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Length: 7:06
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If it keeps on rainin', levee's going to break
And when the levee breaks, have no place to stay
Mean old levee, taught me to weep and moan, moan
Mean old levee, taught me to weep and moan
It's got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well-a, ooh-ooh
A-don't it make ya feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home?
You don't know which way to go
If you're goin' down south and there's no work to do
Then ya go north to Chicago, aaah, aaah, aaah, hey
Cryin' won't help ya, prayin' won't do ya no good, no
Cryin' won't help ya, prayin' won't do ya no good
A-when the levee breaks, mama, you got to move, a-woo-hoo
All last night, I sat on the levee and moaned
All last night, sat on the levee and moaned
Thinkin' 'bout my baby and my happy home, oh-hoh
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ha
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ha
Oh, oh
Goin', I'm goin' to Chicago, goin' to Chicago
Sorry, but I can't take you
Goin' down, goin' down, now, goin' down, a-goin' down, now
Goin' down, goin' down, goin' down, goin' down, yeahh
Goin' down, goin' down, now, goin' down, goin' down, now
Goin' down, goin' down, now, goin' down
Goin' down, down, down, down, down
Ooh-woo-ooh, ooh-woo-ooh

Could '71 be the best year for rock music ever?
lizardking wrote:
I was wondering the same recently, 69, 70, 71 all great, hard to pick just one.
Long Live RP and all the great music created before I was!!
My 2nd reply now, and this is a thought that's been rolling around in my skull for a coupla years now: If I had to choose my favorite span of 7 consecutive years of all musicalrecordings, it would probably be 1967 thru 1973.
Lots great albums including this one!!
LLRP
I think this may arguably be the best rock and roll song of all time...anyone else feel the same way? An 8.6 RP listener rating says a lot.
An argument could be made that this is THE most 'rock'n'roll" song ever.
Allow me... Rock has as its origin, southern blues music. This has been historically documented. Whether you want to call it cultural appropriation, plagiarism, or creative expansion -what you can't debate is rock'n'roll is a different genre of music. The blues elements still remain ever present, but the heavier overtones, vocal delivery, and aggressive drumming create a musical expression all its own.
As a song, WTLB was originally written and recorded by Memphis Minnie and Kansas City Joe as blues ditty -see below (credit was given on the record). LZ took that ditty and rockified it. The most sampled drum beat of all time by maybe the heaviest drummer of all time. The god tier guitar work on bass and lead. The scream song vocal delivery -a vocal range seldom matched in pop music to this day- adding even more gravitas. All of this add together to create a song that blows the roof off the building -and right or wrong- obliterates the songs origins into a new a powerful rendition. Ladies and gentlemen -Rock'n'Roll.
Critique the events, outcomes, and the motives all you want. Healthy debate elevates us all and adds to the flavor. Either way, Rock'n'roll is what it is and I am here for all of it! I, for one, will rate this as a 10 and turn it up to 11.
I was just wondering where all that good Led Zep was that I used to hear more frequently here... thank you (you can play that one too...).
I saw what you did there.
Great idea, and i 'Thank You' for that

Could '71 be the best year for rock music ever?
I saw LZ in September '71 at Madison Square garden, a month before this album was released. Great show! '71 was a good year! I'm 67yrs old.There is a lot of great music being produced NOW! Keep an open mind. RP is a great place to discover new music. Thank You RP!!

Behold the next generation. There is still hope for RnR into the future.
Pigtail had written "The most awesome drummer of all time!"
Great drummer but what about Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Charlie Watts..
I saw Ginger Baker play with Cream in 1967 and with GB's Jazz Confusion shortly before he died, and he was a drum genius. IMHO the most awesome but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
I think this may arguably be the best rock and roll song of all time...anyone else feel the same way? An 8.6 RP listener rating says a lot.
It's a great song - the "Best" not even close - sorry - you must have bought Licensed To Ill before you heard this.
The most awesome drummer of all time!
Behold the next generation. There is still hope for RnR into the future.
Could '71 be the best year for rock music ever?
I was wondering the same recently, 69, 70, 71 all great, hard to pick just one.
Long Live RP and all the great music created before I was!!
I wouldn't want to be tasked with picking the Top 10 Zep songs (too difficult!), or even my personal top 10 Zep faves, but this puppy is definitely gonna be on my list.
9 to 10 today (finally!) - I find hearing this one makes me wish I was alive back in the day, getting to buy this album on day 1, wearing it out within a week or so and buying it again....Long Live RP!!
I remember seeing this LP at the local discount store and trying to guess who it was. It wasn't till later that I heard the album. Takes me back...
Saw LZ Feb 1975 at Philly Spectrum. What a show!
Anymore need said?!
Kashmir was boring? What?
Would have been a lot better at half the duration. After a while it loses its luster ...
I contend that this was written by people who weren't sober, for people who weren't sober.

"I am a golden god..."
AC - I hear ya. Everything sounds like it's whining. The singer, the guitar, it's all whining. Grates on my nerves...
Your ears were busted 18 years ago, probably still are.
I did consider giving it a 10--but I only have about 5 left to hand out before I die.
I believe the beasties sampled it

Actually, LZ are not composers of the song. They even gave the credit to Memphis Minnie aka Lizzie Douglas. See wikipedia article.







They didn't though. Somewhere I saw Page was quoted on why they didn't sue saying something to the effect of 'I guess we took it as a compliment.'
Maybe you're thinking of ACDC suing them. Or someone else. I imagine they got sued quite a bit as they came up during the wild west days of hip hop sampling without even trying to clear anything.
I had, with the writer blaming them of stealing the Zep's sound and songwriting.
I don't know, It's not like the Zep weren't borrowing themselves...
It's all sounds at the end of the day
One that deserves an 11.
Amen!

My rating stays at 8
One that deserves an 11.



The most awesome drummer of all time!
Staying at 8
10/10 on the volume control. God help my eardrums!
still true ^^
Or how about Zep doing a thunderous version of "One Way Out"?
Agreed on both accounts...really enjoyed this track. A little before my time but great stuff!
It still has to be one of my desert island disks.
Outstanding.
This is what you get when all the elements of an artists' creation join to render more than just a song. It's pure magic. Genius earns a 10 every time!
Agreed. This one really benefits from the upcrank


This one is pretty beyond reproach.
Led Zep is awesome, but we could use a little variety...



Cryin' won't help ya, prayin' won't do ya no good"
Hmmm.....you'd think he was singin' about the current state of our unhinged politics in this country (USA) wouldn't'cha? Heh!
So it goes.
Highlow
American Net'Zen
The artists who didn't get any recognition or royalties from Led Zep cared. This LZ song was adapted from a blues song written in 1929; Columbia Records recorded and distributed it. This was not a matter of a British group making a new song from uncopyrighted "folk tunes." LZ credited one of the original songwriters but I don't know if her estate got any money from the band.
The issue with Zeppelin was NOT that they played old blues tunes or any sort of cultural appropriation issue. The issue with Jimmy Page is the wholesale thievery of other artists arrangements without credit.
Page, and his lawyer(s) took the "fuck em, let em sue us" approach to doing business and the chickens have come home to roost.
All blues are basically the same 3 or 4 songs. Blues artists do there own thing with them.
Was anyone really thinking these Brits were intimately familiar with Mississippi flooding and dislocation? Of course it's 'cultural appropriation'. If you're going to whine about it, you never get to eat a slice of American pizza again or risk being verbally tortured as a hypocrite.
"All blues are basically the same 3 or 4 songs."
Only if you've been living in a closet in a Walmart all your life...
Meltz wrote:
Someone said stealing us the best form of flattery. Brahms stole from Beethoven, Copeland and Bartok borrowed folk tunes left and right. John Lennon from who knows.....In the end who gives a flying fortress? It's about the pleasure factor.
The artists who didn't get any recognition or royalties from Led Zep cared. This LZ song was adapted from a blues song written in 1929; Columbia Records recorded and distributed it. This was not a matter of a British group making a new song from uncopyrighted "folk tunes." LZ credited one of the original songwriters but I don't know if her estate got any money from the band.
thanx 4 the reply, always nice to hear from one's peers, I must apologize for sounding as if my statements are facts, they are just my opinion and what the Zep sounds like to me.
As for the Fox News/Orwellian comment you made about me,... I don't know what to say but I find it to be odd.
What I meant by "had no future" after Led Zeppelin III" was that everything after 3 was basically boring.
Again, boring to me.
I don't know what Zep music is, only Zep knows, when I hear it I think it's boring or funny, like the first 2 lines of lyrics in "Going 2 Cali", hilarious stuff.
But if you mean sales wise then yes, the Zep had a great future, lots of number ones and sold out shows.
Number ones don't mean anything to me, McDonald's and Bud Light are number one in their fields but are boring to me.
Have a nice day and enjoy your lunch.
Well everyone has their opinion and likes/dislikes. That's OK, life would be very dull otherwise. But to say, "the drums sound like a few garbage can lids were flatten down and are used as a high hat."...is just about the opposite of what I (and a billion others) hear on this track.
Maybe you just need a better audio system?

I gave it a "9". Those surely are some damn good-sounding garbage cans.
dead wrong. this gains all its power as it goes on. kinda like a mantra or chant.
Sure, they "had no future" after Led Zeppelin III...

I've seen you post some pretty uninformed caca on these boards, Skydog, but calling the drum sound on Levee... bad must be a desperate attempt to troll. The facts are that 99% of the music press, fan base, and their musician peers thought Levee's... drum sound was innovative and ground-breaking at the time PG was released (Feb. 1975), and was universally praised, because of the way Page intentionally miced the drums in the open stairway at Headley Grange where they were recorded and gave them a very open, resonant sound that almost no one else was doing at the time. It was the opposite of the typical dead, cardboard box drum sound that was prevalent in the 70s.
Many drummers, engineers/producers, and bands have emulated that sound ever since. I know this because I'm a drummer and have seen it first-hand for many years.
I'm anxiously awaiting your next post, wherein no doubt you'll be peddling the Fox News/Orwellian doublespeak that water is not wet, the sun does not rise in the east, and King Kong ain't a monkey.
thanx 4 the reply, always nice to hear from one's peers, I must apologize for sounding as if my statements are facts, they are just my opinion and what the Zep sounds like to me.
As for the Fox News/Orwellian comment you made about me,... I don't know what to say but I find it to be odd.
What I meant by "had no future" after Led Zeppelin III" was that everything after 3 was basically boring.
Again, boring to me.
I don't know what Zep music is, only Zep knows, when I hear it I think it's boring or funny, like the first 2 lines of lyrics in "Going 2 Cali", hilarious stuff.
But if you mean sales wise then yes, the Zep had a great future, lots of number ones and sold out shows.
Number ones don't mean anything to me, McDonald's and Bud Light are number one in their fields but are boring to me.
Have a nice day and enjoy your lunch.
My opinion on Zep? In spite of the popular theory that you love them or hate them but I just don't care. I thought their album LZ3 was good and I thought these guys just might have a future after all but I was wrong.
I gave this song a "1", the drums sound like a few garbage can lids were flatten down and are used as a high hat.
Sure, they "had no future" after Led Zeppelin III...

I've seen you post some pretty uninformed caca on these boards, Skydog, but calling the drum sound on Levee... bad must be a desperate attempt to troll. The facts are that 99% of the music press, fan base, and their musician peers thought Levee's... drum sound was innovative and ground-breaking at the time PG was released (Feb. 1975), and was universally praised, because of the way Page intentionally miced the drums in the open stairway at Headley Grange where they were recorded and gave them a very open, resonant sound that almost no one else was doing at the time. It was the opposite of the typical dead, cardboard box drum sound that was prevalent in the 70s.
Many drummers, engineers/producers, and bands have emulated that sound ever since. I know this because I'm a drummer and have seen it first-hand for many years.
I'm anxiously awaiting your next post, wherein no doubt you'll be peddling the Fox News/Orwellian doublespeak that water is not wet, the sun does not rise in the east, and King Kong ain't a monkey.
Its been very rainy where I live in the "mid south" and my thoughts are for the drought ridden now flooded people in Texas.
Ooooo gonna have to have a listen on headphones
Led Zep broke up?!!! Dang!
Thanks for ruining my day. : (
Not too bad. I could see this band getting popular.
The band broke up in.................1980. So........no, they won't be getting popular.

Most famous cover band in the history of rock.

My son, when he was 8, once changed the channel on the radio in the car when a Led Zeppelin song was playing. I promptly changed it back and cautioned him to NEVER do that again. Then, I made him ride in the back seat on the way home so the lesson would sink in.
My opinion on Zep? In spite of the popular theory that you love them or hate them but I just don't care. I thought their album LZ3 was good and I thought these guys just might have a future after all but I was wrong.
I gave this song a "1", the drums sound like a few garbage can lids were flatten down and are used as a high hat.