What Robert Plant thinks about still singing Led Zeppelin songs, but in an “exotic” form

The trajectory of Robert Plant is not limited to Led Zeppelina band that ended in 1980. Over the next forty years, the vocalist built a long-lasting solo career and was involved in a series of projects, often far from the hard rock practiced with the band that made him famous.

Despite this, the singer played — and still plays — songs from his former group live. In an attempt to offer something different and also fit the voice of a singer who is over 70 years old, the solution was to change arrangements and adopt a new look for the songs he recorded with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones It is John Bonham.

In an interview with USA Today (via Blabbermouth), alongside his musical partner Alison KraussPlant was asked if he still enjoys playing Zeppelin songs or if he does it out of “obligation” — after all, the artist has shared critical reflections on his musical past. In response, he stated:

“I love them[Led Zeppelin songs]. I’m very proud of them, and I’m proud of having the chance to change them and hear that voice with me. It allows for an exotic approach to the more dramatic elements. Sometimes I get emotional about it, because I’m listening to these songs – they’re all beautiful adaptations that I could never have dreamed of. It’s a huge achievement.”

In early June, Plant and Krauss made a live version available to “When the Levee Breaks”music by Memphis Minnie It is Kansas Joe McCoy released in 1929. The track appears in Led Zeppelin IV (1972) and has one of John Bonham’s most striking drum lines.

In addition to this, the duo has performed songs such as “Rock and roll”, “The Battle of Evermore” and an excerpt from the traditional “Gallows Pole”. Another track that is often remembered in the performances and is directly related to the British group is “Please Read the Letter”from the singer’s partnership with Jimmy Page, in the 1990s.

Led Zeppelin with a different face

The aforementioned meeting with the guitarist, which gave rise to the project called Page and Plantmade the singer come to a somewhat harsh conclusion. Robert realized that it was time to change his approach to old material.

In 2018, the singer told The House of Strombo channel (via Igor Miranda’s website) about an insight he had during a show in Germany, back in 2000:

It got to the point one night in Mannheim where we were playing inside a big concrete cube to a huge audience of men pumping their fists in the air. I thought, ‘Well, I don’t think we need this anymore, it’s time to get the bus out quickly.'”

From then on, practically all of Robert Plant’s projects began to present material from his original band with new arrangements — in addition to his new compositions exploring rhythms different from rock. This was initially noticed with the Strange Sensationas seen on the live DVD Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation (2006), which features songs like “No Quarter”, “Black Dog”, “Four Sticks” It is “Whole Lotta Love”.

Already with the Band of Joy — a band named after Plant’s first pre-Zeppelin group — there were modified versions of “Misty Mountain Hop”, “Houses of the Holy”, “Ramble On”among others. The same occurred with the The Sensational Space Shifterswhich included songs such as “Going to California”, “Friends” It is “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp”.

In 2019, Robert Plant formed an acoustic band called Saving Grace. The setlist also included songs by Led Zeppelin, such as “What Is and What Should Never Be” It is “The Rain Song” — always in a different style than the original.

Collaborated: André Luiz Fernandes.