Robert Plant and Alison Krauss biography
Raising Sand is a collaboration album by rock singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. It was released on October 23, 2007 by Rounder Records. Raising Sand won Album of the Year at the 2009 Grammy Awards.
Background
The two songs written by Gene Clark-"Polly (Come Home)" and "Through the Morning, Through the Night"-were originally recorded by Dillard & Clark for their 1969 album,
Through the Morning Through the Night. "Rich Woman" was first recorded by McKinley Millet (as L'il Millet) and his Creoles in 1955, for Specialty Records. "Please Read the Letter" was first recorded for the Page and Plant album,
Walking into Clarksdale, in 1998. "Gone, Gone, Gone" was originally recorded by the Everly Brothers for Warner Music in 1964. They also recorded "Stick With me Baby" in 1960, for
A Date with The Everly Brothers. "Trampled Rose" was originally written and recorded by Tom Waits, and was featured on
Real Gone in 2004.
Apart from the influence of Plant and Krauss' vocal styles and talent, the album's producer, T-Bone Burnett is credited with giving the album its skeletal musical style.
The album was met with critical acclaim, earning an averaged score of 87 from compiled reviews on Metacritic. This album was #24 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.
"The Top 50 Albums of 2007".
Raising Sand received positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Being There called it "one of the year's very best", and Allmusic called it "one of the most effortless-sounding pairings in modern popular music", but stated that some of the songs "(felt) like (they were) tossed off". Village Voice commented on the album, saying it was "powerfully evocative" and "utterly foreign, oddly familiar, and deeply gratifying". .
The compilation of songs on Raising Sand were hand-picked by the producer, T-Bone Burnett. Entertainment Weekly described the cover songs that make up the album as "eclectic", and Village Voice said that "T-Bone Burnett flaunts his typical curatorial genius with a whole set of 'have we met before?' tunes". and Music Box said that Krauss "exceeds all expectations". The guest instrumentalists were also praised, with BBC saying that the guests "make this a stunning, dark, brooding collection, comparable in tone to Daniel Lanois' masterful job on Dylan's Time Out Of Mind."
Critics praised Krauss and Plant's vocal harmonization, with one critic saying that the "key to the magic is the delicious harmony vocals of the unlikely duo." Various music critics described Alison Krauss's vocals as being "spellbinding", "honey-sweet", "weepy", "saccharine", and "haunting". On the other hand, Robert Plant's sometimes "wailing" vocals were described as "orgasmic", and "slithering", in regard to his lead roles.
"Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)" was released as a single and won the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Grammy Awards. The song "Killing the Blues" was #51 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.
Biography from 
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