1969 Song of the Day- Heartbreaker- Led Zeppelin. Heartbreaker which is credited as being written by all four members of Led Zeppelin- appears as the first song on side 2 of their creatively titled Led Zeppelin II album. The song was recorded in New York City during the groups second tour of North America. The song is known for the guitar riff/solo by Zeppelin’s guitarist Jimmy Page. Guitar World ranked it the 16th greatest guitar solo in rock history. Rolling Stone magazine who at one time specialized in writing about music-had Heartbreaker at #328 on their Top 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time list. I can’t argue with that- one of Led Zeppelin’s greatest songs.
Heartbreaker would quickly become a Led Zeppelin concert favorite- it is along with Communication Breakdown the only two songs that they played every year that the band toured.
In Nick Hornby’s fine little book 31 Songs in which he writes essays on 31 songs that played a role in his emotional life- Heartbreaker is one of the songs he wrote about.
slicethelife 
I vividly remember the first time I heard that song. It blew my mind. That whole album does. Nick Hornby is a good writer. I read High Fidelity and just saw a movie based on one of his books, called “Julia, Naked”, which I would recommend to any serious audiophile. I will be borrowing the 31 songs from the library 🙂
Yes I enjoyed High Fidelity also- the book and movie. And also the book Fever Pitch- which is a memoir of his -he’s a fanatical soccer fan. Two movies were made of it- in England -they followed the book- a soccer movie- in the US they made it into a baseball movie starting Jimmy Fallon and Drew Partymore.
🙂
Was not aware of that Nick Hornby book – definitely sounds like something to check out!
Oh yeah, and killer song!!
Listening to this again I am also reminded of a band called Dread Zeppelin – ever heard of them? – they did fun mashups of Zep and Elvis P. songs – check out their version of Heartbreaker.
I remember hearing them years ago- thanks!
One of the rock’s best. Interested in that book you mentioned…thanks for the share
This song is unturnoffable. I listened to it just yesterday. Little known but rather obvious fact; that Nick Hornby book was a big part of the inspiration for SteveForTheDeaf
I wish he would write another volume to the book! I am not sure how many times I have read the book. I can see it being an inspiration!
“Heartbreaker” was the first piece on the second page of the LP. The classic rock rule says that you never should play “Heartbreaker” without “Living Loving Maid”.
Great tune! I’ve always felt Jimmy Page is a stronger riff player than lead/solo guitarist, and this is one of his best riffs. I think the other riff standout on this great album is ‘Whole Lotta Love’.
classic stuff for sure. I never really thought about it much but I think you are right about Page- the riff player vs lead solo guitarist.