Does anyone else besides me find it really strange that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones both formerly of Led Zeppelin have become big players in the old-time/bluegrass/roots music scene? Last year saw Jimmy Page recording with Alison Krauss for a not bad foray into something that might have been decent bluegrass if not for the big bass and Page’s wailing. But for an experiment, it wasn’t gawd-awful. Your mileage may vary.
Also in the recent past, John Paul Jones produced a very good CD for Uncle Earl. I was surprised when I saw his name on the producer credit, as there wasn’t anything even resembling big sound production or epics like “The Battle For Evermore”. The production seemed to show that Jones has at least an intelligent interest in old-time music of the festival/neo-hippie sort that Uncle Earl plays and was willing to let the band do what they do best.
Then I began hearing about Jones showing up and hanging out at some festivals; Merlefest and (though this could be apocryphal) Mt. Airy.
Now there’s a new Jones produced CD from Sara Watkins, late of Nickle Creek. I’ve only heard one track from the CD, but it was enjoyable.
I’ve got to say, though that the whole “We used to be real big time rockers, but now we want to be folkies” thing makes my head hurt.
I know that when I was a young sprat in the early 1970’s it was pretty obvious that the guys in Zeppelin were pretty well versed in the blues; copping things from Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, and others. So, is this present fascination with rural southern fiddle music and its contemporary forms a sign that the Zepps are mellowing in their geezer-hood, or was this interest always there?
What do you think?
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4 comments:
Umm, what I think is .... that it was Robert Plant and not Jimmy Page who won 5 grammys with Alison Krauss,
Yeah, but I wouldn't necessarily consider that a mark of quality. I have the Page/Krauss CD and listen to it occasionally. But the Uncle Earl disc is the one I reach for much more often.
And this is why they make shirts in different colors, eh?
The distance between blues and old-time is small. Many famous blues musicians liked and even played old-time. Many early old-timers cut a few blues sides. The early record companies, though, generally recorded and sold based on race. Those English youths worked hard to seek out old blues records. Turning toward what their heroes also liked makes sense. The evolution of my own tastes followed that pattern.
LZIII "Gallows Pole" is their version of the ancient hangman ballad.
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