Late Night Music Club feat. Robert Plant and the Band of Joy

Bonnaroo starts on Thursday afternoon and I'm honestly still a little bummed that I won't be there this year. But, having to be an adult and hold true to your responsibilities does take precedent - and buying a new car does tend to put a dent in your summertime funds.

For tonight's music session, we take a look at an artist I have had the honor of seeing many times over the last 15 years - most recently at Bonnaroo with Allison Krauss.

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy



For the full line-up of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, check the official blog here and be sure to listen to Bonnaroo Radio for all the music that makes this weekend special.

Happy Birthday Robert Plant

I honestly had no clue that today was Plant's 61st birthday. Perhaps it was serendipity that my last two posting were about Zeppelin,

Because They Are The Greatest Band To Have Ever Played

I have often thought this without ever considering any other band, any other sound, any other opinion, but Led Zeppelin are the literal and figural gods of rock music.

Here are some tracks, some videos, some times that prove this.

Plant and Page: The Rain Song



There were many days when I would ride my bike around my county, dreaming of towns and cities away from where I grew up and where I had faultered. This song was consistantly in my walkman.



Some live at the Filmore East jams



White Summer / Black Moutainside : Paris 1969



Zeppelin in their infamous Danish TV special.



And some Plant solo action

Friday Afternoon Tracks feat. Robert Plant & Queen

From the Concert For Life. "Thank You" / "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"



As a kid, I loved Queen. I have my mom and older sister to thank for that. Mom had several Queen LPs and my sister and I would play them when she would come and visit, dancing around the room and laughing.

The other band that I couldn't get enough of as a child was Zeppelin. My father told me that he and mom would play Physical Graffiti in order to get me to calm down when I was little. When my parents divorced, I didn't get to listen to Zep unless I was visiting my dad.

Seeing Plant on stage, performing with Queen, you get this awesome feeling that you don't normally get. And you definately don't get it listening to the overly processed and key-adjusted clap-trap that's on commercial radio now.

Why Aren't More Songs Like This?

Set to the original Robert Plant video --

Allison Kraus lends her soft, pleading, voice to this song that is just as powerful today as it was then.

Early Evening Sounds feat Robert Plant and Allison Krauss

For any of you that went to Bonnaroo this year and caught Plant and Krauss' set on Sunday, you saw one of the great performances of the festival.

I'm really hoping that they do another album together.



And here's that same song Sunday afternoon @ Bonnaroo:

The Best Album Of 2007

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, “Raising Sand”








Despite the fact that each and every year, Robert Plant seems to be morphing into this bizarre caricature of an English grandmother, he can still belt out a tune. Couple that ( the singing, not the grandmotherly visage ) with one of the most haunting and original voices in Blue Grass / Country music and you've got a duet that is hard to top. But, one can't set aside the musical genius that is T. Bone Burnett.

There really isn't a true form of 'country' music anymore. It's all overproduce tripe that does nothing but mock the real country artists that created honest, orignal music. Now, all you have to have is a cowboy hat, a belt-buckle, and some inane lyrics about a tractor or going fishing while you're drunk.

( ok, i'm done ranting on that, for now )

"Raising Sand" takes everything that Led Zeppelin did with conjuring a fantastic image with sound and lyrics and blend it with a little bit of true, southern, music ( you know, like Johnny Cash or Waylon Jennings used to play ) and you've got one of the greatest albums of the last 10 years, and certainly a perfect choice for best album of 2007.

I can wait to see these two at Bonnaroo.