LED ZEPPELIN - DOWN BY THE SEASIDE

'You can still do the twist 
if you find you remember things that well'

Flushed out from the acoustic ramblings and sketches at Bron-Y-Aur in May 1970, this simple haunting melody was completely revamped when it came to the sessions for 'Untitled' at the end of the year. Robert had been a long standing fan of Neil Young, right back to his Buffalo Springfield days.

Their classic For What It's Worth was added to many a jam inside anything from Communication Breakdown to Dazed And Confused as far back as the Central Park gig on July 21st 1969, and Robert indulged in throwing in lyrics from the likes of Cowgirl in The Sand, Down by The River and On The Way Home and he even threw in a line from Old Man during the relaxed acoustic set at Earls Court.

Recorded and dubbed at Island Studios before a final mix at Olympic, this ode to the simple life leans on Robert's love of lovely West Coast melody. Left off 'Untitled', it slotted perfectly into side 3 of Physical Graffiti, picking up the mood of Bron-Y-Aur and preluding the magnificent Ten Years Gone. 

Brilliantly laid back, with just that intense middle section where Jimmy nudges the guitar army from their stupor with some country licks and controlled feedback. The ease that they switch from easy to intense and back again is magical. Certainly the light in the light and shade counterbalance that was and is Led Zeppelin.

Never performed live, Robert recorded a duet with Tori Amos for Encomium, a tribute CD, in a slower almost grunge style. 

During the 1995 Unledded shows it would crop up during the jousting in Whole Lotta Love in a similar mood to the Plant/Amos collaboration.

Although recorded in the winter, Down By The Seaside is a laidback, even lilting summer celebration of a simpler happier time. Once again not destined to be a single, it was pressed on a Taiwan 4 track EP and there are once again a couple of flexi postcard pressings.