Heartbreaker (Led Zeppelin song)

"Heartbreaker"
Song

"Heartbreaker" is a song from Led Zeppelin's 1969 album, Led Zeppelin II. It was credited to all four members of the band.

"Heartbreaker" opens Side II of the album, and is probably best known for its famous guitar solo by Jimmy Page, begun by an extremely fast chain of hammer-ons and pull-offs. It inspired Eddie Van Halen to develop (though not, strictly speaking, invent) his tapping technique. When this is played on radio stations, it almost always segues into the next song on the album, "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)," thanks to the similarities of subjects involved between the two songs, and the fact that "Living Loving Maid" segues directly from "Heartbreaker" However, they would never be played together in concert, because the band members were not too fond of "Living Loving Maid".

During live performances of this song Page would frequently improvise the playing in his solo, and was also known to include parts of Bach's Bouree (in E minor) from his Lute Suites (this can be heard on the live albums Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions and How the West Was Won), as well as "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)", though on official releases this section has been cut.

"Heartbreaker" also features a famous and very memorable guitar riff. The song was also covered by Nirvana in their live gigs: it can be heard as the first track on their "With the Lights Out" box set.

"Heartbreaker" is one of the songs featured in Nick Hornby's book 31 Songs.

"Heartbreaker" was voted as the 16th greatest guitar solo of all time by Guitar World magazine.

Sources

• Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
• The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9