LED ZEPPELIN - GALLOWS POLE

'Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while, think I see my sister comin', riding many a mile'

Much of the relaxed, bucolic new material auditioned for Led Zeppelin III can be traced to source or near source through the myriad of rehearsal and outtake recordings that have been circulating for decades. Not Gallows Pole. As far as Led Zeppelin are concerned, it was almost certainly first arranged and rehearsed into shape at Headley Grange in May 1970, when the band first rehearsed together after Robert and Jimmy's visit to Bron-Y-Aur.

But the story of the original song, the inspiration and seed goes back just a little bit further. It's a centuries old tale, the condemned man (or woman) pleading for their life, offering bribes to the Hangman as death approaches. There's a Madrigal 'The Maid Freed From The Gallows', another 'Hangman, Slack On Your Line' and many many variations, all handed down by word of mouth and song through the generations.

In 1939 Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly recorded 'The Gallis Pole', a half sung, half narrated version of the tale. Attributed to Ledbetter/Lomax, it's another in the ongoing list of traditional adaptations of public domain songs that form our musical heritage. Often cited as the main influence on Led Zeppelin, Jimmy spoke at the time of being influenced by the version by Fred Gerlach that he'd heard 'on an old Folkways LP' (it's his '12 String Guitar' album).

Back at Headley Grange Jimmy got to work arranging an old folk tune completely into a foreboding tale building into a controlled yet frenzied climax. 

Bonzo manages to both stoke the furnace and keep everything in perfect balance and control. Jimmy and Jonesy weave acoustic guitars, bass, banjo and electric guitars and Robert lets everything go with some plaintive, primitive wails as Led Zeppelin hurtle into the sunset.

The companion disc of III has a slightly longer mix, more open with some different dubs, dated July 5th in Island Studios 1.

The myriad of overdubs and complex arrangement meant it was not performed live regularly, although the lack of live tapes on early 1971 preclude any complete confirmation. Robert hints a few lyrics at the final New York September 19th 1970 encore of Communication Breakdown, and again at the 1st Berkeley show almost exactly a year later. 

We do have the remarkable, chaotic performance from Copenhagen on may 3rd and a shock encore in Ipswich on November 16th. Rumours of a tape of the Odense May 4th show (although now it seems to be almost certainly a fake), and mention during a review of the Liverpool May 10th show indicate it was given a few tries live.

In 1975 Robert would add lyrics to the frenzied coda of Trampled Underfoot, in particular at the final LA show on March 27th and Earls' Court May 24th.

The live arrangement was missing the real light and shade and never really took off, especially  with Jimmy playing electrically all the way through. 

Post Zeppelin it was an obvious candidate for the Unledded project, performed at just about every show, and again at most of the Walking Into Clarkesdale gigs. Robert has also sporadically played differing arrangements since then.

It was available as a white label US promo single, which is 14 seconds longer and also in Italy alongside Moby Dick. There are at least 4 different 1-sided polish flexi postcards, plain with no picture or artwork but in a variety of colours, and some are couple with The Stomp!