The Lemon Song
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| “The Lemon Song” | |||||
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| Song by Led Zeppelin | |||||
| Album | Led Zeppelin II | ||||
| Released | 22 October 1969 | ||||
| Recorded | 1969, Mirror Sound, Los Angeles | ||||
| Genre | Hard rock Blues-rock |
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| Length | 6:18 | ||||
| Label | Atlantic Records | ||||
| Writer | Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham | ||||
| Producer | Jimmy Page | ||||
| Led Zeppelin II track listing | |||||
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"The Lemon Song" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. It was recorded at Mystic Studios in Hollywood when the band was on their second concert tour of the United States.
"The Lemon Song" is laced with sexual innuendo, and features some of Led Zeppelin's most blues-influenced playing. It was recorded virtually live in the studio, and no electronic devices were used to create the echo on Robert Plant's vocal. It was made solely by Plant's voice and the acoustics in Mystic Studios, which was a 16 x 16 foot room with wooden walls.[1]
Another notable aspect of this song is John Paul Jones' complex bass performance, which is heavily funk influenced. During interviews afterwards, he said that he had improvised during the entire song. It is considered by many to be his best bass performance to date.
The song borrows significantly from Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor", which was a song Led Zeppelin often incorporated into their live setlist during their first concert tour of the United States. For the second and third North American tours the song evolved into "The Lemon Song", with Plant often improvising lyrics onstage. However, despite Howlin' Wolf's influence on the arrangement, the album sleeve of Led Zeppelin II initially credited only the four members of Led Zeppelin.
Other lyrics, notably "squeeze (my lemon) 'til the juice runs down my leg," can be traced to Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues". It is most likely that Johnson borrowed this himself, from a song recorded in the same year (1937) called "She Squeezed My Lemon" (by Arthur McKay).[2] Robert Johnson's name has never been added to the credits for "The Lemon Song". The song also borrowed from Albert King's "Cross-Cut Saw".[1]
"The Lemon Song" was performed live on Led Zeppelin's first three concert tours of the United States (on the first tour as "Killing Floor"), before being dropped from their live set in late 1969. However, the 'squeeze my lemon' sequence continued to be inserted into the "Whole Lotta Love" medley and ad-libbed elsewhere.[1]
Jimmy Page performed this song on his tour with The Black Crowes in 1999. A version of "The Lemon Song" performed by Page and The Black Crowes can be found on the album Live at the Greek.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
- ^ Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Triple J Music Specials - Led Zeppelin (first broadcast 2000-07-12)
[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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