Beauty and the Beast
How a rock legend and a bluegrass queen became the unlikeliest match in rock & roll. On the road with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
DAVID FRICKEPosted Jun 26, 2008 12:54 PM
They are an odd couple as they walk up to their microphones on the opening night of their 2008 tour, at the Palace Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. Robert Plant, in his first concert since his live reunion with Led Zeppelin in London last year, has seasoned his rock-lord aura with a purple riverboat-dandy vest and white ruffled shirt. Alison Krauss, the most successful singer and fiddler in modern bluegrass, looks like she is on her way to a church social, in a long summer dress, her sharp cheekbones and demure smile framed by a cascade of light-brown hair. But it is clear from their first notes together, the creeping-sigh harmonies of "Rich Woman," a 1955 single by the R&B singer Li'l Millet that serves as the opener on Plant and Krauss' platinum collaboration, Raising Sand: The metal god and bluegrass queen were born to blend.
Backed by a crackling blues-noir band led by guitarist and Raising Sand producer T Bone Burnett, Plant and Krauss reprise nearly all of their 2007 album, gliding in bright parallel on the Everly Brothers' "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" and comforting each other with pinpoint harmonies on Doc Watson's "Your Long Journey." At times, Plant stalks Krauss' high voice in a ghost-dog croon. Krauss, in turn, shadows Plant on the New Orleans R&B classic "Fortune Teller" with wordless vocal licks, like a prayer call over Radio Timbuktu.
There are Zeppelin songs too, three from the band's untitled fourth album: "When the Levee Breaks," the raunchy "Black Dog" (Krauss sings "Watch your honey drip" with cool glee) and the show's highlight, "The Battle of Evermore," an Arthurian tale recorded by Plant with the British folk singer Sandy Denny. They never performed the song live. But Krauss — who was born in 1971, the year that Zeppelin album came out — harmonizes with Plant like an Appalachian Valkyrie, matching his gritty blues-warrior cries with spearlike notes and church rapture.
Comments
Robertplantisgod | June 14, 2008 11:36 PM EST
Actually Zep did have Sandy Denny perform "The Battle of Evermore" with them in concert. I just recently saw a 31 sec video on Youtube. The quality was excellent. It's hard to find but it's there.
Benji8461 | June 14, 2008 9:25 AM EST
Ya, saw them at Pontiac Silverdome in April of 77. The Sandy Denny portion of Battle of Evermore was sang by John Paul Jones, and you're right fydo1974, it was sang quite poorly.
auramac | June 13, 2008 9:33 PM EST
I haven't paid too much attention to Robert Plant in a while, but this collaboration had me on the edge of my seat the first time I heard them and then saw them on TV. Of course, I then went out and got the album. Smokin'!
bowieno | June 13, 2008 4:56 PM EST
great show It's a nice union hopefully more to come from the three of them. Jimmy Page should go out calloborate with somebody new and get fresh spin with his talent.
Southernman4ever | June 13, 2008 4:56 PM EST
I went to see this.
But I feel I was unprepared for the shocking sparsity of Zeppelin songs.walrusk1 | June 13, 2008 4:22 PM EST
I think what he meant was Robert Plant and Sandy Denny never performed the song live.
fydo1974 | June 13, 2008 3:16 PM EST
Hey David, your claim that Led Zeppelin never performed "The Battle of Evermore" live is incorrect. I have a bootleg cassette of Zep performing it on the 1977 tour, and it sounds like either Page or Jones is attempting (poorly) to sing Sandy Denny's part. According to this website, Zep played the song live 29 times.
http://www.classic-rock-concerts.com/songs/31
In any case, I'm sure Alison sings it much better. :)You must login to comment.
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