Although originally credited as a Jimmy Page composition, it is actually an instrumental version of a traditional folk song called "Blackwater Side". Since its guitar arrangement is virtually identical to the version previously recorded by singer-songwriter Bert Jansch, it is sometimes credited to "Jansch/Page". However, Page plays in DADGAD tuning, whereas Jansch uses a simple "bass to D" tuning.
Folk singer Anne Briggs, a friend of Jansch, taught him the song; she, in turn, learnt it from the folk music historian A. L. Lloyd.
Black Mountain Side
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"Black Mountain Side"
Song by Led Zeppelin
From the album Led Zeppelin I
Album released January 12, 1969
Genre Hard Rock
Song Length 2:12
Record label Atlantic Records
Producer Jimmy Page
Track Number Track 6
Black Mountain Side is the sixth track on rock group Led Zeppelin's eponymous debut album.
Although originally credited as a Jimmy Page composition, it is actually an instrumental version of a traditional folk song called "Blackwater Side". Since its guitar arrangement is virtually identical to the version previously recorded by singer-songwriter Bert Jansch, it is sometimes credited to "Jansch/Page". However, Page plays in DADGAD tuning, whereas Jansch uses a simple "bass to D" tuning.
Folk singer Anne Briggs, a friend of Jansch, taught him the song; she, in turn, learnt it from the folk music historian A. L. Lloyd. She also recorded her own version, though this was not until the early '70s — a few years after the Jansch and Page interpretations. Page later claimed that he, like Jansch, also learnt the song directly from Briggs, though given the strong resemblance between his and Jansch's versions this seems unlikely.
On Led Zeppelin, the song starts over the end of the previous track, "Your Time Is Gonna Come"; the two, however, were never played in concert together.
An overdubbed rapid guitar lick can be heard on the album version. Page did this to simulate the sound of a sitar.
When the song was included in Led Zeppelin's live sets, it was usually featured as part of Jimmy Page's instrumental "White Summer". Page would sit on a stool for the duration of the two songs and usually played them on a Danelectro guitar, tuned differently than his favored Gibson Les Paul. These songs were used by the band to showcase Page's skills as a guitarist, as he plays almost entirely by himself, with drummer John Bonham adding some fills later in the song.
A live version of this song can be seen on the Led Zeppelin DVD, during their 1970 Royal Albert Hall appearance. A similar version can be heard on the expanded version of Coda, an album of outtakes released in 1982.
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