Customer Reviews

Whole Lotta Love Edit

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"Whole Lotta Love" was recorded during Led Zeppelin's first American tour, which means the group was already performing it in concert. Like several of the songs on "Led Zeppelin II," it is based on a classic blues song with the riff simplified and played louder, with a section for extended guitar solos worked in as well. In this case the original song was Willie Dixon's "You Need Love," a single cut by Muddy Waters in 1962, with all four of the group members taking credit for the rewrite. Plant throws in bits from Howlin' Wolf's recordings of Dixon's "Shake for Me" and "Back Door Man" into the mix as well. The problem is that while the band covered Dixon's "You Shook Me," "I Can't Quit You Baby" and "Bring It On Home" on their first two albums, they did not sort out the copyright issues until 1985 after Dixon had brought legal action and ended up getting credit for "Whole Lotta Love." You have to keep in mind that the way Led Zeppelin developed their sound was by taking the blues classics they loved and turning them into heavy metal rock.

The single was released in October of 1969 by Atlantic and spent 15 weeks on the charts, topping out at #4. The original album recording of the song came in at 5:35, but in concert it could go on a lot longer. The version in concert film "The Song Remains the Same" comes in at 14:25, while on "How the West Was Won" there is a 23:08 version. Led Zeppelin had refused to release the song as a single, but when some radio stations started editing out the middle section and splicing "Whole Lotta Love" into a single, Atlantic released its own edited version over the objects of the group and its manager, Peter Grant, who managed to make sure the same think did not happen in the U.K. At 3:10 the radio edit was not only a rarity but also an oddity, while at 4:50 the Atlantic edited version is simply strange. Then again, the Japanese managed to get the entire song on their version of the single, so go figure.

The original B-Side was "Livin' Lovin' Maid," but since that track was identical to what was on "Led Zeppelin II," it has been replaced with a couple of other non-album tracks that stick to the theme of having Jimmy Page and Robert Plant do their own take on a blues classic. "Baby Come on Home" (4:29) was originally a Bert Berns song while "Traveling Riverside Blues" (5:09) was written by Robert Johnson. Since these tracks are only available on the complete studio recordings CDs from 1993 this CD-Single, released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the group being founded, is a good way for Led Zep fans to pick them up without having to buy the whole hog.

If you find yourself owning every Zep album and are looking to complete your collection, then this single is for you! Not only does it contain the edited version of "Whole Lotta Love", but you also get 2 previously unreleased Zeppelin songs, "Travelling Riverside Blues" (now available on the BBC Sessions) & "Baby Come On Home". Both of these songs are available in the Zeppelin Boxed Sets, which would end up costing you way more than if you purchased this single.

I'd have to say for the price, buy a full Zep album with more on it. The version is pretty good of Love but there's better for the money.

Led Zeppelin was one of the best Rock Bands of the history and this CD only confirm this with this wonderful version of "Travelling Riverside Blues".