It was recorded in Los Angeles when the band were on their second concert tour of North America. Led Zeppelin performed 'Killing Floor' live in 19, and it became the basis for 'The Lemon Song', which they recorded on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. Early recordings include live versions from October 1966 in Paris ( The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set), March 1967 in the BBC studios ( BBC Sessions), and June 1967 at the Monterey International Pop Festival ( Jimi Plays Monterey). The song was often a set opener, and Hendrix played the song at a faster tempo, with a different rhythm guitar and bass line. 'Killing Floor' was included in the set list of the newly formed Jimi Hendrix Experience. Shortly after arriving in England in September 1966, Hendrix performed the song when he sat in with Cream. Jimi Hendrix performed 'Killing Floor' early in his career, including early vocal performances with Curtis Knight and the Squires in 19. The song appears on several Howlin' Wolf compilation albums, including his 1966 album The Real Folk Blues.

Backing Howlin' Wolf (vocals) and Sumlin (electric guitar) are Lafayette Leake (piano), Buddy Guy (acoustic guitar), Andrew 'Blueblood' McMahon (bass), Sam Lay (drums), Arnold Rogers (tenor sax), and Donald Hankins (baritone sax).

'Killing Floor' is an upbeat twelve-bar blues with an 'instantly familiar' guitar riff provided by Sumlin. You know people have wished they was dead – you been treated so bad that sometimes you just say, 'Oh Lord have mercy.' You’d rather be six feet in the ground.' She at the peak of doing it, and you got away now . According to blues guitarist and longtime Wolf associate Hubert Sumlin, the song uses the killing floor – the area of a slaughterhouse where animals are killed – as a metaphor or allegory for male-female relationships: 'Down on the killing floor – that means a woman has you down, she went out of her way to try to kill you. Howlin' Wolf recorded 'Killing Floor' in Chicago in August 1964, which Chess Records released as a single. English rock group Led Zeppelin adapted the song for their 'The Lemon Song', for which Howlin' Wolf is named as a co-author. It has been acknowledged by the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, which noted its popularity among rock as well as blues musicians. Called 'one of the defining classics of Chicago electric blues', 'Killing Floor' became a blues standard with recordings by various artists. ' Killing Floor' is a 1964 song by American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Howlin' Wolf. Please remember to transpose before you print or save as a PDF.For other uses, see Killing floor. Once you've made a purchase and if your chosen piece is transposable, you can then adjust it to your desired key. Conversely, choosing -1 Semitone for a piece originally in C will transpose it to B. A completely white icon indicates transposition options, which include: Original, 1 Semitone, 2 Semitones, 3 Semitones, -1 Semitone, -2 Semitones, and -3 Semitones.įor example, if a song's original key is C, selecting 1 Semitone will transpose it to C#.

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We highly recommend verifying transposition availability before completing your purchase. While a majority of our scores support transposition, there are exceptions. However, if the feature is unavailable for that particular score, the 'notes' icon will appear grayed out. If the piece is eligible for transposition, a range of semitone options will be displayed. To transpose 'Killing Floor', simply click on the 'notes' icon located at the bottom of the viewer.

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