Lead singer Robert Plant wrote the lyrics to this slow, reflective Blues number about the loneliness he felt being constantly on the road. He found himself in a New York hotel drinking tea for one when he penned the words. One reason the band stayed out of England so often to tour and record: to avoid the taxes.
Led Zeppelin would scrap a song if they thought it sounded too similar to something they already recorded, but they made an exception for this one. According to Jimmy Page, "Tea For One" is similar in mood to the 1970 Zeppelin live favorite "Since I've Been Loving You." He explained in a 1977 Trouser Press interview: "The chordal structure is similar, a minor blues. We just wanted to get a really laid-back blues feeling without blowing out on it at all. We did two takes in the end, one with a guitar solo and one without. I ended up sitting there thinking, 'I've got this guitar solo to do,' because there have been blues guitar solos since Eric (Clapton) on Five Live Yardbirds and everyone's done a good one. I was really a bit frightened of it. I thought, "What's to be done?" I didn't want to blast out the solo like a locomotive or something, because it wasn't conductive to the vibe of the rest of the track. I was extremely aware that you had to do something different than just some B.B. King licks."
This song forms the last track on the band's seventh studio album, Presence. The cover art shows a family of four seated together at a table, apparently at a harbor-side restaurant.
This entire album was recorded in just 18 days Musicland Studios in Germany, with Plant in a wheelchair the whole time from injuries sustained in a car accident.
"Tea For One" is a slow-blues song in C minor; another Zeppelin song of the same form is "Since I've Been Loving You."
A favorite of many Led Zeppelin diehards, this whole song never got played much at concerts; however, sometimes the introductory riff would be included as a lead-in to another song. It finally got its due when Zeppelin played it in full with an orchestra backing in their Japan concert tour in 1996.
This was inspired by American Blues singer Blind Willie Johnson, who played in the 1920s. In searching for a deeper meaning to the song, fans came up with a few ideas. Some thought it was about Jimmy Page's blossoming heroin addiction. Others thought it was comparable to Robert Johnson's "Hellhound On My Trail," in that it was Plant lamenting Zeppelin's supposed deal with the devil. A third theory is that Plant was apologizing for the song "In My Time Of Dying," which after his car crash he said he would never sing again. (thanks, steven - chesapeake, VA and John - Boca Raton, FL)
Jimmy Page overdubbed his guitar intro 3 times. He played one guitar an octave higher than the others.
Robert Plant was recovering from a car accident and had to record his tracks from a wheelchair.
During the live version of this at Knebworth, Plant repeatedly screamed, "Oh Jimmy!" right before Page went into his solo. This was something Plant commonly did at live shows. (thanks, Adrian - Wilmington, DE)
Page and Plant played an acoustic version on their 1995 No Quarter tour, sometimes swapping it with "When The Levee Breaks." (thanks, Chris - Whitesboro, NY)
The Christian group The 77s recorded this for their 1994 album Drowning with Land in Sight. (thanks, Thomas - Marion, IN)
