version of the track with the freeform section cut and an earlier fade-out on November 7, 1969. Both versions were released as Atlantic #45-2690. The edited version was intended for radio station promotional release but some copies were apparently released commercially in the US and are a collector's item for fans. Band manager Peter Grant was adamant that the band maintain a "no-singles" approach to marketing their recorded music in the UK. The song was released as a single in the US, France, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Japan (countries where the band had less control). The edited version was withdrawn.

[edit] Chart success and live history

The song entered the Billboard Top 40 singles chart on December 6, 1969. It remained on the chart for 13 weeks, peaking at #4 and becoming the band's only Top 10 single in the US. A famous show closer at Led Zeppelin concerts, it was usually performed as a medley of blues and R&B covers favored by the band. This included 1950s and 1960s standards such as:

When performed live, "Whole Lotta Love" also occasionally included segments of other Led Zeppelin songs such as "I Can't Quit You Baby", "You Shook Me", "How Many More Times (inc. The Hunter)", "Your Time Is Gonna Come", "Good Times, Bad Times", "The Lemon Song", "The Crunge", "D'yer Mak'er", and "Ramble On".

Live versions of "Whole Lotta Love" were released officially on the following titles:

[edit] Trivia

  • The recording includes an inadvertent print-through where a pre-echo of "way down inside, woman" is heard during the quiet section (4:00 to 4:16).
  • In 1997 Atlantic Records released a CD-single edited (to 4:50 this time) from the original 1969 recording of the song. This version charted in the UK where the band had maintained control over single releases during their existence.
  • The original version as released on the LP Led Zeppelin II remains a staple of classic rock radio.
  • In 1985 Page, Plant and John Paul Jones reunited and performed the song at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, as part of the Led Zeppelin set featuring drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins.
  • Robert Plant has, in recent years, performed "Whole Lotta Love" during his solo tours.
  • In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Whole Lotta Love" at number 3 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
  • 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.
  • Since 1985, American comedian Wayne Federman plays the main riff plus the solo on his electric ukulele (with Marshall Amplification).
  • Oasis segued "Whole Lotta Love" into the end of their own song "Cigarettes and Alcohol" at their Wembley Stadium gig on the 21st July, 2000. It was released in the concert DVD/CD compilation Familiar to Millions.
  • Among blogging and forum-attending zeppelin fans, the song has gained the acronym WLL.

[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
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