"Dancing Days" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It appears on their 1973 album, Houses of the Holy, and was released as a single in the US. It was recorded at Stargroves, England in 1972. It was inspired by an Indian tune that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant heard while traveling in Bombay. This was the first track from the album to be offered for radio play by Atlantic Records. It was premiered on 24 March 1973 on the BBC Radio One Rosko lunch time show.[3]
| "Dancing Days" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Netherlands single picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by Led Zeppelin | ||||
| from the album Houses of the Holy | ||||
| A-side | "Over the Hills and Far Away" | |||
| Released | 24 May 1973 (US) | |||
| Recorded | 1972 | |||
| Studio | Stargroves, East Woodhay, England | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:40 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Page | |||
| Led Zeppelin singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
Live performances
editAs with the single's A-side, "Over the Hills and Far Away", "Dancing Days" was introduced by the band in concert well ahead of its commercial release. The earliest live documented reference is in Seattle on 19 June 1972 where the song was performed twice: once during the main set and again as an encore;[3] it was then performed frequently during the rest of this tour, with a version appearing on the live album, How the West Was Won. With the release of Houses of the Holy, however, "Dancing Days" was largely dropped from concerts, although an abridged, acoustic version was occasionally performed during the 1977 U.S. tour.[3] A full electric version was played as an encore on 13 July 1973 at Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan as featured on the "Monsters of Rock" bootleg.
Reception
editIn a contemporary review for Houses of the Holy, Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone gave "Dancing Days" a negative review, calling the track nothing but a piece of "filler".[4]
Personnel
editAccording to Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin:[5]
- Robert Plant – vocals
- Jimmy Page – guitars
- John Paul Jones – bass, keyboard
- John Bonham – drums
See also
edit- List of cover versions of Led Zeppelin songs – "Dancing Days" entries
References
edit- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Houses of the Holy – Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- ^ Rolling Stone Staff (June 25, 2022). "The Best Summer Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
...[the band] went out on the lawn and danced to it — a testament to its searing boogie power.
- ^ a b c Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
- ^ Fletcher, Gordon (7 June 1973). "Houses of the Holy". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ Guesdon & Margotin 2018, p. 332.
Bibliography
edit- Guesdon, Jean-Michel; Margotin, Philippe (2018). Led Zeppelin All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Running Press. ISBN 978-0-316-448-67-3.