Robert Plant and Alison Krauss performed last week (Aug. 22) at the beautiful Frost Amphitheater on the Stanford University campus and the results totally underwhelmed this critic.
Of course, that’s not always been the case with the two artists’ works. Each one has produced a plethora of highlights in their musical careers over the decades.
Here is a look back at some of our favorites. (We’ll skip Plant’s Led Zeppelin work, given that that would take a whole library’s worth of articles to properly cover.)
“Raising Sand” — The first Plant-Krauss full-length from 2007 felt so very fresh and joyful, charming listeners with its collection of T Bone Burnett songs that so skillfully meshed rock, folk, country, bluegrass and other styles into an intoxicating Americana mix.
“Sea of Love” — Robert Plant the crooner? Yup, that’s exactly what we got with this first-rate cover of the late-’50s hit for Phil Phillips (aka John Philip Baptiste) that appeared on 1984’s “The Honeydrippers: Volume One.” (The Honeydrippers were a band led by Plant mainly in the ’80s.)
“Midnight Rider” — Speaking of great covers, check out the sensational bluegrass rendition of this Allman Brothers Band staple that was featured on 1989’s “Two Highways,” which is the debut album from Alison Krauss & Union Station.
“I’ve Got That Old Feeling” — After initially finding success with Union Station, Alison Krauss quickly released this solo album in 1990. The album’s memorable title track won Krauss the first of her many, many Grammy Awards.
“Walking into Clarksdale” — How great was it that — some 18 years after Led Zeppelin originally called it quits in 1980 — that Plant would reunite with old pal Jimmy Page for a full-length album in 1998? And the magic was definitely still there, especially once the duo took the material on tour that same year.
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