YouTube is rife with individuals who think they know how to play and can teach you Led Zeppelin’s The Battle of Evermore. It’s one of the reasons I held off for years transcribing it. Truth is if the person says they have “the right way to play” to play the tune, they are wrong. This 10 page transcription pulls from both the studio and live versions of Evermore. Frankly, I consider the live version of Evermore to be THE version as this is the way Jimmy played it for years. And, unlike again some on YouTube teaching you the “right way to play” there are two mandolins in the intro and bridge. A reason, I believe, Jimmy played it the way he did live. The transcription leads with the live version of the intro and reprises it in the bridge. However, the studio version of it is at the end. I’ve also included a way to play the two mandolin part on one mandolin. This is available to Tab Members and to those who will attend Mandolin Camp North and the Richter Camp for the Rest of Us in 2023.
Within the next couple weeks I will post a YouTube tutorial of basic concepts.
By the way, if you have never seen “It Might Get Loud” featuring the guitar styles of Jack White, the Edge, and Jimmy Page, please please watch it. One of the great rock documentaries of the early 2000s. Still above is from the point in the film that Jimmy plays Evermore and will demonstrate that the way many think it is played is wrong. The recorded version has so much echo on it that it can be hard to make out exactly what Jimmy is doing. The live versions and the noted clip above give a clearer indication of how he played it.
