"When the Levee Breaks" is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is based on the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

It was famously re-worked by Led Zeppelin as the last song on their fourth album. The lyrics in Led Zeppelin's song were based on the original recording by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie, which Robert Plant had in his personal collection.

The Led Zeppelin version features a distinctive and often-sampled pounding drum beat by John Bonham recorded in a three-story stairwell, driving guitars and a wailing harmonica, all presumably meant to symbolize the relentless storm that threatens to break the levee, backing a powerful vocal performance by Robert Plant. The best-known song on the album may be "Stairway to Heaven", but "When the Levee Breaks" makes for a memorable finale.

The famous drum performance was actually recorded by placing the drumkit and drummer at the bottom of a stairwell at Headley Grange, and recording it using a microphone three stories above, giving the distinctive resonant but slightly muffled sound. The break has long been popular in hip hop and dance music circles for its "heavy" sound and has been used for many tracks, notably including Tomoyasu Hotei's Battle Without Honour Or Humanity from the Kill Bill soundtrack and the Beastie Boys' "Rhymin & Stealin" from their 1986 album Licensed to Ill.

Jimmy Page recorded Plant's harmonica part using the backward echo technique, putting the echo ahead of the sound when mixing, creating a unique effect.

Because this song was heavily produced in the studio, it was difficult to recreate live. The band only played this song a few times on their 1975 US Tour.

The song was also covered by W.A.S.P. on the bonus disk of The Crimson Idol in 1991, John Campbell on his Howlin' Mercy album in 1993, by Leftover Salmon on the classic "Ask the Fish" live album in 1995 and by A Perfect Circle on their third album eMOTIVe in 2004.

In 2004 an alternate version leaked to the bootleg community that had essentially the same instrumentation but a different vocal from Robert Plant with alternative lyrics and some verses out of order.

Songs That Have Sampled "When The Levee Breaks"

• Beastie Boys - "A Year and a Day"
• Beastie Boys - "Rhymin' and Stealin'"
• Beastie Boys - "So What'cha Want"
• Coldcut - "Beats and Pieces"
• Coldplay - In My Place*
• Depeche Mode - "Get Right with Me"
• Depeche Mode - "Never Let Me Down Again"
• Derek B - "Bad Young Brother"
• Dr. Dre - "Lyrical Gangbang"
• Eminem - "Kim"
• Enigma - "Return To Innocence" and "Gravity Of Love"
• Freaks of Desire - "Beast Inside"
• Get the Fist Movement - "Get the Fist"
• Ice T - "Midnight"
• Massive Attack - "Man Next Door"
• Penthouse Players Clique - "Nathen's Changed"
• Puff Daddy - "Come with Me"
• Raw Fusion - "Live from the Styleetron"
• Robert Plant - "Tall Cool One"
• Sophie Hawkins - "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover"
• Tekken Tag Tournament - "Unknown Theme"
• Typical Cats - "What You Though Hops"

1971 songs | Led Zeppelin songs

When the Levee Breaks