Watch Alison Krauss & Robert Plant Play Led Zeppelin's "Rock And Roll" Live For The First Time. YouTube Snapshot
"Rock And Roll," baby! You know it! Track two from Led Zeppelin's classic fourth album. A drive-time radio staple. The first song that Zeppelin played at hundreds of shows from 1971 on. The first song that Zeppelin played when they reunited at Live Aid in 1985. The last song that Zeppelin played when they reunited again in London in 2007, which means it's probably the last song that Zeppelin will ever play. Helped sell a whole lot of Cadillacs when it showed up in a TV commercial years ago. It's a big one.
As a solo artist, former Zep wailer Robert Plant has sung "Rock And Roll" live hundreds of times. Until last night, though, Robert Plant had never sung "Rock And Roll" live with old-school country great Alison Krauss. Last year, Plant and Krauss got back together to release Raise The Roof, their first album as a duo since the 2007 Grammy winner Rising Sand. Right now, Plant and Krauss are touring North America together, and their setlists are light on Zeppelin songs. Last night, though, they did "Rock And Roll" together for the first time.
Alison Krauss is pointedly not a rock singer, so it arguably has been a long time since she rock and rolled. Last night, though, Plant and Krauss played Marvin Sands Performing Arts Pavilion in Canandaigua, New York, and they busted out a rootsy take on "Rock And Roll" with their fiddler reinterpreting Jimmy Page's guitar solos. Below, watch a fan-made video of their cover and listen to the Zeppelin original.
