#8 Whole Lotta Love
- Gaetano Sacco
- Aug 2, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 18, 2018
For all the talk from baby boomers about how “in their day" songs were written about “meaningful things” and that they only enjoy music that “moves them with their lyrics”, this next song (by arguably the biggest act of the classic rock era) is about one thing: Sex.
And there’s a “whole lotta” sex here. If Robert Plant discussing his “yearn” to be his lover’s “back-door man” and how he wants to give her “every inch of his love”, “way down inside” doesn’t convince you, I’d point you to the “orgasm solo” midway (1:20) through the song. Here, Robert Plant’s wails are turned to female moans while Jimmy Page’s use of a theremin and cello bow on his guitar create sounds that flat out don’t sound like they could come from instruments.
I suggest everyone listens to this song either with headphones on or loudly in their car, for Jimmy Page’s genius is shown not just on his legendary rock guitar riff or his tasteful solo, but in the creative production work. Everything from Plant’s vocals to the sounds coming from his theremin are designed to bounce from left ear to right ear in an extremely sexual way. What’s a theremin you ask? It’s just an instrument that many assumed was controlled by black magic back in the 70s, due to the fact that Jimmy could play it without actually touching it. See live clip from MSG circa 1973 here: https://youtu.be/KPhXm-UPfEU
It’s not black magic that drives the beast, but the device is actually using electromagnetic waves that surround the antenna. You’ll probably never see it used again, but these are the type of stage-shows that cement Led Zeppelin’s place in rock history.
After the “orgasm solo”, John Bonham breaks it down leading into one of Page’s strongest guitar solos ever, of course in my opinion. At only 15 seconds long, it’s also one of his most tasteful.
At the four minute mark, Jimmy Page’s production skills were again on passive display as the world focused in on Plant’s insane wail. Jimmy employs what’s called a “backwards echo” - something that today can be done with the click of a mouse, but back in 1969 it was much more complicated. In an interview with Guitar World in 1993, Jimmy claims to have invented the effect:
"During one session [with The Yardbirds], we were recording 'Ten Little Indians', which was an extremely silly song that featured a truly awful brass arrangement. In fact, the whole track sounded terrible. In a desperate attempt to salvage it, I hit upon an idea. I said, Look, turn the tape over and employ the echo for the brass on a spare track. Then turn it back over and we'll get the echo preceding the signal. The result was very interesting—it made the track sound like it was going backwards."
"Later, when we recorded 'You Shook Me', I told the engineer, Glyn Johns, that I wanted to use backwards echo on the end. He said, "Jimmy, it can't be done". I said "Yes, it can. I've already done it." Then he began arguing, so I said, "Look, I'm the producer. I'm going to tell you what to do, and just do it." So he grudgingly did everything I told him to, and when we were finished he started refusing to push the fader up so I could hear the result. Finally, I had to scream, "Push the bloody fader up!" And lo and behold, the effect worked perfectly."
Although others have claimed to have invented the effect before him, there’s no doubt the most famous example of the effect is during “Whole Lotta Love”.
Rolling Stone Magazine named “Whole Lotta Love” #75 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time. They also listed it #11 of their 100 Greatest Guitar Songs. Q-Magazine ranked it #3 on a similar list, while VH1 ranked it #3 on it’s list of the Greatest Hard Rock Songs Ever. No question that this song ranks amongst the best and on this day it landed #8 on my list of the greatest Led Zeppelin songs of all time.
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