- Writers: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
- Producer: Jimmy Page
- Recorded: 1971 at Stargroves, Mick Jagger‘s home in Berkshire, England
- Released: Album: March 28th, 1973; Single: May 24th, 1973
- Players:
Jimmy Page — guitars
Robert Plant — vocals
John Paul Jones — bass
John Bonham — drums - Album: Houses Of The Holy (Atlantic, 1973)
- Also On:
Led Zeppelin (Atlantic, 1990)
The Complete Studio Recordings (Atlantic, 1993)
How The West Was Won (Atlantic, 2003) - Led Zeppelin began playing “Over The Hills And Far Away” on their 1972 U.S. tour. It was originally known as “Over the Hills.”
- The song was recorded using the Rolling Stones‘ mobile studio at Stargroves, which was Mick Jagger‘s home.
- Eddie Kramer, who did many of the Zeppelin sessions and also worked closely with Jimi Hendrix, engineered the song.
- The Houses Of The Holy album was actually finished in 1972 but was delayed due to complications with the sleeve design. The elaborate multi-printed photo of two naked children climbing up ancient stones was inspired by the science fiction novel Childhood’s End.
- The printing (there were detailed color schemes to be implemented) delayed the album’s release for nearly three months.
- Like the fourth album, the cover of Houses Of The Holy contained no words. The band felt this added to their mystique and sense of expectation of the music contained within. Manager Peter Grant did allow a wraparound title to be included on the U.K. versions of the album, apparently not wanting to invoke the same record company outrage as the previous album’s verbally-challenged cover had.
- Footage of the song being performed in 1977 in Seattle and in 1979 at Knebworth, England, was patched together for a video to promote the release of the British version of Remasters in 1990. That footage is also featured on the two-DVD Led Zeppelin set that came out in 2003.
- “Over The Hills And Far Away” was one of the Zeppelin songs that guitarist Jimmy Page performed on his 1988 Outrider solo tour.
FAST FORWARD:
- The death of John Bonham in 1980 caused the three remaining members to dissolve the group. There have been a few reunions over the years, for special events like Live Aid in 1985, the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary concert in 1988, and Led Zeppelin’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
- In 1994, Page and lead singer Robert Plant reunited to release the No Quarter album, which they followed up with 1998’s Walking Into Clarksdale. However, the partnership has splintered over Plant’s desire to work outside the Led Zeppelin umbrella.
- Plant has turned down repeated requests from Page in recent years to work on new songs, instead preferring to make music in a more folk-based vein.
- Page played a handful of shows with the Black Crowes in late 1999 that led to the album Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes: Live At The Greek.
- Page, Plant, and Jones have all repeatedly denied any plans to reunite as Led Zeppelin, though none of them has completely ruled it out as a possibility.