Vinyl Nostalgia 
One of the most powerful riffs in rock history, but also a song that sparked one of the biggest copyright controversies. The song was largely inspired by Willie Dixon’s blues track “You Need Love,” recorded by Muddy Waters. In 1972, Dixon sued the band for copyright infringement, and in 1985 he was officially recognized as a co-author.
In 2004, the song was ranked No. 75 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed it at No. 3 on its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. The song was recorded in various studios in New York and Los Angeles during the band’s 1969 U.S. tour and put together by Jimmy Page at Olympic Studios in London.
“Whole Lotta Love” initially met with some resistance from some American radio stations, though it eventually became a huge hit. After the release of the album Led Zeppelin II, radio stations in the U.S. initially refused to play the song in its original form, as they considered Robert Plant’s “moans” and expressive vocal cries to be inappropriate for standard radio broadcast. For this reason, stations created their own shortened and censored versions before they even decided to play the track.
“It’s just the blues—but played a little harder. If that shocks them, I guess they’ve never heard real blues.” (Robert Plant)
