Led Zeppelin released Led Zeppelin III

Led Zeppelin III Led Zeppelin

Released: October 5, 1970 Peak: 14 US, 14 UK, 14 CN, 14 AU, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 0.3 UK, 12.2 world (includes US and UK), 21.39 EAS Genre: classic rock/metal

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. Immigrant Song [2:25] Friends [3:54] Celebration Day [3:29] Since I’ve Been Loving You [7:23] Out on the Tiles [4:06] Gallows Pole [4:56] Tangerine [3:10] That’s the Way [5:37] Bron-Y-Aur Stomp [4:16] Hats off to (Roy) Harper [3:42] Total Running Time: 42:42 Also from This Era: Hey Hey What Can I Do [3:55] The Players: Robert Plant (vocals) Jimmy Page (guitar) John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards) John Bonham (drums)

Rating: 4.318 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album “Robert Plant has described the third Zeppelin album as their single most important statement.” TC On their previous two albums, the band “unleashed a relentless barrage of heavy blues and rockabilly riffs” AM which “revolutionized rock music and given new meaning to the word ‘heavy.’” TC “Led Zeppelin III provided the band with the necessary room to grow musically” AM making a “progression from straightforward rock towards folk and acoustic music.” WK Plant said, “The idea of using acoustic guitars and developing much more of a textural thing came about because if we weren’t careful we were going to end up part of a whole Grand Funk Railroad, James Gang thing that was sort of two-dimensional…It was definitely time to veer over to the left and see how far we could take it in another direction.” TC Jimmy “Page had long admired the British folk tradition – Bet Jansch and John Renbourn of Pentangle, Roy Harper, John Martyn, Davey Graham, and Fairport Convention. Plant shared his enthusiasm and also loved the weirdly fey Incredible String Band.” TC Plant said, “We went to Wales and lived on the side of a hill and wrote those song and walked and talked and thought and went off to the Abbey where they hid the Grail…It gave us so much energy…It was absolutely wonderful and my heart was so light and happy.” TC “The album was cut relatively quickly at another rural estate, Hedley Grange.” TC “The album was finished in America where it was mastered by Terry Manning, who had the wizard Alister Crowley’s mottos: ‘Do What Thou Wilt’ on side one and on side two, ‘So Mote It Be.’” TC Reissue A 2014 reissue added a second disc with alternate versions of songs from the album as well as a recording of “Key to the Highway” / “Trouble in Mind.” The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Immigrant Song Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: single (11/5/1970), Led Zeppelin III (1970), Remasters (compilation, 1992), Early Days (compilation, 1999), Mothership (compilation, 2007) B-side: “Hey Hey What Can I Do” Peak: 16 BB, 1 CL, 4 CN, 16 AU, 3 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 901.35 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Led Zeppelin was a blues band at its core – the most audacious of the generation of British rockers who devoured 40-year-old American music, cranked it up high and hard, welded titanium riffs onto it and brought it back home.” TM Led Zeppelin III offered a more diverse sound than its predecessors. “There are still a handful of metallic rockers” AM but they “aren’t as straightforward as before.” AM “Zep were famous for their extended, trippy jams and solos, but what’s miraculous about ‘Immigrant Song’ is its concision and groove. Guitar god Jimmy Page restricts himself to a handful of airtight riffs and tone bursts, and drummer John Bonham wields his sticks like they’re hammers of gods.” TM “The galloping Immigrant Song is powered by Robert Plant’s banshee wail.” AM It was written about the Viking invasions of England after Led Zeppelin did a tour of Iceland in June 1970. WK This is a “case of history softening what was once a brutal reality but who can fail to be stirred by the vision of Norsemen sweeping down from the land of ice and snow?” DT “This is ultimately a song about the way culture gets from one place to another — sometimes by mutual attraction, sometimes by force.” TM Led Zeppelin “single-handedly made Viking mythology sexier than it had been in a few hundred years.” TM

Friends Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: Led Zeppelin III (1970) Peak: 16 CL, 22 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 26.86 streaming About the Song: Led Zeppelin III showed the band reaching out with their sound. They even add a string section, arranged by Jones, on “Friends.” Page “wanted to achieve an Indian style of sound.” WK

Celebration Day Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones Released: Led Zeppelin III (1970), Remasters (compilation, 1992) Peak: 21 CL, 22 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 18.59 streaming About the Song: “Celebration Day turns blues-rock inside out with a warped slide guitar riff.” AM

Since I’ve Been Loving You Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones Released: Led Zeppelin III (1970), Remasters (compilation, 1992), Early Days (compilation, 1999), Mothership (compilation, 2007) Peak: 9 CL, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 129.85 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: As proof that “the band hasn’t left the blues behind” AM one of the first songs recorded for the album was “the epic Since I've Been Loving You.” AM The “bluesy classic…was originally intended for Led Zeppelin’s second album but was dropped in favor of ‘Whole Lotta Love.’” DT

Out on the Tiles Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham Released: Led Zeppelin III (1970) Peak: 21 CL, 21 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 27.17 streaming About the Song: “’Out on the Tiles’ lumbers along with a tricky, multi-part riff.” AM

Gallows Pole Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): traditional Released: Led Zeppelin III (1970) Peak: 8 CL, 2 A, 35 UK, 46 AU, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 33.34 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Much of Led Zeppelin III “is built on a folky, acoustic foundation that gives the music extra depth” AM and shows the band as “capable of playing different styles successfully.” WK “Gallows Pole” “is a reworking of a Leadbelly song that blends the British folk traditions with American blues in an entirely new way.” TC Led Zeppelin offers “a menacing flair” AM on the traditional folk song “The Maid Freed from the Gallows” as inspired by a version recorded by Fred Gerlach. WK

Tangerine Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page Released: Led Zeppelin III (1970) Peak: 12 CL, 17 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 116.81 streaming About the Song: Jimmy Page wrote Tangerine in 1968 while still with the Yardbirds. WK

That’s the Way Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: Led Zeppelin III (1970) Peak: 11 CL, 17 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 45.03 streaming About the Song: That’s the Way, originally called “The Boy Next Door,” was written “about the problems two people faced in a relationship and the clashes with their families.” WK Page “thought highly of Plant’s lyrics and considered it a breakthrough in their development as a songwriting team.” WK Rolling Stone critic Lester Bangs called it “beautiful and genuinely moving.” WK It is one of several “shimmering songs with graceful country flourishes.” AM

Bron-Y-Aur Stomp Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones Released: Led Zeppelin III (1970) Peak: 13 CL, 24 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 41.67 streaming About the Song: Bron-Y-Aur Stomp was originally known as “Jennings Farm Blues,” WK It was originally recorded in 1969 as an electric arrangement but reworked as “an infectious acoustic romp.” AM

Hats Off to (Roy) Harper Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: Led Zeppelin III (1970) Peak: 26 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 8.91 streaming About the Song: The album offers “the twisted bottleneck blues of Hats off to (Roy) Harper,” AM a reworking of the Bukka White song “Shake ‘Em on Down.” WK

Hey Hey What Can I Do Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham Released: B-side of “Immigrant Song”11/5/1970) Peak: 4 CL, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 117.44 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: While it wasn’t a hit on its own (it was the B-side of “Immigrant Song”) and never appeared on a Led Zeppelin studio album, “Hey Hey What Can I Do” became a radio favorite.

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 853. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Pages 138 and 297. TM Time magazine (10/24/2011). “All Time 100 Songs” WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/21/2008; last updated 9/11/2025.