Black Dog (song)

"Black Dog" is a song by British rock band Led Zeppelin, which was released as the lead-off track of their untitled fourth album in 1971. It was released as a single in the US and Australia with Misty Mountain Hop on the B-side, and reached #15 on Billboard and #11 in Australia.

Related Topics:
Led Zeppelin - Untitled fourth album - 1971 - Misty Mountain Hop

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The sounds at the beginning are those of Jimmy 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 riff.

Related Topics:
Jimmy Page - Riff

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones, who is credited with writing the main riff, got the idea for "Black Dog" after hearing Muddy Waters' experimental psychedelic-blues album, Electric Mud. He wanted to try "electric blues with a rolling bass part." The start-and-stop a capella verses were inspired by Fleetwood Mac's 1969 song, "Oh Well." Only at the end of the song when numerous vocal "ah ah ah ah"s occur does Robert Plant sing at the same time as Page and the band play.

Related Topics:
John Paul Jones - Muddy Waters' - Electric Mud - A capella - Fleetwood Mac's - 1969 - Robert Plant

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Bonham's drumming was patterned after the riffs on Little Richard's "Keep a Knockin'". Despite its seeming simplicity, the song features a complex, shifting time signature that the band has sometimes claimed was intended to thwart cover bands from playing the song.

Related Topics:
John Bonham's - Little Richard's - Time signature - Cover band

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The song's title came from a nameless black dog that wandered around the Headley Grange studios during recording. It has little to do with the song lyrics, which are about desperate desire for a woman's love and the happiness resulting thereby.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~