"Big Log" is a song by English recording artist

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 ...

. The first single from his second solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' The Principle of Moments'' (1983), it became his first

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

solo hit, peaking at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 20 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song also reached No. 6 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top Tracks Classic Vinyl is a Sirius XM Radio channel focusing on classic rock music mostly from the late-1960s to the mid-1970s, with the channel's name meant to indicate that it consists of music that first appeared on vinyl records. This encompasses mus ...

chart. Neither of the words in the title appears in the lyrics.

Background

"I was messing about with the TR-808 drum machine and came up with the drum pattern and hand claps," recalled cowriter Jezz Woodroffe. " Robbie ''(Blunt, guitarist)'' arrived, liked the groove, and very quickly we had the main

chords Chord or chords may refer to: Art and music * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord, a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * The Chords (British band), 1970s British mod ...

. The middle eight came from my Godwin string synth machine, and Robbie came up with the haunting theme. 'Big Log' was written in the middle of winter. We'd run out of fuel for the fire. We found the remains of an old tree lying outside, which was about 15 feet long, but had nothing to cut it with. So we put one end in the fire and slowly burnt it, till it was hollow."

Music video

The video for the song was filmed around California and Nevada, including the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel in Death Valley Junction, California, the Calico Ghost Town in California, the

Glass Pool Inn Glass Pool Inn was a motel located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It initially opened as the Mirage Motel in 1952. An above-ground swimming pool was added in 1955, and included large porthole windows that allowed outsiders to peer in ...

in Las Vegas, and in Crystal, Nye County, Nevada. It was directed by

Storm Thorgerson Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English art director and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other art f ...

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' compared the synthesized drums and claps to

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

's "

Sexual Healing "Sexual Healing" is a song recorded by American singer Marvin Gaye from his seventeenth and final studio album, ''Midnight Love'' (1982). It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, followin ...

" and praised Plant's vocal.

Track listing

* UK 7" single A: "Big Log" (Plant,

Blunt Blunt may refer to: * Blunt (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name) * Blunt (cigar), a term used in the cigar industry to designate blunt-tipped, usually factory-rolled cigars * Blunt (cannabis), a slang term used in cannabis cult ...

, Woodroffe) – 5:03
B: "Messin' with the Mekon" (Plant, Blunt, Paul Martinez) – 4:40 * US 7" single A: "Big Log" (Plant, Blunt, Woodroffe) – 5:03
B: "Far Post" (Plant, Blunt, Woodroffe) – 4:44

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

Bassist

Viktor Krauss Viktor Krauss is an American musician who plays acoustic and electric bass. He has released solo albums and has worked as a sideman with many musicians, including his sister, singer and fiddler Alison Krauss. Music career Krauss was born to Fre ...

covered "Big Log" on his 2004 album ''Far from Enough''. Krauss' sister Alison – who recorded ''

Raising Sand ''Raising Sand'' is the first collaborative studio album by rock singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. It was released in October 2007 by Rounder Records. ''Raising Sand'' won Album of the Year at the 2008 American ...

'' with Plant three years later – sang lead vocals.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Log 1983 songs 1983 singles Robert Plant songs Songs written by Robert Plant Songs written by Robbie Blunt British soft rock songs Rock ballads Atlantic Records singles Swan Song Records singles Music videos directed by Storm Thorgerson