The Led Zeppelin singer wasn’t happy to see his fellow guitarist form a band with one of his ‘imitators’
David Coverdale starred in some amazing moments in the first half of the ’90s. At the beginning of the decade, the singer called it quits White snakewhich was experiencing one of its best commercial moments. He officially resumed his career in 1993, with a project alongside no less Jimmy Page – in an initiative that involved the guitarist’s former colleague Led Zeppelinthe singer Roberto Piantabitten by jealousy.
The project has been named Coverdale/Page and produced an album of the same name, released in March of the same year. The recordings, however, took place much earlier: between 1991 and 1992, in a long process that involved four studios in three different countries: United States, Canada and England.
Despite its success – it went platinum in the US and Britain and reached the top 10 of the charts in six countries – the partnership had its critics. One of these was Plant, who did not hold back from provocations both during and after the end of the project.
According to the book No Quarter: The Three Lives of Jimmy Pageby Martin Power, Robert made two types of comments upon its release. The singer praised Page’s work as a guitarist, but said he didn’t understand Coverdale’s choice. The reason? According to him, the leader of the then defunct Whitesnake copied him too much. He came to define it as “David’s Cover Version”in yet another provocation.
It really felt like jealousy and the continuity of the story seems to prove it. Until 1993, Plant refused to work with Page to avoid fueling a possible Led Zeppelin reunion. But soon after Coverdale/Page ended, he agreed to work with the guitarist on the project that would become known as Page/Plan.
In a 1998 interview with Chicago Tribune (go Distant), Robert revealed why he had a negative reaction to his ex-partner working with David. The discussion revolved around the same point: they looked like second-rate Led Zeppelin.
“I think he’s a good man [em referência a David]but I have a feeling your integrity is now questionable. If Whitesnake were a really young band they would have just seen it [o filme-concerto] The song remains the same and I decided ‘ok, enough, let’s imitate them”, I could understand it. There was a time, many years ago, when I tried to imitate Elvis Presley. It’s acceptable. But David Coverdale is almost my age. It’s part of my genre of music, even though I was part of many sub-standard bands. Seriously, you shouldn’t do that to your own gang. When I imitated someone, they were such remote artists, it was like they were a million miles away.”
David Coverdale’s reactions to Robert Plant’s criticisms
David Coverdale is not made of iron and, obviously, he countered some of Robert Plant’s provocations. In an interview, for example, he said he had no “lost love” for the Led Zeppelin singer and even joked: “I wouldn’t send him food if he was starving.”
There’s nothing like time to make things easier. In a 2013 interview with Uncutthe Whitesnake frontman revealed that he would like it “Give Robert a drink”he said he had it “in the highest esteem as a human being and an artist” and asked Jimmy Page: “when you speak to him, offer my sincerest apologies for any negative things I ever said, which were mostly defensive”.
John Kalodnerrecord label A&R executive Geffen Records – and responsible for having suggested the partnership with Coverdale to Page -, even wrote a letter to Plant with apologies. The revelation was made in an interview with Martin Popoff reproduced in the book Whitesnake: The Amazing Journey of David Coverdale (go Igor Miranda’s website).
“I had to write a letter of apology to Robert. Page told me that Robert was very angry with me, and I wanted to tell him that it would never be my job to disrespect him. He was offended that I had put David Coverdale to sing with Jimmy Page. If this offended you, I didn’t mean to do it.”
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Source: Terra
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
