When Led Zeppelin reconvened to create material for their fourth untitled album, they returned to the country house Bron-Yr-Air in Snowdonia, Wales for initial writing sessions. Later on, they went to Hadley Grange (a mansion in the English countryside) to record, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio.
They had already written and recorded most of their previous album Led Zeppelin III in these locations, and these pastoral and informal settings had inspired the band to write and record several acoustic-based tracks. In fact, the first side of the record was filled with the usual electric rock, with the second containing all-acoustic material.
The audience did not expect softer, acoustic material from Led Zeppelin. Many liked it, but it was just as often met with confusion, also getting its share of lukewarm reviews. The style of the material often seemed to override the quality of the material. Well, Hats Off To (Roy) Harper is admittedly a quirky track, but Hangman’s Pole, That’s The Way and Bron-Y-Aur Stomp are undeniable. I even have a soft spot for Tangerine, which in the right setting is quite lovely.
Still, the group took note of what was going on. They promptly decided not to do any touring in support of the album, instead choosing to concentrate on recording a follow-up right away. They turned down all touring offers, including a proposed New Year’s Eve gig that would have been broadcast on television.
It was perhaps unavoidable that the relaxed surroundings would once again inspire some acoustic material. It would probably have emerged no matter where the band had set up base. They were never going to yield to the critics and stop doing these types of songs in any case, but they may have realized that filling an entire side of vinyl with acoustic songs felt too much for their audience.
In the end, the next album ended up having a more balanced mix of styles and genres. Tracks with classic hard rock riffage would happily rub shoulders with more straightforward rock’n’roll, eastern influences, epic grooves, folk-rock numbers, and – once again – those dreaded acoustic tracks.
This time, though, acoustic-based tracks like Battle of Evermore and Going To California were scattered between different styles of tracks. Acoustic tracks never dominated large sections of the album like they had on Led Zeppelin III, but they still had their clear place. That would make all the difference.
The album also includes their biggest classic Stairway To Heaven, which notably has a largely acoustic expression in its first half. That song ends up encapsulating all the styles of music that the band felt they were about at the time, showing that to the band, it all belonged together.
Going To California is the most unabashed acoustic track on the album. Never incorporating any electric instruments along the way, and totally devoid of dramatic or explosive moments. It does not even have a drum part, with John Bonham sitting this song out, just as he did on Battle of Evermore.
The music came first, originating during the Headley Grange sessions in a stroke of inspiration on Jimmy Page’s part. “You didn’t have anything like a snooker table or anything like that,” Page told Classic Rock. “No recreational pursuits at all. It was really good for discipline and getting on with the job. I suppose that’s why a lot of these [songs] came at Headley Grange. For instance, Going To California and Battle of Evermore came out.”
The track does have some elaborate guitar work, with Jimmy Page playing two different guitars on it – a 12-string and a 6-string – using an alternative guitar tuning (D-A-D-G-B-D or double drop D tuning) for the recording.
Additionally, John Paul Jones plays mandolin on the track, utilising his trusty C.F. Martin A-style mandolin once again. The bassist could play a variety of instruments, frequently expanding the band’s musical range.
Jimmy Page recalled writing the track in a “late-night guitar twiddle” and recording it next day outside on the grass.
Going To California started out as a song about Californian earthquakes, initially having the title Guide To California. All of this would change, but some earthquake imagery would remain in the song with the line “The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake.” This line in all likelihood refers to the artistic community of Laurel Canyon. Why? We’ll get there in a second.
The song would shed most of its earthquake references as it got closer to completion, eventually getting a lyrical treatment significantly more in tune with the song’s tranquil musical expression. The person who inspired this was Joni Mitchell.
“That’s the music that I play at home all the time – Joni Mitchell,” Page told Rolling Stone Magazine in 1975. “The main thing with Joni is that she’s able to look at something that’s happened to her, draw back and crystalize the whole situation, then write about it. She brings tears to my eyes. What more can I say? It’s bloody eerie.”
Perhaps the earthquake element was still lurking in the background. Joni Mitchell was a prominent figure in the musically fertile but earthquake-prone Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles, putting her inside the scary fault line that threatens to send a good portion of the state falling into the sea. Not that you’d know it by the relaxed demeanour of the people who lived (and continue to live) there.
Page and Plant were both enthralled by Joni Mitchell’s songwriting. As the writers of Going To California, they both drew inspiration from her – specifically her song California, where Mitchell recalls her adventures on a trip to Europe but looking forward to a return home.
In Going To California, however, the guy in the song wants to make a fresh start in California. He is abandoning “a woman unkind,” instead looking for a girl just like Mitchell – one with “love in her eyes and flowers in her hair” who “plays guitar and cries and sings.”
The latter lyric is also a reference to the Mitchell song I Had A King, the opening song from Mitchell’s debut album (1968’s Song To A Seagull). “To find a queen without a king,” Plant sings in the final verse. “They say she plays guitar and cries and sings.”
Spent my days with a woman unkind
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine
Made up my mind to make a new start
Going to California with an aching in my heart
Someone told me there’s a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair
In an interview for Spin magazine, Plant said the song was also an opportunity to reflect on “the first years of the group, when I was only about 20 and was struggling to find myself in the midst of all the craziness of California and the band and the groupies.” He admitted that it “might be a bit embarrassing at times lyrically, but it did sum up a period of my life when I was 22.”
Still, there’s no denying its gentle allure, as Page and John Paul Jones complete things with an utterly idyllic string accompaniment.
Funnily enough, given the song’s initial earthquake inspirations: when Jimmy Page, audio engineer Andy Johns, and band manager Peter Grant travelled to Los Angeles on 9 February 1971 to mix the album it is on, they coincidentally experienced a minor earthquake. The area was still feeling aftershocks from the Sylmar earthquakes, which hit that morning in the San Fernando Valley. Page, ever aware of cosmic connections, got a little freaked out by this, and insisted on mixing Going To California last in case the song somehow conjured tremors.
“I remember lying in bed while it was shaking up and down,” Page told Classic Rock, laughing. “I immediately flashed on Going To California, where Robert sings, ‘The mountains and canyons start to tremble and shake,’ and all I could think was, bloody hell, I’m not taking any chances – I’m going to mix that one last. Which I did!”
The fourth Led Zeppelin album was released on 8 November 1971. Every song on the album is considered a classic and has been played lived extensively. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, and this time the critics were a lot kinder. The album’s praises have been sung ever since it was released, and it is regularly placed high on lists of the greatest albums of all time.
Two singles were released from the album. They had a real luxury problem, but opted to go for two of the rockers, first releasing Black Dog/Misty Mountain Hop on 2 December 1971, followed by Rock and Roll/Four Sticks on 21 February 1972. They were keen to show that they were back with loud guitar-based hard rock, and the singles did the job.
IV went on to hurtle Led Zeppelin to another level, both creatively and commercially. Their dreams of achieving consistent brilliance had finally been realized. “I don’t think there are too many people who are capable of it,” Page ruminated in the talk with Rolling Stone, before quickly adding: “Maybe one: Joni Mitchell.”
Led Zeppelin’s many words of praise did not go unnoticed, but Mitchell admitted that she wasn’t used to these public displays of affection. “Other artists would cross the street when I walked by,” Mitchell told Interview in 2005. “Initially, I thought that was due to elitism, but I later found out they were intimidated by me.” That was particularly true, she added, when it came to “straight white men. … They would come up to me and say, ‘My girlfriend really likes your music,’ as if they were the wrong demographic. Led Zeppelin was very courageous and outspoken about liking my music, but others wouldn’t admit it.
Led Zeppelin performed Going To California during acoustic sections at their concerts, getting its first performance in Belfast on 5 March 1971. It would continue to be performed live until 1977, when it was given its very last performance at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum on 24 July.
Plant would sometimes add the word “Joni” after the line, “She plays guitar and cries and sings.” Whenever you hear a live version of the song, listen out for it!
To find a queen without a king
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings
La la la la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Trying to find a woman who’s never, never, never been born
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams
Telling myself it’s not as hard, hard, hard as it seems
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