John Bonham - Moby Dick - RARE 1977 Seattle! Part 1

The tune emerged after Led Zeppelin guitarist and producer Jimmy Page would often catch drummer John Bonham jamming in the studio, recorded parts of it, and then pieced it all together. Only Page and bassist John Paul Jones play the tune's Drop-D blues-based riff with Bonham's drums—as a power trio—at the very beginning and the very end of the tune, leaving the remainder open for Bonham alone. The structure of the main riff is that of the twelve-bar blues. Singer Robert Plant did not sing at all, and in concert would simply introduce Bonham to the audience before the tune started. Studio outtakes from the Led Zeppelin II sessions reveal that the drum solo recorded was edited down from a much longer version.