"D'YER MAK'ER" ● Led Zeppelin
LED ZEPPELIN / Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones / Swang Song PR Photo / IVOX MEDIA collection
"D'YER MAK'ER" ● Led Zeppelin
The Song● D'Yer Mak'er
Writers● Led Zeppelin
Producer● Jimmy Page
Recorded● 1972 at Stargroves, England, with the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio
Released● March 28th, 1973
Players●
:: Robert Plant -- vocals
:: Jimmy Page -- guitar
:: John Paul Jones -- bass
:: John Bonham -- drums
Album● Houses Of The Holy (Atlantic, 1973)
Also On●
:: Led Zeppelin (Atlantic, 1990)
:: Remasters (Atlantic, 1992)
:: Complete Studio Recordings (Atlantic, 1993)
:: Mothership, 2007
Houses Of The Holy ● Led Zeppelin
Houses of the Holy is Led Zepelin’s fifth studio album, released on March 28, 1973 by Atlantic Records. Several songs on the album became fixtures in the group's live set, including "The Song Remains the Same", "The Rain Song" and "No Quarter". Although critical response was mixed, Houses of the Holy became a commercial success, later receiving a Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for at least 10 million copies sold in the US.
One of Led Zeppelin's handful of hit singles, "D'Yer Mak'er" peaked at Number 20 the Billboard Hot 100. The title is pronounced "jer-may-ker," as a play on the word "Jamaica." American fans sometimes miss the joke, and pronounce it "Dire Maker."
Bassist John Paul Jones says the title "is from an English joke -- a guy says, 'I took my wife on holiday in the sun last year.' And another guy goes, 'D'yer mak'er?' And the first man goes, 'No, she went of her own accord.' It's an extremely English joke."
Jones said the song came about from a haphazard studio jam: "It started off with me just doing a reggae rhythm and (drummer John) Bonzo (Bonham) not doing a reggae rhythm -- he found reggae extremely boring. We were just falling about and he was trying his best not to. And it turned into 'D'Yer Mak'er.'"
The song also makes use of doo-wop conventions, which were a favorite of lead singer Robert Plant. Plant was reportedly the Zeppelin member most enthusiastic about the song. At his urging, Atlantic Records released it as an advance promotional single to announce the Houses Of The Holy album.
Led Zeppelin never performed the song live, but Plant would throw lines from it into the group's extended performances of "Whole Lotta Love."
The release of Houses Of The Holy was delayed for three months while the cover photo of naked children crawling around a hill of rocks was shot and perfected. The Houses Of The Holy album peaked at Number One on the Billboard 200 and sold more than 11 million copies. It also hit Number One in the U.K.
Interestingly, the actual song "Houses Of The Holy" did not show up until Led Zeppelin's next album, Physical Graffiti.
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