Squeeze My Lemon

The first two Led Zeppelin albums were recorded and released within a year and could really have been one double album, representing as they did the band's initial live set with its origin in the days when they were the "New Yardbirds" and vying for attention with Jeff Beck's band who were operating in much the same area musically. What Led Zepellin II did highlight was the birth of Robert Plant as the strutting rock god, especially with Whole Lotta Love and The Lemon Song. It's an image he has been trying to live down more or less ever since, with a lot of success musically if not in the popular imagination. It is probably the most riff heavy of all the Zepellin albums and perhaps the least varied and containing the least folk elements, though Thank You is a more laid back track. It's still a very powerful album and the material on it was the basis for extended half hour long workouts on stage showcasing Plant, Page and Bonham in solo action. It remains slightly shameful that there are still no writing credits given to Willie Dixon on the album, though the Stones were equally guilty in this regard. Strange given the respect both bands had for the original blues pioneers. One suspects the heavy hand of management.