Since I've Been Loving You

The song “Since I've Been Loving You” was one of the first recorded for this album. The group began to compose the song during the preparations for the release of Led Zeppelin II , but was too busy working on Whole Lotta Love , and returned to this song later. During the studio recording of the composition, the overdubbing technique was used in a very small amount, and according to guitarist Jimmy Page , “Since I've Been Loving You” turned out to be the most difficult to record from all the songs on the album. For all this, the technical complexity of the performance was complemented by a strong sense of self-criticism inherent in the group members. At the same time, the famous guitar solo of the song in its final version was recorded by Page on the first try, and the sound engineer of the group Terry Manning subsequently said that he considered this solo the best in history.

When recording the composition, Led Zeppelin's keyboardist and bassist, John Paul Jones , played the Hammond organ , and used bass pedals for bass parts.

When listening carefully to the song, you can hear that Bonham ’s bass drum pedals “Ludwig L201 Speed ​​King” produce a side creaking sound that sounds like a squeak (due to which, in fact, this model was called the “Squeak King”), and Paige in one of her the interview said that this nuance was the only drawback that he noticed in the song in preparation for the release of the album, joking that every time he listened to it, the squeak seemed to him more and more annoying and loud. In turn, Plant noted that “Since I've ...” was rather complicated in terms of vocal performance - the required sound of the voice, including emotional coloring, was achieved after many failed trials.

“Since I've Been Loving You” quickly became one of Led Zeppelin’s most beloved songs, and was often performed by the group throughout almost all further music tours, with the exception of the 1975 North American tour (Page was caused by a ring finger injury before Page the very beginning of the tour and prevented the proper solo playing) ^[1] . The slow blues-rock composition became especially popular among the female half of the group’s art lovers. It is noteworthy that for the first time the concert performance of the song took place even before its official release on the disc - at the well-known performance on January 9, 1970 in Albert Hall , and then it, having not yet acquired its final appearance, had significant differences in construction, in particular, when playing keyboards (there were no Jones parts on the Hammond organ) ^[1] . Since 1977, the introductory part of the composition could sometimes be opened with a guitar solo from Tea for One (a song in the musical component written specifically based on “Since I've ...”). And in general, “Since I've Been Loving You”, like most of the other songs of the group included in the concert programs, underwent certain changes with almost every new performance, confirming the reputation of the Led Zeppelin members as talented improvisers of their work. The biggest changes, compared with the studio version, concerned just the guitar solo, the structure of which was complicated and supplemented by new elements. One of the most famous concert versions of the song is the New York Madison Square Garden show in July 1973.

“Since I've Been Loving You” remains among the most famous songs of Led Zeppelin, and fully reflects the band’s enthusiasm for the blues. Despite the fact that this is one of the few songs of the album that were not played on acoustics, the slow and calm pace of the song preserves its general positive mood and gives a romantic component. After the composition was released, however, it was repeatedly noted that some of the details in it were borrowed to one degree or another from Moby Grape , or rather its song “Never”, released back in 1968. In particular, the initial part is most similar ( guitar note and the subsequent rhythm of the drums) and the first lines of the text. On the other hand, Robert Plant did not conceal that the work of this group had a noticeable influence on the activities of the early Led Zeppelin ^[2] .

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The song was repeatedly performed after the breakup of Led Zeppelin - both by the band members themselves and by many other performers as a cover. In particular, in 1994, she sounded as part of Page and Plant 's concert album No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded . Earlier, in 1988, Plant used a sample from the composition to record the new song “White, Clean and Neat” as part of the solo album “ Now and Zen ”, and in 2008 “Since I've ...” was sung by Europe at a concert in Stockholm.

• Robert Plant - vocals
• Jimmy Page is the author of words; guitar
• John Paul Jones - keyboards
• John Bonham - drums

• Some facts about the song on songfacts.com
• A Brief Description of the Song in Rolling Stone Magazine
• Lyrics (with translation)