X-roads

      13 Comments on X-roads
album cover for Raising Sand by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant

When Alison Krauss and Robert Plant collaborated on their album Raising Sand (produced by T-Bone Burnett, hello), they made history. A bluegrass musician and a rock ‘n’ roller? Together??? What?!?

And you know…

It worked.

Taking two artists — even from the same genre — and throwing them together for a duet (which, apparently, is not even a thing anymore in pop music; everything is So-and-So ‘featuring’ This Other Person — why?) has occasionally created a hit song. (Particularly when the song is part of a movie, a la Almost Paradise from Footloose or Somewhere Out There from the animated An American Tail.)

More rarely have two artists from different genres come together with any amount of commercial success. Run-DMC recorded Walk This Way with Aerosmith. And Amy Grant – who had a long history as a Christian artist – partnered with Vince Gill, a country artist, to create the song House of Love in 1994 — which then went on to land a spot on the pop charts. (They later went on to get married to each other, by the way.)

Enter Krauss and Plant.

Who said (of pairing rock with bluegrass), “Oh, this is a great idea!” and then went on to make not just a single song but a whole album.

And why the hell not?

I can only assume she’s been possessed by an angel. I mean, I sure as hell hope that’s what angels sound like. And he – with his aged-whiskey rocker’s rasp – well… He’s no angel, eh?

But together, their voices just blend. It’s a pleasing-to-all-senses experience just to sit and listen.

I’ve posted one of my favorite of their collaborations — a cover of a Led Zeppelin classic — elsewhere on this blog.

Here is another for you.

Welcome to the crossroads.

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for the 2021 A to Z Blogging Challenge: letter X

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13 thoughts on “X-roads

  1. John Brownstone

    This! Somehow I missed the Black Dog version Loved them both. Their voices compliment each other. The songs have been added to my playlist.

    Reply
  2. ktz2

    Loved this record ! I heard it told that Robert was nuts for her voice and wanted to work with her, so he personally phoned her. Only because of the time difference, Europe to the US, his call was at 3am or something. So when he woke her up (grumpy) and said who he was, she thought it was somebody playing an unfunny joke and hung up on him. . ahaha.
    A favorite cut is Gone Gone Gone, written by the Everly Brothers. I like this live sersion : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7bou_ykmZc

    Reply
    1. Mrs Fever Post author

      Hahaha!

      She also collaborated on a song with John Waite, and I heard her describe his invitational call once in an interview. She said she didn’t believe it at first and had responded on the phone with, “Are you sure you have the right office?”

      *laugh*

      Reply
    1. Mrs Fever Post author

      They’re a bit ‘alt’ I think… Their collaboration album won awards but it was never mainstream enough to get noticed by most people.

      But now you know! 🙂

      Reply
  3. J Lenni Dorner

    Excellent post. I like when Raggae and rock music get together. I can’t think of the name of the song I heard, but I remember it.

    I love letter X posts! Always such variety.
    It’s hard to believe the blogging challenge is almost over for 2021. Then the after survey, reflections, and the road trip sign-up.
    Plus, I’m taking part in the Bout of Books read-a-thon in May. So much excitement!
    J Lenni Dorner~ Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge, OperationAwesome6 Debut Author Interviewer, Reference& Speculative Fiction Author

    J Lenni Dorner recently posted…#atozchallenge Z is for Zombie Flamingoes, Zoo, Zoltack, Zalka, Zero, Zombie-in-ChiefMy Profile

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