Below the Standard Trivia Quiz

Answer: Immigrant Song

A banshee like wail from Robert Plant, both carnal and feral, not only opens the third Led Zeppelin album but the door to one of the band's heaviest and most exciting songs in its catalogue. This bombastic number drew inspiration from the band's visit to Iceland ("I come from the land of the ice and snow") and Viking conquests the area is famous for ("The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands").

The use of the phrase "hammer of the gods" would gain its own piece of immortality within the band.

Initially fans would apply this to the band's music, seeing it as an apt description of their sound and, later, music journalist Stephen Davis would use the term as the title of his unauthorised biography of the band.

Answer: Out on the Tiles

Out on the tiles is a British term meaning to go out on the town, mainly to bars or pubs and over indulging. It was also a favourite phrase and pastime of Bonham's so it's not surprising that his only writing credit here was a song built around that comment.

Whilst it's not one of the highlights on the album it has a small place in Led Zeppelin mythology. The track was inadvertently used as the B-side for the single "Immigrant Song" when released in Japan (on all other releases this was "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do"), making those copies rare and highly prized collector's items.

Answer: Hats Off to (Roy) Harper

Roy Harper is an English folk singer who stated performing in 1964. He is seen as an extraordinary acoustic guitarist, identified by his fingerpicking style and has been cited as an influence, not only on Led Zeppelin's members, but also The Who, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull.

This tribute by Plant and Page, however, is a weird number that descends, somewhat, into psychedelia. Page explains (Classic Rock #198) that they were endeavouring to channel the likes and styles of traditional blues artists Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Once they completed the initial foundations of the track, they pumped Plant's vocals and the harmonica track through the amplifier and boosted the tremolo to create a sort of vibrato effect.

Answer: Friends

This alternate version can be found on the band's rarities compilation album, "Coda", released in 1982. On "Led Zeppelin III" this track follows the, dare to melt you in your boots, opening number "Immigrant Song" and, with its woozy, loose tuning, allows the listener to momentarily catch their breath. Page advised that he'd been inspired to write the track after an argument with a friend ("The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters" by Daniel Rachel - 2014) and used it as a form of catharsis.

The song bears this tension in the form of a drone, that Page advised, was an experiment in trying to capture part of the sounds of North African music. It also carries various Eastern influences and it is not difficult to see the genesis of future movements toward numbers such as "Four Sticks" (1971) and "Kashmir" (1973) here.

Answer: Gallows Pole

There are numerous versions of the folk song "The Maid Freed From the Gallows" dating back centuries. In recent times the best known include Leadbelly's 1939 version "The Gallis Pole". Jimmy Page borrowed heavily from a version by US luthier Fred Gerlach, who'd recorded an arrangement on his 1962 release "Twelve-String Guitar". Page plays a number of instruments on the track, including electric and acoustic guitars but he also introduces the banjo to the mix, an instrument that he'd not played before. To add to the folk feel, John Paul Jones introduces a mandolin. Lyrically, Robert Plant follows the traditional story line of a man on the gallows doing his utmost to delay his execution.

He is either seeking for the hangman to accept a bribe and set him free or wait for his friends to arrive and rescue him. Whereas most version see the protagonist get away, Plant re-writes the final verse to ensure that he doesn't.

Answer: That's the Way

This is one of the tracks that stunned fans and critics of the band. Known for their blistering hard rock sound the last thing listeners were expecting on the album was an acoustic folk ballad. As a result, this album became one of the most criticized in the band's portfolio with shouts that the band was "selling out". Time would prove to be the healer and many now see this album as the start of the real growth in the band and, that without this, songs such as the classic "Stairway to Heaven" (1971) may not have eventuated.

Whilst the lyrics have created argument; Lester Bands in his Rolling Stones review of the album saw it as a metaphor for the way the band was demonised for their long hair whilst touring America and Stephen Davis, in his "Hammer of the Gods" (1985), indicated that it showcased Robert Plant's views on the environment, they also demonstrate a maturity in Plant's songcraft. The words in the song contain a haunting ambiguity and a level of subtle sophistication not previously seen in his work. It makes it almost difficult to believe that the most memorable line this man had created on the band's previous album was "I'm gonna give you every inch of my love" (Whole Lotta Love" - 1969).

Answer: Since I've Been Loving You

It is difficult to tell whether this track is a seven and a half minute paean to love or to heartbreak. It is such a simple song yet aching beautiful. Ironically, Jimmy Page is quoted as saying that it was the hardest track on the album to record. To this point criticism had been levelled at Page for "borrowing" too much from early blues numbers but, in this song, he, rather than borrow, pays homage to the blues masters, producing something that is pure Led Zeppelin, and creating a song that reeks of blues, metal and psychedelia.

In a 2016 interview with Jaan Uhelszki of Classic Rock magazine Page elaborates; "It was meant to push the envelope. We were playing in the spirit of the blues, but trying to take it into new dimensions dictated by the mass consciousness of the four players involved".

Answer: Tangerine

On April 4 in 1968 the Yardbirds, of which Jimmy Page was a member at the time, ventured into Columbia Studios in New York for a recording session. It would be one of their final sessions together. One of the tracks that they'd recorded was "Knowing That I'm Losing You".

The music, written by Page, is very similar to that in "Tangerine" but the lyrics, both of which speak of heartbreak, differ. Whilst Page is given the sole writing credits on the Led Zeppelin song his claim to the lyric component of the Yardbirds number is disputed by the other members of that band.

The Yardbirds' song was not officially released until a compilation album, "Yardbirds '68", was put forward in 2017. Interestingly, George Case in his 2007 publication "Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man - An Unauthorized Biography" records Page as the creator of "Knowing That I'm Losing You" and that it was inspired by Page's relationship with Hall of Fame songwriter Jackie DeShannon.

The latter has not been confirmed by Page.

Answer: Celebration Day

Lead singer, Robert Plant, indicated that the lyrics reflect his impressions of New York City, hence the often used introduction at their live gigs. This track is the third on the album, though it nearly didn't make the cut. The original recording had a drum introduction laid down by John Bonham, however, the master was damaged, and the intro was not usable. Bonham refused to re-do it.

The band circumvented this by using the same droning outro on the preceding track, "Friends", as the intro to this one. That's where the respite the listener had with the second track disappears as Page's warped slide guitar riff kicks in and rock and roll takes over.

Answer: Bron-Y-Aur Stomp

This song lies at the heart of the album. It is a ripping acoustic romp which, with its wholesome sound, interspersed with hand claps and spoons (yes, that is John Bonham playing a set of spoons) it is not difficult to picture the Welsh countryside and feel the country's heritage's influence within it.

In the twelve months that led to the development of this album the band had played 150 concerts, including five tours of the United States and released two mega-selling albums. They were worn out and needed the break. It was Plant's suggestion that they move to the cottage in Wales, a place of which he had fond memories from his childhood. It was an opportunity for the band to escape the "star machine" and get back to the "real world" to re-generate and get their feet back on the ground. It has since become a part of the band's folklore that the majority of the album was written at this cottage during this time off. However, the band's guitarist, Jimmy Page, disputes this. In his interview with Jann Uhelszki for Classic Rock magazine he indicates "credit must be given to Bron Y Aur, a small derelict cottage in South Snowdonia, for painting a somewhat forgotten picture of true completeness which acted as an incentive to some of these music statements". He would add further that the only song they completed during this time was "That's the Way".