The Robert Plant effect

 

The little bit of trivia that follows has been very well documented over the years for the simple reason that it is responsible for a significant part of modern music sounding the way it does. We will not surprise anyone here by stating that Led Zeppelin rank amongst the most important musical outfits of the 20th century, not far behind the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, influencing a host of subsequent groups — as well as entire musical genres. Still, we will tell this story because it remains one of the most remarkable and telling in rock history…

The year was 1968. Rising guitar hero Jimmy Page, of Yardbirds early fame on top of a string of stellar session work, was looking to do something else. More to the point, something that would sound like his own, now that he was a free man once again. He thus embarked on a mission to create a super group of sorts in order to most effectively deliver the kind of blues rock he had grown to love above all else. His first choice for vocalist was the highly respected Terry Reid, whose band the Jaywalkers had toured with the Beatles and Stones of this world — literally. Reid said “no”, but didn’t leave it at that: he recommended Page check out a largely unknown Birmingham singer who went by the name of Robert Plant…

Jimmy Page, to his credit, listened to what Reid had told him and went to check out the young Plant at a showcase. The rest is literally history: Page instantly loved what he heard. Robert Plant’s powerful, raspy, soulful vocals where precisely what the guitarist envisioned to flesh out his loaded sonic universe. He only had one fear: that Plant would be impossible to work with. In his mind, this had to be the only reason a 20-year old singer with his talent was not a major star already. Turns out, he was (mostly) wrong: Plant didn’t have any real personality flaw, at least none that would stand out in the realm of Rock n’ Roll…

Plant then introduced Page to drummer John Bonham, bassist John Paul Jones offered his services and the band we came to know as Led Zeppelin was born. From their very first album, the 1969 self-titled epic, it was clear that Page’s vision was working and that Plant’s vocals were exactly what was needed: songs like “Dazed And Confused” (“inspired by” Jake Holmes), “Good Times Bad Times” and “Communication Breakdown” immediately set the stage so high that everybody on earth would have to listen to them.

And listen to them they did. Still do…