The one band Robert Plant believed were otherworldly: “Really, really amazing”
During the 1960s, there was no better place to be as a musician than London, as Robert Plant discovered upon spending time in the capital.
It was the epicentre of a new cultural movement, which was heaven on earth for those with a love of the blues. Each night, future legends of rock ‘n’ roll were playing on the club circuit in London, and Plant knew that this was all that he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
Prior to Plant receiving the call from Jimmy Page to join him in his musical venture, which started as the New Yardbirds and became Led Zeppelin, he was the frontman of Band of Joy. While they never achieved mainstream success, Plant’s period with the band was an apprenticeship for the singer and provided him with the opportunity to learn the tricks of the trade away from the limelight, which came in useful once Led Zeppelin formed.
Looking back upon that time during an appearance on Ken Bruce’s programme on BBC Radio 2 in 2021, Plant had incredibly fond memories of his life on the circuit. “Many of us were on a kind of mod-circuit, which we would be travelling around and playing these various clubs in Watford, Brighton, all over the country. It was what you loosely call sub-pop. Rod (Stewart) had been in a band called Steampacket with Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and Long John Baldry,” he recalled.
There are countless memories from that golden period in his life that Plant still holds dear – and for him, Jeff Beck sums up that era perfectly. Like Page, Beck earned his stripes in the Yardbirds, which set him on the road to greatness with The Jeff Beck Group. Plant might have been used to witnessing top-drawer talent live, but even he was left gobsmacked by the sheer brilliance of the band.
He also explained that the track which reminds him most of this chapter is The Jeff Beck Group’s recording of ‘I Ain’t Superstitious’, originally by Howlin’ Wolf. Plant explained: “At this stage, Jeff Beck, who was along with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck part of those three guys that shaped the guitar from the mid to late ’60s, for a long time Rod Stewart fronted this little celebration and yet again it’s another song that came out from Chicago.”
While Plant appreciates the brilliance of the original, the Jeff Beck Group cover holds a special place in his heart, adding, “It’s a Howlin’ Wolf song called ‘I Ain’t Superstitious’. But between Rod and Jeff, they really killed it.”
Intriguingly, while it was on the cobbled streets of London that the Jeff Beck Group established itself, it was in America that Plant truly took notice of them. He shared, “When Led Zeppelin first went to America, they were playing, and they were just out of this world. They were really, really amazing.”
Beck released the track with Rod Stewart on vocals in 1968 and proved themselves to be one of rock’s most daring outfits. However, The Jeff Beck Group didn’t have the longevity of Led Zeppelin and the original line-up split up the following year. During their short time together, they burned bright, and the stage was where they came alive, as Plant witnessed when he watched them perform in America.
While a new iteration of The Jeff Beck Group arrived in 1970, it didn’t quite have the same magic as the original band. For the rest of his career, Beck didn’t care to look back and instead continued to beat exclusively to the sound of his own drum, establishing himself as an all-time rock great.
Following the death of Beck in 2023, Plant paid a beautiful tribute to his late friend, who he perfectly described as someone who “always appeared timeless, ever-evolving.” The message continued, “He surfaced in an extraordinary time. He took his place side by side with the virtuosos of the period, his mates. The scene was on fire, he introduced a cool template moving from Yardbirds to Bolero to Truth, Beck Ola with Rod the perfect foil.”
Plant describing Rod Stewart as the “perfect foil” for the guitarist on The Jeff Beck Group’s Beck Ola is further proof of the endless appreciation he has for what the band created. For a short period of time, in the eyes of Plant, there was no band better in the land.
