Dazed and Confused
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- For the Richard Linklater movie, see Dazed and Confused (movie)
"Dazed and Confused" is a 1969 song by Led Zeppelin. The original idea for this tune came from psychedelic folk singer Jake Holmes, who had previously written a very similar acoustic melody on his album The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes, released in June 1967. During a 1967 Yardbirds tour of the United States, Holmes opened for them at Village Theater in Greenwich Village on August 25, 1967. The Yardbirds were inspired by his performance and decided to write a song called "I'm Confused", based on Holmes' acoustic "Dazed and Confused". "I'm Confused" contained long instrumental patches of bowed guitar courtesy of Jimmy Page and dynamic instrumental flourishes. It quickly became a staple of The Yardbirds live act during the Page-era for the band.
When the Yardbirds finally ended their existence as a band in 1968, the song was retitled "Dazed and Confused", and during the first tours by new band Led Zeppelin it became a centrepiece for the group, before the success of "Whole Lotta Love" on their second album. The Led Zeppelin version contained altered lyrics by Robert Plant compared to the Yardbirds version and with John Bonham on drums, the song developed into a manic, menacing performance on stage. The live version, often clocking at around 20 minutes in early versions, and well over 30 minutes in later versions, allowed bassist John Paul Jones and Bonham freeform scope to include riffs from other songs such as "The Crunge", "Walters Walk" and Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco" to name a few.
In the band's film The Song Remains The Same, containing performances from 1973, they can be heard playing parts of the song "Achilles Last Stand", released on the album Presence in 1976.
The song was recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studios, London.
| Led Zeppelin |
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| John Bonham - John Paul Jones - Jimmy Page - Robert Plant |
| Original albums: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin III - Untitled - Houses of the Holy - Physical Graffiti - Presence - The Song Remains the Same - In Through the Out Door - Coda |
| Other albums: Boxed Set - Profiled - Remasters - Boxed Set 2 - The Complete Studio Recordings - BBC Sessions - Early Days: The Best of Led Zeppelin Volume One - Latter Days: The Best of Led Zeppelin Volume Two - How the West Was Won |
| Films: The Song Remains the Same - Led Zeppelin DVD |
| Songs: "The Battle of Evermore" - "Dazed and Confused" - "Stairway to Heaven" - "When the Levee Breaks" |
| Other: Peter Grant - Swan Song Records |