Robert Plant: Nothing Takes the Place of You

The latest preview for the movie Winter in the Blood, which premieres Friday at the Los Angeles Film Festival, features Robert Plant singing Toussaint McCall's Nothing Takes the Place of You. Plant recorded the song exclusively for the movie.




 Find out more about Winter in the Blood here or at the movie's official site.

New Robert Plant Video Upload

Robert Plant's official YouTube page in recent weeks uploaded Sensational Space Shifter performances of Spoonful and Black Dog. Today's addition is Tin Pan Valley.

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters

Robert Plant's official YouTube page has released a couple of videos from Robert Plant's South American/Australian tour this past winter.

Here's Spoonful



And Black Dog

Stalking Robert Plant

You get the feeling that Robert Plant is used to "being Robert Plant." That he's comfortable with fame, being recognized and much that goes with that. Sometimes, however, fans go over the line, and it becomes uncomfortable even for someone who's been in the spotlight for more than 40-years.

Alysson Billings has been contacting Plant for over 3-years now, appearing at concerts worldwide and sending him flowers, packages and hotel room keys. She claims to be in a relationship with Plant, and his romance with his singing partner Patty Griffin has displeased her, causing her to send him some disturbing messages:

You're relationship with this woman still stabs my mind... This woman is literally evil for you and your life... you are about to fall for that dirty old crotch. And I'm not joking, I cannot, will not, shall not live this way anymore.

These messages caused security experts consulted by Plant to suggest the woman is a legitimate threat to Plant, and he has obtained a restraining order against her.

As for the dirty old crotch herself Patty Griffin, in a recent interview to promote her new album, American Kid (available today), she said of her relationship to Plant, "We're not legally married, no."

Plant and Griffin will be performing together in London next week, kicking off promotion for the American Kid album.

Zeppelin's Tribal Council

All three surviving members of Led Zeppelin were in London this week. While Jimmy Page still lives in London, John Paul Jones was in town to do a few performances with Seasick Steve - on the Jools Holland show and at the Roundhouse. Robert Plant has also made his way into London from his current residence in Austin, Texas, and it appears he will be spending the month.

Plant has a couple of appearances of his own lined up - again on Live with Jools Holland and at Rough Trade East record store - to help promote Patty Griffin's new album, American Kid. Plant was also in the audience at the Seasick Steve/John Paul Jones Roundhouse show on Wednesday.

But the big news may have been the reported, but unconfirmed, meeting of the three Zeppeliners to discuss the upcoming boxset reissues of the Led Zeppelin catalogue. It is no secret that Page has been working on a remaster of the 9 studio albums, including Coda, and that he has been "rooting around in the Led Zeppelin archives," for previously unreleased material.

However, considering Robert Plant's suggestions that he has "nothing on for 2014," offering a hint of a suggestion of a possibility that he may be open to doing some work with his old band mates, discussion about any possibly Led Zeppelin reunion seems likely to have been brought up. Whether any such discussion lasted any more than 30-seconds, or whether any kind of decision was made, will be unknown for a while. But it will be worth keeping ear open for any hints that start coming from the three gentlemen.

That they seem to have met, however, is good news and that progress seems to have been made on the reissues is as well. Hopefully the reissues are coming soon, in real time, not "Led Zeppelin time."

Robert and Patty do London

Robert Plant is spending sometime at home in England this month, and as part of his time at home, he will do a few performances with his partner, Patty Griffin.

Griffin will be doing some promoting of her new album, American Kid in mid-May. Plant will be joining Griffin with a performance on Later Live on May 14th, followed by a performance on Later with Jools Holland May 17th. In between, the pair will do an in-store performance in Knotting Hill's famous Rough Trade East record store.

Plant's performance on Later with Jools Holland comes just three weeks after John Paul Jones appeared on the show with Seasick Steve this week. Jimmy Page also appeared on the show last November, although he didn't perform.

Patty Griffin - American Kid

Robert Plant's muse, Patty Griffin, released her 7th solo album this week. It is currently streaming on the Wall Street Journal. Plant himself joins Griffin on  three songs, Ohio, Faithful Son and Highway Song.

Ohio is a powerful, slow, droning piece about the underground railroad. Plant sings a prominent harmony vocal under Griffin's.  Griffin featured this song at a London show of the Sensational Space Shifters last July.

Faithful Son is more uptempo, with Plant really offering a few Ah-ahs throughout.

Highway Song is a ballad, with Plant and Griffin singing a harmony vocal throughout.

American Kid is available now on Amazon, iTunes, or wherever you buy music. A vinyl edition of American Kid will be released.

John Paul Jones to Join Seasick Steve on Later... with Jools Holland

Next Tuesday, April 30th, John Paul Jones will join Seasick Steve on Later... with Jools Holland to play songs from the upcoming Seasick Steve album, Hubcap Music.

Meanwhile, Patty Griffin has released a video of her first song from her upcoming album, American Kid.

The song, Ohio, is an historical piece about slaves escaping via the underground railroad. Robert Plant sings a harmony vocal throughout the haunting, evocative song.

Griffin first premiered the song at a Sensational Space Shifters show in London last July.

Update: The latest podcast is now available. Listen or download through iTunes.

Robert Plant North American Tour Confirmed

Robert Plant, with his band the Sensational Space Shifters, has announced a North American tour. The tour begins on June 20th in Dallas and ends on July 27th in Brooklyn. A tour trailer video has also been released.



The Sensational Space Shifters are guitarist Justin Adams, keyboardist John Baggott, African ritti player Juldeh Camara, bassist Billy Fuller, Dave Smith on drums and percussion and Liam Tyson adding more guitar, vocals.

Here's the confirmed dates:

June 20: Dallas, TX - Palladium
June 21: Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center
June 23: Austin, TX - Moody Theater
June 26: Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Auditorium
June 28: Santa Barbara, CA - County Bowl
June 29: Berkeley, CA - Berkeley Greek
July 2: Jacksonville, OR - Britt Festival
July 4: Quincy, CA - High Sierra Festival
July 6: George, WA - Jambase Festival
July 7: Portland, OR - Portland Blues Festival
July 10: Morrison, CO - Red Rocks
July 12: Chicago, IL - Grant Park
July 13: Memphis, TN - Live In The Garden
July 14: Louisville, KY - Forecastle Festival
July 17: New Orleans, LA - Mahalia Jackson Theater
July 19: Atlanta, GA - Verizon Amphitheatre
July 20: Cary, NC - Koka Booth Amphitheatre
July 22: Vienna, VA - Wolftrap
July 24: Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun
July 25: Boston, MA - B of A Pavilion
July 27: Brooklyn, NY - Prospect Park

Ohio

Robert Plant joins Patty Griffin at studio 1A at KUT 90.5 in Austin to perform Griffin's new song, Ohio.

Robert Plant Puts Away His Big Voice

In an interview last year discussing his current band, The Sensational Space Shifters, Robert Plant said he had found his big voice again.

Today, Patty Griffin released the first song from her upcoming album, American Kid, featuring Robert Plant on background vocals. In the song, Ohio, Plant gives a very understated performance providing harmony to Griffin's lead vocal. It is comparable to some of his work with The Band of Joy or Allison Krauss: that is to say, he put the big voice away for this one.

Ohio is an old style folk song about the Underground Railroad. In an interview with USA Today, Griffin said Plant was key to the arrangement:

I had the song in an odd shape and couldn't really figure out how to use it. He came in and arranged it so that it became what it is. He came up with the tempo and the mood on it.

It is previously ported that Plant provided backing vocals on three tracks on American Kid, due in stores May 7th.

Led Zeppelin on David Letterman

Lots of complaints today about Letterman and his interview style. Maybe I'm used to it - I used to watch Letterman quite a lot back in his NBC days - but it seemed to me he did a reasonable job. His job is to get the guests, and the guys can be reticent, to talk. He does that, not by having all the answer at his fingertips, but by asking open ended questions.

For Plant, Page and Jones, the three looked relaxed, had some fun and seemed to enjoy themselves.  Watch the very beginning when Plant starts to laugh as he and Jimmy take the seats farther away, leaving Jones in the seat next to Letterman. An interesting comment, Letterman, on talking about the Kennedy Center Honors Gala, pointed out that Jimmy said to him during the show, "musicians like playing Led Zeppelin music."

Ramble On Radio's good friend Steve, The Lemon, Sauer was at the taping of the show. His report on it was posted on FBO.

Here's the Led Zeppelin portion of last nights David Letterman Show.

Review Week - Day 4: Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters Live in Curitiba, Brazil

I had heard that Robert Plant had, in his own words, "found his big voice" during his fall shows with the Sensational Space Shifters (SSS). Not knowing for sure what that even meant, it was time to listen to what the Golden God was up to. All the shows from the South American tour the SSS are available for legal download at Livedownloads.com. I chose one randomly and wound up with Curitiba, Brazil on October 27th.


Plant sounds in very good voice on this night and his interaction with a lively audience is fun to listen to. Clearly the audience was in to it, and the Sensational Space Shifters gave them an uptempo set sprinkled with songs mostly from Plant's solo and Led Zeppelin career.

Unlike other tours, Plant stays fairly true to the originals, making arrangement changes for the instruments in use but not to the basic song itself. Rock and Roll, for instance, which was given a reworking into a rockabilly yawn-a-long, is back to being a solid rocker. Whole Lotta Love is recognizable as such while Black Dog is weirded out musically. The vocal line in the latter, however, is not much changed from the recent Celebration Day release.

Highlights include All The Kings Horses (during the intro of which someone yells, "beautiful man, beautiful"), Going to California and the aforementioned Rock and Roll. But outside of the opening song, Tin Pan Valley, there's nothing in this set that's not excellent. It has been a long time (been a long time, been a long time) since I've enjoyed listening to new Robert Plant music as much as I did this show.

That leaves us with one question: has Plant found his big voice? The answer is unquestionably yes and, having combined it with the half octave harmony vocalist he has learnt to be the last five years, he is effective and dynamic singer fronting a solid and entertaining band. One hopes Patty Griffin has more solo tours lined up in the next couple of years.

Setlist

• Tin Pan Valley


• Another Tribe


• Friends


• Spoonful


• Somebody Knocking


• Black Dog


• All The Kings Horses


• Bron-Y-Aur Stomp


• Enchanter


• Four Sticks


• Ramble On


• Freedom Fries


• Whole Lotta Love

-- Encore --

• Going to California


• Rock and Roll

Robert Plant Goes "Into the New World"

A video was released yesterday on RobertPlant.com for the "Into The New World 2012" tour by his Sensational Space Shifters. First thought was a North American tour may be coming, but it may be a be a promo for the currently running South American tour. Here's the video:



Meanwhile, in Argentina Sunday night Plant was jumped onstage by a fan. As the band was ending the show a fan ran onstage and directly toward Plant. Plant saw him at the last minute and jumped out of the way, but not before the fan did make contact with a falling Plant. Security then made the exuberant fans night somewhat less than fun. Watch the video here at about 4:30.



Meanwhile, all the South American shows up to Sunday nights is now available for legal download via LiveDownloads.com.

Robert Plant Live Downloads

Last July, Robert Plant made his Sensation Space Shifters HMV forum show in London available for online download. The experiment on online marketing seems to have been a success. Plant is making the shows on his current South American tour available to purchase via Live Download.com.

Last nights show on Rio De Janeiro is already available for download in a number of formats, including CD - which is not an option for the July show. Songs are also available for individual download in MP3 format.

Here's the setlist for last nights Sensational Space Shifter show in Rio:

• Introduction


• Fixin' To Die


• Tin Pan Alley


• 44


• Friends


• Spoonful


• Somebody Knocking


• Black Dog


• Bron-Y-Aur Stomp


• Enchanter


• Another Tribe


• Ramble On


• Witchdoctor


• Who Do You Love? > Whole Lotta Love > Steal Away > Bury My Body
  ENCORE:


• Going to California


• Gallows Pole


• Rock and Roll

Celebration Night

[caption id="attachment_2060" align="alignright" width="292" caption="Photo: Nech Tytla - Used By Permission"][/caption]

It was Celebration Night around the world, and certainly in my little part of it where no less than 5 theatres within' a 25 minute drive were showing Celebration Day. I must say, minus a few quibbles, it was as good, better, than I hoped for: a magical recreation of a magical night.

The movie is the concert, full bore. A few edits to keep the pacing going, a few small parts of the show where cut for brevity. But ultimately, it was the show. They didn't mess too much with the music, although they tried to fix the little mess in "Dazed and Confused when the rhythm section seemed to not be connecting." But otherwise it was the show, just the show, and nothing but the show. On that note, here's what I said about the show at the time:

...I won’t equivocate: this was a great concert by a great band that was in great form. I simply can’t imagine how good these guys would be after a few shows to get the groove going. If they do tour, and it would be a crime if they don’t, I want to see them again mid tour. They would be an unimaginable force of music.

Too bad about that last bit.

Now the quibbles. First, I would have set the stage, given the movie some context. An intro in which the camera is outside the O2 before the show, so everybody understands it was London. Further I would have replaced the old Tampa TV news clip that started the show with one from the O2 show. My feeling watching it was, if I didn't know better, I'd think I was seeing Led Zeppelin in Tampa in the 70's.

Others have commented on the 35mm footage used in the movie, and it was too much. It's a cool effect used half a dozen times through the movie: they used it 3 or 4 times a song. Way too much. And the film was edited to MTV standards, which means it was far to jumpy.

But again, these are mere quibbles, disagreement over choices, not commentary on the performance itself. The truth on the performance itself is, it holds up extremely well, and Celebration Day is a must see movie for music fans, and a must see more than once for Led Zeppelin fans.

John Paul Jones at Hardly Strictly

John Paul Jones joined Robyn Hitchcock on stage at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Fransisco's Golden Gate Park to play the song Glass Hotel yesterday.

"Just imagine your listening to this out doors, on a sunny day in the park," Hitchcock told the crowd.

Watch at 1:45 to 1:55, where Hitchcock says something to Jones which makes Jones laugh and stop playing for a second.




The free festival takes place every year and features a number of acts. Hitchcock performed on the Porch Stage, which Jones also played on with Seasick Steve later in the day.



Last year Robert Plant and the Band of Joy opened the Banjo Stage on the Friday night of the festival. Plant also joined Patty Griffin during her set on the Saturday portion.

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Update: Robert Plant also made an appearance at Hardly Strictly this year, joining both Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin during their sets. He sang a song he wrote with Patty during her set:



With Buddy Miller he joined Griffin and Emmylou Harris for Somewhere Trouble Don't Go, which Plant played harp on:

Ramble On Radio Episode #22

Led Zeppelin held a press conference and I have all the details, plus: Black Country Communion at war; Jimmy Page out and about; Did Robert Plant do a movie soundtrack? John Paul Jones jams with Alfie Boe and more, on the only Led Zeppelin podcast on this, or any, known internets.

Listen here

or

Subscribe on iTunes

*******************

Links

Shawn Sarazin's Mystery of the Quotient

Dony Wynn's blog post on Modern Drummer

Buy Carol Miller's Autobiography on Amazon.com



Pre-order the Celebration Day LP:



Jason Bonham's son, J-Swagg's Facebook page.

Carol Miller - Up All Night: My Life and Times in Rock Radio

I picked up Carol Miller's autobiography, Up All Night: My Life and Times in Rock Radio for the Led Zeppelin stories. Miller has been a staple of the New York radio waves since the early 70's, founded the much copied radio format Get The Led Out and was for her entire career the go-to Led Zeppelin DJ in New York. Her book would have, one could be sure, lots of Stories of debauchery and mayhem from backstage at Madison Square Garden, no doubt.

One would be wrong, and on the Led Zeppelin front, Miller's book is a disappointment. Which is not to say it is not a good book.

First, the Zeppelin content, or lack thereof. While Miller was the Zeppelin DJ in New York and dated both Paul Stanley and Stephen Tyler, she never actually met the band in their heyday. Part of this was intentional, as the bands reputation preceded them, even early on, and she was not enthusiastic about getting caught in their web.

Her Zeppelin stories are really later, and mostly concern Robert Plant: for Live Aid she was working for Entertainment Tonight doing live on-camera interviews and, as such, had first access to the artists after they performed. Plant's first words to her where that he had just called home to England and his daughter told him their performance "was less than stellar." Ouch!



Later she would run into him at a club in New York with an Indian woman named Shirley:

"Strange, I momentarily thought. Didn't I read that Plant's wife of Indian background, Maureen, had a sister named Shirley?"

As much as the book disappoints from a Led Zeppelin perspective, it is an interesting, well written autobiography. Miller walks you through her life, including a failed marriage, a few interesting relationships and a battle with cancer. If you are looking for dirt on the 70's rock scene, Miller is, in fact, scrupulously fair to everyone in the book, and nobody comes off really poorly. It speaks well of her as a human being but must have drove her publishers and editors nuts.

But for the reader interested in the 70's and 80's New York rock scene, the rise of rock, and then classic rock, radio and MTV, it's an entertaining read, even if it doesn't spill any blood.

Led Zeppelin to Receive Kennedy Center Honors

The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Honors are among the most prestigious arts award in America. Kennedy Honor recipients are recognized for heir lifetime contribution to American culture through art.

The 2012 recipients include Led Zeppelin, being honored as a band as well as each living original member: Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant.

The honorees will be presented with their Kennedy Center Honors Medallion on Saturday December 1st.

The next night, Dec 2nd, the annual honors gala at the Kennedy Center Opera House. The honorees will be presented to the President and Mrs. Obama at the White House prior to the gala. The gala will be broadcast as a 2-hour primetime special on CBS on Dec 26th at 9:00PM.

Honorees don't normally perform at the gala and there is no expectation that Led Zeppelin will reunite for the occasion (this is not aisle 6 of Swapper Jack's).

From the Kennedy Center webpage:

Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant transformed the sound of rock and roll with their lyricism and innovative song structures, infusing blues into the sound of rock and roll and laying the foundation for countless rock bands."

The annual Honors Gala has become the highlight of the Washington cultural year, and its broadcast on CBS is a high point of the television season. On Sunday, December 2, in a star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, produced by George Stevens Jr. and Michael Stevens, the 2012 Honorees will be saluted by great performers from New York, Hollywood, and the arts capitals of the world. Seated with the President of the United States and Mrs. Obama, the Honorees will accept the thanks of their peers and fans through performances and heartfelt tributes.

The President and Mrs. Obama will receive the Honorees and members of the Artists Committee who nominate them, along with the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees at the White House prior to the gala performance. The 2012 Kennedy Center Honors Gala concludes with a supper dance in the Grand Foyer.

The Kennedy Center Honors medallions will be presented on Saturday, December 1, the night before the gala, at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Honors Gala will be recorded for broadcast on the CBS Network for the 35th consecutive year as a two-hour primetime special on Wednesday, December 26 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT)...

The Honors recipients recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts-whether in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television-are selected by the Center's Board of Trustees. The primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The Honors are not designated by art form or category of artistic achievement; the selection process, over the years, has produced balance among the various arts and artistic disciplines.

Past Honors recipients, as well as members of the Kennedy Center's national artists committee, made recommendations of possible 2012 Honorees. Artists making recommendations included: Alan Alda, Joshua Bell, Stephen Colbert, Renée Fleming, Kris Kristofferson, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Mark Morris, Lionel Richie, Frederica von Stade. Previous Kennedy Center Honorees, including Edward Albee, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Kirk Douglas, Angela Lansbury, Meryl Streep, Barbra Streisand, and Oprah Winfrey, also made nominations.

Other 2012 honorees are blues guitarist Buddy Guy, actor Dustin Hoffman, television host David Letterman and ballerina Natalia Makarova.