Who wrote the Led Zeppelin song ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’?
In the history of rock music, there are few names more prestigious or more prominent than Led Zeppelin. Born out of London in the late 1960s, the formidable four-piece changed the genre forever, pioneering a heavier form of it, pulling in new influences from blues and classical music, and penning some truly iconic riffs. Along the way, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page became one of the most successful songwriting duos in music history.
Their partnership spawned countless rock classics, from the memorable opening twangs of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ to the blistering ‘Immigrant Song’. Plant and Page were Led Zeppelin’s not-so-secret weapon, but they didn’t always rely on the duo for their sonic creations. In fact, Led Zeppelin played their fair share of covers and even included a couple on their studio releases.
The band’s self-titled debut, which hit record store shelves in early 1969, included renditions of a number of songs penned by other people. They paid tribute to Willie Dixon not once, but twice, with covers of ‘You Shook Me’ and ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’. The record also featured a track called ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’, which was the only other song that wasn’t a Led Zeppelin original.
The song opens with gentle guitars before Plant’s vocals come to the fore. “Babe,” he sings, “Baby, baby, I’m gonna leave you.” After a mellow introduction, the song plunges into more rocking territory with driving guitars and increasingly distressed vocals. It’s a blistering version of the track and one that could easily lead you to believe that Led Zeppelin had penned it. But the track was actually a cover of a folk song penned almost two decades earlier.
So, who wrote ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’?
The song was actually penned by a folk artist called Anne Bredon in the 1950s, a long time before Led Zeppelin would even begin making music. The song made its way from Bredon to the queen of covers herself, fellow folk legend Joan Baez, who performed her own rendition of ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’ and featured it on her live album, Joan Baez in Concert.
Baez’s take on the track is a far cry from the rocking number performed by the Led Zeppelin members. Her voice wavers and winds much higher than Plant’s, providing each declaration of “Babe” with a completely different emotion. Instrumentally, she accompanied the folk lament with twiddling guitar twangs, retaining its roots within the genre.
When Led Zeppelin stumbles upon ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’, it was Baez’s voice that they heard it through, rather than Bredon’s. Plant was inspired by Baez’s cover of the track and took it to Led Zeppelin. Together, the band members created their own take on the track and eventually included it on their debut record, Led Zeppelin.
Bredon’s original version of the track is much more difficult to find than the Baez or Led Zeppelin covers, but it provided the initial inspiration for both. While Baez’s version is suitably dramatic, with vocals that almost seem to shake with the intensity of the loss within the lyrics, Led Zeppelin provided a much lengthier and more raucous take on the meaning of the song.
Led Zeppelin’s version of ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’ may now be the most well-known recording, but they have Bredon, and even Baez, to thank for it.
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