Format LP record Genre Hard rock
blues rock Label Atlantic | Recorded Los Angeles, 1969 Length 6:20 | |
Released 22 October 1969 (1969-10-22) | ||
"The Lemon Song" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. It was recorded in Los Angeles when the band were on their second concert tour of North America.
Contents
Lyrical and musical content
The song was inspired by Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor", which was a song Led Zeppelin briefly incorporated into their live setlist during their first concert tour of the United States. For the second and third North American tours the song evolved into "The Lemon Song", with Plant often improvising lyrics onstage (the opening lyrics to both songs are, in fact, identical).
Other lyrics, notably "squeeze (my lemon) till the juice runs down my leg," can be traced to Robert Johnson's "Travelling Riverside Blues". It is likely that Johnson borrowed this himself, from a song recorded earlier in the same year (1937) called "She Squeezed My Lemon" (by Arthur McKay). The song also references Albert King's "Cross-Cut Saw".
In December 1972, Arc Music, owner of the publishing rights to Howlin' Wolf's songs, sued Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement on "The Lemon Song". The parties settled out of court. Though the amount was not disclosed, Chester Arthur Burnett (Howlin' Wolf's real name) received a check for US $45,123 from Arc Music immediately following the suit, and subsequent releases included a co-songwriter credit for him.
Live performances
"The Lemon Song" was performed live on Led Zeppelin's first three concert tours of the United States (on the first tour as "Killing Floor"), before being dropped from their live set in late 1969. However, the 'squeeze my lemon' sequence continued to be inserted into the "Whole Lotta Love" medley and ad-libbed elsewhere. In their 1971 Royal Albert Hall performance, it was incorporated into "How Many More Times".
Jimmy Page performed this song on his tour with the Black Crowes in 1999. A version of "The Lemon Song" performed by Page and the Black Crowes can be found on the album Live at the Greek.
Plant performed the song live with Jack White on 21 March 2015 in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the Lollapalooza Festival.