Dazed and Confused (song)

Jake Holmes

Singer-songwriter Jake Holmes wrote and recorded "Dazed and Confused" for his debut solo album "The Above Ground Sound" of Jake Holmes, released in June 1967. Like the other tracks on the album, the song does not include any drums. It was recorded entirely with the trio of Holmes on guitar, keyboard, and vocals; Ted Irwin on guitar; and Rick Randle on bass. The song has been incorrectly labelled as a tale about a bad acid trip; however, Holmes has confirmed that is not the case. In 2001, he gave an interview to Shindig! magazine and said this about "Dazed and Confused":

I never took acid. I smoked grass and tripped on it, but I never took acid. I was afraid to take it. The song's about a girl who hasn't decided whether she wants to stay with me or not. It's pretty much one of those love songs.

In August 1967, Holmes opened for The Yardbirds at a Greenwich Village gig in New York. According to Holmes, "That was the infamous moment of my life when Dazed and Confused fell into the loving arms and hands of Jimmy Page." When "Dazed and Confused" appeared in Led Zeppelin's album in 1969, Holmes was aware of it but didn't follow up on it at that time. He said: "In the early 1980s, I did write them a letter and I said basically: 'I understand it's a collaborative effort, but I think you should give me credit at least and some remuneration.' But they never contacted me."

In June 2010, Holmes brought suit against Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page for copyright infringement, claiming to have written and recorded "Dazed and Confused" two years before it appeared on Led Zeppelin's debut album. In court documents Holmes cited a 1967 copyright registration for "Dazed and Confused" which was renewed in 1995. This court case was "dismissed with prejudice", as the parties settled out of court in January 2012.

The Yardbirds

During a 1967 tour of the United States by English rock group The Yardbirds, Jake Holmes performed as the opener at the Village Theater in Greenwich Village on August 25, 1967. According to Jim McCarty of the Yardbirds, they went to a record shop the next day to buy a copy of Holmes's album and decided to do a version of "Dazed and Confused". They worked on it together with Page, contributing the guitar riffs in the middle and a lyrical rewrite from Keith Relf. Their version featured long instrumental passages of bowed guitar courtesy of Jimmy Page, and dynamic instrumental flourishes. Page has stated that he obtained the idea of using a violin bow on his guitar from a violinist named David McCallum, Sr., during his session days before joining the Yardbirds in 1966. At that time, it even had a little Eastern influence, as can be heard on some French television appearances. The guitar passages in the breakdown emerged from the solo on "Think About It", from the Little Games lineup's last single.

"Dazed and Confused" quickly became a staple of The Yardbirds' live performance during the last year of their act. The song was never officially recorded by the band, although a live version recorded on 30 March 1968 is included on the album Live Yardbirds: Featuring Jimmy Page, under the alternate title "I'm Confused". Notably, it is the only track that has no songwriter credits on the release. Another live version of the song, recorded on the French TV series Bouton Rouge on 9 March 1968, was included on the CD Cumular Limit (2000), credited "by Jake Holmes arr. Yardbirds.".

Led Zeppelin

When the Yardbirds disbanded in 1968, Page planned to record the song yet again, this time with Led Zeppelin. According to Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, the first time he heard the song was at the band's first rehearsal session at Gerrard Street in London, in 1968: "Jimmy played us the riffs at the first rehearsal and said, 'This is a number I want us to do'." Led Zeppelin recorded their version in October 1968 at Olympic Studios, London, and the song was included on their debut album Led Zeppelin (1969). "Dazed and Confused" was the second song recorded at the Olympic Studios session.

Page used a 1959 Fender Telecaster on the recording. This was one of three Led Zeppelin songs on which Page used a bow on his guitar, the others being "How Many More Times" and "In the Light".

The Led Zeppelin version was not credited to Holmes. Page used the title, penned a new set of lyrics, and modified the melody. The song's arrangement, however, remained markedly similar to the version performed by the Yardbirds the previous year. Holmes' publisher Universal Music declined to get involved.

In June 2010, Holmes filed a lawsuit in United States District Court, alleging copyright infringement and naming Page as a co-defendant. Led Zeppelin's live album Celebration Day (2012) attributes the song to "Page; inspired by Jake Holmes", although the writer's credit with ASCAP remains unchanged.

Live performances

"Dazed and Confused" was widely popularised by, and is still heavily identified with, Led Zeppelin. It became the centrepiece for the group at Led Zeppelin concerts, at least through the release of "Whole Lotta Love" from their second album. When performed live, it was (except for the fast middle section) played at a slower overall tempo, and gradually extended in duration (up to 45 minutes by 1975) as a multi-section improvised jam. Although initially performed in a manner similar to the studio version, some noticeable differences were gradually developed in live performances. By June 1969, in the section where Page plays guitar with a violin bow, the rest of the band dropped out completely, allowing him to perform a lengthier free-form improvisation, though by January 1970, the main structure of the section was already formed. By 1972, another improvised section had been added between the verses and this. The fast section was extended to allow changes in dynamics and volume, as well as changing the beat, sometimes segueing in and out of another song altogether. There was a short jam at the end of the song after the final verse.

Over time, the improvisational suite incorporated more and more material. In 1972, the song incorporated riffs from the Led Zeppelin songs "The Crunge", and "Walter's Walk", as can be heard on the live album How the West Was Won. By 1973, the song featured an extended transition before the violin bow solo, which incorporated a melody that would later be used in 1976's "Achilles Last Stand". Plant sang lyrics from either Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco" or Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" during this transition.

In his publication Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes (1997), Luis Rey dissects the pattern of the song (as it was in 1975) into 12 sections, in order to demonstrate its gradual state of evolution when played live:

A live version of "Dazed and Confused" was featured in Led Zeppelin's concert film, The Song Remains the Same 1976 and accompanying soundtrack, as part of Page's fantasy sequence. Other live recordings are also found on the official releases Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions (1997), featuring two different versions How the West Was Won (2003), the Led Zeppelin DVD (2003), and the Deluxe Edition remaster of Led Zeppelin in 2014.

"Dazed and Confused" was performed on every Led Zeppelin concert tour up to and including their 1975 shows at Earls Court. It was then removed from their live set, although Page continued to perform parts of the bowed guitar segment during solo spots in 1977 and 1979 (as preludes to "Achilles Last Stand" (1976) and "In the Evening" (1979), respectively). It was performed once again at Led Zeppelin's reunion show at the O2 Arena, London on December 10, 2007. This performance was played a whole step lower than previous Zeppelin recordings and performances of the song.

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