What was the working title for "Kashmir"?

Question

Another Led Zepplin Question

Answer 1

It was definitely "Driving to Kashmir"
I'm a zep collector/fanatic
This has been documented in several books and even interviews of the band members.

Answer 2

Driving to Kashmir.

All band members agreed this was one of their best musical achievements. Robert Plant: "One of my favorites... it was so positive, lyrically."

Plant wrote the lyrics while driving through the Sahara Desert.

Kashmir is in Southern Asia, he was nowhere near it.

The original title was "Driving To Kashmir."

This runs 8:31. Radio stations had no problem playing it, especially after "Stairway To Heaven," which was almost as long, did so well.

Kashmir, also known as Cashmere, is a lush mountain region North of Pakistan. India and Pakistan have disputed control of the area for years. The fabric Cashmere is made from the hair of goats from the region. The area is also famous for growing poppies, from which heroin is made. (thanks, erourke - Raleigh, NC)

Plant thinks John Bonham's drumming is the key to this: "It was what he didn't do that made it work."

The signature guitar riff began as a tuning cycle Jimmy Page had been using for years.

This is one of the few Zeppelin songs to use outside musicians. Session players were brought in for the string and horn sections.

Led Zeppelin played this in every live show from it's debut in 1975 to their last concert in 1980.

Page and Plant recorded this with an orchestra and Moroccan musicians for their 1994 Unledded album.

Puff Daddy (he wasn't Diddy yet) sampled this in 1998 for a song called "Come With Me." He performed it on Saturday Night Live with Page on guitar.

The remaining members of Led Zeppelin performed this at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary party in 1988 with Jason Bonham on drums. It was a mess - the keyboards got lost in the feed and Plant was bumped by a fan and forgot some of the words.

In the movie Fast Times At Ridgemont High, one kid tells another to always play side 1 of Led Zeppelin 4 when he's on a date. In the next scene, he is on the date with this playing in the car. Cameron Crowe, who wrote the screenplay, couldn't get the rights to any of the songs on Led Zeppelin 4, so he used this instead. Crowe used Zeppelin's "That's The Way" on his 2001 movie Almost Famous.

Plant said in an audio documentary that he loved this song not only because of its intensity, but also because it was so intense without being considered "Heavy Metal," a label none of the band liked. (thanks, Adrian - Wilmington, DE)