ROBERT: I just wanted some of that stagger. And, really, I just wanted my old partner around then. I wanted to see him hanging around with his head dangling on the floor. He was only in the control room of the studio playing and everybody is saying, "God, can that man play!"
Q: What made you finally change your mind about denying your Led Zeppelin heritage and begin to include Zeppelin songs on the Now And Zen tour?
ROBERT: I've had many things in my life which are far, far removed from this ego exercise that I'm going through right now, so I have to take it on the nose. I am the pilot of the storm. I was the pilot of the storm way back when I first said "I am the pilot of the storm." That doesn't change.
And the pilot doesn't get any more tired, he just gets more confused sometimes. I was playing a charity show and at the sound check another guitarist was telling me what a breath of fresh air it was going to be playing with one of the Old Masters. I asked him how he came about the conclusion that I was an Old Master, and he said he'd just spent a year with Rod Stewart and I must be an Old Master, too. And I said I'm not an Old Master.
At the sound check, what he did was really good. I mean, we just played some Beatles stuff and his approach to playing was very much like Page's. Immediately, when he threw the guitar around his neck I noticed that it was quite low down there. It was right down there by his groin, and in order to play he had to contort himself into some kind of Zen-like position to barely make it work. And I looked at him and he looked at me, and I realized I was looking at.... It was as if Page had sent himself in a different form. It was on the tape and it was the only thing that made sense for me for about six months, coming from somebody else that I hadn't got anything to do with.
In working with other lyricists, because we talked about Zeppelin, I found I had to explain things. And the more we talked about the current Zeppelin approach, the more it washed off on us, because all they needed to know were a few little points of reference on the map and they tuned into it and we were off. "Heaven Knows," it was a real great start for somebody to say, "You can have that song." It was great because to me... because the version I heard had a thing in it. It sounded very dramatic, as if it was cut in the "River Deep Mountain High" style. Had Page and I continued to work together and everything worked out, it would have been nice to think that we would have got to this point. That would have been quite a logical point, in my book, to have gotten to.
I think, if I have been stubborn, it's not been fair to people who come to concerts. It's nice to have a little extravaganza now and again, as long as it's not "Stairway to Heaven." After "Stairway to Heaven" I never got over looking at those lyrics. If I went out to look for a job, I'd have to take those lyrics with me and say, "Here, this is what I do."
It wasn't always appropriate and that wasn't always where I was coming from. It's all fuel to the frustration of wishing to be a star—of, like, wanting to be relative to the '90s, and not some relic from 1978. I was on my way to love at that time. Always. Whatever road I took, the car was heading for one of the greatest sexual encounters I'd ever had. I never thought that I would go through so many things in my life that I would never sing that song again.
I was astounded that I'd fallen into the idea so easily of playing with Jimmy and Jonesy again, albeit mechanically, not in the name Led Zeppelin. I was letting myself down, my own individuality, my own persona and everything I'd worked for. I was sticking a knife in its side. It's kind of Robert Plant. And Robert Plant was being superseded by the return of the monster. I could see that it was making a lot of people happy. A lot happier than they were the night before when I played in Detroit with the new band. And the cackling cries of "Where's Jimmy?" continued wherever I played next. Media-wise, the band became far more of a backing than they really were. So, that was a hard one to get over for them.
But with this band and this music, basically I wanted to get across to college kids, because my music.... I think about it a lot, I work hard on it and I don't want it to get just wishy-washed around with all the formula music. 'Cause I wanted to get to the kids that wondered what happened to the guy who was the king of fucking rock in 1971.
Q: You're projecting your old program?
ROBERT: No, not at all. There are many people out there who spend their time learning and thinking. As a consequence, when they come to music they've got to be pretty intense or emotional about it. It's got to be a relief for quite hard work. And what it all means is, things are aligning themselves from centuries ago. It's kind of fun. Now And Zen is like that. It's a little bit mystical. It's Kashmir. Not to be taken too seriously, but to be played three times a day.
I would like to be involved in some of the larger music scenes, like Green Peace. I would like to play festivals. And its that kind of competitive thing I'd like to do. I don't need a Ferrari. It must come across that I am serious.
When I first put this band together, we did some gigs around England. Just seeing what we wanted to do and what we didn't want to do anymore. We called ourselves the Band of Joy. It's fun to do that. I wouldn't mind calling the whole thing that. Life's too short. And it was great stuff and I didn't realize I'd been playing it since I was 12. And all I know is, it's time I cut that record. Because I've been singing it when I've been drunk so many times, staggering down the street, "Life's too short, and you're too sweet."
And if we have a hit, I would really like to play to the intellectuals. Because in 1975 I really didn't have that honor or privilege.
Backstage with Robert Plant
Led Zeppelin History