Black Mountain Side
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Black Mountain Side" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Song by Bert Jansch, Led Zeppelin | ||
| from the album 'Led Zeppelin' | ||
| Released | January 12, 1969 | |
| Recorded | October 1968 | |
| Genre | Folk, Hard Rock | |
| Length | 2:12 | |
| Label | Atlantic Records | |
| Writer(s) | Page | |
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Page | |
| 'Led Zeppelin' track listing | ||
| "Your Time Is Gonna Come" (5) |
"Black Mountain Side" (6) |
"Communication Breakdown" (7) |
Black Mountain Side is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured on their 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin. The beginning of the song starts over the end of the previous track, "Your Time Is Gonna Come"
Although originally credited as a Jimmy Page composition, it is actually an instrumental version of a traditional folk song called "Blackwaterside". The song's guitar arrangement is virtually identical to the version previously recorded by singer-songwriter Bert Jansch. One important difference, however, is that Page plays in DADGAD tuning (Which Page called the "CIA" tuning, an acronym for Celtic, Indian and Arabic), whereas Jansch used a simpler 'drop D' tuning. In the actual recording Page's guitar is tuned a half step down from DADGAD tuning.
Folk singer Anne Briggs, a friend of Jansch, taught him the song. She, in turn, learnt it from the folk music historian A. L. Lloyd. She also recorded her own version, though this was not until the early 1970s — a few years after the Jansch and Page interpretations. Page later claimed that he, like Jansch, also learnt the song directly from Briggs, though given the strong resemblance between his and Jansch's versions this seems unlikely.
An overdubbed rapid guitar lick can be heard on the album version. Page did this to simulate the sound of a sitar. To enhance the Indian character of the song, drummer and sitarist Viram Jasani plays tabla on the track.
When the song was played at Led Zeppelin concerts, it was usually featured as part of Jimmy Page's instrumental "White Summer", with the combined arrangement "White Summer-Black Mountainside" typically running at 11 minutes. Page would sit on a stool for the duration of the two songs and usually played them on a Danelectro guitar, tuned differently than his favored Gibson Les Paul. These songs were used by the band to showcase Page's skills as a guitarist, as he plays almost entirely by himself, with drummer John Bonham adding some fills later in the song.
A live version of this song can be seen on the Led Zeppelin DVD, during Led Zeppelin's 1970 Royal Albert Hall appearance. A similar version can be heard on the expanded version of Coda, an album of outtakes released in 1982. This arrangement has the "White Summer" segment being played for around eight minutes, and "Black Mountain Side" is heard somewhere in the middle.
Page later played versions of this song when he was with The Firm, the group he founded with Paul Rogers.
[edit] Sources
- Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
- The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
| Led Zeppelin |
|---|
| Jimmy Page • Robert Plant • John Paul Jones • John Bonham
Studio albums: Led Zeppelin • Led Zeppelin II • Led Zeppelin III • Live albums: The Song Remains the Same • BBC Sessions • How the West Was Won Compilations: Box Set • Profiled • Remasters • Box Set 2 • Complete Studio Recordings • Early Days: Best of Led Zeppelin Volume One • Latter Days: Best of Led Zeppelin Volume Two • Coda The Song Remains the Same • Led Zeppelin DVD Peter Grant • Richard Cole • Swan Song Records • The Yardbirds • XYZ • The Firm • Page and Plant • Strange Sensation • Bootlegs • Concerts • Songs |
