Robert Plant


I’ve been a Zeppelin fan since I was a little kid. Was obsessed with them in high school. I always thought Plant was one of the best singers in rock and roll. A lot of people still do. I never saw Zep but did see Plant in concert several times in the 80s/90s.

 

Over the decades I find that I don’t listen to Zep all that much for whatever reason.

 

This Christmas Eve morning I stayed home from church because of a nasty cold and dug out some of my old LPs. One of them was a bootleg (at the time) of Zeppelin's live BBC performances. I bought it used in 1984 for $20 which was a ton of money for me back then. (You can get this on Qobuz etc now.)

 

About 4 minutes into Whole Lotta Love the band lapses into a blues/Elvis medley of songs that is simply epic. The entire band is right on point and amazing as always but in this medley Plant really shows you his stuff. The range, the control, the timing, the soul. All there. Is he the best rock and roll singer ever? I can think of a lot of challengers to that idea but he’s certainly up around the top.

Give this song a listen. The initial part of Whole Lotta Love is not my favorite. But this medley and the ending are Zeppelin at its best.

Merry Christmas all.

n80

Zep are among my top 3 rock bands of all time but not because of Plant’s singing or Page’s guitar work. It is the rhythm section that make Zep a standout group. JPJ on bass and Bonham’s drums are what drive the band and get my blood moving. Plant does his part but there are far better singers than him IMHO.

My brother did sound with Plant for a while in the 80's. He was a big Zeppelin fan and let it be known he didn't like  Plant's new direction in music. He and Plant would go back and forth,  Plant said" am I supposed to sing Eu yah eueu ya the rest of my life". 

During the tour my crazy brother did SOMETHING, another long story, that should have gotten him kicked off the tour. He met with Robert Plant who said he could stay, but he had one demand of him.

So, every night for the rest of the tour, during a Zeppelin song, Plant would hand the microphone to my brother who would off key sing "Eu yah eueu ya".