Boogie with Stu
| "Boogie with Stu" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Boogie with Stu" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti.
Recording and production
It was a freeform jam recorded in 1971 at Headley Grange by Island Studios, London, where the band had done most of the recording for their fourth album. They were using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio and were accompanied by Rolling Stones' road manager and pianist, Ian Stewart, who ended up jamming with the band on piano.[3]
According to Jimmy Page this song would not have emerged had it not been for the particularly informal 'live-in' environment at Headley Grange where it was recorded:
Some of the things that happened there, like "Boogie with Stu" where Stu turns up and plays a piano that's totally unplayable, were incredible. That was too good to miss because Stu wouldn't record, he wouldn't do solo stuff. All of these things wouldn't end up on albums as far as other people were concerned, but they did with us.[4]
It has been reported that Plant played guitar on the track (Page playing mandolin).[5] The slapping guitar came from an overdub session with an ARP guitar synthesizer.[3] Bonham's drumming was improvised in the studio. The song was never performed live.[3]
Original title
The working title for this song was "Sloppy Drunk", said to be a title that Robert Plant came up with.[3] but in fact that of a Leroy Carr song[6] The song is credited to "Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham/Ian Stewart/Mrs. Valens", being heavily based on Ritchie Valens' "Ooh, My Head".[3] Valens's publisher, Kemo Music, filed suit for copyright infringement and an out of court settlement was reached.[7] As Page explained:
What we tried to do was give Ritchie's mother credit, because we heard she never received any royalties from any of her son's hits, and Robert did lean on that lyric a bit. So what happens? They tried to sue us for all of the song![8]
Personnel
- Robert Plant - vocals, acoustic guitar
- Jimmy Page - mandolin
- John Paul Jones - bass guitar
- John Bonham - drums
with:
Sources
- Lewis, Dave (2004) The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
- Welch, Chris (1998) Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
References
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti – Album Review". AllMusic. Rovi Corp. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ Roberto Avant-Mier (6 May 2010). Rock the Nation: Latin/o Identities and the Latin Rock Diaspora. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-4411-6448-3.
- ^ a b c d e Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
- ^ Phil Alexander, "Up Close & Personal", Mojo magazine, February 2010, p. 72.
- ^ Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
- ^ Shadwick, Keith. Led Zeppelin: The Story of a Band and Their Music, 1968-80 (2005): 144
- ^ Lehmer, Larry. The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens (2004): 166
- ^ Brad Tolinski and Greg Di Bendetto, "Light and Shade", Guitar World magazine, January 1998.
