To be clear upfront…I approach Led Zeppelin from a
different direction then most; having spent over a decade working as a disc jockey
at a variety of rock radio stations I reached the let me up I’ve had enough point when it came to Zeppelin. The
thought of playing or even hearing those magical opening chords of Stairway to Heaven can set my gag reflex
to shuddering.
That being said I was curious what longtime Brit music
journalist Paul Rees might have uncovered and had to say about the band’s front
man in Robert Plant – A Life. Rees
has plied his trade as a writer and journalist for over twenty years for
publications ranging from rock mags like Q and Kerang! And newspapers like the
Evening Standard, the Telegraph and the Independent, so I was interested to
read a firmly British perspective on the
singer/band who are beloved by fans and bemused by critics.
Unfortunately, Plant continues to be an elusive figure
when it comes to granting fresh interviews to writers and apparently was a
non-participant in the process of the writing this book. That left Rees, who
had interviewed Plant on prior occasions to recycle much of the material that
went into this tome. While that is clearly a disappointment for fans of the
band hungry for new insights, Rees does have a flair for imaginative prose and
he writes of Plant with distinctive style. He also captures the not only the
tales of the evolution of the singer/band, he sets up well against the backdrop
of what was taking place in the world and in music in the era that the band
rose to the heights of their success.
I am always amazed at the level of infighting that
takes place when bands reach new levels of fame and fortune. Some of the things
that deliver them to the success that they fought so hard to achieve end up
becoming a proverbial albatross around their necks. There is a certain level of
satisfaction that I take away from Plant’s apparent distain for the all
consuming success of Stairway to Heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment