ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS – Raise The Roof [vinyl]

Warner 0190296672194; LP: 0190296672200

Plant and Krauss approached the recording of Raising Sand in 2007 as a kind of see-if-it-works experiment, but the country artist and the former Led Zeppelin vocalist have a wonderful vocal chemistry, and this selection of country, folk and more is an absolute beaut. The songs are empathetically arranged and played, and producer T Bone Burnett gives it all a warm, inviting sound. On Lucinda Williams’s ’Can’t Let Go’ they sing in unison, their harmonies evoking memories of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris on Grievous Angel. Bert Jansch’s ‘It Don’t Bother Me’ has a sinuous eastern feel with sonorous bass and silvery mandolin. Krauss sings lead in the verses and Plant joins her in the choruses to breathtaking effect.