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"The Rain Song" is a song from English rock band Led Zeppelin's fifth album Houses of the Holy, released in 1973.
Recording
"The Rain Song" is a love ballad of over 7 minutes in length. Guitarist Jimmy Page originally constructed the melody of this song at his home in Plumpton, England, where he had recently installed a studio console. A new Vista model, it was partly made up from the Pye Mobile Studio which had been used to record the group's 1970 Royal Albert Hall performance and The Who's Live at Leeds album.
Page was able to bring in a completed arrangement of the melody, for which singer Robert Plant matched some lyrics. These lyrics are considered by Plant himself to be his best overall vocal performance. The song also features a mellotron played by John Paul Jones to add to the orchestral effect, whilst Page played a Danelectro guitar.
George Harrison was reportedly the inspiration for "The Rain Song" when he made a comment to Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, about the fact that the group never wrote any ballads. In tribute to Harrison, the opening two notes are recognisably borrowed from his ballad "Something."
The working title for this track was 'Slush', a reference to its easy listening mock orchestral arrangement.
Live history
During Led Zeppelin concerts from late 1972 until 1975, the band played this song immediately following "The Song Remains the Same", presenting the songs in the same order as they appeared on the album. They organized their setlist in this manner because Page used a Gibson EDS-1275 double-necked guitar for both songs: the top, 12-string portion for "The Song Remains the Same" and then switching to the bottom, 6-string portion for "The Rain Song". The song was dropped from the 1977 U.S. tour, but returned for Led Zeppelin's 1979 concerts in Copenhagen, Denmark and at the Knebworth Music Festival, as well as their European tour in 1980. "The Rain Song" was the only song from Houses of the Holy performed on the 1980 European tour. In this incarnation, Page again utilized the double-neck, the only known time he used that guitar solely for the 6-string portion without using the 12-string portion on a preceding song. For all live versions of the song, the orchestral string sounds were played by Jones on either the mellotron (1972-1975) or a Yamaha synthesizer (1979-1980), as the band never utilised a string section on-stage.
When played live, Page used the 6-string neck of the EDS-1275 for "The Rain Song" in order to have two different tunings on the same guitar. The 12-string was tuned to Standard tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E) for his use on "The Song Remains the Same". The alternative tuning used for "The Rain Song" on the 6-string next was Asus4 (E-A-D-A-D-E) - a step higher than the album cut, which is D-G-C-G-C-D. This is quite an uncommon modal tuning and makes for a very rich sounding accompaniment, led by John Paul Jones.
Other versions
Page and Plant recorded a version of the song in 1994 but it was not originally released on their album No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded. It was, however, released on the special tenth anniversary reissue of that album in 2004.
A cover version of "The Rain Song" was recorded by Jason Bonham, son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, and released on his 1997 album In the Name of My Father - The Zepset
References in other media
"The Rain Song" has appeared in two films: Almost Famous, directed by Cameron Crowe (who, as a teen reporter for Rolling Stone magazine, covered Led Zeppelin), and Led Zeppelin's own 1976 concert film, The Song Remains the Same (and accompanying soundtrack), as part of lead singer Robert Plant's fantasy sequence.
References
- ^ Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
- Led Zeppelin and the Mellotron
- ^ Edwards, Gavin (30 July 2003). "Led Zeppelin review". Rolling Stone.
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Sources
- 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
External links
- Review: All Music Guide
