Music Appreciation

"If it keeps on raining, the levee's going to break. When the levee breaks, have no place to stay." Song lyric. Drum intro by John Bonham.

Led Zeppelin's version is a rework of the 1929 song “When the Levee Breaks,” a blues tune by the couple Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. It was written about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the most destructive river flooding in United States history.
The song was recorded in the Headley Grange, a historical building in Hampshire, England that is rumored to be haunted. In addition, the instrumental was slowed down to give it a heavy effect, so vocalist Robert Plant is the only person performing in normal speed.
The drum intro happened quite by accident...one of the engineers set up a second drum kit in that hallway, having it ready for when John wanted it. He happened to play it where it was, and the rest is history as they say. Bonham used a big oversized ludwig kit, and a very nice sounding room to create one of the most commonly sampled drum beats of all time.