Black Country Woman

"Black Country Woman" is the fourteenth song on English rock band Led Zeppelin's 1975 album Physical Graffiti. It was originally intended to be part of the Houses of the Holy album, which had been released two years earlier.

Overview
"Black Country Woman" was an acoustic song recorded in the back garden of Stargroves, in 1972 (around the same time as "D'yer Mak'er"). At the beginning of the track, recording engineer Eddie Kramer can be heard saying, "Shall we roll it Jimmy?" followed by "Don't want to get this airplane on" about an aeroplane which is heard flying overhead, to which Robert Plant replies "Nah, leave it, yeah."

Originally the song was subtitled "Never Ending Doubting Woman Blues." This was a reference to a final spoken tag left off the finished version which had Plant proclaiming "What's the matter with you mama, never-ending, nagging, doubting woman blues. 'Black Country' refers to the area around Birmingham in which Robert Plant was brought up.

Live performances
"Black Country Woman" was rarely played live at Led Zeppelin concerts, but was merged into a medley with "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" on the band's concert tour of the United States in 1977. For this arrangement, John Paul Jones played an upright bass. This song was performed by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss live during their tour supporting the duo's album Raising Sand.

Formats and tracklistings
See "Trampled Under Foot" single.