Re: Page, Plant, etc. (little Who content)

[mleaman@sccoast.net (Mark Leaman)]

>>All I can say is this: If what you say is true, then why so suddenly (when
>>the band broke up) did his brilliant songwriting and production skills
>>disappear? 
>
>Easy: Page's heroin addiction was at its peak in the early '80s.  By 
>late 1983 he had kicked, and the first Firm album and "Outrider" both have 
>their moments.  The Coverdale/Page album has some EXCELLENT guitar work by 
>Page but Coverdale is too busy singing juvenile lyrics that Robert Plant 
>wouldn't touch with a 10 foot microphone.

Well, following your train of logic here, it would seem that Plant is an
excellent Page imitator. I don't agree with you on OUTRIDER, THE FIRM and
CLOVERDALE/PAGE, but then I feel that Page was imitating himself on there.
Sorta like what The Stones have been doing since `74.
Juvenile lyrics that Plant wouldn't touch? You mean like on Too Loud (SHAKEN
`N' STIRRED)? And I thought Robert Palmer was shallow...
I do think that Plant was (all along) responsible for the move away from
Blues that began with LZ II. Ramble On, for instance, seems more like Plant
than Page...whereas I feel confident that I'm Gonna Crawl was Page's.

>As for Plant's solo career, he was always able to collaborate with other 
>artists and producers (i.e. Robbie Blunt or Phil Johnstone), but Page 
>insisted on keeping a heavy workload, producing and writing most of the 
>music.  A typical Led Zeppelin song had input from all four members, while
>the typical Page/Firm song had just Page and whoever was singing.

So you've giving very little credit to Plant in any facet of his career.
Well, I would have to give him more. I believe that he was the one with
vision, and the ability to make it work. Page produced, true, and (as with
his Yardbirds work) got "out there" from time to time...but it seems to me
that it was something he was exposed to, rather than something that came
from within.

 Cheers                              ML

NP: Zeppelin, "Kashmir"