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Length: 4:28
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If it keeps on rainin, levees goin to break,
When the levee breaks Ill have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Lord, mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.
Dont it make you feel bad
When youre tryin to find your way home,
You dont know which way to go?
If youre goin down south
They go no work to do,
If you dont know about chicago.
Cryin wont help you, prayin wont do you no good,
Now, cryin wont help you, prayin wont do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
Thinkin bout me baby and my happy home.
Going, gon to chicago,
Gon to chicago,
Sorry but I cant take you.
Going down, going down now, going down.
So...watch out.
Here’s the first recording of When the Levee Breaks: by Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vFBpqR7eLc4
Thank You for the info! Composed in 1927 about the deadly 1926 Mississippi River flood.
Dread Zep. Hell yes !! They are several ton's of fun. Got their first 3. Saw them live with the original lineup in concert in a bar down in the Cleveland Flats (Peabody's Down Under for anyone that knows the Flats). They were a total hoot. Glad I got to see them.
Thanks for the reminder. Now I'll have to go dig them up.
You say this like no one ever covered a song before Zeppelin did it.
If you sift through the Led Zeppelin library you'll find more than a few that were sued for plagiarism.
https://liveforlivemusic.com/f...
Ain' no tribute to L. Z., makes me laughing, because most of the times they covered them
You say that as if you think Led Zeppelin played "original" blues riffs. Magic Slim was probably playing these heady and sweaty riffs in the 1940s, before any of Led Zeppelin's members were born.
They are completely different renderings at the core. This the the classic 12-bar blues I-IV-V-I progression, which the LZ version (and the APC version, too) drops entirely.
But Zeppelin turned a whole lotta kids onto them, many more than the old blues cats ever did with the original versions.
As long as the 'old blues cats' got their royalties all is good. ;-)
Sneaking Led Zeppelin back into the conversation.
You see...
You can kind of walk and strut to this song
You should try it going into the grocery store, near the fresh fruit section
Shouldn't this album title be more fitting as "Songs that Led Zeppelin stole"?
You say this like no one ever covered a song before Zeppelin did it.
I googled it. Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie in 1929! Thanx! ... Very interesting info on how Led Zeppelin recorded it too! ...especially the drums!
You say that as if you think Led Zeppelin played "original" blues riffs. Magic Slim was probably playing these heady and sweaty riffs in the 1940s, before any of Led Zeppelin's members were born.
When he was around 6 years old.
Actually, both Magic Slim and Led Zeppelin are covering this 1929 song by Kansas Joe McCoy
But you know the song is from the 1920s, right?
I googled it. Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie in 1929! Thanx! ... Very interesting info on how Led Zeppelin recorded it too! ...especially the drums!
But you know the song is from the 1920s, right?
I agree! GREAT TUNE!
we should all try to walk down the sidewalk...the way this song sounds
see what I mean?
I do but it would take forever to get anywhere. I do like the idea.
I say: I know, everybody funny...now you funny too
see what I mean?
The only way this song could be any more Chicago is if we were all cruising down Lake Shore Drive while listening to it.
Make that DuSable-Lake Shore Drive now.
Stodoroff wrote:
A little too typical blues riffs here. Best thing about it is the lyrics. I prefer my beloved Zeppelin's heady, sweaty, raw version.
unclehud wrote:
You say that as if you think Led Zeppelin played "original" blues riffs. Magic Slim was probably playing these heady and sweaty riffs in the 1940s, before any of Led Zeppelin's members were born.
I've commented on the title of this album before and it's contradictory nature. These are not songs of Led Zeppelin. The tag line at the bottom of the cover "This Ain't No Tribute" seems to acknowledge as much and implies this isn't a tribute to Led Zeppelin. Zep certainly stole a lot of blues music without due credit but also feel it worth pointing out Page was born in 1945, Holt in 1937 so I kinda doubt Holt was playing was "heady and sweaty riffs" at the tender age of 6 or 7. Did he grow up in the breadbasket of the Blues? Absolutely! Did Page? Absolutely not! Doesn't mean Page/Richards/Clapton/Beck etc., did appreciate the Blues. Also the comment to which you replied never said or implied anything to the effect of claiming the riffs Page played were original, you imposed that. Having said that, like any other interpretation of a song, Zep certainly put their mark on the versions they did, usually by ramping up everything thus adding to the "rawness" and thereby placing their unmistakable mark on the song.
You can kind of walk and strut to this song
You should try it going into the grocery store, near the fresh fruit section
Memphis Minne - When the Leave Breaks
You say that as if you think Led Zeppelin played "original" blues riffs. Magic Slim was probably playing these heady and sweaty riffs in the 1940s, before any of Led Zeppelin's members were born.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Hold on...
The original was recorded by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. The song is about a flood of the lower Mississippi in 1927.
Yes, am aware of that. I'm referring to the album title indicating to these being remakes of "Songs Of Led Zeppelin" This wasn't a song of Led Zeppelin's ... they "appropriated" it
The drummer does cool MCM art. Look up Atomic Skyway on Instagram.
Hold on...
The original was recorded by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. The song is about a flood of the lower Mississippi in 1927.
Various artists. Can't wait to hear the rest!
A ha! I'm not the only one who saw him in the 80s and heard that nick name!
Sorry but I cant take you."
'nuff said!
You say that as if you think Led Zeppelin played "original" blues riffs. Magic Slim was probably playing these heady and sweaty riffs in the 1940s, before any of Led Zeppelin's members were born.
He does a killer version of Whammer Jammer. better than Magic Dick.
That's Irony, man
According to Wiki, Music critic Robert Christgau argued that Led Zeppelin's version of "When the Levee Breaks" both transcends and dignifies "the quasi-parodic overstatement and oddly cerebral mood of" their past blues songs.
Baroque and classical music was written hundreds of years ago, but people are still playing and listening to it today - because they like it.
In your country of Scotland, people still play bagpipes and its music which isn't exactly a new thing.
Yes, I'd say you're missing something here...the idea that we don't toss our music, art, literature or other forms of expression in the trash forever just because something new comes along.
You may have missed Jota's point, which was likely whether this actually one of the "Songs of Led Zeppelin", a more interesting question than whether it's value depends on age. Was Zep's take on the song unique enough to make it "theirs" somehow? Somebody thought so.
Baroque and classical music was written hundreds of years ago, but people are still playing and listening to it today - because they like it.
In your country of Scotland, people still play bagpipes and its music which isn't exactly a new thing.
Yes, I'd say you're missing something here...the idea that we don't toss our music, art, literature or other forms of expression in the trash forever just because something new comes along.
It's still breaking.
The album title gives that away
LOVE the sub-title!!
The album title gives that away
Wait a spell, get your heart shredded a couple of times real bad, then listen again. Should start gettin it. Good blues players are all about changin yer mood.
Or as Buddy Guy so elequently stated at his induction into the Rock N Roll hall of fame: "If you ain't had the blues, just keep living".
Lincoln,Ne used to be part of my sales territory. I would often drive 100 miles out of my way to see nationally touring blues players work their way from Chicago to KC (Thru Lincoln and sometimes Omaha). I still am a big fan of the Zoo bar. I bought an old raggity Zoo bar t-shirt one time and wore it on the beach in Mexico (Cazumel). A man came running up to me from an Oceanside bar and said....".where did you get that t-shirt".... I said" Zoo Bar- Lincoln Ne"
He said," I'm the owner of that bar and I think it is so cool that I see that t-shirt all the way down here in Mexico".
Great story. The owner should have hired you as traveling advertisement. Looks like they pull a lot of great acts...
Misterfixit wrote:
Have they removed the chicken wire screen yet in front of the band? Man oh Man did I have some times there. Did a Nuke inventory compliance inspection at one of the sites, 2 Army guys and 10 Air Force guys. Oh My God. We felt like we were nuked the next day. And indeed "Cryin' won't hep you!"
Oh, Great! I feel so much safer now!
"Wait...this ain't fer real now, right...? I'm gonna have such a headache..."
Lincoln,Ne used to be part of my sales territory. I would often drive 100 miles out of my way to see nationally touring blues players work their way from Chicago to KC (Thru Lincoln and sometimes Omaha). I still am a big fan of the Zoo bar. I bought an old raggity Zoo bar t-shirt one time and wore it on the beach in Mexico (Cazumel). A man came running up to me from an Oceanside bar and said....".where did you get that t-shirt".... I said" Zoo Bar- Lincoln Ne"
He said," I'm the owner of that bar and I think it is so cool that I see that t-shirt all the way down here in Mexico".
But Zeppelin turned a whole lotta kids onto them, many more than the old blues cats ever did with the original versions.
Magic Slim & The Teardrops - February 21, 2013: R.I.P. Magic Slim. We will allways remember you like this. Jon McDonald - guitar, background vocals Magic Slim - vocals, guitar, Chris Biedron - bass instrument, Vernal Taylor - drums, background vocals.
8 -> 9. Or maybe 10. Resistance is futile.
Wait a spell, get your heart shredded a couple of times real bad, then listen again. Should start gettin it. Good blues players are all about changin yer mood.
IF YOU AIN'T HAD THE BLUES, YOU AIN'T BREATHIN'
"When the Levee Breaks" is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.
So I'm cornfused why this album is 'Led Zeppelin' songs. But hey, any version of it is okay with me.
BTW, that is the same flood Randy Newman wrote a song about. To this day that flood, and the official reactions to it, have repercussions in the places it affected.
the brits were not stupid, public acccess public prorerty, they(many)claimed wrighting bill, some even got away with it because the orignators were dead with no family. the world KNOWS where the BLUES come from................
"When the Levee Breaks" is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.
So I'm cornfused why this album is 'Led Zeppelin' songs. But hey, any version of it is okay with me.
BTW, that is the same flood Randy Newman wrote a song about. To this day that flood, and the official reactions to it, have repercussions in the places it affected.
Have they removed the chicken wire screen yet in front of the band? Man oh Man did I have some times there. Did a Nuke inventory compliance inspection at one of the sites, 2 Army guys and 10 Air Force guys. Oh My God. We felt like we were nuked the next day. And indeed "Cryin' won't hep you!"
Wait a spell, get your heart shredded a couple of times real bad, then listen again. Should start gettin it. Good blues players are all about changin yer mood.
Uh, yeah...Tom, what's the original version of this song by your lights? Granted, this isn't it...but neither is Led Zep's.
You might want to check out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6C_5wxkuAQ
and see if you actually like the original...
Thanks for the link! I always appreciate knowing the real history.
There are songs being uncoverable. ' When the Levee...' is among them.
2/10
Oh I don't know that little band out of England....Zep I think it was did a pretty good job with it.
Probably the majority of Rock and some Jazz, but probably not all "genres of modern music".
There are songs being uncoverable. ' When the Levee...' is among them.
2/10
Uh, yeah...Tom, what's the original version of this song by your lights? Granted, this isn't it...but neither is Led Zep's.
You might want to check out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6C_5wxkuAQ
and see if you actually like the original...
very true
There are songs being uncoverable. ' When the Levee...' is among them.
2/10
Wait a spell, get your heart shredded a couple of times real bad, then listen again. Should start gettin it. Good blues players are all about changin yer mood.
jools wrote:
I can only suggest that you have no soul.
I suggest you have never colored outside the lines.....
jools wrote:
I can only suggest that you have no soul.
Boot in repsonse to Giselle62's question below. The irony of course is that Led Zep's version was a (unaccredited) cover. Memphis Minnie's and Kansas City Joe's was the original. Interesting—and hopefully factual—Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Levee_Breaks
Hell yeah!!!!!
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/bad-case-of-the-blues-as-music-festival-companies-cease-trading-668719.html
gumbo73039 wrote:
It's nice to be old and look back !
https://www.musicmaker.org/artists_profile/Lee-Gates
fredriley wrote:
Yep. Memphis Minnie.