Four Sticks
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| "Four Sticks" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Song by Led Zeppelin | ||
| From the album '' '' | ||
| Album released | 8 November 1971 | |
| Recorded
| December 1970 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Song Length | 4:44 | |
| Record label | Atlantic Records | |
| Producer | Jimmy Page | |
| Track Number | 6 | |
Album Listing | ||
| Misty Mountain Hop (Track 5) | Four Sticks (Track 6) | Going to California (Track 7) |
Singer Robert Plant's vocals were heavily processed, giving them an electronic sound.
Guitarist Jimmy Page once said of the song: "It was supposed to be abstract." The abstract effect is further achieved by the unusual time signature of the song, featuring a very simple riff in a 5/4 time signature.
The band only played this song live once, on their 1971 European tour.
The Rollins Band recorded a cover version of this song in 1994 during the sessions for their album Weight; it was released the next year on the Led Zeppelin tribute album ''Encomium.
Also in 1994, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had rejoined in musical collaboration as Page and Plant. On August 25 and 26, live performances were taped in London, Wales, and Morocco with Egyptian and Moroccan orchestration of several Led Zeppelin tunes - "Four Sticks" was one of them, and the arrangement features drummer Michael Lee playing with four sticks as well as multiple percussionists such as Hossam Ramzy. This new version of "Four Sticks" was also included on the album , and live performances were so successful commercially and artistically that the ensemble coordinated a 1995/96 world tour.
John Bonham's decision to play the song with four sticks was a result of him being very frustrated with not being able to get the track down right. After he grabbed the second pair of sticks and beat the drums as hard as he could, he recorded the perfect take and that was the one they kept.
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