Page and Plant | |
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![]() Page and Plant, 1998 | |
Background information | |
Origin | London, England |
Genres | Hard rock, folk rock, symphonic rock, world music, blues rock |
Years active | 1994–1998, 2001 |
Labels | Atlantic, Fontana, Mercury |
Spinoff of | Led Zeppelin |
Past members | Jimmy Page Robert Plant Charlie Jones Michael Lee |
Page and Plant (also known as Jimmy Page & Robert Plant) were an English rock band active between 1994 and 1998. The group consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant (both formerly of English rock band Led Zeppelin), accompanied by bassist Charlie Jones and drummer Michael Lee. Formed in 1994 for an MTV Unplugged reunion, Page and Plant released the platinum-selling live album No Quarter, featuring both new material and middle eastern-influenced covers of classic Led Zeppelin songs. Following the success of the live album, they embarked on a world tour featuring a full orchestra.
In 1998, Page and Plant released Walking into Clarksdale , comprising entirely new material and featuring the Grammy Award-winning single "Most High". Following the album's release, they embarked on a second world tour before disbanding at the end of 1998. The band reunited for a final performance in 2001.
The initial plans for a reunion were made in 1993, with discussions between the two of collaborating emerging from casual small talk and then an invitation to perform on MTV Unplugged. Music producer Bill Curbishley, who had been managing Plant since the 1980s and who assumed management of Page in 1994, was integral in the reuniting of Page and Plant. Despite failed attempts by others to reunite the pair, Curbishley was able to persuade the previously reluctant Plant into working with Page again. [1] In an interview he gave in 2004, Page recounted the background:
I was going to play in Japan with David [Coverdale], the only time we played live, and I had a call from Robert's management to pop in and see Robert in Boston on the way to LA to rehearse. Robert said, "I've been approached by MTV to do an Unplugged and I'd really like to do it with you," so I said, "Okay." It gave us a chance to revisit some numbers and use that same picture with a very, very different frame. [2]
Plant's recollection of the reunion was as follows:
By that time I didn't feel like I was even a rock singer anymore ... Then I was approached by MTV to do an Unplugged session. But I knew that I couldn't be seen to be holding the flag for the Zeppelin legacy on TV. Then mysteriously Jimmy turned up at a gig I was playing in Boston and it was like those difficult last days of Led Zep had vanished. We had this understanding again without doing or saying anything. We talked about the MTV thing and decided to see where we could take it. [3]
Led Zeppelin's main songwriters reformed on 17 April 1994 as a part of the Alexis Korner Memorial Concert at Buxton, England. On 25 and 26 August they taped performances in London, Wales, and Morocco with Egyptian and Moroccan orchestration of several Led Zeppelin tunes along with four new songs. The performances aired on 12 October, and were so successful that the two coordinated a tour which kicked off in February 1995. The Unplugged performance was released as an album in November 1994 as No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded .
Page and Plant's touring line-up included Charlie Jones on bass and percussion, Michael Lee on drums, plus Pearl Thompson (of The Cure fame, then credited as "Porl Thompson") on guitar and banjo, Najma Akhtar providing backup vocals, Jim Sutherland on mandolin and bodhrán, Nigel Eaton playing the hurdy-gurdy, and Ed Shearmur adding Hammond organ with orchestral arrangements. Page spoke fondly of the lineup, stating:
It was heroic to take something like that around the world, because it was using two orchestras: one Western, one Arab orchestra, with a hurdy-gurdy. It was great going around the world to turn people on to sounds they hadn't heard. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but it was worth it. [2]
The band, joined by keyboardist Phil Andrews, recorded a cover of "Rude World" by Rainer Ptacek for the 1997 charity album The Inner Flame: A Tribute to Rainer Ptacek. [4] [5]
In 1998, Page and Plant entered the studio to record Walking into Clarksdale . The album, recorded and mixed by engineer Steve Albini, featured the single "Most High", which won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. Walking into Clarksdale was certified gold with over 500,000 copies sold. Despite the critical acclaim for "Most High", the album received mixed reviews from critics and was not as commercially successful as 1994's platinum-certified No Quarter. [6] To promote Walking into Clarksdale, Page and Plant embarked on a world tour consisting of 97 tour dates in North America and Europe. [7] [8] Their concert in Bucharest, Romania was professionally filmed and aired live on MTV for the special "Live from the 10 Spot". [9]
After the 1998 supporting tour for Walking into Clarksdale, Robert Plant left to focus on other projects, dissolving the reunion. The pair briefly reunited for a final performance in 2001 at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
In a 2005 interview with Uncut magazine, Plant attributed his decision to dissatisfaction with the production on Walking Into Clarksdale, along with a desire to "get back to playing clubs":
We had some good songs [on Walking into Clarksdale], but I wasn't sure about the production. I felt kind of marooned. We were still surrounded by the protective shield of who we were, and it meant we were playing big arenas around the world. And I realised once again there had to be another way... I knew I had to get back to playing clubs and remember what pulse was all about. To say goodbye to those large arenas that I played with Jimmy was a very purposeful move. [3]
Page later revealed that he had written songs for a follow-up studio album, stating:
There could have been a follow-up [to Walking into Clarksdale]. I certainly had about a dozen numbers written for a third album. Robert heard them and said that some were really good, but he just wanted to go in another direction. That's fair enough. [10]
Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [13] | AUS [14] | AUT [15] | FRA [16] | NLD [17] | NZL [18] | NOR [19] | SWE [20] | SWI [21] | UK [22] | |||||||||||||
1994 | No Quarter
| 4 | 2 | 27 | — | 33 | 13 | — | 10 | 16 | 7 | |||||||||||
1998 | Walking into Clarksdale
| 8 | 16 | 33 | 5 | 56 | 11 | 13 | 17 | 31 | 3 |
| ||||||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or was not released. |
Year | Name |
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1997 | The Inner Flame: A Tribute to Rainer Ptacek (Song: "Rude World") |
2001 | Good Rockin' Tonight - The Legacy Of Sun Records (Song: "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It") |
Year | Name |
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1994 | "Gallows Pole" |
"The Battle of Evermore" (promo) | |
"Kashmir" (released in France) | |
"Thank You" (released in The Netherlands) | |
1995 | "Wonderful One" (released in the US) |
"Four Sticks" (promo) | |
1998 | "Most High" |
1998 | "Shining in the Light" |
1998 | "Sons of Freedom" (promo) |
Year | Name |
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1998 | Music Video for "Most High" (directed by Floria Sigismondi) |
2004 | No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded |
Led Zeppelin II is the second studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 22 October 1969 in the United States and on 31 October 1969 in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at several locations in both the United Kingdom and North America from January to August 1969. The album's production was credited to the band's lead guitarist and songwriter Jimmy Page, and it was also Led Zeppelin's first album on which Eddie Kramer served as engineer.
Led Zeppelin III is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970. It was recorded in three locations. Much of the work was done at Headley Grange, a country house, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. Additional sessions were held at Island Studios and Olympic Studios in London. As with the prior album, the band eschewed the use of guest musicians, with all music performed by band members Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitars), John Paul Jones, and John Bonham (drums). The range of instruments played by the band was greatly enhanced on this album, with Jones especially emerging as a talented multi-instrumentalist, playing a wide range of keyboard and stringed instruments, including various synthesizers, mandolin and double bass, in addition to his usual bass guitar. As with prior albums, Page served as producer on the album, with mixing done by Andy Johns and Terry Manning.
The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. Produced by the band's guitarist, Jimmy Page, it was recorded between December 1970 and February 1971, mostly in the country house Headley Grange. The album contains the band's most well-known recording, the eight-minute-long "Stairway to Heaven".
Houses of the Holy is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 28 March 1973 in the United States and on 30 March 1973 in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Records. The album benefited from two band members installing studios at home, which allowed them to develop more sophisticated songs and arrangements and expand their musical style. Several songs subsequently became fixtures in the group's live set, including "The Song Remains the Same", "The Rain Song" and "No Quarter". Other material recorded at the sessions, including the title track, was shelved and released on the later albums Physical Graffiti (1975) and Coda (1982). All instruments and vocals were provided by the band members Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones, and John Bonham (drums). The album was produced by Page and mixed by Eddie Kramer. The cover was the first for the band to be designed by Hipgnosis and was based on a photograph taken at Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.
Physical Graffiti is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. Released as a double album on 24 February 1975 in the United States and on 28 February 1975 in the United Kingdom, it was the group's first album to be released under their new label, Swan Song Records. The band wrote and recorded eight new songs for the album in early 1974 at Headley Grange, a country house in Hampshire, which gave them ample time to improvise arrangements and experiment with recording. The total playing time covered just under three sides of an LP, so they decided to expand it into a double album by including previously unreleased tracks from the sessions for the band's earlier albums Led Zeppelin III (1970), Led Zeppelin IV (1971) and Houses of the Holy (1973). The album covered a range of styles including hard rock, progressive rock, rock 'n' roll and folk. The album was then mixed over summer 1974 and planned for an end-of-year release; however, its release was delayed because the Peter Corriston-designed die-cut album cover proved difficult to manufacture.
Presence is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released by the band's own label Swan Song Records on 31 March 1976 in the United States and on 2 April 1976 in the United Kingdom. While the record was commercially successful, reaching the top of both the British and American album charts, and achieving a triple-platinum certification in the United States by the RIAA, it received mixed reviews from critics and is the lowest-selling album by the band.
Robert Anthony Plant is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980; since then he has had a successful solo career, sometimes collaborating with other artists such as Alison Krauss. Regarded by many as one of the greatest singers in rock music, he is known for his flamboyant persona and raw stage performances.
James Patrick Page is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Prolific in creating guitar riffs, Page’s style involves various alternative guitar tunings and melodic solos, coupled with aggressive, distorted guitar tones. It is also characterized by his folk and eastern-influenced acoustic work. He is notable for occasionally playing his guitar with a cello bow to create a droning sound texture to the music.
The Song Remains the Same is the live soundtrack album of the concert film of the same name by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. The soundtrack was recorded 27–29 July 1973 and released on 22 October 1976 on Swan Song Records.
MTV Unplugged in New York is the first live album by the American rock band Nirvana, released by DGC Records on November 1, 1994, nearly seven months following the death of Kurt Cobain. The album was part of the cable television series MTV Unplugged and features a mostly acoustic performance. It was recorded at Sony Music Studios in Hell's Kitchen on November 18, 1993.
How the West Was Won is a live triple album by the English rock group Led Zeppelin, released by Atlantic Records on compact disc on 27 May 2003, DVD-Audio on 7 October 2003 and Blu-ray audio in 2018. The recordings are taken from two 1972 performances in California during their tour of North America: L.A. Forum and Long Beach Arena.
Outrider is an album by Jimmy Page, released by Geffen Records on 21 June 1988. It is his only solo studio album and the first time since 1969 he recorded with a record label other than Atlantic Records/Swan Song Records. Page recorded the music at his personal studio The Sol. Robert Plant guests on one track, "The Only One", while John Bonham's son Jason plays drums.
Walking into Clarksdale is the only studio album by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, both formerly of English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released by Atlantic Records on 20 April 1998. The album was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini at Abbey Road Studios.
Core is the debut studio album by the American rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released by Atlantic Records on September 29, 1992.
MTV Unplugged is a live EP by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released in the United States on June 2, 1992, by Columbia Records. Following the success of Carey's previous two albums and the growing critical commentary on her lack of concert tours and unsubstantial televised performances, Sony organized a live performance show at the Kaufman Astoria Studios, New York on March 16, 1992. The show, titled MTV Unplugged, originally aired on MTV to help promote Carey's second album Emotions, as well as help shun critics who deemed Carey a possible studio artist. However, after its success, the show was released to the public as an EP, with an accompanying VHS titled MTV Unplugged +3.
The discography of the English rock band Led Zeppelin consists of 9 studio albums, 4 live albums, 10 compilation albums, 19 singles, 16 music videos and 9 music downloads. The band is estimated to have sold over 300 million records worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling music artists in history. According to Billboard, they are the 40th Greatest Artist of All Time, as well as the 11th Most Successful Artist on Billboard 200 history. The band has scored 7 number-one albums on Billboard 200 and has sold 112.5 million certified albums in the United States, becoming the 5th best-selling album artist in RIAA history.
No Quarter is a live album by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, both formerly of English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released by Atlantic Records on 31 October 1994. The long-awaited reunion between Jimmy Page and Robert Plant occurred on a 90-minute "UnLedded" MTV project, recorded in Morocco, Wales and London.
Fate of Nations is the sixth studio album by English singer Robert Plant, released 25 May 1993 on Es Paranza Records in North America and Fontana Records internationally. It features former Cutting Crew guitarist Kevin MacMichael on all songs and as well as being a backing vocalist. In addition, the album also features violinist Nigel Kennedy on one song. The song "I Believe" is a tribute to Plant's late son, Karac.
In Through the Out Door is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded in three weeks in November and December 1978 at ABBA's Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, and released by their label Swan Song Records on 22 August 1979 in the US and 24 August 1979 in the UK. Unlike earlier Led Zeppelin albums, In Through the Out Door was dominated musically by bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones. It was the band's last release before the death of their drummer John Bonham in September 1980 and their disbandment three months later.
Jimmy Page is a British rock musician, best known as the guitarist and producer for English rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also participated in numerous solo and group projects since Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980.