Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant stated during the latest episode of his Digging Deep podcast that his only studio album with Jimmy Page, titled ‘Walking into Clarksdale,’ didn’t suit him much.
In 1980, Led Zeppelin disbanded after John Bonham’s death, yet the two former bandmates, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page continued collaborating on various projects. They first worked together in Plant’s 1984 project, Honeydrippers. Page appeared on a few songs of the band’s debut EP with his guitar work. Then, the two names performed together also in 1985 Live Aid.
Their creative partnership did not end there, though. In 1994, former bandmates formed a new group named Page and Plant and delivered their first performance in MTV’s Unplugged series. The session was also released as a live album later on. Page and Plant released their only studio album, ‘Walking into Clarksdale,’ in 1998. The album featured twelve new Robert Plant and Jimmy Page compositions.
Robert Plant reflected on the song, ‘Please Read the Letter,’ and the whole album they recorded with Page and Plant during his podcast. The singer stated that they had a great team working with them during the album’s recording process. However, he thinks it didn’t suit him much. Although the album wasn’t entirely satisfying for Plant, he still finds it very important since it gave them a chance to break away from Led Zeppelin’s sound and offered them a new perspective.
Plant’s words on his only studio album with Jimmy Page:
“‘Walking into Clarksdale’ was an attempt to say, ‘Okay, let’s make a studio record now.’ We had great artillery because Michael Lee and Charlie Jones were incredible. So we cut these tracks which we good. Steve Albini was the engineer, and he came with his story. So he had got a hold of us, two old boys; he was good at making the most the Albini record anyone ever made.
I can’t say that it suited me that much, though. But for what it is, and this is not a compromise. I think it is crucial because it allowed Jimmy Page and myself to get rid of the mental and the cloak of Zeppelin and go off. So there are tracks there in presence, within those songs and performances that are as good as anything that came in the early ’70s. But it sets a different light, so the perspective is different.”
You can listen to the full podcast below.
