Anne Leonard Bredon (born Anne Loeb; September 7, 1930 – November 9, 2019) was an American

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, best known for composing the song " Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" while she was a student at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in the late 1950s. Bredon was the daughter of physicist

Leonard Benedict Loeb Leonard Benedict Loeb (September 16, 1891 – June 17, 1978) was a Swiss-born American physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and t ...

and granddaughter of physiologist

Jacques Loeb Jacques Loeb (; ; April 7, 1859 – February 11, 1924) was a German-born American physiologist and biologist. Biography Jacques Loeb, born Itzak, firstborn son of a Jewish family from the German Eifel region, was educated at the universities of ...

. She majored in art at

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt or Humboldt) is a public university in Arcata, California. It is one of Cal Poly (disambiguation), three polytechnic universities in the California State University (CSU) sys ...

and completed her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in mathematics at Berkeley, California.Melissa Tav
Embracing life one bead at a time
, ''Madera Tribune'', January 22, 2007. Sometime around 1960, while attending Berkeley, Bredon appeared on a live folk-music radio show, ''The Midnight Special'', on radio station

KPFA KPFA (94.1 FM) is a public, listener-funded talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed o ...

singing "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".Janet Smith, ''The 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You' Story,'' in ''The Gate at the End of the World: A Collection of Songs by Anne Bredon'' (Bella Roma Music, 1991), pp. vii-x. Janet Smith, another folk singer, developed her own version of the song and performed it on the same radio show sometime later, catching the attention of

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

who used the song on '' Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1'' (1962). The song was initially credited as "Traditional, arr. Baez" but properly attributed on Baez's 1964 sheet music, ''The Joan Baez Song Book''. The English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

covered the song after hearing Baez's version, crediting the song as "Traditional, arr. Page". In the 1980s, Bredon was made aware of Led Zeppelin's version of the song and so, since 1991, this version has been credited to Anne Bredon/

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

and

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

. Bredon also received a substantial back-payment of

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

.Dave Lewis (1994), ''The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin'', Omnibus Press, Bredon married Lee Johannsen in 1951. She divorced in 1959, leaving her first two children, Lenore and Joel, with her ex-husband. Later, she married

Glen Bredon Glen Eugene Bredon (August 24, 1932 in Fresno, California – May 8, 2000, in North Fork, California) was an American mathematician who worked in the area of topology. Education and career Bredon received a bachelor's degree from Stanford Univer ...

, a mathematics professor at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

. In 1969, they moved to

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in New Jersey where they raised their two children, Joelle and Aaron. She lived for many years in

North Fork, California North Fork (formerly Brown's and Northfork; Mono wa?ahhpY', "cedar grove") is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census it had a population of 3,250. For statistical purposes ...

where she was active in the Sierra Mono Museum designs and sold beaded jewelry.Williams Gallery West
/ref> Bredon was also a Navajo-style rug-weaver and basket-weaver, focusing on Mono Indian. She possessed an extensive knowledge of the complex aspects of harvesting and preparation of grasses and materials used in traditional California " Indian"

basket weaving Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

. Bredon died November 9, 2019, in

Clovis, California Clovis is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. It was established in 1890 as a freight stop for the San Joaquin Valley Railroad by a group of Fresno businessmen and Michigan railroad speculator Marcus Pollasky. The railroad bou ...

.Staff (Nov 27, 2019)
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bredon, Anne 1930 births 2019 deaths American folk singers American women singers American people of German-Jewish descent American Ashkenazi Jews California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt alumni Jewish American artists Jewish American musicians Jewish folk singers Musicians from Berkeley, California Singers from California University of California, Berkeley alumni 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women