Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand (2007)
Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Career Overview
Even if Robert Plant had disappeared after the demise of Led Zeppelin, he’s still be lauded as one of rock’s greatest vocalists. The fact that he had a healthy post-Zep solo career that owed little to past glories is a testament to his own artistic fortitude. Admittedly, Zeppelin fans wouldn’t have been too far afield with Plant’s first couple of early-’80s releases, but by 1985’s SHAKEN ‘N’ STIRRED he had more in common with SECURITY-era Peter Gabriel than with ’70s blues-rock. A detour with side project the Honeydrippers found Plant exploring his love of ’50s rock & roll. By the 21st century, he was exploring roots of a different kind, effectively reinventing songs by the likes of the Youngbloods and Tim Buckley on the Grammy-nominated DREAMLAND.
Biography
b. Robert Anthony Plant, 20 August 1948, West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. Former accounts clerk Plant’s early career was spent in several Midlands-based R&B bands, including the New Memphis Bluesbreakers and Crawling King Snakes, the latter of which featured drummer and future colleague John Bonham. In 1965, Plant joined John Crutchley, Geoff Thompson and Roger Beamer in Listen, a Motown Records-influenced act, later signed to CBS Records. A cover version of “You Better Run“, originally recorded by the Young Rascals made little headway, and Plant was then groomed for a solo career with two 1967 singles, “Laughing, Crying, Laughing” and “Long Time Coming“. Having returned to Birmingham, the singer formed Band Of Joy in which his growing interest in US west coast music flourished. This promising outfit broke up in 1968 and following a brief association with blues veteran Alexis Korner, Plant then joined another local act, Hobstweedle. It was during this tenure that guitarist Jimmy Page invited the singer to join Led Zeppelin.
Plant’s reputation as a dynamic vocalist and frontman was forged as a member of the hugely successful Led Zeppelin, but he began plans for a renewed solo career following the death of John Bonham in 1980. Pictures At Eleven unveiled a new partnership with Robbie Blunt (guitar), Paul Martinez (bass) and Jezz Woodroffe (keyboards) and while invoking the singer’s past, also showed him open to new musical directions. The Principle Of Moments contained the restrained transatlantic Top 20 hit, “Big Log“, and inspired an ambitious world tour. Plant then acknowledged vintage R&B in the Honeydrippers, an ad hoc group that featured Page, Jeff Beck and Nile Rodgers, whose 1984 mini-album spawned a US Top 5 hit in “Sea Of Love‘. Having expressed a desire to record less conventional music, Plant fashioned Shaken ‘N” Stirred, which divided critics who either praised its ambition or declared it too obtuse.
Plant then disbanded his group, but resumed recording in 1987 on becoming acquainted with a younger pool of musicians, including Phil Johnstone, Chris Blackwell and Phil Scragg. Now And Zen was hailed as a dramatic return to form and a regenerated Plant felt confident enough to include Led Zeppelin material in live shows. Indeed, one of the album’s stand-out tracks, “Tall Cool One“, featured a cameo from Jimmy Page and incorporated samples of “Black Dog“, “Whole Lotta Love” and “The Ocean“, drawn from their former band’s extensive catalogue. The singer’s artistic rejuvenation continued on Manic Nirvana and the excellent Fate Of Nations, before again joining up with Jimmy Page in the mid-90s for the No Quarter and Walking Into Clarksdale projects, satisfying those who would never have the vocalist forget his past.
In complete contrast, in 1999 Plant formed the folk rock quintet Priory Of Brion with former Band Of Joy bandmate Kevyn Gammon. The band toured small venues and clubs throughout the UK and several European countries performing cover versions of their favourite songs. In 2001, Plant began touring larger venues with his new band, Strange Sensation. He released his first solo album in almost ten years, Dreamland, the following June. On this Plant performed material by a number of his longtime heroes and influences. Among those celebrated were Bob Dylan (”One More Cup Of Coffee“), Alexander “Skip” Spence (”Skip’s Song“, which is a revised version of Moby Grape’s epic “Seeing“), Tim Buckley (”Song To The Siren“), and Tim Rose (”Morning Dew“).
Following the completion of promotional duties for 2003’s excellent compilation set Sixty Six To Timbuktu, which featured rare solo material from Plant’s pre-Led Zeppelin days in addition to a host of b-sides and previously unreleased songs, Plant reconvened Strange Sensation and completed work on a new studio album with the band.
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Raising Sand album tracklists are:
01
Rich Woman
02
Killing the Blues
03
Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
04
Polly Come Home
05
Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
06
Through the Morning, Through the Night
07
Please Read the Letter
08
Trampled Rose
09
Fortune Teller
10
Stick with Me Baby
11
Nothin’
12
Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson
13
Your Long Journey
Buy the CD album Raising Sand
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