Jimmy Page explained the recording process for the Led Zeppelin song, “When the Levee Breaks.”
As the band was working on their fourth album, they were recording in a studio in London. When they moved over to Headley Grange months after they recorded the song, Page said, “I heard the drum sound in the hallway, that iconic drum sound … the minute I heard that sound on these reflective surfaces, I said, ‘We’re gonna revisit that number.’”
Page said he became inspired to find a “whole different approach” to making the song. “I got some ideas about how to record the harmonica with backwards echo, and the whole thing starts to become this whole sort of sonic journey,” Page said. “But the inspiration for me was hearing the drums in the hall, and I go, ‘I know what we’re doing with this.’”
Read the full story on Ultimate Classic Rock.