Led Zeppelin Revisit The Battle Of Evermore On 50th Anniversary Series

Bruce Henne | 11-07-2021

(hennemusic) Led Zeppelin revisit their classic track, "The Battle Of Evermore", on the third episode of their newly-launched 50th anniversary video series about their 1971 album, "Led Zeppelin IV."

The song features a duet between Robert Plant and former Fairport Convention singer Sandy Denny, who has the distinction of being the only guest vocalist on a Led Zeppelin recording.

Legend has it that the song was written by Plant and Jimmy Page in a moment of pure musical inspiration. "'Battle of Evermore' was made up on the spot by Robert and myself," Page told Trouser Press in a 1977 interview. "I just picked up John Paul Jones's mandolin, never having played a mandolin before, and just wrote up the chords and the whole thing in one sitting."

"It sounded like an old English instrumental first off," recalled the guitarist about the song's development. "Then it became a vocal and Robert did his bit. Finally we figured we'd bring Sandy by and do a question-and-answer-type thing."

"For me to sing with Sandy was great," says Plant. "If it suffered from a naivete and tweeness, it makes up for it in the cohesion of the voices and the playing."

"The Battle Of Evermore" follows "Black Dog" and "Rock And Roll" as the third song on "Led Zeppelin IV", which was recorded with the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio at a mansion in Hampshire, England named Headley Grange. Watch the episode here.

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