LED ZEPPELIN - "Stairway to Heaven"

Led Zeppelin
"Stairway to Heaven"
Promotional single (US)
Released: 1972
Album: Led Zeppelin IV (Released: 8 November 1971)
Writers: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant
Label: Atlantic

"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album (often referred to as Led Zeppelin IV). It is often referred to as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Radio stations received promotional singles which quickly became collector's items.

Led Zeppelin's promotional single: "Stairway to Heaven" (1972)

Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven" (Vinyl 45 rpm)

"Stairway to Heaven" was voted #3 in 2000 by VH1 on its list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs, and was placed at number 31 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It was the most requested song on FM radio stations in the United States in the 1970s, despite never having been officially released as a single there. In November 2007, through download sales promoting Led Zeppelin's Mothership release, "Stairway to Heaven" hit No. 37 on the UK Singles Chart.

The song has three sections, each one progressively increasing in tempo and volume. It starts as a slow acoustic-based folk melody accompanied by recorders before introducing electric instrumentation. The final section is an uptempo hard rock arrangement highlighted by Page's intricate guitar solo accompanying Plant's vocals that end with the plaintive a cappella line: "And she's buying a stairway to heaven".

Led Zeppelin.s promotional single: "Stairway to Heaven" 

Led Zepellin - "Stairway to Heaven" (music video)

Robert Plant spent much of the '70s answering questions about the lyrics he wrote for "Stairway." When asked why the song was so popular, he said it could be its "abstraction," adding, "Depending on what day it is, I still interpret the song a different way - and I wrote the lyrics."

The lyrics take some pretty wild turns, but the beginning of the song is about a woman who accumulates money, only to find out the hard way her life had no meaning and will not get her into heaven. This is the only part Plant would really explain, as he said it was "a woman getting everything she wanted without giving anything back."

Led Zeppelin played this for the first time in Belfast on March 5, 1971 - Northern Ireland was a war zone at the time and there was rioting in nearby streets. John Paul Jones said in an audio documentary that when they played it, the audience was not that impressed. They wanted to hear something they knew - like "

Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven" (live at Madison Square Garden)

Led Zeppelin (l - r: John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page)

The song got a better reception when the band started the US leg of their tour. In an excerpt from Led Zeppelin; The Definitive Biography by Ritchie Yorke, Jimmy Page said of playing the song at an August, 1971 show at the Los Angeles Forum: "I'm not saying the whole audience gave us a standing ovation - but there was this sizable standing ovation there. And I thought, 'This is incredible because no one's heard this number yet. This is the first time hearing it!' It obviously touched them, so I knew there was something with that one."

Line-up / Musicians:

Jimmy Page - acoustic, electric guitar, and electric 12-string guitar
Robert Plant - lead vocals, tambourine
John Paul Jones - recorders, electric piano, mellotron, bass guitar
John Bonham - drums

Link / Review:
wikipedia: Stairway to Heaven
songfacts: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin
rollingstone: 500 Greatest Songs of All Time - Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"
ultimateclassicrock: Jimmy Page Talks About Making ‘Stairway to Heaven’
metalmusicarchives: Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven