Whole Lotta Love
"Whole Lotta Love" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
A&M, Hollywood[1] | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:33[7] | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Jimmy Page | |||
Led Zeppelin singles chronology | ||||
|
"Whole Lotta Love" is a song by the English
In 2004, the song was ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and in March 2005, Q placed "Whole Lotta Love" at number three in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. It was placed 11 on a similar list by Rolling Stone. In 2009 it was named the third greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.[2] In 2014, listeners to BBC Radio 2 voted "Whole Lotta Love" as containing the greatest guitar riff of all time.[9]
Composition and recording
Jimmy Page came up with the guitar riff for "Whole Lotta Love" in the summer of 1968, on his houseboat on the River Thames at Pangbourne, Berkshire, England.[1] However, John Paul Jones stated that it probably was developed from a live improvisation during performances of "Dazed and Confused".[10] Page denied that the song originated onstage and that he had the riff and the rest took it from there.[11]
Notation for the song indicates the key of
Personnel
According to Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin:[1]
- Robert Plant – vocals, tambourine
- Jimmy Page – guitars, theremin, backing vocals (?)
- John Paul Jones – bass, bongos, backing vocals (?)
- John Bonham – drums, congas, maracas
Release
On 7 November 1969, "Whole Lotta Love" was released as a single in several countries, with "
Similarities to "You Need Love"
In 1962, Muddy Waters recorded a blues vocal, "You Need Love", for Chess Records.[21] As he had done with "You Shook Me", Waters overdubbed vocals on an instrumental track previously recorded by blues guitarist Earl Hooker and his band.[21] Willie Dixon wrote the lyrics, which Dixon biographer Mitsutoshi Inaba describes as being "about the necessity of love":
You've got yearnin' and I got burnin'
Baby you look so, ho, sweet and cunnin'
Baby way down inside, woman you need love
Woman you need love, you've got to have some love
I'm gon' give you some love, I know you need love[21]
In 1966, the British band
Page's riff was Page's riff. It was there before anything else. I just thought, 'well, what am I going to sing?' That was it, a nick. Now happily paid for. At the time, there was a lot of conversation about what to do. It was decided that it was so far away in time and influence that ... well, you only get caught when you're successful. That's the game.[24]
Accolades
Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Spin | US | "100 Greatest Singles of All Time"[25] | 1989 | 39 |
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | US | " The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll"[26]
|
1994 | * |
Classic Rock | UK | "Ten of the Best Songs Ever!.. (Bubbling under)"[27] | 1999 | 30 |
Rolling Stone | US | "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"[28] | 2003 | 75 |
Q | UK | "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever"[29] | 2005 | 3 |
Toby Creswell | Australia | "1001 Songs: the Great Songs of All Time"[30] | 2005 | * |
Grammy Awards
|
US | " Grammy Hall of Fame Award"[31]
|
2007 | * |
Rolling Stone | US | "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time"[32] | 2008 | 11 |
VH1 | US | "The 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time"[33] | 2009 | 46 |
VH1 | US | "VH1 Greatest Hard Rock Songs"[2] | 2009 | 3 |
BBC Radio 2 | UK | "Radio 2's Top 100 Greatest Guitar Riffs"[9] | 2014 | 1 |
Rolling Stone | US | "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"[34] | 2021 | 128 |
(*) designates unordered lists.
Charts
The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 22 November 1969. It remained on the chart for 15 weeks, peaking at number four and becoming the band's only top-10 single in the US.[35]
Original release
Single (digital download)
Note: The official UK Singles Chart incorporated legal downloads as of 17 April 2005. |
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Germany | — | 400,000[71] |
Italy (FIMI)[72] | Platinum | 50,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI)[73] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[8] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Performances
Led Zeppelin first performed "Whole Lotta Love" on 26 April 1969. Other live versions were released officially:
- The Song Remains the Same (28 September 1976, from a 1973 concert and movie soundtrack)[74]
- Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions (11 November 1997, from a 1971 concert)[75]
- How the West Was Won (27 May 2003, from a 1972 concert)[76]
- Led Zeppelin DVD (2003, from a 1979 and a 1970 concert)[77]
"Whole Lotta Love" was the last song Led Zeppelin played live. It was, however, performed again at the band's reunions at
In 2008, a reworked version by Jimmy Page on guitar, with Leona Lewis on vocals, was performed in the "London 2012" presentation during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Both Lewis and the organisers requested that some of the lyrics be changed, notably "I'm gonna give you every inch of my love". Lewis felt that the line made little sense coming from a female singer.[79]
Cover versions
"Whole Lotta Love" has been recorded by several artists. Versions that reached the record charts include:
- 1970 – CCS (or C.C.S.) recorded a mainly instrumental rendition with a flute playing the melody.[80] Billboard described their version as a "blockbuster instrumental treatment of the Led Zeppelin hit",[81] while Nick Coleman of The Independent thought that the cover "succeeded in ameliorating the tune's sexual specificity without stripping it of its rutty throb".[80] Released as a single on the RAK label, it reached number 13 on the UK singles chart in November 1970;[82] number 26 in Belgium (Flanders);[83] number 37 on the RPM 100 Singles in Canada;[84] number 58 on the US Billboard Hot 100;[85] and number 58 on the US Cash Box Top 100 Singles.[86] The UK music variety television programme Top of the Pops used brief versions by CCS members and others as its intro theme music at different times over the years.[22][87]
- 1971 – King Curtis and the Kingpins recorded an instrumental version with the melody line performed on saxophone. Atco Records released it as a single in the US, where it reached number 64 on the Hot 100 and number 43 on the R&B chart.[88] A live version, recorded at the Fillmore West, is included on Curtis' 1971 live album Live at Fillmore West.[89]
- 1975 – Tina Turner on her 1975 album Acid Queen. Released by United Artists Records, her version reached number 61 on the Billboard R&B chart[90] and number 45 on the Record World R&B chart.[91]
- 1996 – British band
See also
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
- List of number-one hits of 1970 (Germany)
- List of Led Zeppelin songs written or inspired by others
References
- ^ a b c d Guesdon & Margotin 2018, p. 108.
- ^ a b c Winistorfer, Andrew (5 January 2009). "VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs list only slightly less annoying than their hip-hop list". Prefix Magazine. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-7575-3379-2.
- ^ Lewis 1990, pp. 47–48.
- ^ "Led Zeppelin Biography". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (15 November 2022). "Bon Jovi - "You Give Love a Bad Name". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 175.
- ^ "Whole Lotta Love" / "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" (Single notes). Led Zeppelin. New York City: Atlantic Records. 1969. A-side label. 45-2690.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b "American single certifications – Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love". Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^ a b "Radio 2's Greatest Guitar Riffs". BBC Radio 2. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ^ Crowe, Cameron (1993). The Complete Studio Recordings (Boxed set booklet).
- ISSN 1368-0722.
- ISBN 978-0-7390-5317-1.
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- ^ "Kramer Archives: Bio". Kramerarchives.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2009.
- ^ ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
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- ^ "Whole Lotta Love" Long version / "Whole Lotta Love" Short version (Single notes). Led Zeppelin. New York City: Atlantic Records. 1969. Labels. 45-2690.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
- ^ "Billboard". 27 December 1969.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 15 November 1969. p. 24. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-81086-993-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-312-59039-0.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
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- ^ "Spin: 100 Greatest Singles of All Time (1989)". Spin. Retrieved 10 February 2009 – via Rocklist.net.
- ^ "Experience The Music: One Hit Wonders and The Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- ^ "Ten of the Best... Songs Ever!". Classic Rock. Retrieved 10 February 2009 – via Rocklist.net.
- ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (1–500)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 23 October 2006.
- ^ "Q Magazine – 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever!". Q. Retrieved 10 February 2009 – via Rocklist.net.
- ISBN 978-1-74066-458-5.
- National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008.
- ^ "It's Only a Riff, But We Like It". VH1. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009.
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time > 128: Led Zeppelin, 'Whole Lotta Love'". Rolling Stone. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
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- ^ "Australia No. 1 hits – 1970's". World Charts. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
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- ^ a b "Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JANUARY 10, 1970". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012.
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- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 163.
- ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
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- ^ "Italian single certifications – Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 5 February 2018. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Whole Lotta Love" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
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Bibliography
- Guesdon, Jean-Michel; Margotin, Philippe (2018). Led Zeppelin All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. ISBN 978-0-316-448-67-3.
- Lewis, Dave (1990). Led Zeppelin: A Celebration. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-711-92416-1. Archivedfrom the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
External links
- "Whole Lotta Love " (official video) on YouTube
- "Whole Lotta Love" (remaster) on YouTube