Why did Robert Plant hate David Covedale?

[Cecil.]

No.1.long haired blonde guys argue somtimes. date one if you don't believe me.

No.2. I was at the Osaka show mmmh ok.never saw these guys together before.

No.3.Did the name calling happen with Chris Farlow or John Miles.

Was this a 1988 story?

[MattD]

Some of you Zep fans are so out to lunch and ignorant in music history.  First of all Led Zeppelin or Robert Plant are the last people to complain about copying.  Plant copied his vocal style from Steve Mariotte of the Small Faces.  Check out their song You Need Lovin and you will know what I mean.  Also LZ is known for copying many songs that resulted in law suites.

Deep Purple was around before Zep. Even though they had some success with the huge hit in Hush, Blackmore was still not happy with the direction of the band because he loved heavier music like Hendrix who was his favorite guitarist.  After seeing Led Zeppelin he thought Plant was great.  Blackmore axed Purples first singer and recruited a singer that could compete with... not “imitate”  Plant. Enter Ian Gillan.  Plant and Gillan have nothing in common looks wise or sound wise.  Gillan became easily one of the best hard rock singers and definitely the best screamer.  So good that he was picked to sing as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar after the creators heard Child in Time off In Rock which is a masterpiece.

by 1973 and 6 albums later Deep Purple WAS the biggest Selling band in the world.  However Blackmore being Blackmore decided he didn’t like Gillan and wanted a blues singer like Paul Rogers.  Enter David Coverdale.  Coverdale and  Plant were complete opposites sounding nothing alike.  In fact the two camps are seen on many occasions partying together or attending each others concerts.

Blackmore quickly got bored of that and eventually left to form Rainbow with Ronny Dio.  Coverdale went on to Form a blues type of band called Whitesnake which was successful in Europe and Asian countries.  Coverdale wanting to break America again signed on with the American record label Geffen records who made Whitesnake heavier younger and mtv friendly.  The plan worked.  They had huge success with Slide It In and the 87 album which is one of the biggest selling albums ever in hard rock.

Only after Coverdales success did Roberta Plant (after knowing Coverdale for 15 years) all of a sudden start criticizing him and calling him David Coverversion.  At first Coverdale had a laugh about it but when Plant persisted Coverdale ripped into him and called him every name in the book.  What Plant did was classless and even Page stuck up for Coverdale.  I’ve disliked Plant ever since and to be honest he just bugs the shit out of me.

FYI... it’s 2020 and Coverdale, Blackmore and Gillan who is leading Deep Purple are still making great music while Plant is off doing shit and Page hang out out a good album since his partnership with Coverdale.

[BobDobbs]

11 hours ago, MattD said:

Some of you Zep fans are so out to lunch and ignorant in music history.  First of all Led Zeppelin or Robert Plant are the last people to complain about copying.  Plant copied his vocal style from Steve Mariotte of the Small Faces.  Check out their song You Need Lovin and you will know what I mean.  Also LZ is known for copying many songs that resulted in law suites.

Deep Purple was around before Zep. Even though they had some success with the huge hit in Hush, Blackmore was still not happy with the direction of the band because he loved heavier music like Hendrix who was his favorite guitarist.  After seeing Led Zeppelin he thought Plant was great.  Blackmore axed Purples first singer and recruited a singer that could compete with... not “imitate”  Plant. Enter Ian Gillan.  Plant and Gillan have nothing in common looks wise or sound wise.  Gillan became easily one of the best hard rock singers and definitely the best screamer.  So good that he was picked to sing as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar after the creators heard Child in Time off In Rock which is a masterpiece.

by 1973 and 6 albums later Deep Purple WAS the biggest Selling band in the world.  However Blackmore being Blackmore decided he didn’t like Gillan and wanted a blues singer like Paul Rogers.  Enter David Coverdale.  Coverdale and  Plant were complete opposites sounding nothing alike.  In fact the two camps are seen on many occasions partying together or attending each others concerts.

Blackmore quickly got bored of that and eventually left to form Rainbow with Ronny Dio.  Coverdale went on to Form a blues type of band called Whitesnake which was successful in Europe and Asian countries.  Coverdale wanting to break America again signed on with the American record label Geffen records who made Whitesnake heavier younger and mtv friendly.  The plan worked.  They had huge success with Slide It In and the 87 album which is one of the biggest selling albums ever in hard rock.

Only after Coverdales success did Roberta Plant (after knowing Coverdale for 15 years) all of a sudden start criticizing him and calling him David Coverversion.  At first Coverdale had a laugh about it but when Plant persisted Coverdale ripped into him and called him every name in the book.  What Plant did was classless and even Page stuck up for Coverdale.  I’ve disliked Plant ever since and to be honest he just bugs the shit out of me.

FYI... it’s 2020 and Coverdale, Blackmore and Gillan who is leading Deep Purple are still making great music while Plant is off doing shit and Page hang out out a good album since his partnership with Coverdale.

Now calm down and take a deep breath and repeat after me, "I am calm, I am not an angry man, I will not troll." Repeat that 100 times while gazing at ones navel and you should be good to go.

Ps. WELCOME TO THE FORUM 😉 

[jsj]

13 hours ago, MattD said:

Deep Purple was around before Zep. Even though they had some success with the huge hit in Hush, Blackmore was still not happy with the direction of the band because he loved heavier music like Hendrix who was his favorite guitarist.  After seeing Led Zeppelin he thought Plant was great.  Blackmore axed Purples first singer and recruited a singer that could compete with... not “imitate”  Plant. Enter Ian Gillan.  Plant So good that he was picked to sing as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar after the creators heard Child in Time off In Rock which is a masterpiece.

 

Like most bands Purple were equally good at nicking stuff from other bands. It’s interesting you mentioned Child in Time as they nicked that. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it so forget the song title but it was from a band named It’s a beautiful day. 

[zeppcollect]

Quote: Purple were equally good at nicking stuff from other bands. It’s interesting you mentioned Child in Time as they nicked that. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it so forget the song title but it was from a band named It’s a beautiful day.

The Song Purple nicked was "Bombay Calling" by IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY

[JohnOsbourne]

2 hours ago, zeppcollect said:

Quote: Purple were equally good at nicking stuff from other bands. It’s interesting you mentioned Child in Time as they nicked that. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it so forget the song title but it was from a band named It’s a beautiful day.

The Song Purple nicked was "Bombay Calling" by IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Yeah, it's pretty much 100% copied.  But I think DP was open about that, let's be honest, Zep has been somewhat reticent, shall we say, about acknowledging any borrowing.

[Brigante]

When asked about Coverdale in the late 80s, Robert said 'I thought he was Paul Rodgers, but he's not - he's me!'
In the same period, Jimmy ripped into Kingdom Come and said that he 'literally fell off the bed laughing' when he saw the bloke in the Whitesnake video flubbing away with a violin bow.
Neither of them seemed to have much patience with Stars In Their Eyes-style imitations - hence Robert's WTF? disbelief when Jimmy later hooked up with Coverdale. Probably.

[BobDobbs]

3 hours ago, Brigante said:

When asked about Coverdale in the late 80s, Robert said 'I thought he was Paul Rodgers, but he's not - he's me!'
In the same period, Jimmy ripped into Kingdom Come and said that he 'literally fell off the bed laughing' when he saw the bloke in the Whitesnake video flubbing away with a violin bow.
Neither of them seemed to have much patience with Stars In Their Eyes-style imitations - hence Robert's WTF? disbelief when Jimmy later hooked up with Coverdale. Probably.

Always thought that tiff was hilarious. Reminds me of a guy who winds up going out with a girl who looks just like his ex and they run into each other.

[Brigante]

Thing is, I only like brunettes, so to an extent...yeh!

[Johan2022]

On 2/11/2008 at 2:19 PM, ledsabbath said:

Hi all. I read from another poster that apparently Robert Plant called David Covedale, "David Coverversion". What's the story behind that?

 

I read a long time ago that when Jimmy Page recorded the "Coverdale/Page" album, it was a slap in the face to Robert Plant.

 

So what is the story of Robert's animosity towards David Covedale?

 

[jsj]

On 12/8/2020 at 4:22 AM, MattD said:

By 1973 and 6 albums later Deep Purple WAS the biggest Selling band in the world.  

Are you really sure about that?

[jmorton]

"Hate" is a strong word. I don't think Robert ever hated David Coverdale. In fact the two were friendly if not quite friends from the 70's to about the mid 80's.

After all these years, and nearly 30 without even a hint of controversy between them I think it's fair to look back on the period and call it a bit silly. I always thought Robert went far too much over the top in his criticism. I think Coverdale responded nearly as harshly (as I recall DC said something like "You can say there's no love lost between Robert and myself. I wouldn't send him cat food if he was starving.") I can't look into Robert's mind but Coverdale having this massive late-career spike in popularity after dying his hair blonde probably set him off. In some ways I can't blame him at all ... in others I wonder how Robert was able to keep up such sustained public disdain for somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 years (only to end up singing Shake My Tree on the 1995 Page/Plant tour which ... was surreal).

If you talk to both men privately I'm nearly certain they would both say it was silly. Coverdale extended an olive branch to Robert about 10 years ago. Not sure it was accepted. Page and Coverdale have remained on quite good terms in the years since the Coverdale/Page project.

In retrospect it was neither Robert not Coverdale's best moments.

Edited August 4, 2022 by jmorton

[Plant77]

On 12/7/2020 at 8:22 PM, MattD said:

Some of you Zep fans are so out to lunch and ignorant in music history.  First of all Led Zeppelin or Robert Plant are the last people to complain about copying.  Plant copied his vocal style from Steve Mariotte of the Small Faces.  Check out their song You Need Lovin and you will know what I mean.  Also LZ is known for copying many songs that resulted in law suites.

Deep Purple was around before Zep. Even though they had some success with the huge hit in Hush, Blackmore was still not happy with the direction of the band because he loved heavier music like Hendrix who was his favorite guitarist.  After seeing Led Zeppelin he thought Plant was great.  Blackmore axed Purples first singer and recruited a singer that could compete with... not “imitate”  Plant. Enter Ian Gillan.  Plant and Gillan have nothing in common looks wise or sound wise.  Gillan became easily one of the best hard rock singers and definitely the best screamer.  So good that he was picked to sing as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar after the creators heard Child in Time off In Rock which is a masterpiece.

by 1973 and 6 albums later Deep Purple WAS the biggest Selling band in the world.  However Blackmore being Blackmore decided he didn’t like Gillan and wanted a blues singer like Paul Rogers.  Enter David Coverdale.  Coverdale and  Plant were complete opposites sounding nothing alike.  In fact the two camps are seen on many occasions partying together or attending each others concerts.

Blackmore quickly got bored of that and eventually left to form Rainbow with Ronny Dio.  Coverdale went on to Form a blues type of band called Whitesnake which was successful in Europe and Asian countries.  Coverdale wanting to break America again signed on with the American record label Geffen records who made Whitesnake heavier younger and mtv friendly.  The plan worked.  They had huge success with Slide It In and the 87 album which is one of the biggest selling albums ever in hard rock.

Only after Coverdales success did Roberta Plant (after knowing Coverdale for 15 years) all of a sudden start criticizing him and calling him David Coverversion.  At first Coverdale had a laugh about it but when Plant persisted Coverdale ripped into him and called him every name in the book.  What Plant did was classless and even Page stuck up for Coverdale.  I’ve disliked Plant ever since and to be honest he just bugs the shit out of me.

FYI... it’s 2020 and Coverdale, Blackmore and Gillan who is leading Deep Purple are still making great music while Plant is off doing shit and Page hang out out a good album since his partnership with Coverdale.

This is one of the funniest posts I’ve ever read. Just so we are very clear, Deep Purple isn’t in the same league as Zeppelin. They are not in the same stadium, and they wouldn’t be playing the same sport. Comparing Deep Purple to Zeppelin is actually disrespectful. Deep Purple would be like a pretty good bar band compared to Zeppelin. But I respect your conviction, and dedication. 

[Ian Smith]

On 2/11/2008 at 5:35 PM, SteveAJones said:

 

Your painting with a very broad brush. David Coverdale has been a singer of songs and maker of music his whole life and continues to do so. One particular era of his career

copped Robert's style but that's as far as it goes so far as I'm concerned.

The voice of reason right here. 

[smcclenaghan]

Coverdale/Page was an amazing record. There is some really solid stuff on there. Okay, one or two tunes I can't really listen to but the rest is top notch.

I'm one of those Americans who never heard much from Mr. Coverdale prior to Still of the Night but since then, I found out a little more about him. 

Stealing Jimmy Page is just ridiculous. As if Mr. Page would let something like that happen if he didn't want it to happen. He enjoyed that record and he enjoyed the lives shows he did with Mr. Coverdale.

Emulating Mr. Plant? Eh... yeah Still of the Night is irrefutably similar but the guy has an impressive and varied career. Those two need to make of all that what they will but some of the opinions in this thread are just silly. Some of Mr. Coverdale's work is just phenomenal whether your idol, Mr. Plant, has a problem with him or not.

 

[Plant77]

On 10/29/2022 at 10:09 PM, smcclenaghan said:

Coverdale/Page was an amazing record. There is some really solid stuff on there. Okay, one or two tunes I can't really listen to but the rest is top notch.

I'm one of those Americans who never heard much from Mr. Coverdale prior to Still of the Night but since then, I found out a little more about him. 

Stealing Jimmy Page is just ridiculous. As if Mr. Page would let something like that happen if he didn't want it to happen. He enjoyed that record and he enjoyed the lives shows he did with Mr. Coverdale.

Emulating Mr. Plant? Eh... yeah Still of the Night is irrefutably similar but the guy has an impressive and varied career. Those two need to make of all that what they will but some of the opinions in this thread are just silly. Some of Mr. Coverdale's work is just phenomenal whether your idol, Mr. Plant, has a problem with him or not.

 

I suppose it is competitive when you are in your 30’s or even your early 40’s. I would say that Mr Coverdale absolutely copied his style for a decade or so. I’m not mad at it, he did a pretty good job of emulating Robert’s style and delivery. He certainly didn’t steal anything from anyone. As I’ve have heard, being able to Beg, Borrow, or steal is and should be considered as flattering. As far as doing that record with Jimmy, I found a few of the songs to be interesting. Personally the lyrics of that album bother me. But what the hell do I know. I do remember being excited that Jimmy was playing and putting out an album. What’s funny to me looking back on it, my mother and father grew up in the Bay Area, attended early Zeppelin shows in 69 and were able to see them a bunch, but I remember my mother thinking that Mr. Coverdale was Robert Plant. She thought that because of his look, and his style and his delivery. I have a distinct memory of arguing with her and telling her that David was not Robert Plant. To be honest, I don’t know that I got through to her. I will have to ask her. Either way, he is certainly someone we should all appreciate as a musician. He did some cool shit, wrote some cool songs. I don’t really care if he lifted, or took someone’s style. He was someone that a lot of people looked up too and appreciated during that time. I know I have personally been hard on him over the years. Really when it comes down to it, who gives a shit, he had some great songs and sung them well. Hats 🎩 off to David Cover-Plant. 

Edited November 2, 2022 by Plant77

[BunsenBurner]

Hello friends.

I've been dipping in and out of this forum for more years than I care to remember, just for the simple pleasure of hearing fellow Zep fans exchanging thoughts, opinions, knowledge, discoveries and memories. Occasionally, I have thought about leaving a comment, but I have always been content to listen and let others do the talking. Now, though, I have had enough of the Coverdale-bashing in which so many Zep fans seem to mindlessly follow the childish example of Robert Plant. 

I was 16 years old, and just two years a Zep fan, in 1992 when I first read that Page was working with David Coverdale. These were still early days in my musical life, and all I knew of Coverdale came from a review of the re-release of an album called Burn, by Deep Purple, a few years before. I went and got hold of a cassette copy of Burn from my uncle to hear who this guy was, and started borrowing Whitesnake CDs from the local library (true!) to get up to speed on his style and output. As I listened and read books and magazine articles, I learned about Coverdale's struggle to 'make it', and about his trouser-selling days in Saltburn, his instant elevation to stardom when recruited into Purple, the challenges he faced in going - literally overnight - from playing boozers in Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Redcar to standing on a stage in front of a quarter-of-a-million people at the 1974 Cal Jam, the galling descent towards Purple's breakup that followed, his struggle to find his feet and to re-establish himself in the changed musical environment after Purple, the early years and debts of Whitesnake, the pressure to sell more, the subsequent and blatant 'Americanisation' of Whitesnake, Coverdale-Page, and all the years of latter-day Whitesnake that have followed since. I consider myself a fan of Zep, Purple and Whitesnake, in equal measure. I love all three bands in different ways. They each mean something to me. They have similarities, differences, strong points and weaknesses, and I appreciate, enjoy and sympathise with them all for that. The individuals involved have all produced some great music over the years - individually and in bands - and they have all produced some dross too. Inevitably.

My respect for the band that everyone here loves, or, at least, for its singer, dropped dramatically, however, when he started making derogatory comments about Coverdale when he was doing the round of promotional interviews that followed the release of Fate of Nations. It wasn't that I felt in any way protective of Coverdale or his music; it was more (to start with, at least) that I felt revolted by the nasty comments Plant was making. To this day, the sight of him and his hired hands laughing and making fun of Coverdale in the interview below sticks in my mind. Francis Dunnery (who, incidentally, as a guitarist, I love) starts off the unpleasant chiding, but then they all join in with the laughing, ridiculing and mocking. They're like a bunch of playground bullies. It's fine for them to have their opinions - they're entitled to them - but, little boys, don't mock and degrade in a way that demeans you so badly and which would no doubt have upset the target of their derision.

Now, listen, I know that might make me sound like some kind of Coverdale protector or apologist, but I'm not. The man has, in my opinion, made errors of judgement at certain points in his career, and he could have acted with a little more class and decorum at times. He's not an imaginative lyricist, his creative integrity has sometimes seemed a little suspect, and I don't feel that he always tells the truth when asked about the twists and turns of his career. He has faults. We all do. Plant certainly does. But let me state this straight: Coverdale is not and never has been a Plant copyist.

I do not even understand why so many people blindly regurgitate Plant's 'Cover-version' line. People say it's because Coverdale "emulated Plant's look, delivery and stage moves". Really? The blonde hair? OK, I'll give you that one, but what else? Hair aside, Plant and Coverdale look nothing like each other - not in the 70s, not in the 80s, and not now. Their physiques are different. Their fashion choices are different. Whilst Plant was waltzing around in blouses, Coverdale was on the prowl in denim jackets and trousers. While Plant would bare his chest at a moment's notice, Coverdale wore long-sleeved t-shirts. Later, when Plant was in jumpsuits, tie-died tops and open-fronted waistcoats (see the FoN era), Coverdale was in vests, shirts or glam-era leather outfits. Stage moves? Again, I don't see it. Plant was always slinky, with lots of hand movements etc. Coverdale tended to stride the stage and make suggestive poses with his mic stand. He also interacted with the audience more than Plant did.

How about the crucial one - the singing? Again, how exactly is Coverdale copying Plant? I presume that eople must be referring to the screams in songs like Still of the Night and comparing them to something like Immigrant Song or How Many More Times. Really? As if Plant and Coverdale are the only ones to have done that, and as if their voices sound remotely similar when they do it. Singing in a higher register? Coverdale did not suddenly start doing that in 1987. He was could do it and did do it back in the mid-70s - listen to something like Love Child; he sounds nothing like Plant. Equally, that was not all he did in 1987 - listen to Is This Love. That's mostly lower-register stuff. The two men's voices, and the ways they use them, are not remotely similar. Plant is a tenor; Coverdale a baritone. Plant is a born improviser, joyously unpredictable, varied and changeable, but less technically competent or consistent; Coverdale limits himself more, stylistically, but is (or was) more technically gifted and more consistently impressive. For Plant at his very best, vocally, listen to things like Since I've Been Loving You, How Many More Times, Stairway to Heaven, Road to the Sun, If I Ever Get Lucky, Tin Pan Valley. For Coverdale at his, move away from your tired preconceptions, please, and ditch 1987 and Slip of the Tongue. You can even ditch Coverdale/Page if you want. For Coverdale in his prime, listen to Hole In the Sky, Soldier of Fortune, You Keep on Moving, Blindman, Northwinds, Say You Love Me, Mistreated, Sailing Ships, Don't Lie to Me, Steal Your Heart Away. Now tell me how alike they sound. You might even surprise yourself by reconsidering your notions about who is better.

The music? A "weak pastiche of Zeppelin"? Really? Again, listen to stuff like Comin' Home, Celebration, You Can't Do It Right, Black and Blue, Belgian Tom's Hat Trick, Carry Your Load, Wherever You May Go - even take a listen to Give Me All Your Love and Slow Poke Music for chrissakes. How does any of that sound like Zeppelin? Sure, there are some similarities in stuff like Judgement Day - they're both rock bands, there are going to be occasional similarities - but in other songs where comparisons are often made, such as Slow An' Easy and Crying in the Rain, be honest - can you really imagine Plant singing "Take me down, SLOW AN' EASY!" to its stomping backbeat or Jimmy Page doing the wailing, Hendrixy- guitar figures in Crying in the Rain? I can't.

As for the charge of copying, I need not even go there. I'm sure that everyone on this forum is more than familiar with the charges against Zeppelin on that front. Robert - people in glass houses should not throw stones. They really shouldn't.

Personally, the only ways in which I can see that Coverdale took inspiration or borrowed from Plant or Zeppelin are in the Still of the Night video (the violin bow, specifically) and song (its spacey middle section). That's quite clear. It's blatantly derivative. But then so is Plant's borrowing from Steve Marriott in Whole Lotta Love. It's blatant. Plant doesn't even try to disguise it. An earlier poster cited the quote where Plant suggested it was OK for him to ape Elvis Presley because they were so remote from each other and not from the same generation. Has anyone ever bothered to take Plant to task about his own Steve Marriott 'cover version'? I could go on. 

As one previous poster said, I like Robert. I really do. It is thanks to his televised performance at Knebworth '90 that I got seriously into music in the first place, and both his vocals and his restless spirit have continued to entertain and inspire me ever since, as they have done for countless others. He deserves his success and much of the critical praise that has come his way in recent years after a somewhat patchy solo career. His influence on modern music certainly is unquestionable. But he badly  let himself down with his Coverdale-bashing. The relentlessness of his onslaught for many years has, unfortunately, inspired many Zeppelin fans to ape his approach, and, consequently, David Coverdale gets a tough time from the Zep community to this day, despite having collaborated with Page on what was arguably the latter's finest work since 1976. But, as I've been trying my best to explain, the reality is far removed from how most people imagine it. There are as many similarities and overlaps between Plant and Coverdale as there are between Plant and Presley or Plant and Marriott, just as there are between Coverdale and Rogers, and so on. True. But Coverdale is (or was, in his heyday) a damned fine vocalist. Just listen to some of the songs I've mentioned, especially to Hole in the Sky and Northwinds. Listen. And drop your borrowed preconceptions. The singing is exceptional, and absolutely nothing like Robert Plant. If you need any more encouragement, as I mentioned above, watch this video at the 2:20 mark and be appalled by the ridiculing of the little boys in the playground.

I'm sorry that it had to be something negative that prompted me to make my first post here. I think you're all great, and I love reading all your exchanges on here. All that I hope to achieve by having posted this is not to get anyone's back up, but to hopefully encourage a more balanced and honest reappraisal of Coverdale and a rapprochement between two of the greatest vocalists ever to have come from the shores of this island.

 

[Brigante]

Coverdale had been called 'Cover-version' long before Still of the Night, though. There's a reason for that. See if you think he'd heard things like this before he wrote Blindman.

There's plenty more where these came from.