"Please Read the Letter" | |
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Song by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant | |
from the album Walking Into Clarksdale | |
Recorded | 1998 |
Genre | Folk rock |
Length | 4:21 |
Label | Atlantic (US) Mercury |
Songwriter(s) | Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant |
Producer(s) | Jimmy Page, Robert Plant |
"Please Read the Letter" is a song originally written and recorded by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant) for their 1998 album Walking into Clarksdale . [1]
Plant and Alison Krauss later recorded a version of the song for their collaboration album Raising Sand released in October 2007. The song was well received by critics, and won the Record of the Year award at the 2009 Grammy Awards. [2]
"Please Read the Letter" is in the folk rock genre. [3]
Plant explained that "Please Read the Letter" is a song about yearning for someone, adding that the lyrics are about "unfinished business". [4]
A music video for the single was released in 2008. It was shot in a 1905-built house in South Los Angeles. [4] The music video was nominated for Wide Open Country Video of the Year at the 2009 CMT Music Awards.
"Please Read the Letter" | ||||
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Single by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss | ||||
from the album Raising Sand | ||||
Released | 2008 | |||
Recorded | 2007 | |||
Genre | Folk rock, country | |||
Length | 5:55 | |||
Label | Rounder | |||
Songwriter(s) | Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant | |||
Music video | ||||
"Please Read the Letter" at CMT.com | ||||
Robert Plant singles chronology | ||||
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Alison Krauss singles chronology | ||||
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Plant and Krauss' version of the song initially failed to chart, but after winning the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, the song entered the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at #20 (the virtual equivalent to #120 on the Hot 100) in 2009.
Chart (2009) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles Chart | 102 |
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 [5] | 20 |
The song has been well received by critics. Chris Jones, in his review for the BBC, felt that the version by Plant and Krauss is "completely improved" from the original track. [6] Thom Jurek wrote for Allmusic: "Slow, plodding, almost crawling, Krauss' harmony vocal takes it to the next step, adds the kind of lonesome depth that makes this a song whispered under a starless sky rather than just another lost love song." [7]
2008 US CD single (Rounder RPAK102-R1)
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.
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.
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Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Alison Krauss and Union Station, George Thorogood, Tony Rice, and Béla Fleck, in addition to re-releases of seminal albums by artists such as the Carter Family, Jelly Roll Morton, Lead Belly, and Woody Guthrie. "Championing and preserving the music of artists whose music falls outside of the mainstream," Rounder releases have won 54 Grammy Awards representing diverse genres, from bluegrass, folk, reggae, and gospel to pop, rock, Americana, polka and world music. Acquired by Concord in 2010, Rounder is based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2016, The Rounder Founders were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
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After the breakup of Led Zeppelin in 1980, Robert Plant pursued a successful solo career comprising eleven studio albums, two compilation albums, three video albums, four collaborative albums, and 42 singles. He began his solo career with Pictures at Eleven in 1982, followed by 1983's The Principle of Moments. Popular tracks from this period include "Big Log", "In the Mood" (1984), "Little by Little", "Tall Cool One", Manic Nirvana's "Hurting Kind " (1990), and "I Believe", another song written for and dedicated to his late son, Karac. In 1984, Plant formed a short-lived all-star group with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck called the Honeydrippers, who had a No. 3 hit with a remake of the Phil Phillips' tune, "Sea of Love" and a follow-up hit with a cover of Roy Brown's "Rockin' at Midnight". Although Plant avoided performing Led Zeppelin songs through much of this period, his tours in 1983 and 1985 were very successful, often performing to sold-out arena-sized venues.
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Mike Piersante is a recording engineer and mixer.
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Raise the Roof is the second collaborative studio album by British singer-songwriter Robert Plant and American bluegrass-country singer and violinist Alison Krauss. The album was released on November 19, 2021, by Rounder Records and Concord Records in the United States and Warner Music for the rest of the world. The album was nominated for three Grammy Awards at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Americana Album, Best American Roots Song for "High and Lonesome," and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for "Going Where the Lonely Go".
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