Robert Plant fell in love with music when he was a young boy and started his career in 1965 singing in many bands from the area of West Bromwich, where he was born. But everything changed for him after he joined The New Yardbirds, a band that was being formed by the guitarist Jimmy Page. Not long after, the band that also had John Paul Jones and John Bonham, was baptized as Led Zeppelin.
In 1968 the first album was released and shocked the whole world with a heavy sound and powerful vocals. They were together until 1980 when the band came to an end after John Bonham’s tragic death at the age of 32. Zeppelin continues to be one of the best-selling bands of all time, that influenced countless generations of musicians.
Plant always had a broad musical taste and it was shown on his compositions. So fans often are surprised by the kind of songs that he praises. He even once mentioned an unexpected track as one of his favorites of all time.
The song that Robert Plant said is one of his all time favorites
Although Led Zeppelin is often recalled as a Hard Rock band, they also showed in their discography that they could mix Rock and Roll with other genres like Folk and Reggae, so Plant was always interested in other forms of music. He was always trying to hear different artists who are not always known all over the world.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4 in 2022 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) he listed many songs that he likes and mentioned the track “Teenage Ska” from Oswald “Baba” Brooks as one of his favorite ones. The musician was born in 1935 in Kingston, Jamaica and played jazz in the 50s with the Eric Dean orchestra. He also recorded in the following decade the original Jamaican Ska for many different producers.
In the interview he recalled that he first heard this song before Led Zeppelin existed. At the time, he was working as a laborer and was about to meet his first wife. “There I was, far from home and I met this magnificent lady who would later become my wife. She was from a great anglo-indian family. They gave me a home.”
He continued:
“I’ve put bitumen on West Bromwich high street, drived the dumper and stuff. At the end of it all I ended up in the Casa Bamboo in West Bromwich with a bunh of west indians. (Also) a lot of Jamaicans just listening to the most deep Ska. So this was one of my ever time favorites,” Robert Plant said.
Baba Brooks was born in Jamaica in 1935. He became a trumpet player who played Jazz in the 50s with the Eric Dean orchestra. During the following decade, in the 60s, he recorded original Jamaican Ska material for many famous producers.
Robert Plant has always been a fan of Ska and Jamaican music in general. One of the biggest examples in Led Zeppelin was the track “D’yer Mak’er”, released by the band on their 1973 album “Houses of The Holy”. The title of the track is even a play on the word “Jamaica” when spoken with an English accent. The track is one of the few ones released by Zeppelin where all the members are credited as songwriters.
Plant continues to tour around the world and he is always trying to see new artists in every country he goes. All these influences can be seen on his solo career, which is really a mix of many different kinds of music. Some of his albums can’t even be labeled as only one kind of genre.