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From: OTISCHIEF
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  • what a great chord progression

  • i don't know if i would go as far as saying Zeppelin "stole" this song. where its obvious that Robert had an immense knowledge of blues lyrics, you still gotta give em credit for being so original with their song as a whole

  • very cool i knew the song wasnt original to Zep but had never heard the original track thanks so much for posting this part of history

  • To deth666 & number2055:Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it-C.S. Lewis. Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory it too good. Friedrich Nietzsche

    Stop trying to be original! You both suck at it!

  • Wow this is up tempo.

  • amazing

  • This is why we have YouTube. I ignore comments and the video. The music is what matters to me you sods. I'm not sure I would want to imagine about how any of you were conceived, like such base comments matter to anyone.

    "Crying won't help you, praying won't do no good"

    Thanks for posting. I really loved the music.

  • You people bitch to much about the video, its about the song. shit more than 75% of u viewing this were conceived while your parents fucked to the zepplin version. getcha pull and open up to the goods

  • APC's rendition sucked. Zeppelin however nailed it

  • anyone else get that sealy commercial at the beginning. that's all youtube commercial i actually liked

  • Hipster Kitty liked this song before Led Zeppelin covered it!

  • WOW, you guys should be enjoying ,Memphis Minnie what a great talent she was, she was way ahead of her time, you guys are fighting over bullshit, when in reality Memphis Minnie is( O.G.) First lady of blues , look at what a great legacy she l;eft all of us to enjoy, and you are disgracing her here by this crap . now stop it dam it and enjoy Memphis Mnnie .

  • “When The Levee Breaks” is a big slice of apocalyptic blues. The song is often mis-credited as a cover of a song by Memphis Minnie. While the song does borrow some lines from that song, those lines are rearranged and combined with new lyrical verses and the music is entirely different. The song contains the definitive drum sample of John Bonham, a sample that was used throughout the following decades, most notably by the Beastie Boys.

  • wow seems like there is a lot of bitching going on below me.

    anyways, although I really prefer the Led Zeppelin version, I am just grateful these guys made this song, because without it, there would be no Zeppelin version! 

  • THE USE OF MUSIC AND OR LYRICS WITHOUT PERMISSION OR LICENSE IS CALLED COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

  • OK - you two guys fighting 3 days ago (666 and 2055). Please read this chain of comments down further. A very similar argument already occured over 2 years ago. Neither one of you acknowledged the two gents who originally had this debate. That means you stoled something also! Even though your words are a little different, its the same old song. Which came first; the chicken or the egg? Have at it.....

  • @spinat45 (666and2055) did not steal anything when politicians run for office they debate the same issues year after year like economy,jobs, education, etc, that is not theft what (666and2055) are doing is the same thing debating the same issue that you say occurred over 2 years ago and that is not theft

  •  when the levee breaks

    memphis minnie>led zeplllin

  • 5 hour energy can suck my dick.

  • This song sounds like every other from it's day. Quit baggin' on Zeppelin, get off your high horses, muscicians are inspired in varying degrees by other peoples shit all the time.... it is by progressing the evolution of the creativity in which great music is contrived... bitches

  • @futchofdeth666 to be inspired by an other artist is a good thing it happens everyday but to take someones song record it not give them credit and call it original is wrong here is a example what if you wrote a book and it was word for word just like tom sawyer and you said the book you wrote is original what do you think would happen to you you would not be able to get away with that it is the same thing with zeppelin and all the songs they stole do you understand now

  • @futchofdeth666 how is it progressing the evolution of creativity of music when you go back and record a song that has been done before like led zeppelin did many times creativity means to make something new and progressing the evolution means to go forward

  • @number2055 Keep your definition of those two words in mind... Then listen to Minnie Mae, then to Led Zeppelin, then Down, then A Perfect Circle... It's deffinitly progressed and evolved into something new... None of these artists try to take credit for it, it's outta respect for the song/artist. Still confused, learn to play it om any instrument... you'll find the roots are the same but the progression is very different... Don't respond to this till you listen to all of them first, Cat...

  • @number2055 Keep your definition of those wrods in mind and Listen.... Start with Minnie Mae, then Led Zeppelin, then Down, then A Perfect Circle... Even if you want to be argumentative, the progressions change (or maybe evolve) for every version. Also, read the first line of my first comment, expand your musical taste, listen to other music from Minnie Mae's time period and suddenly she ain't original... , there's alot better outining that same lame chord progression<<<Learn Music

  • @futchofdeth666 NOTHING WILL CHANGE THE FACT LED ZEPPELIN TOOK CREDIT FOR SONGS THEY DID NOT WRITE WILLIE DIXION SUED THEM FOR STEALING HIS SONGS AND WON AND THE BAND ADMITS THE ENTIRE FIRST ALBUM ARE ALL COVERS BUT ONLY CREDITED TWO SONGS TO SOMEONE ELSE  BIO CHANNEL DOCUMENTARY

  • @number2055 Oh, well that'sd not at all what you said the first time is it dipshit.... You started argueing about the def. of prog. and evol... So now I gotta ask did you even have a point.... OR just enough of a lack of friends to argue 'bout nothin'... YOUR LAST COMMENT HAS NOT EVEN BEGUN TO TOUCH BASE WITH ANYTHING I WAS TALKING ABOUT ORIGINALLY... MINNIE MAE SOUNDS LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE FROM THEN.(PERIOD) WHO'S ORIGINAL NOW?? YOU CREATED AN ARGUMENT THAT DIDN'T EXSIST. GET A LIFE HOMO!!!!!!!

  • @futchofdeth666 HERE IS THE POINT LED ZEPPELIN TOOK CREDIT FOR SONGS THEY DID NOT WRITE FUTCHOFDETH666 WHY IS THIS SO HARD FOR YOU TO EXCEPT?

  • @number2055 Here's what You're not understanding... Minnies guitar is a basic blues scale, she and everyone else used back then, and still do...So what you're saying is it's ok for her to use music someone else wrote, but not Zeppelin?? What are you on fuckin' Glue? So she progressed music doing what's been done already, while Zep is just a rip off, despite the exponentialy intricate expansion of chord progression?? Are you following? Lemme break it down...

  • @number2055 "Preexcisting music+ Minnie Mae lyrics= Original classic(?) *While* Prexcisting lyrics+ Led Zeppelin music=Rip off??? You're logic makes no sense. Who did Minie Mae acredit for this blues lick? Oh, so then that means she ripped it off too, right? OR did she use what was there to "create" something that progressed the evol. of music? So go fuck yourself, OK

  • @futchofdeth666 FOR THE LAST TIME HERE IS THE POINT LED ZEPPELIN TOOK CREDIT FOR SONGS THEY DID NOT WRITE FUTCHOFDETH666 WHY IS THIS SO HARD FOR YOU TO EXCEPT AND ALL YOUR ARGUMENTS ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE THIS FACT

  • @number2055 Like I've said since my first comment posted that's not my point... that's what I've said since day one, you argued with me and tell me I miss the point, fuckin' get a life loser.... better yet KILL YOURSELF!!!!!!!!! You don't have the DNA it takes to produce anybody wothwhile... 

  • @futchofdeth666 YOU TALK A LOT OF SHIT ON THE COMPUTER BITCH TELL ME HOW WE CAN HAVE A FACE TO FACE MEETING AND WE WILL SETTLE THIS LIKE REAL MEN OR ARE YOU JUST A PUNK ASS MOTHER FUCKER WHO IS ONLY TOUGH BEHIND A SCREEN SO WHATS UP NOW ARE YOU A REAL MAN OR A PUSSY BUT I KNOW YOU YOU AINT GOING TO DO NOTHING CUZ FAKE ASS PUSSY BITCHES LIKE YOU NEVER DO SO GO AND HIDE NOW BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY BALLS WHICH I KNOW YOU DO NOT YOU HAVE A CUNT PROVE ME WRONG STRAIGHT UP OG CRIP MOTHER FUCKER

  • @number2055 OK, send me a personal message with your number, I live in Denver, Colorado... I would love to fist you while my hand throws a ck... I don't bang though... I live in Sun Valley housing projects off Decatur and 12th... That's the west side out here and they bang blood, good luck even getting up my street... These lil' bad ass kids we'll be all up in that sweet ass. Send me your number let me know when you get into town... I recomend google maps.

  • @futchofdeth666 it is on know bitch i will be in aurora on the thirteenth until the twenty first i got people out there so they will know were sun valley is at when you see a green cts rollin threw the projects that will be me give me your address i will come right up to your door OG CRIPS AKA BIG HOMMIE

  • @number2055 Cool story internet dooche! Thanks for the heads up on the green cts I'll spread the word*mark!* If you were og/a big homie, you could drop a dime and get it poppin tonight. Though I couldn't see anybody following a shot caller that operates as ignorantly as you. You told me when where who and in what, Have you ever done this before??? Flaugin' ass mother fucker, let me know when you get to Atown cause it's sodomy season bitch!

  • @futchofdeth666 i will see you next week bitch and we will see whats up

  • @number2055 oh my God, bitch you're so lame... everybody reading this knows you're a hyper-reactive poon who ain't doin shit.... Watch this internet!... I'm gonna continue with my prose next week...Quote IT!!! Text you're boyfriend, get a reach arouhnd and FUCK OFF, you should've just listened to my earlier message and killed yourself... God you disappoint your parents, society and a God with your gieghness!!!!

  • @futchofdeth666 i will be in denver next week and we will see whats up

  • @number2055 Nothin', 'cause you're a bitch... You tried to start an illogical argument, failed to make any kind of point, and then resorted to violent threats... Sounds like uncertainty and fear to me... deffinitly traits of a coward ass bitch, probably not too many friends or associates... 'lotta internet related chaffing's prompting ointment... but you're a lame fake non-threatening bitch... Eat My Fat Cock!

  • @futchofdeth666 i will be driving threw sun valley on wednesday august the 17th between12:30 and 1:00 pm i will be in a green cts with three other homies with me ready for what ever i will be in the front passenger seat we will drive threw the projects 3 times i have just givin you everything you need to find me word is bond please do something when you see us so whats up now CRIPS MOTHERFUCKER

  • @number2055 Jesus! Just give it up... Everybody know's that you're full of shit... Why would you tell such critical bits of information...Anyway see you then Big Wheel Cap Peeler.... I wonder if you really are that fuckin' stupid... it's too bad that I, like most functioning Americans, will be at work that day. CAn I get a rain check... How about Friday at 7-8PM?

  • @number2055 I waited on the porch...for your Flaugin' ass? What happened? Hope the CTS didn't break down... If you had TripleA Roadside service, they would've picked you up, ran you by here to Hoo' Ride, then took you home... But I understand if something came up... It ain't easy bein G'sy, Right Pimpin'?

  • @futchofdeth666 first it was good luck getting up my street then it was thanks for the heads up on the green cts i will spread the word mark then it was i will be at work that day now you are waiting on the porch people who live in the projects call them projects not(housing projects)i gave you everything you needed to find me we drove threw and you did not do shit  do you really live there you are just a fake ass internet talking white boy who backs down when confronted by a real nigga CRIPS

  • @number2055 if its any consolation , you are both idiots . Crips ? Is that anothetr word for a queer ?

  • Comment removed

  • @number2055 PS Hey, Lil' Johnny... if your mom catches you type that gang shit you know that she's going to beat you with the ironing cord, right... she might even take away your internet and texting for a week. If you is somebody, which you ain't, I really hope you do roll through. I put you at the Decatur market, a little bodega in the area, my house is third down from it. Come on wit' it! I'll beat your ass with the ironing cord and sell you for sex to the crackheads and deviants.

  • @futchofdeth666 give me you state your city and your address

  • @number2055 Oh,well that has nothing to do with my first TWO comments does it dipshit... Did you really have nothing to say or just NO friends to say it to...Get a life! Or better yet end the contriving one you currently exploit!

  • @number2055 you said Led Zeppelin owned very few of their songs. Not true. Even if the whole first album was covers.. that's still ONE album. You said something that isn't true, that's fine. Nothing wrong with admitting you exaggerated.

  • whats up with all the zep hatred? all artists are inspired by others before them. some lyrics are similar, but the music and over all sound is completely different. so dont pin copying songs on jimmy. if anything he is arguably the most copied guitarist in both sound and image, next to hendrix

  • @kss341 They stole most of the songs on their first 2 albums and never gave credit. Youtube has tons of videos showing examples of their stolen songs.

  • @kss341 name one guitarist who copied jimmys sound and image the hatred is cuz zeppelin took credit for songs they did not write

  • wow ...how does Jimmi do it?....he sure writes a lotta songs that have already been written...... amazing........limmey bastard

  • @throwsand- you should check out some more of the original versions of Led Zeppelin songs, they are mostly a "cover band" and very few of their songs actually belong to them

  • @angelamytheist

    now that is just too much.

    yes, they did some covers. and they did them awesomely.

    like this one, the song's totally different, they just used the great lyrics.

    but they got more great songs they wrote, than just about anyone.

    nobody starts from scratch, everyone copies everyone a bunch, it's do you just copy, or do you get inspired by it?

    zep did inspired covers and inspired originals.

    gotta set record straight...

  • @richardshapiroII you are missing the point they did not give credit to a lot of the artist songs they covered and called them originals

    so with your theory you can take the lyrics to the star spangled banner put some different music to it and call it a original song and not get sued right the beatles and the stones have greater songs than zeppelin by sales not opinion

    zeppelin songs have been covered but how many original song and not the ones they stole were covered

    record is now straight

  • @angelamytheist that's not true. the first 2 led zeppelin albums had 3 songs each that had a writing credit to anybody that wasn't a member of the band, a few other albums had one or two with credit to someone else, but nearly all of those credits were shared with members of the band as well. Zeppelin did do covers but to say very few of their songs actually belong to them isn't true.

  • @ancience1923 What about all the other songs on the first 2 albums that they took writing credit for even though the song was done by someone else first. They denied it, but years later had multiple settlements out of court done quietly. They still haven't acknowledged that Spirit gave them the opening to Stairway To heaven.

  • @sfbandvideos Yes, they did take bits and pieces of things and sometimes they did take credit for things they shouldn't have. I think they must have figured that since they changed the song so much it was to be considered their own. Most of the songs that weren't 100% original were changed so much they may has well have written them from scratch rather than basing them off somebody else's songs. it is still an exaggeration to say very few of their songs belong to them.

  • @ancience1923 you are wrong they took credit for songs that they did not write because it was common practice to steal the blackmans music like pat boone stealing tuttie fruitti or the beach boys stealing chuck berrys sweet sixteen and calling it surfing usa and zeppelin said fuck these old blues players we love your music so much we are going to steal it and call it our own and if they find out what are they going to do to us we got record companies on our side bluesman became zeppelen

  • @ancience1923 if the they gave credit to the other people who wrote the songs on the first album why did willie dixon sue them for stealing his songs and was awarded over 1 million dollars when he won the case

  • @ancience1923 none of the songs on the first album were originals they were all stolen and they only gave credit to willie dixion for his two because he sued them

  • and so... the Great Flood of 1927 influenced Music and Culture still to this day.

  • so led zepplin used this song's lyrics, and chuck berry used the tune for "roll over bettoven" lol

  • Coolnesses

  • When the Levee Breaks we're gunna stop votin' Republican 'n vote Democrat...

    When the Levee Breaks we're gunna stop votin' Republican 'n vote Democrat...

    an' then we'll finally figure out that they're all just rats...

  • @toolkien Don't be that guy. This is about music, not politics. 

  • Gotta love the blues man ;)

  • Led Zeppelin is my all-time favorite band, but I have to say, I like this version more than theirs.

  • 5 people don`t understand that crying won`t help them and praying won`t do no good.

  • Some of you people write as if its Minnie who is deserving of the credit alone. This is Joe McCoy's song too; he may have been its primary writer. And although an acclaimed guitar player and a great composer, he is providing the vocals on this song. So some of you need to stop trying to give history lessons when you are just as clueless.

  • Zep borrowed some of the words, but the music is very far apart... Zep rocks, and these blues are pretty damned good too!

  • At 1:20 there is a Zeppelin in the sky,... foreshadowing perhaps?

  • @joshmontegna

    At 2:55 there is Led Zeppelin in the sky.... that might be foreshadowing too ;)

  • @joshmontegna

    At 3:10 there is Led Zeppelin on a bench,... foreshadowing perhaps?

  • no doubt just bout every womans mentor whne it comes to guitar playing long live memphis minnie

  • Im 13 but i really like old blues songs like this, its so pure.

  • The Queen of the Blues, ladies and gentlemen! :D

  • had a copy of this somewhere have no idea where it walked off to but it was and is cool.

  • Love it!

  • What's up with the random photo of Johnny Depp from "Dead Man" at 0:39?

  • if anyone knows where i can find her killer diller song please point me in that direction.. i cant find it anywhere

    thanks

  • true man, the original bluesman and blueswomen started it all.

    they deserve way more props than others because they started this

    genre.cheers!

  • Nice! Love the song and the choices of still photos to illustrate it.

  • i cant believe how many people don't know this wasnt written by zeppelin... lol history erases greatness time and time again.

  • @uwantmetoo1u: blame racism. 

  • @uwantmetoo1u not to mention "Whole Lotta Love" "When the Levee Breaks"

    "Gallows Pole" "In my time of Dying" and many more Zep tunes were lifted from original folk/blues artists.

  • @ruqsaq Led Zeppelin is one of the best cover band in musicality. but, they're not good at "tribute". some songs borrowed from blues musicians but without credit. but i still love them. They are the best band ever, but they made some mistakes.....

  • For anyone with interest in the 1927 flood, "The great Flood" is a heckuva story.

  • is kansas joe playing the chords and minnie doing all the fast guitar lines? just curious if anyone knows?

  • @slimfrancis Minnie is playing lead and she's the kick ass guitar player. ;o)

  • Amazing song! Props to Memphis Minnie, Joe Mccoy, and all the blues greats!

  • Why does Led Zeppelin take credit as the authors of this song?

  • @ps249 I think it was more of an accident, didn't they first put Traditional Artist, or am I confusing that with "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You"?

  • @ps249 The same reason Elvis was credited for "Hound Dog"...

  • @arkansoul Well, not exactly- I think they felt they made a whole new arrangement and *maybe* thought it was in the public domain (which it is now- not sure about then). Of course she still deserves to be credited as the lyric writer. As for Elvis he didn't get credit on Hound Dog, but he did on a few others (out of hundreds he recorded) thanks to Colonel Tom. However, Elvis stated that he didn't feel right about it and never said he wrote any. He did do a lot of the arranging without credit.

  • @ps249 memphis minnie is also listed as the writer on the Led Zeppelin album "Zoso"

  • @ps249 They added to it but they have her name on it as well.

  • Thank God for the early blues artists. Can't believe Zeppelins interpretation of this song. Love both versions.

  •  GREAT! Absolutely Beautiful.

  • Photos great.

    Lose art flashes.

  • Awesome. Thanks for posting.

    Every time it rains hard, I think of this song and John Bonham's monumental drumbeat.

    Glad the Zep boys brought this song into the mainstream (and gave Minnie her due!).

  • The original . . . the best.

  • Anybody know where I can find a guitar tab for this song, if not a mandolin???

  • @anonymous11441144 This isn't on a mandolin. This is played on guitar.

  • Re: mileslake

    What does prostitution have to do with this ?

    In any case , it makes no difference what a person had to do for a living as it wasn't easy , especially for a woman , a black person and especially a black woman .

    There are and have been far worse vocations .

  • 1:19 ZEPPELIN!!!

  • Is your name really William Blake????

  • IS THAT THE ZEPPELIN IN THE SKY?

  • the man in the boat at :39 looks like Johnny Depp.

  • It was. It looks like a scene from that awful movie Dead Man.

  • Don't build your house so damn close to the river! Ah good song but seriously man can not out last nature on rivers and the sea and shit I want to see what the planet looks like in 100,000 years. Too bad I'm probably gonna die way before that but shit the planets constantly changing man I wanna see new continents and shit but fuck if I live to be 80 it would be a god damn miracle.

  • @Ladiestreat wow. that was deep.

  • yeeeeeeeee this is where its at man! im serious tho. this is like some of the best music ever. now everything as been said...then i cant imagine how big this song was...even if it was

  • word sisterdiggins.. can't get enough of black rat swing and me and my chauffer blues. Memphis Minnie is the bees knees

  • It is terrible that so many have no clue about Memphis Minnie

    Her place in music history is pretty major .

    She was a guitar player . A woman playing guitar up until now has never been taken seriously . She also worked her ass off to record and made sure she kept her rights as well as getting her music out there! More to the story. She was no hack guitar player , she was GOOD. Her story needs to be known because she broke down some barriers.

  • @sisterdiggins No offense, but in her spare time she was a prostitute.

  • @sisterdiggins Shame that so few know of Robert Johnson, too. I love Sweet Home Chicago, but almost everyone thinks the Blues Brothers wrote it.

  • @sisterdiggins Well put! I'm a female guitarist as well, and it's hard to be even STILL. Everyone wants women to put down their gitfiddles and pick up a frickin' microphone- Load a crap. I just discovered Minnie today and think she's awesome. Truly inspiring from one female guitarist to another.

  • @sisterdiggins It is obvious that Minnie knew how to play the guitar and her compositions are of a complex nature. 

  • @sisterdiggins She and Mabel Carter were two of the early women pickers that inspired a generation of guitar players.

  • People just don't understand. I live in the Mississippi delta, Greeneville, Ms to be exact. The town' existance depends on the levees that border the river. It's real.

  • The 1st album and then this song. Zeppelin at finest.

    Thank you for posting Minnie and the photos. After Katrina .. Oh My Gawd what a world of troubles! And the financial house of cards to come!

    What freaks me is Johnson and others play guitar like they can't get enough in there!

  • @unklesam81 Yeah, I know it, somewhat like the Dutch...

  • When Led Zeppelin turns and old blues song into an epic culmination of studio production, skillfull instrumentation, and soul they do it well. =)

  • Only good thing about that 1927 flood was all the great blues music it inspired.

  • @Tockyard The 1927 flood changed America. Hundreds of thousands moved to Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis from Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. Hoover made a name for himself winning black support in the election of 1928. He then dissed those black voters who flocked to FDR in 1932.

  • @Tockyard The 1927 flood opened the "flood" gates to the Blues.

  • @Tockyard  Good point tockyard. How many other songs, particularly broken hearted love songs were inspired by unfortunate circumstances?

  • Whoa! Guess he saw Katrina coming even way back then. Love this music. Thanks for posting.

  • If these 2 put their heads together, I think they'd float! Hope that's grammatically satisfactory for savants of B.S. Trying to sound bright

    Just listen to the pretty music and rock!!

  • i wonder if minnie's kin folk got any royalties from zep.

    jimmy always had to be sued to pay up.

  • haha, thats so true

  • Actually this was one of the Led Zeppelin blues songs where the line between original and cover were blurred that they volunteered to credit the original performer (Memphis Minnie only) and since she was alive at the time not only has her family gotten money but I expect she did as well.

  • Where did you get some of the photos for this video--especially the photos of levee building/repair? Thanks.

  • the led zeppelin version is slightly better, hahaha

  • r u that angry of a hillbilly?

  • APC cover was awesomely chilling.

  • Led Zeppelin singing this tune is actually kind of amusing because im pretty sure no englishman actually has to worry about levees breaking.

  • Thats nonsense. Dont make ignorant comments.

  • Don't think with your dipstick Jimmy; cause N. Memphis is in da house......

  • lol @ the zeppelin at 1:21

  • I always thought it was cool, how heavy and twisted sounding Led Zeppelin's version was. But it still had the original blues soul of Memphis Minnie and Joe McCoy.

  • You guys have to hear the "A Perfect Circle" cover of this, incomparable.

  • artists in the 1960s and 1970s eric clapton, jimmy page, or mick jagger had the class to pay homage to great songs of the past, like when the levee breaks or crossroad, with a sense of humility that they were following their predecessor's footsteps.

  • I thought it was about the flood too...Chicago's red light district was called the 'Levee'. Why was Chicago mentioned in the song? "It's got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home"..."taught me to weep and moan"...think someone'd write that about a retaining dike? Moreover, if the Levee's a mound of dirt next to a sharecropper's house in the south, why would he weep and moan and think about his wife and home when it's right there? Why can't he take his baby with him to Chicago?

  • Ther was a flood. 1927 in Mississippi. A levy did break, displacing 16,000 most to midwestern cities ie; Chicago. Others went to another levy on higher ground that did not fail. Wikipedia

  • I think it's 'Monkey Man leave his home'

  • It was written in the 1920's/1930's. At this time , a lot of southern blacks were migrating to the big cities in the north. Chicago was one of those places, and at one point was considered the "Black Capital of America."

    Also, with families that didn't have a lot of money, or where there were other extenuating circumstances, oftentimes the men would go north and send money back to their families.

    AFAIK, the song WAS about the levees and the Great Migration from the South.

  • Wrong. 'Levee' was written in response to the Chicago Police's pre-prohibition crackdown in their red-light district. Good reference to the history, but off the mark in this case. For corroboration, look up Irving Wallace and/or Dave Wallichinsky. But...I agree about the possible carelessness of LZ. A pal of mine, because of 'Levee', calls them the Butcher of the Blues.

  • It was written about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Jow McCoy and Memphis Minnie were born in Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively.

  • Appropriation of so-called "folk" or "traditional" music (in this case, blues) is a tricky problem. There are traditional blues songs that have no ascertainable authorship (unfortunately). There are others that have a distinct pedigree, sometimes including recordings. That is indeed the case with "When the Levee Breaks." It's possible LZ didn't know the song's origin, considering that they were probably listening to "race-records," perhaps bootlegs, when they learned it.

  • ...also, read John M. Barry's "Rising Tide" to learn how African-Americans were forced (at gunpoint, sometimes) to spend days shoring up the levees in a futile attempt to prevent the flood of '27. "When the Levee Breaks" was written in response to this tragedy, an event that is often ignored in textbooks and yet had a profound influence on 20th-century U.S. politics.

  • koo

  • John Bonham did so much for this song

  • Aside from having the same lyrics, this song and led zeppelins are completely different.

  • Just the two initial lines men. And musicaly its totaly diferent. Im not an expert but zeppelin could have all the credits of the song like nobodys fault but mine, based on Blind Willie Johnson version. Peace!!! ;)

  • the issue is not people coverimg songs, the issue is playing someone elses property and SAYING you wrote it which zep did on all their songs

  • hey! fuck you man! Zeppelin was one of the most influential bands in the history of music. how could you speak such blasphemy? Music as we know it would not exist if it wasnt for the genius of Robert Plant ,John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, And John Bonham. They Never claimed this song as their own. however the Seven minute epic that followed this piece was their Arrangement. And that makes their interpretation just that. THEIRS!

  • Not a truer word spoken... I've heard another female interpretation that predates the Led Zep cover as well....

    The angry guy that follows should be ssured to know no wangin'`on LED ZEP, other than to say they didn't give the originators the credit for the ORIGINAL song

  • It is because of Led Zeppelin that alot of these obscure artists are now getting as much attention as they are. You people watching this video for free and complaining about these artists being ripped-off should go look in the mirror.

  • zeppelin also did bring it on home by willie dixon. megadeth did i aint superstitious and the doors did back door man. so much history in the blues.

  • i mean i like both of the versions

    alot of classic rock bands that are considered godfather's of rock by people who don't do their math, have covered someone else.

    they did not rip them off,though

    and before it was zep and the stones it was little richard, chuck berry, robert johnson, bo didley and buddy holly,etc

    the originals of rock

    too bad alot of people don't give them the praise they deserve

    the list goes on and on

    rock started before the sixties

  • Thnx for sharing I didn't know this, it's one of my favorit Zeppelin songs But it's from 1929 also 80 years old like my Dad awsome

  • why where when ?only looked at this because all you did knot know.True ?

  • Led Zeppelin introduced a whole new slew of elements to the song, made it distinctively theirs, and also credited Memphis Minnie for the song. Taking old or contemporary material and making it fresh and different is entirely in the spirit of blues. Unfortunately, it seems that as music grew into the industry that it is today, it's become less a matter of appreciation and creativity and more a matter of "theft."

  • thanks for posting this led zep and rolling stones ripped off black blues artist...and its ripping them off if you live fat off someones art and dont give them any credit or cash and let people believe youre the creator

  • what a ridiculous point of view. Taking these lyrics and placing them in a completely different song is like using the color Red in an artwork, its an interpretation. Do you understand how different zeppelins version is in style?

    They call them Blues Standby's for a reason. Do you hate Bob Dylan, or Jimi Hendrix, or Cream, or The Animals for using lyrics?

    ridiculous.

  • in order to release a cover of a song on record you need permission from whoever holds the rights to the music and you need to list them in the credits. i'm looking at the cd right now and it does list the original artist. and the most led zep took from the original is a few lyrics, besides that they completely rewrote all the music. you expect led zep to just give them money? madness.

  • Les Zep only credit them now because they were sued, original pressing didn't credit the orginal artists.