At the age of seventeen, British vocalist Robert Plant began his career in music in 1965. Three years later, he joined Led Zeppelin, which went on to become one of the all-time best-selling bands, with an estimated 200 to 300 million recordings sold worldwide.
The Rolling Stones, who began their career six years before Led Zeppelin and were a part of the British Invasion a period when bands from the United Kingdom rose to international fame was one among the numerous bands the artist mentioned throughout the years.
What is Robert Plant’s opinion on The Rolling Stones
In 1962, when The Rolling Stones were established in London, Robert Plant was still a teenager. But as soon as they released their first recordings, the trio rose to international fame. The singer saw them perform live when he was young, and he described the encounter as an “eye-opener” in a 2021 interview with the BBC. Additionally, he expressed his belief that the band was primarily responsible for introducing Chicago and Delta Blues music to England.
Robert said, “I did actually see the Stones. They did a theater tour with Bo Diddley and Little Richard. It was the Rolling Stones’ first-ever package tour. It was really an eye-opener. We were all leaning towards that music. But nobody really had it down. I think in those days the Stones were bringing the stone down the mountain. So that was really specialm.”
In an interview with Express & Star in 2021, he discussed the significance of the local music venues in his birthplace. He also remembered that he’d got to witness The Rolling Stones there.
“The venues are important. When I was a kid we would go to Dudley Town Hall, Stourbridge Town Hall, or Coventry Town Hall. You could see the Rolling Stones and all the other bands of that level. Today, if you are a group as big as the Stones, you will be playing at Wembley. It’s all very different.”
“It will be very well organized, very professional. But you don’t have that interaction with the audience.”
The Rolling Stones songs Robert Plant said were some of his favorites
“There is so much to be said about this band and about the politics of the time in the late 60s, early 70s. How great that The Rolling Stones’ Jagger and Richards were putting together songs that were really quite vital absolutely and are in many ways timeless”.
Robert added, “This track ‘Street Fighting Man’ from ‘Beggars Banquet’ is just incredible. Of course, many stations banned the record because they said it was subversive. There is a great comment from the band that said ‘of course it’s subversive. It’s stupid to think that you can start a revolution with a record. I wish you could.”
He also adores the Stones song “Come On,” which was first recorded by Chuck Berry and then covered by the British group in 1963 before being made available as a single. In 2021, during an interview with the BBC Radio show Tracks Of My Years, he mentioned that particular music as one of his favorites.
“You probably may have realized it in my early history as a singer and recording artist, the adventures that I’ve had in the music game. I was really drawn and obsessed by the music of Chicago, Mississippi and the Delta Blues.”
He continued, “(So) I think on the English music scene, one of the main forerunners and purveyors for bringing this music to us as early teenage kids were the Rolling Stones. I do believe this was their first single, if I remember right. I bought it on the blue Decca label. It’s a cover of Chuck Berry‘s ‘Come On’. It was the beginning of their great career, promoting or perhaps giving us inspiration for Country Blues and City Blues of North American.”
The Rolling Stones have been touring for 60 years and have 30 studio albums to their credit. Their projected global record sales exceed 200 million, making them one of the most successful bands in history.
What was Mick Jagger’s first impression on Led Zeppelin
The strength that Led Zeppelin had both live and on record stunned the music industry with the publication of their innovative self-titled first album in 1969. Numerous musicians who were already well-known at the time were taken aback by the sound the band was producing. In 2020, Mick Jagger was asked what The Rolling Stones thought of Zeppelin at first during an interview with BBC Radio 2.
“The thing was, I knew Jimmy (Page) very, very early on. Going back ten years before that. You know, makes you feel very young. I used to produce records. I did this record ‘Out Of Time’ for Chris Farlowe, which it was a very successful record in the early 60s. (Song) which Keith (Richards) and I wrote.”
“I used to be a producer, it was fun for me. I was sort learning the trades, sort to speak and it was all played live, of course. One of the backing musicians was Jimmy Page. He was one of the best session guitarists at the time, he was very young. There was another one called Jim Sullivan and they used to play chess in between takes. That was their thing. So that’s how I met Jimmy and that’s how I met John Paul Jones, because he was the bass player, like in 1965, maybe.”
He continued, “Then 10 years later or a bit less they’ve made this very successful kind of band. I used to go and watch them live. And I remember watching their concerts live in New York and everything. I mean, it was great thunderous wonderful racket, brilliant. (Also) I saw their last concerts as well and they were absolutely incredible. I was so dissapointed that they didn’t actually go out and toured. But that’s their business, not mine.”
Jimmy Page, by then a popular performer with Led Zeppelin, ended up joining The Rolling Stones for two tunes. First, “Scarlet,” which was recorded in 1973, will be made available in 2020 as a part of the enhanced edition of the album “Goats Head Soup.” The second one was when Jimmy performed “One Hit (To The Body)” on guitar in 1986. The album “Dirty Work” contained the song.