Mean Old Levee, Taught Me To Weep And Moan

Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" is easily one of the most sampled songs to date. That opening drum break - rhythmically straighforward, but with the inimitable touch of Jimmy Page's alchemical production skillz - is just begging to be copied over and over again.

As the number of songs sampling that beat continues to grow, how long will it be before we're sampling the samples? Has it happened already? I can easily imagine someone putting together a track with the drum break from the Beastie Boys' "Rhymin and Stealin" instead of the Led Zep original (knowlingly or unknowingly).

Among true beat-heads, there seems to be an unspoken rule about this: take only from the original, vinyl preferably. There doesn't seem to be the same etiquette in the world of the link. Or rather, while most people make an effort to link to the "original", there seems to be a certain status achieved by being "the first" person to link to something. Think: Metafilter, DailyKos. (Make sure to check those comments for the best in jaded net-folk)

For one of the more notable coups in blogging recently, look no further than the horse's ass. Read the original article here, but don't miss the victory dance here.