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In an odd and striking contrast from the closing frenzy of 'Dazed and Confused', ethereal waves of The Reverand John Paul Jones' dual-tracked M-100 Hammond organ announce 'Your Time Is Gonna Come' in eyebrow-raising fashion.
Jones' session work through the late '60s was abundant, but interestingly he was rarely used as a keyboardist. He was usually hired to play bass, arrange strings, or as the overall music director. So when Led Zeppelin began recording at Olympic Studios, which had an organ in house, he was more than willing to give it a go.
Since it had been a while, he returned to his early days... as the organist in the church choir at the age of fourteen. He gave it up back then because he never liked to practice, and preferred the rebellious rock and roll stylings of the bass. The churchy feel reached on the track is clearly evident, and another one of those tiny musical spices which add so much to the diverse Led Zeppelin stew. As Robert Plant said in looking back at the semi-misunderstood 'LED ZEPPELIN', 'That was not heavy metal. There was nothing heavy about it all.'
After about a minute of Jones's organ pumping, he segues nicely into the warm riff which oozes with familiarity. Bonzo decides he's had enough of the organ nonsense, gets sick of waiting, and rudely joins the proceedings with a loud, harsh crash. This is the cue for Page's tense acoustic guitar picking, which works as a splendid accompaniment to the rhythm created by the organ. The Page riff is probably a hint at what Jones may have played had he used a bass instead of pedals.
Jimmy and Bonzo stomp beneath the continuous presence of the organ and (during the second verse) under one of the few overdubs on the album, Page's new toy - his Fender 800 10-string pedal steel guitar. Page learned to play pedal steel specifically for this session, but the instrument is slightly out of tune on the recording! This instrument was used here, and on a version of The Band's 'Chest Fever' which the group cooked up. (Incidentally, the lap steel on "Celebration Day" was performed by John Paul Jones.) Also interesting to note is the lone guitar bridge where Page pats chords on his guitar, as opposed to strumming them.
The vengeful lyrics and the arrangement are easily some of the most "pop" oriented Led Zeppelin ever concocted. Jones remembered, 'I also arranged the backing vocal parts. I was always ok at arranging vocals; the problem was singing them, because neither Jimmy nor I would consider ourselves singers.' Plant's phrasing is some of his most fascinating, probably borne out of the fact that he was still a relatively inexperienced performer. He drew out some lines ('that's aaaaall you seem to do' and 'it's my turn to cryyyy'), and immediately followed them with some natural rhymes ('don't care what you say/'cause goin' away to stay/gonna make you pay') which he obviously has a blast singing. The song is ended as a pop singalong, with Robert continuing his performance with some pert adlibs.
Due to its stark contrast (in arrangement) to the more common Zep material this track is often overlooked - and probably rightly so. Never having been performed live, besides the occasional inclusion in a medley, it was pretty much also forgotten by the band immediately. Nonetheless, in 1999 Jimmy added it to his setlist with the Black Crowes. The live version on 'Excess All Areas' was performed similarly to the album, except with electric guitars and a guitar solo added to the arrangement. Robert Plant's name has been added to the songwriting credits for this release, indicating that he was the one behind the lyrics.
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