“Gallows Pole”
Here’s a fun exercise: look up any subsequent version of this number—Neil Young, Willie Watson, whoever—and note to yourself how quickly you think to yourself not a bad Zeppelin cover, followed up with wait, is it still one if the Zeppelin one was already a cover itself?
“Crossroads.” “All Along The Watchtower.” “Hallelujah.” “Torn.” This happens a lot, and by a lot of different means: the re-arrangement of an original becomes the standard, or a cover of a cover outlives the source material, or an update of a traditional song gains a life of its own. Zeppelin here was digging deep in its own way, building on an earlier recording’s arrangement and Plant adding his own Plant-y coda to the lyrics, but it’s a very fine line these fellows chose to walk on this one. Even the band even referred to it as an already-existent number; time and fame made it into a Led Zeppelin song.
Grade: A-
