The strange setting where Led Zeppelin recorded ‘Black Country Woman’
Most artists, naturally, record their songs in recording studios. They hold all of the necessary equipment to take your song from idea to execution, they have the necessary acoustic treatment to remove any unwanted reverberation, and they tend to harbour groups of people and producers who can assist in the writing and recording process. But sometimes, a room full of instruments and acoustic panelling isn’t necessarily the most inspiring environment. Sometimes, you end up recording in Mick Jagger’s garden instead.
Or at least, you do if you’re Led Zeppelin. In the early 1970s, the band were recording their sixth studio record, the soon-to-be iconic Physical Grafitti. The record would feature epic tracks like ‘Kashmir’ and ‘In the Light’, ‘In My Time of Dying’ and ‘Trampled Under Foot’. The latter was released as a single in the spring of 1975, paired with a B-side called ‘Black Country Woman’.
‘Black Country Woman’ was much sparser and simpler than its counterpart, an acoustic offering to soften the blistering lead single. And unlike much of Physical Graffiti, it wasn’t recorded in the workhouse-turned-recording studio Headley Grange. Instead, it was recorded at the home of fellow rock and roller Mick Jagger, in the Rolling Stone’s garden.
In fact, you can hear the influence of this unusual environment in the recording. At the very beginning of the song, producer Eddie Kramer can be heard conversing with Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant. A plane can be heard flying overhead, a fairly mundane sound to hear while hanging out in your backyard, but certainly not one that would usually find its way into a recording studio.
Kramer asks Plant if he wants to get the aeroplane in, to which Plant replies, “Nah, leave it, yeah,” before the acoustic strums fade in. It’s a blunder that would never occur in a more routine recording session and a take that would immediately be written off if an aeroplane somehow did make it into the recording. But Led Zeppelin opted to stick with it.
The setting adds a natural charm to the beginning of the song, and you can almost picture the band sitting under the sun in Jagger’s garden, spotting a plane overhead and desperately hoping that it makes it into the recording, adding a rawness to the track. If that was their hope for the song, they certainly achieved it. What follows is a gorgeous guitar track, much more subdued and straightforward than most of Physical Graffiti but stellar nonetheless.
It’s easy to see why the track wasn’t included on the original tracklisting, instead relegated to B-sides and deluxe editions. It wouldn’t have fit into the running order of Physical Graffiti, even if it had been re-recorded in a more official setting. But it didn’t need re-recording, the charm and charisma of the song came entirely from its fabled setting, from the way it captured a moment and a memory in guitar strings and harmonica blows.
Jagger’s garden might not be overtaking Abbey Road or Headley Grange as an in-demand recording studio anytime soon, but it’s a refreshing change of setting on ‘Black Country Woman’. Recording blunders and unexpected interruptions might not be ideal, but they can add to a song, to its raw, vivid feeling and charm. Maybe more B-sides should be recorded in the backyards of famous rock stars.
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