L'Abbattimento dello Zeppelin

"L'Abbattimento dello Zeppelin"
Single by Area
from the album Arbeit Macht Frei
B-side	"Arbeit Macht Frei"
Released	1 March 1973
Recorded	1973
Genre	Jazz fusion Italian progressive rock Experimental rock
Length	6:54
Label	Cramps Records
Writer(s)	Patrizio Fariselli, Frankenstein
Producer(s)	Area
Area singles chronology
"L'Abbattimento dello Zeppelin" (1973) "L'Internazionale" (1974)

"L'Abbattimento dello Zeppelin" (The felling of the Zeppelin) is a song by Italian progressive rock group Area, released as a single in 1973, to promote their Arbeit Macht Frei album. In the archival release "Concerto Teatro Uomo", Demetrio Stratos explains the birth of the song:

"Some of us, 10 years ago, used to work in ballrooms, and I remember a contract in one of them. The boss asked us 'Do you know how to play the song that goes like du-du-du-dum-dum' (hums Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love")? It's first in the charts' 'Well, actually no, we can't play that' 'OK, learn it, if you want to work here for a month'. So we learnt it and we did an arrangement of it, to make it resemble the least possible to the original. And then the owner of the ballroom fired us: 'no, it's not that, not good'. This song introduces, maybe for the first time ever, an onomatopoeia in the lyrics, a sound in the lyrics that expresses a concept."

The flip-side on the record is the title track from the album, "Arbeit Macht Frei". This single failed to chart and both soungs would be included in 1977 in their "Anto/Logicamente" compilation, whose track selection focuses more on the tracks that were "hidden, ignored by the critics and many others".

Track listing

Side one

1. "L’abbattimento dello Zeppelin" – 6:54

Side two

1. "Arbeit macht frei" – 8:00

Personnel

• Demetrio Stratos - Vocals, Organ, Steel Drums
• Patrizio Fariselli - Piano
• Paolo Tofani - Guitar, Synthesizer
• Eddie Busnello - Saxophone
• Patrick Djivas - Bass, Double Bass
• Giulio Capiozzo - Drums, Percussion

References