New album, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

FEATURES
Heavenly pair raise the bar
298 words
19 October 2007
The Daily Express
58

WEEKEND MUSIC BY MARCUS DUNK

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

ROBERT PLANT/ALISON KRAUSS: RAISING SAND (Rounder/Decca) . . . . .

ON THE surface, it doesn't much seem like a match made in musical heaven.

In one corner, you have Led Zeppelin frontman, legendary maker of musical mayhem and all-round god of rock Robert Plant; in the other, the gentle goddess of bluegrass, Alison Krauss.

Back in Led Zep's heyday, such a partnership would have had you worrying for Krauss's wellbeing. After all, there was a reason Led Zeppelin were known as one of the most debauched bands in the history of rock.

Maybe it's true that opposites really do attract - whatever the reason, this collaboration is a near-perfect partnership, with Krauss and Plant's voices blending beautifully as they come together on a series of lesserknown country, blues and folk songs.

With material chosen and produced by T Bone Burnett - the man behind the music in O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Raising Sand sees Plant and Krauss backing each other like a brother and sister vocal team, taking turns with the lead and harmonies.

From the gentle, dark quietness of Killing The Blues and Tom Waits's Trampled Rose through to the bleak, bluesy blast of Townes Van Zandt's Nothing, every tune feels like an epic emotional journey.

Plant puts aside his golden god image and lets the musical chemistry between himself and Krauss carry the album.

Not that Krauss is incapable of holding her own - on tunes like Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us, she's a strong presence, sounding like a downbeat Dolly Parton delivering gloomy news.

Despite these moments of darkness, this is an utterly gorgeous album full of atmosphere and charm. Do not miss it.

LivingArts
An odd couple makes magic
Sarah Rodman
Sarah Rodman Globe Staff. Boston Globe

23 October 2007
The Boston Globe
3
E.1

CD Review

"Raising Sand" is the stuff of which music lovers' dreams are made: an unexpected collision of two distinct but complementary worlds that transcend the sum of their parts to create something unique and mesmerizing.

Led Zeppelin main man Robert Plant and country/bluegrass treasure Alison Krauss. Who'd have thunk it?

Apparently they did. The mutual admirers have been meaning to get together for seven years. Better late than never. On "Raising Sand," out today on Rounder Records, there is no uncomfortable push or pull. Instead of seesawing between any expectations created by their previous output, both artists happily play in the sonic landscapes of famed producer T Bone Burnett, who has worked with Elvis Costello and Los Lobos and helmed the Grammy-winning "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack.

For his part, Burnett chose an intriguing set of off-the-beaten- path covers - from Tom Waits's "Trampled Rose" to Page and Plant's "Please Read The Letter" - chucked the original arrangements, and hired a band of like-minded mavericks, including always-inventive guitarist Marc Ribot.

This adventurous, three-to-tango atmosphere (four if you include the top-notch band) is evident from the outset as quivering guitars and distant percussion lay the groundwork for the tender yet spicy blues of "Rich Woman."

Here, as on almost every track, there is an intimacy to Plant and Krauss's vocals; they don't move side by side but are enmeshed, often in hushed or joyous choirs of harmony. That intimacy is enhanced by Burnett's painstaking placement of instruments - steel guitar, banjo, organ, various forms of percussion - not always doing what you'd expect, like the dark-and-dirty detour Krauss takes with her normally lyrical fiddle on "Nothin'."

The austere "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," written by Burnett's ex-wife, Sam Phillips, at times feels like a raga and at times like circus music from a Wes Anderson movie. "Polly Come Home," sung by Plant in a controlled murmur - one of several silken modes employed throughout - is almost painfully erotic. Rowland Salley, Chris Isaak's bassist, contributes the dreamy, slow chug "Killing the Blues," which wouldn't sound out of place on one of his boss's records.

Each track sets a different mood - a lullaby, a seduction, a prayer, a remembrance - but adheres to Burnett's elusive but recognizable template of blending vintage rock, country, folk, and blues with a lot of space. That space gives his work both an earthy quality and something approaching the otherworldly without ever veering into psychedelia.

The only listeners who may be disappointed in "Raising Sand" are those who prefer Plant in full-on storm-the-drawbridge mode. The famous howl is mostly absent but several songs feature variations on his eruptive ululations. Krauss's ethereal soprano is in grade-A form and she works expertly to enfold his voice like an angel's wings.

On "Stick With Me Baby," a Mel Tillis tune cut by the Everly Brothers, Krauss and Plant play a pair whose union is doubted around town, but they decide to keep their own counsel. "Let them say what they may," they croon, "stick with me baby, we'll find a way."

On "Raising Sand," with Burnett's help, that's exactly what they do.

Caption: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant teamed with producer T Bone Burnett on "Raising Sand."

Features
Alison taught me to sing;Something for the weekend;Music;Interview;Robert Plant and Alison Krauss;Exclusive
Simon Cosyns

26 October 2007
The Sun
64

Says Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, owner of the greatest voice in rock history. ROBERT PLANT. Alison Krauss. Raising Sand 5

ON paper, they sound like an unlikely pairing - the rock god and the bluegrass gal.

Admittedly they share a similar line in tousled blonde hair stretching below their shoulders but there the similarity appears to end.

One half is Robert Plant, 59, the man who emerged from the Black Country hills to sing primal blues in Led "The Hammer Of The Gods" Zeppelin.

The other half is Alison Krauss, 36, a woman blessed with a sweet, angelic voice, a fiddle player extraordinaire and winner of more Grammy awards than any other female artist.

Robert's in fine form when SFTW catches up with

him, imagining the headline:

"Gruesome hotel wrecker meets pre-Raphaelite maiden."

Alison chips in via a transatlantic phone call: "I think the mystery of it was pretty exciting. There was real intrigue in what was going to happen.

"I had tremendous respect for Robert, kn

The Zep icon is thrilled with their resulting album, Raising Sand. "I've been round the block, but I've never been round that block. It was a fine place to go," he maintains.

"I'm absolutely ecstatic because there's nothing worse than being stereotyped.

Alison brought such texture to my world. It was fascinating and very good fun."

Fickle

Though 25 million people tried to buy tickets for the Led Zeppelin reunion concert in November, Robert wonders how the fickle world of music listeners will respond to the Nashville-recorded album.

"People don't seem tohave much time toactually stop before theyare on to the next thing,"he suggests.

"If it's a success, that's great. But if it's not, I'll still think it's a success because we did it."

In practice, Raising Sand is guaranteed to stop you in your tracks, all doubts blown away by a few atmospheric bars of first song Rich Woman.

The album is a bewitching marriage of hearts, minds and talents. It plunders the great contemporary American songbook for inspiration, blending blues, folk, country and gospel into a unique and elusive place all

its own.

Robert accepts it's different to anything he's ever done before and says of his time in the studio: "We were just sitting back looking at each other, going, 's**t'. I mean she taught me to sing!

"I thought I'd probably been around too long but she taught me to sing delicate harmonies. I really had to think and learn about musical intervals. It was trial by fire but you can't tell because I got it. I got it. The first day I got there with an acoustic guitar she was saying you go from the fourth fret to the sixth and down to one. I was going 'What!? Well what about baby, baby?'"

Producer T-Bone Burnett's name may not be written in bright lights like the singers but the album's success also has so much to do with him. It's clear he brought singular vision to both song selection and making this scratch partnership fly.

But for Robert, the story of Raising Sand began "way back in the mists of time."

"I was talking to a guy called Bill Flanagan," he remembers. "He's a muse who drifts around VH1 and the music networks of America, part-rock 'n' roll historian and part-would-be desert entrepreneur.

"He kept saying to me: 'You know, with your voice, have you ever thought about singing with Alison Krauss? I'm sure your voices would be quite remarkable together."

It wasn't exactly the career move Robert had in mind. In recent years, he's been more commonly associated with mystical rhythms of North Africa than

the country twang of the American South.

He says: "My ideal is to go to the Sahara and learn to play the baritone ukelele but the time came when I was invited to do a show at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame to celebrate the life of Leadbelly (the great Louisiana bluesman)."

The notion appealed. "Throughout my life, from the very early stages in the folk clubs in Worcestershire, everybody was singing Leadbelly songs.

"I thought would be a good idea to try a duet so I contacted Alison. We had nothing to lose and everything to gain. We rehearsed in a hall for the Armenian residents of Cleveland, Ohio, and it was really good singing together." Their performance of Black Girl, a trad folk song made popular by Leadbelly, left the door wide open for future business.

Robert says he was "definitely aware" of Alison's music but not a scholar of contemporary American folk and country music.

He believes: "Music that relates to all the events that take place in American culture is probably better echoed by people like Townes Van Zandt and mid-term Bob Dylan than all the cheery truck stuff. I have an aversion to that but a real love of all the tales that are told."

If you delve deeper, there are abundant clues as to why this musical liaison is not so strange.

"Led Zeppelin was a myriad of different themes and structures," says Robert. "Even down to the humorous take on American country called Hot Dog (a three-minute hoedown on their final album In Through The Out Door).

"Since I was a kid, I've had an absolute obsession with particular kinds of American music. Mississippi Delta blues of the Thirties, Chicago blues of the Fifties, West Coast music of the mid-Sixties - but I'd never really touched on dark Americana".

So how much did Alison know about Robert? "I was aware of all the Zeppelin stuff from my brother," she says. "He would play them in his room and go 'I can't believe this!' He was so taken with them".

It was songs from Robert's second solo album, 1983's The Principle Of Moments, that struck a real chord with Alison.

"I was more aware of the current stuff when I was growing up. In The Mood and Big Log. I remember seeing him on MTV. Every time he would show up, he was something different. Otherworldly."

When they finally discussed doing the sessions that eventually became Raising Sand, Alison remembers the conversation well. "He was like, 'What do you wanna do?' and I was like, 'What do you wanna do?' So we talked about getting a producer."

It was her idea to phone T-Bone, who once played in Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review in the mid-Seventies and made some fine, under-rated solo albums. She had worked with him on the multi-million-selling O Brother Where Art Thou? film soundtrack. Robert had no doubts he was the right man.

Alison says: "I've worked for T-Bone eight hours singing the same song and I'm still happy to do it for him. He has a wonderful way. He's very much into seeing how things go down naturally."

Robert became a big fan too. "When T-Bone was brought into the picture, I think both of us became much more confident. We had a third party who had a great overview.

"I was just a baby in their company because I was learning every minute of the day. I was thrilled. With T-Bone's humour and his knowledge, it was spectacular.

His song selection was so strong."

Another key factor was the hiring of some truly great musicians, notably Marc Ribot whose elegant guitar and banjo figures are all over the record. "They all knew the score with a kind of dry American South humour," recalls Robert. "I came steaming in with a Black Country twirl and they found me quite fascinating. It wasn't that they didn't understand me, just that my edge, my humour, was so different to theirs".

Fiddle

Of the 13 songs, T-Bone chose eight and Robert selected five: "the more rock 'n' roll things, Gone Gone Gone, Stick With Me Baby, Fortune Teller and Please Read The Letter (a cracking song he co-wrote for 1998's Page and Plant album Walking Into Clarksdale)."

The singers take the lead on some songs and combine brilliantly for two-part harmonies on others. Alison perhaps shines brightest on a tender, tear-stained reading of Tom Waits' Trampled Rose but, for her, the yearning Polly Come Home by Gene Clark provides a "real moment."

Clark's Through The Morning, Through The Night is also used on Raising Sand, a worthy testament to the man who had written lyrics for some of The Byrds' finest songs including Eight Miles High.

Robert brings a jaw-dropping performance to the expansive, world-weary Nothin' by Townes Van Zandt, the song that rocks out the most and finds Alison picking up the fiddle in dazzling style. He also improves on his original version of Please Read The Letter by a country mile.

Finally, it's time to reflect on perhaps the most extraordinary twist in this wholly rewarding chapter in the lives of two very different but compatible artists.

Robert and Alison are talking about playing Nashville's Grand Ol' Opry, the sequin-spangled home of traditional country music.

What will they make of "the gruesome hotel wrecker meets the pre-Raphaelite maiden"?

Boom The Cat wrote:

Raising Sand? I was going to pick this up on friday, but it's been pushed back to the 29th :(

My dad wanted me to get it, he's a massive Led Zep/Robert Plant solo fan.

Anyone got any opinions of it?

As of this reply, there are 37 customer reviews on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Robert-Plant-Alison-Krauss/dp/customer-reviews/B000UMQDHC/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summary/102-8306395-7712908?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&customer-reviews.start=1#customerReviews

Mostly positive. There are Plant fans wanting this to be Zeppelin, and Krause fans wanting this to be Bluegrass. It's neither. The closest Zeppelin songs to the type of thing this has would be That's the way, Tangerine, and maybe the Honeydrippers stuff. It's like that. I listen to it, as it is, forgetting of each artist's pasts. For me, it play's very well.