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

@asvjerry indeed you are the Bard of Agon on Avon…. :-)

Smoke em if ya got em in the giant tube stash in the sky…. or that very unorganized drawer……

Best to you now and in the year alight …

larsman-- agreed on the Page and Plant tour (I saw only 1). Saw Zep live at the Garden in July of 73 and other than being in awe of the Plant and Page charisma, the show was a minor disappointment-- it was only good, not great . Sloppy for sure. 

I don't listen to Zep a lot anymore but still occasionally use my RL version of Zep ll to impress guests. as it is one of the 2 or 3 best sounding albums I have. Needless to say, it always works and is indeed a fabulous album through and through. Having said that, I will have to put l and lV on the table in the next few days.

A lot of the available footage and recorded stuff from Zeppelin's live stuff is sloppy. Often off tempo too. But like the "Minnesota Blues" (mess of the blues) medley on this BBC album, even amongst the sloppy stuff there are jewels to be found.

By the way, I am assuming this double album I have is bootleg. It does have the record company info on it but the album cover is basically a cartoonish picture of a cassette tape recorder. I'm also assuming it was recorded on cassette from the BBC broadcast and then cut onto vinyl. The sound quality isn't great.

 

Both times that I saw Plant the shows were incredible. What struck me more than anything else was that he seemed to be having the time of his life....playing for a crowd in Columbia, SC. I could not, and still don't understand how the god of rock and roll was having fun playing yet another show on the road in my humble home town. I came to the conclusion that he is either an incredible actor/showman or he was actually enjoying himself. I suspect it was probably both.

Either way, when the performer is performing well AND having a good time, well, that makes for a great show.

The second time I saw him he played several Zep songs. Brought the house down.

@n80 Yes. Remarkable discovering that "the gods" don't live for worship, but just for performing, anywhere for anybody. When they still project that authenticity despite the fame, fortune, and glory, you know you are seeing the real deal.

 

I love Led Zeppelin.  They were a serious part of my "becoming of age" era.  As their albums came out, I was advancing through high school.  At 16 years of age and Led Zeppelin II is playing at high school parties.  Memories, for sure!  I finally got to see them at The Forum, in 1971 (as a Junior in high school).  What memories...