“The only time”: The song Jimmy Page thought equalled ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’
It’s difficult to think of another band that typified the hard rock boom of the 1970s quite as expertly as Led Zeppelin. After establishing themselves at the tail end of the 1960s, the Jimmy Page-led outfit carved out the distinctive sounds of a bold new era in rock and roll, taking heavy inspiration from the blues along the way. In fact, their dedication to blues music was one of very few constants throughout the tenure of Jimmy Page’s band, from their initial formation to their eventual dissolution in 1980.
It should come as no surprise that Page and Led Zeppelin were endlessly indebted to the blues. After all, the entire genre of rock music was born from combining old-school blues with styles like R&B or gospel. Particularly in the early days of rock, its blues origins were plain to hear, and a young Jimmy Page was instantly infatuated by the blues-heavy sounds of early stars. As his musical skills progressed, Page began to master various styles of music through his tireless work as a session guitarist, but he always came back to the blues.
Led Zeppelin was preceded by The Yardbirds, a definitive London blues rock outfit that Jimmy Page joined the ranks of in 1966. Although this group only lasted another two years with the guitarist onboard, their sound and dedication to the blues were utterly instrumental in influencing the future sound of Led Zeppelin. From their early days, Zeppelin became known for wonderfully abrasive hard rock anthems, but Page always seemed to prefer the more mellow, blues-orientated efforts.
For instance, ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’, from Led Zeppelin III, has always remained a favourite of the guitarist. Heavily inspired by Moby Grape’s 1968 track ‘Never’, the slow blues number forms an undeniable highlight of the album, although it was reportedly the most difficult to record. In spite of its mellow – or, at least, mellow in the world of Led Zeppelin – nature, the track had to be recorded live in the studio, with very little room for overdubbing or correcting mistakes. As a result, the song is a crowning jewel within the band’s discography.
Nevertheless, the blues track proved difficult to follow up on. Although, for much of the 1970s, Zeppelin remained at the top of the rock and roll pyramid, Page and the gang were becoming increasingly fatigued by a life of constant touring, writing, and recording. By the time 1976 rolled around, the hard rock progenitors were at risk of implosion, and the album Presence certainly reflects the declining quality of the group. According to Page himself, the sound of the album was “just a reflection of the total anxiety and emotion at the period of time during which it was recorded.”
“It’s true that there are no acoustic songs, no mellowness or contrasts or changes to other instruments,” he told The Trouser Press in 1977. However, the album was not without its highlights, as the guitarist confirmed, “Yet the blues we did, like ‘Tea For One’, was the only time I think we’ve ever gotten close to repeating the mood of another of our numbers, ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’.”
Explaining the similarities between the two classic tracks, Page continued, “The chordal structure is similar, a minor blues. We just wanted to get a really laid-back blues feeling without blowing out on it at all. We did two takes in the end, one with a guitar solo and one without.”
The resulting track was one of Zeppelin’s most overtly blues-oriented efforts, potentially matching the brilliance of ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’. In fact, ‘Tea For One’ is arguably the ultimate highlight of the rather lacklustre Presence, which signalled the beginning of the end for one of Britain’s all-time greatest rock bands.
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