"Nobody's Fault but Mine" is a traditional blues song that has been covered by many musicians since the late 1960s. A gospel song under the title "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine" is listed in the 1924 Cleveland Library's Index to Negro Spirituals.[1][2] The first known recording of this song, under the title "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine", was made by blues-gospel guitarist Blind Willie Johnson; the sides were recorded over the period 1927–1930.[3] It is unknown if he was the writer of the track, or simply covering a traditional song. Currently Johnson's version is not registered with any copyright association and resides in public domain.[4] A heavily modified version of the song appears on the album Presence by British hard rock band Led Zeppelin. A cover of this song was played intermittently by Jerry Garcia with the Grateful Dead throughout their career, sometimes with lyrics, sometimes without, sometimes crediting Blind Willie Johnson.[5]
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| "Nobody's Fault But Mine" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Led Zeppelin from the album Presence | ||||
| Released | 31 March 1976 | |||
| Recorded | November–December, 1975 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 6:27 | |||
| Label | Swan Song | |||
| Writer | Jimmy Page, Robert Plant | |||
| Producer | Jimmy Page | |||
| Presence track listing | ||||
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This arrangement of "Nobody's Fault but Mine" was recorded by English rock band Led Zeppelin, and released in 1976 on their album Presence. The Led Zeppelin song is registered with copyright association ASCAP, with the unique title code 440088148.[6]
The Led Zeppelin version contains different lyrics in the song such as "brother he showed me the gong", "I got a monkey on my back" and "Devil he told me to roll",[7] which do not appear in the Johnson version. The Led Zeppelin song structure also includes differences in the arrangements within the verse-chorus.[8] Musically there are changes to the tempo, and the track features a phase-treated, delta blues-based riff in E minor (and later E major) from Jimmy Page which is doubled by vocalist Robert Plant. The solo in E Minor Pentatonic, switches to E Major Pentatonic, back to E Minor Pentatonic, and concludes in E Major Pentatonic. Page triple-tracked his guitar intro; playing one guitar an octave higher than the others.
Drummer John Bonham and bassist John Paul Jones maintain the rhythm of the song, adding some syncopated accents during repetitions of the introductory phrase. The first half of the song also features a harmonica accompaniment by Plant.[9]
Record producer Rick Rubin has remarked on the song's structure, "A traditional blues, twisted through a trippy, psychedelic filter. They [Led Zeppelin] played with such precision, doing these odd arrangements that sound like loose jams but are really choreographed."[10]
From 1977 onwards, "Nobody's Fault but Mine" became a vital component of Led Zeppelin concerts, and was played at virtually every show until the group's final tour of Europe in 1980.[9] One live version, from Led Zeppelin's performance at Knebworth in 1979, is featured on disc 2 of the Led Zeppelin DVD. During live performances, Plant often exclaimed, "Oh Jimmy!" right before Page went into his guitar solo.
"Nobody's Fault but Mine" was performed at Led Zeppelin's reunion show at the O2 Arena, London on December 10, 2007.
(With credits to Page/Plant)
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