When EXACTLY was Robert Plant's voice operation?

[georgio]

I was reading Classic Rock magazine's Physical Graffiti feature story (excellent wraparound cover!) about the making of the album. The writer says that Robert had his voice operation prior to the 1973 US tour. I'd always thought he had it after the tour sometime in 1974? My reasoning for this is listening to Robert's voice on the '73 tour -the raspiness in his voice sounds indicative of the nodules in his throat. And after which in 1973 / 1974 - he recovered somewhat for the Physical Graffiti rehearsals (check the bootlegs) only to record the final versions at lower keys...so I've always felt somewhere that he'd had his throat operation in between the rehearsals and the actual recording of Graffiti... Anyone have more info about this? Cheers

[SteveAJones]

I was reading Classic Rock magazine's Physical Graffiti feature story (excellent wraparound cover!) about the making of the album. The writer says that Robert had his voice operation prior to the 1973 US tour. I'd always thought he had it after the tour sometime in 1974? My reasoning for this is listening to Robert's voice on the '73 tour -the raspiness in his voice sounds indicative of the nodules in his throat. And after which in 1973 / 1974 - he recovered somewhat for the Physical Graffiti rehearsals (check the bootlegs) only to record the final versions at lower keys...so I've always felt somewhere that he'd had his throat operation in between the rehearsals and the actual recording of Graffiti... Anyone have more info about this? Cheers

I don't recall Robert ever having divulged exactly when surgery to remove vocal fold nodule(s) was performed - he may have said "1974". Suffice to say it was after the 1973 tour.

Initial recording sessions for Physical Graffiti commenced in November 1973 at Headley Grange.

[Mattmc1973]

From Dave Lewis' book "Led Zeppelin: The Concert File", page 231...

"During the 1973 tour his voice could be very erratic - perfectly illustrated by shows such as the Chicago (July 6) date where his voice from the start is almost completely shot. This state of affairs may have been a contributing factor to their lay-off in 1974. Listening to the studio versions of 'Trampled Underfoot', 'Sick Again', 'Wanton Song', and 'Kashmir', it's clear his voice was still hoarse during the initial sessions for Physical Graffiti. His performances on these cuts, while certainly not lacking in commitment, is noticeably less clear than on the Houses of the Holy album. Asked in an interview with The Scotsman in 1988 how he looked after his vocal chords, Plant revealed that..."15 years ago I had an operation on my throat and couldn't speak for three weeks." No news of such an operation leaked out to the press at the time, but now it seems likely that the operation took place around late '73 to early '74, and this contributed to the lay-off."