Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Reconvene On Triumphant Americana LP- ‘Raising The Roof’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

If this were a film, it would be called “Raising Sand – The Sequel.”  Yes, this collaboration between what we now know are two voices that work well together, not the oft-used “unlikely pairing” that heralded Raising Sand, comes 14 years later with Raising the Roof. The timing is unclear. With music and harmonies this good, these collaborations between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss should occur more frequently. In any case, if you loved the first one, a blockbuster in terms of awards, critical acclaim, and sales – you’ll enjoy this one too. For the most part, the same formula remains intact, that distinctive T-Bone Burnett production sound – full of atmospherics, consistent percussion, multiple guitars, rounded versus jagged edges, and cloudy versus precise. It’s predictable but it works very well for these two voices.

Many of the same musicians are aboard as well including drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Dennis Crouch, and guitarists Marc Ribot and Burnett. Some new players have joined this expansive gathering as well – guitarists Bill Frisell, Buddy Miller, and David Hidalgo; bassist Viktor Krauss, pedal steel player Russ Pahl, and multi-instrumentalists Stuart Duncan and Jeff Taylor.

Like its predecessor the album is mostly filled with folk, country and blues covers with “High and Lonesome,” the single the one original penned by Plant and Burnett, yet it sounds as old, dusty, and raw as the covers. While we know that Plant is obsessed with old rockabilly and blues tunes, this time he digs deeper into British Isle folk writers from the ‘60s and ‘70s, and even lesser-known black American blues and R&B artists. Also, there is more of a contemporary edge as they cover songs from the ‘90s and 2000’s first decade as well. Rather curiously, he sometimes chooses to have Krauss, a great singer but clearly not a blues singer, take the lead on some of these tunes but somehow, they make them work.

In fact, just like the first album, one of the real highlights of this one is the song selection, shining the light on artists that seldom get any attention or ink. Yet, in doing so they opt for harmony and feel, often removing the unbridled wails and angst that characterizes the best blues songs. The album is consistent but only reaches high drama on a few cuts – Plant’s emotive reading of Ola Belle Reed’s “You Led Me to the Wrong,” Krauss’ yearning lead on Merle Haggard’s “Going Where the Lonely Go,” and the two harmonizing on British folk singer Anne Briggs’ “Go Your Way.”

One observation about this project is not only the source of the song material but some of unusual instruments that are played. Rather obviously, with budget not being a consideration, it’s as if Burnett challenged the musicians to bring some interesting instruments to the session. As such, on certain tracks we have Hidalgo playing jarana- an 8-string Mexican guitar, Jeff Taylor playing dolceola – a zither with a keyboard and Marxophone – a fretless zither. Ribot plays a requinto – a smaller classical guitar, Pahl plays a six string bass, Hidalgo an electro-acoustic guitar, Miller an electric mandolin, and Taylor a bass accordion. As with Burnett’s production though, these instruments contribute to a collective sound in an album that has just a few very economical solos.

The album begins with Calexico’s “Quattro (World Drifts In}.” Krauss claims that when she heard this song, it was then that she knew they needed to make another album. Taken from the 2003 album Feast of Wire, Plant seems to be the perfect match in tone and style to Joey Burns’ original vocal. Yet, it’s Krause on the lead that defines the song with its foreboding lyrics about loneliness. Viktor Krauss’ rumbling bassline and Bellerose’s steady beats hold together what is otherwise an ethereal backdrop formed by guitarists Frisell, Ribot, Pahl, and Hidalgo along with Taylor’s chime-like dolceola. They segue immediately into the Everly Brothers “Price of Love” (they covered The Everlys’ “Gone, Gone, Gone” last time) taking it into hazy territory as Krauss’ airy voice soars above Plant’s growly bottom with Ribot’s crashing chords set against Miller’s electric mandolin and Duncan’s banjo. This is the first of the remaining eleven love songs. “Go Your Way,” from Anne Briggs, a colleague of Bert Jansch (also covered here), has a full-throated Plant in the lead in a tune where the vocals are more prominent and Burnett’s production a bit softer even though he, Ribot, Pahl, Hidalgo, and Taylor (on doceola) are at play. Briggs also rendered a traditional tune “Blackwaterside” on one of her albums, from which Jimmy Page took inspiration to write “Black Mountain Side” on Led Zeppelin’s 1969 debut album.

“Trouble With My Lover,” from Allen Toussaint, was recorded by blues singer Betty Harris on Soul Perfection (1969). As pointe out previously, this is an example of putting Krauss in the lead where he floating airy vocals lack the angst and emotion of the original as Buddy Miller’s distinctive guitar and Plant’s harmonies fill in the spaces. If they had kept “Searching for My Love” (1966) from lesser-known R&B saxophonist Bobby Moore (and the Rhythm Aces) to two and half or three minutes rather than the four here, it would contend for one of the stronger tracks. Yet, they fall in love with the riff and wear it out. Nonetheless, they capture a spirited R&B feel with Ribot and Burnett on electrics in a smaller combo. Plant again takes the lead in Randy Weeks’ “Can’t Let Go,” from Lucinda Williams’ landmark Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. This is another trait – where you’d think the female voice would be in the lead, and vice versa, they usually reverse it. Lucinda commented that she played Steve Earle’s dobro on her track, giving it a bluesy feel which is replaced her with a faster tempo funky rhythm with Frisell in a brief guitar solo, and percussive claps (another oft-used technique) adding to the brisk pace.

Bert Jansch’s “It Don’t Bother Me” (1965) has a classic soaring vocal from Krauss but it otherwise indistinctive while Plant’s strongest moments come on the aforementioned “You Led Me to the Wrong” with Duncan’s haunting fiddle the perfect foil to the emotive lone vocal, the only one where Krause does not harmonize. The contrast between this and the following “Last Kind Words Blues,” from 1930 era female guitarist/singer Geeshie Wiley is staggering. Krauss is in the lead here, turning a sad, defiant song into a lovely but far less emotive performance than her partner on the previous. It carries a plucking, acoustic sound with Colin Linden on resonator with Ribot on banjo and Duncan on mandolin, cello, and fiddle. The original “High and Lonesome” fits right in musically and lyrically with the two previous ’30s era tunes with Plant in fine form against a maelstrom of mellotrons and guitars. 

Krauss’ finest delivery is on Merle Haggard’s “Going Where the Lonely Go” (1982), her voice, from soaring to whispering, capturing the yearning, forlorn lyrics with strong chorus support from Plant and Burnett as Pahl’s weeping pedal steel leads the slow paced, relaxed ensemble. The closer provides the first real hints of rock n’ roll with a heavy Zeppelin-like intro to Maria Muldaur’s (written By Brenda Burns) “Somebody Was Watching Over Me” (from Fanning the Flames (1966). It’s a strong song but again the gang falls in love with the riff, repeating the chorus to excess. Interestingly, this is the only track with piano (Jeff Taylor) and Lucinda Williams joins the backgrounds, clearly one where all were having too much fun in the studio. 

Though less dynamic than its predecessor, owing perhaps to the lack of a surprise factor, it essentially picks up where Raising Sand let off. There are a few new tweaks, but this is collaboration is so strong, we’re left asking why we had to wait so long. Hopefully the next gap will be shorter.

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