Genre Hard rock Label Swan Song | Length 6:48 | |
Released 15 August 1979 (1979-08-15) Recorded Polar Studios, Stockholm, Sweden, November–December 1978 Writer(s) John Paul Jones
Jimmy Page
Robert Plant | ||
"In the Evening" is the first track on Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through the Out Door. The track has a synthesizer-driven sound backed by a dominant guitar phrase.
Contents
Overview
The track features an extended droning introductory section led by Jimmy Page on guitar,preceded by Plant's haunting schrill which also includes low sustaining bass pedals played by John Paul Jones and also featured John Bonham playing a tympano; doing long extended single stroke rolls and random single hits, while he changed the pitch of the drum using the foot pedal. Page used a Gizmotron to create the droning effects and sliding solo at the beginning of the song, (Page would play a similar section to the intro of "In the Evening" during "Dazed and Confused" using a violin bow, as can be heard on bootleg recordings of Led Zeppelin's concert at Tampa Stadium in 1973).
The creation of this song can be traced largely to Led Zeppelin bassist and keyboardist, John Paul Jones. When the band was recording this album, Page and drummer John Bonham would usually show up at the studio very late and work through the night. In their absence, "In the Evening" started out with just drums and keyboards created by Jones, who had a new drum machine to work with.
Live performances
The song was performed live at Led Zeppelin concerts during 1979 and 1980. During the 1979 performances, it would be played directly after Page's guitar distortion and violin bow solo, which incorporated a laser strobe to add to the visual effects. One such live version, from Led Zeppelin's performance at Knebworth in 1979, can be seen on the Led Zeppelin DVD. Performances on the Tour Over Europe 1980 could last more than eight minutes.
Plant revived "In the Evening" on his Now and Zen solo tour in 1988. The song was also played on some concerts in 1995 and 1996 during Page and Plant's tour.