Turn Me On, Dead Man

Robert Plant loved the erotic imagery that bluesmen used and the swaggering sexuality expressed in the blues, so much so that he would often lift lines here and there from various blues classics. On occasion, however, he borrowed a little too much. Such is the case with "Whole Lotta Love", which opens Led Zeppelin II. "Whole Lotta Love" was initially credited to Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. In 1985, Willie Dixon sued Led Zeppelin, claiming that "Whole Lotta Love" was largely plagiarized from "You Need Love," written by Dixon and recorded by Muddy Waters as a single for Chess Records in 1962. [1]The opening verse of "Whole Lotta Love":

You need coolin', baby, I'm not foolin'
I'm gonna send ya back to schoolin'
Way down inside, honey, you need it
I'm gonna give you my love (2x)

is readily identifiable from Dixon's lyrics for "You Need Love":

I ain't foolin' you need schoolin'
Baby you know you need coolin'
Baby, way down inside, woman you need love

The next verse strays a little from the original, but is still recognizable. Compare "Whole Lotta Love":

You've been learnin' and baby, I been learnin'
All them good times, baby, baby, I've been discernin'
way, way down inside, honey, you need
I'm gonna give you my love (2x)

with "You Need Love":

You've got yearnin' and I got burnin'
Baby you look so sweet and cunning
Baby way down inside, woman you need love
Woman you need love, you've got to have some love
I'm gonna give you some love, I know you need love

Robert Plant also briefly quotes Howlin' Wolf at the end of "Whole Lotta Love" with the lines "Shake for me girl/I wanna be your back door man." Actually, Plant was once again quoting Willie Dixon, as both of the songs "Shake for Me" and "Back Door Man," though popularized by Howlin' Wolf, were written by Dixon. When the lawsuit was filed, a lawyer for the Led Zeppelin's record company, Atlantic Records, offered only the weak defense, "It's strange that someone would wait all that time [to file a suit]." [2]The case was settled out of court and recent Led Zeppelin releases have given songwriting credit for "Whole Lotta Love" to Willie Dixon along with all four members of Led Zeppelin.

Though Led Zeppelin had no doubt heard Muddy Waters's version of "You Need Love", the version of this song that appears to have most directly influenced them was by the Small Faces. The Small Faces released "You Need Loving" in 1966 and despite the slight retitling, this track is a straightforward interpretation of "You Need Love" that stays close to Muddy Waters' version. "You Need Loving" was credited to "Lane/Marriot," demonstrating that Led Zeppelin weren't the only ones who were reluctant to give proper songwriting credit. In a 1977 interview with Ray Coleman, Robert Plant referred to Steve Marriot, the lead singer for the Small Faces, as "the master of white contemporary blues." Perhaps competing with Marriot, Robert Plant sounds very much like the Small Faces' vocalist during the climactic vocal break ("Way down inside, woman, you need... lo-o-ove"). The Small Faces' "You Need Loving" included a similar vocal break, but Robert Plant draws out this line even more than Marriot had. Still, Plant expressed humility in the Coleman interview, "I could never be compared with Steve Marriot because he's too good, unfortunately! He's got the best white voice, for sheer bravado and balls." [3]

Recommended Listening

		Muddy Waters - His Best
		The Small Faces - The Small Faces
		Howlin' Wolf - His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Edition)

Compilations of Original Versions

"You Need Love" by Muddy Waters is included on Led Astray, The Roots of Led Zeppelin and Zeppelin Classics. Led Zeppelin's Sources of Inspiration has a version of this song by Baba Blues (not quite sure who that is).