Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” never mentions a black dog in the lyrics. The title came from an old black Labrador that roamed Headley Grange, where they recorded.
The song opened their 1971 album, Led Zeppelin IV. That album has sold more than 23 million copies in the U.S., per ABC Audio.
Ultimate Classic Rock now ranks the song No. 12 among the Top 40 Album-Opening Songs. Only “Whole Lotta Love,” at No. 3, ranks higher among the band’s songs.
Meanwhile, guitarist Jimmy Page revealed the unusual reasoning behind the song’s title.
“He was an old dog,” Page explained to Louder. “You know when they get the white whiskers round the nose?” When he vanished one night, ‘we all thought he’d been out on the tiles [because] when he got back he was just sleeping all day. And we thought: ‘Oh, black dog’ – cos we just called him black dog – ‘he’s been out on the razzle.’”
How John Paul Jones Wrote the ‘Black Dog’ Riff on a Train
Bassist John Paul Jones originally brought in the song’s catchy riff. Per Louder, he recalled how the inspiration found him.
“My dad had taught me this very easy notation system using note values and numbers,” Jones said. “So I wrote it on a bit of paper on the train.”
He previously traced the riff to Muddy Waters’ 1968 album Electric Mud, per Guitar Player.
According to Songfacts, Jones wanted to try “electric blues with a rolling bass part,” and came up with “a riff that would be like a linear journey.”
Its shifting rhythm gave drummer John Bonham trouble, per American Songwriter. Jones’ fix was to have Bonham play straight four-to-the-bar throughout.
Jones has also dismissed claims that he made it tricky so no one could cover it. Jimmy Page played his No. 1 1959 Gibson Les Paul on the track, per Guitar Player.
It became Zeppelin’s second-highest-charting U.S. single, peaking at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
