The Song Led Zeppelin Could Never Recreate Live: Ten Years Gone [Song Breakdown]

Ten Years Gone is one of the most beloved songs by Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page enthusiasts. By popular request, here is my breakdown of this glorious track from the album Physical Graffiti.

Released in 1975, the track was originally written by Page as an instrumental track. He meticulously sculpted the track at his home on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. By my count, there are as many as 6 guitars going simultaneously towards the end of the studio recording. It is a veritable guitar army!

In 1977, Led Zeppelin courageously brought the song to the concert stage during their last U.S. tour. I was one of the lucky ones to see that show live (twice!) in April of 1977. I say ‘courageously’ because there were only Page and John Paul Jones to manage their way through it (Jones on a triple neck, custom built acoustic). I was thrilled to hear it live and it was a very lovely arrangement for a live audience. And as many viewers have pointed out, TYG was also in the Knebworth set list! But as good as these versions are, they were never able to recreate the guitars of studio track.

Fast forward to 1999, Jimmy Page and The Black Crows brought it to the stage. This time Page had three guitarists, a bass player, and a keyboard player to recreate the studio version. Believe it or not, they were still a couple of hands short at the peak moment when compared to the original studio arrangement! Nevertheless, it was an awesome interpretation.

I read an interview where Jimmy Page said that version was one of his most fulfilling live experiences he had - as it was thrilling to hear the parts recreated live.

In this episode, I break down all the parts with the help of a couple of friends, Michael Weber - guitar (The Michael Weber Show) and Al Rolik – bass (Syzygy, The Soul of Zeppelin). There was a moment when we were making this episode that I too was surprised by how beautifully these parts sounded in the room when they were played together live…and we were still several hands short!!!

With all that said, I hope you enjoy hearing this track broken down and explained. It was a joy to do!

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0:00 Intro
1:03 About Ten Years Gone
2:22 Figure 1
5:18 Figure 2
7:58 Figure 3
9:12 Figure 4
13:37 Figure 5
15:24 Guitar Solo
16:26 Figure 6
17:07 Figure 7
20:54 The Song's Ending
22:06 Conclusion