What happened to Plant's voice in 1972 ?

[Steve Ivins]

Just also wanted to add that Robert's voice problems throughout 

so much of the Zep years made me feel bad for him after awhile. He did the best he could with the wonderful otherworldly wailing he did so long for Zep.

 Of course i wanted a full blown  Zep reunion in '07 after the O2 show just like i always wanted a full Beatles reunion in the 70's. But i fully respect Plant's decision not to do so- he's one of the rockers who knew when it was time to move on by a certain age and readapt his style and do whatever was more suited to his range. He seems like a great guy for all he's been through personally and maintains a wonderful sense of humor and humility about it all. Have read so much about him and seen many interviews over the years. The Kennedy Center Honors and Dan Rather interview allowed me to really admire the world class rock star as a human being. Rock on Robert, and may good health and the Lord's blessings continue to see you through all things.

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blaize86]

I don’t listen to HTWWW because of the way Robert sounds. There is no soul, no tone, no thickness. What he is doing is compensating his voice and almost going full falsetto which is like a screaming cat at times. I bet us he hates it too. I always felt that Jimmy knew that but left it in. 
Imagine singing like that from 1967 thru 1972 at that level even pre Zep. Unless you train your voice daily, it’s going to falter. 
I am a singer and I love Robert as a singer. His phrasing, delivery and post 1972 tone I prefer the most. 

[Plant77]

On 11/28/2022 at 3:10 PM, Blaize86 said:

I don’t listen to HTWWW because of the way Robert sounds. There is no soul, no tone, no thickness. What he is doing is compensating his voice and almost going full falsetto which is like a screaming cat at times. I bet us he hates it too. I always felt that Jimmy knew that but left it in. 
Imagine singing like that from 1967 thru 1972 at that level even pre Zep. Unless you train your voice daily, it’s going to falter. 
I am a singer and I love Robert as a singer. His phrasing, delivery and post 1972 tone I prefer the most. 

Lots of great thoughts on this topic. There are, as many have said, many reasons his voice changed from, and after 68-72. While certainly viruses have nothing to do with temperature or wet hair, getting on and off temp controlled plains walking into freezing temps in some middle America arena will absolutely affect your voice and performance. Also doing several shows a night in the first 2 years and singing your guts/lungs out had to have had some effect. 
 

The thing for me which I partly agree with you on his voice after 72 and sometimes even do prefer, is his phrasing, technique, choice of delivery.He got better in my opinion on a lot of songs that I don’t think he would have been able to do the same way. For example all of PG that were not left over songs from early albums.  I don’t think Trampled would have sounded as good with 68-72 voice, as well as Kashmir, Custard, TYG, In the Light etc. and some performances in 75 when he was healthy and the entire band were on are simply amazing and 77 has some of my favorite Plant versions. By the way, I appreciate all of the members in the band equally and my “ Plant 77 “ name is not very thoughtful. Born in 77 and just put Plant in front. 
 

If we think of Rock Singers of that era, no one had near the range with the exception of maybe Freddy. He was almost operatic in his performance and had an amazing voice. However, the songs do not compare, lyrically or instrumentally in my opinion. Paul Rogers certainly has an amazing Rock voice, but his range is not even close to Robert’s in that time. He wasn’t singing songs with the variety of Zeppelins catalog for sure. We also need to be amazed that the guy has a voice at all anymore. A simple google search of the amount of shows this man has played is pretty staggering. And the songs that he sings even at 73 years young is pretty insane. Not everyone on here will feel the same, but I’m blown away none the less. 
 

Getting back to it, looking at PG, Presence, ITTOD and his solo works there are absolutely versions that I prefer. Even the 73 shows, his gritty-ness for lack of a better word. It was not necessarily full on blow your head off power, but there was a dirtier, perhaps sexier, sometimes squeaky vulnerability about his voice that I prefer. I enjoy any singer that is on the edge, where when they try and hit a specific note and it is not perfect, I love those performances. From the 2003 LZ DVD the IMTOD is maybe my favorite live performance of any song by them all time. From the very start, his confidence, playfulness, down to the Voice on Steroids moment at the end when he and Jimmy are pushing each other to the brink. If I were to play for someone who wasn’t a Zeppelin fan or had not heard any live songs this would be my first pick. 
 

I must say when I listen to As along as I have you from the 27th of April that is just a mind blowing performance by all of them. I also believe the city that they were in would also somehow and sometimes help create that magic that we all get to enjoy. LA, NY, SF New Orleans and many other amazing places in the US and throughout the countries that they played maybe helped get them all up for a show. Not always about the big cities we all. 
 

When I first started to dive deep into the Bootleg world in the early 90’s I did find myself listening to the early shows more, as I have aged and maybe just coming to appreciate the later shows although there are not as many, he still rocked the shit out of it from 73-1980. 
 

I know that this was very long winded, and maybe even sounds a bit like an apologetic rant of his change. But that guy was the only person for the job, and no one could have come close to making Zeppelin sound like they did through their years together. Off topic, that is why I respect them as much as I do, you could not have gone on without any one of them. They were all bursting with talent and all of them were the exact fit for that band and they were all in my opinion the best at their craft. If Jonesy would have left after 73 as very nearly did happen they would have had to pack it in then as well.

I have been without power for 7 days now in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and started with Album 1 and worked my way through Coda. I have moved onto my earliest bootlegs and with the passing of Jeff Beck and my own thoughts on my mortality we are beyond lucky to have had the 12 years that they gave us. Impossible to even think about music without their contributions. Head and shoulders above everyone. 

[Walesdad]

We are indeed beyond lucky for the twelve years they gave us

23 hours ago, Plant77 said:

Lots of great thoughts on this topic. There are, as many have said, many reasons his voice changed from, and after 68-72. While certainly viruses have nothing to do with temperature or wet hair, getting on and off temp controlled plains walking into freezing temps in some middle America arena will absolutely affect your voice and performance. Also doing several shows a night in the first 2 years and singing your guts/lungs out had to have had some effect. 
 

The thing for me which I partly agree with you on his voice after 72 and sometimes even do prefer, is his phrasing, technique, choice of delivery.He got better in my opinion on a lot of songs that I don’t think he would have been able to do the same way. For example all of PG that were not left over songs from early albums.  I don’t think Trampled would have sounded as good with 68-72 voice, as well as Kashmir, Custard, TYG, In the Light etc. and some performances in 75 when he was healthy and the entire band were on are simply amazing and 77 has some of my favorite Plant versions. By the way, I appreciate all of the members in the band equally and my “ Plant 77 “ name is not very thoughtful. Born in 77 and just put Plant in front. 
 

If we think of Rock Singers of that era, no one had near the range with the exception of maybe Freddy. He was almost operatic in his performance and had an amazing voice. However, the songs do not compare, lyrically or instrumentally in my opinion. Paul Rogers certainly has an amazing Rock voice, but his range is not even close to Robert’s in that time. He wasn’t singing songs with the variety of Zeppelins catalog for sure. We also need to be amazed that the guy has a voice at all anymore. A simple google search of the amount of shows this man has played is pretty staggering. And the songs that he sings even at 73 years young is pretty insane. Not everyone on here will feel the same, but I’m blown away none the less. 
 

Getting back to it, looking at PG, Presence, ITTOD and his solo works there are absolutely versions that I prefer. Even the 73 shows, his gritty-ness for lack of a better word. It was not necessarily full on blow your head off power, but there was a dirtier, perhaps sexier, sometimes squeaky vulnerability about his voice that I prefer. I enjoy any singer that is on the edge, where when they try and hit a specific note and it is not perfect, I love those performances. From the 2003 LZ DVD the IMTOD is maybe my favorite live performance of any song by them all time. From the very start, his confidence, playfulness, down to the Voice on Steroids moment at the end when he and Jimmy are pushing each other to the brink. If I were to play for someone who wasn’t a Zeppelin fan or had not heard any live songs this would be my first pick. 
 

I must say when I listen to As along as I have you from the 27th of April that is just a mind blowing performance by all of them. I also believe the city that they were in would also somehow and sometimes help create that magic that we all get to enjoy. LA, NY, SF New Orleans and many other amazing places in the US and throughout the countries that they played maybe helped get them all up for a show. Not always about the big cities we all. 
 

When I first started to dive deep into the Bootleg world in the early 90’s I did find myself listening to the early shows more, as I have aged and maybe just coming to appreciate the later shows although there are not as many, he still rocked the shit out of it from 73-1980. 
 

I know that this was very long winded, and maybe even sounds a bit like an apologetic rant of his change. But that guy was the only person for the job, and no one could have come close to making Zeppelin sound like they did through their years together. Off topic, that is why I respect them as much as I do, you could not have gone on without any one of them. They were all bursting with talent and all of them were the exact fit for that band and they were all in my opinion the best at their craft. If Jonesy would have left after 73 as very nearly did happen they would have had to pack it in then as well.

I have been without power for 7 days now in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and started with Album 1 and worked my way through Coda. I have moved onto my earliest bootlegs and with the passing of Jeff Beck and my own thoughts on my mortality we are beyond lucky to have had the 12 years that they gave us. Impossible to even think about music without their contributions. Head and shoulders above everyone. 

We are indeed lucky for the twelve years they gave us, nice post and I hope you get that power back on soon.

[tdodds]

Plant was at his peak the first 4 albums. After that it was not near as powerful and more falsetto to hit anything high. Much different. He was the most powerful rock singer, in my opinion, up until the 4th album. Houses of the Holy you could hear how he was trying to figure out how to sing differently. By the time Physical Graffiti was released he began to figure out a new way to sing and he was very good. 

[LurksReturnington]

I think the 1971 Milan Italy 'tear gassing' deserves to be there in the consideration of the astringent note pathway. Bob singing with power in the high chest voice, and to the back of his tonsils on this night. Compare with Japan several weeks later, and make an allowance for equipment, cuz I think they got robbed and replaced live gear sept 71.

[Plant77]

I would like to add that Robert’s voice from 68-72 while powerful and amazing, there were also things that he was able to learn and do in later years that he would not have been capable of in his early years/most powerful voice. I will stress that his Physical Graffiti voice may be my personal favorite. The gritty vulnerability that he had was absolutely incredible and stunning. By the time we get to 77 his voice and his capabilities were very impressive. Maybe some won’t agree. That is fine. I would also like to point out that one of his best performances ever was the last song on the last studio album that they did. I’m gonna crawl is absolutely out of this world. Not only for Plant, but Page as well. But Ten Years Gone, In the Light, Trampled, Kashmir, and in my opinion every song off of Presence would not be what it was with the original voice. Again, it is okay to not agree or share that opinion. I would say as much as I love to listen to the shear power of 68-72 Plant, there are songs and performances from 73-80 that I absolutely prefer and appreciate just as much as the early years. For me, it shows the brilliance of Plant as a front man and a singer/performer, and I would rather have Earls Court in my time of dying over in other band and singer ever. As a matter of fact I think too much is made of his declining vocal performance. I could argue that others in the band declined just as much if not more. That’s not important to me. What is important, and what I believe to be true, is Robert in 73-2023 is just in a league of his own. He certainly went through phases that I could do without. But, he also had incredible performances in those years that I personally enjoy as much as any version of his work. 

[rm2551]

3 hours ago, Plant77 said:

I would like to add that Robert’s voice from 68-72 while powerful and amazing, there were also things that he was able to learn and do in later years that he would not have been capable of in his early years/most powerful voice. I will stress that his Physical Graffiti voice may be my personal favorite. The gritty vulnerability that he had was absolutely incredible and stunning. By the time we get to 77 his voice and his capabilities were very impressive. Maybe some won’t agree. That is fine. I would also like to point out that one of his best performances ever was the last song on the last studio album that they did. I’m gonna crawl is absolutely out of this world. Not only for Plant, but Page as well. But Ten Years Gone, In the Light, Trampled, Kashmir, and in my opinion every song off of Presence would not be what it was with the original voice. Again, it is okay to not agree or share that opinion. I would say as much as I love to listen to the shear power of 68-72 Plant, there are songs and performances from 73-80 that I absolutely prefer and appreciate just as much as the early years. For me, it shows the brilliance of Plant as a front man and a singer/performer, and I would rather have Earls Court in my time of dying over in other band and singer ever. As a matter of fact I think too much is made of his declining vocal performance. I could argue that others in the band declined just as much if not more. That’s not important to me. What is important, and what I believe to be true, is Robert in 73-2023 is just in a league of his own. He certainly went through phases that I could do without. But, he also had incredible performances in those years that I personally enjoy as much as any version of his work. 

His PG voice was great, a few songs like Wanton Song, Sick Again, he is a bit buried in the mix, but that is a production choice. His voice was SOLID. I reckon you're spot on with his latter voice. It seems he had to learn how to sing again once the damage was done post '72 and he re-invented his singing with new tricks in the bag and new approaches. In '77 his voice got much better. Completely different to his really early voice, but his singing was as good as ever - just different.

It's good to get some latter years Plant appreciation.

[Plant77]

On 4/8/2023 at 1:21 AM, rm2551 said:

His PG voice was great, a few songs like Wanton Song, Sick Again, he is a bit buried in the mix, but that is a production choice. His voice was SOLID. I reckon you're spot on with his latter voice. It seems he had to learn how to sing again once the damage was done post '72 and he re-invented his singing with new tricks in the bag and new approaches. In '77 his voice got much better. Completely different to his really early voice, but his singing was as good as ever - just different.

It's good to get some latter years Plant appreciation.

I agree with you completely. I truly think that his 75-80 voice was amazing and that he learned to sing. I believe that his 68-72 voice was just done on pure power and strength of his vocal cords. I absolutely think that after 72 he did have to adapt and learn how to project his voice and be within the best trio of all time. That had to be very daunting to say the least. When you have the worlds best guitarist and producer behind/next to you. When you have the worlds best musician in JPJ, and you have the worlds best drummer behind you, that has to be a very stressful and difficult task. I would say that Robert handled and excelled as no other could have. It is absolutely amazing to me that he was able to do what he did. I absolutely think he doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his song writing, and I also think it is easy for us to just simply say his voice after 72 wasn’t as good or didn’t match up to the band. I would argue that. I think he was always on par with what was going on inside of the band as was able to adapt and crush his circumstances. He absolutely had some terrible nights. But they all did. Or specifically everyone except JPJ. 
 

Thank you for your opinion and thoughts. It is cool to read what others think on this and or any subject regarding these Men. They were head and shoulders above everyone in my opinion. It isn’t even close. 

[rm2551]

On 4/11/2023 at 1:24 PM, Plant77 said:

They were head and shoulders above everyone in my opinion. It isn’t even close.

Indeed they were. It just wasn't fair and I imagine this is what stuck in Pete Townshend's craw. He just couldn't get over the fact that they were just so far ahead of everyone else.

 

Plant couldn't have dished up the early work with his latter voice, but equally, I doubt he could have delivered the great latter tracks with his early voice. Equally great, just totally different.

[Plant77]

On 4/14/2023 at 1:06 AM, rm2551 said:

Indeed they were. It just wasn't fair and I imagine this is what stuck in Pete Townshend's craw. He just couldn't get over the fact that they were just so far ahead of everyone else.

 

Plant couldn't have dished up the early work with his latter voice, but equally, I doubt he could have delivered the great latter tracks with his early voice. Equally great, just totally different.

Spot on! While Plant was a different singer/songwriter after 72, really in my opinion Page was a different producer and guitarist, John Paul was probably the one consistent musician, and John B was just out of this world on every track he ever played on. It is really incredible to think about the 4 of them collectively, and individually. The Townsend reference is so on point. I really think that all of the music/rock world was on the same page as that. Meaning, everyone knew that they couldn’t possibly compete with them. There were amazing bands and amazing musicians during that time, it just happened that the 4 best got together for that 12 year period and ruled the world. It is absolutely sad to me to think what could and would have been without the passing of that amazing man. They were all robbed of moving forward and beyond what they had done. I think and talk about it with my family all the time. To think of those guys after 1980 and moving into a new direction would have been incredible. Godbless them for the years we had. To this day, being 35 plus years into them, I am as devoted and impressed today as I was when I got my first tape/record and certainly by the time I purchased and or knew what a bootleg was. These guys were fucking amazing! Like not other. Just the absolute best that ever graced a stage or studio. It truly isn’t close. And I love a lot of bands. They were just playing in a different league and a different sport then everyone else. God they were bad! Just ferociously good. 
 

Have a great night. Be well. Cheers. 

Edited April 21, 2023 by Plant77

[marcio614]

The voice of plant always changed in each year.

[JMH]

Spot on mate! The whole band changed too all the way to the end and one can appreciate the whole journey or pick their cherry tour/ moment/ gig etc.

This band still keeps on giving, haha.

 

[marcio614]

I think really that the voice changing is interesting because you can check.                     the many differences.

[marcio614]

and thank you.

[donb8]

Another change no one talks about is the spring 70 us tour and the summer tour. That shift from LZ2 to LZ3 damaged his original voice. He lost alot of range but especially textures within his voice. That Arizona show at the end of the spring tour is the culprit. 

 

[bols59]

I may get flamed for this, but it's important to state my opinion.  Robert mentioned that he caught flu in, I think, 1972.  He points to this event as the reason for the decline in his voice. I'm here to state that he lost his voice because he put the pedal to the metal for so long that he just blew his voice out.  Smoking, drinking, cocaine, staying up for far too long repeatedly will destroy your voice.  I don't believe he ever went to a vocal coach so he could learn to sing without straining his voice.

When someone like Axl Rose's voice suffers from abuse I conclude the oik deserves it. But all I've ever heard of Robert is that he's a gentleman to his fans.

[JMH]

That was the case, yes. Strained in multiple ways.

I have been wondering the on/off nature 73-77 and that must have partially been related to staying up late and partying and just using the voice in the long nights. I think there’s nothing else that could explain it especially when it could go from worse to better during consecutive nights. 
 

What is weird thoughis that  he usually came out a little bit more hoarse after longer breaks after 72.

He used every inch of his voice.

Edited March 30 by JMH

[Plant77]

I have given my opinion on what happened a few times, but simply, he did some damage from performing 2 and sometimes 3 shows a day/night, and more importantly, he learned how to sing after 72. He became a true singer and is still practicing his craft and we are all beyond lucky to have the recordings we have. As I said several times earlier, he could not have given the performances he gave on PG alone, 69-72 would not have been able to give us TUF, Kashmir, In the Light, Ten Years Gone, and a host of other performances, let alone I’m going to crawl on ITTOD, or any song off of Presence. In my opinion I’ll take that version over the earlier years any day of the week.