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Saturday, August 02, 2008

LED ZEPPELIN : Fool In The Rain (1979)

R.I.P. William F. Ludwig II (1916 - 2008)
The name of Ludwig is synonymous with the manufacture of drums, and Ludwig instruments have been played by generations of drummers. William F. Ludwig II's father was the founder of the drum-making dynasty, but it was William junior's marketing expertise that established the company as a world leader.

One key sponsorship was of Joe Morello from the Dave Brubeck Quartet. By sheer good fortune, Ringo Starr started playing Ludwig drums and in 1964, when the Beatles played Chicago, Ludwig presented Starr with a gold-plated snare-drum by way of thanks. Many rock drummers played and endorsed Ludwig drums, including John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Alan White of Yes and Ginger Baker from Cream. See
obituary .
Ludwig drums are well-known in rock history, and this track has John Bonham playing the drums on the Zep classic "Fool In The Rain". As a bonus, I've included two drum-only tracks of the song; these were made during the sessions for the song in 1978. The beat is deceptive, more complicated than you would initially assume.
Here is the wiki blurb:
The song exhibits a Latin feel. Drummer John Bonham plays a New Orleans-style shuffle beat, along with a samba-style breakdown. A master drum track shows that the samba breakdown (2:25) was recorded separately. It was their final song ever to make the pop singles charts during the band's tenure, reaching #21 in 1980.
Bass player John Paul Jones and vocalist Robert Plant got the idea for the samba beat from watching the 1978 FIFA World Cup tournament in Argentina. Guitarist Jimmy Page used an MXR Blue Box effect pedal during the solo to produce the octave sound.
Lyrically, the song is about a man who is supposed to meet a woman on a certain corner. When the woman doesn't appear, he is filled with grief at being stood up. By the final verse, he wonders whether he'd been waiting for her on the wrong corner, making him the eponymous "Fool in the Rain."
This song was never performed live at Led Zeppelin concerts because the group didn't think the sound came off well. The piano was quite necessary in the song, but with John Paul Jones on piano there could be no bass. There is also a twelve-string guitar line at one point in the song and the guitar solo that has to be pulled off. However, on October 5, 2005, Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant performed the song with Pearl Jam at a Hurricane Katrina benefit show.

Song : "Fool In The Rain" (written by John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant)
From the LP "IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR" (Swan Song) Aug. 15, 1979

LINEUP:
John Bonham : drums
John Paul Jones : bass, keyboards
Jimmy Page : guitars
Robert Plant : vocals

Get it here:
Fool In The Rain
Drum track 01
Drum track 02

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This song is great...

The latin break in the middle reminds me of Dirty Dancing for some reason? lol

Maybe I shouldn't have shared that here... meh.