Remembering When Led Zeppelin Brought a Folk Chanteuse in for a Duet in 1971

Sandy Denny’s talent should have earned her much more recognition than she received. From her piercing singing voice to her moving songwriting, she served as one of the leading lights of the British folk music scene of the late 60s. But widespread notoriety never quite arrived.

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Nonetheless, she did earn a bit of immortality thanks to a guest appearance. Oddly enough, the ethereal folk chanteuse played a big part in a memorable song by one of the hardest-rocking bands in the world.

Mandolin Wind

Led Zeppelin was already hitting on all cylinders by the time they settled in to make their fourth LP. The British band had redefined rock music on their first three records by going much heavier than the norm. But they also took the time to show other sides of their artistic personality on those records as well.

Their fourth album would combine all their many influences, often within the course of a single song. They worked up the music at Headley Grange, an estate in the English countryside that the band rented out for its privacy and solitude.

Most evenings, the band would filter into the great hall of the estate to either come up with new pieces of music or polish up ones they’d already begun. One evening, Jimmy Page noticed a mandolin that belonged to John Paul Jones and picked it up. He fooled around with the fingering until he happened upon a chord progression. It reminded him of some ancient folk song. That was the beginning of “The Battle Of Evermore”.

Preparing for “Battle”

Someone quickly put a mike on Page to capture what he was doing. Robert Plant picked up the baton from there. The singer had been reading books about antiquated wars. Combining that knowledge with language inspired by his love of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings books, he came up with the lyrics.

Plant created a main section that told the story of the song. But then he also included a kind of counter-section that came from the perspective of those inside the battle. When the band tried “The Battle Of Evermore” with Plant singing both parts, it just didn’t sound right to them.

That’s when they decided they’d include another vocalist to sing that supplemental section. The band had known Sandy Denny for a while by then, thanks to their love of the British folk scene. They asked her to add her vocals to the track.

Denny For “Evermore”

By the time Led Zeppelin invited her to join them for “The Battle Of Evermore”, Sandy Denny had already left behind two bands. Most notably, she wrote and sang for the celebrated Fairport Convention. She also formed a band called Fotheringay that lasted just a single album.

She was about to embark upon her solo career when Led Zep called, a career that never took off as she had hoped. Nonetheless, her part alongside Plant was spectacular. Those two spectral voices sometimes spun off into different directions and sometimes united into a single potent force.

It’s a shame that many people have only heard Sandy Denny on “The Battle Of Evermore”. If that’s you, trust us and check out the rest of her fantastic catalog for many more examples of her brilliance.

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