Robert Plant’s opinion on Bob Dylan

Led Zeppelin is certainly one of the most influential bands of all time and they wouldn’t have gotten there if it wasn’t for the incredible members of the group: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. They sold an estimated amount of more than 300 million records worldwide, which makes them one of the best-selling bands in the history of music.

All of them had a broad musical taste and those influences could be heard on their albums. Robert Plant, for example, was able to show even more inspiration on his solo career. So over the decades he talked about many musicians, giving his opinion for example, on Bob Dylan.

What is Robert Plant’s opinion on Bob Dylan

Like most musicians, Robert Plant is also a huge fan of Bob Dylan and always recognized how important the American songwriter is to music. In an interview with  Charlie Rose (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) back in 2005, he said that Dylan was “the guy who woke us all up”.

“Dylan’s (song I love) gotta be ‘One More Cup of Coffee’, I think. I think is such a fantastic song. How can I forget Dylan’s contribution when he was the guy who woke us all up.”

“So there was a reactionary musical scene on the college circuits with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Woody Guthrie, Odetta, Dave Van Ronk, all those people who were around. But Dylan made it sexy and he also brought it home in such a vital way.”

“Can you imagine, there is a great thing on Broadway now ‘Hairspray’ and the thing is that the great end to that program is that after all the Rock and Roll and the Philadelphia sound with the Cameo-Parkway (Records), Bobby Rydell, all that stuff.”

Robert Plant continued:

“So suddenly you cut to a room and there is a guy sitting there playing an acoustic guitar singing the first protest song. That’s the end of the show. Because it’s the end of the era of the schmooze and the schmaltz. It’s the beginning of that sort of reflective social conscience.”

“Dylan, he sang some songs. So I don’t how he actually survived, the way that he sang about the lynchings in Oxford, Mississippi”. Charlie Rose then completes saying that Dylan was a “true poet” and Robert Plant replies, saying: “Yeah. He wouldn’t like anybody to say that, I know why not just because he’s been awkward,” Robert Plant said.

Plant saw Bob Dylan many times and they are good friends

In an interview with Classic Rock back in 2020, Plant recalled a nice conversation he had with Dylan about touring. He remembered that he asked the legendary songwriter why he continued to tour after all these decades.

“Talking about the creation and development of music is a double-edged sword. I recently did a gig in Roskilde, Denmark, and Bob Dylan wanted to talk to me about touring. So I met him where all the buses are parked, at this big festival. We eyeballed each other and smiled in the darkness. It was pissing with rain, two hooded creatures in a blacked-out car park, and I said to him: ‘Hey, man, you never stop!'”

“He looked at me, smiled and said: ‘What’s to stop for?’ But I couldn’t ask him about his songs. Because as much as I’ve been affected by his work you can’t talk about it. My work is not anywhere near as profound in what it’s trying to do. At the same time, you can get to know the motive and circumstances behind a particular song, without it being Masters Of War,” Robert Plant said.

Robert Plant is also a big fan of “Masters of War”

Besides “One More Cup of Coffee”, “Masters of War” is another Dylan song that Plant loves. He praised the song when he was part of the BBC Radio 6 show “6 Music’s Festive Takeover” back in 2021.

(Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). He said: “Goodness, does that ever go away, that theme, that feeling that we all have? That’s Bob Dylan’s ‘Masters Of War’, from 1963, ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’ album on Columbia”. There is so much that can be said about Dylan and about his intentions and his lyrics. How many millions of people have actually sung his songs and hopefully delivered the same intent”.