How Joan Baez’s “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” Served an Invaluable Purpose To Led Zeppelin

In any collaborative creative endeavor, the most important thing is chemistry. Without it, the process would not only be painful, but the project would also turn out poorly. That being said, when minds of different perspectives and talents do join to create, the meshing of those two things can be quite difficult. At times, it can be seamless, as well as structured. At other times, it can be messy and can arise through an epiphany, and that is seemingly what happened with Led Zeppelin.

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In 1968, Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin. A decision and action that would alter his life and the life of popular music. Nevertheless, when the group was trying to find its footing, it rehearsed and rehearsed in order to discover the good stuff, the chemistry. During these rehearsals, the song that solidified Led Zeppelin’s chemistry was surprisingly Page’s arrangement of Joan Baez‘s song, “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You.”

Led Zeppelin Knew They Had Something Special on Their Hands

Recalling how the song altered the creative trajectory of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page told Rolling Stone about the time he, Plant, Bonham, and Jones all played the song together for the first time. “So by the time we went into the rehearsal, it really, really kicked, because now you’ve got four people all firing on all cylinders to the point where it’s one, two, three, four in, and from the very first bar is a life-changing experience for each and every one of us in that room,” Page stated.

“By the time we finished playing, we’re all looking at each other and smiling because we’d never played with any other musicians to arrive at that sort of chemistry. And that chemistry continued all the way through the band,” Page added.

Led Zeppelin released their cover of Baez’s song on their debut 1969 album, Led Zeppelin. The single was not a commercially successful song on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it achieved something far more important, as it was the song that flipped the switch to Led Zeppelin’s light bulb. And for that very reason, it is arguably the most important track in Led Zeppelin’s highly acclaimed and wildly iconic catalog.

So thanks to Joan Baez’s folk tune, one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time found their footing, groove, and consequently, acquired the ability to take over the world with their music. Needless to say, they did just that.

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