Rock and Roll
by Led Zeppelin
- 172
- BPM
- A major
- Key
- 11B
- Camelot
- 32
- Danceability
- 1
- Acousticness
Led Zeppelin were at Headley Grange, a mansion they had rented in Hampshire, England, and they were frustrated while trying to finish recording "Four Sticks". During a break, John Bonham began playing the drum intro to Little Richard's "Keep A-Knockin'", and Jimmy Page added a Chuck Berry-style guitar riff. The others joined in one by one. Ian Stewart, the Rolling Stones' original pianist and a co-founder of that band, was in the room and played piano. The tapes were rolling and "Four Sticks" went on the back burner. The basis of "Rock and Roll" was done in about fifteen minutes.
It became the second track on the band's fourth album in 1971. On stage, Robert Plant at first called it "It's Been A Long Time", after its opening line. In 1972 it became the opening number of every show, and it stayed there until 1975. In 1977 it became part of a medley encore with "Whole Lotta Love".
In 2002 it became the first Led Zeppelin song licensed for commercial use, when Cadillac used it in television advertising. Cadillac sales rose 16 percent that year.
Rock and Roll runs at 172 BPM, the tempo of drum and bass and jungle. In classical terms it sits in vivace territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 1.4 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 349 ms. It is in A major, Camelot 11B, which shares its notes with F# minor and mixes cleanly with D major and E major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.