Friends (Led Zeppelin song)

"Friends"
Song by Led Zeppelin from the album Led Zeppelin III
Released 5 October 1970
Recorded May - August 1970
Genre Folk rock, psychedelic folk
Length 3:53
Label Atlantic Records
Writer Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones (string arrangement, uncredited)
Producer Jimmy Page
Led Zeppelin III track listing

"Immigrant Song"
(1)		 "Friends"
(2)		 "Celebration Day"
(3)

"Friends" is the second track from the 1970 album Led Zeppelin III, the third studio album of English rock band Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote the song in 1970 at Bron-Yr-Aur, a small cottage in Wales where they stayed after completing a grueling concert tour of the United States.[1]

Musical structure

The song starts out with a little noodling and studio chatter. Peter Grant's voice can be heard in the background, of the right channel, before the guitars of Jimmy Page kick in. The guitar tuning for the song is an open-C6 chord (C-A-C-G-C-E). The same tuning was used by Page on the songs "Bron-Yr-Aur" and "Poor Tom", which were recorded during these same sessions.[2] Page used an Altair Tube Limiter to enhance the acoustic quality of his Harmony guitar, a device recommended to him by acoustic guitarist Dick Rosemenie.[3] This same device was later used by Page on "All My Love", which was included on Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door album.[3]

"Friends" is one of the few Led Zeppelin songs that includes strings. Bass player John Paul Jones did the string arrangement. Jones, however, received no writing credit for this song despite being entirely responsible for its string arrangement.[3]

The outro to "Friends" includes a Moog synthesizer, which provides a link to the next track on the album, "Celebration Day". The only known live performance of the song by Led Zeppelin was on 29 September 1971 in Osaka, during the band's Japanese concert tour, as exhibited on a number of Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings of the show. If listened to closely, Page can be heard asking Plant if he wanted to perform the song when John Bonham had returned from unknown activities backstage.

Re-releases and re-recordings

The song was re-recorded by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant with the Bombay Symphony Orchestra in 1972, during their trip to India, along with another track, "Four Sticks" from Led Zeppelin IV.[4] This version featured tabla drums and sitars. The recordings have never been released officially and are only available on bootlegs. The project is said to have run into problems because Page complained that the orchestra didn't keep time in the Western style and some of them drank rather a lot.[5] It was later released as a part of the Led Zeppelin box set released in 1990 as well as being on The Complete Studio Recordings and The Definitive Collection along with the whole parent album. The song has been remastered in 2014 along with the parent album while its companion disc contains a backing track of the song. "Friends" was also recorded by Page and Plant on their 1994 release No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, accompanied by a Middle-Eastern orchestra.

Personnel

Cover versions

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Phil Sutcliffe, "Back to Nature", Q Magazine Special Led Zeppelin edition, 2003, p. 34.
  2. ↑ Page 92: Welch, Chris (1998) Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
  4. ↑ Liner notes to Led Zeppelin Box Set, Vol. 2 by David Fricke
  5. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Triple J Music Specials - Led Zeppelin (first broadcast 2000-07-12)