| As the title suggests, the song is based on
one of the most popular structures in Rock And Roll; namely, the 12
bar blues progression (in A). The phrase "Rock and Roll" was a term
Blues musicians used, which meant sex. |
| The band often used this either as an encore
or to open live shows from 1971-1975. |
| This came about during a jam session. Tapes
were rolling while the band improvised on Little Richard's "Keep a
Knockin'." |
| Ian Stewart, the piano player and road manager
for the Rolling Stones, played the piano. |
| Robert Plant wrote the lyrics, which were a
response to critics who claimed their previous album, Led
Zeppelin III, wasn't really Rock and Roll. Led Zeppelin III
had more of an acoustic, Folk sound, and Plant wanted to prove they
could still rock out. |
| Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones played
this at Live Aid in 1985. It was the first time they played together
since the death of John Bonham in 1980. Tony Thompson and Phil
Collins sat in for Bonham on drums. |
| Besides Live Aid, the remaining members of Led
Zeppelin played this on 2 other occasions. When Robert Plant's
daughter Carmen turned 21 in 1989, they played it at her birthday
party. They also played it at Jason Bonham's wedding in 1990. Jason
is John Bonham's son, and he sat in on drums on both performances. |
| This has been covered by many other artists,
including Def Leppard and Heart. In 2001, it was recorded by Double
Trouble (Stevie Ray Vaughan's backup band), for their 2001 album
Been A Long Time. Susan Tedeschi sang lead on the track. |
| All 4 band members got writing credits for
this. Many Zeppelin songs are credited only to Page and Plant. |
| This was the first Led Zeppelin song used in a
commercial. Cadillac used it to kick off a new advertising campaign
in 2002 with the tagline "Breakthrough." The company was going for a
hip, new image, since their audience was slowly dying off. The spots
aired for the first time on the Super Bowl, and sales rose 16% the
next year. |
