Robert Plant Still at His Roots Best

Robert Plant (second left) and his band Saving Grace

Robert Plant’s amazing transformation from being a rock ‘n roll legend with Led Zeppelin in the 1970’s to a much-admired Americana artist in the 21^st century has been again demonstrated with the release of his 12^th solo album, Saving Grace – the title named after the British group which has backed him for the past six years.

Saving Grace is actually his first album with the group – vocalist and accordion Suzi Dian, guitarist Tony Kelsey, drummer Oli Jefferson, cellist Barney Morse-Brown and banjo/string player Matt Worley - and they achieve an impressive eclectic mix of roots, folk, traditional blues and gospel.

A feature of the 10 tracks – all covers or traditional songs – is Plant’s seamless vocal integration with Dian. And, of course, it is no surprise that Plant has again chosen to share vocals and harmonize with a female partner. For his two albums, released in 2007 and 2021, with bluegrass fiddler Alison Krauss won him not only a Grammy - and numerous nominations - but also world-wide recognition as a born-again artist.

It is the two traditional interpretations on Saving Grace which actually best personify Plant and Dian’s wonderful harmony. “I Never Will Marry” is delivered as though it is a soft, slow hymn, with minimal backing accentuated by Morse-Brown’s cello. The other traditional number, the African-American spiritual “Gospel Plough,” provides an inspiring end to the album as Kelsey delivers a stunning acoustic arrangement which blends perfectly with the once-again slow and gentle vocals.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

All them prophets dead and gone

Keep your hand on the plough, hold on

Except for one more original, the remaining tracks are covers of songs from some of the biggest names across the roots spectrum.

The opening “Chevrolet” goes back to the late ‘50’s when it was first recorded by the Mississippi trio who composed it – Ed Young, Lonnie Young and Lonnie Young Jr. More than a decade later, Taj Mahal would record a much-celebrated version and Plant’s full-band arrangement is somewhat more sophisticated than the funky original and the cleanskin-bluesy version by Taj.

The band stays in the groove with the following track, the traditional “As I Roved Out,” and here Plant and Dian are in full harmony – when they get the opportunity between the band’s intricate bridges which extend the interpretation beyond six minutes.

The tone is more placid when Plant takes the lead vocals on the gentle Moby Grape standard “It’s A Beautiful Day Today.” Indeed, the beautiful version ensures the song lives up to its name! Dian provides fitting harmony and Kelsey’s sophisticated guitar again aids and abets the pair through another easy-listening interpretation.

Plant ventures back to the Great Depression with his cover of the “Soul of a Man,” Blind Willie Johnson’s classic from 1930. This is yet another gospel-blues song right in Plant’s comfort zone and Dian nicely enhances the famous refrain:

Won’t somebody tell me

Answer if you can Lord

Won’t somebody tell me

Tell me what is the soul of a man?

It is not the first time that Plant has named an album after his backing group. His 2010 release Band of Joy bore the name of his band, which then included Nashville big names like Buddy Miller, who co-produced with Plant, Darrell Scott and Patty Griffin. It charted well and the positive reviews were matched by two Grammy nominations. It proved to be something of a forerunner to Saving Grace, with a mixture of largely covers and traditional interpretations – unlike his 11^th album Carry Fire (2017), which was all Plant co-writes, apart from a single track.

Saving Grace first joined up with Plant in 2019. He said they were drawn together by a shared love of roots music. “We laugh a lot really. I think that suits me. I like laughing,” Plant said in a promotional release. “You know, I can’t find any reason to be too serious about anything. I’m not jaded. The sweetness of the whole thing. These are sweet people, and they are playing out all the stuff that they could never get out before. They have become unique stylists, and together they seem to have landed in a most interesting place.”

All the album's tracks were recorded between April 2019 and January 2025 – with the COVID lock-down in the middle - at various venues across the English Cotswolds and the Welsh Border near when Plant now lives. In recent years, Plant and his latest music associates have toured extensively across the U.K. and Europe. And fans in North America will get the first chance to see the six musicians when they commence a promotional 15-gig Fall tour in Wheeling, West Virginia, on October 30.

Saving Grace - both the album and band - is yet another example that the 77-year-old Plant is no spent force in modern music, whatever the genre, or whether it be covers or original songs.

Paul Cutler

Editor Crossroads – Americana Music Appreciation