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.
Had not listened to that Kashmir Celebration Day 2007 performance in a while, and came across it again last night on Youtube. Had forgotten how good it was. What struck me is how all of them are really into it, giving it 200%. "Matured" is a good word to describe it. The BlueRay DVD is really something. Appreciated revisiting it all over again. Quite a treat to watch and listen on a nice home theater setup.
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@cycles2 said: "As to Plant being the greatest Rock & Roll singer, I’ve seen him in Led Zepp several time in S, Florida in the late 60’s and 70’s in small and large venues and he’s nowhere close to Freddie Mercury, Roger Daltry, Rod Stewart or Paul Rodgers." Of course there is no right or wrong in these types of comparisons. It is always a matter of opinion of course. Of those you’ve listed I would only agree with Freddy Mercury. For pure chops and range he was hard to top. Roger Daltry wouldn’t make my top ten list even though he’s one of my top 4 or 5 favorite singers. Rod Stewart, also one of my favorites has a distinctive and soulful voice but he’s pretty much a one trick pony. Paul Rodgers is the real deal. Right on up there of course but then there is the matter of his body of work. Its pretty small. Awesome stuff but not a ton of it. And that brings me to why I put Plant at or near the top: not only did he have the range and the power (he no longer does by his own admission), the soul, the timing, the bravado (like Mercury) but he also has a massive body of work and is still going strong. Mercury has a stellar but fairly small body of work and, alas, he’s been gone a long time. Daltry has done very little of note since the Who’s heyday. Stewart does a little bit from time to time. Rodgers is in terrible health. So when you put the nature of his voice, how it suited and still suits his work and the fact that Plant is still touring AND putting out new work I see him at or near the top. That is why I would always list the Stones as the best band in history and I’m not even a fan. But they were there at the beginning and are still here now. Touring and new music. And that has to count for something. |
Definitely the best and my favorite band of all time. Plant is great, but Jimmy is the greatest of all time. Like most of you I am 64 and have loved Zep since I was 13 years old. Some songs clearly over played like Stairway to Heavan for example but after playing it quite loud last night it is special. But my favorite song, most folks don't talk about is " Ten Years Gone" Look it up and turn it up. |
Man I can never get tired of Led Zeppelin...But when they first came out ,I bought there first album and I was at my uncle’s house.These guys were like 10 years older than I was.I was 17 at the time....I was playing the album and enjoying it .When my uncle’s friend came Into the living room and said, Whats this ...he took it off the stereo and flung it againt the wall....and he then put Doo Woop music on....lol...this was 1969.You didn’t mess with this guy ,lol.Well I didn’t. |
