Today in Music (1969): Led Zeppelin released its second album

Led Zeppelin II Led Zeppelin

Released: October 22, 1969 Peak: 17 US, 11 UK, 17 CN, 15 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 12.0 US, 1.2 UK, 24.5 world (includes US and UK), 35.05 EAS Genre: classic rock/metal

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. Whole Lotta Love [5:34] What Is and What Should Never Be [4:45] The Lemon Song [6:19] Thank You [4:49] Heartbreaker [4:14] Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman) [2:39] Ramble On [4:24] Moby Dick [4:20] Bring It on Home [4:21] Total Running Time: 41:21 The Players: Robert Plant (vocals) Jimmy Page (guitar) John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards) John Bonham (drums)

Rating: 4.536 out of 5.00 (average of 28 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

The Beginning Led Zeppelin formed in London in 1968. They grew started as an attempt to keep the Yardbirds alive. Guitarist Jimmy Page had joined in 1966 and when the band imploded two years later, he and rhythm guitarist/bassist Chris Dreja tried to keep the band alive. When Dreja dropped out, Page formed a brand new band (initially called the New Yardbirds) which included John Paul Jones, a bassist and keyboardist who had worked on some Yardbirds’ sessions with Page. He also recruited singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham, who’d worked together in Band of Joy. The newly christened Led Zeppelin (so named because of Who drummer Keith Moon’s proclamation that the band would go over like a “lead balloon”) signed to Atlantic Records in November 1968. Their “hard-edged” TM debut, released in January 1969, “suggested much of the preceding activity in British blues-rock had been child’s play.” TM Reinventing the Blues With little opportunity to write new material, the group tapped into the blues tradition of “borrowing” and “recast lyrics and melodic ideas from old blues standards” TM they performed in concert. AM “The true measure of Led Zeppelin is how far they transcended those influences.” TBThey may not have written the songs, but they came “to fully own them.” TM They recrafted the blues “into a startlingly visceral, grab-you-by-the-throat sound that changed rock forever.” TM They simplified the riffs, pumped up the volume, and added extended instrumental solos for a sound which is “heavy and hard, brutal and direct.” AM They “radically revamp the outlines of the music until it speaks with a bold, sometimes brutal fury.” TM They “caused a nation of hippie-dippie longhairs to put down their flowers and grab their crotches.” VB Recording the Second Album Within six months, Led Zeppelin had become a headlining act. This led to the less-than-ideal circumstances of trying to write and record a sophomore album while also touring America and Europe. From January to August 1969, they squeezed in recording time at multiple studios in the United States and United Kingdom. Songs often grew out of improvisational jams on stage. As such, the songs reflect the “spontaneity and urgency” WK in which they were crafted. Jimmy Page served as producer and this album marked the first on which Eddie Kramer was an engineer. The Heavy Metal Blueprint The resulting Led Zeppelin II “doesn’t have the eclecticism of the group’s debut, it’s arguably more influential.” AM It “provided the blueprint for all the heavy metal bands that followed it” AM by foreshadowing “the basic guitar attack of heavy metal.” TM This is “macho metal the way it was meant to sound.” VB Hard Rock Meets Folk? Led Zeppelin didn’t just wow audiences with their ability to rock, but their ability to mellow out. “Led Zeppelin II is an album to which you can go berserk or – and this is rare for a hard rock album – you could just sit down and listen. Either way it is rewarding.” TB “Lighter, folk-tinged tunes” TM like “What Is and What Should Never Be,” “Ramble On,” and “Thank You” would “anticipate the mystical airs Zeppelin would pursue later, most successfully with the epic ‘Stairway to Heaven.’” TM Reissue A 2014 deluxe edition added a second disc with alternate versions of the songs. The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Whole Lotta Love Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): John Bonham, Willie Dixon, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant (see lyrics here) Released: single (11/7/1969), Led Zeppelin II (1969), Remasters (compilation, 1992), Early Days (compilation, 1999), Mothership (compilation, 2007) Peak: 4 BB, 2 CB, 5 GR, 4 HR, 1 CL, 21 UK, 2 CN, 1 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.4 UK, 1.4 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 169.25 video, 724.25 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “The crunching ‘Whole Lotta Love’” DBW can be traced back to a 1962 Willie Dixon song, although he wasn’t credited until 1985 after a lawsuit was settled out of court. Dixon was a Chicago blues songwriter who penned the song “You Need Love” in 1962 for Muddy Waters. The Small Faces, a British rock band, covered the song as “You Need Loving” on their debut album in 1966. According to Steve Marriott, the band’s singer and guitarist, future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant came to some of their gigs and expressed interest in the song. WK The band’s reworking of “You Need Love” bore similarities to the Small Faces’ version. Marriott pointed out that Plant “sang it the same, phrased it the same, even the stops at the end were the same.” WK However, it wasn’t until Dixon brought legal action in 1985 that he got a rightful share of the credit. RS500 The band settled out of court for an undisclosed amount and, on subsequent releases, included Dixon’s name in the credits. WK Dixon used the money to set up a program which provided instruments for schools. SF Plant also tossed in lines from “Shake for Me” and “Back Door Man,” a pair of Dixon songs written for Howlin’ Wolf. RS500 The band also borrows a phrase from Blind Lemon Jefferson and Robert Johnson, in asking to have one’s lemon squeezed “till the juice runs down my leg.” RP “Page and engineer Eddie Kramer pushed technology to the limits, creating a soundscape of simulated sex best appreciated on headphones. Page used a Theremin for some high-pitched wails. A thunderous snare roll from Bonham leads the band into Page’s guitar solo, its phrases crunchingly punctuated by the rhythm section.” TB Page developed the riff in the summer of 1968 on his houseboat on the River Thames in England, although bassist John Paul Jones said it came out of improvisation on stage during their song “Dazed and Confused.” WK This was Led Zeppelin’s “first undisputed classic and a strong contender for the track that ‘invented’ heavy metal. It is a musical jackhammer…with a gargantuan three-note riff.” TB In 2014, a BBC radio listeners’ poll rated “Whole Lotta Love” as having the greatest guitar riff of all time. WK The song was also rated in the top 5 on similar lists from Q magazine and VH1. WK

What Is and What Should Never Be Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: Led Zeppelin II (1969), Early Days (compilation, 1999) Peak: 3 CL, 4 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 61.95 streaming About the Song: “On Ramble On and What Is and What Should Never Be explosive choruses detonate more delicate verses that evoked Tolkien and West Coast rock respectively. Zeppelin understood the power of dynamic contrast.” TB “Ramble On” features some “nice melody and some terrific bass playing from Jones.” DBW

The Lemon Song Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham Released: Led Zeppelin II (1969) Peak: 8 CL, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 40.46 streaming About the Song: “Whole Lotta Love” was Led Zeppelin’s most high-profile reinterpretation of the blues. Elsewhere on the album they remake Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” into The Lemon Song and cover Bring It on Home, another Willie Dixon song – this one made famous by Sonny Boy Williamson II.

Thank You Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: Led Zeppelin II (1969) First Charted: 12/17/1994 (live version by Page & Plant) Peak: 3 CL, 8 AR, 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 58.19 streaming About the Song: Songs like Thank You also “sport light, acoustic touches.” AM This is “a beautiful ballad…with tumbling cascades of 12-string guitar and a slow Hammond fade.” TB

Heartbreaker Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham Released: Italian single (10/22/1969), Led Zeppelin II (1969), Remasters (compilation, 1992), Mothership (compilation, 2007) First Charted: 3/14/1970 Peak: 65 BB, 1 CL, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 164.41 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The album includes “heavy rock songs…like Living Loving Maid” JA with “its frenetic guitar break,” TB and the “electrifying riffs” TB of Heartbreaker. The two songs have become inextricably linked, played in tandem on classic rock radio.

Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman) Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: B-side of “Whole Lotta Love” (11/7/1969), Led Zeppelin II (1969) First Charted: 3/14/1970 Peak: 65 BB, 1 CL, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 40.31 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The album includes “heavy rock songs…like Living Loving Maid” JA with “its frenetic guitar break,” TB and the “electrifying riffs” TB of Heartbreaker. The two songs have become inextricably linked, played in tandem on classic rock radio.

Ramble On Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: Led Zeppelin II (1969), Remasters (compilation, 1992), Mothership (compilation, 2007) Peak: 1 CL, 66 CN, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 34.60 video, 387.85 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “On Ramble On and What Is and What Should Never Be explosive choruses detonate more delicate verses that evoked Tolkien and West Coast rock respectively. Zeppelin understood the power of dynamic contrast.” TB “Ramble On” features some “nice melody and some terrific bass playing from Jones.” DBW

Moby Dick Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham Released: Led Zeppelin II (1969) Peak: 14 CL, 24 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 37.79 streaming About the Song: This “was designed as a showcase for Bonham’s drum solo. A previous drum showpiece featured a different arrangement called ‘Pat’s Delight’ (after his wife). Moby Dick is in drop D tuning and features a variety of drums and percussive instruments played with bare hands as well as drumsticks. It was a regular part of Led Zeppelin’s live show, developing to include additional percussion and electronic drums.” WK

Bring It on Home Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: Led Zeppelin II (1969) Peak: 9 CL, 21 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 40.09 streaming About the Song: “Whole Lotta Love” was Led Zeppelin’s most high-profile reinterpretation of the blues. Elsewhere on the album they remake Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” into The Lemon Song and cover Bring It on Home, another Willie Dixon song – this one made famous by Sonny Boy Williamson II.

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine JA John Alroy, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews CL Colin Larkin (1998). Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums. Virgin Books: London, England. Page 57. TM Tom Moon (2008). 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Workman Publishing Company, Inc.: New York, NY. RP Robert Palmer (1995). Rock & Roll: An Unruly History. New York, NY; Harmony Books. Page 124. RS500 Rolling Stone (12/04). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” (“Whole Lotta Love”) SF Songfacts page for “Whole Lotta Love” TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 117. VB Vibe (Dec. 1999). “100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century,” pages 154-164. WK Wikipedia page for Led Zeppelin II WK Wikipedia page for “Whole Lotta Love” DBW David Bertrand Wilson, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/21/2008; last updated 9/10/2025.