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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
geof3
1,125 posts
 

Well, Zeppelin… Hmm as a drummer that had the pleasure of playing in a Zepp Tribute I can say I have a unique perspective on the music and the band. As a life long fan, seeing TSRTS many, many times at midnight movies I didn’t really get it. I never paid attention to the intricacies of the band and the way the songs were crafted. I will say this, JPJ hands down was the bedrock of the band. Page and Bonham both could get a bit lost in the moment, at times brilliantly, others not so much. Most of the guitar parts in TSRTS are overdubbed from the studio, I would love to hear the full original tracks. Maybe one day they will get released. I don’t listen to Zep as much these days, I spent 4 years essentially in a Zep/Bonham master class, playing that stuff is hard and fun but it dulls the desire to just listen. They were a great band, one of the all time biggest bands ever. Were they the “best”? No… others surpassed them easily. But their staying power says everything. There will never be a band like them again, and I can absolutely say those four kids and the way they played together was simply sublime. It was truly an honor to attempt to play those songs.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,203 posts
 

I own a copy of the Honeydrippers album and it is pretty good, but the first album with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand, is fantastic!  Well worth owning a copy.

tony1954's avatar
tony1954
901 posts
 

Had the pleasure of seeing Zeppelin twice back in the 70's. They were everything you hoped they would be. Loud, very dramatic, great musicians and Robert Plant was everything that every teenage boy dreamed of being. Long blond curls, sweaty, bare chest, way too tight jeans and the focus of every girl in the audience.

Everything that a rock and roll band should be.

 

roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,719 posts
 

I had a different experience. I saw them in 1973, at Madison Square Garden, and they were way too loud, and at least at that time, Robert was so full of himself that he talked his way through most of the lyrics. It was very disappointing, and my ears are still ringing.

frogman
7,364 posts
 

Awesome story, acman3!

Not a genre I listen to much anymore.  Not because I dislike it.  Simply only so many hours in the day.  For whatever it’s worth and as much as I dislike “best of” surveys, whenever I see a “best R&R vocalist” survey, Robert Plant is the name that always comes to mind first. 

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