- Thank You (Led Zeppelin song)
Song infobox
Name = Thank You
Artist =Led Zeppelin
Album =Led Zeppelin II
Released =22 October 1969
track_no = 4
Recorded = 1969, Morgan Studios, London
Genre =Hard rock
Length = 4:49
Writer = Page/Plant
Label = Atlantic
Producer =Jimmy Page
Chart position =
Background =
prev = "The Lemon Song "
prev_no = 3
next = "Heartbreaker"
next_no = 5"Thank You" is a song written byRobert Plant andJimmy Page that was released by English rock bandLed Zeppelin on their1969 album "Led Zeppelin II ".Overview
This song signaled a deeper involvement in songwriting by singer
Robert Plant , being the first Led Zeppelin song that he wrote all the lyrics for. According to various Led Zeppelin biographies, this is also the song that made Jimmy Page realize that Plant could now handle writing the majority of the lyrics for the band's songs. The first lines of Plant's composition heavily resemble those in theJimi Hendrix song "If 6 Was 9 ".The song features some delicate Hammond organ playing by John Paul Jones, and ends with the organ fading into near-silence before coming back about 10 seconds later. This has created a problem for radio stations wishing to play the track, which must decide whether to accept the
dead air or cut it off. Some stations typically run edited versions with the silence eliminated, whilst others play "Thank You" together with "The Lemon Song ", because there's no pause between them on the album.For the recording of this track, Page played on a Vox 12-string guitar. [http://www.iem.ac.ru/zeppelin/docs/interviews/page_93.gw Interview with Jimmy Page] , "
Guitar World " magazine, 1993]Live history
"Thank You" was a popular song when played live at
Led Zeppelin concerts , and became something of a showcase for Jones' keyboard work, as he often played an extended keyboard solo (either on theHammond organ or on some 1972-73 versions, theMellotron ) as an introduction to the song. The piece was eventually dropped from the band's standard live setlist following the 1973 tour of the United States, when it was only occasionally used as an encore, for example, at the tour's final concert inMadison Square Garden .Other versions
In
1992 Plant sang part of "Thank You" before merging in to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love " by Queen at theThe Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert .Page and Plant revived the song in1994 on their "" tour. They played a somewhat mellower arrangement for most of their shows from 1995 through 1998 as either an opening number or an encore.Several bands have also covered Led Zeppelin's song or played it live:
*
The Flaming Lips covered it in 1987 and it can be found on the compilation "Finally the Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid ".
*Duran Duran recorded a version for the1995 Led Zeppelintribute album "Encomium".
*Tori Amos covered it on her "Crucify" EP.
*Chris Cornell covered it during his Unplugged concert inStockholm ,Sweden as part of the promotional tour of the newAudioslave album, "Revelations ".
*In 2001Fred Durst fromLimp Bizkit andWes Scantlin fromPuddle of Mudd performed the song at theMTV Europe Music Awards .
*Tesla covered it and released it as their first single from their CD of covers, "Real to Reel " in 2007.
*Coalesce covered it on their Led Zeppelin cover album, "There Is Nothing New Under the Sun ".
*Lizz Wright recorded a cover of the tune for her 2008 album "The Orchard ".References
ources
*"Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song", by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
*"The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin", by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
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