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

+1 for Raising Sand.  IMHO it's some of Plant's best vocal work.  As for Zep, I tend to go back to Zep lll more than the others.  

When I listen to Zep these days I tend to listen to the less popular stuff. Stuff that typically didn't get radio time back in the day. I still like their hits but I think their genius is seen best in the deeper cuts.

No Quarter was my 787 theme song…

Good to hear from you @n80  - get well soon !

+1 @soix for sure, thanks for the reminder. Steely Dan, some of the very best! 👍  

@n80 totally agree. Some of the less popular stuff can be more enjoyable.  

@tomic601 if you don't already have it - the 2007 concert BluRay & CD Audio set with the No Quarter performance at 02 Arena is one of my absolute all time favorites. Along with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page (omg, wicked grunge guitar sounds) and John Paul Jones (wow, hauntingly-beautiful keyboard and piano) simply brings the music to a different level of sound and performance. Playing this track on a good all tube system is absolutely hair raising if you like Zepplin!.🤩  

Video clip:  No Quarter 2007 O2 Arena Live