‘I’m Gonna Crawl’: The Led Zeppelin song inspired by Wilson Pickett
Popular perceptions of the 1960s might tell you that music fans were all lying around, taking acid, and listening to psychedelic rock. In actual fact, it was soul music that dominated the US charts throughout the decade. Labels like Atlantic Records, Motown, and Stax became powerhouses thanks to the intense success of their soul and R&B input and the pioneering sounds of soul stars like Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding went on to influence everybody from The Beatles to hard rock progenitors Led Zeppelin.
Prior to forming Led Zeppelin, guitarist Jimmy Page gained an unparalleled education in the music industry thanks to his work as a session musician. During this period, Page embraced a countless array of different styles and genres, from the youthful blues rock of his work with Immediate Records to a particularly laid-back muzak session he once participated in. These experiences gave the young guitarist a wealth of diverse musical inspiration, which he carried through when he joined The Yardbirds and later formed Led Zeppelin.
Both in The Yardbirds and during the early days of Led Zeppelin, Page’s influences usually centred around his love for the blues. Black American blues artists like Howlin’ Wolf or Robert Johnson had a profound effect on Page and the development of hard rock by extension. However, the Zeppelin guitarist also showed a willingness to keep his finger on the pulse when it came to new musical trends on both sides of the Atlantic.
Towards the end of the 1960s, when Page was in the early days of Led Zeppelin, soul music was one of the most prominent and important music styles in the United States. From the pop-centric sounds of Diana Ross and The Supremes to the stunning civil rights advocacy of stars like Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, and Marvin Gaye, soul music proved itself to be a diverse and vitally important musical style.
It makes sense, therefore, that Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin took inspiration from this captivating landscape of soul. For their much-maligned 1978 record In Through the Out Door, Page took heavy inspiration from the work of Wilson Pickett, crafting a laid-back blend of blues and soul on the track ‘I’m Gonna Crawl’. Offering an alternative to the bombastic rock riffs of their previous material, the song showed a different side of Page as a songwriter.
Pickett was an essential figure in the development and popularity of soul music during the 1950s and 1960s. His 1965 single ‘In the Midnight Hour’ typified the soul sound of that era, and his popular renditions of tracks like ‘Mustang Sally’ cemented him as a defining figure of American pop during the 1960s. His influence over pop and rock music was clear; even The Beatles openly discussed the incredible influence that Pickett had upon their work.
Although Pickett’s influence on ‘I’m Gonna Crawl’ might not be as abundantly clear as his impact on other rock tracks of the era, Page and Robert Plant arranged the song under the direct influence of mid-1960s soul music. That might seem an odd choice, given that Led Zeppelin were known largely for blues-orientated hard rock, but the Pickett-inspired track reflects the diverse output of the band during that period in their existence.
In Through The Out Door might not have been as successful as some of the band’s previous albums, but it arguably contains some of their most expansive and musically diverse offerings. ‘I’m Gonna Crawl’, with its soul and blues-heavy sound, is a prime example of that fact, in addition to supporting the ever-enduring legacy of Wilson Pickett.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter
All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.