"Black Mountain Side" is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

. It was recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studios in London, and is included on the group's 1969 debut album ''

''.

Composition and recording

"Black Mountain Side" was inspired by a traditional Irish folk song called "

Down by Blackwaterside "Down by Blackwaterside" (also known as "Blackwaterside", "Blackwater Side" and "Black Waterside"; see Roud 312, Laws O1 and Roud 564, Laws P18, Henry H811) is a traditional folk song, provenance and author unknown, although it is likely to have o ...

". The guitar arrangement closely follows

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...

's version of that song, recorded for his 1966 album '' Jack Orion''. Al Stewart, who followed Jansch's gigs, taught it to Page, who was a session musician for Stewart's debut album. Page played the instrumental on a borrowed Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar, which was tuned to D–A–D–G–A–D, a tuning that he had used for "

White Summer "White Summer" is a guitar instrumental by English rock guitarist Jimmy Page, that incorporates Indian and Arabic musical influences. Page initially recorded and performed it with the Yardbirds and later included it in many Led Zeppelin concer ...

". To enhance the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

character of the song, drummer and sitarist Viram Jasani played

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

on the track. The overall Eastern-flavour of the structure led writer

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

to make a suggestion to Page:

Performances

In concert, "Black Mountain Side" was often performed with "White Summer". A recording from Royal Albert Hall on 9 January 1970 is included on the ''

Led Zeppelin DVD ''Led Zeppelin DVD'' is a double DVD set by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2003, and the United States on 27 May 2003. It contains live concert footage of the band spanning the years 1969 to 1979. The D ...

'' (2003).

References

{{authority control 1960s instrumentals Led Zeppelin songs 1969 songs Songs written by Jimmy Page Song recordings produced by Jimmy Page British folk songs Raga rock songs

Composition and recording

Performances

See also

References