Miikka Skaffari/Getty ImagesAsk a music critic to name important, early rock and roll bands, and Led Zeppelin is almost certain to be on the list. However, Zeppelin’s frontman himself disagrees.
In an interview with LEOWeekly, Robert Plant says simply, “we weren’t rock and roll.” The singer says Led Zeppelin “were just a band that played some mean stuff.” Plant alleges that “when it got into the hands of the misconstrued, [they started calling it] hard rock,” but that Zeppelin was “just making music.”
He says the same is true for two other giants of the time: Janis Joplin and Cream: “You can’t call [them] rock and roll.”
So what does the rock legend — sorry, the “making music” legend — say is real-deal rock? For him, it’s the pioneers: Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.
And much like noting the differences between periods of music history, Plant says this time in his own career — with collaborations with the Sensational Space Shifters and female artists including Patty Griffin, Alison Kraus, and Chrissie Hynde — is about “breaking doors down.” He says that remaining open to new ideas “tell[s] me that I can actually move through time and still not repeat myself and not end up like some one-trick pony.”
Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters are on an American tour. Here are their remaining performances:
9/19 — Tucson, AZ, Centennial Hall+
9/21 — Tulsa, OK, Brady Theater+
9/23 — Louisville, KY, Bourbon & Beyond*
9/25 — Irving, TX, The Pavilion at The Toyota Music Factory++
9/27 — Lubbock, TX, Lubbock Municipal Auditorium++
9/29 — Austin, TX, Austin City Limits Live at Moody Theater++
* = festival date.
+ = with special guest Seth Lakeman.
++ = with special guest Lucinda Williams.
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