LED ZEPPELIN - BOOGIE WITH STU

'Ooh my head - Rock on!'

Sometimes you get nice surprises when you least expect them. For me, the playful, some would say throwaway, almost accidental songs in Led Zeppelin's catalogue are those nice surprises.

Originally recorded at Headley Grange, this playful rollicking number was sparked by Jimmy coaxing a slapping rhythm putting his guitar through an ARP Synthesizer and treating it with reverb/echo. The jam featured Robert on guitar (he was once quoted as saying he played 'kinda wanky guitar on 3 or 4 tracks in the studio') with Jimmy on Mandolin duty. 

Bonzo hammers his bass drum and Jonesy adds some understated bass figures. Former Rolling Stones pianist and erstwhile tour manager, the late great Ian 'Stu' Stewart adds barrelhouse piano.

The result is fun. Laughter at the end emphasises that. Another clue that despite the big songs, the bombast and monster they were becoming, Led Zeppelin didn't at the core always take themselves too seriously.

Stu's presence leads me to surmise this was probably recorded at around the same time as Rock And Roll, which was January 30th 1971. Robert's vocals were fun and seemingly ad hoc, although he does, in Jimmy's words, 'lean heavily' on Ritchie Valen's 'Ooh My Head', a track from his self titled debut elpee released on Del-Fi in March 1959.

Left off the 4 x EP come elpee 'Untitled', Jimmy dusted it down for Physical Graffiti. It fits perfectly on side four, lightening the mood after the groinal Wanton Song.

Once again the question of songwriting credits comes into the picture. From the off the whole band plus Stu were credited, alongside Mrs Valens, Ritchie's mother. Jimmy said this was because she'd never gotten any royalties from her son's music, and then they had to settle out of court as Kemo music, Valen's publisher, went for the whole amount. To this day all six are still featured on the credits. A nonsense to me, but there you go.

Outtakes of the mixdown session appeared on the Brutal Artistry CD set, various segments showing the mix process. The Companion Disc to PG included one take of the 'Sunset Sound Mix' too. This more open less dubbed recording shows the space and fun of the original take

Of course, as a throwaway song this was never considered as a single anywhere. There is a very scarce Taiwan 4-track EP from Physical Graffiti where it's track 2.