Black Dog

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	To oppose or discuss a nomination, please go to CZ:Proposed for deletion and follow the instructions. For the monthly nomination lists, see Category:Articles for deletion. Black Dog Image:Bdsingle1971.jpg 1971 French single Appears on Led Zeppelin IV Published by Superhype Music Registration ASCAP 320170472 Release date 2 December 1971 Recorded January - February 1971 Genre Hard rock, blues-rock Language English Length 4 minutes 55 seconds Composer Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones (musician) Label Atlantic Records Producer Jimmy Page Engineer Andy Johns 'Black Dog' is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, which is featured as the lead-off track of their Led Zeppelin IV|fourth album, released in 1971. It was also released as a single in the US and Australia with 'Misty Mountain Hop' on the B-side, and reached number 15 on Billboard and number 11 in Australia. Overview Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones, who is credited with writing the main riff, wanted to write a song that people could not 'groove' or dance to with its winding riff and complex time signature changes. In an interview, Jones explained the difficulties experienced by the band in writing the song: ‘ I wanted to try an electric blues with a rolling bass part. But it couldn't be too simple. I wanted it to turn back on itself. I showed it to the guys, and we fell into it. We struggled with the turn-around, until John Bonham ’ —[John] Bonham figured out that you just four-time as if there's no turn-around. That was the secret. The song's title is a reference to a nameless black Labrador retriever that wandered around the Headley Grange studios during recording. The dog has nothing to do with the song lyrics, which are about desperate desire for a woman's love and the happiness resulting thereby. Regarding the lyrics to the song, Plant later said, 'Not all my stuff is meant to be scrutinized. Things like 'Black Dog' are blatant, let's-do-it-in-the-bath type things, but they make their point just the same.' Plant's vocals were recorded in two takes. Built around a call-and-response dynamic between vocalist and the band, the start and stop a cappella verses were inspired by Fleetwood Mac's 1969 song 'Oh Well'. (Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes would later perform 'Oh Well' on their 1999 tour and included it on the album Live at the Greek.) Despite the seeming simplicity of the drum pattern, the song features a complex, shifting time signature. Jones originally wanted the song recorded in 3/16 time but realised it was too complex to reproduce live. In live performances, Bonham eliminated the 5/4 variation so that Plant could perform his a cappella vocal interludes and then have the instruments return to together synchronised. If the volume is turned up loud enough, Bonham can be heard tapping his sticks together before each riff. Page made reference to this in an interview he gave to Guitar World magazine in 1993: ‘ He did that to keep time and to signal the band. We tried to eliminate most of them, but muting was much more difficult in those days than it is now. ’ Page also discussed how he achieved his guitar sound on the track: ‘ We put my Les Paul through a direct box, and from there into a mic channel. We used the mic amp of the mixing board to get distortion. Then we ran it through two Urei 1176 Universal compressors in series. Then each line was triple-tracked. Curiously, I was listening to that track when we were reviewing the tapes and the guitars almost sound like an analogue synthesizer. ’ Page's solo was constructed out of four overdubbed Gibson Les Paul fills. The sounds at the beginning of the song are those of Page warming up his electric guitar. He called it 'waking up the army of guitars' — which are multitrack recorded in unison with electric bass guitar to provide the song's signature. Live performances 'Black Dog' became a staple and fan favourite of Led Zeppelin concerts|Led Zeppelin's live concert performances. It was first played live at Belfast's Ulster Hall on 5 March 1971, a concert which also featured the first ever live performance of 'Stairway to Heaven'. It was retained for each subsequent concert tour until 1973. In 1975 it was used as an encore medley with 'Whole Lotta Love', but was hardly used on the band's Led Zeppelin North American Tour 1977|1977 concert tour of the United States. It was recalled to the set for the Knebworth Festival 1979 and the Tour Over Europe 1980|1980 Tour of Europe. For these final 1980 performances, Page introduced the song from stage. When played live, Led Zeppelin often played the first few bars of 'Out on the Tiles' as the introduction for 'Black Dog', except for the 1973 tour where the riff from 'Bring It On Home (Led Zeppelin song)|Bring It On Home' introduced the song. Also, the 'ah-ah' refrains were sung in call-and-response between Robert Plant and the audience. Page's guitar playing prowess is well demonstrated in different recorded performances of the song from Madison Square Garden in July 1973, as seen in the group's concert films The Song Remains the Same and Led Zeppelin (DVD)|Led Zeppelin DVD. There is also a June 1972 live recording of 'Black Dog' which can be heard on the album How the West Was Won (album)|How the West Was Won, and another live version on Disc 2 of BBC Sessions (Led Zeppelin album)‎|BBC Sessions. 'Black Dog' was performed at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert|Led Zeppelin's reunion show at the The O2 arena (London)|O2 Arena, London on 10 December 2007. Plant sampled the song on his solo tracks 'Tall Cool One' and 'Your Ma Said She Cried In Her Sleep Last Night'. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant performed an updated version of this song on their 1995 tour. 'Black Dog' was the first song performed by Page and Plant at the American Music Awards, which kicked off their first tour together in almost 15 years. Robert Plant also played a version of the song during his solo tour in 2005, as is included on the DVD release Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation. Whitesnake overtly based 'Still of the Night' on this song; later, when Coverdale-Page toured in 1993, they played both songs together. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss regularly covered 'Black Dog' during their tour of USA and Europe in April and May 2008. It also features on their appearance on the Country Music Television show CMT Crossroads, recorded in October 2007. Accolades Publication Country Accolade Year Rank Classic Rock United States The Top Fifty Classic Rock Songs of All Time 1995 18 The Guitar United States Riff of the Millennium 1999 7 Rolling Stone United States The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 2003 294 Q United Kingdom 1010 Songs You Must Own! 2004 * Blender United States The Greatest Songs Ever! 2005 * Bruce Pollock United States The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000 2005 * Q United Kingdom The 20 Greatest Guitar Tracks 2007 1 DigitalDreamDoor United States The 100 Greatest Recordings From 1971 2007 20 DigitalDreamDoor United States The 100 Greatest Rock Guitar Riffs 2007 32 (*) designates unordered lists. Chart positions Chart (1972) Peak position Japanese Singles Chart 24 Dutch Singles Chart 20 US Billboard Hot 100 Chart 15 Canadian CHUM 30 Chart 14 US Cash Box Top 100 Singles Chart 9 US Record World 100 Top Pops 10 Canadian RPM Top 100 Chart 11 German Singles Chart 22 Australian Go-Set Top 40 Singles Chart 9 New Zealand Top 50 Singles Chart 10 French Singles Chart 23 Chart (1973) Peak position Swiss Singles Chart 6 Single (Digital download) Chart (2007) Peak position UK Singles Chart 119 US Billboard Hot Digital Songs Chart 66 Canadian Billboard Hot Digital Singles Chart 59 Note: The official UK Singles Chart incorporated legal downloads as of 17 April 2005. Credits Personnel Musicians: Jimmy Page – electric guitar, producer, remastering, digital remastering Robert Plant – vocals John Paul Jones – bass guitar John Bonham - drums, percussion Production: Peter Grant – executive producer Andy Johns - engineer, mixing Joe Sidore - original CD mastering engineer (mid-1980s) George Marino - remastered CD engineer (1990) References