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Robert Plant’s opinion on Mick Jagger
Before becoming the legendary vocalist of Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant had the chance to witness up close the development of the British Rock and Blues scene in the 1960s, seeing many incredible bands while they were still starting out and playing in clubs.
Over the years, he has shared his opinions on many of them, including The Rolling Stones and their frontman Mick Jagger.
What is Robert Plant’s opinion on Mick Jagger
Robert Plant is a big fan of The Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger, and seeing them in a small club in the early 60s, at the beginning of their career, was a turning point in his life. “There is so much to be said about this band and about the politics of the time in the late 60s, early 70s. How great that The Rolling Stones’ Jagger and Richards were putting together songs that were really quite vital absolutely and are in many ways timeless”.
“This track ‘Street Fighting Man’ from ‘Beggars Banquet’ is just incredible. Of course, many stations banned the record because they said it was subversive. There is a great comment from the band that said ‘of course it’s subversive. It’s stupid to think that you can start a revolution with a record. I wish you could,’ Robert Plant told BBC Radio 6, after picking “Street Fighting Man” as one of his favorite songs (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). In Plant’s opinion, as early as 2014, he, Mick, and Rod Stewart were among the last real frontmen of their generation in Rock and Roll who could still put on a show.
Robert Plant said:
“There are only three or four frontmen left, from our time, who actually just kick the mic stand up and do it. That’s me, Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger. But the only important thing is, can you contemporise your gift? Can I knock myself out, or am I just going through the motions? Because if I’m going through the motions, I’m f*cked,” he told The Telegraph.
Another song by The Rolling Stones that Plant really likes is “Come On”, their version of the Chuck Berry classic. “You probably may have realized it in my early history as a singer and recording artist, the adventures that I’ve had in the music game. I was really drawn and obsessed by the music of Chicago, Mississippi and the Delta Blues.”
Robert Plant continued:
“(So) I think on the English music scene, one of the main forerunners and purveyors for bringing this music to us as early teenage kids were the Rolling Stones. I do believe this was their first single, if I remember right. I bought it on the blue Decca label. It’s a cover of Chuck Berry‘s ‘Come On’. It was the beginning of their great career, promoting or perhaps giving us inspiration for Country Blues and City Blues of North American,” Rober Plant told BBC in 2021 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Mick Jagger said Led Zeppelin was a brilliant band
Unlike Keith Richards, Mick Jagger is a big fan of Led Zeppelin and already called them a brilliant band. He had the chance to go see their shows multiple times in the 1970s as he told BBC Radio 2 in 2020. “The thing was, I knew Jimmy (Page) very, very early on. Going back ten years before that. You know, makes you feel very young. I used to produce records. I did this record ‘Out Of Time’ for Chris Farlowe. It was a very successful record in the early 60s. (Song) which Keith (Richards) and I wrote.”
“I used to be a producer, it was fun for me. I was sort learning the trades, sort to speak and it was all played live, of course. One of the backing musicians was Jimmy Page. He was one of the best session guitarists at the time, he was very young. There was another one called Jim Sullivan and they used to play chess in between takes. That was their thing. So that’s how I met Jimmy and that’s how I met John Paul Jones, because he was the bass player. (It was) like in 1965, maybe.”
Mick Jagger continued:
“Then 10 years later or a bit less they’ve made this very successful kind of band. I used to go and watch them live. And I remember watching their concerts live in New York and everything. I mean, it was a great thunderous wonderful racket, brilliant. (Also) I saw their last concerts as well and they were absolutely incredible. I was so disappointed that they didn’t actually go out and toured. But that’s their business, not mine,” Mick Jagger said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). As Jagger said, Jimmy Page has a long friendship with the Stones and had the chance to record with them. He was part of the tracks “Scarlet”, recorded in 1973 and “One Hit (To The Body)” in 1986.
Although Led Zeppelin had a much shorter career than The Rolling Stones, active only from 1968 to 1980, they have sold more records than Jagger’s band, with over 300 million worldwide compared to the Stones’ 250 million. But when it comes to streaming platforms, the Stones are in front with more than 27 million monthly listeners on Spotify, while Zeppelin has more than 20 million.
