Few bands formed in the 1960s without acknowledging Little Richard’s influence. The wailing singer and enthusiastic performer stole the hearts and minds of countless bands, including Led Zeppelin, who not only channeled the musician throughout their work but also paid direct homage to their iconic single ‘Rock and Roll’.
Every member of Led Zeppelin can trace a significant portion of their musical inspiration back to Little Richard’s mind-blowing brilliance. “If I hadn’t heard the Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Johnson, and Little Richard music, I wouldn’t have been drawn to music,” lead singer Robert Plant stated in 2015. “In England, most of the music surrounding us was slushy and without any dedication”. I was born again and saved and reincarnated by American music”.
John Paul Jones was also a fan of the ‘Tutti Frutti’ singer, acquiring some memorabilia in the process. “The one I have went through Little Richard’s band, then through James Brown’s band before arriving in England”. Jones remarked on his treasured Gibson bass guitar. “I saw it on an old movie clip of Little Richard.”
However, the group did not confine their admiration for the pioneering rock and roller to the past. With Led Zeppelin struggling to complete the 1971 song ‘Four Sticks,’ Little Richard would supply the ideal remedy. Led Zeppelin was never ashamed to rely on the work of others. Led Zeppelin was never hesitant to rely on the work of others, and when the band labored in the studio to bring the music to life, drummer John Bonham chose to deliver a rendition of Richard’s classic “Keep A Knockin.”
Perhaps because of the group’s admiration for Richard, the band’s de facto leader, Jimmy Page, quickly found his way into the flow of the song. He delivered a chugging rock and roll riff before John Paul Jones and Robert Plant added their musical ad-libs. Page created a song and cried, “Stop! Let us work on this.”
“It ground to a halt after about 12 bars,” Page said when discussing the track in 1977. But that was enough to know that there was enough of a number there to keep working on it.” Within minutes, the track had developed into a structure they could build upon.
“When you have the chance to use a master at a specific style,” Page told me, “You just step back and enjoy what comes out.” The producer directed these statements at Ian Stewart, The Rolling Stones keyboardist, who happened to be in the studio and stepped in for Jones as he took on the bass. He added a boogie piano riff similar to Richard’s pungent original on “Keep a Knockin,” and things started to simmer.
With the musical bones of rock and roll carried forward two decades to the 1970s, the group fulfilled a promise they had made. “We just thought rock ‘n’ roll needed to be taken on again,” Plant told Creem in 1988, defying expectations. “I was finally in a fairly successful band, and we decided it was time to properly kick ass. We didn’t have time for cerebral discussions, so we just wanted to let everything out. We were performing something really animalistic and hellishly forceful.”
