Vinyl Wednesday: Raising Sand

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Welcome back to Vinyl Wednesday! Today I’m going to be talking about another favourite album of mine: Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Released in 2007, this album is a one-off collaboration between Krauss and Plant that is unlike anything else either of them have put out. It’s a little jewel of a record that, while unexpected, has been extremely well-received, winning Album of the Year at both the 2008 Americana Music Honors & Awards and the 2009 Grammies.

Part of its success, I think, is in just how well the unusual pairing of Plant and Krauss works. Both are accomplished artists in their own rights; Plant of course is best known as the lead singer and lyricist with Led Zeppelin, where his piercing falsetto wails and fantasy-tinged lyrics defined the sound of what remains one of the best-known and most-loved rock bands on earth, and had a significant influence on the development of the then-nascent heavy metal genre. Krauss, by contrast, is is a bluegrass-country singer and fiddle virtuoso whose sound is influenced by Appalachian folk music and her own Germanic roots. She is also one of the most decorated women in musical history, with a stunning 27 Grammy wins over the years and a voice that sounds like the tinkling of broken glass: delicate and cutting at the same time.

So here we have two musical powerhouses who, while immensely talented, could not possibly be more different, at least on the surface. Who on earth thought of putting these two together, you might ask? The answer is technically Plant; a longtime fan of American folk music and of Krauss specifically, he invited her to perform with him at a 2004 appearance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland. That collaboration was such a success that the two began considering recording together – but it wasn’t until famed producer T Bone Burnett got involved that the project really took off.

“[Alison and I] come from such different worlds that we only knew the top of each other’s world, the cream, the stuff that comes to the surface,” Plant told the New York Times in 2007. “We didn’t really know too much about the infinite myriad of influences underneath. And so it was an absolute coup that T Bone came on the scene.”

Burnett had worked with Krauss previously on the soundtracks to O Brother Where Art Thou in 2000 and Cold Mountain in 2004. He hand-picked the songs on Raising Sand (which is a cover album), which run the gamut from the Everly Brothers to Tom Waits and Doc Watson. The album is very country-and-bluegrass forward, but it’s the addition of blues that really sets its sound apart and pushes it into “I’ve never heard anything like this” territory. This is Burnett’s influence, and it is deftly employed by both artists. You can hear the blues influence most strongly, and hear Krauss soar out of her comfort zone, vocally, on Let Your Loss be Your Lesson.

I think it’s Robert Plant whose contribution surprises me the most on Raising Sand. A talented lyricist able to belt out Immigrant Song to packed stadiums, here his voice is almost delicate, wavering in and out and weaving perfectly with Krauss’ lilting vocals. His subtle, even sweet vocalizing on Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us is haunting, complemented by a warbling mandolin. On Killing the Blues his harmonies are shivery and yearning, perfectly supporting Krauss’ voice without overpowering her. We hear more of the classic Plant sound on tracks like The Fortune Teller and Gone Gone Gone, where some of that stadium-filling Led Zeppelin bravado is able to shine through. But Plant employs it very judiciously – this is such a delicate record that, even in its harder-edged moments, has a very particular balance to maintain.

My favourite track on Raising Sand, and the one I think best showcases both Plant and Krauss’ voices, is Please Read the Letter. Originally penned by Plant and Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page for their collaborative 1998 album Walking into Clarksdale, it’s a yearning ballad that Plant has described as being about unfinished business. The track showcases both artists’ voices through poignant harmonies, rounded out by Krauss’ masterful fiddling and some of Plant’s signature Zeppelin-style vocalizing. The harmonies are also on point on the defiant and heartwarming Stick With Me Baby and bittersweet album-closer Your Long Journey. 

Ultimately Raising Sand is a record about finding things that are hidden or unlikely, and bringing them into the light. The whole album just feels precious, like it almost might not really exist. It deserves savouring. If you’d like to listen to it in its entirety, you can find it on Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play. If you’d like to pick up a copy on vinyl (and you really should), you can find it here.

That’s it for this week! Come back again next Wednesday for another foray into my vinyl collection – I’ve got some Bowies that are getting impatient.

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