| "Tangerine" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Led Zeppelin | |
| from the album Led Zeppelin III | |
| Released | 5 October 1970 |
| Recorded | May–June 1970 (?); 6 July 1970 [1] |
| Studio | Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, Headley Grange, Hampshire; Island Studios, London [1] |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:12 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Composer(s) | Jimmy Page |
| Lyricist(s) | Jimmy Page (disputed) |
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Page |
"Tangerine" is a folk rock song by the English band Led Zeppelin. Recorded in 1970, it is included on the second, more acoustic-oriented side of Led Zeppelin III (1970). The plaintive ballad reflects on lost love and features strummed acoustic guitar rhythm with pedal steel guitar.
The Yardbirds, with guitarist Jimmy Page, recorded an early version of the song in 1968, titled "Knowing That I'm Losing You". When it was released on the Page-produced 2017 album Yardbirds '68 , Keith Relf's vocal was left out. "Tangerine" has been performed in concert by Led Zeppelin at different points in their career and has been recorded by other musicians.
"Tangerine" dates back to Page's time as lead guitarist with the Yardbirds. [3] In April 1968, the group recorded demos for several songs at the Columbia Studios in New York City. [4] [lower-alpha 1] Page biographer George Case notes that "Knowing That I'm Losing You" is very similar to "Tangerine" [7] and suggests that Jackie DeShannon inspired the tune. [8] Recordings from these sessions (with producer Manny Kellem) and the concert performance later used for Live Yardbirds: Featuring Jimmy Page were rejected for release at the time, [9] but were issued in 2017 on the Yardbirds '68 compilation album produced by Page. While the demo recorded by the Yardbirds featured a vocal by Keith Relf, the 2017 release does not include it.
To develop material for a follow-up album to Led Zeppelin II , Page and singer Robert Plant took a working holiday at Bron-Yr-Aur, a rustic retreat in South Snowdonia, Wales. [10] Plant in particular was inspired by the back-to-the-land trends in northern California and the British folk scene. [11] Accompanied only by acoustic guitar, hand-claps, and harmonica, the pair created tunes that served as the basis for several songs on Led Zeppelin III and later albums. [12] Although written earlier, "Tangerine" reflects this rural sensibility [13] and journalist Nigel Williamson includes it with the acoustic material born of the Bron-Yr-Aur sojourn. [14] Other earlier influences include songs recorded at Mickie Most's Donovan sessions, when John Paul Jones and Page were studio musicians. [3]
The song begins with a guitar figure, then a pause to set the right tempo. The guitar proceeds with an A minor–G–D guitar progression. [7] Page actually plays two guitar parts – one on a six-string and the other on a twelve-string Giannini Craviola acoustic guitar [15] – which, due to the audio mixing, almost sound as one.
Plant then sings the first verse accompanied by the backing guitar chords:
Measuring a summer's day
I only find it slips away to grey
The hours, they bring me pain
Bassist John Paul Jones complements Page on mandolin.
The second verse contains the chorus, at the beginning of which Jones on bass and drummer John Bonham come in – Jones follows the chord changes and Bonham plays a straightforward, backing beat. Through the use of double tracking, Plant provides a harmony vocal line. [16] Page also adds pedal steel guitar fills; however, he departs from the typical American country music approach by adding a wah-wah pedal tonal effect. [17] For the third verse, Plant returns to singing accompanied by guitar chording.
The verses are broken up with an instrumental middle section with Page, Jones, and Bonham. Page solos on a heavily sustained Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar, which is also double tracked. Led Zeppelin biographer Dave Lewis calls it "a smooth woman-tone solo" [17] [lower-alpha 2] After a second chorus, the song winds down with pedal steel fills and ends with an acoustic guitar figure. Led Zeppelin recorded the song at Headley Grange, Headley, East Hampshire, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. [18] The song was engineered and later mixed by Andy Johns at Olympic Studios in London. [18]
According to Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin: [1]
Although writers do not question who composed the music for the song, [lower-alpha 3] there is some disagreement over who wrote the lyrics. In addition to being credited as the songwriter on all Led Zeppelin releases, Page claims to be responsible for the lyrics: "I'd written it after an old emotional upheaval and I just changed a few of the lyrics for the new version". [20] "Tangerine" and "Dazed and Confused" are the only Led Zeppelin songs with lyrics that credit Page as the sole songwriter. [7] [lower-alpha 4]
However, Case, Shadwick, and Williamson identify the Yardbirds' song as a joint or co-composition by Page and Yardbirds' singer and primary lyricist Keith Relf. [7] [3] Yardbirds' drummer Jim McCarty and bassist Chris Dreja both assert that Relf wrote the words for "Knowing That I'm Losing You"; [19] they and Jane Relf (sister and singer who also performed with Relf) believe some of his original lines found their way into "Tangerine". [7]
"Tangerine" was issued as an album track on Led Zeppelin III on 5 October 1970 in the US and 23 October 1970 in the UK and quickly went to number one on the album charts. [22] It was included on the LP record's second side, which featured more acoustic- and folk-influenced tunes. [23] Williamson notes that "the song also points the way to the future ... the acoustic guitar intro can easily be seen as an early template for 'Stairway to Heaven'". [16] During Led Zeppelin's 1971–72 tours, they regularly performed the song and recordings appear on several bootleg albums. [24]
Footnotes
Citations
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Little Games is the fourth American album by English rock band the Yardbirds. Recorded and released in 1967, it was their first album recorded after becoming a quartet with Jimmy Page as the sole guitarist and Chris Dreja switching to bass. It was also the only Yardbirds album produced by Mickie Most.
"Dazed and Confused" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Jake Holmes in 1967. Performed in a folk rock-style, he recorded it for his debut album "The Above Ground Sound" of Jake Holmes. Although some concluded that it was about a bad acid trip, Holmes insists the lyrics refer to the effects of a girl's indecision on ending a relationship.
Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds, or simply Having a Rave Up, is the second American album by English rock group the Yardbirds. It was released in November 1965, eight months after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton on guitar. It includes songs with both guitarists and reflects the group's blues rock roots and their early experimentations with psychedelic and hard rock. The title refers to the driving "rave up" arrangement the band used in several of their songs.
"Your Time Is Gonna Come" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on their 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin. The lyrics concern an unfaithful woman whom the singer claims will pay the price for her deceitful ways.
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"Achilles Last Stand" is a song by the English rock group Led Zeppelin released as the opening track on their seventh studio album, Presence (1976). Guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant began writing the song during the summer of 1975 and were influenced by Eastern music, mythology, and exposure to diverse cultures during their travels. At roughly ten-and-a-half minutes, it is one of the group's longest studio recordings and one of their most complex, with interwoven sections and multiple, overdubbed guitar parts.
"No Quarter" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin that appears on their 1973 album Houses of the Holy. It was written by John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant. The song became a centerpiece at all Led Zeppelin concerts thereafter, until their final tour. It appears in both the film versions and both live album versions of The Song Remains the Same, released in 1976 and expanded in 2007. It appeared once more in 1994 on Page and Plant's reunion album as the title track. It also appears on Led Zeppelin's 2012 live album Celebration Day, which documented their 2007 reunion performance at the O2 Arena in London. It was re-released on the deluxe edition of Houses of the Holy.
"Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1970 as the B-side of the single "Immigrant Song" in the US.
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"All My Love" is the sixth song on Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through the Out Door. Credited to Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, it is a rock ballad that features a synthesizer solo by Jones. It was written in honour of Plant's son Karac, who died while Led Zeppelin were on their 1977 North American tour.
"That's the Way" is a folk rock ballad by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their third album, Led Zeppelin III, released in 1970. As with several of the tracks on the album, it is an acoustic song.
"Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" is a song by the English rock group the Yardbirds. Written and recorded in 1966, it is considered one of their most progressive works. The song was the group's first to feature the dual-lead guitar line-up of Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. The two contribute an array of guitar parts during the instrumental sections, described as "a full-on six-string apocalypse". Lyrically, it deals with notions of past life and déjà vu.
"Thank You" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin from their second studio album Led Zeppelin II (1969). It was written by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, and produced by Page.
"Shapes of Things" is a song by the English rock group the Yardbirds. With its Eastern-sounding, feedback-laden guitar solo and environmentalist, anti-war lyrics, several music writers have identified it as the first popular psychedelic rock song. It is built on musical elements contributed by several group members in three different recording studios in the US, and was the first Yardbirds composition to become a record chart hit; when released as a single on 25 February 1966, the song reached number three in the UK and number eleven in the US.
"Bring It On Home" is a blues song written by American music arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon. Sonny Boy Williamson II recorded it in 1963, but the song was not released until 1966. Led Zeppelin adapted it in part as a homage to Williamson in 1969 and subsequently, the song has been recorded by several artists.
"The Wanton Song" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their sixth studio album, 1975's Physical Graffiti. It was developed from a jam session during rehearsals.
"Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is a song recorded by English rock band Led Zeppelin for their third album, Led Zeppelin III, released in 1970.
"Candy Store Rock" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1976 on their album Presence. It was also released as a single in the United States, but it did not chart.
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 greatest guitarists. The band's other members during 1963–1968 were vocalist/harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja, and bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, with Dreja switching to bass when Samwell-Smith departed in 1966. The band had a string of hits throughout the mid-1960s, including "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul", "Shapes of Things", and "Over Under Sideways Down".
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