Beth Hart Releases New Video "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"

Photo: Beth Hart by Roxanne de Roode

Grammy-nominated powerhouse Beth Hart releases second official video without audio
for “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” from her A Tribute To Led Zeppelin album.

Just a few months after she released the first-ever “silent” music video release for “Black Dog,” released without audio for undisclosed legal reasons, the Grammy-nominated vocalist Beth Hart is following it up with another official music video – this time for “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.” And like with the release of “Black Dog,” fans have already started uploading their own versions of the video with the audio included.

Watch “Baby I’m Gonna Leave You” (with audio)

“I am so proud of you, how smart you guys were to link up the music with the ‘Black Dog’ video,” Hart said in a message to fans. “So this next one is also with no audio and it’s ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.’” Speaking about the inspiration for recording this version, Hart added: “This one is really based with my relationship with my Dad – love and hate and abandonment and the thing that love does to you.”

Directed by Greg Watermann, the “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” music video comes on the heels of Hart’s latest album ‘A Tribute To Led Zeppelin,’ which pays tribute to one of the most formative musical influences of her career. As a child, the sounds of Led Zeppelin traveled from Hart’s neighbor’s house into her orbit. Her brother introduced her to the heavy rock of Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, and her major-label debut came on Atlantic with the 1996 release of ‘Immortal’ – the same label that introduced Led Zeppelin to the world in 1969.

At the helm during the recording of ‘A Tribute To Led Zeppelin’ was super-producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance) and engineer Doug McKean (Goo Goo Dolls, Adam Lambert). The A-list musicians include Cavallo on guitar along with Tim Pierce (Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner); on bass was Chris Chaney (Rob Zombie, Slash);on keyboards was Jamie Muhoberac (Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones); on drums was Dorian Crozier (Celine Dion, Miley Cyrus, Joe Cocker), and Matt Laug played drums on ‘Stairway To Heaven” (Alanis Morissette, Alice Cooper). Orchestral arrangements were by David Campbell (Muse, Beyoncé). All that was left was the final piece of the puzzle…the voice.

Things clicked into place when Cavallo was producing Hart’s previous album, ‘War In My Mind’ (2019), and she did an impromptu version of “Whole Lotta Love” in the studio. He later asked about doing a whole record. Beth said, “I’m not doing this whole album. To do Zeppelin, you’ve got to be pissed off to hit that right. I can’t go there; I’ve worked years to put my rage away.”

Hart continues, “then the pandemic and all the things around it hit. So now I’m pissed off. I called my manager and said, have Rob and Doug send me all the music because I am ready to do this.”

If you were to rewind, you could say the story for a Led Zeppelin album started further back; in May 2004 Hart prowled the stage at the Paradiso in Amsterdam for an incendiary performance of “Whole Lotta Love”. The song became a semi-regular fixture in her setlist over the years, including a memorable performance with Slash.

After her phenomenal performance at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors for Buddy Guy, she received a standing ovation from Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones.

Talking about the music and legacy of Zeppelin, she says, “it’s so beautifully done, it’s timeless. It will go on forever. Sometimes people come along, and they’re from another planet, and they make these pieces of art which will forever be.”

Hart is recognized as one of her generation’s most talented voices. She has sold out tours worldwide, including performances at historic venues such as Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, London’s Royal Albert Hall, and the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. She’s topped the Billboard Blues charts six times, gone double platinum and had a string of Top 10 charting albums across Europe.

On a final thought, Beth pauses and reflects to say, “this Zeppelin album allowed me to get all my rage out, and for that, I’m really grateful.