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Suggest pagesAnne Bredon
Anne Bredon (born 1930 in Berkeley, California as Anne Loeb) is an American folk singer, best known for composing the song Babe I'm Gonna Leave You while she was a student at University of California, Berkeley in the late 1950s. Bredon is the daughter of physicist Leonard Loeb and granddaughter of physiologist Jacques Loeb.
Bredon majored in art at Humboldt State University and completed her master's degree in mathematics at Berkeley, California.[1] Some time around 1960, while attending Berkeley, Bredon appeared on a live folk-music radio show The Midnight Special on radio station KPFA, on which she sang Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You.[2]
Janet Smith was another folk singer who developed her own version of the song, performing her rendition on the same radio show some time later. Smith's version of the song came to the attention of Joan Baez, who used the song on Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1 (1963).[2] The song was initially credited as "Traditional, arr. Baez", but was properly attributed on Baez' 1964 album, Joan Baez Song Book.[2]
When English rock band Led Zeppelin was inspired to cover the song after hearing Baez's version, they credited the song as "Trad., arr. Page". In the 1980s, Bredon was made aware of Led Zeppelin's version of the song. Since 1990 the Led Zeppelin version has been credited to Anne Bredon/Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, and Bredon received a substantial back-payment in royalties.[3]
Bredon married Lee Johannsen in 1951. She divorced in 1959 leaving her first two children, Lenore and Joel, with her ex-husband. Later, she married Glen Bredon, a mathematics professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Upon accepting this position Bredon and her husband moved to New Jersey, where they raised their two children Joelle and Aaron.[1] She currently resides in Trail's End in North Fork, California, where she designs and sells beaded jewellery.[1][4] Bredon is also a rug weaver and basket weaver, focusing on Navajo designs. She possesses an extensive knowledge of the complex aspects of harvesting and preparation of grasses and materials used in traditional Native American basket weaving.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Melissa Tav, Embracing life one bead at a time, Madera Tribune, January 22, 2007.
- ^ a b c Janet Smith, The 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You' Story, in The Gate at the End of the World: A Collection of Songs by Anne Bredon (Bella Roma Music, 1991), pp. vii-x.
- ^ Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
- ^ Williams Gallery West
