Джимми Пейдж, Роберт Плант, Джефф Бек в проекте The Honeydrippers! (Germany, 1984). Ex+/Mint. - 1000 руб. 8-903-595-89-69. Москва.
The Honeydrippers were a post-Led Zeppelin side project for singer Robert Plant, allowing him to indulge his sincere love for vintage R&B. Though best known for the all-star aggregate that waxed the group's only recording in 1984, Plant actually formed the Honeydrippers in 1981 as a way to return to his pre-Zeppelin roots in American blues and R&B; the group took its name from blues pianist Roosevelt Sykes' nickname. The original lineup featured guitarists Robbie Blunt and Andy Sylvester, saxophonist Keith Evans, saxophonist/harmonica player Ricky Cool, bassist Jim Hickman, and drummer Kevin O'Neil. However, when Plant began collaborating with Blunt on original material, he deemed it more suited to his goals as a solo artist, and he accordingly formed a hard rock backing unit, putting the Honeydrippers on the back burner. After his second solo album, Plant revived the Honeydrippers, this time with an impressive roster of studio guests including guitarists Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Nile Rodgers, keyboardist Paul Shaffer, bassist Wayne Pedziwiatr, and drummer Dave Weckl. Together they recorded the five-song EP The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1, which was released in 1984 and featured Plant's takes on '50s and '60s R&B numbers. The first single, a cover of Phil Phillips' "Sea of Love," was a smash, peaking at number three on the American charts -- one spot better, in fact, than Led Zeppelin's highest-charting single "Whole Lotta Love." The follow-up "Rockin' at Midnight," a Roy Brown jump blues tune, was also fairly successful. Stray Cats guitarist Brian Setzer joined the Honeydrippers' concert lineup, and performed with the group on Saturday Night Live. After touring with the Honeydrippers in 1985, Plant resumed his solo career; there has never been a Honeydrippers, Vol. 2.
A telling thing about Robert Plant at his peak is how he would sneak on-stage with Rockpile and sing Elvis songs, or how Swan Song signed Dave Edmunds when his retro-rock was about the furthest thing from the monolithic Zeppelin of Physical Graffiti. Plant always harbored deep, abiding love for early rock & roll, a fact that was often obscured by his restlessness, too, a side that he indulged on his first two post-Zep solo albums -- glistening, modern albums with a heavier debt to Robert Fripp than Little Richard. Two albums in, he switched tactics for the EP detour The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1, an unabashedly retro-rock project that hauled out five golden oldies from the pre-Beatles era and served them up authentically, or at least as authentic nostalgia. There is a certain sense of pastiche here, particularly in how "Sea of Love" is drenched in oceans of strings, far more than on the Phil Phillips original, which manages to evoke the era of lily white pop covers in a way that no straightforward cover could, but that's part of the charm of the record. Some may find this kind of pastiche a bit distancing, even campy, but there's a genuine warmth in Plant's performance, and his ad-hoc group of Honeydrippers -- including Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page in uncredited cameos -- have a great time running through these handful of oldies, particularly "Rockin' at Midnight." It may not be much more than a lark, but it's truly fun, even if it might have been slightly more fun making it than it is listening to it. [A remastered expanded version of The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1 was reissued as part of the 2006 box set Nine Lives and was then reissued as a separate disc the following year.]
