View source for When the Levee Breaks

{{Short description|1929 single by Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie}}
{{About|the blues song|the Spike Lee film|When the Levees Broke|the T.V. episode|When the Levee Breaks (Supernatural)|dike failures|Levee breach}}
{{Infobox song
| name     = When the Levee Breaks
| cover    = When the Levee Breaks single cover.jpg
| alt      =
| type     = single
| artist   = [[Kansas Joe McCoy|Kansas Joe]] & [[Memphis Minnie]]
| released = August–September 1929
| recorded = New York City, June 18, 1929
| genre    = [[Country blues]]
| length   = 3:11
| label    = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| writer   = *Kansas Joe McCoy
*Memphis Minnie
}}

"'''When the Levee Breaks'''" is a [[country blues]] song written and first recorded by  [[Kansas Joe McCoy]] and [[Memphis Minnie]] in 1929. The lyrics reflect experiences during the upheaval caused by the [[Great Mississippi Flood of 1927]].

"When the Levee Breaks" was re-worked by English [[Rock music|rock]] group [[Led Zeppelin]] and became the final song on their [[Led Zeppelin IV|untitled fourth album]]. Singer [[Robert Plant]] used many of the original lyrics. The songwriting is credited to Memphis Minnie and the individual members of Led Zeppelin.<ref name="Murray"/>  Many other artists have performed and recorded versions of the song.

==Background and lyrics==
When blues musical duo Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie wrote "When the Levee Breaks", the [[Great Mississippi Flood of 1927]] was still fresh in people's memories.{{sfn|Garon|Garon|2014|pp=49–50}}  The flooding affected 26,000 square miles of the [[Mississippi Delta]]. Hundreds were killed and hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to evacuate.{{sfn|Cheseborough|2009|p=153}}  The event is the subject of several blues songs, the most popular being "[[Backwater Blues]]" by [[Bessie Smith]] (1927) and "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues" by [[Barbecue Bob]] (1928).{{sfn|Monge|2004|pp=995–996}}

Ethel Douglas, Minnie's sister-in-law, recalled that Minnie was living with her family near [[Walls, Mississippi]], when the levee broke in 1927.{{sfn|Garon|Garon|2014|pp=49–50}}  The song's lyrics recount the story of a man who lost his home and his family.  Despite the tragedy, biographers also see in it a statement of rebirth.{{sfn|Garon|Garon|2014|p=50}}

==Recording and release==
McCoy and Minnie recorded "When the Levee Breaks" during their first session for [[Columbia Records]] in New York City on June 18, 1929.<ref name="Murray">{{cite web
| url = https://www.loudersound.com/features/led-zeppelin-vs-memphis-minnie-when-the-levee-breaks
| title = Led Zeppelin Vs Memphis Minnie: Whose version of When The Levee Breaks is better?
| last = Murray
| first = Charles Shaar
| author-link = Charles Shaar Murray
| website = [[Louder Sound]]
| date = August 9, 2016
| access-date = August 13, 2018
| archive-date = August 14, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180814232745/https://www.loudersound.com/features/led-zeppelin-vs-memphis-minnie-when-the-levee-breaks
| url-status = live
}}</ref> The song features McCoy on vocals and rhythm guitar.{{sfn|Garon|Garon|2014|pp=47, 317}}  Minnie, the more accomplished guitarist of the two, provided the embellishments using a [[finger pick|finger-pick]]ed style in a Spanish or [[open G tuning]].{{sfn|Garon|Garon|2014|p=45}}  Music journalist [[Charles Shaar Murray]] identified Joe McCoy as the actual songwriter<ref name="Murray"/> but, as with all their Columbia releases, regardless of who sang the song the record labels list the artist as "Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie".{{sfn|Garon|Garon|2014|p=47}}

Columbia issued the song on the then-standard [[Phonograph record#Formats|78 rpm phonograph record]] in August or June 1929 with "That Will Be Alright", another vocal performance by McCoy, on the flip-side.{{sfn|Garon|Garon|2014|p=47}} The record was released before record industry publications, such as [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']] began tracking so-called [[race record]]s, but it has been called a moderate hit.{{sfn|Power|2016|loc=eBook}}  "When the Levee Breaks" has been included on several Memphis Minnie compilation albums, and blues roots albums featuring various artists.<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.allmusic.com/song/when-the-levee-breaks-mt0010014660
| title = Memphis Minnie: When The Levee Breaks – Appears on
| website = [[AllMusic]]
| access-date = August 13, 2018
| archive-date = August 14, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180814200920/https://www.allmusic.com/song/when-the-levee-breaks-mt0010014660
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

==Led Zeppelin version==
{{Infobox song
| name     = When the Levee Breaks
| artist   = [[Led Zeppelin]]
| album    = [[Led Zeppelin IV]]
| released = {{Start date|1971|11|8}}
| recorded = 1971
| studio   = [[Headley Grange]], [[Headley, East Hampshire|Headley]], [[Hampshire]], England
| genre    = 
*[[Hard rock]]
*[[blues rock]]
*[[urban blues]]
| length   = {{Duration|7:08}}
| label    = [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
| writer   = 
*[[John Bonham]]
*[[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]]
*[[Memphis Minnie]]
*[[Jimmy Page]]
*[[Robert Plant]]
| producer = Jimmy Page
}}
[[Led Zeppelin]] recorded "When the Levee Breaks" for inclusion on their 1971 untitled [[Led Zeppelin IV|fourth album]]. When considering material for the group to record, singer [[Robert Plant]] had suggested the Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie song.{{sfn|Lewis|2010b|loc=eBook}} [[Jimmy Page]] said that while Plant's lyrics followed the style of the original, he had developed a new guitar riff that set their version apart.{{sfn|Lewis|2010b|loc=eBook}} [[John Bonham]]'s drumming is usually noted as the defining feature of the song.{{sfn|Lewis|2010a|loc=eBook}}

===Recording===
Before the released version appeared, Led Zeppelin attempted the song twice. They recorded an early version of the song in December 1970 at [[Headley Grange]], using the [[Rolling Stones Mobile Studio]]. This was later released as "If It Keeps On Raining" on the 2015 reissue of ''[[Coda (Led Zeppelin album)|Coda]]''. Before relocating to Headley Grange, they tried unsuccessfully to record the song at [[Island Studios]] at the beginning of the recording sessions for their fourth album.{{sfn|Lewis|2010a|loc=eBook}}

Although Page and [[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]] based their guitar and bass lines on the original song,{{sfn|Shadwick|2005|p=163}} they did not follow its [[twelve-bar blues]] [[I–IV–V–I]] structure, but instead used a one-chord or modal approach to create a [[Drone (music)|droning]] sound.<ref name="Murray"/> Plant used many of the original lyrics, but with a different melodic approach.{{sfn|Fast|2001|p=62}} He also added a harmonica part. During [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixing]] a [[reverse echo]] effect was created, in which the echo was heard ahead of the source.{{sfn|Lewis|2010a|loc=eBook}}

John Bonham's drumming, on a [[Ludwig Drums|Ludwig]] kit, was recorded in the lobby of Headley Grange using two [[Beyerdynamic M 160]] microphones which were suspended above a flight of stairs. Output from these was passed to a pair of Helios F760 [[Gain compression|compressor]]/[[limiter]]s which were set aggressively to create a breathing effect. A [[Binson|Binson Echorec]], a [[Delay (audio effect)|delay]] effects unit, was also used.{{sfn|Power|2016|loc=eBook}}<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.musicradar.com/news/drums/andy-johns-on-the-secrets-behind-the-led-zeppelin-iv-sessions-586533 | title =Andy Johns on the secrets behind the Led Zeppelin IV sessions | last =Welch | first =Chris | date =31 October 2013 | website =MusicRadar | publisher =Future Publishing | access-date =October 28, 2018 | archive-date =4 November 2018 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20181104074323/https://www.musicradar.com/news/drums/andy-johns-on-the-secrets-behind-the-led-zeppelin-iv-sessions-586533 | url-status =dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-led-zeppelin-kashmir?page=2 |title=Classic Tracks: Led Zeppelin 'Kashmir' |last=Doyle |first=Tom |date=October 2019 |magazine=[[Sound on Sound]] }}</ref>

Parts of the song were recorded at a different tempo and then slowed down, causing a "sludgy" sound, particularly on the harmonica and guitar solos.{{sfn|Case|2007|pp=105–106}} It was the only song on the album that was mixed at [[Sunset Sound Recorders|Sunset Sound]] in Hollywood, California; the rest were remixed in London.{{sfn|Shadwick|2005|p=150}} Page said the [[Panning (audio)|panning]] at the song's ending was one of his favourite mixes, "when everything starts moving around except for the voice, which remains stationary".{{sfn|Tolinski|2012|loc=eBook}} The song was difficult to recreate live and the band played it only a few times, in the early stages of their [[Led Zeppelin North American Tour 1975|1975 U.S. Tour]].{{sfn|Lewis|2010a|loc=eBook}}

===Critical reception===
Music critic [[Robert Christgau]] said Led Zeppelin's version of "When the Levee Breaks" was the greatest achievement of their fourth album. He argued that, because it played like an authentic blues song and had "the grandeur of a symphonic crescendo", their version of the song transcended and dignified "the quasi-parodic overstatement and oddly cerebral mood" of their past blues songs.{{sfn|Christgau|1981|p=222}} [[Mick Wall]] called it a "hypnotic, [[blues rock]] mantra".{{sfn|Wall|2010|p=246}}  [[AllMusic]] critic [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]], in a retrospective review, commented that the song was the only piece on their fourth album equal to "[[Stairway to Heaven]]" and called it "an apocalyptic slice of [[urban blues]]&nbsp;... as forceful and frightening as Zeppelin ever got, and its seismic rhythms and layered dynamics illustrate why none of their imitators could ever equal them."<ref name="Erlewine">{{cite web 
| url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/led-zeppelin-iv-r1956818 
| last = Erlewine 
| first = Stephen Thomas 
| author-link = Stephen Thomas Erlewine 
| title = ''Led Zeppelin IV'' – Review 
| website = [[AllMusic]] 
| access-date = August 17, 2011 
| archive-date = September 6, 2011 
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110906031448/http://allmusic.com/album/led-zeppelin-iv-r1956818 
| url-status = live 
}}</ref> In ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' (2004), [[Greg Kot]] wrote that the song showed the band's "hard-rock blues" at their most "momentous".{{sfn|Kot|2004|p=479}}  However, group biographer Keith Shadwick noted that the song suffered from "too few ideas added to the ingredients as the minutes tick by, compared with '[[Black Dog (Led Zeppelin song)|Black Dog]]'" and other songs on the first side of the album.{{sfn|Shadwick|2005|p=163}}

===Other releases===
A second version of the song was released in 2014 on the second disc of the remastered two-disc deluxe edition of ''Led Zeppelin IV''. This version, known as "When The Levee Breaks (Alternate UK Mix in Progress)", was recorded on May 19, 1971, at the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio at Headley Grange. This mix runs 7:09, while the original runs 7:08.

===Other versions and sampling===
Robert Plant performed the song with [[Alison Krauss]] on their 2022 tour. One  concert reviewer described Plant's vocal as "astonishing, channeling every flood he had seen in his 74 years into the emotional resonance of his voice".<ref>{{Cite web| url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2022/08/19/robert-plant-and-alison-krauss-deliver-a-flawless-night-at-las-greek-theater/?sh=59213a017622| last = Baltin| first = Steve| date = August 19, 2022| title = Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Deliver a Flawless Night at L.A.'s Greek Theater| website = [[Forbes.com]]| access-date = August 29, 2022| archive-date = August 29, 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220829134938/https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2022/08/19/robert-plant-and-alison-krauss-deliver-a-flawless-night-at-las-greek-theater/?sh=59213a017622| url-status = live}}</ref>

Bonham's drum beat is one of the most widely [[Sampling (music)|sampled]] in popular music.{{sfn|Lewis|2010b|loc=eBook}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://music.avclub.com/these-are-the-breaks-10-of-the-most-sampled-drum-beats-1798283974/slides/2|title=These are the breaks: The most sampled drum beats in music history|website=Music|date=26 August 2015|access-date=12 July 2020|archive-date=12 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712152106/https://music.avclub.com/these-are-the-breaks-10-of-the-most-sampled-drum-beats-1798283974/slides/2|url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Esquire (magazine)|''Esquire'']] magazine's Miles Raymer:
{{blockquote|The two-bar break that opens "When the Levee Breaks" is one of the most monumental pieces of rock drumming ever recorded, and one of the most widely sampled pieces of music ever, having appeared in songs by everyone from [[Eminem]] and [[Dr. Dre]] to New Age artist [[Mike Oldfield]] and [[Sophie B. Hawkins]].<ref name="Raymer">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/led-zeppelin-rap-songs|title=5 Rap Songs That Sample Led Zeppelin|first=Miles|last=Raymer|date=December 6, 2013|website=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|access-date=July 12, 2020|archive-date=December 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223012406/http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/led-zeppelin-rap-songs|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

==See also==
*[[List of Led Zeppelin songs written or inspired by others]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book
| last = Case
| first = George
| title = Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man – An Unauthorized Biography
| year = 2007
| location = New York City
| publisher = [[Hal Leonard]]
| isbn = 978-1-4234-0407-1
}}
*{{cite book 
| last = Cheseborough 
| first = Steve 
| title = Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues 
| publisher = [[University Press of Mississippi]]
| location = Jackson, Mississippi 
| year = 2009
| isbn = 978-1604733280
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Christgau
| first = Robert
| author-link = Robert Christgau
| year = 1981
| title = Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies
| publisher = [[Ticknor & Fields]]
| isbn = 978-0899190259
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/christgausrecord00robe_1
}}
*{{cite book
| title = In the Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music 
| first = Susan 
| last = Fast 
| year = 2001
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] 
| isbn = 978-0-19-511756-1
}}
*{{cite book 
| last1 = Garon 
| first1 = Paul
| author-link = Paul Garon
| last2 = Garon
| first2 = Beth
| title = Woman with Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues
| location = San Francisco, California
| publisher = [[City Lights Books]]
| year = 2014 
| isbn = 978-0872866218
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Kot
| first = Greg
| author-link = Greg Kot
| editor1-first = Nathan
| editor1-last = Brackett
| editor2-first = Christian
| editor2-last = Hoard
| title = [[The Rolling Stone Album Guide|The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]]
| location = New York City
| publisher = [[Simon & Schuster]]
| edition = 4th
| year = 2004
| isbn = 978-0743201698
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Lewis
| first = Dave
| title = Led Zeppelin: The Complete Guide to Their Music
| location = London
| publisher = [[Omnibus Press]]
| year = 2010a
| isbn = 978-0857121356
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Lewis
| first = Dave
| year = 2010b
| title = Led Zeppelin: The 'Tight But Loose' Files
| location = London
| publisher = [[Omnibus Press]]
| isbn = 978-0-857-12220-9
}}
*{{cite book
| last1 = Lewis
| first1 = Dave
| last2 = Pallett
| first2 = Simon
| title= Led Zeppelin: The Concert File
| location = London
| publisher = [[Omnibus Press]]
| year = 2005
| isbn = 1-84449-659-7
}}
*{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Monge
| first = Luigi
| title = The Blues Encyclopedia
| year = 2004
| section = Topical Blues: Disasters
| editor-last = Komara
| editor-first = Edward
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues
| location = New York City
| publisher = [[Routledge]]
| isbn = 978-1135958329
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Power
| first = Martin
| title = No Quarter: The Three Lives of Jimmy Page
| year = 2016
| location = London
| publisher = [[Omnibus Press]]
| isbn = 978-1783235360
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Shadwick
| first = Keith
| title = Led Zeppelin: The Story of a Band and Their Music 1968–1980
| year = 2005
| edition = 1st
| location = San Francisco
| publisher = [[Backbeat Books]]
| isbn = 0-87930-871-0
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/ledzeppelinstory0000shad
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Tolinski
| first = Brad
| author-link = Brad Tolinski
| title = Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page
| year = 2012
| publisher = [[Crown Publishing Group]]
| isbn = 978-0-307-98573-6
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Wall
| first = Mick
| author-link = Mick Wall
| title = [[When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin]]
| year = 2010
| location = New York City
| publisher = [[St. Martin's Griffin]]
| isbn = 978-0-312-59039-0
}}

==External links==
*{{YouTube|uwiTs60VoTM|"When the Levee Breaks" (Led Zeppelin remastered official audio)}}
*{{YouTube|LH0-WXUFY2k|"When The Levee Breaks" featuring John Paul Jones and guests}} in [[Playing For Change]]{{snd}}Peace Through Music: A Global Event for the Environment

{{Led Zeppelin songs}}
{{Led Zeppelin}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Songs about floods]]
[[Category:Songs about rivers]]
[[Category:1929 songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Memphis Minnie]]
[[Category:Blues songs]]
[[Category:Columbia Records singles]]
[[Category:Led Zeppelin songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Jimmy Page]]
[[Category:Songs written by John Paul Jones (musician)]]
[[Category:Songs written by John Bonham]]
[[Category:Songs written by Robert Plant]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Jimmy Page]]
[[Category:Sampled drum breaks]]
[[Category:Songs about the Mississippi River]]