Way back in 2007 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, two singers from completely different musical backgrounds, found some common ground while evidently having lots of fun. The combination of the two voices which work so well together, of Plant’s spontaneity versus Krauss’ precision, here was a collaboration made in heaven; the on stage chemistry between the pair providing the icing for a particularly tasty cake.
Plant, the ‘rock god’ and one of the most influential rock singers, had long since moved away from his “awww baby push it, push it” style vocals and, as Plant himself described it, primal screams, in favour of a more subtle, relaxed approach, more in keeping with duets and the americana genre. Plant has a long held interest in music from different sources; his post-Led Zeppelin works have betrayed a wide range of influences in addition to those previously evident in the blues- and folk-inspired Zeppelin output. These influences can be seen, for example, as rock and roll (see the 1984 mini album by The Honeydrippers), the music of North Africa, particularly Morocco (evident in some of his work with Jimmy Page and also with the Sensational Space Shifters), and americana (Robert Plant & The Band of Joy); it’s like he’s been on a musical journey for almost 45 years.
Similarly Krauss, the queen of bluegrass, with her pure, crystal clear, almost angelic voice and exquisite fiddle playing has always enjoyed other styles of music and has form for covering rock songs, such as with Alison Krauss & Union Station (AKUS) and their version of English rock band Bad Company’s 1979 song ‘Oh, Atlanta‘; recording a couple of songs, including a reworking of the hit ‘Missing You‘ with English rock singer and former member of The Babys, John Waite, and singing on two songs from Def Leppard’s 2022 LP “Diamond Star Halos“.
Plant and Krauss first met at Cleveland in 2004, where they were both performing at a tribute concert for the influential singer Lead Belly. Plant was already a fan of Krauss’ voice and music and in conversation they realised they shared some musical interests. The pair embarked on a musical project together, which became the “Raising Sand” album. This project was held together by T Bone Burnett and he produced and played guitar on both “Raising Sand” and the (eventual) follow up “Raise the Roof“; while on the debut LP, he had reputedly picked the songs (all but one written by neither Plant nor Krauss) for the pair to sing. A posse of top musicians was put together to back Plant and Krauss, touring supported the release and “Raising Sand” became a huge success. Although the pair are no strangers to winning awards through their respective careers (Krauss boasting a total of 28 Grammy Awards), in the wake of “Raising Sand” the duo won a whole heap of awards, include five Grammy Awards and a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize. The album charted well too; it reached number 2 in both the UK’s Official Albums Chart and the Billboard 200.
Fast forward to 2021 and “Raise the Roof” was released and despite being critically acclaimed and selling well, it didn’t have quite the impact of its predecessor; charting at respective peaks of number 5 and number 7 in the UK’s Official Albums Chart and the Billboard 200. Perhaps it was due to the 14-year gap between releases, with some momentum lost during that time, particularly in terms of sales. Similarly, it was nominated for three Grammy Awards but failed to secure any of these awards.
This video is of Plant and Krauss playing at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tennessee in 2022, with the pair performing a much modified version of the Led Zeppelin classic, ‘Rock and Roll‘. Since Zeppelin’s demise, Plant has appeared to want to move away from what he produced in the late 1960s and the ’70s; it’s not that he wants to forget about his past, more that he wants to look forward, nowadays when he performs songs from that part of his career they tend to be transformed (often to a greater extent than we see here).
