Songs You Might Not Know Were Covers (Round 8): When the Levee Breaks (#10)

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Now that I’m home it’s time to torture you with more music! How about some more covers? That’s right, it’s the eighth installment of songs that were hits or well-known tunes....but those weren’t the originals! Let’s get the Led out on this countdown with the first tune. #10: When the Levee Breaks When the FM rock DJs needed to go to the bathroom or pull more records they’d put on a long song. When you heard that thunderous drum intro from John Bonham and the harmonica played by Robert Plant, you knew it was Led Zeppelin (and the DJ wouldn’t be around for seven minutes ). “When the Levee Breaks” is one of those 70s FM rock staples (back when they’d play something other than “Stairway to Heaven” by Zep...heck, I’ve never owned Led Zeppelin IV but I know every song on it except “Four Sticks”!). Now, flash back 42 years before LZ IV, and it’s the eve of the Great Depression. The crash wouldn’t have much effect on the poor southerners, who were already devastated from the great Mississippi River flood from two years earlier. One of the interesting things about that era was that there was no governmental flood control: if you wanted protection, you (either personally or as a community) built the levee. Needless to say, with no supervision, regulation, or uniformity, the heavy rains of 1927 were quick to take over towns along the river. (If you remember last week when I was at Columbus-Belmont State Park in Kentucky, I mentioned the town of Columbus, Kentucky had to be relocated because the 1927 flood carved a new path for the Mississippi right through where the town had been!) Hard times bring with them songs about those hard times. In 1929, Wilbur “Kansas Joe” McCoy and “Memphis” Minnie (who was from Louisiana, last name Douglas) wrote and recorded a blues number about the rain and the inefficient levees. Most people just know the Zep version. When the Levee Breaks Written by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie Originally recorded by Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie, 1929 Famously covered by Led Zeppelin, 1971 The 1929 version that doesn’t feature Bonzo Bonham on drums: