When the levee breaks

Style: Rock

Artist: Led Zeppelin

Album: Led Zeppelin IV

Released date: 1971

More from: John Bonham

Published by: Seb in the book: Classic Rock Groove

 Canons! 
John Bonham

According to Led Zeppelin guitarist and producer Jimmy Page, the song's structure "was a riff that I'd been working on, but Bonzo's drum sound really makes a difference on that point." The famous drum performance was recorded by engineer Andy Johns by placing John Bonham and a new Ludwig drum kit at the bottom of a stairwell at Headley Grange, and recording it using two Beyerdynamic M160 microphones at the top, giving the distinctive resonant but slightly muffled sound