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LED ZEPPELIN'S INFLUENCES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Moby Dick | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Moby Dick" is a showcase for John Bonham's drumming and Led Zeppelin used this song in concert to give Bonham the spotlight for an extended drum solo. An otherwise timeless album, "Moby Dick" dates Led Zeppelin II as the product of an era where bands featured drum solos on studio albums (does anyone ever do this anymore?). Led Astray and The Early Blues Roots of Led Zeppelin include the Sleepy John Estes song "The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair," and Led Astray argues that Led Zeppelin used as the source for "Moby Dick." This is difficult to hear, which they admit in the liner notes, "Although musically it bears little resemblance exhibiting as it does more contemporary musical influences."
[1] Here the BBC Sessions are instructive, as disc 1 includes Led Zeppelin's cover version of this Sleepy John Estes song with the slightly altered title "The Girl I Love, She Got Long Black Wavy Hair." The songwriting credits for this track on BBC Sessions are given to the members of Led Zeppelin as well as Sleepy John Estes, which appears justifiable as they retain Estes's lyrics over rewritten music. The rewritten riff that Zep used for "The Girl I Love, She Got Long Black Wavy Hair" is essentially the riff employed in "Moby Dick." Since "Moby Dick" is an instrumental track, Led Zeppelin list John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page in the songwriting credits, but the riff that drives this song is very similar to Bobby Parker's 1961 song "Watch Your Step," which charted in the US and the UK.
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| Notes | ||
| 1. | Lee Connolly, Liner Notes for Led Astray, Connoisseur Collection, 1999. | |
The Blues and Folk Roots of Led Zeppelin's Music. Are They Plagiarists? |
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