Monday 14 December 2015

Lemons

Led Zeppelin's first tour of the US opened in Denver on Boxing Day 1968 and wrapped up in Miami Beach on 15 February 1969. It was on that initial jaunt that they first dropped a version of Howlin' Wolf's Killing Floor into their live set. But by the time they kicked off the second leg in the April, the song had transmogrified into The Lemon Song - c/w more Robert Plant babies than you can shake a shitty stick at.

And it was whilst in North America that year they took time out to record selections for what would become Led Zeppelin 2, the imaginatively titled follow up to their debut platter. And the album that would break them on both sides of the Atlantic.

This little bit of rock and roll plagiarism  may have cost them a few bob in out of court settlements and royalties, but by that time they were good for it.

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