“I played it once, hated it”: The Led Zeppelin single Jimmy Page didn’t want to release

Having created some of the greatest rock albums of all time, it is difficult to pick faults with the tenure of Led Zeppelin – not least because the pioneering hard rock outfit amassed an incredibly dedicated audience ready to defend them against any and all criticisms. From their formation in 1968, Jimmy Page’s outfit stuck by staunch principles and meticulously crafted their distinctive rock and roll sound. However, that did not stop their record label from consistently acting against the wishes of the band.

Jimmy Page already had an intimate knowledge of the music industry and its inner workings by the time he came to form Led Zeppelin. After all, he had spent much of the previous decade as a sought-after session musician, performing with a wealth of different artists and record labels—from the pop heights of Petula Clark to the youthful independence of Immediate Records. Perhaps as a result of this, he came to Led Zeppelin with a strong artistic manifesto and plan for success.

One of the band’s key policies throughout their time together was to focus entirely on live performances and album releases. This practice was in opposition to the mainstream industry of the time, which placed pivotal importance on the release of singles, as the singles chart was viewed as the be-all-end-all for most record executives. However, Led Zeppelin were adamant that their expansive, profound sound could not be truly understood via a three-minute 45rpm single.

Indeed, if you look at the runtime of Led Zeppelin’s classic songs, the vast majority of them are much longer than other rock records of the 1970s. Reportedly, this was deliberate, with Jimmy Page taking every step to ensure that his work could not be trimmed down for the charts or the radio. Even ‘Whole Lotta Love’, arguably the band’s defining track, was never destined for a single release.

“I produced ‘Whole Lotta Love’ — and the entire second album — as an un-editable expression, a work that had to be aired on stereo FM to make sense,” Page once told The Wall Street Journal, explaining his desire to keep Zeppelin from the pop charts. Inevitably, though, the band’s record label wasn’t particularly pleased with the idea of not releasing any Led Zeppelin singles, especially given the ever-increasing success of the group.

Somebody at Atlantic Records had pegged ‘Whole Lotta Love’ as a single release, and, in fairness, it is easy to see why. The song is among Zeppelin’s most accessible and recognisable, making it a key contender for the pop charts. There was only one problem: Page’s recording of the song was much too long to fit onto a 45rpm single, so it had to be trimmed down. Seemingly, none of the band members were consulted about this trimming at any point during the process.

A victim of this commercialisation of ‘Whole Lotta Love’, Page’s expansive psychedelic outburst was cut entirely from the single version. “Weeks before its release, [Atlantic] sent me an acetate of the edit,” the guitarist once recalled. I played it once, hated it, and never listened to the short version again.”

Despite the fact that Jimmy Page resented the release of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ as a single, the track did achieve the aims set out by Atlantic Records. Upon its release, the single shot to number four on the Billboard Hot 100, reflecting the intense mainstream success of the hard rock outfit during that period. Even still, the vast majority of Led Zeppelin fans can agree that the original version of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ certainly cannot be beaten.