Text by Robert Plant
There is a difference between those who just sing and those who use their voice to go to another, otherworldly place, creating a euphoria within themselves. You transform. I have experienced this myself. And I know Elvis could do it too. My first Elvis song was “Hound Dog.” Back then I didn’t know anything about Big Mama Thornton or where all the swing came from. All I heard was this voice that had its own place. The voice was confident, seductive, merciless. She glided up and down, pouncing on notes like a bird of prey on prey.
I recorded it all, you can hear it everywhere with Led Zeppelin. When I met Elvis after one of our concerts in the early 70s, I first took a close look at him. He wasn’t as tall as me, but he had a decent chest – important as a sound box. And he was a man possessed. “Anyway You Want Me” is the most moving thing I’ve ever heard from a singer’s mouth. “Jailhouse Rock” and the songs that came out of the King Creole sessions – incomparable.
When I listen to the Sun recordings now and look back on his career, I think, “Wow, what a start.” But I liked the modern RCA stuff the most. “I Need Your Love Tonight” and “A Big Hunk O’ Love” had so much power – those sessions sound like you couldn’t have been in a better place on earth at the time. When we met back then, Jimmy Page joked that we would never do sound checks, but if we did, we would only sing Elvis songs. Elvis thought that was funny and asked what songs they were. The particularly atmospheric ones, I said, like this great country piece, “Love Me”: “Treat me like a fool/Treat me mean and cruel/But love me.” As we said goodbye, after a very amusing 90 minutes, and I Walking down the hall, he came out the door, grinned and started singing: “Treat me like a fool…” I turned around, remembered – and then we stood there and sang to each other.
His environment prevented him from meeting more modern songwriters. He was 42 when he died. I’m 18 years older now, but back then he lacked new partners, fresh relationships – his old buddies couldn’t teach him anything new. I know he wanted to show more of himself.
But for me – as a singer – he made it possible for me to reach this otherworldly place.
Birthday: January 8, 1935 (died: August 16, 1977).
Most important songs: “Mystery Train”, “Hound Dog”, “Suspicious Minds”
Inspiration for: Bono, Bruce Springsteen