When the Levee Breaks

E439790
Led Zeppelin song blues song rock song song song recorded by Led Zeppelin

"When the Levee Breaks" is a classic blues song first recorded by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929, later famously reinterpreted by Led Zeppelin into a heavy, riff-driven rock track.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Led Zeppelin song ⓘ
blues song ⓘ
rock song ⓘ
song ⓘ
song recorded by Led Zeppelin ⓘ
album Led Zeppelin IV NERFINISHED ⓘ
Untitled fourth Led Zeppelin album ⓘ
composer Kansas Joe McCoy NERFINISHED ⓘ
Memphis Minnie NERFINISHED ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States of America ⓘ
surface form: United States
criticalReception widely regarded as a classic rock track ⓘ
engineer Andy Johns NERFINISHED ⓘ
featuresInstrument drums ⓘ
electric guitar ⓘ
harmonica ⓘ
genre blues rock ⓘ
hard rock ⓘ
heavy rock ⓘ
hasCoverVersion Led Zeppelin version ⓘ
hasInfluenced later rock and hip hop production techniques ⓘ
inspiredByEvent Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 NERFINISHED ⓘ
label Atlantic Records NERFINISHED ⓘ
language English ⓘ
LedZeppelinVersionBassist John Paul Jones NERFINISHED ⓘ
LedZeppelinVersionDrummer John Bonham NERFINISHED ⓘ
LedZeppelinVersionGuitarist Jimmy Page NERFINISHED ⓘ
LedZeppelinVersionRecordingYear 1971 ⓘ
LedZeppelinVersionVocalist Robert Plant NERFINISHED ⓘ
lyricist Kansas Joe McCoy NERFINISHED ⓘ
Memphis Minnie NERFINISHED ⓘ
notableElement backwards echo effects in Led Zeppelin version ⓘ
notableFor heavily processed drum sound in Led Zeppelin version ⓘ
originalArtist Kansas Joe McCoy NERFINISHED ⓘ
Memphis Minnie NERFINISHED ⓘ
originalGenre blues ⓘ
originalRecordingYear 1929 ⓘ
originalReleaseFormat 78 rpm record ⓘ
performer Led Zeppelin NERFINISHED ⓘ
producer Jimmy Page NERFINISHED ⓘ
recordedBy Led Zeppelin NERFINISHED ⓘ
sampledIn multiple hip hop recordings ⓘ
structure riff-driven ⓘ
studio Headley Grange NERFINISHED ⓘ
Island Studios, London NERFINISHED ⓘ
subjectMatter flooding and displacement ⓘ
tempo slow ⓘ
title When the Levee Breaks NERFINISHED ⓘ
vocalStyle blues-influenced ⓘ

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Levee's Gonna Break → basedOn → When the Levee Breaks ⓘ
Rhymin & Stealin → containsSampleFrom → When the Levee Breaks ⓘ
Rhymin & Stealin → hasDrumBreakSample → When the Levee Breaks ⓘ
John Bonham → notableWork → When the Levee Breaks ⓘ
Memphis Minnie → notableWork → When the Levee Breaks ⓘ
Don’t Hurt Yourself → sampledWork → When the Levee Breaks ⓘ
The Levee's Gonna Break → sharesSourceWith → When the Levee Breaks ⓘ
Memphis Minnie → wroteSong → When the Levee Breaks ⓘ