‘Whole Lotta Love’ is a song by British rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band's second album, Led Zeppelin II, and was released as a single in 1969 in several countries; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no single was released in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it became their first hit and was certified gold. Parts of the song's lyrics were adapted from Willie Dixon's "You Need Love", recorded by Muddy Waters in 1962; originally uncredited to Dixon, a lawsuit in 1985 was settled with a payment to Dixon and credit on subsequent releases.
Jimmy Page came up with the guitar riff for "Whole Lotta Love" in the summer of 1968, on his houseboat on the River Thames at Pangbourne, Berkshire, England. The track was initially credited to the band’s four members, but its similarity to the song “You Need Love”, written seven years earlier by one Chicago blues legend — Willie Dixon — and recorded by another — Muddy Waters — is unmistakable.
However, whether the two songs are close relations musically is debatable. Page, quoted in Sounds Like Teen Spirit, Timothy English’s study of how pop eats itself, insists: “If you took the lyric out and listened to the track instrumentally, it is clearly something new and different — a completely original piece of music.” Plant later admitted that the lyrics were “a nick, now happily paid for”, alluding to a 1985 lawsuit that was settled out of court in Dixon’s favour for an undisclosed sum.
Not included in the list of credits for ‘Whole Lotta Love’ is Steve Marriott, lead singer and guitarist of the Small Faces. In 1966 the band recorded “You Need Loving”, which was clearly a version of Dixon’s “You Need Love”, though never acknowledged as such; it was credited to Marriott and bandmate Ronnie Lane. Dixon never sued them. Page and Plant attended a number of Small Faces gigs and, according to Marriott, took a particular liking to “You Need Loving”. Later, when he heard ‘Whole Lotta Love’, Marriott was struck by how similar Plant’s delivery was to his own: “He sang it the same, phrased it the same.” In effect, Marriott was complaining that Plant had copied, or at least been heavily influenced by, a performance that was itself a copy.
In 2004, the song was ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and in March 2005, Q placed ‘Whole Lotta Love’ at number three in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. It was placed 11 on a similar list by Rolling Stone. In 2009 it was named the third greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. In 2014, listeners to BBC Radio 2 voted ‘Whole Lotta Love’ as containing the greatest guitar riff of all time.
Label – AtlanticSongwriters – John Bonham, Willie Dixon, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant
Producer – Jimmy Page
SONG LYRICS
[Intro: Laughter][Verse 1]
You need cooling
Baby, I'm not fooling
I'm gonna send you back to schooling
Way down inside
Honey, you need it
I'm gonna give you my love
I'm gonna give you my love, oh
[Chorus]
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
[Verse 2]
You've been learning
Baby, I been learning
All them good times
Baby, baby, I've been yearning
Way, way down inside
Honey, you need it
I'm gonna give you my love
I'm gonna give you my love, oh
[Chorus]
Whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
[Instrumental Break 01:18-02:05]
[Interlude]
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah ah ah ah ah
Love
Love
[Instrumental Break 02:57-03:21]
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 3]
You've been cooling
Baby, I've been drooling
All the good times, baby
I've been misusing
Way, way down inside
I'm gonna give you my love
I'm gonna give you every inch of my love
I'm gonna give you my love
Yeah, alright, let's go
[Chorus]
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
[Outro]
Way down inside
Woman
You need
Love
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my, oh
Shake for me, girl
I wanna be your backdoor man
Hey, oh
Hey, oh
Hey, oh
Ooh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Ooh, my, my baby
Keep it cooling, baby
Keep it cooling, baby
Keep it cooling, baby
Ah, keep it cooling, baby
Ah, ah, ah