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Hats Off to (Roy) Harper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", which closes Led Zeppelin III, draws on a number of country blues songs, the most obvious of which is "Shake 'Em On Down" by Bukka White. Bukka White's version of "Shake 'Em On Down" is included on Led Astray. Led Zeppelin's Sources of Inspiration also includes this song, but this compilation points to a recording of the same title by Mississippi Fred McDowell as the original source to "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper." McDowell's version of "Shake 'Em On Down" is similar in theme to Bukka White's, but other than a similar refrain, the lyrics of Mississippi Fred McDowell's version differ from Bukka White's. The lyrics Robert Plant uses for "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" are more directly from Bukka White's version, while Jimmy Page's bottleneck guitar has a sound similar to the version by Mississippi Fred McDowell.
Along with "Custard Pie" on Physical Graffiti, this song is a prime example of Robert Plant's cut-and-paste approach to borrowing lyrics from blues artists. Almost every line in "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper) was lifted from a country blues song. The refrain ("When I done quit hollerin', babe/I believe I'll shake 'em on down") was taken from Bukka White's version of "Shake 'Em On Down". In the third verse, as he does in "Custard Pie", Robert Plant mixed "Shake 'Em On Down" with "Help Me" by Sonny Boy Williamson ("Listen, mama, put on your mornin' gown/Put on your nightshirt, mama, we gonna shake 'em on down"). The song most heavily quoted in "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper," however, is "Lone Wolf Blues" by Oscar Woods, as the second and fourth verses both come from this song. Robert Plant also inserted a reference to a "brown-skin woman", which is probably taken from the song of that title by Sunnyland Slim or Howlin' Wolf. The alternate lyrics that Robert Plant uses for the refrain in the second half of the song ("I been mistreated, babe") also draw on "Lone Wolf Blues". The lyrics to "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" are given below, listing the source Robert Plant used for each line. I've been able to locate the original source for all but two lines of this song ("Get me, baby, won't be late/You know by that I mean not seconds late"). Please contact me if you can identify a source (other than Robert Plant) for these lyrics.
"Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" is a strange recording and a rather odd way to pay tribute to Roy Harper, who was a folk singer with minimal blues influence. Perhaps the tribute to Harper is in the eccentricity of the recording itself, which would be fitting as Harper is certainly eccentric. Still, as it is, "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" serves as more of a tribute to country blues artists of the 1930s than to the man mentioned in the title. Jimmy Page explained the tribute in a 1979 interview in New Musical Express. Chris Salewicz was asking Jimmy Page about his political beliefs and being true to one's convictions. Jimmy Page pointed to Roy Harper as someone he had great respect for in this regard. According to Jimmy Page, "Harper's 'Stormcock' was a fabulous album which didn't sell anything. Also, they wouldn't release his albums in America for quite a long time. For that I just thought, 'Well, hats off to you'. As far as I'm concerned, though, hats off to anyone who does what they think is right and refuses to sell out." [1] Perhaps the strangest thing about "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" is how the songwriting credits are listed: "Traditional, arr. by Charles Obscure", presumably a pseudonym of Jimmy Page. With multiple artists quoted, shouldn't at least one of them have received songwriting credit for this track? How much of an artist's work needs to quoted before they deserve to be acknowledged in the credits? A line? A refrain? A verse? Two verses? I don't know what the rules for songwriting credits are, but to my mind quoting two verses, as is the case with "Lone Wolf Blues", warrants songwriting credits for Oscar Woods. Also, the Bukka White refrain, repeated several times throughout the track, plays a key role in "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", and so Bukka White should have been credited on this song as well. It should be noted that Bukka White was still alive when "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" was recorded.
For reference here are the complete lyrics to "Lone Wolf Blues" by Oscar Woods:
Mama mother told me, when I was quite a child (2x)
I say the life that you are living will kill you after a while I just begin to realize the things my mother say (2x) Since I been down here I been mistreated this way I never loved no one woman, hope to God I never will (2x) All these triflin' women will get some good man killed Now I ain't no monkey and I sho' can't climb a tree (2x) And I ain't gonna let no woman make no monkey out of me Now I sent my baby a brand new twenty-dollar bill (2x) If that don't bring her, I know my shotgun will
and "Shake 'Em On Down" by Bukka White
Yes, you're a nice girl, mama
And little girl Night before day We gonna shake 'em on down I need some time holler, now Oh, must I shake 'em on down I done shout hollerin', now Must I shake 'em on down Too much is debted to me Through the week Save these chili peppers Some ol' rainy day, here Best I'm hollerin', now Ooh, must I shake 'em on down I done shout hollerin', now Must I shake 'em on down, now Fix my supper Let me go to bed This white lightnin' done gone To my head Oh, must I holler now Ooh, must I shake 'em on down I done shout hollerin', now Must I shake 'em on down I ain't been in Georgia, babe I been told Georgia women got the best Jellyroll These nights time holler, now Oh, must I shake 'em on down I done shout hollerin', mama Must I shake 'em on down See See mama, heard You, done-done Made me love you, now I know Man done coming Best I'm hollerin', now Oh, must I shake 'em on down I done shout hollerin', mama Must I shake 'em on down Pretty girl's got They don't know What it is make me drunk At that old whiskey still It's best I'm hollerin', now Oh, must I shake 'em on down I done shout hollerin' Must I shake 'em on down.
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| Notes | ||
| 1. | quoted in Robert Godwin, Led Zeppelin: The Press Reports (Burlington, Ontario: CG Publishing, 2003), p. 422. | |
The Blues and Folk Roots of Led Zeppelin's Music. Are They Plagiarists? |
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