'Where's that confounded bridge?'
Spring 1972. Led Zeppelin are in the rudest of health. Back from a record breaking Australasian tour with supreme confidence and new music bursting to come out. The 'Untitled' fourth elpee is breaking sales records around the World and everything is positive.
Little shock that this positivity seeped into the grooves of the new material. Although No Quarter had been recorded the previous December and had been hanging around for a year before that, the rest of what was to be 'Houses Of The Holy' was new, fresh and vibrant.
The evolution of 'Dazed And Confused' is a veritable musical barometer of Led Zeppelin's internal musical climate. The winter 1971 UK shows featured a version that was ever expanding, and in the post frenetic chase section after Jimmy's bow sketch they added a half speed, loose funky interlude to break up the chaos and twist the mood. Bonzo and Jonesy knitted together a few different riffs here, including a brief flirtation with Isaac Hayes 'Shaft' and a brilliantly simple yet deft rhythm exercise that was the seed for The Crunge'.
Flushed out from that original riff, Led Zeppelin recorded The Crunge in the best of health and with the best of humour at Olympic No 1 on April 16th. The wonderful turn around beat is a musician's dream, and you can hear the smiles between the four of them. Jimmy adds a wonderful stabbing edgy lick courtesy of a Fender Strat, pulling at the tremolo bar on the backbeat to emphasise the syncopation.
On top Robert hoarsely rambles in 'Black Country' as he recalled later, essaying James Brown lyrics over the musical tribute to the Famous Flames his band mates are cooking up. He ends using two voices, the song ending with a plum BBC voiced 'Where's that confounded bridge'. Fun, and the spark of a live band having way too much fun.
Jonesy adds some deft fanfare keyboards, coming in at 0.59, to the overall sound, as demonstrated by the companion disc outtake, and we're done. Shame at the time many po-faced music 'critics' ignored the joy and swing and lambasted Led Zeppelin for such frivolity.
Live, the first instrumental hints during the aforementioned Dazed And Confused jams come on the Newcastle City Hall November 11th tape, but it's not until Brussels on May 28th '72 it becomes more pronounced. Robert seems delighted to announce The Crunge whenever the band slip into the groove at this point, but some nights there's more of a loose funky thang and some 'Walter's Walk' or similar exercise - even Hot's On For Nowhere! Strange that Robert doesn't get into adding vocals to these instrumental workouts, bearing In mind his enthusiasm.
By the time Led Zeppelin demolish Europe in 1973 they'd added more James Brown references and licks to not only Dazed And Confused but also in the maelstrom of Whole Lotta Love. It's disappeared during the '73 US Tour, superceeded by anonymous jams and moods. In 1975 it returns in encore time, firstly in St Louis on February 16th, during the bridge jam between Whole Lotta Love and Black Dog. From then on we get some vocal ad-libs and Cold Sweat, Licking Stick and Sex Machine in various forms right up to the final Earls' Court night.
Released as the flip side to D'yer Mak'er, in some countries, although Over The Hills And far Away was preferred for the (withdrawn) UK single. A brilliant, light hearted James Brown tribute.
The band had considered putting instructions on the inside of Houses Of The Holy of how to do The Crunge with fake dance steps, sadly not completed. In 1994, at our second London Fan Convention, Tim Davies added some dance steps to the graphic on the rear of the event t-shirts....
Live, the first instrumental hints during the aforementioned Dazed And Confused jams come on the Newcastle City Hall November 11th tape, but it's not until Brussels on May 28th '72 it becomes more pronounced. Robert seems delighted to announce The Crunge whenever the band slip into the groove at this point, but some nights there's more of a loose funky thang and some 'Walter's Walk' or similar exercise - even Hot's On For Nowhere! Strange that Robert doesn't get into adding vocals to these instrumental workouts, bearing In mind his enthusiasm.
By the time Led Zeppelin demolish Europe in 1973 they'd added more James Brown references and licks to not only Dazed And Confused but also in the maelstrom of Whole Lotta Love. It's disappeared during the '73 US Tour, superceeded by anonymous jams and moods. In 1975 it returns in encore time, firstly in St Louis on February 16th, during the bridge jam between Whole Lotta Love and Black Dog. From then on we get some vocal ad-libs and Cold Sweat, Licking Stick and Sex Machine in various forms right up to the final Earls' Court night.
Released as the flip side to D'yer Mak'er, in some countries, although Over The Hills And far Away was preferred for the (withdrawn) UK single. A brilliant, light hearted James Brown tribute.
The band had considered putting instructions on the inside of Houses Of The Holy of how to do The Crunge with fake dance steps, sadly not completed. In 1994, at our second London Fan Convention, Tim Davies added some dance steps to the graphic on the rear of the event t-shirts....
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