"Heartbreaker" is a song from English rock band Led Zeppelin's 1969 album, Led Zeppelin II. It was credited to all four members of the band, recorded at A&R Recording and Atlantic Studios in New York City during the band's second concert tour of North America, and engineered by Eddie Kramer. "Heartbreaker" opens the second side of the album and features a guitar riff by Jimmy Page. It also includes a spontaneous unaccompanied solo, using a pull-off technique, which was voted the 16th-greatest guitar solo of all time by Guitar World magazine. "Heartbreaker" was ranked number 328 in 2004 by Rolling Stone magazine, in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Recording
In a 1998 interview with Guitar World, Page commented that the guitar solo was recorded in a different studio, thereby giving a different sound than the rest of the song. He added that this was the first recorded instance of his Gibson Les Paul/Marshall Stack combination.
Live history
The song was a crowd favourite at Led Zeppelin concerts, and the band opened many of their live shows in 1971 and 1972 with "Immigrant Song" followed by a segue right into "Heartbreaker". On later concert tours it was often played as an encore. "Heartbreaker" and "Communication Breakdown" were the only songs to be played live during every year that the band toured. During live performances Page would frequently improvise the playing in his solo, and was also known to include parts of Bach's "Bourrée in E minor" from his Lute Suites, as well as Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song ", though on official releases this section has been cut. Sometimes the solo would also be stretched out to incorporate sections of the traditional English folk song, "Greensleeves". A live, filmed version of the song from 1973 at Madison Square Garden, New York City, is included in the Led Zeppelin concert film, The Song Remains the Same, although it is only shown in parts. For many years, this recorded version was left off the film's accompanying soundtrack album, until the album was remastered and re-released in 2007, with the full performance of the song included. Led Zeppelin's last performance ever of the song was on 29 June 1980, in Zürich. Following Bonham's death, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin performed "Heartbreaker" at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert in 1988, at Madison Square Garden, with John's son Jason Bonham on drums. Jimmy Page also performed this song on his tour with the Black Crowes in 1999. A version of "Heartbreaker" performed by Page and the Black Crowes can be found on the album Live at the Greek.
Influence
"Heartbreaker" is one of the songs featured in Nick Hornby's book 31 Songs. Record producerRick Rubin has remarked, "One of the greatest riffs in rock. It starts, and it's like they don't really know where the "one" is. Magical in its awkwardness." Eddie Van Halen once claimed the "Heartbreaker" solo as the origin behind the tapping technique. In one review with Guitar World, he said: Steve Vai has also commented about it in a September 1998 Guitar World interview: "This one had the biggest impact on me as a youth. It was defiant, bold, and edgier than hell. It really is the definitive rock guitar solo." American band Nirvana covered the song during their first show on 7 March 1987 in Raymond Washington. The cover was only released on the box setWith the Lights Out. Led Zeppelin parody/tribute band Dread Zeppelin recorded a reggae-influenced cover of the song with the lyrics from Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel".
