Jimmy Page has shared a previously unreleased Led Zeppelin track on his website.
The Led Zeppelin legend has released The Seasons, a previously unheard demo of The Rain Song, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the group's fifth album Houses of the Holy, which emerged on March 28, 1973.
As reported by ledzepnews.com, the band’s official social channels and record label have yet to shared the track.
Writing for the 'On This Day' section of his website on March 28, Page goes into detail about the origins of the song.
“On this day, 50 years ago to the day, Houses of the Holy was released,” he writes. "My original idea for the opening tracks for Houses of the Holy was that a short overture would be a rousing instrumental introduction with layered electric guitars that would segue in to ’The Seasons’, later to be titled ‘The Rain Song’. Again there would be a contrasting acoustic guitar instrumental movement with melotron that could lead to the first vocal of the album and the first verse of the song.”
“‘The Seasons’ was a memo to myself as a reminder of the sequence of the song and various ideas I’d had for it in its embryonic stage. I’d worked on it over one evening at home. During the routining of the overture now titled ‘The Plumpton and Worcester Races’, the half time section was born and the overture shaped in to the song, ‘The Song Remains The Same’. These rehearsals were done in Puddle Town on the River Piddle in Dorset, UK.”
Page continues: I had a home demo of The Rain Song (from Houses Of The Holy), but unfortunately the tapes have been lost. Which is a real bastard.The first set of recordings were done at Olympic Studios with George Chkiantz. We then came to record at Stargroves, Sir Mick Jagger’s country home, and, like Headley Grange, with the Rolling Stones recording truck. The Song Remains The Same was played on a Fender 12 string, the same one used on Becks Bolero, with my trusty Les Paul number 1 on overdubs in a standard turning. The Rain Song was an unorthodox tuning on acoustic and electric guitars. On live shows, it became a work-out feature for the double neck.”
Page previously referenced the recording, which he had feared lost, in an interview with Classic Rock back in 2014.
“I had a home demo of The Rain Song (from Houses Of The Holy), but unfortunately the tapes have been lost,” the guitarist told Paul Elliott. "Which is a real bastard.”
Listen to The Seasons below:
