Length 3:45 | Label Swan Song | |
Released 24 February 1975 (1975-02-24) Recorded Headley Grange, Headley, England, 1971 Genre Rock and roll
boogie-woogie Writer(s) John Bonham
John Paul Jones
Jimmy Page
Robert Plant
Ian Stewart
Mrs. Valens | ||
"Boogie with Stu" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti.
Contents
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.
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.
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.
It has been reported that Plant played guitar on the track (Page playing mandolin). The slapping guitar came from an overdub session with an ARP guitar synthesizer. Bonham's drumming was improvised in the studio. The song was never performed live.
Original title
The working title for this song was "Sloppy Drunk," said to be a title that Robert Plant came up with, though in fact is the title of a Leroy Carr song. The song was based (heavily to author Dave Lewis) on Ritchie Valens' "Ooh, My Head," so his mother, under the name Mrs. Valens, was added to the credits. Later, Valens' publisher, Kemo Music, filed suit for copyright infringement and an out of court settlement was reached. 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!
Personnel
with: