Why did Robert Plant hate David Covedale?

[SteveAJones]

Excerpt from Q 107 FM's (Toronto) 10th Anniversary Radio Broadcast (June 1987):

Guests: Ian & Billy from The Cult

DJ: Hello, are you there?

Robert Plant: Happy Birthday.

DJ: Who are you, sir? (jokingly)

Robert Plant: I'm David Coverdale. Oh no, I'm not. I'm Robert Plant. Hi, guys, how ya doin? (to Ian & Billy) I haven't seen you for ah, what was it now about six months?

Ian: Demos for the Electric album, when you were putting your band together.

Robert Plant: I've been reading your - what's that interview in that magazine with Joan Jett on the cover?

Ian: I don't know. Why, have we said anything horrible?

Robert Plant: No, you mentioned my name a couple of times. It was either me or Coverdale, I can't remember which.

Ian: Your not jealous are you?

Robert Plant: No. I'll tell you what, they say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and imitation is a form of flattery, so I don't mind. It's great. It just means I'm in the middle of the studio now making my record and it seems like I gotta sound like me or him - I've gotta make up my mind (laughs).

[brspled]

Love this one, thanks, Steve.

[Otto Masson]

Robert's sense of humor once again, and in this case nobody needs to wonder much what he means.

Thanks Steve!

[Knebby]

Robert's sense of humor once again, and in this case nobody needs to wonder much what he means.

Oh I'm sure at least one person here will make an effort to misunderstand it.

[jmorton]

It's funny....just not "ha ha" funny

[yahyoubetcha]

Maybe the kids, but my friends and I were well aware of Coverdale when he was actually in Deep Purple.

And if any Led Zeppelin member has a reason to really take issue with Whitesnake, I'd say it would have to be Jimmy. Have you seen Adrian Vandenberg in Still of the Night pulling out a violin bow and playing along to the string section like it was on a guitar at all? What a blatant ripoff! But clearly Jimmy took that in stride. As for Robert, I was at a Whitesnake show in 1987. Some fans hung a banner of the balcony. It read "David Coverdale vs Robert Plant: Give it up Dave". And these people bought tickets to the show! I saw Coverdale look up with a smile and then saw the change of expression when he actually realised what the banner said. He was not amused in the least. But yeah, Coverdale wasn't any sort of Robert clone in the 70s. In the 80s the lines may have been blurred. Although I don't remember Robert wearing makeup and having his photos airbrushed!

That said, up Glenn Hughes!!! What a voice that guy has! I remember the Cal Jam when DP opened for Sabbath. Coverdale was raspy, but Hughes sounded amazing! Burn fucking rocked!!! Hughes makes that song! I was fortunate enough to have a pint with him before he jumped onstage at a Badlands show. What a nice guy!

I love the Coverdale Page album, I just wish I could take the vocals out at times. They can be unlistenably shrill. I like Coverdale when he's soulful. I hate it when he shrieks. It doesn't serve the song, IMO. It's hitting high notes for the sake of hitting high notes. That's what makes Robert so magnificent as a vocalist. He knows he's got it, but he does it for dramatic effect when the song is served by it. Coverdale never learned that discernment. It's like he just thinks "I'll sing high here". He needs to let that 80s mentality go (for all I know he has these days). Because on Coverdale Page it can be downright painful.

Oh, and for anyone fancying the idea of Coverdale singing for "Zeppelin", I've heard Coverdale do Zeppelin songs. In a word, No. Please, no!

Right on Evster! I'm not getting this "Americans are ignorant of David Coverdale" crap. I was rockin' to Coverdale in Purple and all the early Whitesnake stuff. Ignorant of Coverdale? No, not really, don't think so.

[Suz]

I liked him until that godforsaken Still of the Night song and video. I was about 16 or 17 and a huge Zeppelin addict, and I couldn't fuckin believe my eyes or ears. Puke! That was the end for me.

He ain't got nothin' on Percy, no way, no how!

[fenderguy]

Right on Evster! I'm not getting this "Americans are ignorant of David Coverdale" crap. I was rockin' to Coverdale in Purple and all the early Whitesnake stuff. Ignorant of Coverdale? No, not really, don't think so.

I thought Coverdale's singing improved the longer he stayed in Deep Purple, and I bought Burn, Stormbringer, and Come Taste the Band. As far as the Whitesnake stuff, I never bought any of it, but it seemed like it was ok, just ok.

[indigomoonbeam]

I think it is reasonable to say RP's dislike of DC's creative work intensified around the time of the album,"Slide It In." Generally speaking Whitesnake had, up until then, carved a moderately lucrative furrow with their own soulful, bluesy niche music in Europe. They were not trying to be anything other than themselves and there was a sincerity and warmth to the music as a consequence.

DC was and is patently an ambitious man and wanted to broaden the success of Whitesnake to capture the USA. I believe he was quite heavily in debt at that stage (probably down to bad management and business decisions), even with their consistently expanding success on the live circuit, along with several hit albums and singles in the UK. The pressure to succeed in USA and move up to the next level clearly must have put enormous pressure on DC. It seems he saw one way to connect with the great American public was to incorporate more obvious elements of Zeppelin in his songwriting, "Slow n' Easy," off "Slide It In," being a prime example and quite a weak Zeppelin pastiche

DC's USA record company were rabid for success and even coerced him into remixing the whole "Slide It In," in album, then radically changing the band line up, getting rid of the old guard who were integral to the soulful, bluesy phase of the band. "Slow n' Easy," was a precursor to style that was manifest throughout the 1987 album.

Whilst I can take and leave the "1987" album in equal measure, it is undoubtedly an almost perfect album in that commercial rock genre, comparable with say, Def Leppard's "Hysteria." "Still of the Night," is a shameless Zeppelin rip off and the younger brother to "Slow n' Easy," I can understand why the success of "1987" enflamed RP's caustic humour and to some extend jealousy. The creative integrity of DC was certainly getting into questionable territory with "1987" and "Slip of the Tongue," and I think it reflected in relationship decisions in his personal life too, i.e. the Tawny Kitten marriage debacle. The astronomical success of blatantly derivative material could not have had anything but a corrupting effect on his personality.

I fail to understand how a man who wrote/co-wrote such beautiful songs as "Long Way from Home," (off the "Lovehunter" album) could go on to write abominations like "Bad Boys." RP's harsh criticism is justified on the foundation of that song alone.

Indi.

[jmorton]

I couldn't have said it better Indi. You know....David himself over the last 10 years has repeatedly said he's ashamed of the image,,,and ashamed he allowed himself to be caught up in the "corporate" image. It's to his shame but....he did rake in a pile of money.

However....David has felt that Plant went beyond the pale with him. It became.....a sick game with Robert. A toy to play with in the sycophantic American media who "didn't do their homework" with DC's career. It always disturbed me that Robert has continued taking shots at DC for 20 years.

I must say...the new Whitesnake album "Good to Be Bad" has done remarkably well. Except in the States.

Jeff

[Knebby]

I couldn't have said it better Indi. You know....David himself over the last 10 years has repeatedly said he's ashamed of the image,,,and ashamed he allowed himself to be caught up in the "corporate" image. It's to his shame but....he did rake in a pile of money.

Oh come on Jeff - Coverdale was opening his shows wth "Bad Boys " just a couple of years ago - aged 53!!! It was totally cringeworthy!

Indi and I are great friends and on the same wavelength about this in many ways, (but not all), and I can assure you he doesn't condone Coverdale's 1987 onwards behaviour as 'something he is ashamed of' - Indi knows that he is still exploiting it to this day!

[Suz]

Well, if being a Zep fan and seeing that pissed me off that much, I can't imagine how RP felt. I only remember hearing him bitch about that once or twice back in the day, but if he went off more I don't care.

[Evster2012]

Mystery solved! Hell, I'd be pissed too!

[Knebby]

Mystery solved! Hell, I'd be pissed too!

[BIGDAN]

You Bastard, spat me tee out with that one, good with Photoshop are you?

[jmorton]

Oh come on Jeff - Coverdale was opening his shows wth "Bad Boys " just a couple of years ago - aged 53!!! It was totally cringeworthy!

Indi and I are great friends and on the same wavelength about this in many ways, (but not all), and I can assure you he doesn't condone Coverdale's 1987 onwards behaviour as 'something he is ashamed of' - Indi knows that he is still exploiting it to this day!

Oh now Knebby. You must read what I said. DC is ashamed of the "Image". As far as I know he hasn't distanced himself from the music. Haven't you heard the quote "overdecorated fucking christmas tree" from David? Didn't you see him on Loose Women saying the same thing?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93K_kbHJ4HQ

We will diverge again. Cringeworthy you said? It would hardly be fair for DC to not sing songs that represent his entire career. It's an opinion. I don't particularly like that song, but that doesn't mean DC should replace it with Medicine Man.

During the Coverdale Page interviews DC said the same thing. Because you don't like your image doesn't mean you stop playing the music.

Jeff

[Knebby]

Oh now Knebby. You must read what I said. DC is ashamed of the "Image". As far as I know he hasn't distanced himself from the music. Haven't you heard the quote "overdecorated fucking christmas tree" from David? Didn't you see him on Loose Women saying the same thing?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93K_kbHJ4HQ

We will diverge again. Cringeworthy you said? It would hardly be fair for DC to not sing songs that represent his entire career. It's an opinion. I don't particularly like that song, but that doesn't mean DC should replace it with Medicine Man.

During the Coverdale Page interviews DC said the same thing. Because you don't like your image doesn't mean you stop playing the music.

Jeff

Happy to agree to disagree.

[Evster2012]

You Bastard, spat me tee out with that one, good with Photoshop are you?

I'm a graphic artist.

I actually did that a few years ago for a similar thread on the old board.

[BIGDAN]

I'm a graphic artist.

I actually did that a few years ago for a similar thread on the old board.

Hi Mate,

Thought you were something special. A friend let me use his spare computer at his workshop many years ago and I got quite good at the Photoshop-Quark-Illustrator programes. Really helped me with my hobby of Heraldry, but he still wont give me a job as I put big colourful borders around all my pictures in Quark.

Good sense of humor though.

Regards, Danny

[ledded1]

The only reason Robert has any issues with David is because he did not get to roll around on the jaguar with

Tawny!

who wouldn't?

[Evster2012]

Augh! I had to take 6 weeks of QuarkXpress in graphics school. I hated it! I do all my layouts and color seps from Macromedia Freehand now. Not a common way of doing it, but I find it much easier.

Sorry for the off topic folks.

Edited May 31, 2008 by Evster2012

[BIGDAN]

Augh! I had to take 6 weeks of QuarkXpress in graphics school. I hated it! I do all my layouts and color seps from Macromedia Freehand now. Not a common way of doing it, but I find it much easier.

Sorry for the off topic folks.

How do you get work over there when you cant even spell "COLOUR" LOL.

I love QuarkXpress, I have Freehand but have never used it, any good?

Danny.

[Evster2012]

How do you get work over there when you cant even spell "COLOUR" LOL.

I love QuarkXpress, I have Freehand but have never used it, any good?

Danny.

Freehand is esentially the same as Adobe Illustrator, so I can do actual drawing and still publish if I need to. So between Freehand and Photoshop, I can pretty much get whatever I need done. I don't do much in the way of publishing, mostly poster-type art, so Quark isn't something I find a need for much. I'm more on the art end of the field. The reason I hated Quark in graphics school is because I wanted to get to the art part. I wanted to play in Photoshop, lol! That was 12 years ago, btw. Straight out of school, my first job was at Warner/Atlantic's merchandising division, where I ended up doing a lot of Looney Tunes tees, and tour shirts for artists. Everyone from Metallica to Jimmy Buffet. So yeah, didn't have much use for Quark. Powerful program though.

[BIGDAN]

Freehand is esentially the same as Adobe Illustrator, so I can do actual drawing and still publish if I need to. So between Freehand and Photoshop, I can pretty much get whatever I need done. I don't do much in the way of publishing, mostly poster-type art, so Quark isn't something I find a need for much. I'm more on the art end of the field. The reason I hated Quark in graphics school is because I wanted to get to the art part. I wanted to play in Photoshop, lol! That was 12 years ago, btw. Straight out of school, my first job was at Warner/Atlantic's merchandising division, where I ended up doing a lot of Looney Tunes tees, and tour shirts for artists. Everyone from Metallica to Jimmy Buffet. So yeah, didn't have much use for Quark. Powerful program though.

Thanks Evster2012, you are in a league way above me, I can only just about forge documents, cant quite print money yet, any hints. LOL.

Regards, Danny

[Evster2012]

Thanks Evster2012, you are in a league way above me, I can only just about forge documents, cant quite print money yet, any hints. LOL.

Regards, Danny

It's all in the paper!

We really should let the folks have their thread back though, lol. We can start one in the Random forum if you like, assuming there's more to be said. If you do, I'll join in.