- Killing Floor (song)
Song_infobox
Name = Killing Floor
Album =The Real Folk Blues
Artist =Howlin' Wolf
Released =1966
Genre =Blues
Length = ~2:53
Composer = Chester Arthur Burnett
Label =Chess Records
track_no = 1
next = Louise
next_no = 2"Killing Floor" is a song written and recorded by
Howlin' Wolf in 1964. It was released on the album, "The Real Folk Blues " in 1966. This song has been performed live by many blues and rock guitar artists, includingJimi Hendrix ,Led Zeppelin ,Byther Smith andAlbert King .Led Zeppelin performed the song live in 1968 and 1969, and later used it as the basis for their song "The Lemon Song". Bootleg copies of earlyLed Zeppelin concerts include rough versions of the song credited as "Killing Floor." Their version, which also included some lyrics from Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues ," credited Chester Burnett (Howlin' Wolf) on some copies of "Led Zeppelin II", with the original title. The song was retitled "The Lemon Song " and after legal involvement on the part of Burnett's publishers, the song was credited to "Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham/Burnett".Hendrix recorded a spirited uptempo version of the song live in BBC studio. This can be heard on his "BBC Sessions" album. Jimi Hendrix also covered it at the
Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 and can be heard on the live albumJimi Plays Monterey .Electric Flag , a blues rock soul group led by guitaristMike Bloomfield , covered the song on their album "A Long Time Comin" released in1968 .The Wolf's long time guitarist,
Hubert Sumlin still performs this song. He played it withEric Clapton ,Jimmie Vaughan andRobert Cray at The Crossroads Guitar Festival.The song's title references the slaughtering area of a
slaughterhouse . The name also features as the title of an action-adventure novel byLee Child (Killing Floor); the connection is likely to have arisen from the main characterJack Reacher 's search for blues guitaristBlind Blake and the apparent link in musical genres.
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