Digging Deep with Robert Plant

For this episode Robert Plant has chosen a song he recorded with Jimmy Page and Rainer Ptacek in 1997 entitled ‘Rude World’. Rainer was a hugely talented cult guitar hero with a unique blues folk style. This track features on a compilation to him called ‘The Inner Flame’ which also included contributions from PJ Harvey, Madeleine Peyroux, Evan Dando and Emmylou Harris (which tells how great Rainer was). If you don’t know his work yet, let Robert be the person to introduce you…

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Digging Deep with Robert Plant has returned and the start of Season 4 reunites Robert with Matt Everitt after a long enforced break. Here they discuss what a touring musician does when he can’t go on tour, some of the musical rarities and curios that Robert uncovered at home during lockdown and the matter in hand, a very special song. The track is called Bluebirds Over the Mountain, and it was written and recorded by Ersel Hickey in 1958 and made a hit by Ritchie Valens that same year. Robert recorded a version for his 2017 album Carry Fire and enlisted the vocals skills of Chrissie Hynde, as you'll hear...

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So what is the identity of The Tall Cool One? Who is the mysterious figure that provides the title for this 1988 single from his Now and Zen album? Is it Robert? Is it someone else from the 80s era of stadium rock? Where does that riff come from? And how did Robert go about sampling Zeppelin and inserting it into his own music? We have at least some of the answers for you…

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This episode concerns a song taken from Robert’s 2007 album Mighty ReArranger, but as is often the case with Digging Deep, the path we take starts of with the creation of a track, but we also find ourselves discussing what songs Robert wishes he’d written, how he uses his voice as an instrument, the recent performance of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Willie Nelson’s generous nature when it comes to keeping his fans ‘relaxed’…

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Some songs weave in and out of history, surfacing with different singers, in new versions and interpreted in different ways; each adds something new to the layers of meaning around the original. The beautiful ‘Song to the Siren’ is one of them. Originally written by folk hero Tim Buckley, over the years it has been recorded by Sinéad O'Connor, Sheila Chandra and This Mortal Coil. Robert added his name to the list of artists in 2002, and here he explains why, and how he approaches performing a vocal for such a famous song…

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29 Palms (or Twentynine Palms as it's sometimes known) is a city in San Bernardino County, California. It nestles next to the Joshua Tree National Park, is home to the world's largest Marine Corps training base, a ragtag community of artists and musicians, and an “electrostatic generator for the purpose of rejuvenation and time travel”. So, yes, It's an Interesting place. It’s also the inspiration behind the song that Robert has chosen to talk about in this episode…

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Digging Deep with Robert Plant has returned! And this is a very special season, as for the very first time the show was recorded live in front of an audience and includes questions set by Digging Deep listeners. But fear not, the music Robert has chosen to discuss, and his own personal stories and recollections are as fascinating and honest as ever. We start with a song that Robert covered in 2002 on his ‘Dreamland’ album; a track that could be described as ‘a post-apocalyptic psych folk classic’ with an incredible history… 

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You’re probably familiar with the idea of musicians (especially Robert) describing their career as a journey, but sometimes songs go on travels themselves. Since being recorded for Robert’s second solo album, 1983’s The Principle of Moments, this track has surfaced on soundtracks, compilations and computer games, and even though the sound and production is a million miles away from his recent work, it’s become something of a favourite for many, many people…

This season will be accompanied by a limited edition vinyl single box set which collects 16 tracks from across his solo career across eight 7” singles. Pre-order now: https://lnk.to/RP_DiggingDeep_Vinyl

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In this episode we get to know the title track from Robert’s most recent album from 2017. Ably supported by The Sensational Space Shifters, it's another whirling blend of sounds and atmospheres, but lyrically it's a mysterious one. There’s definitely a romantic heart within the song somewhere, but who is it beating for? And why? 

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In 2010 Robert assembled a new group - The Band of Joy - and recorded an album of the same name. It included cover versions old and new by artists like Richard Thompson, Townes Van Zandt and Milton Mapes. One highlight is an interpretation of the song ‘Monkey’ by the band Low. This dark, swampy, mysterious recording is the focus of this episode… “Turning way down low, telling me things I do not know I know. Tonight you will be mine, tonight the monkey dies..” 

This season will be accompanied by a limited edition vinyl single box set which collects 16 tracks from across his solo career across eight 7” singles. The set is now available to pre-order: https://lnk.to/RP_DiggingDeep_Vinyl

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.