You know who they are. Robert Plant, the former front man for golden-age icons Led Zeppelin, is a household name. Alison Krauss is perhaps slightly less known depending on the circles you move in, but she’s today’s darling of the bluegrass/folk music scene (I first encountered her through the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack - notably the haunting “Down to the River to Pray”).

These aren’t two names you’d necessarily expect to see together on the byline of what amounts to an album of country cover songs. In fact, the whole thing may just seem somehow unholy to you, and you may be faced with the temptation to simply pretend you never heard of the whole affair. Robert Plant fans may not want to sully their image of the icon with bluegrass or Americana, and Alison Krauss‘ adoring legions may be apprehensive as to the sort of influence a man like Plant could have on their golden girl. A lot of people would pick up the disc, shudder and put it down.

And they’d be missing out on one of the most haunting, beautiful albums released this year.

Things to Listen For

I’m going to go over the tracks one at a time in a moment here, but before I do that I’d like to point out a few things about this CD that took me a while to get. There’s a lot going on here, so if you do take my advice and pick it up keep an ear open for:

• Really pretty harmonies. This isn’t just two people singing together - generally, Plant takes the lead and lays down a melody and Krauss just plays with it. She makes it sound effortless, like it’s the most natural thing in the world - yet imagine how different it would sound if they were both just singing the words. There are a few points where Plant harmonizes for her, and those are also pretty, but she really runs away with it. The album knows this, and most of the tracks are structured to allow her to play off of his vocals. This means that he sticks out a bit more - he’s the lead singer on many tracks, as it were - but you’ll be doing Krauss and yourself a grave injustice if you don’t keep an ear open for her vocal stylings.
• Incredibly solid percussion throughout. This is a disc whose main draw is two great vocalists, and they don’t disappoint - but pay attention, especially in some of the sparser tracks, to hear what the percussion is doing. Someone was having a lot of fun with it, it’s chaotic and driving and powerful and at the same time it knows its role. This might be the best percussion you’ve heard all year.
• This isn’t a rock album and the songs aren’t necessarily what you’d expect if you’re all like “Oooh Robert Plant cool!” It’s blues, bluegrass and country. It’s slow. It’s painful, and it’s soulful and it’s beautiful. Listen to this record on its own merits, not based on what you expect to hear.

The Track List

1. Rich Woman - Dorothy LaBostrie, McKinley Miller - The album opens with bluesy guitar and distinctive percussion before distilling into a low-key blues-style rock song. It’s got a bit of soul behind it and while “She got the money yeah and I got the honey” isn’t the most profound lyrical dance of the disc it serves as a good introduction to what this album isn’t - you’re not in for Led Zeppelin and you’re in not in for standard Alison Krauss. You really are about to hear a whole disc full of covers of old songs from the early rock and country genres, plus one from Tom Waits. The first time I heard this disc I didn’t really care for this song - I’ve always been a very lyrical music listener, so unless there are good lyrics it’s hard for me to immediately get into a song. This whole disc, though, is as much about the style as it is about the lyrics and this song is a good introduction to that idea.
2. Killing the Blues - Rowland Salley - The album mellows out a bit for its second track. Lazy, poetic and harmonious, the song evokes images of a fall day and a mellow mood. “Now I am guilty of something I hope you’ll never do, because there’s nothing sadder than losing your self in love. Somebody said they saw me, swingin’ the world by the tail - bouncing over a white cloud, killing the blues.” It’s here that we first get a taste of the potential that this collaboration has to offer us - while Robert Plant certainly takes the lead on the vocals here, Krauss‘ harmonies caress his words from every direction. The experience is almost sensual, and the track wouldn’t work nearly as well without her constant presence filling in gaps that you didn’t even know were there.
3. Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us - Sam Phillips - The third number has Alison Krauss taking the vocal reins to sparse guitar and Waits-style slightly-arrhythmic drumming. “Secrets are written in the sky - looks like I’ve lost the love I never found. Though the sound of hope has left me again, I hear music up above.” Here’s a song about music and about love - fairly standard for this disc - and here we get Plant doing subtle harmonies during particularly vulnerable moments. The violin in the background really helps to set the tone - it’s a fantastically pretty song, filled with the sort of stoic heartbreak that characterizes so much of this album.
4. Polly Come Home - Gene Clark - Track four and we’re back to Plant taking the lead on this cover of former Byrds frontman Gene Clarke’s “Polly Come Home.” Krauss returns to drape her harmonies over his words like an ethereal specter trying to reinhabit a long-forgotten skeleton. “Polly, come home again - spread your wings to the wind. I felt much of the pain as it begins…” This song is poetic heartbreak incarnate, lyrically vocally and musically.
5. Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On) - Phil Everly, Don Everly - Track five was apparently released as the single for this disc. We’re back to the sort of early rock style that characterized the opening track. We’ve got playful if vindictive vocals leading into a wonderful if brief vocal breakdown. This track is probably the most carefree sounding, easy track on the disc - they both sing, the sound isn’t too complex and the beat keeps it moving forward in great old rock style. “Some sunny day, baby, when everything seems OK, baby, you’ll wake up and find that you’re alone….’cause I’ll be gone…”
6. Through the Morning, Through the Night - Gene Clark - Alison Krauss takes the lead on this second Gene Clarke track. I like the way her voice stays centered in the headphones but during the chorus you can hear her doing her own harmonies in your left ear while Plant harmonizes in your right ear - it’s a pretty experience. “I dreamed just last night you were there by my side, your sweet loving tenderness easing my pride. But then I awoke, dear, and found you not there - it was just my old memory of how much I cared.” Producer T-Bone Burnett deliberately made Krauss and Plant take the lead in points that were challenging and unorthodox - this is an odd song for a female lead, given some of the lyrics, and yet Krauss makes it sound natural.
7. Please Read the Letter - Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant - Plant’s cover of one of his post-Zeppelin collaborations with Jimmy Page is probably my favorite track on this disc. “Please read the letter, I mailed it to your door - it’s crazy how it all turned out, we needed so much more.” It’s about - surprise all around, I know - love gone wrong. But it says so much more - it’s about missed chances, pride, failed communications and regret. It’s devastated, but stoic - he knows the letter won’t fix things between them. Whatever love they had is gone - he has nothing left to give her. He just wants her, before she gets on with her life, to read the letter - it’s not important what’s in the letter, it’s this great symbol for every unspoken hope and dream and uncommunicated appreciation. The song works wonderfully from a musical standpoint, as well: it’s just a solid folk-rock tune. A special treat at the end for Zeppelin fans - we get a bit of Plant’s characteristic moaning just to show us that he’s still got it. Don’t miss this track.
8. Trampled Rose - Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan - When Tom Waits released Real Gone in late 2004, the song “Trampled Rose” became my immediate favorite on the disc. When Waits sings it it’s got this haunting broken-man sound to it - when Krauss sings it, it becomes something elevated. She changes the nature of the song - we can understand why someone would reject a rose from an ape-man like Waits, on some level, but it blows our minds to hear an angel singing about unrequited love. “I know that rose like I know my name: The one I gave my love it was the same, now I find it in the street, a trampled rose…” Plant, to the best of my hearing, doesn’t even factor into this track - this is Alison Krauss doing Tom Waits and it’s gorgeous.
9. Fortune Teller - Naomi Neville - Here’s Plant’s turn to solo, by covering what is apparently a very well covered song. Musically it’s straightforward, flirting with the early-rock themes again. Thematically, it’s simple and tells a very cut-and-dry story about falling in love with a fortune teller. The kick of it, though, is that the simple rock and uncomplicated love story work, and the whole thing builds up to a happy ending complete with wry punchline. This one rivals “Gone Gone Gone” for most forthright track on the disc and it’s a joy to listen to after the emotional trauma of the preceding tracks. “Went to a fortune teller to have my fortune read. I didn’t know what to tell her, I had a dizzy feeling in my head. She took a look at my palm, said ‘Son you feel kinda warm.’ She looked into a crystal ball. She said ‘You’re in love.’”
10. Stick With Me, Baby - Mel Tillis - This one is just a sweet love song. “Everybody’s been talkin’. They say our love wasn’t real. That it would soon be over - that’s not the way I feel.” It follows the standard vocal pattern of Plant leading while Krauss works her magic around him - and it works, she’s the queen of subtle, perfect harmony. At 2:52 this is the shortest song on the disc - it’s just downplayed, affectionate and secure. I rather like it.
11. Nothin’ - Townes Van Zandt - There’s something special going on here. Plant dominates the track with a sort of high-pitched whisper - the music is sparse, minimalist even. We get a nice fiddle solo (presumably from Krauss, who is credited with vocals and fiddle on the disc) here and there and it just serves to remind us just how interesting Plant’s voice sounds on this song.
    

    Being born is going blind
    And buying down a thousand times
    To echoes strung
    On pure temptation

    Sorrow and solitude
    These are the precious things
    And the only words
    That are worth rememberin’

    There are other tracks on this disc that I like more (”Please Read the Letter” and “Trampled Rose” come to mind) but there’s something exceptional in this one. I feel like maybe years down the line when I’ve forgotten all about this album I’ll still get this one floating around in my psyche.

12. Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson - Milton Campbell - Another track about Alison Krauss missing her girlfriend. I appreciate the way Burnett produced this album, because it really is effective to hear old blues songs sung by a pretty blonde folk singer whose voice is full of life and positive energy - it sort of turns the whole thing on its head. “Heaven knows I miss her lovin’. Heaven know how much I cried. Just to think that she had left me and I know the reason why…”
13. Your Long Journey - A. D. Watson, Rosa Lee Watson - The closing track has an almost Celtic sound to it. It’s a valediction - “God’s given us years of happiness here, now we must part. And as the angels come and call for you the pains of grief tug at my heart.” It’s sort of the perfect ending to a disc about the ups and downs of love - in the end, every relationship lasts until someone dies. Musically it’s simple - it’s not at all rock, though it has a touch of American country. It’s the sort of the song that has Alison Krauss sounding completely comfortable and Robert Plant sounding slightly out of place - which is perhaps a part of its charm. All in all, a fitting, peaceful conclusion to a tumultuous album.

So, in case you can’t tell: I really like this disc a lot, and I suggest you pick it up.

© 2007 Mykola Bilokonsky for Listen In. Some rights reserved. Cross-posted here on Newsvine.

This review is copyright 2007 for Mykola Bilokonsky. Any unauthorized duplication is prohibited, but if you want to link me I’d be ecstatic and if you want to duplicate me I’ll likely consent. For more reviews of books, movies and music, click here.

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