Album: Raising Sand
Artist: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Born: West Bromwich, West Midlands / Decatur, Illinois
Released: October 2007
Genre: Americana
Sometimes these high-profile musical collaborations can fall flat, but when legendary rock virtuoso Robert Plant and successful bluegrass singer Alison Krauss met at a Lead Belly tribute concert in Cleveland, all the stars were aligned. Add to the mix highly-respected producer T-Bone Burnett and a selection of folk and country standards, and you've got one of the best albums of 2007. T-Bone Burnett had built up a reputation as a composer of great film soundtracks, notably for the two Coen brothers films The Big Lebowski (1998) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), and he was instrumental in choosing the music for Raising Sand and also responsible for the guitar playing on 10 of its 13 tracks. Among the selections were two songs by founder member of The Byrds, Gene Clark, as well as tracks from The Everly Brothers and Townes Van Zandt. Plant also contributes one of his own songs, Please Read the Letter, which was originally recorded by Plant and Jimmy Page for their 1998 album, Walking into Clarksdale. Like many of the songs on Raising Sand, it features stunning harmonies between Plant's husky voice and Krauss' crystal clear vocals, ending with Plant's trademark yelps which hark back to his Led Zeppelin days.
Burnett's spare production puts the focus on the singing and Krauss really shines on this album, especially her heavily blues-influenced performance of Little Milton’s Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson and her stunning lonesome country harmonies on Roly Salley's Killing the Blues. I also love the light musical touches, like the psychedelic guitar sound on Rich Woman, and the nod to legendary gospel rock guitarist, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, whose popularity in the 30s & 40s inspired the likes of Little Richard and Johnny Cash. Polly Come Home sounds very much like Low, a band that Plant has openly expressed his affection for, and is an inspired reworking of Gene Clark's country rock standard, Polly, which first appeared on Through the Morning, Through the Night (1969). Plant & Krauss also cover the title track of this wonderful LP – though Clark's No Other (1974) often gets the plaudits, his bluegrass records with banjo player Doug Dillard are criminally overlooked. There are some songs on Raising Sand that I'm not so keen on, notably single Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On), which is out of keeping with the album's generally downtempo mood. That song aside, some of the other highlights for me are Fortune Teller and Nothin', the latter a country blues song from Townes Van Zandt's 1971 LP, Delta Momma Blues. I've come late to Van Zandt's charms, but now see him as one of country music's finest songwriters. Plant & Krauss came close to recording a follow-up album, but a lack of material meant the project fell through. A future collaboration may still happen, but in the meantime Plant continues to expand his musical boundaries with the Band of Joy and the Sensational Space Shifters (while frustrating Led Zeppelin fans in the process!).
Sometimes these high-profile musical collaborations can fall flat, but when legendary rock virtuoso Robert Plant and successful bluegrass singer Alison Krauss met at a Lead Belly tribute concert in Cleveland, all the stars were aligned. Add to the mix highly-respected producer T-Bone Burnett and a selection of folk and country standards, and you've got one of the best albums of 2007. T-Bone Burnett had built up a reputation as a composer of great film soundtracks, notably for the two Coen brothers films The Big Lebowski (1998) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), and he was instrumental in choosing the music for Raising Sand and also responsible for the guitar playing on 10 of its 13 tracks. Among the selections were two songs by founder member of The Byrds, Gene Clark, as well as tracks from The Everly Brothers and Townes Van Zandt. Plant also contributes one of his own songs, Please Read the Letter, which was originally recorded by Plant and Jimmy Page for their 1998 album, Walking into Clarksdale. Like many of the songs on Raising Sand, it features stunning harmonies between Plant's husky voice and Krauss' crystal clear vocals, ending with Plant's trademark yelps which hark back to his Led Zeppelin days.
Burnett's spare production puts the focus on the singing and Krauss really shines on this album, especially her heavily blues-influenced performance of Little Milton’s Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson and her stunning lonesome country harmonies on Roly Salley's Killing the Blues. I also love the light musical touches, like the psychedelic guitar sound on Rich Woman, and the nod to legendary gospel rock guitarist, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, whose popularity in the 30s & 40s inspired the likes of Little Richard and Johnny Cash. Polly Come Home sounds very much like Low, a band that Plant has openly expressed his affection for, and is an inspired reworking of Gene Clark's country rock standard, Polly, which first appeared on Through the Morning, Through the Night (1969). Plant & Krauss also cover the title track of this wonderful LP – though Clark's No Other (1974) often gets the plaudits, his bluegrass records with banjo player Doug Dillard are criminally overlooked. There are some songs on Raising Sand that I'm not so keen on, notably single Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On), which is out of keeping with the album's generally downtempo mood. That song aside, some of the other highlights for me are Fortune Teller and Nothin', the latter a country blues song from Townes Van Zandt's 1971 LP, Delta Momma Blues. I've come late to Van Zandt's charms, but now see him as one of country music's finest songwriters. Plant & Krauss came close to recording a follow-up album, but a lack of material meant the project fell through. A future collaboration may still happen, but in the meantime Plant continues to expand his musical boundaries with the Band of Joy and the Sensational Space Shifters (while frustrating Led Zeppelin fans in the process!).
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