Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof
Updated: 3 days ago
Singer Robert Plant and musician and country singer Alison Krauss return to collaborate after 14 years with "Raise The Roof", released November 19, 2021, on Rounder and Concord Records.
After the sweeping success of "Raising Sand" from 2007, it was simply asked to work on a sequel album, which is exactly what we get with "Raise The Roof", whose title even corresponds with the title of the previous album.
As you may recall, "Raising Sand" was a huge success in sales and picked up all six Grammy Awards in which it was nominated at the time, including "Album" and "Record of the Year". Plant stepped out of his comfort zone at the time, collaborating with Krauss, a country and blue-grass artist and winner of no less than 27 Grammy Awards, but this bet was successful and is a proof that sometimes the best things come from unconventional collaborations.
Once again the album was produced by T Bone Burnett, who was also behind "Raising Sand". Work on the album began in Nashville in November 2019, but then the Covid-19 struck and delayed everything. Unlike the previous album, which consisted entirely of covers, this time there is also one original recording: "High and Lonesome", written by Plant and Burnett.
Similar to the previous album, this time too the musical material includes interesting and inspiring cover versions for various artists such as: Lucinda Williams, Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, "The Everly Brothers", Anne Briggs, Geeshie Wiley, Ola Belle Reed, Brenda Burns. The album was nominated for three Grammy Awards (at the 65th ceremony): Americana Album of the Year, American Roots Song of the Year ("High and Lonesome") and Country Duo/Group Performance of the Year ("Going Where the Lonely Go"), and holds a score of 83 out of 100 ("universal acclaim") on Metacritic.
The album opens with Calexico's "Quattro (World Drifts In)" from 2003 - a bold choice that the duo pulls off beautifully, blending their voices in spectral harmonies over piano and a blockier rhythm than the original. It is their first album together since the Grammy-winning "Raising Sand" (2007), and once again they are backed by a band anchored by drummer Jay Bellerose and guitarist Marc Ribot, with contributions from David Hidalgo, Bill Frisell and Buddy Miller.
Beyond the covers, the album carries one original: "High And Lonesome", written by Plant together with producer T Bone Burnett. Among the standout covers: Randy Weeks' "Can't Let Go" (made famous by Lucinda Williams in 1998) in a more swinging, sensual performance, and "Go Your Way" by Anne Briggs and Bert Jansch from the British folk scene, sung by Plant in a quiet, crestfallen melody.
Song list:
01. Quattro (World Drifts In)
02. The Price Of Love
03. Go Your Way
04. Trouble With My Lover
05. Searching for My Love
06. Can't Let Go
07. It Don't Bother Me
08. You Led Me To The Wrong
09. Last Kind Words Blues
10. High And Lonesome
11. Going Where the Lonely Go
12. Somebody Was Watching Over Me
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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